Batman: Arkham City

They never saw it coming.  Just moments ago they were chatting idly about Catwoman’s sultry qualities. Then they shouted, “It’s the Bat!” as I descended upon one of them, like a meteor from above; he didn’t get back up, and neither did the fellow standing next to him.  Out came the Batclaw, reeling in my first prey as I proceed to slam him into the pavement.  Three guys down, and only now has the rest of the group regained their senses.  Three of them run up, thinking to gain the upper hand with strength in numbers.  I counter all of them effortlessly in a whirlwind of kicks, before unleashing a flurry of batarangs.  In the midst of the chaos, I single out one man still standing.  In an instant I’m in front in him.  He has body armor, so I stun him and then punch him.  He probably expected that.  What he didn’t expect were the next fifteen punches, followed by a fierce uppercut.  Only one left standing, and another getting back up.  I fling a freeze grenade at the one dusting himself off; sit tight for a bit.  Then I focus on the last goon.  First I wrench the bat from his hands, and smack him with it.  Then I trip him, and snap one of his arms.  I end the battle by delivering a flying kick of justice to the thug encased in ice.

This game is nuts.

After his stellar work as the warden of Arkham Asylum, now-Mayor Quincy Sharp has decided that a single facility will not be sufficient to contain the criminal scum of Gotham.  So he sections off a part of the city and establishes the entire district as an open air, maximum-security prison.  Furthermore, he places a scientist named Hugo Strange in charge.  As you soon realize, there is no law in Arkham City other than a simple one imposed by Strange: “Do not try to escape”.

If you think that letting every single Gotham villain run amok in their own little community seems like a bad idea, you’re not alone.  In fact, you’re thinking along the same lines as Batman himself.  And so it is that you find yourself in Arkham City, with the express intention of find out how such a thing could have possibly come into being.

The story told here in Arkham City is ambitious, and far larger in scope than it was in Arkham Asylum.  Indeed, Joker’s quest for the TITAN chemical in 2009’s hit seems almost small time compared to some of the things you see and experience in Arkham City; hammered home by the fact that TITAN is again present, though it’s been relegated to a mere sidequest.

There’s an incredible cast of villains in Arkham City.  Joker and Harley, Bane and Riddler are back in various capacities, but Batman also gets to deal with Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Two Face and of course Hugo Strange (among others) in the main storyline alone.  Through cameos and side missions, the roster is further expanded to include the likes of Poison Ivy, Dead Shot, Mad Hatter, and even, finally, Calendar Man.  As a fan of the comics, many of the appearances were, in a word, awesome.

However, Arkham City’s plot unfortunately falls just a tad short of the mark it tries so enthusiastically to reach.  Many villains meet disappointing ends, with the biggest offense being that of the supposed primary antagonist, Hugo Strange.  I won’t spoil how you finally get to inflict sweet justice on him, but it’s pretty underwhelming.

One of the chief complaints of Arkham Asylum—of which there were few, I might add—was that the boss battles were very simple and mundane.  Arkham City improves this by orders of magnitude.  There are a couple boss battles that are essentially beefed up predator challenges, for example.  In your showdown with Mr. Freeze, you’re prevented from using the same move twice, as every time you pull one over on him he takes measures to prevent you doing it again.  But coming away from the game, I still feel like many of the villains could have put up a better fight.  For each of the more exhilarating encounters, there’s one that’s only decent.

Virtually everything has been expanded and improved in Arkham City, beginning with the setting itself.  Not only is Arkham City a bigger and more varied locale than Arkham Asylum, it is a far denser one. It won’t win points for being the biggest, but Rocksteady made ample use of essentially every square foot of the world they crafted.  Where there isn’t a Riddler puzzle to solve or a group of thugs roaming around, there’s a locale to explore, an Easter egg to discover, or a sidequest to complete.  It feels like everything you do and can do in this game has purpose.

One of Rocksteady’s biggest talking points was how you get around this bigger, better setting: gliding.  You could glide in Arkham Asylum…but not like this.  Now, mid-flight you can go into a dive, than pull up to gain speed and altitude.  Once you get the Grapnel Boost, you can latch onto faraway ledges and objects to vault yourself further and keep altitude high.  This new method of locomotion is extremely awkward at first, and I found it difficult to use.  But once you get the hang of it, it’s surprisingly addicting (and challenging) to see how far you can go without touching the ground.  Then, when you spot a group of thugs below, you can swoop down on them, and that’s when the fun begins.

Combat in Arkham City is, to my surprise, a very different beast than it was in Arkham Asylum, and not just because some of the controls have been moved around.  By the end of the game, your bag of tricks is bulging with so many gadgets, moves and abilities that it can be overwhelming at times.  Not only do you have new moves like the Glide Boost, which lets you quite literally tackle thugs from the air with the force of a thousand suns, you can also stomp on them, Mario-style.  Even old moves and techniques have gained new tricks.  After cape-stunning a target, you can proceed into a Beatdown (yes, that’s exactly what it’s called).  My favorite move in the game, Batman quite simply punches the guy over and over again at super speed, ending with one final, powerful attack that instantly KO’s the poor fellow.  Also, the counter move has been expanded, allowing you to counter not one, not two, but up to three thugs at a time simultaneously.  Now you can also catch and throw back projectiles lobbed at you.  It’s awesome.

But that’s not all.  The number of Quickfire gadgets—those that you can use mid-combat—has been almost tripled.  In addition to Batarangs and the Batclaw, now you can use the Explosive Gel in combat, as well as a variety of other gadgets you’ll acquire as you progress, such as a stun gun and freeze grenade.  Special moves like the Instant KO are back, alongside new moves like the Weapon Destroyer, which has  Bats not only disarming a foe, but smashing said weapon to pieces to stop it from being used again.

Not interested in all these fancy moves and gadgets?  Rocksteady’s got your back with a new ability called FreeFlow Focus.  At the expense of being able to perform special combos like the Instant Finisher (and ultimately gadgets), upon landing your 12th hit in a combo you enter FreeFlow Focus, which enables a subtle slow motion affect, allowing you to wreak havoc on groups and maintain multipliers with heightened ease.  This, combined with the returning Critical Strikes ability—which rewards well-timed attacks with extra power and double points and multiplier gain—makes sure those that favor combos over variation get their due.

There’s even new ways to start a battle.  Before, it was either you ran up and started throwing punches, or you flew in with a Glide Kick.  Now, apart from the previously mentioned Glide Boost, you can also perform a sliding kick, or dive bomb a group before proceeding to send them all flying with a kinetic blast.  Every encounter is also bigger in scale than they ever were in Arkham Asylum.  There’s an incredible amount of contextual moves and takedowns in this game.  Walking up to two thugs standing side by side allows you to take them both down simultaneously.  Doing a Grapnel Boost right under a patrolling thug will prompt Batman to grab the guy on his way up, only to pile-drive him back into the ground.  And then there are the returning classics, like the corner and ledge takedowns.

There are also some new thug types in Arkham City.  Gone are those god-forsaken lunatics—I think anyone whose had their crack at one of the challenge rooms in Arkham Asylum will share my anger—replaced with thugs toting riot shields who can’t be attacked through normal means.  Most are still same old, same old; goons with stun batons have to be hit from behind or from range, those with firearms have to taken down with care (and individually, usually), and unarmed enemies are still fodder, but insanely fun to fight against all the same.  Knife-wielders are back, but they’ve been changed.  Now you can attack them head on like any regular thug, and their attacks are less dangerous; by holding the counter button, you can dance away from their swipes.  With an upgrade, you can even perform a reversal on them; it’s not easy to pull off mid-combat, but it’s one of the most satisfying things you can do in this game.  There are also some other special enemies, like assassins, who attack like knife-wielders but can dodge your regular attacks and are overall much quicker and more dangerous.

The extent to which close quarters combat has been expanded in Arkham City is staggering, to be frank.  As a comfortable form of input, the controller is absolutely pushed to the limit.  There was a time when I wondered if the number of Quickfire gadgets was limited more to keep the controls reasonable than for any creative or design reasons.  Still, the possibilities granted by this insane collection are nothing less than exciting.  This is a combat system with endless depth.  There’s plenty of elegance and complexity for those that want it.  It places squarely in your hands the ability to orchestrate every enemy encounter from beginning to end, and it is more satisfying than words can describe when things go your way, as they did in my opening paragraph.  It is, in my opinion, the best close quarters combat system in existence.

Predator gameplay (read: stealth) is still just as good as it was in Arkham Asylum, though it did not see nearly as much of the overhaul treatment as most other aspects did.  Your giant bag of tricks, in combination with excellent level design allows for a wider variety of strategies than in Arkham Asylum, but it still boils down to methodically taking out armed thugs in any given area.  Of course, there’s also still fun to be had instilling fear in the hearts of professional gunmen and hapless criminals.

I found myself relying on Detective mode much more than I would have liked (just like Arkham Asylum), particularly in stealth situations.  But I think I’m beginning to realize that has more to do with the enemies’ somewhat more sophisticated AI than anything else.  Arkham City never ceases to impress me at least a little bit in how natural many of its inhabitants act.  Enemies will blow up vantage points or roll grenades into vents to try and smoke you out.  Or sometimes, they won’t.  Often they’ll stop for no apparent reason, and just look around.  Apprehension?  Or fear, perhaps.  Occasionally they gain the sense to look up or check under them.  When they see a body, they’ll call for help, with others showing varying degrees of response or concern.  Enemies frequently change or adapt their patrol routes as new developments—like you totally acing one of them—occur.  This is different from most stealth games, where enemies have a rigid and often inflexible set of actions, and specific patrol routes that they usually return to without fail, making them predictable.

Technically speaking, Arkham City doesn’t really look or run significantly better than Arkham Asylum.   However, that only speaks volumes for how good-looking its predecessor was back in 2009, because Arkham City is a gorgeous game.  There are all sorts of fancy visual tricks in effect here, from impressive depth of field and sharp texture work to a rather capable physics engine handling object and body behavior.  Playing the game on PS3, you will see quite a bit of in-game texture loading; try viewing a few character trophies, for example.  I imagine it’s a similar situation on Xbox 360.  But that’s what happens when you have such a small bit of video memory to work with.  There is a near-2GB mandatory install on PS3, but you will only see load times when entering and leaving major areas, and when first loading up the campaign and any challenge maps.

Even from a conceptual standpoint, Arkham City is stunning.  The prison is separated into a handful of different areas, each with a different feel, from the Bowery with its slightly higher class feel, to the industrial district with chimneys galore and a small bay and loading dock.  Underneath Arkham City lies an ancient and eerily quiet complex network of passageways and corridors; another world in itself.  Towering far, far above it all is the Wonder Tower, from which Strange operates.

Just like in Arkham Asylum however, the real star in the visual department is the animation.  And boy is it fancy.  The vast majority of Bats’ animations for his basic movements and abilities have been recycled from Arkham Asylum, but that’s not a terrible thing because there are plenty of new animations, and why would he revamp the way he moves?  The biggest improvement I’ve noticed in Arkham City on its predecessor—and indeed, on the medium in general—is how well the engine nails contextual actions.  There was some of it showing in Arkham Asylum—Bats would react to enemies depending on their location and status in relation to his—but it’s really been expanded here.

You counter one goon, and another runs up; Batman adapts what he is doing to one enemy to include the other.  What used to be a punch to the face is now two faces being bashed together.  Include another enemy and now the attack has instantly evolved to a spinning kick.  Attack an enemy right in front of you, and Bats might do an uppercut.  Attack one some distance away, and he might do this crazy flying somersault to cover the distance.  Attack an enemy up against a wall, and that head butt becomes a skull thrashed against said wall.  It’s all in realtime, and it’s completely natural.  From a technical standpoint, it feels like it should be completely impossible, the way the engine fluidly adapts how bodies and objects move and interact with each other on the fly.  But it happens constantly in Arkham City.  Because it happens all the time and feels so natural, it feels like a minor thing, but no other game does this so well; save for a precious few (Mortal Kombat and Uncharted come to mind), others do not even attempt it.  The animation in Arkham City is, quite frankly a technical achievement in my mind.

From start to finish, Arkham City is an aural delight.  As you boot the game up, you’re treated to vigorous woodwinds that might just send chills down your spine.  From there on, the BGMs don’t generally stand out, but that does not stop the music from doing a phenomenal job contributing to the atmosphere of the game.  Just like in Arkham Asylum, tracks can change to suit changing situations, such as being discovered in stealth mode, or entering combat.

Of course, the voice acting is no slouch either.  Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and The Joker, respectively, but there’s talent and enthusiasm behind seemingly every voice in Arkham City.  While the story dialogue in this game is typical, almost classical comic book fare—you won’t believe how many times Batman says some variation of “Today’s not a good day to mess with me”—much of the dialogue provided by auxiliary characters like the various thug factions is surprisingly interesting to listen to.  Flying around Arkham City, you’ll hear lowly grunts discussing their faction leaders (Joker, Two Face, etc.), cracking jokes, day dreaming about Catwoman and Poison Ivy, and even spouting a bit of lore; all in great varying degrees of earnest.  There’s something to be said for the sheer volume of dialogue provided by the thugs alone when, even while roaming around after beating the game I’m still stopping frequently to listen in on some conversations.

Arkham City is pretty much teeming with replay value.  There’s perhaps a little under a dozen side missions in the story mode; the biggest of which by far is Riddler’s 400-strong assortment of trophies, challenges, and puzzles.  It’s a mishmash of collectables and little in-game achievements, like using certain takedowns a number of times or gliding unassisted a certain distance, complemented by dozens of little nods, references and easter eggs to Bat-family lore that Riddler wants you to find and scan.  Finally capturing Riddler is a monumental task, to say the least, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t enjoyable.  The puzzles and riddles are clever, some of them being true head-scratchers, while the trophies will have you visiting every nook and cranny of Arkham City several times over.  As you solve challenges, you also unlock new background information (in the form of "Arkham City stories"), character biographies and audio tapes, 3D character models that you can view (think Super Smash Bros), and loads of concept art.

Challenge Mode is back as well, in a very big way.  Not only are there more challenge maps than there were in Arkham Asylum—about 60% more, by my rough estimate—there is a new feature called Riddler’s Revenge, which are essentially sets of three challenge maps strung together into a brief campaign.  There’s a twist, however.  When you begin a Riddler campaign, you are presented with certain modifiers that you have to use at some point before you finish the third level.  Some modifiers are negative, like restricting your moveset or beefing up enemy damage, while others, like regenerating health and batarangs that instantly KO thugs, are positive.  Choosing the best times to implement these modifiers gives these small campaigns a bit more of an identity.  You can also take these modifiers and apply them in regular challenge maps, if you want.

There are a lot of comparisons to the game’s predecessor—Arkham Asylum—in this review.  There’s a reason for that.  Over the course of Arkham City’s development, I was paying very close attention to essentially all coverage of it, and there was one element that I found very consistent.  Rocksteady wanted to top themselves.  Arkham Asylum was an excellent title, and they knew it.  And yet they challenged themselves to create a sequel, one that they could honestly say was better than its predecessor in every possible way.  They listened.  They tweaked.  They improved.  And quite frankly, they succeeded.  Arkham City is everything that a sequel should be.  And in my opinion, it is also one of the greatest games this generation yet has to offer.  A 10/10.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Though it wasn’t an immediate commercial success like some other blockbuster titles have been, LittleBigPlanet remains one of the most important games this generation, at least to the Playstation community. Why? Because for one thing, it was one of the games that served to truly round out Sony’s 1st party title lineup, giving them a positive image of variety. It also served as the spearhead for their “Play.Create.Share” movement, that encouraged the development of games where players could create much of the content for themselves, and share it with others across a broad, self-sustained community.

Now Media Molecule is back with LittleBigPlanet 2. This game is kind of interesting because it doesn’t initially come off as being justifiable as a full-on sequel. The graphics have been slightly but noticeably tweaked, but I don’t think the game really looks or runs significantly better. Which isn’t a bad thing, because the first game looked and ran perfectly fine, and even two years later, LittleBigPlanet 2 actually looks pretty good. When you first jump into the game, everything is very familiar. The controls haven’t changed, and Sackboy still handles virtually identical to how he did in his first outing. Upon first starting the game, you’ll run through an introductory level that serves as the opening credits, narrated once more by that charming Stephen Fry. You drop into your pod, and the replica PS3 controller is sitting there awaiting your input.

Even your good ol’ Popit is back, which gives you access to a multitude of things (more so in Create Mode) with the press of the button, including stickers, costumes, and the “reset” button, all returning from the first game, and all working in precisely the same way as before. Stickers can be used pretty much anytime and anywhere to decorate areas, but can also be used to activate switches. The reset button allows you to self-destruct, respawning at the last activated checkpoint. Costumes let you dress your Sackboy up however you please. Any costume pieces you unlocked in LittleBigPlanet will carry over to this sequel, and you’ll be able to collect even more pieces throughout LBP2’s campaign. Costumes still don’t affect gameplay in the slightest; as much as I sometimes wish they did.

In short, you will have no trouble picking up the controller again. Everything works pretty much exactly the same as it did previously, in terms of core gameplay mechanics. I really can’t stress this enough. What has changed, instead, is the sheer scope of the game. No longer are levels limited to run and jump platforming. The new tools and gadgets introduced allow for an infinitely wider range of gameplay. The Grappling Hook, for example, does exactly what you’d think it does, allowing Sackboy to grab materials from afar and swing from them. The Grabinator gives Sackboy the Herculean strength necessary to lift the various objects you might encounter in a level, and throw them. Bounce Pads are like futuristic trampolines, shooting you upward when you step on them. Four player multiplayer is back, as is the ability to play with any combination of local and online players. Add to this the fact that all of the gadgets have “friendly fire” enabled (i.e. being able to grab and toss each other with the Grabinator), and you have a recipe for mayhem. Before, I thought it was great fun to slap a fellow comrade off a cliff (which you can still do, mind you). Now we’re tossing each other into death traps with the Grabinator, forming multi-person trapezes with the Grappling Hook, and shooting giant cupcakes at each other with the Creatinator, among so many other things. In short, LBP2’s multiplayer is still composed of the same absolute hilarity that made its predecessor so much fun to play with others. In many ways, the addition of these new gimmicks have made the game even funner, whether you’re playing by yourself or with others.

What really earns LittleBigPlanet 2’s sequel certificate however, is the vastly expanded Create mode. You’ll get a taste of its potential as you play through the story. A bunch of new tools have been introduced, both major and minor. Some of biggest additions include the Controlinator, Sackbots, and the Creatinator. The Controlinator is essentially a cockpit for Sackboy. It can be used to map various functions to buttons on the PS3 controller. Before, when you got into a car, for example you might have to put in a grabbable material like a sponge, with a grab sensor plugged into the wheels. You would make the car move by grabbing the sponge. Now, you can assign those functions to buttons the controller, with (for example) the left stick accelerating the car in either direction, and the X button activating the nitro boost you almost certainly installed in the back. Basically, the Controlinator completely streamlines the use of vehicles, and allows the creation of more complex ones. For those of you who know a bit about Create mode, the Creatinator is basically an Emitter strapped to a player’s head; think about that for a moment. It’s acquired in the same way other powerups are, such as the Jetpack and Grappling Hook, and can function similarly to the Paintinator. Except instead of shooting paint, it can shoot anything. Fire, plasma, velociraptors, kitchen sinks, you name it.

Now, Sackbots are a whole different ballgame. They’re NPCs that can be programmed and customized to a pretty impressive extent. You can give them skins to make them look just like Sackboy, for example, and then proceed to dress them up in costumes just like you would for yourself. This means you can essentially have a variety of actual organic characters in levels, not just material creations with patched on eyeballs and mouths, and swiveling limbs. Sackbots can be programmed to do a number of things, including follow players and/or preset tags, use Controlinators and other powerups, and activate switches. If the basic options aren’t enough, you can also take control yourself to record an action. This can be done as many times as you please, with each action being recorded as a “Behavior” on the Sackbot’s logic board.

I could go on and on and on about the Create mode. I could excitedly explain the significance of Logic Boards and Microchips. I could mention the added ability to create cutscenes (complete with new cameras and effects), and link levels together to essentially create games. I could talk about the new music sequencer which lets you create songs from scratch, or the multitude of new world tweakers, like water and the anti-gravity tool. I could list the various other new tools added, like the various mover and rotator badges, or the destroyer tool. I could even touch on some new Share features, most notably lbp.me, which is a website devoted entirely to discovering new community levels. But then this review would never end.

So, instead I’m going to close off this review by highly recommending that you buy LittleBigPlanet 2, and tinker with this veritable horde of new toys for yourself. Or with some friends. Because I can confidently say that this game is meant to be experienced, not read about. On the back of LittleBigPlanet’s box there’s a motto: “Fun Shall Overcome”. LittleBigPlanet 2 lives up to that motto so well it’s a little ridiculous. Because that’s what the game offers in spades. Pure, unadulterated fun. And for that, a 10/10.

Mass Effect 2

There's something really awesome about playing as a galactic hero, commanding the most advanced ship known to man, with a crew composed of some of the most skilled and talented people in the galaxy. This is what Mass Effect 2 does, and thus it's already getting points with me.

Mass Effect 2 starts off right after the end of Mass Effect. The Alliance and galactic governments have downplayed the entire affair with Saren (a rogue Spectre) and Sovereign (a gigantic, partially organic and sentient ship that is a part of a race of antagonistic beings known as Reapers), sending main character Commander Shepard off to hunt down any remaining rogue Geth in the Normandy. Shepard and his crew know that they're really probably just being sent away so that the higher-ups can forge a story to quell public fear (because Sovereign was just one of thousands of Reapers still out there somewhere in the universe), but they know the truth.

Apparently, the governments weren't the only ones who wanted Shepard out of the way, however. At the beginning of the Mass Effect 2, the Normandy is attacked by an unidentified alien cruiser. The ship proves too powerful, and Shepard's frigate is quickly sunk. With his help, most of the crew escapes, but Shepard him/herself is blown out into space, seemingly lost forever in the dark void.

The game then fast forwards two years later. Shepard's body was recovered by the pro-human organization Cerberus, and using the best equipment and scientists, and a whole lot of money, was fully rebuilt. The Commander's recovery is cut-off a tad early though, when the facility comes under attack. Getting through this serves as the game's tutorial for basic movements, teaching you how to take cover, sprint, use the command menu to access personal and squad powers, and use medi-gel.

Evacuating the facility, Shepard is taken to one of Cerberus's primary bases of operations, where he/she is invited to speak with the Illusive Man, the organization's mysterious and enigmatic leader. The Illusive Man explains that the Normandy's downfall and Shepard's death was the work of the Collectors, a race of aliens so rare they are publicly considered a myth. The Illusive Man reveals that the Collectors have begun to kidnap entire human colonies. The strange thing is, there's never evidence indicating a struggle. One day they're there, the next the entire colony is deserted. The Illusive Man believes they are rounding up humans and taking them to their base, which is believed to be located in some uncharted space beyond the mysterious Omega-4 Relay. For what purpose they're doing this, nobody knows.

The Illusive Man tasks Shepard with finding out the Collectors' motives, and stopping them. But for all his skill and experience, Shepard is still just one human. To take the fight to the Collectors, he's going to need a team. A team of the most skilled people in the universe.

That team begins with Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, who you first meet on the facility you were rebuilt in. Miranda was the director of the project to revive you, and features heavy genetic modification herself. She is curt with Shepard at the beginning of the game, but it's possible to get her to soften up to you. Besides being a strong biotic and a capable strategist, Miranda is focused (almost to a fault), and completely loyal to those that prove themselves worthy of her trust.

As the head of security at the facility, Jacob proves to be a bit more likable at first glance. A former Alliance Corsair, Jacob knows his way around a gun, and proves it when he escorts you to the evacuation area of the facility. Jacob is a bit more laid-back and headstrong than Miranda, but that also makes him a sensible and dependable ally.

The rest of your team must be gathered from across the galaxy. The Illusive Man will keep a steady stream of recommendations coming your way via dossiers containing information on those he thinks might be worthy additions to your cause. Examples of such additions include Thane Krios, a highly skilled assassin, and the salarian scientist Mordin, who is not only a brilliant scientist but a capable combatant, having run with the Salarian Special Forces for some time.

But the Normandy is gone, remember? Shepard's going to need a new ship to house his band of buddies. A ship capable of braving whatever waits beyond the Omega-4 relay. Fortunately, Shepard wasn't the Illusive Man's only big budget project related to the destruction of the Collectors.

Enter the Normandy SR-2, the most advanced frigate in the galaxy. Building off the original Normandy's overall specs, Cerberus installed multiple upgrades across the board, including stronger weapons, a custom quantum comm interface, some civilian class comfort standards, and a powerful AI. The new Normandy is twice as large as the old one though, so it uses a landing shuttle, instead of landing on planets itself. The Illusive Man even tracked down Joker and brought him back as the pilot.

The Normandy is composed of 4 primary decks. The topmost deck, also called the loft, is Shepard's cabin. Here you can choose your casual (aboard the Normandy) and mission (everywhere else) clothes and armor, respectively. The regular armor can be customized with various pieces found across the galaxy. The cabin is also home to some displays of Shepard's accomplishments (including a way to check your achievement progress), as well as a message terminal, where you can read messages sent to you by the Illusive Man and other characters you meet in your travels.

Deck 2 is the CIC, or Combat Information Center. It's arguably the most important one of the bunch, as it contains the Galaxy Map, which you'll use to travel to different locations. Located just beside the galaxy map is your yeoman, Kelly Chambers. Kelly is a quirky but very friendly character. She's also unofficially the ship's psychiatrist. Kelly is useful not only because she announces whenever you have a new message at your terminal, but can also tell you how the other crew members are doing. If someone on the team needs to speak with you, she'll tell you. The CIC also contains the ship armory, where you can customize your loadout, and the comm room, which acts as conference room and also houses the comm interface for conversations with the Illusive Man. At the front of the ship is the cockpit, where you'll find Joker. Joker always has a thing or two to say, either about the people you're picking up, or the status of the mission, but he can be insightful at times, so it pays to hear him out.

Deck 3 is home to most of the crew, featuring the primary crew quarters, a lounge/cafeteria, and a small medical bay (among other things). Deck 4 is Engineering, where you can view the ship's massive energy core, and also the cargo bay. Much of the Normandy is closed off at first, but as you pick up more squadmates, they occupy previously locked rooms, allowing you to explore them.

Once you unlock the science lab, you'll be able to research and obtain upgrades for both your team and the ship. Most or all of them can be useful in the right situation, so it pays to get them regularly. Upgrades include enhanced ship armor, larger ammo magazines, more health, and more efficient biotic usage.

Getting your team together is only half the battle though. Taking on the Collectors with just a frigate-sized crew is pretty much already a suicide mission, and it's highly likely the journey past the Omega-4 relay will be a one-way trip. To even have a hope of surviving, the team has to go in as a band of brothers/sisters, completely focused, with no regrets. To do this, you need to get to know your comrades on a personal level by seeking them out on the Normandy and talking to them on a regular basis. Some characters will be more approachable than others, but with time, all of them can learn to trust you enough to dedicate their loyalty to you.

And then there's Commander Shepard him/herself. A galactic hero. The first human Spectre. And an excellent leader. The really cool thing about Shepard is that he/she is whoever you want him/her to be. The fact that he/she was rebuilt gave Bioware an excuse to shape Shepard's character however you want. You choose Shepard's past, gender, even personality and combat class. Shepard has two primary personality tracks, and Bioware's patented branching dialogue trees return, allowing you to choose Shepard's responses in each conversation. Certain choices give you points in his/her two personality tracks, Renegade and Paragon. A new feature in the conversation system is spontaneous actions, which allow you to interrupt other people with a scripted Paragon or Renegade action.

A Paragon Shepard is friendly, romantic, and somewhat idealistic. He/She is able to rally crowds with powerful words of encouragement, and console saddened teammates with relative ease. Paragon Shepard is always looking for a peaceful way out, and always seems to know what's best. An example of a Paragon interruption would be to immediately reach out and verbally comfort someone who's on the verge of tears, or seize and dismantle the pistol of an eager youngster who obviously hasn't seen a real battlefield. Higher Paragon points allow you to charm people and peacefully convince them to see your perspective.

People will question the methods of a Renegade Shepard, but not his/her results. Renegade Shepard doesn't take crap from anybody, and can't be bothered to sit around dealing with people who can't keep up with him/her. An example of a Renegade action would be headbutting a krogan who is in the middle of scoffing at you for being a "weak human", or punching a suspect square in the jaw during an interrogation to show that you're not kidding around. Higher Renegade actions allow you to intimidate those who would argue with you.

The Paragon/Renegade system is quite satisfying, and encourages multiple playthroughs to experience the game in full. There is one minor problem it introduces, however. As you progress through the game, you'll encounter dialogue choices that require a certain amount of points in either Paragon or Renegade to choose. Many of these choices are ideal ones, and can lead to better outcomes than the regular options. Like for example, not all teammates get along, and a few will eventually get into heated arguments. You have to sort them out, but unless you are almost completely full in either personality track, you're going to have to pick a side, losing loyalty with the person who you don't side with. A character's loyalty is literally one of the deciding factors dictating whether they live or die at the end of the game, so it can feel like if you're not constantly pursuing points in a single track, you risk your squad suffering casualties later on; consequences that will carry over to Mass Effect 3.

When you're not chatting it up with other characters or roaming the Normandy, you're likely traveling the galaxy. It's a big place, to be sure. The world map of Mass Effect 2 is split up into about a dozen nebulas, which each usually contain 2-4 star systems, which in turn each have their own solar system of planets. You jump between nebulas with the use of Mass Relays, which interface with normal FTL drives and slingshot ships extremely far distances near-instantaneously. Though only a small fraction of the planets in the galaxy actually have visitable locations (much less mission-relevant ones), that doesn't mean it doesn't pay to look around.

Each planet secretes a set amount of valuable resources and minerals, which can be spent on upgrades. To obtain resources, you have to enter the planet's orbit, then set about scanning its surface. When you hit a spike, you can launch a probe to collect the deposit. This mining operation represents one of the few minigames in Mass Effect 2, and while it's not one of the game's funner points, it's nice thing to just settle into. And since those resources are the only way to buy upgrades, it's not like it doesn't pay to spend some time with it.

What relatively few planetary locations you can explore, you'll be visiting multiple times for different missions. So it's a good thing that they're not only expansive, but fully realized and very unique. Examples include Omega, a lawless space station where gangs duke it out for power, and the innocent try to scrape out a living. Its primary attraction is an eclectic nightclub run by the enigmatic Aria. There's dancing, drinks, and the obligatory shady business going on in some of the side rooms. Another example is Illium is a popular trade center, where it's said that literally anything can be bought (including people), if you know who to talk to. Because of its very lax regulations, one is advised against signing anything.

You'll visit such locations both to do some surface-side shopping, and to complete missions. Primary missions are those that have you searching out people on your dossiers. They tend to be rather elusive though, so you'll have to do some investigating, and talk to residents to pick up their trail. As people like assassins and vigilantes (the type of people you'll find yourself recruiting) are often surrounded in trouble, tracking down potential squadmates usually results in a few firefights.

General combat in Mass Effect 2 is composed of 3rd person shooting. You take cover to avoid enemy fire, and can sprint and melee in a pinch. Things are mixed up a bit with biotics, which are sort of like super powers. In addition to regular shooting, biotics add some strategic value to fights by giving you various ways weaken your enemies.

In addition, your general role in combat is determined by your chosen character class, just like in an RPG. Each character class has access to varying portions of the weapons and biotic powers. Soldiers can use all weapons (except SMGs), but cannot use any biotics beyond weapon powers. Infiltrators are snipers, and have exclusive access to the tactical cloak power, which lets them disappear for a few seconds. Adepts are full-on biotics, relying less on weapons and more on ranged powers and a powerful biotic charge that lets them slam into enemies from afar. Vangaurds are a bit Adept and a bit Soldier. Engineers use tech powers that let them hack robotic enemies and summon drones.

But you're not just a soldier, you're a commander! Whenever you leave the Normandy, you pick two people from your band of buddies to accompany you as henchmen. Each potential squadmate has varying strengths and weaknesses, and access to different powers and weapons, like you. Miranda is a capable biotic, but uses only pistols and submachine guns. Jacob has a couple biotic powers, but relies more on weapons to get the job done.

In battle, your squadmates are as responsive to your commands as your left and right arms. You give them orders via the command menu, which can be called up any time during a firefight. The command menu lets you use your own powers and switch your own weapons, as well as those of your comrades. You point at an enemy and click on a teammate's available power, and he/she uses it immediately on the targeted victim.

Combat in Mass Effect 2 is a very linear and straightforward affair, making it compare unfavorably to the game's more open-ended features. But it's still very enjoyable. Weapons come in several typical classes (shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles, etc.), with a couple weapons of minor variation in each class. Weapons themselves don't really have stats. The idea is to either augment your ammo to fit the situation, or simply change weapons. There are a few different "enchantment" powers, such as Cryo ammo which freezes nonshielded enemies after a few shots, leaving them vulnerable to shattering, and Disruptor ammo, which is designed to slice through shields and robotic enemies with its EMP qualities.

For a part-RPG, Mass Effect 2 features little in the way of side content. But what side missions present are substantial, and relevant to the survival of your team. That's because most of the actual missions (known as loyalty missions) are carried out as favors for your teammates. For example, Jacob hasn't spoken with his father in years, and their relationship has fallen out. But he eventually learns that the ship his father was commanding went off the radar some time ago, supposedly crashing into a nearby planet. You have the option of going there and investigating what happened, which serves as Jacob's loyalty mission. Each character's loyalty mission explores that person's past, and completing it raises their loyalty, which helps ensure their survival in the final battle. For some, it can also open up romance options.

In addition to this, if you buy Mass Effect 2 brand new, you are given free access to the Cerberus Network, which Bioware uses as medium to release free DLC (such as another recruit, or the original Normandy's crash site).

Mass Effect 2 is a beautiful game. Character models are clear and detailed, and the game makes excellent use of depth of field and blur to increase the feeling of realism. Each environment is remarkably unique, from the dark and murky alleys of Omega to the bright and sterile hallways of the Normandy. Every location has a visual style to call its own.

The soundtrack is filled with tons of moody and mostly forgettable space themes, but the more exciting moments in the game (the Normandy SR2's reveal) are done justice with just as exciting BGMs. The voice acting, on the other hand, is phenomenal. Regardless of whether he/she is male or female, and regardless of what options you choose in conversations, Shepard is fully voiced, and voiced with skill and enthusiasm at that. Other characters are given similar treatment.

Mass Effect 2 isn't the perfect game. There's an annoying bug where you sometimes find yourself stuck up high on a wall. The Paragon/Renegade system is mildly flawed, and combat doesn't stack up well against the game's better features. But the voice acting is exemplary, the graphics are excellent, and with multiple ways for Shepard's journey to play out and end as well as an entire galaxy to explore, the game's hardly lacking replay value. This game does so many things right, what few faults it has are immediately and easily forgivable. That's why Mass Effect 2 is getting my first 10 rating. A 10/10.