'Dragon Age: Awakening' review: More of the same... in a good way

It has been a while since I last reviewed a game (Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing at the beginning of the month) and I was beginning to think I’d never have time to finish one ever again. However, today I completed Dragon Age: Awakening on 360 after around fifteen hours of gameplay. Awakening is an expansion to last year’s Dragon Age: Origins, an RPG by BioWare (who also made Mass Effect 2 which I reviewed back in February). Last November I played Origins on 360 even though it is (apparently) the worst version of the game (Eurogamer rated the 360 version a ‘6’ and the PC version an ‘8’). This is because my PC is pretty rubbish and wouldn’t have been able to run the game at all. The PS3 version is supposed to be a little better than it’s 360 counterpart (at least graphically) but that version came out about two weeks later and I wanted the game at launch. Anyway, that’s why I’m reviewing the 360 version of this expansion.



Awakening is probably the best console-based expansion I have ever played. Whilst the two downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV “episodes” were of great quality and length, most the downloadable content (DLC) offered on XBLA and PSN has been disappointing so far, with even highly-rated games like Fallout 3 failing to deliver the goods when it comes to expansions. Indeed BioWare themselves have been pretty sloppy with DLC up to now. They only released two (very short and overpriced) expansions to the original Mass Effect and the two previous pieces of DLC released for Dragon Age prior to Awakening (Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar) have hardly set the world on fire. But where Awakening is different is that it adds a lot of content: side-quests, items, companions, a whole new map of locations and, most importantly, it offers a continuation of the main Dragon Age story and allows you to up the level of your original character (to level 35 from 20).

As well as providing a lot of new content, Awakening also improves on the basic gameplay of the original. It is less glitchy, it looks a bit better than the original and the difficulty is balanced far better. In Origins I had to turn the diffculty down to “easy” during some boss fights, which otherwise seemed impossible. However, the “normal” setting on Awakening is much more playable whilst still providing a decent challenge. Where the game falls down a little bit is that, although I was continuing my character from Origins, there are precious few references to characters and plot elements from the first game. Awakening (bar a few small exceptions) doesn’t reference decisions the player has made in its predecessor, unlike Mass Effect 2. But this is hardly the point: Awakening is so much better than what we have seen so far from DLC that it is quite exciting and sets the bar considerably higher for future BioWare DLC releases (hopefully a Mass Effect 2 equivalent).



Dragon Age also continues to be the only video game that I have ever come across where social class and personal politics play a part in decision making (at least outside of something like Tropico). Quite often the decisions do seem morally grey compared to a lot of other RPG games and characters who are basically "good guys" are often dimissive of lower class people or of certain races (Elves are almost always considered as a lower caste of slaves, for example). In Origins one of the main things to consider when creating your character is which social class they are from, and this does tend to change how people react to you. I probably shouldn't stress it too much, because this element of the game could stand to be fleshed out a bit more in the future, but it is interesting that Dragon Age covers some of that ground.

Of course, all this extra content comes at a price (literally) and Awakening is £29.99 (at retail on a disc for 360/PC or as a download on 360/PC/PS3), but fans of Origins should not be put off by the price tag: Awakening is the first good piece of DLC BioWare have ever released and it is worth the money. Especially as it sets up ideas and characters which are almost certain to be part of the games sequel next year.

Dragon Age: Awakening is available now and is rated an '18' by the BBFC. Interesting that the BBFC has given Dragon Age a higher age certificate than the ultra-sweary, ultra-violent 'Kick-Ass' (which I reviewed recently on my Film blog).

'Heavy Rain' review: It's not big and it's not clever

I know I am massively out of step with popular critical opinion here, but it is with a heavy heart that I must say, I didn’t like Heavy Rain, the PS3 exclusive title which has promised so much since it was announced at E3 2006. It gives me no pleasure at all to say that many fears people had about the game being nothing more than a series of QTE’s have proven correct. As I said in my last post, after a few hours of playing I had found the “drama” aspect fairly comical and heavy handed, and it didn’t improve from there, with multiple sequences that REALLY stretch all credibility, including a major plot twist that comes from nowhere, and is a far cry from being the game which would make you cry (see video below for Mega64's take on this!).

Admittedly, Heavy Rain does get you doing some novel things for a video game (brushing your teeth; applying mascara; changing a nappy) but none of them are fun or involving or emotional and all revolve around pressing the right control stick in various directions. Failure to get the prompt right usually just results in doing it again and the whole thing is completely pointless. If the intention is to make a drama which just happens to be a video game, then it completely fails on that level. If you play the game imagining it is a film then you are just left with the most hackneyed series of derivative thriller-movie sequences. The whole thing is also quite smug. It is almost insulting how clever Heavy Rain thinks it is whilst being nothing more than a boring Dragon’s Lair clone. I applaud the ambition, and think developer's should be encouraged to aim for the stars more often, but the opening credit sequence, with sad people standing in the rain, or the moment when a red balloon ascends into the sky, are super pretentious and laughable as a result.

Oh, and it is boring and then some. There were so many times when I wished I could run somewhere rather than slowly walk (however "cinematic" walking in the rain might be). There were so many times when I couldn’t care less about a conversation which was happening on screen. But where Heavy Rain really, truly fails is in an area so many ambitious games have failed to master before: that is in meeting actions with consequences, with the intended result of making choices difficult. There are apparently more than twenty possible outcomes, but these are mostly reflected in an end of game “news report”, similar to the bit at the end of Fallout 3 where a few sentences have been recorded for each variant and all get stuck together in the final speech to reflect your path. Most of the time Heavy Rain is asking you to choose whether you want to have orange juice or not... and this has no consequence whatsoever.

Indeed, there were many times I wanted to make a game changing choice (like shooting somebody you have pulled a gun on, rather than waiting for the obligatory bit where they hit it out of your hand and you have to scuffle about on the floor) only to find that there was no option. There was a (stupid) scene where a “bad cop” pulled a gun on my FBI agent during an interrogation of a suspect, and infuriatingly I couldn’t fight him, or tell anyone he’d done it, or turn on the video camera behind the two-way glass to show him beating the suspect... it was completely out of my control. I could go and make myself a coffee, but that would be POINTLESS!

I have nothing against pointless details if they add to an atmosphere (I’ll never forget standing at a bus stop on a cold Yokosuka morning in Shenmue, for example) but the lack of any choice in terms of where the characters go (I never knew why my characters were turning up at various locations for half the game) and generally not having any meaningful input in what will eventually happen (bar a few key moments) took me right out of the game and cut the atmosphere dead.



I don’t want to completely bash this game, however this reads. Heavy Rain is commendable for its ambition and for the fact that there isn’t another game quite like it (previous QTE games have generally used them for action and not tooth-brushing or French-kissing). The titular rain is really well realised and the motion capture work is superb. There were a couple of really entertaining moments, which usually involved running away from/after someone. I also quite liked using the FBI agent character, who has a pair of futuristic glasses that allow him to find forensic evidence quite easily. These bits felt the most like I was playing a game and not watching a generic Channel 5 thriller. I also liked the Kubrick-inspired art design in one key location, which I won't spoil here.

But most of the time the game is stupefyingly repetitive and bland. How many times must I check a bathroom medicine cabinet in a single video game? It felt like every other scene in Heavy Rain involved doing just that. Why is every fight sequence the same (people pick up objects and try to bash you with them or throw them at you, and when you fall to the floor you have to pummel ‘x’ to stand up again). The first time I had one of these fights, it was entertaining. But the novelty quickly wore off.

Basically, Heavy Rain is quite a stupid game with delusions of grandeur, aspiring clearly to win some sort of industry Oscars. If you want to watch a drama about a serial killer, then lord knows there are plenty of them and most of them are better than this one in more or less every way imaginable. Or if you want to see games as an art form than I would, again, direct you to Flower or Shadow of the Colossus. I would love to know someone who genuinely cried at some point during Heavy Rain. I am easily moved to tears, and yet I found myself laughing at every terribly acted “poignant” scene in the game. It takes a real effort to take the tragedy out of child murder, but hats off to the guys at developer Quantic Dream for making it happen.

In summary: top marks for trying... but please don’t try again. Also, the "sexy" female journalist character, Madison, looks unsettlingly like the 1980s Scotch tape skeleton.



Heavy Rain is out now and is rated '15' by the BBFC!

'Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll' review: Monkey Balls...

I am quite conscious that, so far, I have reviewed two “mature” games, both of which involve a lot of shooting in dimly lit corridors (I am of course referring to Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2). I therefore thought that it would be a good idea to make my next review a Wii game, with a more casual (less bloodthirsty) audience in mind. I am also aware that I’ve been giving SEGA a rather easy time of it lately. First I talked up their new 2D Sonic game, then I charitably compared one of their biggest flops (Shenmue) with one of this year’s most anticipated titles (Heavy Rain), before going on to praise the demo of (what is sure to be) a fairly average Mario Kart-clone in the form of Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing. In the interest of balance, it seems only fair that I now take SEGA to task over their most recent release: Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, on the Wii.

For those unfamiliar with this particular franchise, the original Super Monkey Ball was a rather brilliant Arcade cabinet game which became a successful and well-received Gamecube launch title back in 2001. The game basically sees the player take control of a monkey in a gumball. You must guide this monkey to the end of each level within the time limit whilst avoiding falling off the stage. Effectively you were not so much in control of the monkey itself, but of the level, tilting it so as to cause the monkey to follow your chosen path. It was good fun and was a decent party game as you could easily pass the controller around upon failing and give somebody else a go. Since then, SEGA has released a number of sequels to varying degrees of success.

I was relatively excited by the prospect of this new Wii iteration of the series as it employs the Balance Board peripheral (hence the word “Step” in the title) and whilst a few mediocre titles have so far tried to incorporate Nintendo’s fitness controller, Monkey Ball is arguably the first respectable games franchise to give it a try. In theory it is a good fit. As anyone who has played Wii Fit knows, the Balance Board is sensitive at detecting changes in weight distribution and this should lend itself to Monkey Ball well, as you tilt your body to tilt the level onscreen. But whilst this works in theory, in practice it is far too sensitive for its own good, rendering the game’s harder stages impossible. I was able to struggle through and complete the game’s two easiest “worlds” (sets of 10 levels) using this control method, but as the game progressed it became clear that I would need to switch to the Wii Remote.

It is a great shame that the Balance Board option doesn’t work as hoped. However, when played with the Wii Remote, Step & Roll handles fairly well after a bit of practice, and the difficult later stages become much easier. This is another problem with Step & Roll. It is too easy. With only 70 levels in the main mode (compared with around 300 in 2005’s Super Monkey Ball Deluxe on the XBOX/PS2) the game is far too short and even the hardest of the levels are quite simple to beat. Furthermore, losing all your lives results in being given the option to continue from the same point... which is completely pointless. Why bother with having lives when they are so meaningless? And when you (inevitably) complete each 10-level world, you are treated to an unskipable end credit sequence, each with it's own delightful J-Pop song (including lyrics about “living your dream” and “following your heart” like every piece of J-Pop ever recorded) which has nothing to do with guiding a monkey to the end of an obstacle course, whatsoever. The first time this happened, after world one, I thought I had completed the game within ten minutes.

Not only are Step & Roll's levels much easier than those in earlier instalments, they are also less fun to play. Whereas the original games were focussed purely on remaining on the level by avoiding holes, often building up a lot of speed, Step & Roll is mainly about the finesse required to roll around obstacles planted over every inch of each stage. Totems, rocks and blocks of ice are scattered throughout the levels and buffeting off them is not fun and just breaks any hope of building momentum. The game is best in the few levels where speeding from one end to the other is still possible and when this is possible, the game is still quite brilliant fun.

Whilst the main mode is unreasonably short (I completed it within a couple of hours), there is the option of co-operative play to add a little replay value to those courses, as well as the allure of besting your score from last time around. There are also around 20 multiplayer mini-games to keep you and your friends entertained. At least that is the intention. Bizarrely none of these mini-games employ the Super Monkey Ball gameplay mechanics at all, instead requiring you to: shake the Wii Remote to knock your friend off a pedestal; hold the Wii Remote like a steering wheel for a terrible Mario Kart-style game; waggle the remote to pump air into a balloon and so on. None of the mini-games have anything to do with Super Monkey Ball, or the concept of "fun". Take a look at the video (below) to get an idea about just how fun these mini-games are for yourself.



All in all, Step & Roll is not a bad game. It just isn't as good as it should/could have been, especially with regards to use of the Balance Board, which seemed like a match made in heaven. The originals were superior games and people who haven't played either of the first two instalments in the series would do better to utilise the Wii's Gamecube disc compatibility and find an old copy of one of those instead. However, if you can't find those games or if you have played them and are hungry for more Monkey Ball, the single player is fun (if short) when played with the Wii Remote. People looking for a fun multiplayer experience should probably stick to Wii Sports or buy a more polished dedicated mini-games collection (Raving Rabbids or WarioWare for example) and avoid what's on offer here.

Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll is out now on Wii and is rated '3' by PEGI. For another piece of SEGA-related news, check out the latest news on Sonic 4 at IQGamer.

'Bioshock 2' review: Now that it's finished...

Last Thursday I posted my first thoughts on Bioshock 2, based on having played about four hours of the game. I was unimpressed and felt the title was falling way short of its glorious predecessor. However, I have since completed the game and can now say with confidence that Bioshock 2 is a very good game which not only lives up to, but improves upon, the original in most respects. I should probably start by directly explaining the reasons for this change of opinion.

Bioshock 2 is a slow starter. As I mentioned before, you begin the game a little underpowered. But any misgivings I had about the weapons at the beginning of the game were long gone by the game’s climax. Not only can you power up the original weapon set so that it becomes quite effective, but the game also introduces a number of more powerful weapons (not least among these: the shotgun and spear gun) which dramatically improve your offensive options. While I never ended up feeling like an all-powerful “Big Daddy”, I did end up really enjoying the combat the game offers.

A big part of the combat in both Bioshock games is the ability to use “Plasmids”, injections which genetically alter your character enabling you to acquire superpowers, and these powers are better balanced and more refined than those in the original game. There are two good examples of this. The first is that the only Plasmid I ever felt I needed to use in the original game was telekinesis. In the first game the telekinesis plasmid was overpowered to the extent that you could pick up any item (a tin of beans say) and hurl it at an enemy with the effect of killing them. I saved a lot of ammo that way and it was pretty fun, but it wasn’t great game design.

The second example of an improvement in balancing the Plasmids comes in the shape of combining what were once two separate (and therefore largely pointless) abilities into one much more effective one. In the first game you could use the “Enrage” Plasmid to make an enemy fight against his comrades, whilst using the “Hypnotise Big Daddy” power enabled you to force one of those hulking guardians to come to your aid. Now, in the place of these is an improved “Hypnotise” Plasmid, which at its lowest level causes enemies to fight amongst themselves and at a more advanced stage enables you to convince any enemy (Big Daddy’s included) to defend you. So two Plasmids I never bothered to equip last time became the one Plasmid I couldn’t do without, in the sequel.

It is also fair to say that the game has some interesting locations which rival those seen in the original. Whilst I was at first concerned that it lacked the same personality, as the game progresses you reach some really nicely realised sections of Rapture, which never feel repetitive or too similar to those seen in the first game. Whilst I am still unhappy that the developers removed some of the games personality (for instance by removing the jingle from the vending machines), Bioshock 2 is not a personality free zone, as I had orinally thought.

In my original post, I also expressed some concern about the games story, saying that Dr. Lamb was not as compelling an antagonist as those battled in the previous game. Well, as with just about everything else, the story really got going after that initial spell of playing, and whilst it is certainly worth criticising the game for failing to really capture my imagination from the start (in the manner of the original), it is also worth pointing out that this game improves on its predecessor’s sloppy ending. Without giving anything away, Bioshock 2 does build to a good climax and the story ends up enriching the story of Rapture (and its fall) in a way I never expected. I had wondered how a character that was never mentioned in the first game could suddenly become such an important part of the story, but the game addresses this issue satisfactorily and does well to keep continuity with the original.

I’ll stand by some of my initial complaints though. Enemies don’t really seem to fear you (but then again they don’t seem to mind taking on the regular “Big Daddys” this time around either) and the “Little Sisters” you protect don’t have enough personality about them. They do occasionally chime in with “look daddy another angel” or something similar, but this is merely functional and not done to provide that illusive “atmosphere” Bioshock 2 ultimately rather lacks. Perhaps they need to be singing nursery rhymes or something. I can understand why a developer might cut something like that out in order to avoid annoying the player, but I think it would have added something, and would have made me feel a little creeped out (which is how the spooky corpse-inspector children should be making you feel, right?).

I don’t want to get too far into talking about the new online multiplayer mode. This is partly because I haven’t yet put the hours into playing it, but mostly because there is a lot I had to write about the single player, which takes precedence. However, I will say that from what I have played the multiplayer it is a solid addition to the game. I was impressed by the effort that has gone into its setting, as the Bioshock 2 multiplayer is based during the fall of rapture, and as such tells as story (complete with collectable audio logs) which serves to complement the main event. It is certainly nice to glimpse Rapture in a less run down state and it is refreshing to come across a mulitplayer mode that has clearly had some effort put into it.

Ultimately, Bioshock 2 manages to improve upon the (excellent) first game in terms of the gunplay, with a slightly improved control system, as you can now wield a weapon and a Plasmid at once. Add to this the refined set of weapons and Plasmids and the combat is quite brilliant. The additional gameplay element of defending the “Little Sisters” is welcome and quite enjoyable, although it is not exploited enough during the campaign. The story is a little stronger this time around and the end section (including the ending itself) is much improved over the original, although it lacks the original’s pacing, taking longer to get going. In terms of atmosphere Bioshock 2 fails to generate the same tension and never pulled me into Rapture completely, despite some nice level design and interesting visual elements (like the shrines around some of the “Little Sister” vents). Perhaps this is simply because I have been to Rapture before, rather than that the game is made inferiorly, as I can’t really put my finger on what is missing. However, the fact can't be avoided that Bioshock 2 is a sequel and so can't really be expected to make as great an impact as the original.

I would definitely recommend Bioshock 2 to fans of the original game. And although I would probably advise new players to experience the original for a proper introduction to my favourite city under the sea, playing the first is by no means essential to the Bioshock 2 experience.

Bioshock 2 has been available in the UK since the 9th of February and is rated an '18' by the BBFC. For a look at the game from a technical view point, head over to IQGamer.

Bioshock 2 - 4 hours in...

I have to preface these comments by saying that I am only four hours (or thereabouts) into Bioshock 2 at the time of writing and I may revise many of these opinions upon completely the game. However, I have so far found a number of reasons to complain about this highly-anticipated sequel.

The original Bioshock was probably my favourite game of 2007, if not my favourite game of this console generation. It was certainly imaginative when compared to the majority of brown-grey shooters which flood the market. Set in 1960 the player was submerged into a colourful, art-deco, underwater dystopia called Rapture. Rapture was eerie, atmospheric and it held my attention fully, demanding that I obsessively uncovered every inch of the map and located each and every audio recording (the games way of filling in background story). Everything from the kitsch faux-1950’s advertising to the bold fascistic sculptures was compelling and made me want to see more of this place and to find out more about its ruin. The sight of a hulking man in a diving suit, with a pneumatic drill for an arm, protecting a little girl from bemasked, Tommy gun wielding drug addicts to the strains of “How Much is that Doggy in the Window” was something approaching the iconic. Needless to say, when a sequel was announced I was extremely excited by the prospect of returning, even if just to see the same things all over again.

It brings me no pleasure to report that I am a little disappointed by what I have found in Rapture this time around. So what is wrong? Well, it’s little things. One of the pleasures of the first game was combining the use of gene-splicing “plasmids”, which granted you the power to throw fire or lightning at your enemies, with more traditional contemporary weaponry, like the aforementioned Tommy gun. This time around you take the role of a “Big Daddy”, one of the diving suit clad guardians who roam the sunken halls, and so you are restricted you using their weapons. These, so far, amount to a pea shooter, a drill which runs out of fuel very quickly (the use of which sees you die as you attempt to get close to your gun wielding enemies) and a heavy machine gun, which runs out of ammo just as quickly. Whereas, in the first game, these tools of the “Big Daddy” spelled quick death when turned against me, in Bioshock 2 they aren't half as effective and I am left feeling a little weak. Of course, my abilities and weaponry will upgrade through the course of playing the game, so this complaint maybe premature.



Another problem with playing as the “Big Daddy” is the fact that the enemy characters don’t seem to be afraid of me... at all. I remember hearing that they would run away if they came across you alone, and come back in greater numbers. However, in practice they always attack me as soon as they see me. They also have the annoying habit of being brilliant shots. I really don’t like it when enemies in a game seem to get the homing bullets out as soon as you turn a corner.

It is also a shame that the game doesn’t imbue your relationship with the “little sisters” with any personality. The key role of a “Big Daddy” is to protect these little girls, and in the first game you’d hear them chatting away to their guardians as they walked about the place. “This way Mr. Bubbles” they would say. However, in the stretches of the game which see you protecting one, by placing her upon your shoulders, she remains silent. A sad omission, this just leads you to forget you’re even carrying one, when it could have been a really atmospheric and interesting new element of the game.

A cosmetic difference, but one that leaves Rapture poorer, is that the vending machines no longer have the jingles and advertisements that gave them so much personality last time ("Fill your cravings at the circus of values!"). They also added a layer of horror: their enthusiasm and happiness contrasting with the carnage which lay about them. I have also found the environments less interesting this time around, because they seem busier. Writing is all over the walls, along with posters and photos, surrounded by candles and cream cakes (I’m not making that up). The last game had a less is more quality to it which compelled me to seek out the details and to study my surroundings. The sequel is less atmospheric and has less personality. Without wanting to sound pretentious, I felt like each level was a distinct character last time around. There was the place where the crazed artist had made displays out of the dead and his whole level had elements of performance and displays of demented art all through it. In contrast, the two levels I have visited so far feel a little samey.

There have been some nice touches so far, in the Ryan Amusements level you can find a number of animatronic dioramas over which Rapture founder Andrew Ryan explains the reasons for the construction of his ocean metropolis as well as the mechanics of constructing the city itself. As a fan of the world from the first game, this was interesting stuff, but it underlined another problem with this instalment: Andrew Ryan and Rapture's past is much more interesting than the new antagonist “Dr. Lamb” and her the new threat she poses. For the sake of not spoiling either game, I won’t go into any more detail on this here.

Probably my single biggest problem with this new instalment of Bioshock is the opening. The first game had you sitting on a commercial airplane, which crashed into the ocean. You were then placed in the middle of the ocean in the dead of the night, your path lit by the bright yellow flames of the rapidly sinking fuselage. You swim to a tower which stands on a small island, in the middle of nowhere. You climb the steps and go through a huge metal door which closes behind you. The lights turn on and you find that you are in a magnificent lobby. You walk down a staircase and get into a small submarine, which begins its descent whilst playing you a video message from Andrew Ryan explaining his intentions for Rapture. This video is pulled away to reveal a window onto the ocean and you look out in wonder at the city on the sea floor and the sea creatures swimming about it. It stunned me and had me deeply immersed in the world of the game from there on in. Check this intro out below:



There is nothing so grand about the opening to Bioshock 2. It opens with a cutscene, which was entertaining, but over which I had no control over and so it didn’t immerse me at all. The first steps you take as a player find you already in Rapture and the game begins immediately in earnest. I can see why the developers at 2K Marin (a different team to that behind the first game) might feel that people who had already played the first game might want to hit the ground running this time around. But for me Bioshock is about atmosphere and having an interest in discovering Rapture is crucial. In terms of gameplay there was nothing really original or groundbreaking about the first game and, obviously, there is even less originality in this sequel.

So, with the game (so far) failing to replicate the atmosphere of its predecessor, I am left feeling a little short-changed. The fact that I have only played the game for four hours since its release on Tuesday speaks volumes.

Come back soon for a full review.

'Mass Effect 2' review: Judgement Day

I’ve finally played my way through 30-odd hours of Mass Effect 2 and only just feel like I am ready to review the game. As anyone who read my article at the beginning of last week would know, my Mass Effect 2 experience has been dominated by an obsessive compulsion to mine every planet in the universe for mineral ore. However, alongside this peculiar industrial career mode there is also a Bioware RPG game. Well, I say RPG, but Mass Effect 2 has really done away with most of the traditional role-playing game elements popularised in games such as Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. For instance, you are no longer asked to attribute skill points to stats like “strength” or “intelligence”, with the game instead simply asking you to select and upgrade abilities upon levelling up. This is hardly any more like an RPG than any game with basic customizable weapons.

I don’t think you need to have ever played an RPG to understand the combat system of ME2. Whereas in the first Mass Effect a sniper rifle was rubbish in the hands of a character without the required skill set, now the effectiveness of any given weapon is determined by your ability to aim it. In this respect the game now plays like any post-Gears of War third person action/shooter game: you glue yourself to a piece of cover (invariably a box or a wall) and pop out to take aim and shoot. However it’s not as full of wilfully unappealing brown environments as Gears of War, substituting them for pleasing, shiny sci-fi interiors and exotic alien locales... as well as a lot of warehouses filled with low walls and boxes. There are, incidentally, so many rooms and corridors filled with low walls and boxes in Mass Effect 2 that they quickly become mini plot spoilers indicating “there is going to be a fight in here”. And it’s a bad time for anyone with a warehouse, because their boxes are getting shot to bits in every system of the Milky Way.

Stripped of its RPG elements and played like a third person shooter, Mass Effect 2 is curiously easy. I had to switch its predecessor into ‘easy’ mode because I found the boss fights too tricky given the terrible combat mechanics. Yet I completed Mass Effect 2 on its default setting, only dying a handful of times. Even then it always felt as though I had been careless or over-zealous, rather than challenged. In the games defence it comes equipped with three difficulty settings harder than ‘normal’, which I imagine present much more of a challenge to players who place less faith in a games default settings.

Of course, the major selling point of all Bioware games, including Mass Effect 2, is the promise that your individual choices will dynamically change the game with actions always followed by consequences. This is made even more potentially interesting by the fact that in Mass Effect 2 you can continue your character from the first game (and into the third), with any meaningful decisions you made having further repercussions in the sequel. The problem with this is (and has always been) twofold in Bioware games. Firstly, the choices you make are never really difficult if you know how you want your character to turn out: all dialogue options fall into three categories: you can be saintly, Swiss or Hitler. This has the effect that I never end up making any natural decisions, but rather I think “this is my good character, so I will say all the “good” things”. There aren’t really shades of grey. You can either be narcissistic bore, high on the smell of their own farts, or a total jerk, being unnecessarily rude to everyone you meet - at every turn.

The second problem is that the decisions you make have only cosmetic impact on the game. It is never the case that taking one course of action sends the game to a different world or into a different mission to any other that could be taken. The game is always broadly the same for everyone who plays it. Take this example of a big decision you make in the first game which is carried over into ME2 (some may consider this a SPOILER): in ME1 you are forced to choose whether to sacrifice one crewman or another on a particular mission. In ME2 the character you saved turns up at one key plot moment and basically tells you to how you’ve let them down badly, then departs never to be seen again. This happens on the same world, at the same point, whichever character you chose to save. In other words they are completely interchangeable. Ultimately this made me feel like it made a bit of difference which character I chose to save, other than the fact that I saw a different character model and heard a different voice actor. You could argue that it adds an extra layer of reply value in that you can play through hearing different dialogue play out, but in practice I probably won’t want to spend another 15-20 hours (even when you cut out mining) running through what is mostly going to be the exact same game, with a handful of small differences to look forward to.

Having said that, it is worth pointing out that ME2 is supposed to run straight into ME3 (scheduled to be released in about two years time), with some of the decisions you make at the end of this second instalment really seeming to set up something very different depending on the games climatic final choices. I won’t spoil it, but the ending (laugh-out-loud-ridiculous boss fight aside) is really quite impactful. In fact this highlights the major strength of this series: the story. Bioware really create an interesting world of creatures, races and places, and considering just how many sci-fi films/TV shows/books have existed prior to the Mass Effect world, it is an achievement that it has a distinct atmosphere of its own.

Overall, Mass Effect 2 is a spectacular improvement on the original in every way, most notably in terms of its combat system and the comparative strength of its side quests (in that they don’t all take place in the same room, transposed onto a differently textured planet as in the first game). It has really fun shooter elements, a great atmosphere and an above average story. It isn't, in my view, as satisfying as Knights of the Old Republic, which had richer RPG elements, but it's far more polished than the recent Dragon Age: Origins. The best compliment I can play the game is that, after so many hours, I was sad to have completed it and am eagerly awaiting the next instalment.