The Many Failures of Mass Effect 2

With an average score of 96 on Metacritic, one would be justified in believing Mass Effect 2 has little room for improvement. An overwhelming majority of so-called game critics have weighed-in, predictably showering Bioware's latest RPG with roses and garlands.

[BigKev45]

How about the many failures of this article?

[callahan09]

Did you even read the article? I bought Mass Effect 2, I played it, I enjoyed it. I think the game deserves more credit than this article gives it because it does SUCCEED at a lot of things, and this article only focuses on the negative, but that said, every single point this article makes, I agree with. I was even thinking most of this stuff during the course of the game. Particularly the comment about the combat level design. The combat in this game and the environments/levels that were built to stage the combat scenes are, in my opinion, really lackluster.

[SasanovaS1987]

alot of people are blinded by the lack of good 360 games, thus having to put all their effort into praising a good game way more then its worth. you cannot claim you are a RPG and lose everything that made the first mass effect an rpg shooter. what mass effect 2 did is just dumb down the elements that stick out from a typical TPS game, thus making mass effect 2 into a TPS rather then what the first one tried to do. they went the safe rout to satisfy the core of 360 audionce, which fap over anything FPS or TPS, hence gears and halo. on top of that, the levels are exremely linear and is all about cover and shooting. yes, mass effect 2 is a great game, but to say its the all mighty messiah of video games is just false, and personally, 96 on matacrit is way overflatted. a 92-94 is alot more acceptable.

[EVILDEAD360]

Let's summarize..First..don't even entertain reading if you are currently playing or plan on playing in the near future.

What we have is a below average blog from an average hater who only played Mass Effect 2 with the intention of criticizing it. I'ts not even about Mass Effect 2..this guy is a full blown Bioware hater.

The best part of the article is when he bashes the journalists for praising Mass Effect 2 for being 'rabid fanboys'..but it's clear from reading a few paragraphs that's exactly what the author of the article is.

Every game has faults..period. The original Mass Effect had faults. Mass Effect 2 improved upon those faults in spades. The critics and fans have spoken. I just spent the last week in gaming heaven and I've already started up this amazing experience again.

Does the second one have its faults..sure..evey single game does. Do they take away from this brilliant experience..nope.

So instead of just writing a simple article on what Bioware could do to improve the game..this guy takes the N4G.com Open Zone F-Boy approach.

The complaints from this guy that make Mass Effect 2 the worst game ever?

Bu-Bu-Bu..the aliens all speak English

Bu-Bu-Bu..If you see crates..then you know you got to fight

Bu-bu-Bu..the game has log books and recording that tell me plot info

Bu-Bu-Bu..theres a blue square around objects that let me know that I should interface with it

Bu-Bu-Bu..they sell fish for the captain's fish tank at the stores

Bu-Bu-Bu..every character had a backstory

LMFAO..You could easily write an essay in rebuttle of each item..but don't bother. Not one of those 'personal' F-boy gripes come remotely close to ruining the experience that Bioware has crafted for all to enjoy. In fact, what you'll see is hypocrisy at it's finest when you prove that many other games have the same faults.

The haters are just pebbles in the sand on the beach..but games like Mass Effect 2 rarely come along.

So congrats to Bioware...they absolutely deserve every ounce of praise and success they get for this game.

Evil

[Saaking]

This article brings up some good points. Personally, I agree with most of the list; however, I wouldn't say they're failures. That's too harsh, especially considering that these small flaws don't really affect the overall quality of the game. A better title for this article would be "Way to Improve Mass Effect 2" or something like that.

[lord_of_balrogs]

"Mass Effect 2 places you within a bustling galaxy packed with many alien species and cultures. Unfortunately, they all speak English and have human mannerisms. They are alien in look only, which is quite lazy on the part of the designers. Perhaps Bioware believes people can’t stomach subtitles or have low reading comprehension. Whatever their reasoning, Mass Effect 2 reminds me of several TV shows recently, like Rome and the new Spartacus,"

Epic fail right there. This was explained in Mass Effect as everyone is equipped with a translator allowing for coherent conversation which is continually updated by the extranet.

[Ausbo]

"Bioware has a long and strong heritage in producing top-notch RPG games. What they don’t have is much experience making action games, first-person-shooters specifically, and this lack of experience is in full display"

whoever wrote this should first realize this is not a first-person shooter.

While fanboys are keep trying to bash this game, i enjoy every minute of it. It is the best rpg of this gen. Fanboys are just gonna have to accept it.

oh and look who submitted the article hahahahahaha.

[Rush]

Wow dude I actually agree with you on something, and you wasn't bias for once good job.

Its just an opinion piece really although the header is a little harsh. I can't really blame people for jumping the boat with that title but read the article.

[Bnet343]

- Ghost of Sparta - - contributor

lol

[wicko]

I don't think the game deserves to be called a failure at all, but I definitely agree with most of his points. At least what he felt was wrong with the game, but not necessarily his ideas to fix it.

He missed a few things that bothered me about the game, specifically about how most conversations you have are interrogations. You always go for "Investigate" and get every bit of conversation they're willing to give up. I guess the most of the conversations seem a bit one-sided. It would be nice to see conversations be a bit more fluid and realistic.

[Tony P]

Severely disappointed with this article.

You can easily come up with ways to improve supposedly perfect games but to say they don't deserve success in the first place is bitter indeed.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Playstation fanboys will love this bash blog. I thought you all were playing it on PC? The PS3 boys here on N4G will hate on it because of its high praise and it's not on the PS3.

As for the blog the guy clearly has an agenda, a few points were valid but the rest were just... huh?. After reading the blob/blog it became clear that this guy could have just read all this info from other reviews and Mass Effect 2 forums to form a hate blog to get hits.

No game is perfect and there are a few things I would have changed. This guy just sounds bitter about something.

[BYE]

Yes, Mass Effect 2 has flaws. No game is perfect.

But if the strengths make you overlook the weaknesses, you know you have a great game. This is exactly the case with ME2.

[JonnyBadfinger]

I love the game... havent played anything else since i got it. This article is pretty sad, sure little annoying things exist within the game. But the same problems exist in all games.

Though i did laugh at his nit picking, i reckon the worst thing about ME2 is how they scaled all the major Planets and the Citadel down in scale. I liked the Citadel back in ME1 i felt more open (which it was) and actually felt like the main focus of the galaxy.

But yeah stop trying to bash on a game thats near perfect jst because you hyped it to hell in your own mind that it didnt meet your expectations.

thats a lesson for everyone, DONT BELIEVE ANYONE ELSES HYPE OR EVEN YOUR OWN.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

I agree entirely with the introduction about game critics' failure to do their job but the writer's own criticisms for the game are odd.

It's as simple as this:

1) This is an rpg, not a shooter. Make equipment customizable again and have your difficulty settings actually mean something - the game is retardedly easy.

2) Write an endgame that actually makes your 30 hours game feel like it was worthwhile and meant something. This entry in the trilogy is practically a nonevent.

[Nihilism]

Firstly i'm not clicking the link, no article with a trash headline like that deserves hits.

But I just finished it 5 minutes ago, 44hrs 39minutes.

It is the best RPG I've ever played without question, and possible even the best game.

I loved every single part of it.

The best story and direction of any game in years. Not one quest was boring, and I finished every side quest, every planet 100% explored, all upgrades all party members 100% loyal. Most games get so boring you skip the side stuff. Not this little gem.

Going to play it again with a New-Game-Plus.....that is after I repair my relationship with my GF as I have not spoken to her in 4 days because I was playing ME2 non stop....even though we live together...it was that good.

EDIT:

LOL@ idiots claiming that this game is primarily a TPS.

Level system, skills, classes, weapon upgrades, dialogue trees, multiple endings, ship upgrades, choice system, loyalty system, equipable items, cusomisable armour ( both stats and appearance ), party member choices and recruiting.

Those things make an RPG. It is not just an ARPG either because you can pause combat to make commands and issue orders.

[Pika-pie]

The only thing I dont like about Mass Effect 2 so far is the piloting of your ship around the system and then the refuling and travelling to the next system routine of exploration.

It looks so cheap and tacky piloting your ship around like this, I much prefered it in ME1.

[heroprotagonist]

Every game has little nitpicks like these. Uncharted 2 was also a AAA game and it had little things about it that bothered me. Or maybe not even bothered me, but just I noticed certain things. Similar things to Mass Effect 2, like when you are in a battle you will see things conveniently placed for you to use as cover. Like on the train the way the boxes were stacked or placed was convenient to have a shootout with, but wouldn't be the way the boxes would be stacked in real life. Big deal.
Those kinds of things didn't hurt the experience in Uncharted 2 and they didn't hurt the experience in Mass Effect 2.

The title of the article was flamebait and completely unnecessary. I think it is pretty obvious it was written to generate hits.

[Sarcasm]

This was actually a pretty good article that puts things in perspective. But honestly, you just have to be a negative minded person to only focus on the things ME2 didn't do well. How about focus on the things ME2 DOES Well? The list goes on and on, and personally the high review scores is justified. It's only when true mediocrity gets praised like Halo 3 or ODST is when a flag should be raised.

[DatNJDom81]

might not be perfect, but at the end of the day its a great game. This article isnt necessary. No game is perfect.

[FamilyGuy]

But I still found this article very interesting. It doesn't sound like he made up anything (they're all real gripes) and he gave ways to improve everything he nit picked about. BUT at the same time many games suffer(?) from similar problems and I guess that's were his "Bioware should be held at a higher standard" thinking comes into place.

"In fact, what you'll see is hypocrisy at it's finest when you prove that many other games have the same faults."

^EVILDEAD360 mentions this in a way that make HIM seem like the hypocrite as he doesn't realize that other games that had issues like these (small or not) did NOT receive critical acclaim and high review score from every review without any mention of ANY of the games faults.

I couldnt care less either way and I really have no interest in this game in the first place BUT I was VERY interested in seeing if this article was fudd or if the author had an intelligent argument behind the claims of his "eye-catching" title.

I wonder what the rest of his "56 reasons" were.

"failures" is definitely not the correct term to use but saying "ways to improve Mass Effect" is not as click-invoking.

[SaberEdge]

Mass Effect 2 is simply one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had.

As far as the subject of this article, I like what Videogamer said in their review of Mass Effect 2:

"We're trying desperately to think of something to moan about, just so this review doesn't sound too much like a Mass Effect love-in, but we can't. The side missions are a bit abrupt. The game still takes too long to load. And your party members will occasionally get in your line of sight. But these annoyances are as inconsequential as a fly landing on a whale's back."

That's how I feel.

[DeepInterludium]

Article is dead on. Anyone who disagrees just has rose colored glasses.

Look at ME1, terrible game, people hated parts of it but didn't want to admit it. They convinced themselves it was better than it really was. After ME2 comes out the truth on ME1 really comes out from reviewers about just how bad ME1 was.

Same thing will happen with ME2.

[hay]

Now let me get this straight. Mass Effect 2 is great game. It's a 9 and if it'll end with higher note I'll be disappointed.

I love the series but liked the first more with it's rights or wrongs.

"Mako Gone = Great, Planet Survey = Bad"
While I did like Mako, most fans didn't enjoy it at all. I understand. But they promised more variety in space exploration. They failed.

"The British Romans Effect"
Well, they didn't have actual aliens to fill the roles with. Also there are lot of cultural references in pretty much every race. Someone played without having attention to dialogs.

"Awful Combat Stages"
It's repetitive and schematic, but they're just b*tchy.

"Bioware Still Searching for Effective Interface"
I don't care, you shouldn't either.

"Too Little Interaction with Environment"
It's limited, yeah. Want more? Play Alone in the Dark.

"Repetitive Time Fillers"
Quick and easy way to get additional credits.

"Mission Arcs"
Bioware is known from making good game from their templates. If it works...

"False Sense of Complexity"
Now this is utter bulls**t. I play my first playthrough on Insanity. Doing that you appreciate every bit of cover you can find, you squeeze 100% of your ammo and powers, you have to use pretty much every asset you have.
I'd suggest this kid to play on something more challenging than easy.

[maxxb117]

Every good thing make up for the bad things. I didn't like some of the points in the article (most don't bother me) but the graphics, the story, the characters' personalities, the epic intro, Zaeed, the limited edition armors, the sex, the pacing, the quests...

I may also point out that the video cutscenes on the PC version (don't know about console) is sub-par to the in-game engine cutscenes.

[Reibooi]

I LOVE the game and will say that the good things FAR outweigh the bad however most of the points in this article are dead on. However the only one I don't agree with is the problem that all the aliens speak English and act human.

I like the fact that they are speaking English. It makes the game way easier to follow and with the amount of alien races in the game it would have been nearly impossible to come up with a language for each one.

As far as the aliens all acting human that's BS. I don't know about you but the Vorcha don't act very human at all. That's just one example.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

I've got more games than I can play between both my PS3 and 360 and I still feel Mass Effect 2 is so far one of the best games I've played this generation and in my top 3 RPGs ever.

The game is good no matter what kind of excuses you want to make up.

[Gamingisfornerds]

And I loved it! It's just right up my alley. 96% on Metacritic is deserved imo.

But, every single point this article states is 100% valid. The title of the article is a bit ridiculously negative and overdone, but everything he says is true.

Still, the game is absolutely fantastic and a must buy.

[vhero]

I agree with several points and say although they are not game killing points they do knock the game down a tad. They did however miss the fact a game that goes around calling itself an RPG can be completed in less than 10 hours with relative ease. I completed it in 13 hours with ALL the side missions including DLC. That is quite pathetic not only for an so called RPG (which I don't think it is) but a modern day game demanding an RRP of £40. Especially considering there is no online play to keep re-playability alive. So you play for 13 or so hours and never play again?? Unless you really fancy playing through again but I really can't be bothered. People should just rent the game as no matter how great it is its terribly short!

[Hoggy1983]

"96 on matacrit is way overflatted. a 92-94 is alot more acceptable"

Seriously, that whole ramble filled with ridiculous comments about the 360 having no good games boils down to 2%? Your right 94% is a big step down from 96%.

Secondly, look at Sparta posting this. His comment history is completely anti-360. Can we just filter his contributions, approved or not, from the 360 news page?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Nice lie vhero, try harder next time you make it obvious.

[ChineseDemocracy]

It's a great game, why can't they leave it at that? Articles like this are just trying to start flamewars, not to mention get hits for their unknown mediocre sites.

[Ausbo]

it is not possible to complete all the side missions and dlc in 13 hours. It is not. You probably missed many side missions and played on casual if that is the case.

However, you probably don't even own the game and are just trying to bash it.

Remember, exporing and talking with your shipmates is a big part of the game.

[vickers500]

@callahan09

Post a similar article about a ps3 exclusive such as UC2, KZ2, or MGS4. I guarantee you the comments section will just say "this article is stupid" without even reading it. Go ahead, try it. In fact, just search n4g for some previous articles, there are already some on here.

Do not question whether or not he has read the article if you also do not question the moronic comments shown on an article criticizing a ps3 exclusive. To the commenters of this site, you are only allowed to criticize a 360 exclusive. If it's a ps3 exclusive, then no matter how many true points you make, you are automatically deemed a fanboy.

[vhero]

@Ausbo WTF I have the game for the PC TBH I only did the loyalty missions/DLC and main missions none of the crappy side missions but I did them all in 13 hours. @Jason 360 shut the hell up will ya? Stop being a fan boy you suck up to 360 and stick up for the game but you probably ain't even got it. If I missed loyalty and DLC I could do entire story in less than 10 hours EASY. I am not dissing the game as I enjoyed the short time I played it I was just majorly p***ed it was over so damn quick. One of the shortest games I have EVER played. They should have at least stuck a crappy multiplayer in there for long-ability but heaven forbid that would bring the scores down wouldn't it?

[Major_Tom]

I just beat ME2 twice and I have to say it's not better than the first one, there are things I would keep for ME3 from ME2 but it feels like a dumbed down console shooters with similar rpg elements, still love the game. Closer to a 8.5/10 than a 9.6/10

[THE MAX SPEED 21]

tryna get hits.

[-Alpha]

It would be a riot!

I'm pretty sure ME2 has its flaws and only someone who has played the game would understand them, so kudos for the author for offering constructive points.

[ActionBastard]

You must've missed the UC2 release on N4G Alpha Male, those articles were there. I won't hate the game until I play it for myself on PS3...which apparently will happen.

[-Alpha]

My bad :P

The game is astonishing, but if you want what I think sucked:

-Bad stealth AI (good stealth mechanics though-- killing in stealth is awesome)

-Derivative boss battles (twice with the yeti creatures/guardians and even the final boss resulted in running in circles blind-firing)

-Multiplayer quitting (though the inclusion of MP itself had me so happy)

-Cover mechanics sometimes cumbersome (usually in tight corners)

But overall it's a fantastic mater piece. Naughty Dog has always been a favorite of mine but to think that the same guys who made a little platformer would turn out to be Sony's biggest studio is a dream come true.

I love Uncharted 2, but I actually still like Jak 2 the best. The boss battles were much better, the story was cool, and I loved the GTA-like city. Two different games, I know, but I'm just such a Naughty Dog fan.

I am dying for a Jak 4.

[Hoggy1983]

Some idiot will now go and create a "many failures of MAG" article. Please don't if you're that person!

[ASSASSYN 36o]

First the mako drove like crap in ME1 and any sci-fi fan should know by now if faster than light travel is possible...then why wouldn't a universal translator of closely socialized aliens not be.

A suspension of reality is the fun part of gaming. This author is thinking way too much into it...or not enough.

And this game is an RPG before it will ever be a third person shooter. That has been stated so many times.

And if the nut who wrote this article is such a fan of bioware games. Then how come he missed the similarities in most of them. Same complaints can be applied to past bioware RPG's.

[Cenobia]

Have you ever seen Farscape? They explain the same "universal language" problem by inserting a translator chip into everyone (I think they were nanomachines or something similar). I thought that was a pretty cool way to explain that away.

I haven't played ME2, but if they never explained why everyone speaks english, I think that would annoy me too. It's a pretty minor point overall, but I'd start wondering if humans were supposed to be the superior race or something (which I don't really find believable). Then again I know ME2 must have A LOT of dialog, so an explanation could be hidden somewhere.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Yes I have seen farscape and thought it was stupid. And I believe you meant superior species which never comes out in the dialog. Most influential species. Possibly. I have only beat the game twice on the same story arc (1 out of 2) which I will not spoil for you. But humans have a very powerful position of influence in the galaxy. And as I said...suspend reality on the universal english language issue and have fun.

[Cenobia]

What?! Farscape was awesome! It had some awesome special effects for its time (at least that's how I remember it) and MUPPETS! Come on now, muppet aliens should automatically make it an 8/10 is anyone's book.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

You are a little too happy with the muppets.

[Troll_Police]

The author has some good points but the game is still good, especially on PC.

[wanderofys]

Agreed. I enjoy the game, it's fun. However, every single thing he said in this article is true.

[nnotdead]

i agree but ithink he may have missed something. i dnt remember if it was in the first one, but i hate how the enemies infinitely respawn until you move up to a certain point. i have no idea why any games still uses this technique.

[RyuCloudStrife]

wow 4 pages of improvements

[ZombieRollz]

These failures will be fixed on the superior PS3 version. The PC version I played had audio cutting out occasionally. But I'm sure the PS3 version won't have that.

[blitz0623]

Another nitpicking article. Ok I understand the article is just trying to show the flaws of the game and it's also appreciating it, but come on, can't we just all enjoy this masterpiece? Every game has its flaws, ME2 has its flaws, but its magnificence overshadows all of them.

Stop trying to get hits.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

With all the failures on the PS3 you droids want this game bad.

[ZombieRollz]

@Jason

Failures like this?

http://www.openmediaboston....

Or Like this?

http://theavidgamer.files.w...

Nuff said. Move along.

[Trebius]

You get 1 good exclusive game since Gears 2 (which wasnt good), and you're out here puffing your chest like your system's the sh!t.

Sit down and shut up...you're the biggest loser on n4g, kid. :)

On topic: I didnt find anything wrong with ME2 personally, I see those points, and I'll call them, but I cant raise anymore of my own...cause I just think the game is thoroughly enjoyable.

I wouldn't really call this a flamebait article considering the points he brought up are true, and ME1 didnt focus so much on the shooting aspect of the game like this one, which says a lot about the 360 demographic, they all want shooters.

@above

Saddest part is, they've never played uncharted, so they dont even know that beautiful screenshot is from uncharted ONE. lol. And it owns everything on their gimped last gen system.

[ChrisW]

This is the Open Zone. The Idiot Zone is that way! -->

[heroprotagonist]

I would bet anything that Mass Effect 2 will not be coming to the PS3. But I guarantee you that if it ever did it would run and look noticeably worse. It has the kind of graphics that the 360 is good at and the PS3 is poor at. It's just not the kind of game that would run particularly well on the PS3.

[Nihilism]

That's strange because in my 44 hours of ME2 the sound didn't cut out once, maybe it's all that blue vein you've been smoking, that's gone to your head, making you imagine that you have actually played it.

I don't know what those UC2 screenshots were supposed to prove, but those sure were some ow res textures and I noticed a jagged edge or 10...thousand.

@ZombieRollz

You have not played the game, you just picked that DLC code B.S out of your ass because it was 'news' the other day.

Codes work perfect for me first time.

Proof that you don't know what you're talking about:

THERE IS NO HELMET IN THE DLC.

[ZombieRollz]

Yawn, poor bots are upset because I've actually downloaded and played the game. For the tard who said their audio was fine, check this out:

http://www.giantbomb.com/ma...
http://www.google.com/searc...
http://www.google.com/searc...

Just because your version worked correctly doesn't mean it didn't work for everyone.

Also, DLC and Helmet codes didn't work for me, and there's countless little annoyances that just cause a huge clusterfvck that pulls away from the game. I've stated it countless times, it's no better than an 8.5, an AA title. Get over it, bots.

[Udidntlistenpunk]

THAT is how corrupt the gaming industry is. The 360 version is only rated higher because they think this is another 360 "exclusive", when the game is coming to the PS3 and is already available on the PC.

Note that 360 has no games and has no DLC.

GTA4 DLC
Fallout DLC
Mass effect
Kane and Lynch
Oblivion
Dead Rising
Lost Planet
Star Ocean 4
Eternal Sonata
Ninja Gaiden
Dead or Alive

Hell, even Blue Dragon has gone to the Nintendo DS. And Sakaguchi's "long awaited exclusive" that xbots bragged about for months, turned out to be a Nintendo Wii exclusive game. Hahaha.

[ChrisW]

The bar is much higher for PC games. In terms of graphics, mechanics, and so on.

Take Dragon Age Origins for example; if they released the same thing that they did for the consoles, especially for the mechanics, it would have scored by far less than the consoles did. Man, the consoles have CRAP for mechanics/interface in comparison! As for the graphics, well that's a no-brainer. Today's average PCs on the market can out perform any of the consoles and use only about half of its processing power.

So there you go. It's the level of the bar for that platform in particular. Plain and simple.

[Udidntlistenpunk]

Rofl dumbass xbot, so you admit that the PC is the superior platform over the 360 and that PC games are superior to their 360 port equavalents. In other words, you also admit that Mass Effect 2 PC is vastly superior to ME2 360.

Hahaha owned.

And if the standard is so much higher on the PC and the PS3, then never compare their games with the inferior console 360 games. Because comparisons can only be done on an equal footing.

Rofl xbot.

[ChrisW]

Look, I know you're sitting in 3-weeks old whitie-tighties in your grandma's basement hiding behind the facade of your avatar getting all daffy like a snot-nosed crackbaby suckling his mom's pock-marked teet every time you try to troll, but I think you need to learn WHEN and HOW to shut the hell up! Because you won't win!

Well, at least you've used your last pissy-little bubble on this topic.

BTW, of course the PC is vastly superior. Just like I am vastly superior to you! Yeah! That was a taunt! You little pissant!

[Iceberg032]

to bash a great game on little petty stuff? In that case every game can get bashed because no game can please everybody and no game is perfect it only takes common sense to know that a game is great even though it might not be your kind of game!

[nnotdead]

i dnt think its bashing the game. more stating what should be improved for the 3rd one.

[moe84]

If there's no need to bash a game, then there's no need to give a game praise either.

All reviews are good reviews, even the bad ones.

[jarrod1981]

never heard of this site. obviously a bunch of d-bags

[LostCypher11]

wow half of these are useless complaints. this guy just seems to be hit hunting on a great game. Scrap the Log book and add in memories? Really? thanks but no thanks. I'd rather skim over a quick log of past actions then have to sit through a memory every time i want to recheck a single detail. Sure the Game has a few draw backs. No game is perfect. But I'd this game does come damn close. The story is so engaging. The combat is really fun on higher difficulties. and character development is some of the best in Recent years when it comes to video games

[MeatAbstract]

No game is pefect. But hey, everyone a critic these days, right? Focus purely on the negative and thats all you'll get from a game. Just try and enjoy it, ok?

[QQcrybaby]

Mass Effect 2 is a giant improvement over Mass Effect 1 and is one of the top 5 rpgs ever imo (up there with BG2 and Fallout 2).

[Tony P]

While the criticisms have some merit... the article is not constructive at all accusing BioWare of "getting away with murder" and the game itself of being completely overrated.

Any game can be improved. No game is perfect. But it's an entirely different level of insulting to say that the game doesn't deserve it's success *at all* and mask it as "helpful hints". And they're not even complaints about the core concepts of the game.

So imo this is just a hate blog. Not some "it needs to be said" article. Sad how the writer frames himself as some kind of iconoclast when it's really a thinly veiled excuse to get attention for bashing the latest thing.

Well, congrats. It worked.

[Double Toasted]

in the same sentence...makes no sense!

[Godmars290]

Considering that ME is becoming such a icon in the industry, how isn't it seen as a failing that the alien races in the game have no real trace of being alien except in appearance? Avatar's been called a so-so movie and yet its die-hard fans want to learn Na'vi.

[spektical]

avatar is a fantastic movie, it will be breaking the titanic in the box office. The movie was a perfect blend of action, drama. I see it as a pocahontas in the future.

[Ashriel]

Did you play the game? do you remember Mordin? the Vorcha? the Hanar? the Elcor? the Keepers? the Geth?

None of those mentioned act like human beings. Excepting the salarians, maybe, but the way they speak is unique to their race.

[Godmars290]

No, haven't played the game, but from the intro video on GT Christoper Loyd, any character pretending to be on speed, could play him in the movie w/o make-up.

Now do that again with the concept that his language is so complex that when he or his species speaks fast translators can't keep up and Shepard has to deal with that, then you've got the beginning of something.

Also, as someone who's yet played the game, when you speak of the Vorcha, the Hanar, the Elcor and the Keepers, are you talking about "common" alien races in the game? Races that make up the general galactic community that you're suppose to be fighting for and recruiting from? I mean you name the Geth yet I know they're the bad guys who are never portrayed as "human."

[Ashriel]

maybe, but the language is a detail, far from having "no real trace of being alien except in appearance" so that point is definitively not a failure

[denimsky]

It's funny that no one complains about every non native English speakers speaking English with some accents in UC/UC2.

[Ashriel]

I agree with some of his points, like the mineral harvesting. But the others are just small problems that can be solved in the next game.

I'm pretty sure Bioware will adress this complaints, just like they adressed the ones for ME1.

But calling it an overrated mess, is just hating.

[ktchong]

BioWare started out making action games first. Their first two games were Shattered Steel (action) and MDK (3rd-person shooter.)

BioWare has been making action games and 3-person shooters for a very long time -- actually much longer than they've been making RPGs.

[Gamer7l]

....but surely you didn't expect this moron to know that. :o What a waste of space (the article AND the author).

[JonnyBigBoss]

Of course it isn't perfect, but it's damn near close.

[ktchong]

mikeslemonade: "Mass Effect 2 isn't a 96. In reality it's a 93."

Except The PC version of Mass Effect 2 has a Metacritic score of 95. Reviewers have noted that the PC and Xbox 360 versions are virtually identical. 96 and 95 are virtually identical scores.

... seems like mikeslemonade was suggesting that the PC version was also, inflated.

[GSpartan777]

"In Closing

In terms of media criticism, Mass Effect 2 has gotten away with murder. If any other company had released this game it would not have received perfect scores across the board. "

This is the overall criticism that has been going on for years towards game reviewers which this article points out and he is right. Many of the top rated games, doesn't have to be Xbox360, PS3 and Wii games also walk away from it as well, tend to get high reviews despite their flaws while other games from either smaller or indie developers get destroyed by reviewers only pointing out the flaws.

It's a well written article and its why I do not base my purchase of what reviewers say. Ofcourse it might seem like a personal attack towards Mass Effect but had it have been another top rated game it would be the same. P.S Mass Effect 2 is still the best game to come out this years. Just saying.

[glennhkboy]

My biggest complain for ME2 is NO Loot, minimal personal upgrade/ power. Essentially, ME2 is a TPS with RPG element. Just like FFXIII, why take away parts that I don't think anyone complain??? (FFXIII-no town; ME2-no looting)??

[englandsbest316]

Still reeling from the fact that PS3 bayonetta is gimped and that the flopstation still doesn't have any AAA games this year.

All the while 360 fans are thoroughly enjoying their superior version of Bayonetta and of course the highest scoring game this year..... Mass Effect 2.

[ZombieRollz]

Still reeling from the fact that the Xbox has had no games for the past two years and that the PleaseFixMe still doesn't have any AAA exclusive games this year.

All the while PS3 fans are thoroughly enjoying their superior console and of course the highest scoring exclusive game of last year..... Uncharted 2.

Wordplay, b!tch. Eat it.

[heroprotagonist]

Get out of here with your arrogant fanboy crap.

Do you really expect anybody to take you seriously when you say the 360 hasn't had any games for the past two years? The 360 has had more games released in the past two years than the PS3 has.

Everything you said is fanboy delusion at its worst. If you like the PS3 better, fine. But the PS3 is not superior. I have both consoles and they both have advantages over the other. I prefer the 360 for a variety of reasons, but I don't go trying to shove that opinion down other peoples' throats.

[DarkSniper]

Mass Effect 2 is certainly been devised as a counter productive exit towards the inevitable Xbox 360's demise. With it's gameplay and features clearly suffering due to the Xbox 360's inferior architecture, Mass Effect 2 is going to the wasteland where all the spawns and demons of the gaming world that Sony created lay to perish.

Mass Effect 2 will be the host of all of the upcoming Xbox 360 games that will suffer a laughable demise. Halo (out of)Reach, Alan Wake(die), Splinter Cell(Solid) Conviction, Queers of Bore 3 are among those that will certainly suffer right along with Mass Effect 2. This is the library of the market that once tried to corrupt gaming but has been eradicated.

EA has only one hope if they wish to save this coveted franchise, or lack there of, is by focusing all of it's human manpower towards PlayStation®3. By taking advantage of Sony's opportunistic and ergonomic interior design, Bioware will be able to enhance the evenflow and ingenuity of the smooth development process that only PlayStation®3 provides.

Microslaves, if you ever want to see your Mass Defect evolve like you imbeciles think it will. Then you too should be praying to your Aaron Greenburg that this title gets it's proper treatment. By evolutionizing the series to PlayStation®3.

Otherwise, it will remain the dumpster juice that it is.

$niper

[Rockox]

Playstation is a registered trademark.

[RagTagBnd445]

I hope you not saying that the PS3 is superior to the PC, but only to the 360. If you are saying PS3 is better than PC, then there is something wrong.

[Campy da Camper]

I am a PS fanboy and I picked this up day 1 for PC. Hell ya it'a a great game. Some minor defects here or there but a great RGP nontheless...

So what's your point? The food chain is quite simple:

PC > PS3 > 360.

End of story.

[Magna Farta]

...but considering my eternal love for that old classic Starflight, and seeing the closest thing to it's sequel in Mass Effect, something tells me the changes made will make me not like Mass effect 2.

Another red flag is the blind, rabid defense, which tells me that there REALLY are things wrong with the game, but everyone's giving it a pass without accepting criticism. And I know full well this writer went about it in a real d!ckhole fashion, but maybe he has some valid arguments.

The exclusion of the Mako is a huge turn-off for me in the game. A lot of my enjoyment of the 1st game came from physically exploring planets, (like in starflight :D). But now apparently that's gone, and with it goes some of my enthusiasm.

Another red flag for me personally was the change in genre from "RPG" to "Story-driven shooter". While this may still make it a good game, if it's true that most RPG elements (if not all) have been removed, then playing it just won't feel like Mass Effect for me.

I was considering buying another 360 just to play this game, but now I think I'll put that idea on the backburner.

I'm anticipating boatloads of disagrees, most of which by rabid fangirls who get butthurt at the notion of any criticism against their precious, but bear in mind I have yet to play this game, and I may be wrong on some parts, so if you do disagree, at least reply with something constructive instead of being a prick.

[heroprotagonist]

Hmm... your loss.

[Magna Farta]

that wasn't exactly constructive, but then again I don't really believe you read the whole thing, so yeah....I think that says a lot

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Well you seem to be in the minority when it comes to preferring the Mako exploration.. I like the way the traveling and exploration is done in ME2 better. Makes the game feel tighter and keeps the story and action flowing.. There were some real Zzzz moments in ME1 with the Mako exploration.

I don't know where you've come up with this Shooter with RPG elements. This game is a Role Playing Game at it's heart just not as deep as a JRPG. I actually prefer this better..

[wanderofys]

There are some real zzzzz moments probing planets too, but at least with the Mako you got to drive around and do something besides look at a graph based planet and press one button on it every once in while. Seriously, probing planets sucked. Yeah, the Mako wasn't perfect, but rather than fixing it up a bit and making it better, they scrapped it for a craptastic mini game? Psh. I never once got the feeling I was actually exploring anything when probing, just moving that tiny little ship from dumb mini game to dumb mini game. A small wall of text describing the planet just didn't quite do it for me.

[Xi]

walks away.

[Lord Vader]

No game is perfect. But Mass Effect 1 & 2 are 2 of the absolute best games I've played this Gen = Period.

Bioware Rulez.

[chrisulloa]

Oh my, the blogger sure is butthurt.

[labwarrior]

Right ???

Well, at least Mass Effect 2 is not a 5 hour, totally linear shooter like Uncharted 2, and has customization and a deep combat system, plus 30-40 hours of gameplay

[GiantEnemyCrab]

bu bu the graphics!

[moe84]

Two completely different genres of games. RPG games tend to have more content than pretty much everything else.

Besides, 360 has more than its share of short games. Definitely not worth 50-60 bucks you pay for them, new.

[Shadow Man]

Time to EAT Droids!!!

[likeaboss302]

It took me about 40 hrs. to beat ME2 on Veteran. I enjoyed every minute of it. I do agree with the points brought up in this article. However, I wouldn't consider any of them failures. Just ways to improve the game for the third installment. It can't come soon enough!

[Sinkway]

The Quarians, Volus and Geth dont speak english, they have a voice translator in their masks.

[Foxgod]

Yeah, the author must be pretty stupid to think that the aliens are actually speaking english.

Loads of humans probably dont speak english either in the game, it just sounds english trough Shepards voice translater module, that everybody in mass effect space has.

Besides, numerous creatures swear in Mass effect, and swears are not translated, so you get to hear the actual alien word.

Just like Star trek.

This article writer is a Bosh'Tet!

[Gamer_Z]

i'm thinking if this game had come out on the PS3 all the fanboys would be saying its best game of all time, but since it came out on the xbox360 there bashing it. fanboys are so predictable. As for this article those so called failures aren't even a big deal there not even big enough to be called failures. the only thing that failed was this article.

@mikeslemonade you sir are a fanboy

[thief]

The question is not "if" it will come out on PS3 but when - so if there are any 360 owners holding on to this as a mascot for the 360 or PS3 owners bashing it for being on 360, dont bother. The PC version is better anyway than any 360/PS3 version (and thats true for most games).
And its a great game, but every game has flaws, some of his points are spot on such as
"Any time you leave a hallway and enter a large room packed with crates and low walls you know one thing for sure: combat is coming. It’s the same boring environment over and over...No subtlety, no surprises"
Or his comment on the false sense of complexity
Where ME rules is in its story and the completely different world it has created. The combat, cover system are average and some of the supposed RPG elements are simplistic or not tied in to the gameplay well. Still a 95 game in my book.

[Mottsy]

it should be a 92 or 94 .....thats a 2-4% differnt. does it really matter that much. ur the kind of person that goes to a garage sales and it cost 50 cents and u bargain em down to 45 cents..cmon man. the game is good. of course it has flaws. what game doesnt. but its minor nothing major. dont sweat the small Sh!t.

[horndog]

trying to downplay this masterpiece just because it's not going to the ps3. CRY MOAR DROIDS.

[hamoor]

and when an article talk about MAG flaws all ps3 fans switch to defence mode but when it about an xbox or xbox pc game then they will say
He is actually right and no game is perfect

[billabong1985]

Biggest fail of that article, apart the obvious of making huge deals out of minor niggles that don't see how they actually detract from the experience unless you actively want them to, is where he complains that the alien species 'all speak English and have human mannerisms'.

I think somebody already pointed out that there's an in game explanation that everybody has translators so they can communicate with other species, plus what would he prefer, the aliens to all speak foreign languages that you can't understand. What's more believable, that everybody has translators, or that everybody can understand every language spoken by every alien in the universe!

Secondly, anybody who complains that all the aliens have human mannerisms and aren't distinct enough obviously hasn't spoken to an Elcor or a Hanar, or visited the Krogan home world and seen the differences in cultures. Obviously any bipedal alien is going to share some human characteristics, but it would be fairly difficult to intereact with another species if they didn't share anything with humans wouldn't it!

[onyxbox]

I'm glad that someone has pointed out the things in this article. ME2 does deserve a lot of credit for being a great package overall but it shouldn't make it exempt from criticism like this.

I'm really enjoying the game but I can't really disagree with anything in this article. All the suggestions would improve the game.

I don't see why so many 'Fans' can't cope with some constructive criticism.

Hearing game reviewers rave about the combat and environments like they're the best the world has ever seen is just wrong and some balance needs to be restored.

The combat is still a poor mans Gears of War or Uncharted 2, they're no physics to the environments, everything is corridors and box rooms with cover points. They got rid of inventory system altogether and there's very little looting. The vehicle sections were scrapped and we do now how a very boring planet scan thing in it's place. Even the hacking games are so simple they're not entertaining or challenging in any way. The menu's are still a mess and the hub world maps are a joke.

Just because I can see these things doesn't mean I can't enjoy the game... I just wish reviewers etc. would at least acknowledge these issues instead of gushing endlessly over everything in the game, get a grip for a second and look at the game a little more objectively.

ME2 is a poor mans Gears with dialog trees and a few RPG elements. It has a number of flaws but overall the experience is very entertaining, sometimes exciting and above all fun.

[Silber]

First: Played through it yesterday and it was one of the best Games i ever played.

Second: There are ony two Things that i dont like.
1. The Planet Minig for Ressources is very very awful.
2. The looong wait for Mass Effect 3 now^^

Third: What an arguement is this "english Speaking Alien" one? Please its good that they have a real voice and not some Sim-gibberish. Every Person have a Auto-translate tool. i know thats not very creative, but hey its the only way to understand that Aliens:)

Shepard: Greetings Turian, do you know where i can find the Office?
Turian: QWej kdso pskdw kpsd spkdr fspdskd der
Shepard: Oh.. ah - gotta go, i have to pee

[kraze07]

Screw what some of you other people think, I loved driving the Mako in the first game.

[PirateThom]

To me, the planet exploration is the only failing, landing on a planet and being able to explore it before doing the missions on that planet. They stripped that away and, personally, I think it's for worse. I loved that feeling in ME of landing on a planet and just observing empty space on it or that planet who's name escapes me where the sun was very close and red and you could see the flares. Amazing. If ME2 fails anywhere it's that the locations aren't anywhere near as interesting.

Everything else though (story, gameplay, graphics, voice acting, upgrade system) is all great, it's hard to complain about anything.

[N4BmpS]

Okay he wrote entirely too much for me to read right now, so I'm not gonna read it; I will say this however, this seems like a slander article more than an unbiased one. To be fair not everyone is going to like everything about ME2 and shouldn't be expected too.

[Spiden80]

I am both a ps3 owner and 360 owner, even though i prefer my ps3, i do enjoy an xbox game from time to time. I've played the first mass effect and am now playing mass effect 2 and if anything, i'll take planet scanning over driving around endlessly for minerals anyday of the week thank you very much. Some points in this article i do agree with, but for the most part, stop hating a wonderful game.

There will never be a perfect game, just like us humans are not perfect. The gameplay is great, i'm engulfed in the story, i don't care how the story is told to me, as long as its a good story, i'm sold.

Great day to be a gamer in my opinion, regardless of console.

[keysy420]

but your right this whole gen the 360 has been able to get away with mediocricy. almost like a 2.5 generation , but still people love them for it ( that's what you get when kids buy into something it doesnt have to be quality just cheap and work.. sometimes. mass effect sucks jsut to be plain and simple i am a rpg fan at heart my favorite genre, mass effect rank with two world to me just terrible. mass effect 2 cant be that much of a improvement either. I just gave away me dragon age, after you dont play it every day its becomes really really stale and boring. bioware has a core following of about 2- 3 million so no matter what they will sell 2 to 3 million but what does that mean. nothing 360 fanboys will buy games jsut to talk about ps3 games not selling when games and developers arent getting aa fair shake.
LOOK YOU RETARDED FANBOYS NINTENDO SONY AND MS AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE, MS IS NEVER GOING TO MAKE GAMES BETTER THAN SONY OR NINTENDO, BUT THEY WILL HAVE GREAT SOFTWARE FOR THERE SYSTEM. SO GO OUT A BUY GAMES BECAUSE YOUR MISSING THE BEST OF THIS GENERATION.

stop supporting mediocricy, its the reason i didnt buy bayonetta or darksiders, because the quality of these titles are chit compared to what is coming.Mag isnt getting the support it deserves its getting 7.0 and crap like that, i don't now what planet anyone is living on the rank this game a 7 anything. Its sucessfully does what no shooter has ever done and makes it fun. left 4 dead sucks to anyone with a developed brain but it get ranked aat a 9.5 requires no strategey and is super repetitive has terrible graphic and is hailed as great cause its on xbox. lame.

support games people not systems.

[keysy420]

dchalfont ok we all know that unchatred 2 has the best graphics to come to a console its not a debate. so why are you trying to down play it. talk with sense mass effect doesnt look better or even in the same ball park as uncharted.

[Nihilism]

How am I a fanboy, I don't own a 360, UC2 looks terrible though. I don't know what standards you have but the textures and aliasing in those shots ( and the gameplay I have seen ) look terrible.

Any way you slice it, ME2 is a better game than UC2 or most ( if not all ) games this generation.

[GGAllin]

How is ME2 an RPG? It may feel like it to you console players but to a PC gamer this just feels like another mediocre 3rd person shooter and I loved ME.

[Foxgod]

If you feel that way, then your knowledge of what an rpg is, is extremely lacking.

RPG does not mean topview, or 1st person view, it can be any view.
What makes it an RPG?
Well, the fact that its neither sandbox, nor level based for example.
The levelling, the upgrading, the equipment, the dialogue, the character development, the economic system, the game lenght, the HUD, and i could go on all day.

Theres more in the world then D&D style rpg's.

[Saryk]

Mako Gone = Great, Planet Survey = Bad

I liked the Mako, I like the Planet Survey also, could have done both.
I disagree with the author.

The British Romans Effect.
No one cares about this. Not a necessity, it would have been a nice addition.

Awful Combat Stages
I was ok with the Combat areas, but I will agree with the author on this one.

Log Books/Recordings & Exposition
It is a space game. I disagree with the author.

Bioware Still Searching for Effective Interface
Interface was ok on my PC, no problems. I disagree with the author.

Merchants & Stores
This is an area I didn’t like. Total agree with the author.

Repetitive Time Fillers
Agreed.

Mission Arcs
Agreed with this only. Getting the crew members was good, but the loyalty missions were predictable.

False Sense of Complexity
This can be taken from each players point of view. I know people who never played the first ME. So the tips are nice. But for avid gamers it is something to look at during load screens.

[kneon]

In ME1 I never did any mining and the number of items I bought could probably be counted on one hand. I had plenty of money, just didn't find any use for it. There was so much stuff found during the missions I hardly even bothered to buy items.

[PirateThom]

Weapon, armour and ship upgrades.

[kneon]

Well I had more than enough weapon and armor upgrades just from what I found, I think I ended the game with several hundred units of omni-gel from all the junk I had to get rid of. Maybe there is less stuff laying around in ME2. But one reason I didn't need so much stuff is probably that I only ever took Liara and Ashley with me on missions so the other characters never got a single upgrade.

And I didn't know you could upgrade the ship, was that in ME1 as well or just in ME2?

[iSynysteRx-]

Clearly not your high standards
/Sarcasm

Idiot.

[itswar]

y even bring this up its clear that the guy is extreamly jealous. serious if u want to dig out some minor things in a game thats soo brilliant, 96 overall rating, this game deserves 100.btw n4g is trolled by ps3 people who get realy jealous of the xbox360 and post ridicolous sh1t like this. im a xbox360 only gamer because of the great games that are on xbox360. there is only 1 big game on ps3 which is uncharted, however on the xbox there are dozens.halo 3,mass effect 2,gears of 2, fable 2, forza 3,too human, pgr4, halo wars, infinity undiscovery, star ocean,and lots more but these games are big.ps3 online is dry and boring. im sorry but i realy cant see whats good about it. xbox360 holds the 2 best key features which is bigger and better games and better online. ps3 has a blue ray but i have a better quality blue ray player which was 100 pound.

[OhMyGandhi]

Itswar- you sound like an idiot.
this article may be harsh, but it's not completely ignorant like you.

[Enjoi915111]

lame lame lame....

ME2 is 10/10 ALL THE WAY.....no stupid blog can change that....muahahhahaha

[divideby0]

only issues are graphics are meh (painted non flowing hair, fog, little to no DOF)...occasional stuttering and the sound is ok...which we know would be way better for those who have a 7.1 system
and please the stupid mining is just tedious.
cover system also needs improvement
overall nits to a great game..but scores way a tad to high for this game

[PS360PCROCKS]

Sigh game critics and bloggers suck all together. People fail to realize games are supposed to be about fun. Was the game fun? That's all that matters.

[00000000000000000001]

One of the few games that I don't want to stop playing. Look at the clock and is 1-2 in the morning!
Haven't seen anything that needs to be changed. Great game, one that you don't want to miss.

[Dorwrath]

Oh how about the fail of this article.

It would help if the author knew about the game.

The all speak english? WTF? if he had played the game and read the codexs he would now why.

In the ME1 codex, it is explained that they are all speaking their own languages - sub-dermal implants in your brain allow you to "hear" it as english.

[mmorpg-center]

Nice link bait mate, as for fan boys, ME 2 is a decent game with many flaws, a dumbed version of ME 1, and ME 3 will be pac-man in space with bubs.

I finished it, i gave it 8/10 because of presentation and art direction, the rest is cheesy fluff for weak minds, and man we have so many of these, just look at top selling games of today:)

[Godmars290]

I still see it as a general failing that you don't have starship combat in the game. That its dismissed by the Normandy having stealth. There should be a mini game that has you sneaking into hostile territory, with enemies better prepared should you fail.

[Richdad]

But still tells some ways to improve. I would not say ME2 is perfect than again what is perfect? I played it and enjoyed it thats all for me.

The best part is that it dosen't gives you headache like tradiational RPG. You don't have to think about comlex RPG elements, but if you want you can do extra missions etc.

It's more like a highly interactive Movie. You definitely feel it deuring convrsation. I would say its still is an RPG since it gives you a world to explore you can even go deep and learn about how science work there, other species etc. (although all fake). But yeah its a living world.

That is the most important aspect of any RPG. Rather than upgrades and complex leveling upsystem.

[magicwalnuts]

I was disappointed they removed the Mako too despite the fact that almost everything about it sucked total ass there was NOTHING like landing on a planet and panning the camera to view a ridiculously beautiful alien landscape that never looked the same as the last, even though they were just random planets for side quests and loot. It was a total Star Trek moment if Star Trek had a budget.

But otherwise ME2 is the greatest action RPG of all time and this article is totally full of it and the author is just doing this for hits.

[TKCMuzzer]

360 fanboys are just as bad as PS3 fanboys. Anyone criticising a game they like must be wrong. He wants better, you don't, get over it. Personally if the first is anything to go by i will not be buying it. Most of the flaws he mentions ring a bell whilst playing through the first, especially the tedious combat.

[chidori666]

no have games perfect.. massdefect no is excession..

[yog-sothot]

ME2 is very nice, but I must say they did not follow the road I expected for it. I would personnaly like to see ME3 more like a RPG than a shooter (improved links between quests, more management of the skills and gears, that kind of stuff)

Well, great game anyway so I won't complain too much ^_^

[BLADE_X8]

Mass Effect 2 is no failure. Even though I have only played for a hour....(Was on my friend's 360 cause I don't have one), the game was an awesome experience. I think this is just to get some fires started. (I'm a PS3 gamers, and I want Mass Effect 2, as it is leading the GOTY 2010 race. FOR NOW....IT'S A LONG RACE!)

[Wildstyle30]

Please spare me the hate!! Mass Effect 2 is a gem. Period. Until you design me a better game than the guys at bioware, Make mine Microsoft!!

[TheColbertinator]

I love Mass Effect 2 and beat it 3 times.However it is a flawed game on many notes and pisses me off.I thought Dragon Age was much more grand and detailed but its no big deal.I hope Mass Effect 3 gets rid of most of the boring stuff.

Decent article

[SpenserTracy]

And the game is beautiful. However, this article is spot on. It does get repetitive, especially the mining part, and all the secondary missions for all recruits. But you get a lot of gameplay, and as I said it's beautifully done with the graphics and animations.

[GUCommander]

News Flash: You don't HAVE to mine. You can do just fine in the game if you completely ignore that feature.

[Morituri]

That I love ME2 so far. They made so many improvements, streamlined combat & inventory and a dozen other things I can't think of at the moment, but believe me: All the praise ME2 is getting has been earned.

[Conventional]

Planet survey: what you want to turn this into an rts too?

Speech: yeah, because I really felt connected with the aliens in Star Wars because their language was comprised of clicks and gurgles

Combat stages: of course! let's return to the ceiling high barriers of mass effect 1 that made you hold your ground at the entrance of the room!

Log books: there were no longer any text explanations of what was happening like in ME1, but I don't want to hear my character read every single log. Maybe I just want to read it real fast.

Effective Interface: let's see, for the first time in a 360 game I can hotkey my/my squadmate's abilities however I want? Yeah bioware you really screwed up there! :P Why would I run through maybe 20 upgrades I've got when there's a separate interface for the ones I need to get?

Interaction with environment: First there are nooks and crannies with items in them. Second, I don't want to have to pixel search for items in the middle of a bloody combat zone!

Merchants and stores: oh yeah, bring back the old merchant system where I have 9,999,999,999 bucks and I'm having to turn every single thing I pick up into omni gel!!!

Fillers: let's go back to playing simon says instead of a cool little hunt and peck or memory game. These are some of the most interesting little minigames I've seen.

Mission arcs: yeah let's screw the speed players that don't want to be forced to search every single planet rather than setting up cool (optional) loyalty missions that are readily accessible!

False sense of complexity: obviously this guy didn't play on the harder difficulty levels where you actually have to use powers and conserve your ammunition.

In closing, this guy is getting away with being an idiot.

Now I'm not gonna say this game is perfect. It does need more weapons, so I don't feel like I'm getting pushed to choose a machine gun over a vastly inferior (yet more accurate) assault rifle. And it does need more armor customization options. Neither of these are in any way gamebreaking, so I'll be playing a ton of ME2 this year.

[GUCommander]

LOL this article is so laughable.

"You also won’t find much at Metacritic because they de-list any site that has review scores that are not within some arbitrary average, which defeats the entire purpose of aggregate reviews when you remove low scores."

You see, there is this mathematical term called outliers. Metacritics removes all OUTLIERS from its calculations. It doesn't just start removing reviews that aren't favorable.

When there are TWENTY reviews that give a game 95 or 100 and only 1-2 that give it a 50-60, they are removed because they are not part of the statistical trend. This is called statistics, something an uneducated man like yourself wouldn't understand.

As for ME2, yes I think it could improve upon some stuff, but so could every game. DO I think it deserves a 96? Eh, sort of. I definitely don't think it deserves under a 90 like you do.

[tehpwnage]

Write for hits much? You talk about journalistic integrity, but apparently you left your own at the door. This piece is devoid of any real insight, and you take cosmetic issues with the game and present them as if they “break“ it.

The fact that you didn’t even bother to read the codex explaining how communication is handled in the ME universe is proof enough. They don’t all speak English (ear pieces handle the translation) but of course had you done once ounce of investigation you would have realized that.

Don’t try to sensationalize minor flaws in a game and title an article “the many flaws of”, that just outright absurd. I would hope someone whom refers to themselves as a journalist would have the integrity as such. As it stands now, your writing is worth little more than a cursory glance, and a wipe of my posterior. Into the toilet this goes with the rest of the filth.

[DJ]

Was the story that good?

[ReBurn]

I guess I'll experience the failures for myself later. Glad I finally have some time to play this game.

[AzaziL]

ME2 was a great game, but felt empty when your looking for new armor or weapons. There's barely any items of interest in the game and that's what took away the RPG element severely.

[karan8624]

I havent played it, but Im assuming its good. Why? Like the article says, it bioware. After KOTOR, they have my trust when it comes to RPG's

[G-Ham]

I just finished playing Mass Effect 2 through. Not only was it one of the best games ive ever played ever! But id like to send a complimentary Salmon slap to the T**T that created this article. Mass Effect 2 is amazing! If you like Guns, Space, Aliens, And fitties this game is for you! If you dont like any of those, this game is still for you. ME2 FTW!

[dameon77]

Funny how the persons who post articles on this site are so Play Station biasd they are saying MAG is underated but Mass Effect 2 is not good. I am currently playing the game and it is leaps and bounds better than the first one. and most PS3 games just deal with it.

[maxxi444]

Look, it's simple to prove his whole argument foolish simply from the fact that when you add up all of his "suggestions" to Bioware, you get a game that would take a decade to complete and bankrupt any publisher in the process.

[Colonel-Killzone]

I can't believe people are arguing over this if mass effect comes to the ps3 then good if not oh well move on arguing on here will not make it come to the ps3 i don't believe in codes yes im a ps3 fanboy but until i hear it from bioware this is just a complete waste of time to argue about a game that isn't even on my system

[ChrisW]

That was "temporarily" debunked.

I put temporarily in quotes, because I cannot predict the future.

[skottey]

The game is fantastic.

I am really getting sick of the moaning about the planet scanning process and mining. It is such a SMALL percentage of your time playing. Less than 3% of my time playing and I have a stockpile of over 100K of each of the elements except the hard one, zero. Stop and think about other RPGs where you grind for exp. This is a much, much, much more redundant and boring process. I myself spent HOURS grinding at Demon's Souls most recently and before that it was Sacred 2, Fallout 3, etc. This little bit of planet scanning was nothing, nothing at all! This game is full of action and the story ain't bad. I cannot wait for three.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Dear Normandy Crew,

When I'm away saving the universe and all your sorry arses, is it too much for you to feed my fish when I'm gone?

I can't seem to keep them alive for more than a mission as nobody has the courtesy to come to my quarters and push a button.

Thank you,

Captain Shippy Shepard

PS: Mordin, we are flying in outer space and we haven't yet developed an automatic fish feeder?

[The_Nameless_One]

Obviously the guy didn't read the codex because it explains why you hear everyone in English. They have translators embedded into their brains.Hell, There's even a dialogue scene where Shepard complain about seemingly broken translator. Next time he should research a subject before he complains about it.

[Claudinho69]

uncharted 2