02/12/2021 (1 of 1 found this helpful)

Massive Improvement

“Mass Effect 2” is the 2010 follow-up to BioWare’s new IP of 2007, “Mass Effect.” “Mass Effect 2” also has a number of other noteworthy badges nailed to its sash: It’s the middle game in a planned trilogy, it’s the first BioWare game developed fully under the auspices of EA as publisher and corporate overlord, and it’s the first ‘Mass Effect’ game to release on all of the major gaming platforms of the time (though the PlayStation 3 release was still delayed by a year after the PC and Xbox 360 release).

After playing, and being wholly disappointed by, the original “Mass Effect,” I figured “Mass Effect 2” had exactly one chance to impress me enough that I’d even bother finishing the trilogy. Suffice to say that “Mass Effect 2” managed to do that, tho...

Rating of
3.5/5 

07/11/2012 (1 of 2 found this helpful)

I am the very model of a scientist salarian

I often wonder, after playing Mass Effect 2, “What’s the difference between ‘dumbing down’ and ‘streamlining’?”

And the honest truth is... I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, too. Sometimes, I’ve enjoyed a game that harshly punishes you for mistakes or possesses a cumbersome interface that can take a couple hours to get the hang of. Those are usually the first things to get the axe when it comes to “streamlining” and when the game is released we all call it “dumbed down”.

Two examples come to mind when I think of games that some might say got streamlined, but I felt suffered from the decision: Supreme Commander 2 and Crysis 2. You’ll have to read those reviews (when I write them) if you’d like further insight.

Mass Effect 2 is not on that list. ...

Rating of
4.5/5