Mid-game spoiler-tagged.
Okay, so I've done
. So far, the game hasn't been bad. I've done a few sidequests. They're not *bad* per say - just completely unmemorable except for the occasional few (
. I'm not sure they were worth the time spent just to do them, and I certainly wouldn't touch them if I ever decide to play it again, aside from maybe the party members quests. Not much story exposition and so on.
The main story has been pretty standard for the most part so far. The first mission worked well to introduce the game and combat mechanics. The
was a decent hub for quests; nothing special compared to anything else Bioware has done. The main story quest here wasn't bad, and did a decent job introducing the new characters.
As for the other planets, the one where you recruit the last party member was completely pointless aside from the actual recruiting of said character. It was pretty forgettable.
was fairly good in the portrayal of colonists vs invasion, and the story aspect of it was nice enough. The sidequests that you gained during the exploration of this planet to send you to other planets (
) were nice in concept, but trivial in execution.
was pretty nice. The atmosphere was well-done (non-regulated colony), and the story part was also pretty good. This might have been my favorite planet so far. Bioware did a valiant effort here in terms of 'non-linear' gameplay, whether or not the execution worked. As opposed to the 4 star maps or the 4 Jedi (or the 3 planets) where there's little reason to choose one or the other (aside from preferring Tattooine to Dantooine or whatever instead of an actual story reason), the game (briefly) pitted me in a contest of prioritization. There was a certain (if small) sense of urgency as I was going through the
but the suspension of disbelief was held there. Doesn't happen often.
is easily my favorite part of the game so far.
The lore of the ME universe is actually pretty good. The codex for the most part is a good read, especially aspects which have nothing to do with the game itself (spacecraft/weapon technology, various aspects of the species, etc). Being 'immersed' in the lore made the
.
The party members are nothing special. The 3 romance options are easily the worst. Most bland, more forgettable. The 3 other aliens aren't bad, though they're lacking a bit in depth. They do a decent job, though, and there's a certain element of camaraderie. Lack of intra-party interaction is pathetic (aside from the obvious two romance options nagging - urg).
Overall, the writing is still pretty much what's expected of Bioware. I'm not a huge fan of Bioware's writing overall, but it's still top-tier in the industry, and the mainstream appeal here is done well, I would say. The main cutscenes are for the most part good, while some are just awkward. The dialogue system itself is basically just the old Bioware approach of clumping different dialogue options to get the same response - at least, that was the impression more often than not. The dialogue wheel works well as an interface design decision for the gamepad, though.
The combat is hilariously pathetic. While some of the biotics/techs are fun (mostly the physics-related ones), the actual shooter mechanics are mediocre at the very best. I would have been a lot - a LOT - more tolerant of the sidequests if the shooting involved in them (barring actual better quest design or story implementation within) was enjoyable. Heck, people complain shooters are repetitive. But hey, if the shooting's fun... Not so here. Challenging shooter games can be loads of fun, but they live or die by their shooting mechanics, which ME utterly fails. The game itself also lacks the tactical depth that would have compensated for this, so it just falls flat from a shooter perspective and as a RPG combat perspective. As someone who enjoys shooters and tactical games, I was disappointed on both fronts.
The interface isn't anywhere near good, and sometimes requires a good amount of patience, but ultimately, it's serviceable.
Music is too ambient or inexistent more often than not, but it does have some good parts.
The game also looks nice. The art direction sometimes is pretty awesome, while at other times it may just be bland or sterile. Mixed feelings.
The loading/texture pop-ups haven't bothered me. Whiners. The framerate is fine.
Overall, *so far*, it seems a solid effort by Bioware, on par with their better previous titles. We'll see how that changes as I finish the game. ME2 has lots of potential, and it could a whole lot better than ME1 if they just improve some things.