To begin with, let’s start the game up and look at the bones, first thing noticed is the new look start window, I like how straight off they have differentiated the game from the previous, personally I was expecting a similar cresting sun against earth type look, with lots of lens flares and beams of light flying through empty space. However this time they have gone with what looks like a broken ship… I won’t say any more (…spoiler).

One thing that is also seen from the outset is that there are no dialogue cut scenes or movies in the game to which you are not involved with, the sudden immersion of the player in each scene is powerful, and the philosophy of mass effect hits home, Bioware have done a great job of keeping the gamer as the conscience of Shepard, and to be honest it’s hard to forget that it’s just a game! In most games, in a multiple dialogue sense, it doesn’t matter if you say the wrong thing to another character, as most of the time the result is the same even if you said it in a better way, however with ME2 and 1 for that fact, is that you worry about this character that you have spent time on, things like; has Shepard got all the power ups, money, weapons etc to defeat the next boss or level, so you begin to choose your words carefully and decide how each optional dialogue will affect the outcome of the situation and furthermore the game as an entirety.

I do believe that the dialogue in the cut scenes are more than just progression through a game, what you are experiencing is the immersion of a future universe, surrounded by distant galaxy’s beyond the milky way, you gain knowledge of other species in the vast mass effect universe, you learn and remember about inventions and technologies which will aid you in your fight, such as Kinetic rounds are more effective against robots and the “Geth”…
This type of background story and contextual immersion is seen in the Star Wars universe, from not just the movies, but with books, comics and other material written about the hundreds of characters and worlds which they encounter. There entire books dedicated to satellite characters to the main story; such as Boba Fett or Han Solo, we see this same pattern of immersion with the Halo universe, though many have scrutinized how the Halo universe contains so few Species, ok fair enough the “Covenant” has a few internal races but it’s no way near what Star Wars offers nor Anywhere near the level of expansion that Mass Effect is capable of. Which will show as the downloadable content button gleams at you on the menu screen, reminding the player that this universe will expand, with the dedication of the fans and developers, we don’t doubt it one bit.

Expansion of Mass Effect 2 requires more, more everything, more especially of Graphic power and detail. As I play this game I wonder how much time and effort has been dedicated to each individual species, what is obvious is that the engine driving this game is as powerful as mass effect 2 needs it to be, as minute details such as the wrinkles on the “Krogan’s” face fold and flex as they speak and move, the movement of characters in the world look flowing and as if they are supposed to be there, which is a step up from Mass Effect 1 where characters most of the time would be static and the Krogan face looked just like a texture map and that’s all. Simple texture maps could be recognised by anyone in ME1, Large open spaces in ME1 were covered in darkness, or with continuous simply textured walls, this time in ME2 the world looks slightly smaller but with far greater details, and the use of architecture goes beyond just four walls and a roof, now set stages such as shopping areas are flowing, with great detail and are easy to navigate in, which is a step up from ME1 where it would take donkeys to travel from place to place via foot. Across the board the game looks more polished and more refined as the ME world becomes more certain, ME3 could almost look more realistic than its predecessors.

Testament to the enhancement of graphic dedication, is the lack or should I say the disappearance of lens flares, I really liked the sudden bursts of light which reminded you of that cresting sun against the earth, it was a nice touch, however you don’t see it as much in ME2, perhaps this down to the fact that lens flares were used in ME1 as a cover-up for lesser designed areas and distract the player to areas where they are supposed to look… hey I might be picky, but I can see the power of cinematography here and the effect on which it has on the game play and the dedication levels of the game designers…

Now to the star of the show, Shepard, (whatever you character looks like) looks great… the ability to choose your look at the beginning of the game is the spark of the whole game, as the face and look of your character is never hidden in any cut scenes or movies with a helmet or an awkwardly placed camera, the Shepard who you create, is the one you see throughout. In the previous game you decided the look of your charecter from the beginning in the game menu, however Mass Effect 2 doesnt begin as the first did and if you pick up a copy of ME2 you will find out why… so for that reason I would like to take my hat off to Bioware for the opening scene, which is dramatic and heart pounding as can be, and it paves the storyline for your Shepard to be reintroduced back into the game. The way the motion of events and backbone of story is intertwinned is a work of genius and deserves an applause… I won’t go into too much detail (spoiler).

Next I have to comment on Miranda, again, I have to take off my hat to bioware for keeping it subtle. Let’s just say the great use of shadow effects around curvatures pronounce features and let’s just say we… men no wait, women as well are mostly distracted, and not really listening to the dialogue at that moment. Ashley was good to look at in the first game; for about 4 minutes, then we got bored… if you played ME1 then you will remember why… As far as game characters go, Miranda isn’t overtly over sexualised like a final fantasy character. Bioware have created her with a solid back story, that pronounces charisma and character complexes which provide the backbone of a great heroin, perhaps one even worthy as part of a Mass Effect movie, however I must remind you that I have just started playing this game, and I reserve the right to change my opinions! It’s also great to see a few old faces making a return, characters that were in ME1 have progressed from their previous stories and now hold more depth, it takes Shepard (you) to investigate each returning character and see what they have been up to in the time between ME1 and Mass Effect 2, it’s like a book you decide if you want to continue reading each characters story, you can, BUT, be wary as it may change your course of how the game is played, so choose carefully in situations of dialogue.

Finally we get to the most important part of the game. The action, as you play you will notice straight off there are some differences in the game play, firstly is that you no longer have unlimited rounds, restricted by overheating weapons, now you have ammo clips which must be picked up. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your enjoyment of ME1, I enjoyed the idea of energy weapons rather than projectile based, however ME2 has decided to cap the action, I believe that this has been done to create a sense of desperation, as you slowly run out of ammo and depend on using your powers or your teams powers to supplement. It’s purely a matter of taste, though I do like it, I must say, and it has opened up more difficulty options which can be seen all the way up “veteran”, where I am assuming there is less ammo and the enemies fight harder.

wow look at that so much to write, it just shows how in depth this game is, at this moment in time, I have played the game for about 3 hours and have played it as thoroughly as possible, I do believe that ME2 isn’t just a game, it isn’t just a trilogy waiting for its finality, I believe that what the Star Wars was to that generation of Sci Fi lovers, I believe that Mass Effect is that now for the current, or even not Sci Fi lovers, It’s a game which has a strong story and tickles the intellect and I advise everyone to pop over to Amazon via our site links and grab a copy of one of the most in depth and state of the art games of our time.

Check it out here:
http://masseffect.bioware.com

So watch this e3 mass effect 2 trailer and see – did shepard die? is he/she now a Geth? its not exactly confirmed but enjoy this wonderful sneak peak at mass effect 2, from E3 (courtesy of game trailers.)

“We were going to announce this, but one of the testers at a focus testing group broke the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and things were revealed before we had the chance,” said BioWare community manager Chris Priestly on the bioware forums.