Graphics

Mass Effect 2 has managed to remove the glaring errors of the first, in terms of texture pop-in/pop-up and frame rate issues. There are a few graphic glitches that are noticeable now and then but nothing that really spoils the game for me. The texture palette is better in 2 and the physical definition on the characters is excellent. Bioware have gone above and beyond with the graphical look of these characters and Grunt is probably one of the most detailed game characters to date. Lighting and effects are excellent compared to Mass Effect and the new iteration of Unreal performs well with no noticeable frame drops even when being pushed hard by special effects, planetary lighting and lots of gunfire/biotic powers detonating all over the place.

Animations

The animation in combat is fluid, the characters in combat look good and they move well enough. The true animation star though is the various facial expressions, eye-work and the depth to the character’s emotions when you engage them in dialogue. Some of the cut-scenes when you talk to various characters evoke a sense of depth because the characters move around with a cinematic direction and that’s the key here to Mass Effect 2, the cinematic feel of the graphics combined with the animation makes it truly excellent in this regard.

AI

Substantially improved from Mass Effect, 2’s AI can use cover a lot better but still makes some fundamental choice errors in combat. Often they will stand and shoot rather than seeking to avoid the death ray of doom. Many times though they’ll get by on their own, use powers intelligently and even react to dangerous situations. Sometimes their pathfinding gets a little screwed and they’ll lose track of you in a mission prompting a quick backtrack to find them. Enemy AI uses cover and flanking tactics, it uses biotic powers and special powers often in tandem with other team-members. Niggles aside, this is a much better challenge than ME.

Physics

There were a few glitches now and then that forced a reload of a mission or a save point. These were tiny niggles that didn’t really upset the whole experience though. For the most part the physics engine works nicely, certain cover can be destroyed and biotic powers can hurl foes around like rag-dolls, it’s very satisfying to unleash destruction on that kind of level, watching as an enemy is thrown into the far wall and smacked into oblivion.

Sound

There’s one issue it seems in a particular cut-scene that EA/Bioware need to fix and I’m not the only one that has it. There is a facedown between Shepard, Morinth and Samara and for around 10 seconds during an important moment the sound can cut out, it’s a bug that happens sometimes and doesn’t always kick in but it’s a bug non-the-less. Fortunately for us on our 2nd play this bug didn’t manifest and thusly we saw no reason to lower the score since it seems intermittent. The sound design apart from this is flawless with everything coming together nicely, from the weapons to the interior ambience of the Normandy.

Music

A gorgeous score accompanies the game and evokes the right emotion at the right time. The first 90 minutes of the game were spent in complete awe due to Bioware’s excellent visual, direction and audio combination. It all comes together beautifully with the soundtrack and if you like collecting OSTs, this one is worth buying.

Voice and Dialogue

It’s a huge and talented cast for Mass Effect 2; there are old favourites back such as Jennifer Hale who does the voice of female Shepard. Claudia Black, Simon Templeman, Keith David are joined by the likes of Martin Sheen who has one of the best characters to date in the Mass Effect series. Adam Baldwin joins in with Michael Dorn and the list goes on. Seth Green returns as Joker and is ably supported by Tricia Helfer as the voice of EDI the Normandy’s shipboard AI – there are other famous actors and voice actors in the game and it’s beyond the scope of this review to list them all. The voice cast is perfect and many of them deliver their lines with utmost skill and panache. It’s a real treat to listen to the various dialogues in Mass Effect 2 because they’re so well written and skipping a single line if you haven’t heard it before is a crime. Some of the best game writing to date can be found if you bother to delve into the back stories of these characters or just talk to the right person.

Multiplayer

None... ME2 is a single player experience and quite rightly so. The only way it could be made any more awesome is by adding cooperative multiplayer, not deathmatch (hint).

3

After finishing ME2 in around 40 hours I can say that I have not regretted it one bit. There are bonuses for finishing the game as well, unlocking extra xp perks as well as a few nice rewards. I can’t wait for 3 now Bioware, so...yeah...let’s see where you take us next.

Also, it’s possible to have your whole squad survive...I only lost one member at the end, so that’s not too bad.

You don’t need to have played ME to enjoy ME2 but I recommend doing so, since you’ll be missing out on one hell of a story. Also the experience is fairly similar on PC and 360 so you’re in for a treat with either format.