Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2
Studio	BioWare
Publisher	Electronic Arts
Erstveröffent- lichung	Xbox 360 , Windows PC January 26, 2010 January 29, 2010 January 28, 2010 Playstation 3 January 18, 2011
platform	Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 PC ( Windows )
Game engine	Unreal Engine 3
genre	Action RPG
Game mode	Single player
control	Gamepad , keyboard , mouse
system advantages preconditions	Dual core CPU 1.8 GHz 1024 MB RAM (XP) 2048 MB RAM (Vista / 7) Geforce 6800 or Radeon X1600 graphics card with 256 MB RAM DirectX 9.0c 15 GB hard disk space
language	Xbox 360: German PC: German , English , French , Italian , Spanish
Current version	1.02
copy protection	SecuROM
Age rating	USK PEGI

Mass Effect 2 , the second part of the Mass Effect computer game series, was released in Germany on January 28, 2010 for PC and Xbox 360 at the same time. The version for the PlayStation 3 was released in Germany on January 20, 2011. In contrast to the Xbox 360 - and the PC version, the download add- ons Overlord , Kasumi - Stolen Memories and Shadow Broker are already included.

The game series was designed as a trilogy from the start. Therefore, it is possible to import your own character from the first part into Mass Effect 2 and continue playing with the decisions made in the previous part. This has a direct effect on many conversations and actions, but not on the course of the main storyline. Alternatively, a new character can be created, the history of which is largely predefined, only a few key aspects of the plot can be determined after downloading a DLC (Mass Effect Genesis). In contrast to the first part, Shepard can also die depending on the decisions made in the course of the plot.

action

See also : action of the predecessor

After the destruction of the Reapers Sovereign and the death of the renegade Specter Saren at the end of the first Mass Effect , the Citadel Council believes the threat is over. Shepard is hailed as the savior of the Citadel, but his warnings about the reapers are not believed. The reapers are technologically extremely advanced machines that invade the known universe every 50,000 years and wipe out the technologically highly developed peoples there.

In order to finally destroy the threat that officially only came from Saren and the geth, the "SSV Normandy SR1" is sent under Shepard's command to track down the last remnants of the geth resistance. On one of these missions, the spaceship is attacked and destroyed by an unknown ship despite the activated stealth mode. Commander Shepard, who can help most of his crew to escape in the escape pods, is thrown out of the heavily damaged Normandy in an explosion and has since been considered lost and fallen in action. The former Normandy crew disbanded shortly thereafter.

Two years later, Shepard wakes up in a medical ward of the privately funded Cerberus Syndicate and learns that he was brought back to life with implants as part of the "Lazarus Project". Cerberus and their leader, the unknown, see Shepard and his reputation as a hero as the only chance to save the human race from the reapers. Cerberus, which accuses the official Alliance government of failure and inaction and therefore acts on its own, provides Shepard with a new ship, the "Normandy SR2".

Shepard is supposed to counter the threat posed by the collectors, a previously little-known race of aliens who have been kidnapping entire human colonies since Shepard's apparent death and appear to be working with the reapers. To do this, Shepard has to assemble a new team from the best fighters in the universe. He is supported by the Cerberus employees Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, in the course of the plot a total of up to 12 comrades-in-arms (two of them only through a DLC ) can be recruited. Among them are both old crew members of the Normandy SR1, such as Garrus Vakarian or Tali'Zorah, as well as new characters such as the krogan Grunt or the Asari Samara. Shepard must also win the loyalty of the individual team members by gaining their trust in special missions.

Little by little, Shepard finds out that the Collectors are actually surviving Protheans who have been genetically engineered and enslaved by the Reapers. Finally, the homeworld of the collectors can also be determined. It is located in the center of the galaxy, which can only be reached through the dreaded Omega-4 portal. Using Reaper technology and ship upgrades, the Normandy is prepared for a journey through the portal.

While Shepard and his team of experts are on a field mission, the Normandy is attacked by the collectors, captured and all the rest of the crew, with the exception of the pilot Joker, kidnapped. With the remaining comrades at his side, Shepard finally begins the journey through the Omega-4 portal.

Due to the enormous radiation in this region, too imprecise portal jumps and patrols of the collectors, all ships that jumped through the portal have so far been destroyed. Thanks to Reaper technology, the Normandy manages to make a sufficiently precise jump, withstand the extreme conditions and fly through the gigantic field of debris. In the end there is a fight with the collector ship, which had destroyed the first Normandy and which is now defeated by the new Normandy. Shepard and his colleagues can then penetrate to the collector base.

Shepard's team succeeds in penetrating the inside of the base, depending on the style of play there are either no losses there, individual comrades-in-arms are killed or Shepard's entire team is killed. Shepard's squad also encounters the kidnapped crew of the Normandy. Whether or not they can be rescued also depends on the style of play. Finally, in the base it also becomes clear why so many people were kidnapped: The reapers use the collectors to make a human reaper from the organic material of the people. However, it succeeds in destroying this in its still unfinished status. The player can then choose to either blow up the collector base or hand it over to Cerberus.

Under certain circumstances, Shepard may not survive the subsequent escape from the collector base. In this case, Joker, the pilot of the Normandy, reports the events to the galaxy. Otherwise, Shepard stops working with Cerberus after returning through the Omega-4 portal.

With the destruction of the collector base, the immediate danger has been averted, but the reapers are already gathering to attack in their distant part of space.

Characters

As in the first part, it is possible to create a squad from Commander Shepard and two other companions. Bioware was once again able to engage many well-known actors as speakers for the English version, and in some cases the respective voice actors can also be heard in the German version. Since a different recording studio was commissioned for Mass Effect 2 , some roles were filled in the German version compared to the predecessor.

Surname	gender	race	class	Speaker (english)	Speaker (german)	role
Commander Shepard	male	human	selectable	Mark sea	Erik Schäffler	Player character
Commander Shepard	Female	human	selectable	Jennifer Hale	Nicole Boguth	Player character
Miranda Lawson	Female	human	Cerberus officer	Yvonne Strahovski	Jennifer Bottcher	companion
Jacob Taylor	male	human	Cerberus technician	Adam Lazarre-White	Holger Löwenberg	companion
Morinth		Asari	Ardat-Yakshi	Natalia Cigliuti		companion
Samara		Asari	Asari justicar	Maggie Baird	Uta Delbridge	companion
Grunt	male	Krogan	Krogan combat master	Steve Blum	Ole Jacobsen	companion
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya (vas Normandy)	Female	Quarians	Quarian machinist	Liz Sroka	Mia Diekow	companion
Garrus Vakarian (Archangel)	male	Turians	Turian Infiltrator	Brandon Keener	Ronald Spiess	companion
Mordin Solus	male	Salarians	Salarian Scientist	Michael Beattie	Jürgen Holdorf	companion
Thane Krios	male	Drill	Drell assassin	Keythe Farley	Konstantin Graudus	companion
Jack (Subject Zero)	Female	human	Biotic experiment	Courtenay Taylor	Kathrin Spielvogel	companion
legion	-	Geth	Geth infiltrator	DC Douglas	Stephan Schwartz	companion
Zaeed Massani	male	human	Bounty hunter	Robin Sachs	Holger Mahlich	companion
Kasumi Goto	Female	human	Master thief	Kym Lane	Djuwita Müller	companion
Liara T'Soni		Asari	Asari scientist	Ali Hillis	Tanja Dohse	former / temporary companion
Urdnot Wrex	male	Krogan	Krogan combat master	Steve Barr	Thomas Karallus	former companion
Kaidan Alenko	male	human	Guardian	Raphael Sbarge	Christian Rudolf	former companion
Ashley Madeline Williams	Female	human	soldier	Kimberly Brooks		former companion
EDI	-	Artificial intelligence	-	Tricia Helfer	Christine Pappert	Normandy Crew (Ship AI)
Jeff "Joker" Moreau	male	human	-	Seth Green	Hubertus von Lerchenfeld	Normandy crew (pilot)
Kelly Chambers	Female	human	-	Cara Pifko	Marie Biermann	Normandy Crew (Yeoman)
Dr. Chakwas	Female	human	-	Carolyn Seymour	Angela Stresemann	Normandy crew (on-board doctor)
The Unknown (Illusive Man)	male	human	-	Martin Sheen	Bernd Stephan	Cerberus leader
David Anderson	male	human	-	Keith David		Alliance government official
Donnel Udina	male	human	-	Bill Ratner	Henry King	Alliance government official
Aria T'Loak		Asari	-	Carrie-Anne Moss	Marion Elskis	Syndicate leader

1. ↑ ^{a b Selectable} by the player
2. ↑ ^{a b} Decision of the player for one of the two.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Asari have female bodies, but are both male and female
4. ↑ Available as a free download from the Cerberus Network
5. ↑ Available as a paid download, but included in the PS3 version
6. ↑ In the DLC Shadow Broker
7. ↑ ^{a b c} If character survived Part 1

Download extensions

In addition to smaller equipment packages, several larger expansions have been released.

• Normandy Crash Site : In this short mission, Shepard can explore the crash site of the first Normandy and find the badges of deceased crew members. (free)
• Zaeed - The Price of Vengeance : Shepard has to recruit the mercenary Zaeed Massani as a new companion. In a mission of his own, in which Zaeed kills the leader of the mercenary group Blue Suns, Shepard must win the mercenary's loyalty. (Free)
• Firewalkers Pack : Shepard gains access to the Hammerhead (an armored vehicle) and five new missions that end with a Prothean artifact. (free)
• Kasumi - Stolen Memories : Shepard can recruit the master thief Kasumi Goto as a companion and then has to win her loyalty in a mission of her own, in which she steals the graybox of her murdered lover Keiji from the hands of an arms dealer and smuggler. (available separately since April 2010)
• Overlord : Shepard must investigate an incident in five missions in which a virtual intelligence has gotten out of control (sold separately since June 2010).
• Shadow Broker : Shepard has to help Liara T'Soni from the first Mass Effect and finally defeats the Shadow Broker with her. Liara T'Soni is available as a temporary companion, and a possible romance with her from the predecessor is also possible. (available separately since September 2010)
• Mass Effect Genesis: In Mass Effect Genesis, the plot of the first part is retold in comic form, whereby the six most important choices are made again. This expansion is aimed in particular at players who have not played the first Mass Effect or do not want to import a character (available separately since January 2011 for PS3 and since May 2011 for PC and Xbox 360).
• The Arrival : This expansion is the final mission of Mass Effect 2, which leads to the third part of the series. Shepard must meet scientist Dr. Free Amanda Kenson from the clutches of the Batarian. After rescuing them, it becomes clear that the arrival of the reaper is imminent. The only way to prevent this from happening is to destroy the Bahak system's mass portal. However, this would trigger some sort of supernova and kill all Batarian colonists in the system (available separately since March 2011)

↑ ^{a b c} after registering with the Cerberus Network

Cerberus Network

The Cerberus Network is a service integrated into Mass Effect 2 , which can be used to download free and paid game add-ons (DLCs) and to read fictional news from the Mass Effect universe. As of January 24, 2011, no new messages will be published, except on special occasions. Access to the Cerberus Network is possible using an access code that is enclosed with Mass Effect 2 . In the case of a used purchase, the code, if already activated, must be purchased separately.

development

Copy protection controversy

Due to massive customer protests directed against several EA games that were published during this period with mandatory activation, the publisher EA was induced to publish Mass Effect 2 without activation. A simple DVD query serves as copy protection.

English language files

In the official forum of Bioware it was announced that for the release of Mass Effect 2 the English language files would be offered for Xbox 360 users in order to be able to play the German version with the original soundtrack. On March 23, 2010 it was announced that there would be no downloadable language files. Neither Bioware nor EA have ever officially confirmed this. With the PC version, however, the language can be changed by making a small change in an ini file . The PS3 version can also be played in English. However, all subtitles and texts are then also in English. The prerequisite for this is to change the entire system language under the options of the PS3 console to English.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed again by Jack Wall, in collaboration with Sam Hulick, David Kates, Jimmy Hinson and Brian DiDomenico. The official soundtrack consists of 27 tracks and was released as a download album by EARS (EA Recordings). Two more download albums followed, called Atmospheric and Combat . For the four download extensions published since April 2010, additional pieces of music were recorded and, apart from The Arrival of Publisher Electronic Arts, also published as MP3 downloads. They come from the composers Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco ( Kasumi - Stolen Memories , The Arrival ) and Christopher Lennertz ( Overlord ).

reception

The Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2 received the following ratings:

• GameStats.com: 9.3 out of 10
• GamePro: 93%
• 4Players.de: 82%
• GameRankings.com: 96%
• Average (critify.de): 90%

The PC version of Mass Effect 2 received the following ratings:

• GameStar: 88%
• PC Games: 85%
• 4Players.de: 82%
• GamersGlobal: 9.5 out of 10
• GameRankings.com: 95%
• Average German-speaking area (critify.de): 89%
• Average international (metacritic.com): 94%

The sequel was certified to have a significantly more action-packed orientation in the game principle, which aroused criticism in some customer circles because of the significantly reduced role-play aspects compared to the predecessor.

According to the publisher EA, two million copies of the game were sold within a week of the start of sales.

At the 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , Mass Effect 2 was named Game of the Year, Best RPG of the Year, and Best Plot. It was also nominated in the categories Best Character Performance and Best Game Direction. At the Game Developers Choice Awards 2011, the game was recognized for the best screenplay, and it was also nominated in the categories Game of the Year, Game Design, Technology and Audio.

literature

Non-fiction

• Casey Hudson , Derek Watts & Stephen Reichert: The Art of the Mass Effect Universe , Splitter Verlag 2014, ISBN 978-3-868-69759-9 ; English original edition: Dark Horse Comics, Milwaukie 2012, ISBN 978-1-5958-2768-5 .

Fiction

The marketing of the game was accompanied by novels by the author Drew Karpyshyn , which contain transitional narratives between the individual parts. Originally published by the US publisher Del Ray , Panini Verlag did the German translation. Relating to the second part have appeared:

• Mass Effect: Der Aufstieg (Original title: Ascension ), Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8332-1745-6 (located between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. )
• Mass Effect: Vergeltung (Original title: Retribution ), Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8332-2128-6 (located between Mass Effect 2 and 3. )
• Volume 4: Blendwerk (original title: Deception ) 2012, ISBN 978-3-8332-2443-0 (located between Mass Effect 2 and 3. )
  • Mass Effect anthology: Vol. 2: Vergeltung / Blendwerk 2019, ISBN 978-3-8332-3767-6

See also : "Fiction" in the Mass Effect article

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Mass Effect series at MobyGames (English)
• Mass Effect Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Source: http://eu.masseffect.com/news/?id=64474  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Official homepage  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ http://www.masseffect-game.de/content/view/1310/1/
4. ↑ List of changes for imported characters on masseffect.wikia.com (English)
5. ↑ Walkthrough without imported characters on PCGames.de
6. ↑ Official overview of the paid Mass Effect 2 DLCs  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  
7. ↑ Announcement of the DLC "The Arrival"
8. ↑ Cerberus News will be discontinued
9. ↑ No English language package on gameswelt.de
10. ↑ Instructions for changing the language in Mass Effect 2  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ Electronic Arts : BioWare Reunites with Legendary Composer Jack Wall for Mass Effect 2 Original Score ( English ) In: Official company website . January 11, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
12. ↑ GameStats.com Rating of Mass Effect 2 (Xbox) ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ GameRankings.com review of Mass Effect 2 (Xbox)
14. ↑ Average magazine rating of Mass Effect 2 (Xbox)
15. ↑ GamersGlobal review of Mass Effect 2
16. ↑ GameRankings.com review of Mass Effect 2 (PC)
17. ↑ Average magazine rating of Mass Effect 2 (PC)
18. ↑ metacritic.com
19. ↑ Daniel Matschijewsky: Mass Effect 2 in the test: The first hit of the year! . In: GameStar . IDG . January 26, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
20. ↑ Stefan Weiß: Dragon Age 2 in the test: The controversial role-playing game heats up the minds . In: PC Games . Computec Media Group . March 12, 2011. Accessed on October 22, 2011: “ Mass Effect 2 offered many players far too little classic role-playing game compared to its predecessor. "
21. ↑ Electronic Arts : Bioware's Mass Effect 2 Hailed As 1st Blockbuster Of 2010 ( English ) In: Official company website . January 29, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
22. ^ Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences : 2011 award winners . Official website. Last accessed on March 8, 2012.
23. ↑ http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive/gdca_11th.html