Mass Effect 2 is a sequel to Mass Effect (2008), and is considered by many one of the greatest video games of all time. Personally, I have great memories of this game and the entire trilogy, and for me this is the best game I’ve ever played.
WARNING THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS, PROCEED WITH CAUTION
Mass Effect 2 (2010)
- IGN Rating (Xbox 360): 9.6/10
- Metacritic Rating (Xbox 360): 96/100
- GameSpot Rating (Xbox 360): 9/10
Something that I will remember from Mass Effect 2 is the final boss fight, as I remember when watching my brother fight in the scenery, cut scenes, and boss fight itself was the perfect combination to me, and despite people feeling underwhelmed by the final boss fight, I always thought it was phenomenal and couldn’t wait to experience it for myself.
Mass Effect excels on all fields in my opinion, what you lose in exploration of planets, you gain on everything else. The game play improved tenfold, new locations and planets to explore, a new Citadel rebuilt after the intense battle with Sovereign, new Normandy, new enemy, and a diverse crew ranging from allies old and new featuring a new Asari squad-mate, a new Krogan squad-mate, new Human squad-mates, and a new Geth squad-mate. Squad-mates returning from Mass Effect 1 include Tali’Zorah, Nar Rayya, and Garrus Vakarian only. While you cannot recruit them, you can talk to and interact with some of your old squad-mates from Mass Effect 1 throughout the Milky Way. Also, returning to the new Normandy SR-2 is Jeff “Joker” Moreau, who plays a bigger role in this game as you’ll find out in the story section.
Some new background information for this section is required to understand the story a little better, in my opinion.
Cerberus is a human-supremacist organization that claims to defend and advance human interests in the galaxy, their real goal is to establish human dominance in the galaxy. Cerberus was present in Mass Effect 1 through side missions mostly consisting of destroying Cerberus Labs on planets. Cerberus doesn’t have a great track record in the galaxy being unanimously disliked by most people throughout the galaxy for their violence and hatred towards aliens, testing on living aliens and humans, and running tests on Reaper and Geth tech.
While Reapers are still considered a myth by some, after the Citadel attacks people have opened up to the possibility of the Reapers being real, and whether if you chose Anderson or Udina for the role of the first human Council member, they fight for people to believe the Reapers are a real threat and are coming to invade.
Omega is a station built from the husk of a mined metallic asteroid. It is the center of crime and corruption for years, as laws and law enforcement are weak on Omega, with Aria T’Loak the de facto Asari ruler of Omega, as she rules crime on Omega. Aria T’Loak is located in the Afterlife, a bar/club on Omega.
Squad-mates:
There are many more options for squad-mates in this game, some old and many new. In fact, Mass Effect 2 has the largest selection of squadmates in it, these squad-mates are:
Jacob Taylor is the first squadmate you get in Mass Effect 2, and is a romance option for a female Shepard. Jacob Taylor’s father had a history in the military, so naturally Jacob would gravitate towards it, but instead of joining the Alliance he decided to join Cerberus. Despite not agreeing with everything Cerberus says and does, he does like that they have humanity’s best interests at heart. Like Kaidan Alenko before him, he is a human biotic and handy with a gun. Jacob is often serious but does have a light side, he gives input on recent missions and the overall goal of the mission, being a useful asset to the team.
Miranda is the second squadmate you get in Mass Effect 2, and she is the Illusive Man’s most trusted Cerberus operative, doing most of his dirty work around the galaxy when needed and adding input on things she thinks could help. Like Jacob Taylor, she is a human biotic, but unlike Jacob Taylor she was genetically modified by her father to be the perfect specimen, or killing machine. She is a romance option for a male Shepard. She is well put together, being quick and effective on the battlefield, as well as quick and smart when talking to her.
Mordin Solus is a Salarian squadmate that you can get from his mission on Omega. He is not a romance option for male or female Shepard’s. Before working with Shepard, Mordin was looking for a cure for the plague that was infecting non-humans on Omega, and before that he was with the Salarian Special Forces during the Krogan wars, and in fact, Mordin Solus is responsible for the Genophage that plagues the Krogan species, which affects the fertility of Krogan woman, making most of the children they have stillborn, vastly affecting the growth of the Krogan race. He is fast, smart, and good with a weapon and tech.
Samara is an Asari squad-mate in Mass Effect 2 that you can get by doing her recruitment mission on the Asari home world Thessia. She is an Asari Justicar, which are Asari upholders of justice, righting every wrong she comes across, she does whatever it does to make sure the right thing has been done, even in that means taking her own life. If the player is a male Shepard, they can romance Samara. With her biotic abilities and will to uphold justice, she is a valuable asset on the field.
Jack, also known as Subject Zero, is a human squad-mate from Mass Effect 2. She is a romance option for a male Shepard. Jack, like others on this mission, does not mix well with others. She is often foul-mouthed and quick to violence. Her violent and troubled past, as you learn through her loyalty mission, is the reason for this personality she has adopted. Shepard also can learn, that deep down, she is human, just like Shepard, and can bring it out of her. Despite her inability to play nice, she is a great biotic and good shot, proving to be a great squatted.
Garrus Vakarian is a Turian squad-mate from Mass Effect 2, returning to the Normandy and joining Shepard on the dangerous mission. In Mass Effect 2, if the player is a female Shepard they can romance Garrus. Unlike Mass Effect 1, with Garrus being a rational, well thought out squad-mate, something has changed. He’s more jaded, as it would seem, with something obviously happening in the 2 year period Shepard was gone. Through talking to Garrus and doing his loyalty mission you can find out what happened, and help Garrus deal with it. Like Mass Effect 1, Garrus focuses on using his skills with a weapon and tech to fight against the enemy, showing some things never change.
Grunt is a Krogan squad-mate in Mass Effect 2 that you can get through his recruitment mission. Grunt is different from almost every other Krogan, as he was made in a lab. Also separating him from most Krogan is his appearance, with the spikes on the top of his head being smaller than most other Krogan. The reason behind his smaller spikes is the fact that he’s pure Krogan, something Grunt takes huge pride in. His name Grunt was his own choice, as when Shepard opened the tank Grunt was in and they began talking Grunt decided his name would be Grunt. On the battlefield Grunt uses his pure brute strength and weapons to overpower and defeat his opposition, emerging victorious most of the time. Grunt is not a romance option for male or female Shepards.
Tali’Zorah Nar Rayya is a Quarian squad-mate who, like Garrus Vakarian, returns from Mass Effect 1 to join Shepard once again. Tali’Zorah has changed a bit since Mass Effect 1, but not as drastically as Garrus. She seems more matured now, returning from her Pilgrimage to the Quarian fleet and becoming more important back home. She uses her tech and weapons to aid Shepard and the Normandy squad on the field and on the Normandy. She is a romance option for a male Shepard.
Thane Krios is a Drell squadmate from Mass Effect 2, and is a romance option for a female Shepard. Before joining Shepard and the Normandy crew, Thane worked as an assassin, paid to take out someone, usually someone that held some importance to something such as a gang, crime ring, CEO’s, etc. His work was quick, swift, and usually he left no trace that he was there. Despite all of this, Thane is very religious, praying after he takes out a target. Thane usually wouldn’t take a job like this, but Thane is suffering from Kepral’s Syndrome, a syndrome that affects his lungs ability to absorb oxygen, and eventually kills him, so he wanted to do something good before he died, like saving the galaxy. This syndrome is only apparent in Drell, and it is not contagious.
Legion is a Geth squadmate in Mass Effect 2 that you get during the Reaper IFF mission. Unlike most Geth, Legion thinks alone. It does not share a consciousness with the rest of the Geth, like most Geth, instead it makes decisions on his own, has its own thoughts, leading to a unique squadmate. Legion does what it feels is right, and looks to fight against the Heretics (Geth who follow the Reapers), and the Old Machines (Reapers). Legion cannot be romanced by a male or female Shepard.
Zaeed Massani is a Human squadmate from Mass Effect 2, and is not a part of the base game, in fact he is actually DLC. Zaeed Massani is a mercenary, a gun for hire, and he joins Shepard seeing the mission as just another merc mission. You learn most of what you will learn about Zaeed from his loyalty mission and recruitment mission, as you cannot talk to Zaeed like you can everyone else on the Normandy, you can only interact with him or something and he’ll say something without you being able to respond. He is not a romance option for a male or female Shepard, but is useful on the battlefield.
Kasumi Goto is a Human squadmate from Mass Effect 2 that is also DLC. She is a thief, who can be recruited on the Citadel. Like Zaeed, you learn most of what you will learn about Kasumi from her loyalty mission, recruitment mission, and interacting with items in her room on the Normandy. She is also useful on the battlefield, using tech and weapons to help out, but she is not a romance option for either a male or female Shepard.
Story of Mass Effect 2, and as before, heavy spoilers ahead:
The game starts off on the Normandy SR-1, where they are investigating a distress call. As they draw nearer to the planet, a strange looking ship begins to fire at them. As Joker tries to evade the onslaught, Shepard helps get everyone on the Normandy he can into escape pods, resulting in a lot of the crew dying, except for the squadmates from Mass Effect 1. As Shepard gets to Joker to get him into an escape pod, the Normandy takes a ton of damage. In the nick of time, Shepard gets Joker to an escape pod, but before Shepard can get in, an explosion blasts him away from the escape pod. Shepard ends up flying out of the ship and begins to fall to the planet where the distress call was. In the end Shepard saves Joker, but died doing so.
SPOILERS HERE -> 2 years after Shepard died, Shepard wakes up on an operating table in a Cerberus lab. A woman’s voice explains to Shepard that Shepard died two years ago after the Normandy was attacked and destroyed, but after Shepard died Cerberus got a hold of his/her body and began to rebuild him/her. She assures Shepard that they didn’t add anything new to Shepard, or alter him in any way, they just rebuilt him since they believe he is good for humanity and the fight against the Reapers. She also lets him know that the Cerberus Loki mechs and bots in the facility have gone rogue, killing anyone in sight. Shepard gets up off of the table, and grabs a nearby pistol. He begins to navigate through the facility as the woman guides him when needed. He finds in a hallway a man fighting two Loki mechs. Shepard gets behind cover next to him and begins to ask questions. The man says his name is Jacob Taylor, and he works for Cerberus. Jacob and Shepard dispose of the rest of the mechs, and Jacob begins to answer all of Shepard’s questions. The two fight through the facility and meet up with Miranda and a man named Wilson. As they progress further, Miranda reveals she knows that Wilson is a traitor and shoots him dead. After they secure the facility, Miranda says that the “Illusive Man”, the leader of Cerberus and the person who wanted Shepard to be resurrected, wants to talk to Shepard. Shepard walks into a room, and the door closes behind him. In the middle of the room a holograph of the Illusive Man pops up.
SPOILERS HERE -> The Illusive Man fills Shepard in on why the Illusive Man feels it’s necessary to bring back Shepard; the Illusive Man believes Shepard is right about the Reapers and believes they are coming, and wants Shepard to investigate a human colony that recently went missing like many before it. Shepard in the end decides to help as Cerberus will be funding his mission. The Illusive Man also tells Shepard that someone wanted to meet him, and it turns out to be Jeff “Joker” Moreau. Jeff explains that after the Normandy was destroyed and Shepard died, the old Normandy crew steadily grew distant from each other, going separate ways after Mass Effect 1. Jeff decided to join Cerberus since they were the only people who were looking to fight against the Reapers, and Jeff also tells Shepard that they made a new Normandy just for this project. Now, with a new crew and new Normandy, they take off to their first mission. On the planet they find the colony empty of colonists. They note that it looks like everyone disappeared randomly without putting up a fight. As they investigate further, drones and mechs that normally wouldn’t attack them begin to attack them. They fight back, until they meet up with a team of Quarians, led by Tali’Zorah Nar Rayya. Tali explains that she is there looking for another Quarian named Veetor, who came to this colony to live, and when they found out the colony had gone silent they came here to investigate. They fight the mechs and drones through the colony until in a security room with cameras and access to the mechs they find Veetor, who seemed scared out of his mind. As they ask Veetor to explain what happened here, Veetor reveals that the colony had been taken by bug-like creatures called the Collectors and shows them camera footage as proof.
SPOILERS HERE -> They use small bug like drones to inject the victim with a paralyzer, freezing them where they stand. Then, the Collectors will put them into tanks that look like the hard skin of a bug. Then, they will be taken to the giant Collector ship, where no one knows exactly what happens to them. All they know is that the ones taken do not return. It is speculated that they use the Omega 4 Relay, a Mass Relay that shines red near Omega, everyone who has attempted to use the Relay never comes back. Some think that paradise is on the other side of the Relay, but the general consensus is that there is a black hole on the other side of the Relay. After learning this, Miranda says she would like to take Veetor and his footage back with them, but Tali doesn’t want her to take Veetor, and would rather they go back with her. Now, Shepard has to make a decision; take Veetor back to him and Miranda, or let Veetor go with Tali but keep the footage. The Illusive Man thinks that the Collectors are working with the Reapers and the Reapers ordered the Collectors to start taking Humans straight from their homes, uninvited. Whether it’s for making Husk’s or other Reaper ground forces it is not known, but the general consensus is that the Collectors and Reapers are working together. Either way, Shepard gets the footage and presents it to the Illusive Man, and this leads the Illusive Man to believing that the Collectors are working with the Reapers and the Reapers ordered the Collectors to start taking Humans straight from their homes, uninvited. Whether it’s for making Husk’s or other Reaper ground forces it is not known, but the general consensus is that the Collectors and Reapers are working together. Now the mission is clear, they have to stop the Collectors, and they suspect that the Omega 4 Relay is the only way to do that, making this a suicide mission. Now, Shepard must assemble his team to take in the fight against the Collectors in hopes of stumping the Reapers again. All around the galaxy, Shepard assembles his team, and if the player chooses to, can do their individual loyalty missions to ensure their full commitment to the mission.
SPOILERS HERE -> Now, Shepard and his team are looking to stop the Reapers and find a way to use the Omega 4 Relay. They go to different human colonies, fighting against the Collectors, doing anything they can. Eventually after they acquire the Reaper IFF and use it on the Normandy, while Shepard and his team are on a mission off the Normandy, a Collector ships catches the Normandy and tons of Collectors board the ship, taking all of the Normandy crew they can. EDI, the ships AI that has been in the Normandy SR-2 since it was built tells Joker that the Reaper IFF was a trap, and that it led the Collectors right to them, and that if they want any chance of getting the crew back, Joker would have to go all the way to the crew deck and activate the Normandy’s defense system and get rid of the Collectors on the ship, which Joker does successfully.
SPOILERS HERE -> Now the only people on the Normandy are Joker, Shepard, all recruited squadmates, and EDI. All the other crew have been taken by the Collectors, presumably back to their base. Shepard could do 2 missions before heading to the Omega 4 Relay to attack the Collector base and get the Normandy Crew back. If you do more than 2, the crew will start to die on the Collector ship, so hurry! You initiate the final mission by using the Omega 4 Relay, where on the other side is the equivalent of a ship graveyard. Also, in the middle of this graveyard of ships is a giant black hole, which is quite the site. The truth of the matter is that this is the center of the galaxy, and that supper massive black hole is Sagittarius A*, which is a real black hole that is at the center of the Milky Way.
SPOILERS HERE -> Now, everything you’ve done as Shepard and for your squadmates is about to pay off, or make you pay. As the Normandy begins to evade the destroyed ships to get close to the Collector base, small Collector drones attack the Normandy. If you paid for better Normandy upgrades, such as Kinetic Barriers, better Cannons, etc. determines if you can get past the drones. If you didn’t the Normandy takes damage, and some of your squadmates die. If you did, then the Normandy evades the attacks and destroys the drones, killing no squadmates. Now as the Normandy draws near to the base, the guns on the base begin to shoot at the Normandy, now it doesn’t matter if you got the upgrades or not since the Normandy will be hit, but it will affect if any squadmates die or not. Finally, the Normandy crashes on the Collector base near where they believe they will need to enter from. Everyone gathers in the meeting room to find out how to approach the mission. Shepard will choose someone to go into the vents to go through and help unlock the door to the core of the base where the Normandy crew is most likely at. The best option for the vent specialist is someone who is loyal and good with tech. Then a fireteam specialist, someone who can lead a separate fireteam from Shepard’s Stiketeam. The best option here is someone loyal, and someone with a history of being a leader. The rest will follow Shepard as they aid the vent specialist, making sure they don’t overheat and can make it to the door to unlock it. While Shepard’s striketeam go through the base, they find out the the Collectors are actually Protheans modified by the Reapers to do their bidding. As your fireteam and striketeam regroup at the door to the main core with the vent specialist. If certain squadmates aren’t loyal, they’ll start dying. If a certain number of squadmates die, even your loyal squadmates start to die too. After you get to your crew, if you made it in time you’ll get an option to either send the surviving Normandy crew to go to the Normandy alone or send someone from your remaining squadmates to escort them to the Normandy. When you move on you’ll need a biotic to help get past the swarmer drones while following the tubes in the Collector base to find out what they’re doing with all the humans, and a leader for the fireteam. After you escort the biotic past the swarmer drones and reunite with your fireteam. Now, you’ll need to choose two final squadmates to accompany you to the heart of the base, while the rest of your squadmates stay back and hold the line. Shepard and his squad step onto a polygonal platform that will take you to the heart of the base. When you arrive you discover what all those humans were for. A new, gigantic human Reaper.
SPOILERS HERE -> Luckily, it’s incomplete and inactive, meaning you have time to destroy it. There are tubes that hold up the human Reaper that are shielded, but occasionally open up allowing you to shoot them. Before you can really start though, more of the polygonal platforms, like the ones you and your squadmates are on show up, and on them are Collectors with the intent to stop you. Also, the human Reaper awakes, even in it’s incomplete state it still poses a threat so you’ll have to fend off Collectors while avoiding the human Reaper’s attacks, waiting for the opportunity to attack the tubes holding it up. After a hard fought battle, Shepard and his squadmates have finally shot all of the tubes, causing the human Reaper to fall. The Illusive Man begins to transmit a call between him and Shepard. The Illusive Man now proposes to Shepard that instead of destroying the Collector base, that they should kill all the Collectors in there with an EMP blast and keep the technology. The player must make a decision to keep the Collector base or destroy it. After making the decision, the Human Reaper pops up again, still alive. Now you have to shoot the armor protecting vital parts of the human Reaper and destroy it for once and for all. After another hard fought battle, Shepard and his squadmates emerge victorious, but the human Reaper falls onto the polygonal platforms, causing them to fall. When Shepard wakes up, if his squadmates are loyal they will live, if not they will be dead. Shepard checks with the team holding the door, and if they are weak in numbers or disloyal they will sustain casualties, if not they will survive. Now Shepard and his squadmates must rush to escape the base, either before it blows up or before they get caught by Collectors. When Shepard makes his jump to the Normandy from the base, Joker will be there to help Shepard up. If two or more squadmates lived, Shepard will successfully make the jump with Joker helping him. If one or less survived, Shepard will be unable to get himself up and will fall to his death, despite Joker’s efforts to help. In the end, if Shepard survived it would end with him preparing for an all out war between the galaxy and the Reapers. If Shepard died, it would end with Joker wondering where to go next, but still setting his sights on helping in the war with the Reapers.
DLC:
There is a lot of DLC in Mass Effect 2, in fact it has the most of any of the games. These span from story DLC, to armor and weapons, squadmates, and different appearances for squadmates.
STORY DLC’s:
Normandy Crash Site – Explore the crash site of the Normandy SR-1, collect dog tags of fallen Normandy crew members, and put up a memorial statue for the Normandy SR-1 and it’s crew.
Zaeed, The Price of Revenge – Unlock squadmate Zaeed Massani and his loyalty mission.
Firewalker – Use a new ground vehicle called the Hammerhead while completing missions with it.
Kasumi, Stolen Memory – Unlock squadmate Kasumi Goto and her loyalty mission.
Overlord – Investigate and stop an evil rogue AI with a blood chilling backstory.
Lair of the Shadow Broker – Help Liara T’Soni stop the Shadow Broker.
Genesis – An interactive comic that helps summarize the Mass Effect 1 story at the beginning of the game, allowing players to make important decisions if they didn’t play the first game.
Arrival – Attempt to stop the Reaper arrival, by any means necessary.
For the weapon and armor DLC packs, some were exclusive to certain consoles, so I won’t go over all of them.
For the appearance packs, there were two of them with the first one containing new appearances for Jack, Thane Krios, and Garrus Vakarian. The second one included new appearances for Tali’Zorah, Miranda Lawson, and Grunt.
Gameplay:
Mass Effect 2 follows in the footsteps of the first game when it comes to genre and the world surrounding the player. The combat in this game, however has improved greatly. When using weapons it feels much more smoother, and more effective. Unlike the first game, however you unlock different kinds of guns that sometimes have different skins, but you cannot add perks or abilities to the weapons. The same can be said for the armor, and Medi-Gel is now used more for reviving squadmates that have fallen in combat.
Dialogue is just as important in the second game as it is in the first game. Now, though during interactions and dialogue with NPCs if you get an opportunity to do a Paragon or Renegade interrupt to gain Paragon or Renegade points. The interrupts can be to comfort or to threaten, depending on the circumstances. For example, if a squadmate you are attempting to romance is going through something tough and is looking for support from Shepard, you could get a prompt in the bottom left hand corner displaying LT, L2, or left mouse click with a Paragon logo next to it, allowing you to do a Paragon interrupt and comfort the squadmate. The same thing goes for Renegade interrupts, except they’ll be in the bottom right hand corner, and it’ll be RT, R2, or a right mouse click.
Attributes work a little differently now, if you level up Shepard will get more points than his squadmates as he has more attributes to level up. Also, there are different tiers of leveling up. The first one is usually 1 point to level up, the second tier is 2, the third is 3, and the fourth and final tier is 4 points to level up. The tier system in leveling up is the same for your squadmates.
The codex is mostly the same, and most of the codex entries that you unlocked in Mass Effect 1 will be in your codex in Mass Effect 2 if you transfer over your Shepard.
The atmosphere remains awe-provoking and wondrous, but now with a feeling of heightened suspense. Knowing that the Reapers are prepping for an all out invasion at any point, knowing that the final mission could be Shepard’s last, and everything else happening stacks on to the suspenseful feeling.
Planet exploration is a little different now. While on the galaxy map, instead of a cursor you control a small scale Normandy, and can travel to planets and explore other solar systems. When interacting with a planet you have many options: you can scan the planet for anomalies, materials, etc. If you find an anomaly that gives you a mission on that planet, then you can land on the planet, but other than that exploring uncharted planets is limited. Another addition to space exploration on the galaxy map is within different clusters, you can go outside of a solar system and travel to other solar systems within that cluster. Doing this will burn fuel, but luckily in most systems with Mass Relay’s there are fuel depots, and sometimes you can find fuel out while exploring.
Mass Effect 2 takes what worked in Mass Effect 1, made them better, then added more, giving an overall favorable and excellent experience. For me, this is #1 all time, and it gets a strong 10/10.
