ehh whats up doc?

Who says doctors only cure people through medicines, surgeries, physical therapy or any other conventional means? I know a pair of doctors specializes in curing boredom of all nerds through out the world.

In 1995, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk are your two average medical doctors in Canada. Like many before them they went through many grueling years of medical school at University of Alberta, and heavily in debt like also like many before them they would either start working in a hospital somewhat or open a clinic somewhere. That's exactly what they did.

But there is something odd about these two doctors, who went to med school together and have been friends forever. One could almost say their doctors by day and something else by night...just exactly what are these recently graduate doctors think they are doing? It goes back to when Ray and Greg were in still in school that they like many other nerds before them had secrete hobbies of computer gaming. They even went as far as dreaming about becoming game programmers but with very little knowledge in programming and heavily invested in medical future they could only suppress those thoughts.

Its 1995 again, Ray and Greg are happily working in a clinic but something is not right, something is missing in their life. They started to borrow money everywhere, maxing out their credit cards and said fuck it...you only live once. With that as motivation they started to hire whatever computer programmers they can find only to promise them payments of glory and not cash. It is cold day of February in Canada and Ray and Greg officially started with own company. This company is solely built on two young guy's dreams and a lot others dedication that one day they would make something out of themselves. Many would say that they were crazy, and I would too. But they were brave enough to believe in their life goals and if you were dedicated enough and you can achieve anything.

It is 2010, Dr. Muzyka and Dr.Zeschuk are still Medical Doctors who makes millions a year but not from practice of medicine but from their shares of stocks and paycheck made to them from Electronic Arts Corporation. Yes now Ray and Greg has sold their company they co-founded back in 1995 to EA but they still have full control of the everyday operations, and they are also been name Vice Presidents of EA's role-playing department.

Yes Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk are your one of only doctors that cure boredom with their unique creation of video games. By the way the company that they co-founded plays a big part for EA and has made many many award winning games for the past decade, you can go as far as to say its one of the most respected video game developer in the industry. And this came from two doctors that like to play games in their spare time who knew nothing about programming...only to create what is know as Bioware Corporation today.

Top Ten iPhone Apps

So people love top ten lists and thats why I decided to make this post.  I will list what I think the top ten iPhones apps are as of late February 2010.  I will determine this based on how innovative the app is, how well polished the app is, and most importantly how often I use the app.

10. Amazon Mobile (free) - Allows the user to quickly search Amazon, compare prices, read reviews, and easily make purchases.  The interface is very well made and gives you access to your wishlist, cart, payment and shipping options, and order history.
9. iHandy Tip Calculator (free) - A fast and visually pleasing tip calculator, there are many but this one is very easy to use.  It supports splitting the bill with many people and plays nice with tax.
8. eBuddy (free) - A chat client that works with just about everything.  What else is there to say?  It can keep you logged in too even after you close the program.
7. Relax Lite (free) - A hypnotism app with an amazing speaker that will put you in a calm relaxed state.  Perfect for sleeping or just having a rest.
6. Flickr (free) - The official Flickr app allow you to upload multiple pictures to your account and to view your page as well as the page of other users.
5. Bump (free) - Allows you to share contact information, pictures, files with other users by bumping your phone together.  You can now even instantly become facebook friends using it.
4. PS Mobile (free) - Allows you to edit and crop photos, apply filters and borders to them, as well as other manipulation.  A first rate program, amazing that its free.
3. Brushes ($4.99) - A painting application that allows you to do deep zoom, have multiple layers, use different brushes etc. Basically any amazing painting made on the iPhone was made with this program.
2. To Do's (free) - A simple to-do list.  I like how its quick and easy to use, simple to see but has a field for extra details if you need it.  Great for keeping you life in order.

And the most useful app is:

1. Echofon (free) - A great Twitter client that helps everyone keep up to speed with what you are doing.  It allows for Geo-tagging posts, photo upload, and allows you to access most of your Twitter profile account info.

And just to trick you I will throw in an honorable mention.  That being the BeeTag Pro app (free).  This app will scan QR, Beetagg, and Datamatrix codes for you.  It also allows you to add them into your favorites and has a fast and responsive interface.  You can also use pictures from your photo gallery.  Id love to add this into the top 10 but truthfully I have not been able to use it much.

You might notice I didn't list any games.  While they can be a fun distraction for a couple minutes there are really no games that keep me hooked or interested. I would much rather use the internet, read the news, Twitter, and check my calendar.  These I feel are much more rewarding activities.

OtterBox Impact Case Review

I just thought I would do a quick review on my iPhone's protective case.  I chose the OtterBox impact case because it comes from a well known a respected company (name brand value) and due to the many positive reviews I read praising the case.  Also the case was in my price range and came with a "free" screen protector.  So for less than $15 you can get a nice iPhone case and a good high quality clear screen protector.  Quite a bargain.

Pros:
-Protects phone well with extra material to protect the vulnerable corners of the phone
-Provides protection to the front of the phone in case a drop lands it screen side down
-Attractive design which leaves the Apple logo uncovered through a portal
-Low price
-Covers the power button, volume rocker, and home button
-Has precise cutouts for light sensor, silence key, camera, and input/power jack and speakers
-Easy to put on, material wont damage your phone like a hard shell might
-Provides perfect grip for phone so it wont slide off table or out of your hand

Cons:
-Only comes in black or white
-Material of case make it a little hard to get in and out of your pocket
-A little lint can get stuck to the cases material
-Not free

So that pretty much sums it up.  You can probably tell I think its an awesome case and I would definitely
recommend it. The few cons there are about the phone are not too bad and can easily be overlooked in my opinion.  If you absolutely need a case that can slide in and out of your pocket easily then I would recommend the OtterBox Commuter TL case which is also a gel case but has a hard plastic back attachment to it which would allow it to slide better.  The downside of this case is that the home button isn't protected, the front isn't as well protected, and its a few dollars more. But it also looks like a great case.

Comparisons: Part 2

Please read part 1 here http://therealyawningcat.blogspot.com/2010/02/comparisons-part-1.html

After careful examination the Original Mass Effect comes out as the better game in both Story and Music, but those are not all that make or break a game even though they are the two most important categories in a Bioware game.

-Game Play

Now this is perhaps the biggest difference between the two games as they have several game play aspects that are drastically different. Therefore I will break them down into sub-categories.
1). Both games as Tactical Third Shooter. Now I wouldn't say the first game was bad in terms of game play but it was definitely weak at best. There is really no tactical values in any of the fights, even at insanity difficulty you could run around like a mad man and just hold down the trigger, granted that you have gotten all the best items in the game. At that point there is really no reason to cover or command your squad or do anything remotely tactical, because you basically turn into a boss yourself. In Mass Effect 2 all these have been changed. Guns feel more realistic with ammo clips and recoil so even if you have the best weapon you still cant keep on firing like a total badass. Squad command plays a bigger part too as in general the game feels a lot more difficult than the first because the gun changes. Your teammates play a vital role in your survival especially on insanity and they are not just target dummies. All in all gun play in Mass Effect 2 feels a lot more polished like a real tactical shooter such as Gears of War. These apply to all the powers in the game as well, just like guns powers this time around feel a lot more useful and cool.

2). Items. A lot of people are going to disagree on this one as getting different items from your enemy is as big as the actual role playing in a role playing game. And to put it in a simple way, the first game had tons and tons of different items and guns and the second had about handful of guns and one armor with a few different body parts (no im not counting the bullshit armors you get from different DLCs). But the first game had horrible item management system, and most people that played the first game would remember the horrors of sorting through hundreds of useless shit in their inventory and spending hours and hours just to do so. Now the second game everything is simplified where everyone share the handful of weapons that you can research to upgrade them a few times. This effectively got rid of the whole inventory system and you no longer have one. Now I don't know about you but I enjoy the customization and item management part of a RPG and what Bioware did in both games to me are two extreme measures, and I just hope they can find a medium in the third game.

3). Role Playing. Now in all honesty Mass Effect is not the most complex RPG out there. The character customization, the stats, the classes are all very simple like Bioware's previous title Star wars knights of the old republic. But what in the Sam hell would someone simplify something that is already this simple? It's impossible right? Well thats exactly what Bioware did with Mass Effect 2, simplify it even further. Now you can hardly call it a RPG where characters have less than half of the stats they had in the first game. Class roles might be more define in the second game however because the class powers now are more effective but there are just too many of the same/similar classes in your party.

4). Side quests. The best way to describe the side quests in the first game would be tedious. Driving around in your mako in all these cut and past planets and kill bunch people in yet more cut and paste buildings are not exactly fun, they are more like pointless diversion to the main game. Now the second game got rid of all that driving and basically makes you scan the planets for resources which now are used to upgrade stuff and no longer useless. Also the side missions comes from scanning as well, where you find some signals and land in a building to retrieve something or kill some baddies. In another word much more variety and less pointless repetitive bullshit.

In the end I have to give this one to Mass Effect 2 just because the much improve on the shooting and questing.

-Presentation

This is another important category for a Bioware game. Again sever sub-categories are needed.

1). Graphics. Now when you first look at Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 there isn't really much graphical differences besides the artistic theme and tone. And there shouldn't since both use the same Unreal 3 engine. But underneath all of it the first Mass Effect is plagued with Unreal 3 problems when not used right. Stuff like pop up textures and drastic frame rate drops are just a few to name that comes up in the original Mass Effect. In the sequel however Bioware promised better control of the engine and boy did they deliver. The frame rate is now butter smooth and with no apparent texture pop ups. Therefore Mass Effect 2 feels like a better looking game without really being better in such a way.

2). Cast. Bioware has been known for getting amazing voice casts in their game and Mass Effect is no different. First game has probably best voices in a game that I have played so far. So how can you best that? How about hire some big name actors and make this into one of the most expensive cast in a video game ever. That's exactly what Bioware did as they hired the likes of Martin Sheen, Adam Baldwin, Carrie Ann Moss, Simon Templeton, Yvonne Strahovski, Tricia Helfner and more. It's truly mind blowing the amount of money they spent on such small part of a game to make something perfect.

This one goes to Mass Effect 2 as well.

Ok so now the score is tied at 2, it leaves me with that last and the most important category in a Bioware game to settle. Just which game is better? This is it.

-Sex Scene

It just won't be a Bioware game without a proper sex scene that will cause all kinds of problems in the media. whether that's blue alien sex in Mass Effect or Gay sex in Dragon age Origins you can bet it will be tastefully done. Now in the original Mass Effect the scene last about 30 seconds where all you see is half of a bare ass, and the choice is limited to a blue alien or a human so nothing extreme. In Mass Effect 2 however you have a lot more choices and bigger variety of aliens that you can sex up. Most of the scenes are pretty tame as well and only the one with lead female protagonist is somewhat...interesting. See my previous post of a video on some of the scenes in Mass Effect 2 here: http://therealyawningcat.blogspot.com/2010/02/fox-news-mass-effect-scandal.html
I just love that 80s porno music they put in that video (not actual game music).

-Final Word

In the end I just have to give it to Mass Effect 2. It improved on almost every aspect of the first game. Maybe its somewhat dumbed down but that's just the trend today in order to sell more games. I can only hope that Bioware can do the series justice by deliver the best conclusion in the final chapter.

This also effectively ends my coverages of Mass Effect 2.

iPhone 3G Review

What a difference a smart phone has made in my life, let me tell you.  The iPhone is basically like a miniature computer that fits in your pocket.  You can do almost anything on it.  Checking email, browsing the web, using its ton of apps.  Its the perfect mobile accessory.  Sure there are other phones out there which have better specifications but the iPhone has the app store which has an almost limitless number of things to download.  Also if a company is going to make an app you can bet it will be available for the iPhone.  Thats just the industry standard.  The phone looks great and is very thin.  And for things such as the calendar and email I can sync them wirelessly with my computer which makes things really easy for me. All this for $99 is an awesome deal.

The downside of having a smart phone with a data plan is the plan fees.  Expect about $70-$80 a month per person.  Although now that I have a smart phone it would be hard to imagine not having one anymore.  Equivalent to turning off the internet in ones home I imagine.

It would also be nice if the iPhone 3G had a higher mega pixel camera, video, and a flash.  But for $99 you can accept those sacrifices.  In fact the simple camera that comes with the 3G works surprisingly well and you can get some really realistic and artistically beautiful pictures with it.  I think lacking all of the fancy features of modern digital cameras, such as zoom and flash etc, it works closer to that of a human eye.  The phone is easy to use, awesome screen, and has nice eye candy while still being responsive.  One of my favorite things about the phone is the little "click" sounds it makes as you press each key while you are typing on its on-screen keyboard.  Its a very addicting sound.

The phone also comes with apple headphones which has a built in mic.  This was a surprise to me.  The mic works extremely well and people on the other end of the call can hear you normally.  This is a big bonus to me as I always wanted a mic that worked well and was wired.  I plan to stay away from the bluetooth head sets that give you brain cancer.  So far I think my favorite apps are the different utility apps you can download.  Such as apps to see what stores are around you, to-do lists, translation tools, photo manipulation tools, etc.  I also love the Brushes app which allows me to make drawings/painting on my iPhone and then email them to people or upload them onto my Twitter page.  So in conclusion I love my iPhone.  The only problem now is I'm hooked on smart phones and I want to try them all out.

product review: Logitech 250 Keyboard

When you think of computer parts in terms of importance first things that pop in your head is probably the CPU, the PSU or even the VGA if you are a gamer, but rarely do you think of the input devices such as the keyboard. The truth is keyboard is probably the part where most people spend the least amount of money and research when it comes buying parts. Sure there are the hardcore that will spend over a hundred dollars on a gaming keyboard but to me a good keyboard should not cost more than 30 dollars.

Today I bring you the review of Logitech internet 250 usb keyboard.

-Pros

At first glance the 250 is a very ordinary looking keyboard. Its almost entirely rectangle and slight curves on the two bottom corners. This is the perfect look for me personally as I don't like keyboards that are huge with weird ass shapes like my previous Gateway keyboard or the smallish ones with the boarder cut off like the ones Dell tend to have. Its also built with very sturdy plastic with nice matted finish, and it also feels a lot heavier than the larger Gateway keyboard I had. So what I'm trying to say is the 250 feels very eloquent and not cheap even though it cost under 15 dollars.

The keys are also located at the right places in right sizes. This is a plus for me as you don't how frustrating it can be when some of the supposedly more expensive board have irregular keys that you have to look and search to hit. The keys also feel very firm and very quiet, although I do not know if this board is suppose to have quiet keys as it is not one of the features listed.

Lastly I like a simple keyboard. I don't want a board clustered with useless hot keys that I will never use such as the internet button, or the email button. Like I will ever use MS outlook besides at work. The 250 is very simple, beside all the necessary keys it doesn't have one extra function keys.

-Cons

Well I really only have one con with this board. The "legs" at the back of the board doesn't stand up very high so even with them opened the board seems to sit a lot more flat than most other boards out there. This has caused some serious wrist discomfort for me even just by typing this short review.

-Final Word

Logitech is really the only brand I choose when it comes to PC keyboards as they have always made quality ones no matter if its the 14 dollar 250 or the over 100 dollar gaming G19. But in my opinion they are used in the same way and perform the same way. The little advantage you gain by having a G19 compare to the price you pay is definitely not worth it, now if we are talking about mice then its a different story.

TV show review

I don't watch a lot of TV so this is all new territory for me, but what the hell we do all kinds of other reviews on this blog so I decided there is first for everything. Like I said I don't watch a lot of TV so a show has approximately 5 minutes to grab my attention before I move on.

It is incredible the amount of garbage Hollywood puts on TV therefore it is hard for people to sort through all of them and find that good TV show to watch. A couple of TV shows that I like such as House, Top Gear or Family Guy either challenge you intellectually or are very funny and unique. And being that huge nerd that I also enjoy the likes of Battlestar Galactica. Well the thing is watching TV is suppose to be an entertainment and sometimes you just don't want to think too hard to get a laugh or be entertained. Recently I did just that when I started watching the show "Chuck".

-Plot

Chuck Bartowski is a 20 some year old video game nerd that works at a Buy More store as a Nerd Herd(parody of Best Buy and its Geek Squad) with his best friend Morgan. He also lives with his sister Ellie and her boyfriend Captain Awesome, both are doctors.

Chuck receives an e-mail from his Stanford roommate Bryce Larkin, who he hates for kicking him out of Stanford and stealing his then girlfriend, but now is apparently a rogue agent. The e-mail contains the entire database of US government secretes embedded in various images and after Chuck opens it, it is now embedded in his brain. The NSA sends out Major John Casey and the CIA sends out special agent Sarah Walker to retrieve the date, code name "intersect".

The story continues from there where both Casey and Walker are eventually assigned to protect Chuck, and Chuck would help them on various missions with his now new found ability to "flash" and get information when certain things triggers it. The show is all about Chuck trying to balance his nerd life at Buy more and his secrete life working with two spies. He also has to pretend everything is normal at Buy More and with his friend while on this pretend relationship with Sarah.

-Cast

Chuck is played by Zach Levi who strangely looks like Zach Braff from Scrubs. He does a pretty good job playing a computer nerd although I'm sure if he got a hair cut he could look like a male model, but otherwise he plays a loser quite well.

Sarah Walker is played by a little known Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski. I didn't even know who she was until I played Mass Effect 2, which she models and voices the lead female protagonist. But she does good enough job to play as a CIA spy and fake girlfriend of Chuck.

Major John Casey is played by Adam Baldwin who really is the star of the show. I love him as the insane animal mother machine gunner in Full Metal jacket and a ruthless assassin in the show Serenity. He seems to be made for these kind of roles, the hardcore killer type. He also played a minor role in Mass Effect 2.

-Entertainment value

The show is like a pure nerds' wet dream. Nerd by day and spy by night, working with perhaps one of the hottest CIA agent on the planet doesn't hurt either. But I have to say its pretty entertaining and grabbed my attention rather quickly, maybe I was just bored. But you can't deny the funny moments in the show and the awkward relationship between Chuck and Sarah combined with Casey's angry grunting, it makes a pretty good show. With all kind of crap on TV today I found the show watchable and maybe just for a few cheap laughs but that's all you can ask for from Hollywood today.



-Final word

I'm somewhat of a nerd so maybe thats why I like the show, but maybe not, maybe I'm jut looking a something to entertaining in general and show did its job. It was almost canceled before season 3 due to low ratings but think the target audience of the show, the late teen to 20 something nerds, they are never going to watch it on TV but rather online somewhere. But what do I know I'm not paid millions to figure it out, the geniuses at NBC know what they are doing...right? Just ask Conan O'brien.

Comparisons, part 1

Now that Mass Effect 2 is behind us I want to put the original Mass Effect and the sequel side by side and do a comprehensive comparison just to put things in perspective. Which game is the better RPG? Which is the better game overall? Which game had more cultural influence?(lol foxnews) And most importantly what will we see in Mass Effect 3 and future games from Bioware.

-Story

I have to give this one to the original Mass Effect. The story was on a epic proportion with Bioware creating a universe with living, breathing creatures that are so real you could easily believed in it. The Sci-Fi setting is nothing new in the genre but it was very well done with the struggle of good and evil and a greater evil lurking in the shadows. It was a story that you know it was on a grand scale as soon as you start the game and with very few others like it, it is also one that you can say "wow I'm going to dream about this one for awhile!" You also cared very much about every character in the game, major or minor. Shepard immediately establish him/her as a larger than life, badass heroic figure no matter how you wish to play. But you also cared for all the party members, their back stories and what make them go. That has always been a Bioware way, which make you continuously talk to your group as game progresses to slowly reveal more about them. But that's not all, to me a great story not only has to have a recognizable hero but also has to have a good villain. The original Mass Effect have that with the hated Saren but as the game goes it is also slowly revealed things about Saren that might make some people feel sympathetic toward him. In short, I liked the story of Original Mass Effect a lot, I will even say its probably one of Bioware's best work ever.

Now the second game follows the first game in many traditional ways, but in the end you feel like something is lacking. Like the story has lost its identity, its backbone or its soul. The universe is as good as ever but why does my gut feeling tell me that the first game is so much better? Well I'm here to look at the smallest details. First unlike the original game you are not as involved in the Galatic affair. Sounds cheesy but now it feels empty, the game is alot larger but you dont care for the other alien races, they don't have anything that interests you, it is more about humanity in the second game. So in a way Bioware was able to physically increase the size of the galaxy but somehow also makes the game feel...smaller in scale. Second you don't care about your party members. There is a lot more party members this time around but they are just not interesting. Most of them have little to no back story and it takes 2 or 3 times for them to spill their guts to you its almost ridiculous. These people are suppose to be criminals, assassins and terrorists if anything they should distrust you. Again making the game larger somehow had opposite effects. Last The game has no recognizable villain. The collectors might as well be faceless zombies. you don't feel anything toward them, there are little stories revealed about them as the game goes on. You go through the whole game to save humanity yet somehow you get this empty feeling in the end...is that normal?

-Music

Again I have to give this one to the original Mass Effect as well. One thing that made the first game so epic was the music. It was true to the Sci-fi opera setting in every way. I haven't felt this way since hearing the original Halo March music. Every time I hear the intro theme it gives me the goosebumps and the imagines of Mass Effect flashes vividly in front of my eyes, that to me is a sign of greatness. Here is the intro theme, I can tell you that the words Mass Effect pops on screen at about 1:01 (yes it brings tears to my eyes).


Now I have listened to the official track for Mass Effect 2 as well and by no means that its bad music but the reason I had to listen to the official track is well you just don't hear the music in game. Let me explain, the music is so tuned down that you don't even hear a hint of music through out, but that might just because the gameplay is so intense you don't notice the music...nah I checked. Funny thing is the first game had such an epic intro and the second game had no back ground music at all when the words Mass Effect 2 was shown on screen...yes I checked my speakers were working perfectly. However if you listen to the official tracks that you can see the music were used perfectly to portrait the dark theme of the second game, showing that trouble is looming. Here is the "intro" to Mass Effect 2.


But since you can't hear any of this great music in game, I will have to give it to the original game by default.

To be continued...

HE IS BACK!

A few weeks ago I posted a video of Commander Shepard being a jerk in Mass Effect and now he is back and badder than ever. Here is him in Mass Effect2, being bad is just so much funnier than being good.

Fox news Mass Effect scandal

Three years ago Fox News did a report on the corruption of the gaming industry claiming it uses sex to sell games to minors. The focus point of this attack was on the Bioware's infamous sex scene from Mass Effect. It was the worst display of biased news report I have ever seen as all reporters clearly did not play the game whats so ever claiming that the sex scene was what made the game. Even though the "sex scene" was about 30 sec of a 30 hour game that is tastefully done and showed next to nothing.

Well Bioware is back at it again in Mass Effect 2 and apparently they are back to their old tricks.

Video Games | Mass Effect 2 | *SPOILER* Hooking Up Montage HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Game Review: Mass Effect 2

Over 40 perfect scores, over 2 million copies sold in under a week, already talked about as the Game of the Year and its only January, and yes I'm talking about the latest hit from Bioware.

All these perfect scores from respectable reviewers must mean the game is perfect right? And all this hype generated by EA also mean its the greatest game ever right? EA can't possibly lie to consumers with their...well less than reputable past, am I right? It's no secrete that I love most of Bioware's works, but seems its up to me to provide an unbiased review of the year's biggest hit.

-Story
With any Bioware games, Story is the first thing you look at. In Mass Effect 2 you are back in the shoes of Commander Shepard, first human spectre and elite soldier of the system alliance military. Herald by Bioware as the dark second chapter of the trilogy, it is said that ME 2 has the feel of an "Empire strike Back". To me the first Mass Effect grabbed your attention with the epic story of human advancement and the struggle with other Alien species. You learned rich background story on how human achieved all these in such a short time as well as various alien races and their history/culture. It was a large and very well crafted universe with many interesting tales. Oh then there is the epic struggle of evil and good where you chase down the rogue spectre Saren but slowly learns the bigger picture of the incoming doom. It probably wasn't anything that hasn't been done before but through Bioware's careful craft it turned out to be one of the most epic story in recent memory. Now Mass Effect 2 had a tall order to live up to the original game, and let me be straight forward here, it simply doesn't measure up to the scale.



At the beginning of the game Bioware gives a little scare where you might think you will not play as Shepard this time around but that soon was squandered as you again return in the role of a hero/villain trying to save the galaxy from a certain doom. However after that the story is somewhat...ordinary. Shepard is send to compose a team of assassins, criminals, and terrorists to go on this suicide mission in order to save mankind. It all sound good except thats all you do through out the entire game, you really don't get to the bigger picture on the threat or any the galaxy affairs. And gathering these people and gaining loyalty from them is as easy as 1, 2, 3. There is just not much back story with these people at all, granted that there are alot of party members but I don't feel attached to any them by the end of the day unlike the first game. So all in all I felt that they didn't have the right focus on things and it just didn't have the epic scale/feel of the first game. The first Mass Effect will have you revisit the story in your dreams, but this one, not so much.

-Game play
This is probably the biggest improvement over the first game. Bioware games have never been known for game play AS MUCH AS story telling and character development but the first Mass Effect was probably one of their worst. The game play felt clunky, over simplified and uninspiring compare to everything else in the game. Most of that have been over hauled with game playing much more like a third person shooter, closer to the gears of war pedigree. Fire fights last alot longer and more intense with few times where I was actually frustrated and overwhelmed. Another thing changed from the first game is the inventory system, where majority of people disliked. I however was not one of them, I actually liked the inventory management aspect of an RPG however it was kind of unrefined. So I was one that was saddened to see them scrap the whole thing rather than just refine the system. In ME 2 the inventory is gone where you will no long get any "loot" from enemies, and now you will occasionally get upgrade parts and where you will be upgrading in the ships lab to be used for everyone. This is seriously disappointing as loots are an integral part of an RPG. And this is not the only thing that they have done to make game play less like an RPG. Most of the talents are stripped away as everyone only has only 4 or 5 skills, I guess its a more obvious sign of the game moving to a shooter. One more change to the game play was the lack of exploring planets, now instead of exploring the cut and past planets for the useless resources you just scan them for the ship. Also the resources now play a part where as they are used to upgrade you weapons, armors and ship. And Because of this all the planets you do visit have a lot more variety so I guess its a welcome change. It seems Bioware were true to their words when they said they will take everyone's opinion in to factor on how to improve ME 2, maybe just a little too much.

-Graphics
The game has more of a darker tone compare to the first one, I guess to display the impending doom. Over all the game looks very much like the first one using the same Unreal Engine 3, however the frame rate is much much better in the game and there were no apparent textures pop ups. otherwise the game has the same crisp look with awesome character design and facial animation. So in the end graphically this game is much better than the first one. Voice acting is also superb as many big name actors are used in various roles. Its almost shocking the amount of famous actors are willing to do small roles in the game.

-Presentation
Mass Effect 2 display the story in the similar Bioware fashion with the epic cut scenes and rich dialog tree. Although there were less of each in this game compare to the first one, less movies and the dialogs are simpler. However keeping with the tone of the game the line separating good/evil is a lot more blurry than the first. I chose go with my Mass Effect 1 Shepard import on my first play through and doing so I set out to go with good path the entire game. However shockingly the good path required a decent amount of lying and cheating, and few times I also executed people. If you don't have a file to import from the first game then most major decisions from original Mass Effect are pre-determined for you such as the destruction of the council, but I don't how some of the smaller ones will play out as with my imported files many of the small encounters shows up in Mass Effect 2 like the Reds and Shia'a contacting me again for quests. And I do feel a lot more attached to the story and some of the returning characters because I have played the original many times.
Overall the game is still a blast to play with beautiful and epic presentation through out even if you have not played the first one.



-Conclusion
So does Mass Effect 2 deserve all those perfect scores? It all depends on what criteria we are looking at. As a game its almost perfect at every angle, but looking deeper into the roots as it was an RPG first? then no its definitely not the perfect RPG. Is it the best game in this generation where we love simplified everything? probably as itself is a watered down RPG that most people will love, but is it the best game ever? no its not even the best game Bioware has made. It doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the conclusion of this series in Mass Effect 3 but I do hope Bioware will combine what was good with the first game with this one and deliver a what can be called the best RPG of this generation.