Anybody that would look at my status on Xbox Live would know I go through these periods where I play a lot of Mass Effect. Simply put, I love that game. It reminds me of one of my favorite games of all time: Deus Ex. It's not just a shooter, it's also a role playing game. You have to be aware of your surroundings as you go through the game, make relationships, and if all else fails run in shooting. The gameplay of Mass Effect wasn't the most action-packed, however the story kept driving me through the game. There was something going on, something on a massive scale that I just had to figure out.
The new game is boasting changes in gameplay, resolved problems with the first game, and improved images. One thing that bugged me when I first started playing Mass Effect was the delayed texture loads. This meant when you'd see something full of detail, it would start rather dull looking and the detail would gradually load. It took a second or two for the details to load in, but on a console like the Xbox 360, it is an unforgivable sin.
One of my favorite features of Mass Effect is being removed: infinite ammo. In the first installment, your gun was limited by heat build-up. If your weapon over-heated, you'd simply take cover, wait for it to cool, and run back out firing. It was refreshingly different. Now, for no damn good reason, the designers have decided to have their story take a technological downfall and require you to reload your weapons. However, they will no longer overheat.
So far, the graphic enhancements are looking beautiful in Mass Effect 2.
In Mass Effect, you investigated a mystery enshrouded hyper-advanced race called the Reapers. Now you encounter a new galactic threat known as the Collectors. They speed across the galaxy in a massive starship and wipe colonies clean. As Commander Shepherd, your job is to find out what's going on and stop the Collectors. There is speculation the Collectors maybe tied to the Reapers, but we'll all find out soon enough when the game is expected to release in January 2010.
