T w e n t y S i d e d

So they filled the dialog in the game with irrational confrontational hostility. I suppose that’s easier that familiarizing themselves with the first game and learning characterization. (I totally need a fanboy rage emoticon. Pretend I do, and that I used it here.)

On the upside, an old foe returns in this episode, and you’ll never geth who it is.

I have to say I liked the bright sunlight mechanic. I wouldn’t want to put up with it for the whole game, and of course your AI companions aren’t actually properly programed to deal with it (I really hope they’re immune) but I thought it was a worthwhile idea for mixing things up. If you compare Mass Effect 2 to a lot of cover-based shooters, it’s actually a pretty smart game. Compare it to the mind-enema that is Kayne & Lynch to see how monotonous it could have been.

I’m really curious how BioWare views their play for the shooter market. Was this imposed by EA? Did it work to their satisfaction? Are they going to veer back towards more RPG elements now that they’ve “hooked” this new audience, or are they thinking they’ve hooked us RPG players (which, okay, they totally have) and can keep courting the Gears of Kayne & Killzone fans? I know a lot of us raged against this game, but did they even notice? Do they even see the thematic shift of the series as something that needs to be fixed, or are they saying, “Sales are good, keep doing what we’re doing”. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at one of their meetings.

Or, I guess, just employed there. Actually that would be way better because then I wouldn’t be a fly.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

You know, I don’t hate this game nearly as much as Fallout 3, although you couldn’t tell that from our conversation. For the record, Fallout 3 was a vortex of mind-numbing stupidity where the setting, the characters, the premise, and the story were irritating and infantile. Mass Effect 2 was merely a disappointment. Really, I wouldn’t have been nearly as irate with the game if its predecessor hadn’t been so good. If the next Gears of War game aspired to the Mass Effect 2 level of storytelling, I’d be overjoyed.

Sadly, you can’t really modulate criticism to account for this. We either comment on something or we don’t.

Oh, now that you’ve watched the show I guess I should point out that there was a pretty heavy Jade Empire spoiler in there. So I hope you skipped over that. Yeah. Someone spoiled the plot of Jade Empire. I don’t remember who. I think it was Rutskarn.

Yeah, pretty sure it was Rutskarn.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

You know what they say about assuming control. It makes and ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘the writers’. Or something. I actually forget how that one is supposed to go.

Also, Rutskarn has proven his mastery of all stirge-related subject matter. You guys aren’t going to let him out-nerd you like that, are you? NERD?

I can’t help but wonder about that giant sun behind the illusive man. I like to think there’s some site on the galactic web that just has all of these holographic themes you can use for your orbital doom station. Last week he was scheming in front of a waterfall. Before that it was hot air balloons. This week it’s a red sun. Next week it’ll be Elcor Girls of 2185.

And people say he doesn’t like aliens.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

New Year’s* resolution: I promise to have a more positive outlook on games and not just bitch about them all the time.

Blast it. Well, that resolution didn’t last long, did it?

Maybe next year. Happy new year anyway.

* So, what are we calling this decade? I know we called the previous decade the “aughts”, which was awkward and difficult to the point where people tried to avoid calling it anything at all. Eventually we’ll just call this decade the “teens”, but that feels like we’re getting ahead of ourselves because eleven is not a teen. We shouldn’t call it that until at least 2013. In the interim, I’ve suggested calling the decade “Herbert” but this idea isn’t catching on.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.