Thoughts On Mass Effect 2

By: Joe Russell | February 9th, 2010

Seeing as I’ve found myself with a bit of time between finishing Mass Effect 2 and starting Bioshock 2, I thought I’d take a moment to collect my thoughts on the former before they get muddled by the latter. As ever, once I’ve completed a game I fail to care about other people not having played it, so this piece will be fairly spoiler heavy. This is also not a review, and should not be viewed as such – surely anyone who is even vaguely interested in this game must already know exactly how brilliant people think it is (you can read the glowing Gamer Limit review here). It is merely me gushing a bit about why I enjoyed it.

For me, the most memorable moment of this game came in a loyalty mission for my least favourite companion. It seems somehow apt that this is the case, because it shows exactly how good the narrative and pacing is throughout the game, even in an optional side mission. The mission in question was Tali’s mission where (again, spoilers) she is on trial for taking live geth parts aboard a ship which consequently loses contact with the outside. The meaty part of the mission is pretty standard fare, with the trademark excellent action coming into play, but it was the bookends of the mission that really held my interest. They were set out like a courtroom drama, with Shepard acting as the defendant’s council. The moment I began with was the point that the judge presiding over the proceedings delivered his verdict – in my game it was guilty but of course it could change with anyone else’s play through – and I felt an actual moment of shock. I could have changed that verdict, had I done things differently, and I realised that.

Mass Effect 2 is a game about relationships. Without these strong bonds built up between you and the cast, the games would play out very differently. Had I not cared about Tali’s feelings on the matter of the accusations aimed at her, or even if the game has omitted her viewpoint on the one matter, I would have done everything I could to prove her not guilty. However, because the game afforded me her view that it is better that she be shamed than her father, it made me act in a way that technically was detrimental to my team-mate, but was emotionally correct.

Obviously, because of this emotional team-building, there will be favourites among your team. As I said earlier Tali was one of my least favourite characters, but I respected the reasoning behind her thoughts separately to liking her as a character. The characters I liked the most may, conversely, have had me act differently as my feelings towards the character overruled their wishes. It’s certainly an odd scenario to be in, but it rings true of life on a number of levels.

My favourite character in the game is also another big spoiler. Legion, a member of the controversial geth family, immediately became a permanent fixture in my squad as soon as I activated him, alongside Garrus (oops, another spoiler). Legion is an intriguing character, and while you don’t have as much time to get to know him as the other characters (he comes into play late in the game), he immediately clicked for me in a way even the apparently hugely popular Mordin failed to. It is with him and Garrus by my side I ended the game, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.