Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

Not that it's a bad thing. ME2 manages to stay an enjoyable action game despite having eliminated most of it's already minor RPG elements in favor of more action sequences.

And since it's the legitimate successor to ME1, comparison is inevitable, so lets get started:

ME2 takes off where the prequel has ended, commander Shepard dies but is somehow brought back to life after spending two years in the afterlife by a shady corporation known as Cerberus, to restore faith in humanity and convince the council to face the true threat that is the reapers from ME1. No similarities here with Bioware's Dragon age origins, of course, In which you are tasked to unite the kingdom against the threat of darkspawn.

Then later on, Shepard gets a new and improved Normandy MKII and the usual planetary adventure through similarly structured worlds commences. Seriously, all the planets that Shepard visits look nearly identical in architecture as well as in landscape. Also, this is where most of the similarities with the first game end.

The combat for once, has been changed completely. No longer will you have unlimited ammo and overheating weapons. Weapons are now powered by special cells - ammo that can be found nearly anywhere in the game, which is a huge improvement. It's just a shame that you start off with a very small amount of ammo, especially for a shotgun, while the weapon itself is rather weak and useless until somewhere around midway through the game. Though I have to say that the guns in ME2 seem to have different firing modes and are designed to be used at certain situations. So no weapon is obsolete, which was the case in ME1 because any weapon that wasn't an assault rifle, was practically not worth using.

But for every good thing there is a bad one. For example, biotics are now only capable of using their powers on non armored and unshielded foes only, which essentially means that you have to wear enemies down almost entirely, in order to finish them off with biotic powers. It's rather pointless because their health bar is so short that you might as well blast them away with a few bullets, and the bulk of their "massive survivability" is attributed to them having massive armor and four times the shields you have. Also, some enemies don't have a health bar, just armor. Good luck using your biotic powers on those guys.

Also, ME2 seems to be inspired too much by Gears of War, and decided that running full pelted and blasting your way through waves of enemies was a bad idea. So ME2 is now emphasized on shooting behind cover and have *god help us* regenerating health. Shepard was also somehow damaged during his revival process, since he can run very slowly and only in a straight line. I thought space marines are supposed to be trained to endure physical labor, and there is something terribly wrong at the sight of the savior of the galaxy stopping every 5 seconds to catch his breath. Sigh... come on Bioware, that's not the best you can do.

Though I guess I can't complain too much about it , since the combat is more varied and requires more strategy than before. It's just that the shooting sequences are far too common.
If you though that ME1 had too much shooting, then ME2 has nearly four times as much. Every side quest involves an extra long shooting sequence, which get overly repetitive after a while. For once I want to see a few quests that are solved without someone getting bashed on the head.

The voice acting and graphics are superb as ever, and the new mid conversation actions are a welcome change. Though I still don't understand how you can be both good and evil at the same time. Besides, the evil path seems to be inadequate with the character's motivations. Especially since everyone sees Shepard as the hero and savior of the galaxy. Also, the only thing the Paragon and Renegade reputations do, as in ME1, they decide whether you threaten or convince a certain NPC to change his mind. But the outcome is pretty much the same here. The only place I found when it actually matters, is in the prison when you see a convict being tortured and have the option to either save him or let him die.

The inventory system is another thing I can complain about. While it is true that ME1 had an abysmal inventory and unintuitive upgrade system, ME2 has neither. It has eliminated inventory completely which is both good and bad. It's much more realistic to have a weapon storage room inside the ship, rather than having Shepard carry them all in his backpack, but that also reduces the amount of weapons you can carry, not to mention that Bioware decided to drastically reduce their numbers to about 10 or so, Instead of nearly hundreds in ME1. So in a sense, this is a step backwards for the series. Thankfully, this is compensated, though not entirely, by the upgrade system in which you can use resources to purchase upgrades for weapons and armor.

Lastly there is the matter of planet exploration. Bioware has eliminated the vehicle session from the previous games in favor of a 3d model of the planet, which you scan for resources with a click of your mouse button. While clicking and holding the right mouse button, you need to slowly go over every inch of the planet if you want to find anything worth while. What takes about 5 -10 minutes (if you want to deplete a planet completely) turns into an exercise in tedium. Because if you want to upgrade, it has to be done quite a lot. A more sensible solution to the terrible vehicle sections in ME1 is to fix the controls, and you wouldn't have to force players to "grind" resources just like players do in MMOrpgs, simply because this isn't one. Grinding only exists in gaming to artificially lengthen game play and/or create a competitive sense between players. And since ME2 is a single player game, this game play mechanic feels obnoxious and unnecessary.

It's a shame that Bioware emphasized on a cinematic experience rather than a game play oriented one, because if you want cinematics then you can go watch a movie, none of which costs 59$ at your local retail store. Also, cover mechanics and regenerating health makes for very poor boss fights. Because fighting a boss in the same way you fight regular mobs is not fun. At least not for me.

Though in the end, a combination of mediocre game play elements don't necessarily make for a mediocre game, and ME2 has it's enjoyable moments such as unexpected plot twists and amusing character quirks. The shooting sequences are also enjoyable for the most part, though I would appreciate if Bioware cut down on those a little bit. What I'm mainly looking for here is a hint of diversity. I want to see something that I haven't seen before in a ME game. And in that regard ME2 fails miserably. It stands as no more than a 'longer than average' expansion pack. It certainly is better than it's prequel, but by sum of its parts and not by sheer inspiration.