Mass Effect 2

What prompts a reasonable man to devote over 40 hours of his life to a game? It's not like professional athletes, who are paid to play games. This is a man who has been so absorbed, and become so obsessed, with a video game that spending more than a full work week's worth of time actually feels like a legitimate endeavour. There are feelings of accomplishment that have come from uncovering every hidden achievement, and being able to say that every planet in the Mass Effect 2 universe has been discovered, scanned, and probed for minerals. I am disgusted with myself for the devotion that I put into this game, but I'm also disgusted that I'm not more disgusted. 80% of me is okay with what my life became while I was taking on the role of Commander Shepherd and the other 20% is just pretending, crying out in a protesting-too-much voice that those hours will never be back, but secretly savouring every second of it.

These mixed feelings are also the product of my recent decision to buy a wireless adapter and start playing on-line again on XBox Live. Since that fateful choice, things like achievement have become secretly important in my life. Not to the point where I am going to subsist only on ramen noodles and Mountain Dew Code Red, but I still feel good when that little blip shows up on my screen. Even that, though, is probably too much. After all, it's just a video game. I, unfortunately, though, am turning into a gamer.

Need proof? Not a half hour ago, when playing Left 4 Dead 2 with a co-worker, he told me that he pressed the "X" button instead of pulling the right trigger. So, like a kneejerk reaction, I called him a n00b, without any trace of detachment or irony. The line is blurring between myself and hardcore gamers, and, knowing myself as well as I do, I'm scared. I don't want to be that guy. But, as you may have noticed by my lack of posting anything on this blog for over a week, I was seduced by my XBox. As we speak, I am taking breaks from writing so that I can chop enough wood in Fable II to be able to afford to buy an inn. I even have a little spreadsheet that I did up to figure out how many more logs I'll have to cut. The spreadsheet helps me feel like I'm actually in control of this obsessive behaviour, but it's also glowing out like some kind of quilted beacon of pathetic nerdity. I have a problem. I know that. But I still want to buy that damned inn, and I'll still feel satisfied when I do.

Four paragraphs into this review, and I still haven't said anything about Mass Effect 2. It's not because there isn't anything worth saying, it's more that I'm scared that if I give too much credit to the game, it will validate the fact that I am a giant loser. There must be something wrong with me for me to have enjoyed a game as much as I enjoyed this one? Or maybe, just maybe, it's just a goddamn incredible piece of work.

Mass Effect 2 picks up after the original left off. Commander Shepherd is rockin' out, cruising the galaxy for evil to vanquish when his ship, the Normandy, is attacked by an unknown alien vessel. It attacks and destroys the Normandy, with Shepherd launched into space. There, he is collected by Cerberus (a human-centric terroristic group), who piece him back together and bring him back to life. They rebuild him, because they have the technology. From there, Shepherd joins up with Cerberus to defend against the big bad aliens from the original: The Reapers, a proto-everything race of organic/mechanical hybrids that, for whatever reason, have the habit of introducing their advanced technology to other races just to snatch it all away when the kill the hell out of them.

As confusing as that may sound, it's not the story of ME2 that gets you, it's the stories. Still confused? Allow me to elaborate. ME2 is a dense, layered series of narrative, all brought together into the main story by way of their connection to Shepherd. Whether it's carry-over from the original or brand new material, the main and side quests, with all of their intricate dialogue create much of the thrall of the game.

Speaking of carry-over, one of the things that first blew my mind about ME2 was that your character from the original can be transferred to the new game. I realize this isn't a new phenomenon, but with Shepherd, it feels different. The narrative is carefully laid out to simply feel like the next chapter in the same story. Not only does ME2 remember your character (as well as give you the chance to re-customize its face if you, like me, created a really ugly SOB the first time around), it also remembers all of the choices that you made during the first game. Throughout the whole experience, there are constant reminders about choices and alliances that were made with what seemed to be bit characters, but now have supreme importance for saving the galaxy. These experiences, whether they are cameos or game-changers create an inviting gaming experience, where running into old acquaintances feels, surprisingly enough, like running into old acquaintances.

One major adjustment from the original is the presence of "ammunition." I loved that Mass Effect didn't have any kind of ammo, but rather had the threat of overheating your weapon. For whatever reason, the game has been changed to include "heating packs" (or something like that), which prevent the weapons from overheating. Unfortunately, without heating packs, the guns don't work, ergo, we now have ammo back in the system.

Also new is the ability to participate in cut scenes with morality-laden interruptions. The scene from the trailer is a perfect example. A Renegade (bad guy) Shepherd gets tired of listening to some guy's excuses and, when the option becomes available, BAM!, Shepherd kicks the guy out a window. Whether you're popping caps in people's heads, kicking them out windows, or dishing out hugs, these interruptions give the game an even stronger interactive-movie sort of feeling. You don't feel like you're just following a narrative track. There are chances to really get in there and participate in the story, with life or death implications for other characters.

And, most impressively, those life or death implications feel like they matter. Which gets us back to the main thrust of this review. I cared about these characters, even though even the slightest concern feels like too much caring, and I cared about the mission. At the same time as the multi-faceted dialogue and decision-making elements were allowing me to make Shepherd act like I wanted him to, I was also creating someone who, in a primal, subconscious way, I also wanted to be. Mass Effect 2 is open-ended enough to feel like you're actually crafting a person's personality, but it also creates a sympathy and a distancing that allows the character to be both a playtoy and a fantasy. It's an incredible experience, it's immersive, and it's unbelievably addictive.

Oh, and while I was writing this, I did buy that inn.

Rating: 4.75 stars