I finished this game recently, and I think it's safe to say that I'm ready for more. And I mean that both ways. What was here was great, but despite sinking just over 40 hours into it, I can't help but feel like there should be more. Let's get to the breakdown.
Presentation: 8
Bioware tells us that this PS3 version of the game is running with the same engine created for its upcoming successor. The effect is somewhat lost on me because I don't have an HD TV. So for me everything looks fine. Not great, but fine. Only real complaint is that the subtitles blend in with the backgrounds far too often and I can end up missing conversation, or not being able to read my dialog choices.
The sound is really very nice. Everything is crisp and clear, and the voices are mostly very well done. Only a few lines are delivered in a cheesy fashion. The rest all come out quite nicely, the female version of our main character (often referred to as "FemShep") in particular. The music in the game is adequate, but nothing really stands out for me.
Story: 8
As a PS3 player, you're coming into the game missing a very large part of the story, and you can definitely tell. There are many points where certain events happened that I could see were significant, but I couldn't tell how. However, by the end of the game you're mostly up to speed, though I was personally left a little confused with too many unanswered questions. I get the feeling that some of these same questions were also unanswered in the last game. Building tension is fine, but don't drag it out too long or you risk loss of interest. Hopefully there will be some answers forthcoming in the next game.
The central story of the game is actually pretty short. Most of the game's story comes from the side missions which have you recruiting new party members, and subsequently doing another mission of about the same length to secure their loyalty, thus unlocking their best abilities and upping their chances for survival. Each of these smaller stories is a welcome bit of character development. But after the first few the formula becomes a bit stale. This is something I hope they can improve on in ME3. Just a matter of preference, I guess, but I'd rather be picking up party members as I pursue the main mission rather than have my mission be to get party members.
Gameplay: 7
I went into this game expecting something like the Star Wars: KotOR games, but ended up with something closer to the Uncharted series. This left me with mixed feelings. You see, in Uncharted you do a lot of cover based combat (that is, most of the time your objective is to get behind a wall or small obstruction, only peeking out for a moment to shoot when the enemy pauses), but it doesn't feel like it. There is tons of cover around, but it just seems like part of the scenery that happens to serve as cover. In this game you can always tell when you're about to enter combat because of the sudden appearance of waist high walls, whether or not there is any reason for them to be there. It really stands out and makes the game predictable. The only thing that really changes up the gunplay at all is the different types of bars you'll be depleting. Enemies can have Barriers, Shields, and Armor in addition to their health that must be depleted before you can begin damaging them. You and your party can have special powers to help with that, but most of the time it's faster just to burn through them. Ammo usually abounds, and when you need it enemies drop it.
Outside of combat things are a little better. You never know when you'll stumble on a sidequest. Conversations are handled nicely too. It's great that your character is not a silent protagonist with few lines of written text. Instead you select a short general idea from a wheel of options and then Shepard has the actual conversation aloud while elaborating on the selected idea. This way Shepard actually has character instead of being a boring blank slate.
ME2 also has an interesting new take on the morality meter mechanic. Instead of being either Good or Evil, you can be as much of both as you want. Selecting certain dialog options or doing mini-QTEs (pressing L2 or R2 when prompted during cutscenes) allows you to fill your Paragon and Renegade gauges separately. This lets you make choices later that tend more to extremes of those views. These choices can effect things later in the game, as well as in the sequel. How? Well, we don't know yet. But it should be interesting to see.
The low point of the entire game is the tedious mining mini-game. It's just boring, and, as I found out after completing the story, largely pointless. I ended up using perhaps a fifth of what all I mined. Sadly, by that time I had already mined every planet in the game dry. When ME3 rolls around, I should have enough raw materials to have built my own space armada. Let's see how the enemy handles 5,000 Normandys!
Seriously though, if I don't get something out of that I'll never play again (until later).
The PS3 version comes with a few extras. If you buy the game new, you'll get a code to download a DLC pack priced at $15 USD for free. So, if you're interested in this title, then get it new while you can. You'll want the Operation Firewalker, Operation Overlord, Zaneed, Kasumi, and Shadow Broker DLCs. They add a much needed bit of diversity to the gameplay.
Perhaps more importantly, you'll get an interactive comic that allows you to read along with the story of the first game and make the same major choices.
Characters: 9
I could go on about these guys and girls (and indeterminates) for a long while, but I'm going to keep it brief to avoid spoilers. I will say that these characters are very well developed and interesting. Fun to talk to and learn about. By the end of the game you'll be wanting to do your best to save them all.
That's right, any and all of the main characters in this game can permanently die...including Shepard. How will they handle this in the sequel? No idea.
Replay value: Fairly high.
This one's tricky. See, what you do here will have a big effect on things in the next title. (Massive, one might even say.) No matter what you do here, you don't know how it will carry over. That means you'll likely want to replay the game. Just not until you see how it all plays out in the sequel.
Overall Score: 8 out of 10
There's more to like here than not, but the parts that do need work really need it. Fortunately those are few. If they spice up the gunplay and make the environments more sensible, then I'm sure ME3 with have no trouble claiming a perfect 10 score.
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