Mass Effect 2

 PC
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5738 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,081 out of 5738
  2. Mixed: 426 out of 5738
  3. Negative: 231 out of 5738
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  1. Naked_Snakee
    Apr 7, 2023
    7
    Just text (crutch) to save the game to the list. Such things. Maybe I'll do a review later.
  2. vova22379
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
  3. Giero
    Jan 4, 2023
    7
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  4. Crimson9
    Dec 3, 2022
    5
    Probably the most overrated game of all time. Mass Effect 2 doesn't add to the RPG elements, story, lore, world design and so on of its predecessor, it dumbs it down. Truth be told, it also streamlines it, and so you have a sleek, casual game instead of a clumsy, ambitious one.

    But honestly, theres nothing much to see here. The story is woefully cliche. Even compared to the cliche    Probably the most overrated game of all time. Mass Effect 2 doesn't add to the RPG elements, story, lore, world design and so on of its predecessor, it dumbs it down. Truth be told, it also streamlines it, and so you have a sleek, casual game instead of a clumsy, ambitious one.

    But honestly, theres nothing much to see here. The story is woefully cliche. Even compared to the cliche stories of most RPGs, this takes the cake. It is 80% 'gather your party' and then 20% the end battle. How original.

    The combat is an improvement from the previous game, but as I mentioned earlier, every other aspect of the game is a step backwards.

    I get it though, this game seems like the game version of a Marvel movie. Devoid of any depth and yet inexplicably a critical and mainstream darling. But I fail to see much merit to it. Its a mediocre game at best.

    People have mentioned that after this game, Bioware started going downhill. However, I wonder if its because of the success of this game, and the audience embrace of streamlining and casualization that Bioware went in that direction in the first place.    … Expand
  5. BenzoSt
    Jul 12, 2022
    7
    This game features many improvements above the first Mass Effect game: the universe is more richly detailed with more worlds to explore, there are more unique characters to recruit and interact with, the graphics are sharper, and the previously dull action is improved to the point where it is now acceptably fun. Unfortunately, many of the missions in this game involve traveling all overThis game features many improvements above the first Mass Effect game: the universe is more richly detailed with more worlds to explore, there are more unique characters to recruit and interact with, the graphics are sharper, and the previously dull action is improved to the point where it is now acceptably fun. Unfortunately, many of the missions in this game involve traveling all over the galaxy to do menial favors for your crewmates, which feels utterly preposterous given that the main story involves confronting an urgent, cataclysmic threat to the entire universe.… Expand
  6. Demon2017
    Jun 10, 2022
    6
    Хороший сюжет, прикольные напарники, замечательное кинцо, ужасный геймплей и диалоговая система.
  7. Gorbunov2004
    Aug 1, 2021
    6
    Игра хорошая но все портит тупые локации и отсутствие нормальной карты и мини-карты. Стрельбу сделали лучше.
  8. SnowChicken
    Jan 20, 2021
    5
    Very mediocre. The gunplay feels very nice, but the story is full of artificial filler missions
  9. AntiqueOne
    Sep 20, 2020
    7
    Comparing to the first game story could have been better. While the game prefers to focus on independent stories, the story in the background wasn't as compelling as the first. And the biggest problem is the logic behind all quests, except for two, were exactly the same. Just spawn on a random map, fight through the end, then the quest is completed. This is just a poor design and lacks theComparing to the first game story could have been better. While the game prefers to focus on independent stories, the story in the background wasn't as compelling as the first. And the biggest problem is the logic behind all quests, except for two, were exactly the same. Just spawn on a random map, fight through the end, then the quest is completed. This is just a poor design and lacks the feel of involvement. Fortunately, most of these quests have interesting enough stories. However, regarding the first game and the comments on this one, I had imagined this game way better.… Expand
  10. dabyd1304
    Jun 15, 2020
    6
    El principal problema de secuela es que su trama es totalmente innecesaria, no aporta nada.

    El juego sigue teniendo esa riqueza en la creación de su mundo y sus matices. Pero quizá estos se muestran con misiones secundarias obligatorias para avanzar en la historia. Y solo por esta decisión de diseño aberrante, no puedo tomarmelo en serio. Aun así, 100% aconsejable si uno es fan del    El principal problema de secuela es que su trama es totalmente innecesaria, no aporta nada.

    El juego sigue teniendo esa riqueza en la creación de su mundo y sus matices. Pero quizá estos se muestran con misiones secundarias obligatorias para avanzar en la historia. Y solo por esta decisión de diseño aberrante, no puedo tomarmelo en serio.

    Aun así, 100% aconsejable si uno es fan del original, como es mi caso.    … Expand
  11. bancandrei
    May 14, 2020
    5
    Combat is even more of a shooter and story is streamlined, or less important. Or rather more character oriented since it is mainly composed of recruiting party members and doing their loyalty missions. As such it cannot achieve the epic proportions of the first and is a downgrade in pretty much every way
  12. CoreGamer1408
    Dec 19, 2018
    7
    More polished than the first game, but more dumbed down combat, inventory, exploration than the first game. Replacing the fun real time land exploration in a buggy with a crappy space probe mini game on board the command ship just hell and no. Story felt weaker and just a filler until they could release the next game.
  13. MillersWeeb
    Nov 16, 2018
    5
    Ну тут за жопу Миранды один балл накину. Думаю лучшая из частей. Можно играть за псайкера.
  14. 7ShadesOfEffort
    Apr 18, 2017
    7
    This game was a great surprise for me after a huge disappointment of Mass Effect 1. I wasn't expecting anything good from BioWare after they proven that they've entirely became EA's slave and console fodder provider instead of awesome RPG developer. But Mass Effect 2 is a surprisingly decent game.
    Not so grindy side quests (globes probing is still a grind however), not so trashy action    This game was a great surprise for me after a huge disappointment of Mass Effect 1. I wasn't expecting anything good from BioWare after they proven that they've entirely became EA's slave and console fodder provider instead of awesome RPG developer. But Mass Effect 2 is a surprisingly decent game.
    Not so grindy side quests (globes probing is still a grind however), not so trashy action (thanks for allowing my biotic adept to use something besides pistol) and greatly simplified equipment management made it much less painful to play. It still has some of fundamental issues that just can't allow a game like this to be a truly entertaining masterpiece, but developers also handled some of these problems I wasn't even hoping to see fixed. It even offers you a self-sufficient story that doesn't only feeds you with expectations.
    Finally, the most important improvement of all is that you can just end your story here. Don't waste your time on side quests, ignore your whining teammates, just run through the game and enjoy a bittersweet ending which is billions time better than RGB abomination of Mass Effect 3. That rare occasion when your actions have real consequences. Trust EA and their slaves and witness the trilogy of grandiose disappointment. Ignore their lies and enjoy a pretty decent dilogy. How ironic.

    5 out of 7: nice.    … Expand
  15. moonlight_shado
    Apr 24, 2016
    5
    They stripped down all rpg-related mechanics. Gameplay become consolized. Story is OK but has nothing to do with previous part. The choices from ME1 also doesn't matter much, it's mostly cosmetics. So, instead of bigger and better rpg we were given shooter game with choices, that pretends to be role-playing game but it's not. Thanks for making us idiots EA/Bio!!
  16. godunow
    Mar 22, 2016
    5
    Very mediocre, boring game.

    Production values - best character animations and voice acting I saw - closer to AAA movie than a game - but the story is really lame and shooter gameplay bored me to death. Halfway through I deleted my Origin account to never see this again.
  17. Sirik_Matak
    Jan 11, 2016
    5
    The second game in the series is the middle ground between the mediocrity of Mass Effect 1 and the fu... bad work of Mass Effect 3.

    The writing is significantly worse, and the whole game is one big DLC-quality content. I remember when after the final mission against the Collectors I was thinking "now, the game starts", only to see the ending credits. What? Fortunately, the gameplay    The second game in the series is the middle ground between the mediocrity of Mass Effect 1 and the fu... bad work of Mass Effect 3.

    The writing is significantly worse, and the whole game is one big DLC-quality content. I remember when after the final mission against the Collectors I was thinking "now, the game starts", only to see the ending credits. What? Fortunately, the gameplay improved, meaning the game is a straightforwardly mediocre TPS, with really badly designed levels that don't even try to disguise themselves as another "pop-a-mole" arenas.

    And that's it, really. There's not much to talk about this game, because it's literally some filler quests of day-caring your handicapped companions who can't wipe themselves off after using a toilet.
    Wait, there's one of the best **** in the history of writing. Well, at least it was until Mass Effect 3 was released. It's the Harbringer - writers turned the already weak (with the ending of Mass Effect 1) premise of the Reapers as something really "outworldy", and before they've turned them into dragons with armies of zombies (ME3), in ME2 their leader is some kind of comedian controlling the Collectors, that keeps dying and dying after one headshot (on the highest difficulty setting) from a sniper rifle, spitting out some BS like "you feel the pain Shepard", "you will loose", etc.
    What they forgot to implement in the final version is the line of "I WILL GET YOU NEXT TIME, GADGET!"

    It's a considerable doze of pop-a-mole action for 1€. Well, 5€ is the maximum amount I would pay for this title.    … Expand
  18. Lupa999
    May 12, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 2 steps forward, 4 steps back right bioware? What I cannot fathom is how this game has earned the title of one of the best pc games ever made. Mass Effect 2 feels much smaller than mass effect 1, which was part of its charm. Mass effect 1 really did make you feel like you were exploring planets and galaxies, hell even an entire universe. Many areas of mass effect 2, while are unique unlike mass effect 1 copy and paste room and hallways, just take away from the game. Remember the HUGE citadel embassies, C-SEC HQ and the Upper and lower wards with the casinos, bars and shops? ALL GONE. Instead you explore some place called the zakera wards on the citadel and there is less things to do and people to talk to than in the first one.That is all you can do in the citadel. The game removes all of the RPG, And I do mean ALL of it apart from a dialogue wheel. Inventory? gone. Meaningful progression? gone. Exploration? Gone. Hacking and looting? I don't even need to say it. This game has fallen into a generic TPS and anyone else who disagrees is mentally challenged or a Fan boy .

    The main story had potential, but is riddled with plot holes. Why did Walter activate the mechs to kill everyone? Why the hell did the reapers want to build a human reaper? both of these and many more are unexplained. Why was the writing this poor? to give the story needless and senseless drama. The collectors were building a human reaper out of humans....why? it makes no sense. Its shocking and interesting and makes no sense. This game is not an rpg. This is a TPS with a dialogue option.    … Expand
  19. xTobyMc
    Feb 7, 2015
    7
    After seeing the game with such a high user review I went into the game with high expectations. Unfortunately however I felt Mass Effect 1 was more enjoyable and this was more of a 'I just want to cut to the chase and see the ending' type game. The first 7 hours or so were quite tedious as you go around finding new crew members and then carrying out their tasks. It wasn't until the lastAfter seeing the game with such a high user review I went into the game with high expectations. Unfortunately however I felt Mass Effect 1 was more enjoyable and this was more of a 'I just want to cut to the chase and see the ending' type game. The first 7 hours or so were quite tedious as you go around finding new crew members and then carrying out their tasks. It wasn't until the last few missions that I felt the game started to shine as the tasks became evermore difficult, action packed, and full of decisions that actually made you take a moment to think. Overall the game wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything incredible. I look forward to playing Mass Effect 3 next though.… Expand
  20. marc5477
    Jan 11, 2015
    5
    Its not an RPG. Its an action adventure like Zelda minus fun puzzles but with a complex story. Its not bad as an action adventure game but unfortunately they bore me to tears. The big problem is that I have played so many games that no story has felt even remotely original since KotOR. Since then, that story has been redone a few dozen times (Atlus I am looking at you lol). Since storiesIts not an RPG. Its an action adventure like Zelda minus fun puzzles but with a complex story. Its not bad as an action adventure game but unfortunately they bore me to tears. The big problem is that I have played so many games that no story has felt even remotely original since KotOR. Since then, that story has been redone a few dozen times (Atlus I am looking at you lol). Since stories are no longer original, I depend on RPG elements to give me something to enjoy. Without them, I get bored quickly. Even Mass Effect 1 felt like RPG lite to me but it was still good.

    That said, let me point out that there is some good here for an adventure game. Voice acting was fine, graphics look good, combat was fun (relatively speaking from my perspective) and there is a lot of content. The bad news is that without heavy RPG elements it felt like a FPS MMO (hollow). Characters didnt really have a lot of "character." Quests... well we have seen them all so nothing new here. Areas were too static and nothing from ME1 seemed to change anything important in ME2. I felt especially bored and dreaded going to the citadel. Other areas are linear which was nice for me because I didnt want to linger out of boredom.

    Overall, its a good game. It is highly overrated but sales numbers speak louder than words.

    ME1 (new IP) - 3.6m (on only PC and XBOX)
    ME2 (riding ME1 reputation) - 5.2m (on PC, PS3 & XBOX)
    ME3 (riding ME2 reputation) - 5.3m (almost no change)

    Clearly, by looking at the above. The franchise became stagnant as of ME2. If there is an ME4 I would expect sales to drop.    … Expand
  21. uberdoku
    Jan 11, 2015
    6
    Without a doubt, the gameplay is excellent, and much better than ME1. Unfortunately though, that's about the extent of the game. It's like the first-person equivalent of the recent Final Fantasy games: all gameplay, really weak storyline. At least in the first game, the storyline was fresh and interesting. Now it's old, and so is the entire style. I really hoped for something compellingWithout a doubt, the gameplay is excellent, and much better than ME1. Unfortunately though, that's about the extent of the game. It's like the first-person equivalent of the recent Final Fantasy games: all gameplay, really weak storyline. At least in the first game, the storyline was fresh and interesting. Now it's old, and so is the entire style. I really hoped for something compelling from this game, but the only thing that's driving me to beat it, is to beat it. The characters' interaction and rapport with Shepherd all seems contrived and "forced", extracting any sense of fluidity. I'd also like to see less repetition within the NPC dialogue. Overall, I want to like the game, and sometimes I do, but way too inconsistently. If it was rated 80, I could cope with that, but this is way overrated; a rating of 94 is completely unwarranted.… Expand
  22. rscl
    Jan 1, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A great continuation of Mass Effect series which clearly tries to fix the flaws of its predecessor. It greatly improved combat and AI, but somehow manages to do it at the cost of meaningful gameplay.
    For me, this game was focused on the combat aspects rather than story. As a third person shooter, it was a fun experience. Of course, if you realize how to get rid of the mouse acceleration/dampening.

    It has loads of abilities, max level talents and insane amount of followers. But the main story is forced, and you end up spending most of the time forcefully collecting followers and helping them out with unrelated personal quests, in addition to side quests that's already available.

    I would definitively recommend the game. Mainly because it contains enough story plot that shouldn't be missed before ME3. The follower stories are negligible but few matter to the main story. With the good combat elements and customization - it's definitively worth playing, but also very hyped imho.    … Expand
  23. gyamtso
    Sep 21, 2014
    6
    I've played Mass Effect I enough to say that the sequence isn't worth the grandiosity of its predecessor.

    The sequence has its qualities and I really want to write a fair review here. The graphics are nice, the soundtrack its still good, the combat is more action based than the first, but the plot and the dialogues suffered a great loss. This first big let down is the plot and the    I've played Mass Effect I enough to say that the sequence isn't worth the grandiosity of its predecessor.

    The sequence has its qualities and I really want to write a fair review here.

    The graphics are nice, the soundtrack its still good, the combat is more action based than the first, but the plot and the dialogues suffered a great loss.

    This first big let down is the plot and the sensation that the game is pretending that I can change things when, really, it's just a soap-opera that wants to deceive people to get their audience.

    It just sucks. All the choices in the first game, the difficulties because of the *right* path, turned into ashes. It just doesn't matter. If you chose the "A" path, they put some different dialogues, if you chose the "B" path, they change a bit in one or two scenes to pretend that they aren't lazy to make something worth.

    The game was a complete let down for me. Luckily, it didn't spoiled my experience on the first game, but I don't want to play mass effect II for some time. On other side, I'm going to play the first again, for the sixth time.    … Expand
  24. Ekonomistas
    Jul 29, 2014
    6
    I was excited to try play ME2 for my first time after playing ME1 which as I remember left me with good feeling and an interesting story I uncovered and was left wondering how it should unfold in later ME series. I don't remember the exact year when I tried ME2 first time nor do I remember my first impression of that game. But it should have been not long after its release on PC. I don'tI was excited to try play ME2 for my first time after playing ME1 which as I remember left me with good feeling and an interesting story I uncovered and was left wondering how it should unfold in later ME series. I don't remember the exact year when I tried ME2 first time nor do I remember my first impression of that game. But it should have been not long after its release on PC. I don't remember much from that time, but I know that I didn't finish the game that time. So I remember trying to play it for second time after some time, again failing to finish. Only that time I got bored of doing side quests, while building up my team, so I lost the main story line. And now in 2014 year summer I heard that ME 4 is coming up so I said to myself: "I Need to finish ME2, in order to try ME3 and I could try ME4 after it launches". So I started again journey to ME2 universe. I had the time I pushed myself harder and further to the story to other side quests, I even lower difficulty because fights took way too long in order to progress in story. And still I failed, lost interest, I understood that ME2 has an interesting story, interesting characters, locations but fights are boring and tedious, game play is very linear. I could say that its like interactive movie. You are annoyed by boring fights but are attracted by interactive cut scenes and big interesting story.

    From FPS game I wanted more player movement freedom
    From RPG game I wanted more character development, more inventory management, items.
    From TBS game I wanted more deeper strategy, resource management    … Expand
  25. whitepawn
    Jun 27, 2014
    7
    Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm more for Sword & Sorcery than Space Odyssey, but I found this game somewhat boring and repetitive. The story did nothing for me. Oh, Bioware made good efforts with characters and dialogue, but the whole thing felt uninspired. The graphics also felt flat, though I suppose that fits with the whole 'streamlined' space/science thing.

    It's playable but I find    Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm more for Sword & Sorcery than Space Odyssey, but I found this game somewhat boring and repetitive. The story did nothing for me. Oh, Bioware made good efforts with characters and dialogue, but the whole thing felt uninspired. The graphics also felt flat, though I suppose that fits with the whole 'streamlined' space/science thing.

    It's playable but I find myself wanting to jump to the end without finishing the companion quests just to finish it off already.

    Buggy too. I find myself repeatedly resetting to the last save due to getting stuck in midair. I'll round a corner in a city and find myself halfway in the wall with no way to get out. I'll be walking up and down a stairs guardrail, trapped. I'll be floating above a rock just off the path, unable to walk off. You get the point. It happens often enough to be annoying, especially when you haven't saved in a bit.

    The mining for ore bit on endless planets gets really old. If I hear the sound of probe deployment one more time...ugh. The memory match game for circuitry bypass on doors and datapads is VERY old. I wish there was an ingame reward for bypassing the tedium.

    Bioware's character image sliders are very limited, both DAs had much more depth and detail. And the prospect of alien 'woohoo' is cringe-worthy over lol so I skipped that bit.

    No mods to speak of which is a terrible thing.

    Even so, I suppose    … Expand
  26. Iluvatar21
    Apr 29, 2014
    7
    HOW I RATE: 10-9 score: perfect or near-perfect don't exist; 8 score: one of the best games ever. Top score; 7-6 score: great but not one of the best; 5-below score: serious flaws.
    ===========
    This is exactly what Mass Effect was destined to become. Story, pacing, visuals are top notch sci-fi material but gameplay wise it's just boring: kill this, kill that.
  27. gamesgonewild
    Mar 22, 2014
    7
    I really did enjoy playing this game, and i played it when all three were released ,so i played this knowing i would buy the third game. And whats weird is that because I've now played Mass effect 3, my opinion of the second one has decreased. Why is that....let me tell you

    Mass effect 2 is basically you going around the galaxy in a ship to recruit the best team in the galaxy to stop    I really did enjoy playing this game, and i played it when all three were released ,so i played this knowing i would buy the third game. And whats weird is that because I've now played Mass effect 3, my opinion of the second one has decreased. Why is that....let me tell you

    Mass effect 2 is basically you going around the galaxy in a ship to recruit the best team in the galaxy to stop the bad guys. To do this you need to act like some kind of psychologist and sort out everyone's problems. Now i played lots of side quests so for me i spent 23 hours zipping around helping everyone out. when the time came to face the bad guys the game took me 1 hour to complete. I wasn't so bothered by this because i thought that the third one will pick up where i left off....but it never.

    So while i enjoyed playing the game looking back i feel like i wasted so much time on a game that bears little fruit.

    (see my Mass effect 3 review)

    Overall the game was good, and i really did enjoy it but, and i hate to day this, but the game is kinda pointless.    … Expand
  28. JimCorbett
    Jan 30, 2014
    7
    Not sure why this game gets showered with praise. On top of the ho-hum gameplay, there is a confusing story packed with filler characters that have no meaning. I didn't give a crap about half of my "team." The start of the game is evolution of your character and the decisions you get to make that transform you. That aspect of the game is very well done. The missions themselves are allNot sure why this game gets showered with praise. On top of the ho-hum gameplay, there is a confusing story packed with filler characters that have no meaning. I didn't give a crap about half of my "team." The start of the game is evolution of your character and the decisions you get to make that transform you. That aspect of the game is very well done. The missions themselves are all basically the same: Go here, kill a bunch of bad guys, interact with this thing at the end, leave, start over again. I'll give the game the benefit of the doubt, though, since I never played it when it was originally released. I wish it was more of a fully fleshed-out game than it is. Oh well, slightly disappointed.… Expand
  29. COMThing
    Jan 17, 2014
    5
    An excellent story and dialogue/cinematics to go with sub-par combat, way too basic of an inventory system and the removal of most RPG elements that the first game had. Overall the game is good for 1 playthrough due so you get the story.

    The Good: - Excellent story and dialogue (although sometimes pretty monotonous) - Best missions of the series - Best Citidel (main hub for stores    An excellent story and dialogue/cinematics to go with sub-par combat, way too basic of an inventory system and the removal of most RPG elements that the first game had. Overall the game is good for 1 playthrough due so you get the story.

    The Good:
    - Excellent story and dialogue (although sometimes pretty monotonous)
    - Best missions of the series
    - Best Citidel (main hub for stores and non-combat things) of the series

    The Bad:
    - Least interesting and most basic combat of the series; lacking in weapon choices and customisation, abilities don't seem to have much of an effect most of the time. Not to mention the crappy shotgun with 20 rounds total
    - Lack of almost all the RPG elements that made the first game fun and interesting including the inventory system. If anything this game has less customisation than the first.
    - Bad GUI; clicking through the numerous menus can be a chore and lacks basic keyboard navigation such as ESC to go back or ENTER to accept.    … Expand
  30. stern
    Dec 31, 2013
    5
    The whole experience in Mass Effect 2 feels like a high budget hollywoodian action film or as an Assassin's Creed game, specially wen compared with the first iteration, when Bioware obviously had more time to put things together and less expectation to deliver quality. This means that while some parts of it are truly brilliant and amazing, as the characters loyality mission- Tali comes toThe whole experience in Mass Effect 2 feels like a high budget hollywoodian action film or as an Assassin's Creed game, specially wen compared with the first iteration, when Bioware obviously had more time to put things together and less expectation to deliver quality. This means that while some parts of it are truly brilliant and amazing, as the characters loyality mission- Tali comes to mind- in others moment the game appears to be written by complete different people, with complete different ideas of how things should be done, and gosh, how these parts are bland, generic and dumb, feeling more like you are playing the singleplayer campaign of a generic shooter than a scifi rpg.
    And what is said in others reviews isn't exageration or extremism, the game is a hell of an example of why people despise DLCs, with whole parts of the main plot, relevant to the game and the lore- Lair of Shadow Broker for example- being made into DLC. If you don't buy DLCs, several rooms of your ship will be locked for you with no explanation; it's like they, Bioware/EA, want you, they require you to buy those expensive and sometimes silly DLCs in top of an already expensive game to full.
    Another aspect also mentioned in previous reviews is the diminishing rpg experience, it's like they heard some people complaining about the poor inventory management in ME1 and thought "why not cut this altogether? why not throw the inventory away?". This minimalism was behind every aspect of the development: they removed separated cooldowns for powers, they removed heating for weapons and added ammo, they removed free roaming/open spaces, the removed non-combat utility of tech, they removed planet exploration and they pretty much removed non-council races from any relevant plot in the universe.
    This means that (1) every space is a corridor and sometimes you can't even go back, every city you are exploring is disappointing and boring, and an awful lost potential, for example, imagine what could have been to walk and explore the Migrant Fleet, to see how the Quarians lived in this crowded and ever nomadic space... When you go to the Citadel you'll understand what I am saying; (2) playing as an enginner or adept is horrible, even your companions seem tailored for a soldier or vanguard class; (3) they could make the impossible, they made space exploration even more boring and repetitive, now you are left sending probes into planets like a robot, even worse now that discovering gasses and minerals is a necessity; and finally (4) they lost many chances of exploring non-coucil races, for example Ilium would fit perfectly as a volus world, but all you see in the game is an even narrower landscape that you saw in ME1.
    The story is told in a rail-road, forced fashion: you are supposed to believe unplausible things, to accept unidimensional characters such as Jacob (clearly created to cater to what EA believe is a black young audience) and Miranda (clearly a fanservice wankery), and to consider as villains beings who are never openly understood or expressed. Only mid-game things get interesting and by that point you already saw all Blade Runner, Star Wars, Asimov and general scifi inspiration that Bioware immersed itself to create the game. The ending doesn't answer any of ME1 open questions and doesn't even progress the plot, it's just action and action and action.
    All in all, like I said before, there are clearly amazing moments in ME2, such as the quarian zionist congress, I mean, the quarian audience and these parts were written by creative people. It's a game worth pirating.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2010
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
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#4 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. Vandal
    96
    Mass Effect 2 resumes with pride the path opened by the first game. This sequel is a lesson of how things should be made.
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  2. AtomicGamer
    96
    Mass Effect 2 delivers a story that's deeper than what many novelists are capable of, and its action is better than what most Hollywood directors are creating nowadays. It's an addictive, engrossing experience that many gamers will replay over and over while they hold their breath waiting for the third game.
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  3. PC Games
    88
    A brilliant mix of shooter and role-playing, filled with great characters, excellent design, lots of action and clever dialogue. It's a shame though that Bioware did not improve the inventory and skill system of the first game, but actually reduced it even more. I really wished there were more customization options, more ways to develop and gear up my characters. But all these are merely small points of criticism, since there is so much to feel and experience in this game. Mass Effect 2 is a thrilling, emotional ride and ultimately every bit as good as its predecessor.
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