Mass Effect 2 - It was good, but not that great

[OniaPL]

I liked Mass Effect 2. It had an entertaining story, combat wasnt that boring and you had choices. It is a good game that you can recommend to others. But it isn't worth all the celebration it has received. It wasn't that groundbreaking.

The constant praising of Mass Effect 2 haven't bothered me much until now. I have lately spent time on these forums, and seen a lot of people praising ME 2 for various reasons. But it was too much when Mass Effect received so, so many awards.
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/103/index/5535102/1

As it seems that there are a lot of ME 2 fans out there, could you explain me why this game is bigger than life itself?
Its combat was nothing more than a 3rd person shooter with few abilities, the story was decent (although the ending with that gigantic reaper was a little bit "come on!"), you had to mine planets with probes to get both the best ending and better gear which was horrible, almost all missions were completely linear, and I didn't find the AI to be exactly genius.

To repeat my question: Yes, ME2 is good, but how can anyone justify calling it the Game of the Year?

 

[Nfritzappa]

I'm just happy for Bioware, they're finally getting the praise they deserve, and yes I can justify calling ME2 game of the year. However, you're not the first person to have ME2 fall short of their expectations, in fact you're probably going to have a lot of people agreeing with you. I'm not one of those people though, I loved everything about ME2 (except planet mining, I sorta liked it though).

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The best thing a game can do is be immersive, it doesn't matter about all the little annoyances.

Mass Effect 2 has, on several occassions, kept me playing for 8 hours straight and not realising it. A game that can do that is a brilliant game in my book.

ME2 was the one game of 2010 that could do that, so I think it being GotY is perfectly justified.

 

[FinalHeart95]

I have to wait for my little siblings to go to bed before playing M rated games, so it's pretty much a choice between Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 for me at night.

I pretty much always choose Mass Effect 2, because I want to see what happens next so damn much.

 

[DustyDrB]

Those of us who love it do so because of predictable reasons: fun gameplay, great story and characters, that sort of thing.

If you don't like it, then that's fine. But you can make reductive statements like

Its combat was nothing more than a 3rd person shooter with few abilities

about any game.
Linearity is only a problem if you don't like linearity. In a story-based game, I want more linearity because it typically means a quicker-pace and tighter storytelling. Mining takes a comparatively miniature portion of the game and you can get everything you need by just mining for a few minutes after missions. And AI? AI is a universal problem in gaming, so its hardly fair to single out Mass Effect 2 for that.
The combat was extremely fun for me. I main as a Vanguard, which is a thrill.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Its a game that actually got me caring about the characters and trying to save everyone. I rarely have that happen to me when playing a game. I got sucked right into it from the first part and just kept on playing for hours at a time. Bioware just really made an amazing game with ME 2.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

If you really hated all of the mechanics, ending, missions, AI, etc., why even call the game "good?" Or are you just exaggerating for the sake of effect?

You're completely entitled to your opinion, so it's fine if you didn't care for the game, at all. But how do you account for all the awards it's winning if it's nothing special?

 

[The SettingSun]

I found it quite mediorce. RDR was my game of the year.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

I have to agree with you, I loved Mass Effect but Mass Effect 2 seemed just too much like every other game out there. And that weird final boss did feel incredibly out of place. That said, I've still got the PS3 version pre-ordered, so obviously I must have quite liked it.

 

[erikvduyn]

almost all missions were completely linear

This is an opinion that really needs to die. There is nothing wrong with linearity in the slightest.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

Look, everytime I order a bloody game, you all start downplaying it! Stop it! PLEASE! I want to be happy!

OT: From what I can tell, it's the story, the characters, and judging by the Youtube videos, the writing and actors did a good job too. Seems like a good reason to throw it the bone it deserves.

Calumon: Jack's in a strange mood. He watched someone called Lee Mack. Does he make Waterproof coats?

 

[binvjoh]

I've played around 9 hours of ME2 and while it's good, I prefer the first one.

That might change, though.

 

[OniaPL]

Those of us who love it do so because of predictable reasons: fun gameplay, great story and characters, that sort of thing.

If you don't like it, then that's fine. But you can make reductive statements like

Its combat was nothing more than a 3rd person shooter with few abilities

about any game.
Linearity is only a problem if you don't like linearity. In a story-based game, I want more linearity because it typically means a quicker-pace and tighter storytelling. Mining takes a comparatively miniature portion of the game and you can get everything you need by just mining for a few minutes after missions. And AI? AI is a universal problem in gaming, so its hardly fair to single out Mass Effect 2 for that.
The combat was extremely fun for me. I main as a Vanguard, which is a thrill.

Yes, linearity can be good in moderate amounts, but ME 2's missions were really narrow hallways in which you shoot the occasional enemy in the face. And I am not expecting an excellent AI, but the enemies often couldn't even take properly cover. And you could anyways spray mindlessly, as weapons used no ammo. And about the combat: You had few weapons and few special abilities, and it got rather repetitive after a while.

 

[OniaPL]

A game doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be good. Yes, it's nice to have new features every once and again, but I give Bioware a pass on that for Mass Effect 2 because they're one of the few developers remaining that takes any chances at all. Mass Effect 2 was an action-RPG polished down to its very core. The game's atmosphere, characters, and combat were all great.

I think that ME 2 was decent in every aspect, but it didn't deserve GotY in my opinion.

How did Bioware take any chances? The combat was linear Gears of War- style cover based shooting with abilities, and the story was rather standard sci-fi story.

 

[beniki]

Name one game better that year.

Mass Effect 2 combines great story telling, a good sound track, competent and slick combat with wonderful character designs, and a fresh approach to what is usually a sword and magic heavy genre. It has some neat innovation in terms of games mechanics to stream line the RPG experience, and get players actively involved in cut scenes.

There's great stuff in this game, and that deserves praise, even if it didn't particularly inspire you.

I suggest you try analysing it yourself. Think about what you didn't like about the story and why you didn't like it. Why did the combat seem mediocre to you? It may be that you'd prefer a more skill based combat system than one designed to fool you into believing you were Shepard.

So yeah. What specifically didn't you like?

 

[JeanLuc761]

I could easily fill up a huge wall of text with justification as to why it deserves Game of the Year, but I'll use bulletpoints for the sake of saving space.

- Fantastic characters, each of which I came to empathize with and deeply care for.
- An extremely well realized sci-fi setting on par with Star Trek or Star Wars (imo), with a wonderfully detailed Codex.
- Fascinating alien races that kept me wanting to learn more
- Competent, though admittedly flawed 3rd person gameplay (Gears of War still holds the crown here).
- Incredible and appealing visual design.
- Best-in-the-business voice acting from almost every single character. I'd even go so far as to say some of the performances are easily Academy Award caliber.
- Cutting edge dialogue system

I can expand on these points if you wish, but when it comes down to it, I felt Mass Effect 2 just took so many things and did them all brilliantly (visuals, immersion, story, characters, gameplay), that I honestly couldn't stop playing it.