Mass Effect 2 Hands-on

by Erik Brudvig - IGN.com | 17 December 2009 12:00
 
Our spoiler-free impressions of the first hour and a half.
 
Mass Effect 2 opens with a bang. That's about all I'll tell you regarding the plot. After playing the first hour and a half of the game, I can safely say that this is one experience you want to go into fresh -- the less you know about the plot the better it will be. Instead, this hands-on preview will focus on how much the game has been improved for the sequel. And boy has it ever been improved. Just about everything was sent back to the drawing board to look for ways it could be made better.
 
Want spoilers? Go read Hilary's quick spoilerific recounting of the opening moments of Mass Effect 2.
 
At the outset of the game, Mass Effect 2 gives you the option to import your save from the first game. Unfortunately, I played on a prerelease version of Mass Effect 2 and no saves were available to test out the process. Casey Hudson, project director for Mass Effect 2, recently explained the whole process to IGN, but I wasn't able to see it for myself. Instead, I picked a default male character and got started.
 

Who is the Illusive Man?

As soon as the game kicks off, you can immediately feel the improvements. It looks better. It moves better. And once you get through the introduction and begin to start the tutorial, you'll see that it feels better. A good tutorial isn't a very glamorous thing to talk about, but it's indicative of the thought put into things to come.
 
After sucking you back into the story in thrilling fashion, Mass Effect 2 begins to introduce its revamped combat system. The ideas are the same, though it all handles much better. In your first introduction to the action elements, the game will quickly take you through the ins and outs of using cover, the power wheel, equipping weapons and managing their ammunition, and snapping out quick commands to your two squad mates. Mass Effect veterans will be right at home, though they'll quickly notice how much better it feels as they quickly advance through the unobtrusive tutorial. Rookies will quickly be brought up to speed.
 

The tutorial is greatly improved.

There are quite a few changes to the ebb and flow of the action sequences that Mass Effect fans will quickly notice. Medi-gel is now only used to bring back fallen comrades with an auto-regenerating health system introduced. Heavy weapons add a new punch to the gunplay. New skills have been added to every class -- which you'll have to begin from scratch with once more. Weapon and armor management (There's a new set of civilian outfits for non-combat moments too!) is done through lockers instead of the pause screen, which means you can't just switch load-outs on the fly at any time. Everything is familiar, but tweaked to be a bit better.
 
Even the hacking games have been redone with two new ways to get into computer terminals and safes. Both are essentially takes on the game of Memory. One requires you to complete circuits with the catch being that you have to remember which wire goes where. The other requires you to match code sequences as they scroll by. It isn't fundamentally much different from the button prompts of Mass Effect 1, but it does make much more sense in the game world.
 
I also got a look at Shepard's newly upgraded ship. The layout is largely the same, but a few new areas exist including private quarters for Shepard, a tech lab where you can research upgrades, and more. The private quarters even has little perks like a fish tank and a futuristic iPod music player.
 
Perhaps the best thing I found in the ship was the beautiful Miranda, one of the new squad members being introduced. She has her own room and I found her sitting at her desk…just a few feet away from a massive king-sized bed. Yes, the flirting began during the first conversation. "Physically, I'm superior in many ways," she said. Shepard countered with, "Well you're just perfect, aren't you?" She is. She really is genetically engineered to be so. You may have started a romantic liaison with Ashley or Liara in Mass Effect 1, but my bet is that you won't stay true.
 

Chicks dig scars.

Ok. Enough drooling over Miranda. Once you've peeled yourself away from her, you'll notice that the game opens up rather quickly after you make it through the opening tutorials. Once in the ship, you're free to start side questing. You can actually fly a little ship around the galactic map now instead of simply moving a cursor around. Scanning planets – get this – actually involves scanning planets. You'll have to move a cursor around and watch some meters to find out where to send a probe. The reward? Some minerals that you can use back in your ship to research new equipment.
 
I didn't make it far enough into Mass Effect 2, or have enough time to go back and replay sections, to see how much player choices will shape the story. Before I began playing, however, BioWare showcased one cutscene from the game two different ways, one with the Krogan Wrex still alive and another with a character that killed him in the first game. The differences are drastic. It's clear that your game will more and more be yours alone as the Mass Effect trilogy continues.
 

That's Miranda on the right.

The one area that almost feels like a step backwards is how loading is handled. The long elevator rides are gone with traditional flashy loading screens put in their place. A complete load is done during this time which means the ugly texture pop-in that occasionally plagued Mass Effect 1 is gone as well. However, these loading screens occasionally stayed in place far too long for my tastes. We're talking about enough time for a complete conversation to be had with IGN editor Jim Reilly about how long it was taking to load. Personally, I'd rather have the elevator rides. It should be noted that the version of Mass Effect 2 I played was not final, so there is still a little bit of time for things to be sped up.
 
I don't know about you, but I'm not one to get all up in arms about a few loading screens. Even if the load times remain as is, Mass Effect 2 is still shaping up to be an absolute must-have game.
 

 
Supplied by IGN.com