Mass Effect 2? Moar like Best Game Ever 2

Mass Effect 2 is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had, and I mean this in the most sincere way possible. I’ll even go as far as saying that it not only threatened, but has successfully replaced Suikoden 2 as the title of my absolute favorite game ever. Bioware created a masterpiece in my eyes, and delivered what I consider to be the epitome of the word sequel. Allow me to demonstrate, using the examples of Suikoden/Suikoden 2, Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2, and Gears of War/Gears of War 2.

Suikoden
A fantastic game, but there were so many technical flaws with the title, it’s a shame. The positive definitely outweighed the negative here. Aside from a great cast of memorable characters and a recurring song called “Heart Softening Theme”, this game was one of those gems many overlooked.

Suikoden 2
A proper sequel in every aspect. A better inventory management system was addressed and implemented, a better layout for your home base, the ability to run without Stallion and multiple runes per character, leading to more strategic battles is just the beginning of the improvements they made with the series. Add an unforgettable story and characters with more depth, and Konami had the secret to making a masterpiece of a game. But they didn’t stop there. The ability to import your data from the first Suikoden sweetened the deal, granting additional characters, extra sidequests and hidden dialogue as bonuses. This was not only incentive, but reward for gamers having played through the first in the beloved franchise. When playing Suikoden 2, everything that made the original amazing and unique was carried over with care and in many aspects, improved. Any tweaks were made so that gamers could instantly pick up the new changes made to the system they were oh so familiar with. The game expanded on the original, allowing you to meet characters and places that were mentioned in the first, but you never had access to. A sequel in the best sense of the word.

Final word?

Simple math really. Sequel is greater than original.

Gears of War
Gears of War. The Halo 2 of the Xbox 360, or so they say that’s the goal Clifford B. had in mind when developing this blockbuster title. Gears was a solid title in it’s own respect, crap ass matchmaking and party system aside. It was a good romp through Sera, blasting and chainsawing the Locust Horde into oblivion. All things considered the game was solid, but it was a standard 3rd person shooter. Upon reaching the end of the campaign, multiplayer was a fine experience, allowing players to test their mettle against each other in a variety of match types. 8/10 I say.

Gears of War 2
The majority of 360 owners out there were looking forward to the second installment of Gears, with promises of bigger, badder enemies to face, and a more varied campaign. I was happy, having the chance to finally fight Brumacks, though it turned out to be quite lame (seriously, I’ve had more trouble tackling Goombas). I had no issues when the headlines started divulging information about the sequel, until I saw the frothing at the mouth from gamers when Epic told us there would be awesome bonuses for those who played the first title.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain about the bonus MP skins that were unlocked by obtaining specific achievements from the first game. Hell, we didn’t have to pay for them, so I should have been elated. Epic was oh so excited, claiming it was a grand achievement providing gamers with sweet extra content. Ah, but I knew better. I had experienced first hand the benefits and things that could be accomplished by “carrying over your saved data”. Add the fact that Suikoden had accomplished this in a MUCH more advanced fashion almost a decade earlier with much less sophisticated technology, and you could understand my disappointment and underwhelmed response to the sequel.

As for the rest of Gears 2, I appreciate the addition of Horde, more multiplayer modes and the variety in the campaign, though it was a bit uninspired. Bigger and badder indeed, but as for it being a much better experience, it played more like a draft for what COULD have been a proper Gear sequel. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Gears of War 2. While I didn’t love it, I did enjoy my time playing. But as a relatively well seasoned console gamer (I know how many greats I’ve missed on the PC), I’ve learned to take things with a few grains of salt. I know what a good sequel looks and plays like. Chainsaw duels and new weapons is not what I consider a great sequel.

Final word?

Gears of War is essentially on par with the first. Sequel should not mean equal.

Mass Effect
Now we get to the good stuff. Mass Effect was, and still is one of my favorite titles on the Xbox 360. Time consuming inventory system, obscene amounts of loading, texture pop in, frame rate drops and ASS boring side missions and planets aside, I played this game 7 times back to back. The story was engaging, the voice acting was superb, and I loved my team (especially Tali). Announced as a trilogy prior to release, I was a bit skeptical. It’s my personal opinion that a game should be made with care, and with as much content included as possible. When a game like Two Worlds comes out, and the developers are planning a trilogy, then they should damn well make sure that it’s worthy of being a trilogy in the first place. After completing Mass Effect however, I was convinced that they were onto something. Enter 2010.

Mass Effect 2
Since 2007, it would seem that just about every heavy hitting title is a sequel, prequel, or 47th entry of a franchise. Things get stale quick in the industry these days. When Mass Effect 2 was close to arriving, I was itching to get my hands on it. I didn’t so much care about all of the upgrades and changes that were promised, I simply wanted to import my character and continue the story that I loved to death. Little did I know, Bioware created an experience unlike any other. Sure they changed the inventory system for the better, eliminated the generic barren wastelands when exploring planets, and my god did they revamp the galaxy map. But for all the upgrades they made to the UI, menu systems and infrastructure to the game, it was the import data that separates Mass Effect 2 from all other gaming experiences I’ve had up until this point.

If you import your Mass Effect data, players were treated to a fantastic experience starting with the first 5 minutes of the game. The game world, dialogue, history and character attitudes are all based on the choices that you made during the first game. Upon checking your personal inbox for messages and updates, you receive emails and messages from NPCs you interacted with in the first game, and their tone is dependent on how you handled situations back in 2007. Walking around the Citadel or Omega will prompt speakers and news feeds to pop, citing events that occurred and their turnouts, again based on what you did or did not do in the first game. These are just a few examples of how much effort Bioware put into this title.

While I think this is commendable on their part for wanting to make a solid cohesive experience and storyline, I’d also like to believe that Mass Effect 2 is Bioware’s thank you/gift to gamers who invested time in their baby. Take away the import data, and ME2 is still a proper sequel in my eyes considering the upgrades and fixes I mentioned previously.

It is my sincere hope that developers look at Mass Effect 2 as the penultimate example of what every sequel should contain. It is obvious that they looked at what did and did not work in the first game. Despite a seemingly complete overhaul of their entire gameplay system, they kept and tweaked everything that made Mass Effect into great game it was.

Final word?

Mass Effect 2 is greater than the first, PLUS more.

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It has been 10+ years since it came out, and it is my opinion that no game has been able to achieve what Konami did with Suikoden 2. It was a bittersweet day for me when I finally said the words “Mass Effect 2 might be my favorite game ever”. Suikoden 2 was the king of kings for over a decade. And while I might have relinquished that crown to Mass Effect 2, I couldn’t be happier with it’s replacement. Bigger and badder indeed.

Kudos to you Bioware.