Boarding the Normandy

I'm not even near the end of my second playthrough with Dragon Age: Origins but BioWare, eager to start this decade and year, has already released another game. That game, of course, is Mass Effect 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2007 RPG of space operatic proportions. So, in celebration, I took a two-day off from work to spend some quality time with this game.

The Blood Dragon armor, a Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age crossover.

I pre-ordered Mass Effect 2 from Steam weeks ago. I got the digital deluxe edition which costs $10 more but it's worth it. The package includes in-game items, points for purchasing downloadble contents, an artbook, "The Making Of" videos and the Mass Effect: Redemption #1 comic book by Dark Horse Comics. But I didn't have the chance to play the game until earlier today. I was trying to finish the first Mass Effect last night so I could get an endgame save file to import to the new game.

I almost skipped playing the first game though. Because I was so eager to play the new one. But I'm glad I finished it since importing your character from the first game to the second had some benefits, such as extra credits, minerals and experience points. Your decisions from the first game also plays out in the story here, like if Wrex, Kaiden, Ashley or the Council had survived.

As for the meat of the game, I'm not that deep into it yet. But the intro is probably the best prologue I've ever seen in a game. They also made a lot of changes in here, and it actually feels more like an action game rather than a role-playing game. It's fine by me though. Because -with its cyberpunk-ish setting, at least in the Omega station- it actually reminds me of Deus Ex, which is a great FPS/RPG. The story seems to be darker too and is more mysterious than the last game.

Commander Shepard, taking cover.

Overall, I think Mass Effect 2 is going to be an epic game. Even more than its predecessor. While I'm a bit disappointed with some changes, I can still ride it out and I'm still going to lose some sleep over it. But enough talk. It's time for me to board the Normandy and kick some Batarian ass.

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