GOTY 2010: Best Game Runner Up – Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 has already received a write up for the runner-up position when it comes to the Best Role Playing Game award for 2010 and there I commented on the somewhat ambiguous nature of the experience this game delivers, with its mix of role playing and action compounded by some elements that have become associated with each of the above-mentioned genres.

But the confusion and discussion cannot take away the fact that Mass Effect 2 was a great game, one which managed to draw me in from the first few set pieces and then hook me with the regular character interactions broken up by chunk-sized action sequences before leading me to a final battle which was disappointing in terms of mechanics but significant in terms of pushing the narrative of the universe forward.

Of course, the game also has those drab and longer than needed planet scanning sections, but it's not long until one realizes that, once a sufficient cache of materials is obtained, scanning can safely be ignored for the rest of Mass Effect 2.

The game has a good narrative, maintaining an air of mystery up until the end and creating some very interesting interactions between the player-controlled Shepard and the rest of the world, which will be interesting to see how they play out in the third game in the series.

The shooting aspect is also a huge improvement over the first installment, with an added degree of fluidity and, on the bigger difficulty levels, a level of challenge that can only be overcome by quick thinking and judicious, almost puzzle like, use of the special powers of the entire squad.

BioWare, although accused of simplifying the experience to accommodate console based gamers, have managed to create a hybrid game that can easily sustain a franchise well past the three titles they initially imagined for the Mass Effect series.