Developer : Electronic Arts
Release date : January 26, 2010
Synopsis :
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010, and for PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the Mass Effect series and a sequel to the original Mass Effect. The game takes place within the Milky Way galaxy during the 22nd century, where humanity is threatened by an insectoid alien race known as the Collectors. The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, an elite human soldier who must assemble and gain the loyalty of a diverse team to stop the Collectors in a suicide mission. With the use of a completed saved game of its predecessor, the player can impact the story of the game in numerous ways.
For the game, BioWare changed several gameplay elements and put further emphasis on third-person shooter aspects, including limited ammunition and regenerable health. In contrast to the exclusive focus on the main story of the original Mass Effect, the developers opted to create a plot where optional missions had as much intensity as the main mission. Mass Effect composer Jack Wall returned to compose Mass Effect 2’s music, aiming for a darker and more mature sound to match the mood of the game. Mass Effect 2 also supports a variety of downloadable content packs, ranging from single in-game character outfits to entirely new plot-related missions. Notable packs include Kasumi – Stolen Memory, Overlord, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and Arrival.
Released to critical acclaim, Mass Effect 2 was praised for its presentation and cinematography, diverse and complex characters, and improved combat over its predecessor. Some critics, however, expressed concerns about the game’s simplified role-playing mechanics. The game received numerous year-end awards, including Game of the Year at the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and Best Game at the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. Retrospectively, Mass Effect 2 is considered a significant improvement over its predecessor and one of the greatest video games of all time. A sequel, Mass Effect 3, was released in 2012. In 2021, Mass Effect 2 was remastered as part of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
In 2183, shortly after the events of Mass Effect, the SSV Normandy, while patrolling for geth resistance, is attacked by an unknown vessel, forcing the crew to abandon ship. Shepard pushes Joker into the final escape pod before being blasted into space. After a suit breach, Shepard dies via asphyxiation as their body is pulled into the orbit of a nearby planet. The body is recovered by Cerberus, who begins the “Lazarus Project” with the sole purpose of bringing Shepard back to life. Two years later, Shepard is revived on an operating table and escapes a research station under attack by its own security mechs alongside Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson. Shepard is brought to meet the Illusive Man, who reveals that entire populations of human colonies have been disappearing all over the galaxy. Now working with Cerberus, Shepard is sent to investigate a recently attacked colony and encounters Tali and a contingent of quarians searching for their missing colleague. Clues uncovered by Shepard’s team suggest that the Reapers are working by proxy through an insectoid alien race called the Collectors, who have abducted the colonists.
The Illusive Man explains that the Collectors reside beyond the Omega-4 Relay, a place from which no ship has ever returned, and tasks Shepard with assembling a team to stop them. Shepard is also given command of a new starship, the Normandy SR-2, piloted once again by Joker and equipped with an onboard AI named EDI. Shepard recruits Mordin Solus, Garrus Vakarian, Jack, and (optionally) Grunt, before the Illusive Man informs them that another human colony is under attack. With the help of Mordin’s studies on Collector biology, Shepard defends the colony, but is unable to stop a large portion of the population from being captured. Shepard can then recruit Tali’Zorah, Thane Krios, and Samara (who may be optionally replaced by Morinth), before being sent to explore a supposedly disabled Collector ship. There, Shepard learns that the Collectors were originally Protheans that were turned into slaves of the Reapers. With EDI’s help, Shepard also finds out how to bypass the Omega-4 Relay before being ambushed by the Collectors. Although Shepard’s squad escapes, their relationship with the Illusive Man is strained due to his prior knowledge of the trap.
Shepard visits a derelict Reaper and acquires an IFF necessary to safely travel through the Omega-4 Relay. Shepard also acquires a disabled geth that, if activated, joins the squad as Legion. While Shepard and the squad leave in a shuttle, the Normandy SR-2 integrates the IFF into her systems. During their absence, the Collectors board the Normandy SR-2. Only Joker avoids capture and, with EDI’s help, extracts the Normandy SR-2 to safety. When Shepard’s squad returns, the team uses the Omega-4 Relay to reach the Collector base, located in the Galactic Center. The team rescues any surviving crew members and fights their way to the central chamber. Squad members will either survive or perish depending on the upgrades made to the Normandy SR-2, their loyalty to Shepard, and the tasks they are assigned in battle.
In the central chamber, Shepard discovers that the Collectors have been constructing a new Human-Reaper made from the genetic material of the abducted colonists. Shepard destroys the machine powering it and prepares to destroy the Collector base. However, the Illusive Man proposes sterilizing the base instead with a timed radiation pulse so that the Collectors’ technology can be used against the Reapers. After deciding the fate of the base, Shepard destroys the awakened Human-Reaper and escapes with the surviving squad members. If no squad members survive, Shepard fails to escape and dies. Back on the Normandy SR-2, after speaking with the Illusive Man one last time, Shepard meets the survivors in the cargo bay. There, Joker gives them schematics of a Reaper. The final scene shows the Reapers awakening in dark space and descending upon the galaxy.
Source : Wikipedia
