Second chances

I picked up Mass Effect 2 back when it came out. As a huge fan of the first Mass Effect I was definitely looking forward to it. Still I put it away after only a few hours. I remember thinking it played too much like Gears of War, with its new cover system and more action focused gameplay. Last night I decided to give Mass Effect 2 another chance and this time I didn't have the same issues.

Sure it plays a bit more like a shooter, but Mass Effect 1 had some serious issues in the combat department, so a reworked combat system might not have been such a bad idea. It is easy to forget towards the end of Mass Effect 1, that for the first half of that game your gun is constantly overheating and your weapons skill isn't high enough so your shots are flying all over the place. By replacing the heat mechanic with ammo and making the aiming less dependent on your stats, the combat is actually enjoyable right from the beginning. I'm less certain about the benefits of the cover system, but at least it doesn't ruin the combat. They could probably have cut the number of enemies in half and refocused the game more towards the story and the conversation trees, which is what Bioware does best. But I understand that modern gamers get bored if they don't get to shoot something every five minutes and I think I have gotten more accepting of this since I last gave Mass Effect 2 a try.