Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2(ME2) is undoubtedly one of my favourite in this season. It deserves a 9/10.

The story telling in ME2 is cinematic. It is so film-like that my mum has asked me a few times if I am watching movies when the dialogue is on the flow. BioWare has done a great job in illustrating human facial expressions in which we can tell whether the character is frustrated, frightened, angry, flirting and etc. They are rather realistic compared to other RPGs and are not over-exaggerated in most regards. In very most of the time, the gestures and body postures are natural. Their study in psychology has been made useful in bringing the character to life before our eyes.

The game reminds 'the good old times' when I was playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords which is developed by Obsidian Entertainment. ME2 feels more action-oriented to me, due to the streamlined transition between the fighting action with the story telling and the timed decision making feature. However, the story seems too short to me and comparative to other RPGs. I am told that it is commerically make sense because EA and BioWare wanted to play safe.

The timed decision making feature did bring several memorable moments to me.[Spoiler] For example, when my protagonist was on the Krogan planet Tuchanka and ready to participate a ritual of my Krogan crew, a green Krogan(didn't remember his name) taunted me. I thought would have punched him if I, even as a gentleman, had adapted the Krogan culture. Then the option popped out and I clicked within a second. My protagonist hitted that Krogan with his head. It followed that their shaman said something that I really enjoyed, "Ah Hah~! I like this human. He knows the way of Krogans.", which made me feeling immerged into the sci-fi opera.

I played my style as an infiltrator(Yeah~ sniping and cloaking). I am so glad that I can keep every team members, including myself, alive and completed the suicide mission in my first play-through, where I attempted to pick all choices from heart. The good ending cutscene made me feeling lucky and successful and it was stunning. There were times that I worried about having a bad ending because I couldn't get the loyalty from Jack, the subject Zero, where all other crews are loyal to me and I liked them. I guess I could have failed if it is a Japanese game. There are different styles in making and playing games between Japanese and the Westerns. Anyway, ME2 is made voluptuous for the masses.