I just went out in the blistering cold (windchill factor -12) for a very specific purpose: a certain online retailer had broken the embargo on a certain product, and in the faint hope that real-world stores would follow, I figured I’d be able to get my hands on said product that way, too. What are we talking about here? Oh, only what will most likely be the game of the year.
Mass Effect 2 was supposed to be released in North America today, followed by the European release coming Friday, January 29. Luckily, though, for die-hard Dutch Mass Effect fans such as myself, online game retailer GameMania decided to violate the embargo, and ship the game today. Other online retailers followed (I contacted them), but since I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow (order today, ship today, receive tomorrow), I decided to weather the cold (in the comfort of a luxury car, but it’s the principle of the thing) and shop around in Alkmaar, the “big” city near my little hick hometown.
The big retailers here are indeed sticking with the embargo, so I had no luck there. Fortunately, Alkmaar has a tiny, old-fashioned game store for more die-hard gamers, and they had no trouble breaking the embargo. “Thank GameMania, son,” the shopkeeper told me, smiling, “They broke the embargo and get the fine – you get the game now.”
I smiled back at him. “There goes my social life,” I told him jokingly, “I don’t think I’ll be leaving the house for the coming weeks.” We’re talking two discs of BioWare space opera goodness here, people, this is stuff I’ve been looking forward to ever since I first played Mass Effect ages ago.
“Weeks?” he wondered, “Make that months.” I walked out, giddy as a schoolgirl.
Okay, that’s slightly dramatised, but the quotes are true to the word. Yes, I’ve indeed been looking forward to this one for a long time. BioWare is my favourite game company, with franchises like Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, the brand-new and insanely awesome Dragon Age, and, of course, Mass Effect.
You might be wondering what this story is doing on OSAlert – and you’re probably right in wondering that. The reason I’m posting it is that many people complain that there’s very little – if any – true space-faring science fiction on TV any more these days. Sure, we had the fun Star Trek film last year, but that’s about it. You could include Battlestar Galactica, but I think BSG deserves more than that simple moniker.
Instead, you have to move to the realm of games to get your fix, and the Mass Effect universe is pretty much as good as it gets. Mass Effect is the story that fans of Star Trek and Babylon 5 are waiting for, except it doesn’t come as a TV series but as a game. I know quite a few people who are totally into this type of scifi, but who are missing out on Mass Effect because it’s a game.
And that’s a very sad thing. Mass Effect has a lot to offer, not just necessarily as a game, but more as a story, drama, action. The characters have depth and interesting histories which you explore through rich and intricate dialogues. The relationships between the people, the decisions you have to make, the mature (not adult!) themes discussed during the game, the overarching story with more twists and turns than an Alpine highway; it’s top-notch scifi that deserves to be enjoyed by more people than just gamers.
The voice actor list for Mass Effect 2 is equally impressive: Adam Baldwin, Seth Green, Martin Sheen, Tricia Hilfer (number Six), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix), and many more.
If you don’t mind, I’m off playing Mass Effect 2. I have two save games from part 1 which I can load up into part 2, so I’ve got enough work ahead of me. OSAlert will shut down for the coming weeks or months.
Bye.
ArsTechnica said that the PC version was “lacking” most of the annoying parts of the X360 version. They called it the “definite version” and so I gave it a try over the holidays.
I have to admit it was good.
I also just finished Mass Effect 2. It was way better. No more Mako, no more long boring side missions. More purpose to getting the crew together and the combat is really polished. It is more like a shooter with a role playing story. Not really a RPG as I see them. The geeky depth is not there or better hidden.
Loading ME1 save games was only a little gimmick. It didn’t really change the game that much and I didn’t really like Vanguard class I played. I think Sentinel or Adept are better. I hated having to decide between assault rifle and sniper rifle ..
MS2 is really a great game with better replay value than most games. I usually never play a game twice, but I might consider it this time. But playing the stupid mining mini game to upgrade your ship so that you are better in the end is not for me. But that along with the slow loading and some short freezes are the only downsides to this great game. (And that you cannot change class when you want to play the same character for a second time.)
*Spoilers* The final mission is not as epic as in MS1, but the boss fight is a lot nicer and for a north American game the main character can be quite promiscuous
Ok if it is more like a shooter then I will probably skip it, I hate shooters, Mass Effect 1 was just a perfect combo of RPG and shooterish elements.
Well, you can still micromanage your characters. I just didn’t bother. I played it for the story and the action and had the computer do all the skill points and weapon selection etc. (One advantage of the PC ME1 version.)
I want my games to be short great action/sci-fi movies and ME2 was very good in that regard.
I think more shooters will get story elements of RPGs because it personalizes the game experience and adds a lot of replay value.
So is it more like Deus Ex with the mix of RPG and shooter? I LOVED that game and will absolutely get into this if it’s like that.
Mmm, deus ex. I recently got a copy off steam to replace the old pirated one I had. Been meaning to replay it.
In my opinion ME represents the pinnacle of storytelling in games to date. I would strongly recommend giving it a try.
Edited 2010-01-27 05:55 UTC
I know almost all spoken text off Deus Ex by hearth can that be considered a sign that I played it too much? Also, although I have not played the game in three years, I still no all the codes to the locked doors.
Too me it’s the best game.
It was and still is a terrific game.
always buy the pc version of a bioware game. they are not really a console shop, they just port to consoles for the money.
According to Ars the RPG elements has been quite radically toned down? If that’s so I won’t bother. I’ll just stick with Dragon Age for now.
I’ve only been playing for a short while, but what seems to be the case is that the *annoying* RPG bits have been toned down. Mass Effect had some tremendously braindead micromanagement (upgrades were a mess), and it seems it are exactly these annoying bits that they’ve fixed – by dumbing them down.
Considering many, many people didn’t even use the RPG stuff from part 1 (that is, didn’t apply upgrades), I don’t see it as a problem. ME wasn’t a pure RPG anyway.
They already fixed most of it in the PC Version (which had the advantage of coming out over a year later than the Xbox version)
Sadly Xbox players are sometimes just beta testers for the PC players, but the betas sometimes take years and years to make it to the PC
.. (Gear of war (2) and Halo 3 are other examples)
Actually, I haven’t played the original ME I either. However, after hearing that it’s evolved into more of a shooter (a’la Bioshock perhaps?) than an RPG I’m not that interested anymore.
i’m surprised that you didn’t review batman arkham asylum
definitely my game of the year 2009
Come back when they release a PS3 version. Until then, I’ll play the best game currently on the market, Uncharted 2.
I am with you there. But ME1/2 does absolutely nothing to me. I just got so bored so fast. Dry is the word. I would rather replay the Witcher and await my copy of Dragon Age.
Uncharted 2 is AWESOME, it made me feel good about owning a ps3 after the first 10 mins into it.
Cry alone in your room much?
Honestly I’m surprised EA didn’t make a port when they bought Bioware but the Mass Effect trilogy is exclusive to Microsoft. (360/PC)
I’ve heard uncharted 2 is awesome but the reason I bought an xbox 360 was because of mass effect.
I’d buy if it it was my own – but as long as bioware/ea keeps trying to control what you buy, then no thanks.
Wrong.
No Securom or activation and you can install on as many machines as you like.
DLC is another story.
dang – sorry, you’re right.
I was mixing it with “the other title”
Yeah, of the next 3-4 weeks maybe.
GOTY gets declared by media every time something a bit above average appears and what gets called game of the year in January will be all but forgotten by December. Could we please drop it?
I meant it on a personal level. The only possible thing I can see coming this year that could be better than ME2 is Fallout: New Vegas, which is still scheduled for this summer.
We’ll know more early February when the first information is released.
God of War 3
Final Fantasy XIII
Gran Turismo 5
These will all be in the running.
Another one?
The same boring androgynous JRPG nonsense filled with girls of questionable age. To each his own, I guess.
A racing game by definition cannot become a game of the year. Besides graphics, there’s little creativity going on.
To each his own.
Edited 2010-01-27 14:54 UTC
You did notice the 2 after Mass Effect, right?
Hello pot, meet kettle.
Except that Mass Effect actually tells a story, and every GoW game so far has been exactly the same.
There’s nothing bad about that – quite the contrary – but it does mean it can’t be the best game of the year in my book.
Quite PS3-heavy your list.
Declaring GOTY in january is a tough call. ME2, GT5 and GOW3 are probably on the list, but hopefully a game that is not a sequel will come along and steal our hearts. (Like Portal)
Maybe a game that pushes the boundaries and builds upon everything that is good in todays games will come along and break all records .. much like Avatar.
But games that are released at the end of year often get the awards anyways .. bad for ME2.
I didn’t know they speak English in Alkmaar. Or, alternatively, the quotes are true to the translated words.
… MediaMarkt also already had it.
// just went out in the blistering cold (windchill factor -12)//
Rookie.
Try living in the upper-midwestern US states for a winter.
We had -38 windchill a few weeks ago. It’s been 15 straight days of below-28-farenheit temps.
(and yes, it sucks, and yes, i should move)
Note that the -12 is in Celsius.
Edited 2010-01-27 17:51 UTC
I was in North Dakota a few weeks ago, I dont know how you guys handle that, I thought it was bad dealin with -15f for a couple weeks here in NY.
Rookie?
28F is rookie winter cold. Try living in Scandinavia with 14F-5F cold. And that’s not wind chill.
Guess why I moved to the tropics?
In Atlanta, Georgia, three days below freezing was a BFD. Schools and businesses closed.
People in North Georgia still talk about the Blizzard of ’93, which took out power for about a week (and had the roads mostly closed, and brought normal life to a halt). That was caused by (if memory serves, and I was 9) not 4″ of snow. We are… not used to cold, down here.
I remember that blizzard. I was in living in Georgia at the time. That sure was a fun time for a young teenager.
I’ve never played Mass Effect but I’ve heard it was good. To be honest, I’ve never really liked BioWare’s games, so I’ve been hesitant to try ME or ME2. Nothing against BioWare but I’m just not attracted to their style.
Games I’m looking foward to in 2010?
Final Fantasy XIII (on the fence with this one)
Super Street Fighter IV
White Knight Chronicles
Final Fantasy games can be great, but I’ve had issues with their character design and character development since VIII, and this one has the potential to be the worst yet. Smooth skinned, emotional and melodramatic characters don’t appeal to me, and if I can’t get behind the characters, I tend to struggle with the game as a whole.