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I'm Commander Shepard: A Mass Effect Retrospective (Part Two)

A look at the second game in the venerable science fiction franchise in honor of the oncoming Legendary Edition.

By N.J. FolsomPublished 3 years ago 11 min read
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Right out of the gate, Mass Effect 2 reveals a more ominous nature than the first.

We need a leader, and surround him with the brightest, the toughest, the deadliest allies we can find. The team will have to be strong, their resolve unquestionable.

There is a saying, “What goes up must come down.” This is usually a line from a physics textbook on gravity, but in most cases it is metaphorical. What starts as great thing usually goes downhill until it is a mere mockery of what it originally was. Places, people, film series, everything might seem too big to fail, but rest assured, it can and will eventually fall to the ground, leaving a broken pile of rubble that won't please fans, nor will it bring any new ones. This may be why so many in the film industry are trying to bank on nostalgia; to try to recapture the original feel through remakes and reboots while not trying anything new.

What's old is apparently new again. And again, and again. (Disney+)

Jurassic Park, which is my favorite film of all time, is a great example of this in the film industry. When one looks at its sequels, one may see a common pattern especially in science fiction or horror franchises. In my opinion, the first was the best, The Lost World was good, and then things went downhill with Jurassic Park III. Many critics or audiences did not care for the third film, so the studio put the series on hold for years until returning to the old formula with the first Jurassic World, a play on nostalgia as mentioned before. I call this effect “sequelization” or, “too much of a good thing". In many ways, this "sequels getting worse" effect does happen on a regular basis, especially in the entertainment industry. Whether the developers did not have the budget or the talent to make a film that held true to the original or had the tendency to capitalize off the name brand through direct-to-video installments to make a quick buck.

Video games, however, have a rare tendency to not be "sequelized" as much as other forms of entertainment. Due to the interactive nature of video games, developers can look at what players liked from the first game, what they hated, and fine tune the second game to address the complaints to the extent they can. Unless executive meddling is involved, this usually results in “what goes up gets a rocket boost and keeps on going”.

Sure, some games find their core audience and are seemingly creatively stagnant from one game to the next, but some developers listen to the audience they do have and take their criticisms to heart. This can result in sequels being better than the first one, an “Empire” to the first one’s “Star Wars”, so to speak. In this writer’s opinion, a prime example is the subject of this article: Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 2 Promotional Image (BioWare)

Mass Effect 2 is, in my opinion, the best game in the series. The first one was a good jumping off point, but it had its flaws such as the off-kilter controls to the Mako or the occasional graphics stuttering and glitches everyone knows exist at this point due to countless memes. The rest of the game, however, from the music to the gunplay and especially acting, was practically perfect in almost every way.

Released in 2010, three years after the first installment, Mass Effect 2 was even better than the first one, with tighter gameplay and more refined story elements. Gone were the awkward Mako controls, as well as the Mako itself. In fact, the only vehicle players could pilot in the second game was exclusive to an optional DLC called Firewalker and instead of being a rover, it was a hovercraft with slightly tighter controls. BioWare improved on everything from the writing to the gunplay and team commands, and romance options. The game has a more open-ended feel to it, giving the player free reign to tell their own story, after a short tutorial section on a space station.

Dossier: Story

Garrus sums up the first game in one sentence.

The story begins with Shepard dying. After the Normandy is shot down by a mysterious alien spaceship, Shepard gets thrown out in space and loses their oxygen supply when debris hits their suit. Their body is recovered by a human-oriented private military company named Cerberus and they are resurrected two years later.

"I was only 'mostly dead'. Try finding that option on government paperwork."

Cerberus' leader, the Illusive Man, tasks them with finding out why human colonies are vanishing in an outer section of the galaxy. Shepard discovers an alien species known as the Collectors are abducting humans and subsequently disappear behind a Mass Relay called Omega 4, which no ship has ever returned from due to reasons no one seems to understand.

The Omega 4 relay is present at the beginning of the game, but one would not advise anyone to go through it immediately; it would end badly.

Shepard gathers a team, goes through side missions to make each teammate loyal enough to have their mind set on the dangerous mission, and the rebuilt Normandy and its crew must travel through the Omega 4 relay and take down the Collectors once and for all. Along the way, they discover the Collectors themselves are pawns to the Reapers. Reapers are the sentient ships who made their presence known during the climax of the first installment, whom the Citadel Council refuse to acknowledge even exist to prevent the galaxy from panicking.

"Ah yes, 'Reapers'. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim."

Compared to the first game, the second Mass Effect's story is very self-contained to an extent. Mandatory missions occasionally appear but aside from that, the player simply recruits a team, makes them loyal, and goes on a dangerous mission. Granted, the player can go through the Omega 4 relay as soon as they collect a special item for their ship, but that can end as well as anyone expects: "Everybody is dead, Dave." Creating a team capable of going through the Omega 4 relay is the core of Mass Effect 2 and as a result its story is far more character driven than the first installment.

The Illusive Man is the leader of Cerberus and calls the shots during the story. (BioWare)

Dossier: Crewmates

In the first installment, the companions did not have much to do, aside from some side missions which did not have much of an impact on the overall game. In the second, these characters have their own story, their own emotions, and players can romance more companions including the aliens. Each companion feels real in terms personality, and the player feels for what they are going through. Garrus and Tali return from the first game as companions, and the remaining join in through Dossier missions given to the player by Cerberus. These companions are:

  • Mordin, a Salarian doctor with a checkered past regarding the Genophage.
  • Jack, a human Biotic who despises Cerberus for what they did to her as a child.
  • Jacob, a Cerberus operative who used to work for the Alliance before becoming disheartened.
  • Miranda, a "perfect", genetically engineered woman who works for Cerberus.
  • Thane, a drell assassin with a terminal illness and estranged son.
  • Samara, an asari Justicar with who works off a strict code after discovering a personal issue about herself.
  • Zaeed, an old mercenary formerly part of an intergalactic gang.
  • Kasumi, a thief with a grudge and a lost love.
  • Grunt, a Krogan adolescent born in a cloning tank.
With DLC, the squad size is doubled from the first game.

The last companion joining the game is named Legion, a Geth outcast who only appears for the last part of the game and can only be taken on a loyalty mission if the player wants a perfect ending. Kasumi and Zaeed are DLC characters and are picked up early on, but their loyalty missions are fun to play with interesting gameplay elements and impeccable voice acting. The rest of the loyalty missions are great too, which is important considering they take up a good portion of the story.

"It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Gray? I don't know what to do with gray."

The remaining squadmates from the first Mass Effect appear as non-player characters at certain parts in the story. Wrex appears on the Krogan homeworld during certain loyalty missions, while Liara appears on a planet called Thessia and is an ally during a specific DLC mission. Ashley or Kaidan, depending on who was saved on Virmire, return in a cameo during a mission to a human colony planet called Horizon and in my honest opinion, are borderline insufferable due to their attitude to Shepard. They do get better in the third game and return as squadmates alongside Liara.

Dossier: Gameplay

Shepard and crew have quite a bit more to do in this sequel, and that is not relegated only to the story. Shepard is now more mobile, can take cover in more places, and is able to actually sprint from cover to cover.

The game provides video combat lessons for those who want to get used to the new gunplay, squad controls, and other things of importance.

Additional gameplay take the form of minigames. These are hacking, bypassing, and planetary scanning. Hacking, a rather easy minigame, is based on matching images on the top of the screen to a scrolling series of others. Bypassing is a memory matching game and is rather simple, just highlight the node and match it with its pair. Planetary scanning is traveling to different worlds and collecting resources and elements while scanning them.

Scanning and probing a planet provides resources used to upgrade weapons, armor, and the Normandy itself.

Planetary scanning replaces the Mako side missions from the first game, which is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. As mentioned earlier, the Mako itself is replaced by the Hammerhead, a hovercraft exclusive to DLC missions. The hovering nature of the Hammerhead allows for smoother gameplay, but at the same time it does suffer from a lack of armor meaning run and gun missions may be out of the picture for most.

Despite their apparent miniscule impact on the game, interruptions provide a large amount of gameplay on their own.

An additional element added to the game is the interruption system. At some points in the game, quick-time events show up based on the interactions Shepard is involved in. If the interruption is based on a renegade action, the ending is usually not pleasant for whomever Shepard is talking to. These interactions give more renegade or paragon points than usual dialogue options and having more points in one alignment allows for specific dialogue options at key points in the game, including during arguments between squadmates that may end in one of them losing their hard-earned loyalty.

Dossier: DLC

As mentioned previously, the Hammerhead is specific to DLC, namely the "Firewalker" mission pack. It also appears in a different DLC mission even if the player does not own Firewalker.

Downloadable content made a slight appearance in the first installment. The "Bring Down the Sky" mission as well as a training simulator side quest called Pinnacle Station, which to my knowledge was not very well received. The lack of DLC in the first game may be contributed to the time period it came out; back in 2007, it was not as prominent in terms of gaming as much as it is today, or even 2010 when Mass Effect 2 released. This was despite DLC itself being online-only expansion packs which have been around for decades beforehand.

Yeah, DLC made more of an impact in the second game.

By the time 2010 showed up, DLC was more prevalent and BioWare seemingly ran with it. This is usually a double-edged sword; players want more gameplay content, but when said content is hidden behind a paywall, it loses its charm. Thankfully, most of the DLC for Mass Effect 2 is very much worth the money and, with the release of the Legendary Edition, all of it will be packed into the game with the exception of Pinnacle Station due to code corruption.

The story DLCs, barring companion quests, are (in no particular order):

  • Lair of the Shadow Broker - A self-contained story teased in the story of both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Liara needs Shepard's help in tracking down an evil information trader who kidnapped one of her friends. This DLC is amazing, filled with humorous lines and in-jokes to the gameplay of Mass Effect 2, having been released months after the base game.
  • Overlord - Shepard is sent to a Cerberus facility and discovers a rouge Virtual Intelligence fused with a human being. This DLC is fun, includes the Hammerhead if Firewalker is not installed, and is surprisingly lengthy. The story for Mass Effect 3 reference it quite a bit as well, making it essential to understand certain elements.
  • Firewalker - Shepard must locate a missing Cerberus team and discover what they were doing on different planets, while using a hovering vehicle. I have mentioned this a few times in this article so far, but I will say it is rather fun if not a tiny bit frustrating due to the tinfoil armor of the Hammerhead.
  • Normandy Crash Site - This is such a great, nostalgic DLC, and is free with the installation of the Cerberus Network addon alongside Zaeed as a squadmate. Shepard wanders alone across a frozen wasteland, finding dog tags belonging to the fallen members of the Normandy while also remembering lost crewmembers. Different flashbacks show the lost Virmire companion, and the first officer of the original Normandy who had softened his heart towards aliens by the end of the game. The Mako, which is not recovered and is kept frozen in place, probably still has terrible controls even with it being destroyed.
  • Arrival - Shepard is sent to rescue an Alliance operative in batarian space and encounters the Reapers who are planning on arriving through a Mass Relay. I personally do not own this DLC, but I will link a review of it, from one of my absolute favorite YouTube creators (who generously gave me permission to do so) which tells you everything you need to know about it.

The video does contain strong language.

Dossier: Conclusion

Mass Effect 2 is my favorite game of the series, and is on the top ten list of my favorite games of all time. The story is great, open-ended, and has a satisfying conclusion that leads into the third game if players can get through the dangerous final mission alive. Most of the DLC is worth the price and with the Legendary Edition coming with most of it packed-in, the game will be complete for all players.

With the ending being a cliffhanger, one can only imagine what will happen when the third game comes along. Well... if you ignore what people say about the ending. But we'll get to that when we get to that.

Thanks for reading, and I should go.

See you in Mass Effect 3

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About the Creator

N.J. Folsom

There's a whole universe in my head, just waiting to be written.

If you like my stories, please consider donating to my PayPal to help me keep writing!

PayPal.me/adventfear

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