Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect on PS3...I never thought we'd see the day, but here we are. While I still dream that the first ME game would cross over to Sony's platform, the arrival of ME2 and the news ME3 will be on PS3 too makes up for it (as does a PS3 exclusive interactive short comic that helps you not only get to speed on the back story of the first game, but lets you make decisions to help shape your ME2 experience). You see, the beauty of ME is that your game plays out uniquely to you - if a character dies it ME1 he or she won't be there in ME2 and so forth (so for the uninitiated, keep your ME2 game saves!). It's not the same as playing the original (and if you get a chance to I fully recommend it), but it the interactive comic (created by Dark Horse no less) is the next best thing.

If you've played the original on the 360, you'll know what Mass Effect will offer you. If you haven't played Mass Effect, essentially the game is part shooter, part RPG, with plenty of ways of creating 'your' story around the main linear storyline - everything from Shepard's gender, how he/she looks (the character create is amazing) to how he/she chooses to talk to other characters (passive, aggressive, or not at all) is up to you. You can also choose your powers (you can be a soldier who relies on shooting to get them through, or vanguards or engineers, which enables you to have special biotic powers for example. The game is dialogue heavy, so if you're someone who skips cut scenes to get straight to the action, you're probably best off elsewhere. However, Bioware are masters at this kind of thing and ME2 excells in almost every way over its already incredible predecessor. A nice touch in ME2s dialogue is the introduction of paragon and renegade actions - at certain points in the game, you will have the chance (via an on-screen indication) whether to choose to do a paragon action (for example, intervening if a teammate is about to shoot someone) or a renagade action (at one point I was talking to a particularly uncooperative alien who ended up being chucked out of a window courtesy of my renegade action). The joy in this is you can of course ignore the suggestion, so if you think that bad guy your teammate is about to shoot right through the head really does deserve to meet his maker, you can stand and do nothing.

A difference beween ME and ME2 is that ME2 definately leans towards a shooter rather than an RPG - levelling up (to a max of level 30) and upgrading your character is much easier and automatic if you choose it to be. So while the RPG elements are perhaps a little watered down, the combat has been scaled up - cover simplified (for example being able to sprint to cover with the same button press) and the range of tactics that can be brought to the table to defeat enemies is exhaustive (including instructing what powers your team mates should use in battle on the fly). You also select what members of your team will be best at a particular mission, for example if you know that a certain type of enemy (let's say an enemy who have strong armour) will be involved in one mission you can choose a team member with the 'incinerate' skill to burn through armour quickly. So, if you have played ME on XBOX, it does move into more action territory, but that's not to say there's not a depth to the combat or the RPG elements of ME2.

Another possible negative that I have seen discussed is that the size of the team is too large for you to feel connection to the characters. This is understandable (it is a big team), however I feel with the game structure being as it is, Bioware have taken steps to ensure that all team members get a run out with you. Without giving too much away (because I hate it when reviews do that), you have a main mission that you have to recruit a team for (I won't reveal specific mission details as again, I wish to spoil nothing). Each teammate you recruit then has a side mission for you to complete with them, thus meaning you spend time with them. One reason why this works is the strength of the characters - in most games like this, people will have their favourites, however picking your final squads is tricky in ME2, each character brings something special to the team and each character affects how the game pans out in subtle ways. Each member has their own strong back story and different reasons for you to relate to them. Another point to note with this mission structure is how it helps you mix side missions with main missions. For example, in the original ME, I did all the side missions first, then went to the main missions. In ME2 it feels like the side missions are linked to what you're doing at the time, making the experience seemless (for example, there are times where you have a primary mission to do, but a side mission will take place in the sane area, meaning that you will see to the side project also, rather than just skipping it.

Another difference introduced in ME2 is planetary exploration - now you use a scanner to go over planets in search for minerals that can be used towards research projects (like weapon and armour upgrades). It's still not perfect, but it's more interesting than in ME where you would just click on a planet and get a bit of text explaining what happens there.

I've read a couple of reviews that have said the ending is underwhelming. I'm honestly confused by this, the build up to the final mission is intense and you even get a boss fight that doesn't feel like a run-of-the-mill end-of-game tacked-on boss fight (I'm looking at you Bioshock!) The final mission is dramatic, whilst leaving it open for what may come in the third installment.

As for PS3 to XBOX differences, you have the interactive comic as I've mentioned, and you also get a whole bundle of DLC thrown in (perhaps to ease the pain of not having had ME on Playstation before!) The DLC has had mixed reviews when released on XBOX (especially the Kasumi DLC). However, as PS3 owners get it from the off, it doesn't seem out of place or that it's an expensive add on. The Lair of the Shadow Broker is especially good. Looks wise I think the PS3 shades it, but whichever console you're on, ME2 is a good looking game, notably the characters themselves.

Overall, if you liked Mass Effect, you'll love ME2. The Mass Effect series is an experience that any gamer should try, it's less a game and more a sci-fi epic that you control. In my review for InFamous on PS3, I said it was the kind of game that you thought about even when you weren't playing it. ME2 goes one better, it's the kind of gaming experience that stays with you after you've completed it, and as it clocks in at over 30 hours, it's incredible how Bioware have created a game that you immediately want to go back to, to see in what other ways the game could play out (on a side note, if you try and do every single mission and scan every planet to find every secret mission, you're looking at a good 42 hours or so!) Graphically, the game is excellent, the dialogue is top notch (as is the music score), the missions are varied and always interesting and replayability is strong (because you're going to want to do it all over again and be a total renegade!). There's no two ways about it, Mass Effect 2 is an essential purchase whether you've played the original (or, as I have, ME2 on XBOX as well). Now it's arrived on PS3, the best series of this console generation is available on two excellent gaming platforms and that can only be a good thing.

***QUICK EDIT - there's been a lot of talk of the save game bug affecting some Mass Effect 2 players (for more details google Mass Effect 2 ps3 bug). I played through the game with no problems whatsoever and am currently playing through again, also a friend of mine has completed it with no trouble whatsoever. That's not to say it doesn't exist though, as there have been many reports of consoles freezing and corrupting the save data. A patch is apparently in the works to fix this problem - as I said though, my playthrough was absolutely fine (and the word from Bioware is that if you reset your console after every mission it helps any save issues).

This is an awesome game. It's immersive, and allows you to chose a style of play. You can be a diplomatic gent, or a renegade brut. The choice is yours. The decisions you make in game have an effect on the game, and indeed the next game in the series, Mass Effect 3 (PS3)

Bioware continue to surprise. The single best game on Xbox last year makes the jump to PS3 and not only have Bioware done a fantastic job with the conversion, but they've actually delivered a far better product from what we saw last year in a number of ways... even though many of the game's shortcomings still remain.

I covered most of the game's finer details in my review of the Xbox version last year, but in brief: Mass Effect is a sci fi space opera that revolves around Commander Shepard(Either John or Jane, depending on your preference) and his/her efforts to uncover the secrets behind an ancient alien race known as the Reapers who are on the verge of returning to wipe out all life in the galaxy. So Shepard must recruit a team of sci fi archetypes to find a way to prevent the forthcoming invasion from happening. The story is pretty strong and well put together, with an impressively detailed universe to explore and a large cast of pretty distinct characters to interact with. This is easily the most polished game Bioware have ever produced.

The gameplay takes the primary form of a third person shooter clearly trying to follow to 'Gears of War' model of design: basically spending most of the fights hiding in cover waiting for an opening to take a shot. The implementation of "Biotic powers"(Basically space magic) adds a much needed additional level of depth to the combat, which is for the most part fairly linear in lay out and does little beyond funnelling you into endless shooting galleries for much of the game. Saying that, the combat IS fun and well put together, so it isn't really the chore I may be making it sound. Outside of combat you're basically walking around looking for people/objects to interact with, usually leading into lengthy conversations where you choose responses and occasionally get to take actions which either make you come off as a decent person or a massive d-bag depending on how you're feeling. Don't like the back chat that mercenary you've caught is giving you? Either reason with him or throw him off the top of a skyscraper! The game is heavy on moral options, but seems to be light on presenting real consequences for showing a lack of morals in your actions from what I could see, which seems to render the good/evil element of the game largely pointless, whereas in Bioware's last game, Dragon Age, such elements actually affected the way you were viewed and treated by your companions and the world at large, which is the proper way to do it. That isn't to say the interaction element of Mass Effect 2 is bad in anyway... quite the contrary, it's nothing less than a masterclass on how to do character interaction in gaming, it just needed a bit more in the way of consequences and lasting effects of such interactions. Then of course, there is the addition in this PS3 of all the DLC that was released for the game(Aside from a couple of aesthetic 'character appearance' packs it seems if you care). Not only does this include the hefty paid DLC but also has all the free DLC either on disc or(With the included code) available to download from the off. This DLC not only adds a good 6 or so hours of gameplay at least, but also adds in some real variety to the gameplay that I previously complained was missing from much of ME2. In particular the 'Firewalker' and 'Overlord' quest lines prove a significant break from the rest of the game in that it adds actual vehicle exploration and combat to the game that I again complained was missing from the game with the removal of the original game's Mako sequences. These scenes see you piloting a kind of hovercraft across various landscapes(eg. Forests, volcanoes) and are a real breath of fresh air in the game that really adds something new to proceedings. Additionally there is a decent added in 'hover taxi' chase scene added in that again breaks from the regular game that sees you driving through rush hour hover car traffic between skyscrapers in a fairly impressive sequence. Much of this may not be new to everyone, but having it in the game from the start really does make a major difference for the better to the game's overall flow and variety.

Visually, ME2 was already a great looking game, but on PS3 it is actually even prettier. It's not an enormous difference or anything, but the texture work(Especially on character faces) is notably better and the lighting is more dynamic, but otherwise most of the game is on par with the 360 version, including(Sadly) the somewhat grainy, lower resolution FMV sequences that infrequently occur and should really have been fully upscaled for HD output for this version. The soundwork is obviously identical to the other versions, and as I believe I said before, it is near faultless across the board on this score. Also worth noting is that, while the game advertises an unprecedented 5.3GB install size on it's box, the actual install size is closer to 4.2GB I noticed, but you'll still be waiting over ten minutes for it to finish, so good news bad news.

There's no doubting this is a much improved version of an already great game, with a large amount of added content, improved visuals, no more swapping discs back and forth, and a number of more minor tweaks that help to smooth out the experience(eg. toned down hacking mini game frequency). This is the best way to experience Mass Effect 2 itself... HOWEVER... there's really no ignoring the elephant in the room in the form of the PS3 not getting any version of the first Mass Effect game. I reviewed ME1 back when it first came out and I found it to be a broken, unpolished, borderline unfinished mess of a game with a great story behind it. True, there is a rather nifty interactive comic in the PS3 version of ME2 that covers all the important plot points you need to know from ME1 and lets you make choices that carry over into your ME2 game, but there's no denying that being denied one of the best features the other versions of ME2 had (The ability to carry over a multitude of decisions and actions from your ME1 save game) is a serious downside, and is the only reason I'm marking this game down. It is a fantastic package in every way it can be, but if you're new to the Mass Effect series, you ARE going to feel like you're missing something going in cold with this title. I'd seriously recommend picking up the PC version of ME1 as it offers a number of improvements on the poor 360 version and can be had for pennies these days and thankfully most decent PCs can run it without a fortune in upgrades first. You won't get the save carry over, true, but at least you'll have the full story first. Not a perfect solution I know, but needs must sometimes.

A highly recommended purchase, so long as you don't mind feeling a little bewildered on some points.