I’ve finished Mass Effect 2 a few times now, and have utterly given up on trying to keep the fish alive.  I am not sure what sort of mystical method of measuring time fish keep in space, but it seems they need to be fed every thirty minutes.  So I’ve given up on my fish mastery, and stuck with the space hamster (and sometimes Tali), as the sole non-Shepard entities of my space loft.  Also, instead of using the standard “iconic” Shepard, I used my own.  The noble young engineer, Sara Shepard has been a part of my Xbox 360 for nearly three years.  She has earned this.

The game isn’t perfect, but what game is?  That being said, I am nearing the territory where I say from a perspective on the narrative alone, ME2 may be the best game I’ve played in years, if not ever.  BioWare mastered storytelling a decade ago, but ME2 really displays the cinematic chops they’ve developed of late.  From the lighting, dialogue, and timing, we have a story that overwhelms its own shortcomings with a fantastic balance of action and roleplaying.

Of course, I’ve been drinking BioWare kool-aid since Baldur’s Gate was released, so take that all with a grain of salt.  I’ve also been waiting for this game since the moment I finished the original, and the highest praise I can give it is that those two (three?) years of lofty hopes were not let down.

Sure, there are some things I don’t like.  The simplification of the class system hurt a bit, and the new “clip” system for the guns seemed to blatantly undermine some of the lore of the Mass Effect world.  But I recognize these were fixes.  In the original, some classes were insanely overpowered (Adepts, engineers), and with the right weapon upgrades, you could fire an assault rifle continuously without it ever overheating.  The classes are now mostly balanced (Though adepts were a bit underwhelming this time around), and the heatclip system does add another level of tactics.  And hell, when my infiltrator fires off a devastating round from her geth sniper rifle and ejects a smoking clip, that looks *cool*.  I can deal with that.

But, this isn’t a review site, or a review article.  I like ME2, but most people who know me knew I would.  I am a gamer, a gamer who enjoys those great moments in games.  Most games of decent quality will have one of those moments, maybe two.  Mass Effect 2 has, like, a dozen, or more.  You know, those moments where you pull something off, and have to say (out loud) something to the effect of “Nice”, or “Fuck yeah”.

Here are some of those moments I loved from ME2.

*SPOILERS AND SUCH AHEAD*

-Anything to do with Grunt.  Not a rich character, but a unique one with some great lines, and good voice acting.  The “Heh… point” line, with the finger quotes was superb.
-Garrus.  Still my favourite NPC from both games, voice acted so well with great dialogue.  I almost cried when I got him killed on my first playthrough.  Brutal stuff.
-Mordin singing Gilbert & Sullivan.
-Nailing Tali.  Unfortunately, I had to play a male Shepard to do it.  Not been a fan of the male Shepard’s voice, his voice just seems to lack character.  Jennifer Hale is fantastic as Miss Shepard, she gets it.
-”I enjoy the sight of humans on their knees… that is a joke.”
-Feeling sorry for the Collectors as the Reapers abandon them to their doom, especially in that final scene of the station going nova.  Very nice touch of pathos.
-No Mako.
-The world design.  So much more layered, with awesome lighting.  Felt a lot more “real” than the first game.
-”No data.”
-”You’re working too hard.”
-I did like the Illusive Man.  He was written so ambiguously that you never could get a feel for what he might do next.  He was potent enough, but subtle and cunning, and most other writing staffs may have easily fallen into the trap of making him a little too over the top.
-Michael Hogan doing any voicework.
-The look on the salarian’s face after Shepard and Miranda kill some of his pals, and drop an explosive tank on the rest during Miranda’s loyalty mission.
-The time dilation ability Infiltrator’s get when sniping.  Love it.
-”I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite store on the Citadel.”
-Punching out that reporter.  Again.
-Shooting Conrad in the foot.
-Blasto, the first Hanar spectre.
-Tali’s reaction to her dead father.  Not a “Nice!” moment, but one that maybe choked me up a bit.  The poor kid.
-Jack (or your biotic of choice) unloading a blast on the Collectors at the end of the section of the last mission where you need the biotic bubble.  The cutscene is *perfectly* scored and paced.  The entire final mission does have a great sense of urgency and danger that you find rarely in games today.  Well done, even with the obligatory boss fight at the end.
-Kal’Reegar.  Realitic exhange under fire with the quarian soldier on the mission to recruit Tali.  I liked him.
-More Seth Green.
-F-bombs!
-Engineer drones.

*SPOILERS OVER*

Hopefully we’re back on Friday.  I’m working on a smoking hot picture of Kassandra.  Hot.

“I should go.”

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