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MASS EFFECT 2: An Instant Classic? 
Posted on February 4, 2010 at 08:37 PM.
I have been playing Mass Effect 2 on and off since its release a week ago and it has simply blown me away. No game has emotionally involved me in its plot as much as ME2 has, and it proves just how much love and care BioWare puts into their in-game universes. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say it's the best BioWare RPG yet (although I haven't played Dragon Age Origins yet, so I'll temporarily take the previous statement back).

In my eyes, it's far more than a GOTY candidate. It's an instant classic that will live on past Q1 2010 and carve itself into the annals of video gaming history. And I'm confident that this statement of mine won't be retracted come December.

With that being said, Mass Effect 2 is also one of the most depressing games I've ever played. Without revealing much, most of the "loyalty" missions have to do with a character's personal loss, abandonment, isolation or (mostly) family problems. There's no question a lot of the plots may hit home for some gamers which makes such content that much more depressing. Adding to the fact that (nearly) every governmental organization in the game is corrupt in some way, shape or form, and that many species have been on the verge of genocide or endangerment, and you get the exact opposite of a "feel-good" game.

Some subplots are a bit more fleshed out, depth-filled or emotionally strong than others, but the one that affected me the most was Tali's, as it dealt with a character isolated from a people already isolated from the environment themselves (if that makes any grammatical sense). It was heart-wrenching, especially while taking into account her background and the background of her race. Her story, in my opinion, was also the most logical base for a kind of romantic angle between herself and Shepherd if played "100% Paragon"...you don't really see that with Miranda's or Jack's side missions despite their "romantic availability" in-between missions.

Anyway, don't want to talk too much about the game, as I'm not quite done with it yet, but everything's been simply amazing so far. Immersive world, equally immersive story, an actually-logical combat system with better (but not perfect) AI teammates, amazing attention to detail...heck, I'd take this game over ANY major science fiction film released in the past decade, INCLUDING Avatar, Star Trek and Transformers. And that says a lot about what BioWare accomplished.

We all complain about how stale the video game world has become, especially in the sports genre...but all it takes is a game like ME2 to come along and make me a "believer" again. BioWare deserves all the credit for solidifying their reputation as one of the industry's top developers. Truly an instant classic.

(...OK, I should stop gushing before people start to question whether or not I'm employed by Electronic Arts...)
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