Although I may be far too late, I'll answer the questions anyways since this deconstructionist approach to gaming (particularly my favorite series) appeals to me. It's a shame there isn't much of discussion, but I'll try adding my two cents to get this one-sided conversation opened up a bit. So here goes:
1) Is Mass Effect 2 better than the original? What were the most notable improvements over its predecessor?
From an objective standpoint purely on the basis of mechanics and the playability of the controls, yes ME2 was far better than ME1, however personally ME1 is my favorite of the two. ME2 had a much more streamlined loot system replacing the highly convoluted mess of the ME1 inventory screens. Leveling was also more simplified with points being stored up and then allocated for major boosts to ones stats instead of the incremental system of old (it kind of reminded me of Jade Empires level up system although with far less slots). The retiticle system and shooting mechanics were also modernized to position ME2 as a competent contender in the 3rd person shooter genre, and generally was a lot more tense and exciting this time around. Most importantly the cover system was altered, so instead of the awkward unreliable stickiness of the previous system, one could finally vault from cover to cover like you actually were a trained Specter.
Character additions were also decent although the team dynamic generally mirrored the previous title. Even though we finally were rid of the dreadfully boring Kaiden/Ashley (actually Ash wasn't that bad, I killed Kaiden without blinking an eye :P) they were replaced by everyman, do-gooder Jacob, who had nothing of note to say. In fact the only thing of interest in his past is his father, not his relationship to his father, or the emotional dynamic the two shared. Hell not even his direct dealings with the man, but simply the man himself! I was tempted to leave Jacob on the Grunsback and take his father along with me instead (alas no option). I also found that Miranda, Samara, and Thane were also boring. They all fit into the cliché of self-assured complacent zealots. While they all have their baggage to deal with, the fact that they were dependent on their baggage to have texture to their personalities was disappointing.
As a contrast, Jack on the other hand (one of my favorite characters in the game-- and one of the most appealing LIs) is certainly encumbered by her emotional trauma at the hands of Cerebrus, and criminal cohorts, but she provides to be more than the sum of her scars. The interesting thing is that these circumstances, of which encompasses many many years of development, color the very depth of the character. The important distention is that there is much more to her than this psychotic sex-fiend, one can actually see the "other side" of Jack by continual interaction with her. At first her character is elaborated through subtleties at first, like here her trying to dismiss the pain of being betrayed by her partner, to more blatant ones, as if we are literally peeling away the layers of her personality (similar to real people). Miranda and the rest didn't have that, making them quite flat and uneventful.
Thankfully Grunt was interesting if not deep, due to the whole Krogan through a newborn's perspective lens. It was a nice change of pace from the inherent doom-and-gloom cynicism attributed to most time weary Krogan throughout the galaxy. Tali made interesting strides into maturity with her now realistic understanding of the less than noble aspects of galactic existence. Garrus fully realized his pragmatic justice doctrine he was frustratingly trying to grasp in ME1. Liara was completely cold and consuming with her hunt of the Shadowbroker, a fascinating turn seeing as she was quite the bubbly fountain of optimism and youth in the first title. Bioware seriously dropped the ball on this one however by simply shutting her dialogue options down until "later" (which became the excellent Shadow Broker DLC). Soldiering through the cat-and-mouse mystery quest only to realize that she was STILL going to give you the cold shoulder was far too cruel. Thankfully this coldness is expounded upon in the DLC, and a touch of her former self makes hints of resurgence but still quite tragic for those unwilling to actually purchase the extra content. While not particularly deep Kasumi and Zaeed were plenty eccentric and added much needed variety (even though they are DLC as well so...). Mordin was also one of my favorites. While I despised him at first for his cold calculating mindset, it was a nice change of pace to see a character completely set aside emotional morality in favor of logic, a Sci-Fi troupe no-less but a nice change from the typical Bioware character cabbage patches they usually plow from.
Objectivity over--Subjectivity Start!
Despite all of these objective assessments I none-of-the-less feel drawn immensely to ME1 despite its obvious flaws. I understand the critique that the planet exploration was repetitious in nature, from the mission structure "find probe, get ambushed by *insert antagonist here*, hey ANOTHER secret pirate base!...again" Rinse and repeat. However it did add very much to the overall scope to the game. I felt like I was literally a part of a galaxy far too distant and concerned with their own interplanetary political squabbling, smuggling, or research to give my presence any note. I think this was also aided by the expansiveness of the levels. You totally hit the nail on the head when talked about traversing across the barren surface of a planet. The allure I believe is that it also gives a sense of pacing to the frantic action, as well as giving one a great since of control. While the corridors in ME2 were lavishly detailed and designed, they weren't expansive and they weren't organic. My most exhilarating moments in the ME series is traversing the long stretches of land positioning myself on a hill of my choosing, and sniping the guards in the valley below. Then I would fault toward their encampment and blast them away with shotgun fire. The multi-floor fighting of the large warehouse "bases" in ME1 while generic were also a great deal of fun, for the immense since of freedom, which I think is paramount to the Sci-Fi genre.
The other major reason was the RPG elements. While ME2 streamlined the leveling system, I missed the incremental aspects. This key element really aided toward the progression of the game. The feeling of a slow build up from a lowly soldier easily cut to ribbons by a stray Geth or two, to a complete badass able to take down a legion of the buggers, is an exhilaration that RPGs are built around. In ME2, I really didn't feel like I was getting any better. Sure I had new weapons, and my powers were slightly augmented, but I still had the feeling of being tied to my trigger finger than my stat progress.
This actually segways into the reticle system as well which I adored about the first game. The brilliance of ME1's reticle system was that the accuracy was tied to the equipment, leveling, and the class similar to classic RPG treatment of swords, lances, etc. The problem one faces with this hybrid between skill based input and RPG stat rolls in the background is that the RPG elements usually overshadow the player's input. This problem was particularly evident in Fallout 3, where regardless of where you aimed, if your skill set wasn't above a particular point the bullet would flail to the side. Countless times I would aim a perfect head shot only to see the bullet fly 60 degrees toward the sky. The beauty of the Mass Effect system was that one still had the capacity to utilize the guns, it was just much harder to do so. For instance the reticle of an Adept using a sniper rifle was a huge circle, the reticle was still there it was just an invisible dot in the middle of the circle, and a trained eye and careful aiming could produce a weapon not quite as useless as others may attest. Through an initial "barrings shot (to judge to general disposition of the projectile) and then making careful adjustments I was able on quite a few trouble spots able to headshot my way out of the pickle despite having a class with the worst weapon proficiency. Or one would just have to readjust their usage based on the reticle's behavior. The Shotgun circle for example, increasingly expands after successive shots, so make short controlled shots with rests in between to normalize. The Assault rifle reticle also expands with every successive shot, and because it is naturally a rapid fire type weapon, it occurs at a much faster rate. It also has a widely unpredictable trajectory, so the solution is getting close to the enemy increasing the chance of them being clipped by potential stray bullets.
Lastly (because I'm getting sleepy) the music was much more interesting in ME1 than 2. ME2 tended to focus on sweeping orchestral scores of a typical action title, with techno flavorings to distinguish it, while ME1 almost solely relied on sync-scores that sounded very 80's new-wave. Tesla boy would fit right in as a celeb if placed in that universe, and that futurist-retro approach to the score really distinguished ME1 and made it into its own believable universe. The New wave movement, and the current resurgerance of Sync-pop is a reactionary movement in response to the popular state of music when it was released. It is far reaching and completely alien to current musical tradition (the latest example of this being Dubstep and Grime), similar to the Modernist movement in the early 1900's to the Romantics of the 1850's. As such what is produced during these times predates even music or art a few decades from now. Arnold Schoenburg's Pierrot Lunaire for example is STILL a mindboggling piece of dissonance that many composers do not dare emulate and it was composed in 1912! This appropriately gives them a futuristic dynamic that places extremely well with a narrative trying to impress upon the audience a distant Sci-Fi setting (in this case 500 years in the future). By pulling back this musical style, ME2 while epic in its soundtrack was nowhere near as memorable and impressionable as the first. I only really felt roused when musical motifs of the previous score was interjected into the new pieces (And a bit during the Afterlife Club and the club with Morith). Again not a terrible score, but far from classic. M4 Part II, nuff said!
I'll answer some of the other questions later, but it's a bit late. Also do you write those little tid bits about Khalisah al-Jilani? If so their great!
Log in to comment