austrian otaku

Well the year just started but this game could be number one at the end of 2010 too.

I’m of course talking about Mass Effect 2. It’s out since last Friday but unfortunately Royal Mail isn’t as fast as I thought.

Already played until I reached the last chapter last week thanks to the interwebs and finally received the pre-ordered Collectors Edition today. Ordered it from Game for 45€ (a great deal because the German Collectors Edition costs 99€!). Quite weird as this version would be multilingual too. (Installed it in English of course.)

The Collectors Edition contains:

- Mass Effect 2 (surprise!) + Bonus DVD containing behind-the-scenes and making-of videos

- Limited Edition Mass Effect Redemption #1 comic book

- 48 page hardcover art book:

Anyone got a Normandy SR2 wallpaper in a decent size yet? DO WANT!

- Limited edition Cerberus Network card:

The card is the most important bonus item. Granting access to:

- Exclusive in-game Collectors armour and weapon as well as bonus content like extra star clusters and missions. Some already available and a few coming in the future.

So now a few words about the game:

(If you haven’t played Mass Effect 1 get it right away otherwise you miss a great game and have no idea what’s going on in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.)

You start the game with a sequence showing the Normandy under attacke and getting destroyed by an unknown vessel and Sheppard floating around in space (which isn’t that healthy.)

Thanks to a corporation named Cerberus (yah, those guys) Shepard get’s sunrised because they need a man to save humanity (and every other organic life form in the universe). Sheppard’s wounds aren’t completely healed yet when the medical facility is under attack and he has to fight his way out. This first level serves as tutorial and you come across something really important there: The new inventar-HUD thingy. The invenatar in Mass Effect 1 wasn’t something Bioware could have been proud of. In Mass Effect 2 they fixed this issue by getting rid of the inventar. Eh what? Yes really, they did and they came up with a HUD like interface which works way better in my opinion. Gunfights are now way faster and full of action.

After leaving the medical facility you meet the mysterious Illusive Man, Cerberus chain smoking CEO, for the first time. He unveils some not so nice facts, for example disappearing human colonies and asks you for help. And you can’t say no of course cause he has a little present for you: the Normandy SR2. Bigger, faster better and in need of a new crew. For the next few hours/days it’s your job to find the best of the best somewhere in the universe to fight against the mysterious enemy out there.

Once one of those folks joined your crew you can help them with a certain personal problem. After that they are loyal which unlocks their special abilities. I guess that’s one of the reasons why the character development is much better in Mass Effect 2.

Another improvement worth mentioning is the atmosphere. Sometimes it’s a pity that you have to concentrate on the bad guys, cause the landscapes, buildings and all different kinds of surroundings are just amazing. You find such an amount of different planets: From mech factories, to tropical planets to planets with way too much radiation (even for your shields).

You can’t visit all places though but you can scan every single piece of frozen rock out in the universe for minerals. You need those to research and develop new technologies, from new ammo types up to new main guns for the Normandy 2. Unfortunately this takes a little bit too much time, but I couldn’t stop cause maybe you’ll find a side quest on one of those planets.

You never know, right?

Overall Mass Effect 2 is a really satisfying game. At some points the story is a little bit predictable but it still surprises from time to time. Highly recommended!

Can’t wait to see Mass Effect 3, cause the last few frames of the outro were just screaming: “OH SHIT! NOW WE HAVE A REAL PROBLEM!"

Mass Effect 2 Launch trailer below:

The next blog post will once again be about something mostly anime unrelated:

“HTPC building and configuration with hikky”. My HTPC is already put together and running but had to order a different heat sink cause the onboard fan is way to noisy. Expect the article around Saturday.

hikky off

P.S.: Dammit, why Bioware, why? I still don’t know how she looks!