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...