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.