RETRO PLAY-THROUGH | 'Mass Effect 2' Part 2
With 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' to be released on March 21st, gamer David Nolan continues to walk us through 'Mass Effect 2'. [Catch up on 'Mass Effect 2' Part 1 HERE.]
With a new Normandy as their base of operations, Shepard can now start building a squad of the galaxy’s best and brightest warriors to take down the Collectors; but first, let’s explore our new ship.
We start on the second deck and the first person we meet is Kelly Chambers - a very friendly yeoman reminiscent of Moneypenny in the ‘James Bond’ films.
On the lowest deck, Shepard meets two charming Scottish engineers who are clearly in love.
The third deck has a gruff cook and an old friend: Dr Chakwas from the first Normandy! Much of the crew has small tasks that will endear players to them and even give them some rewards or funny little interludes; this Normandy also has much nicer Captain’s quarters, with a fish tank included too. But Shepard has a galaxy to save, so let’s get to the missions.
The first place to head is to the seedy underworld moon of Omega. Here Zoë plans to recruit Mordin Solus, a salarian scientist, Archangel, a mysterious anti-gang fighter, and Zaeed Massani - a mercenary. Zaeed is a DLC character but he appears as soon as you get off the ship, so he’s the first one Shepard recruits. We’re also greeted by a gruff batarian who tells us to meet the Omega boss Aria.
Inside her club Afterlife, Aria introduces herself and her golden rule. She’s also willing to provide information to Shepard on the two she’s seeking, so we learn that Archangel is fighting the gang’s all-out assault on his hideout, and Mordin is dealing with a plague. It’s an interesting choice that the developers have presented the player with: multiple characters have told you to get Mordin first and there is a very obvious space for him to go once you do get him. However, the starting place for the Archangel quest is much closer; it seems to be more immediate and there are things that appear in his quest that are easier to turn in if you do his quest first. But Zoë wants that lab working, so she’s going to get Mordin first.
After talking her way passed the turian guard thanks to her sweet grenade launcher, Shepard and her team are met by some more turians manning a barricade before entering the quarantine zone proper. In the zone, there are gang members everywhere who will shoot on sight. The mission is also dimly lit -much of the light coming from the crematory piles that are made to deal with the plague victims. The smoke from these fires adds to the imposing and cramped atmosphere, adding to the discomfort.
Shepard comes across a wounded batarian, giving him medi-gel to survive, a couple hiding from the gang’s anti-human activities and a couple of human looters taking advantage of their immunity. Shepard deals with these in a paragon way as is her nature, and even this early on the game is trying to show off the way your actions affect the world.
Players also come across several victims locked in their homes, recording a few voice logs as they succumb to the disease. The foreshadowing of what will come with the fall of a society, even a society as cutthroat as Omega’s is a major part of the whole game and it is on display here potently.
When you reach Mordin’s clinic, the salarian himself is dealing with a number of patients and his signature characteristic is showcased immediately. The rapid-fire delivery of the scientist is quite impressive for its writing and delivery and it makes it hard to want to use the interrupts that the game offers. Eventually, he agrees to help you with your quest to take on the Collectors - if you agree to help him distribute his plague cure using the atmospheric system. Right as we do, the system shuts off. But that puts us in more of a hurry, so we quickly head out.
At this point, the game has introduced you to the vorcha, a reptilian/insect-like race that only snarls and has canine teeth. They regenerate health and are capable of giving themselves armour when they desire, so they are quite the threat on higher difficulties. They also have a fun, angry “culture”, so they’re a great comedic villain to have to fight.
About half way through this section you stumble upon some batarians holding Mordin’s assistant Daniel hostage. Once you talk them down, you have a choice to kill them or let them go: we’re not sure what kind of bastard kills someone against their word, but the option is there.
Finally you reach the control room for the atmospheric system and the Vorcha leader decides to just out and out tell you why they’re doing and who they’re doing it for. How nice of them. But you still need to kill them to reactivate the system so Shepard’s squad gets into a big firefight.
The vorcha use two annoying weapons: a missile launcher and flamethrower. Fortunately, they are vulnerable to biotics, so through a liberal use of them, Shepard manages to defeat them and reactivate the system. Arriving back at Mordin’s clinic, he’s happy that Daniel is safe but thinks you should have killed the batarians anyway. However, it’s back to the Normandy for a debrief and to get the Professor settled into his work.
Once Mordin is safely in his lab and Shepard has researched some upgrades, it’s back to Omega for Archangel’s quest. The gangs hunting for him are recruiting whomever they can get and they just so happen to be doing so from Afterlife. After a sexist jibe from one of the recruiters (which is quickly shot down by a renegade interrupt), we’re officially hired to help kill Archangel. Oh, how they’ll regret that… Just before they leave though, Shepard stops a young man from signing up by sabotaging his gun. He isn’t happy, but it’ll keep him alive. Shepard gets in a space car to take them to the fight and the main body of the quest begins.
Shepard arrives at a series of barricades, each manned by a different gang. The player has the opportunity to speak to each of the leaders of the gang and learn some backstory, but more importantly, the chance to sabotage two important weapons the gangs plan to use against Archangel. The first is a large mech; the second is when Shepard is talking to the Sergeant co-ordinating the attack and repairing a gunship. Once he’s finished briefing, they leave to commence the defence of Archangel. The player is given a renegade interrupt to kill the Sergeant before he’s finished repairing the gunship; both are very handy so Zoë is willing to do both. The team leaps into action and quickly fights their way to Archangel.
When the team reaches the crime fighter, he’s wearing full body armour and a helmet so we have no idea what he looks like. After taking down the last member of the last freelancer wave, he removes his helmet to reveal he is Garrus! Our old cop buddy from the first game. It’s nice to see him again but catching up will have to wait. There are three gangs to deal with first.
The first is the Eclipse, and they’re leading off with some mechs. Garrus gives you a look through his sniper rifle and Shepard takes the opportunity to take one of the mechs out; just being practical. This wave is pretty easy to deal with since they just come straight down the bridge into firing range for both Shepard and Garrus. About half way through, the gang activates their mech but, oh no, it starts firing on their own forces. It doesn’t last long but it takes out a decent number of enemy troops before being destroyed. Finally the leader of the gang appears and when he’s down the wave is complete.
The next task is to head down into the building’s basement and stop the attack coming from that direction. Shepard is given the option to leave one of her team behind and Zoë doesn’t want to leave her space bro behind so Miranda is told to help Garrus. Down in the basement, there are three doors to shut. They take 10 seconds to close and any enemy crossing the threshold restarts the process; this section can become a grind if not finished quickly. There’s one moment where Shepard needs to mantle a series of low pipes one after the other and go around a corner; except that the developers thought it would be hilarious if a vorcha with a flamethrower was camping there to kill you in about three seconds. It wasn’t, Bioware. But just as Garrus starts coming under attack up top, Shepard seals the last door.
Upstairs, a large krogan has busted through Garrus’ defences with a large number of his troops; this is a hard minor boss. He has three health bars and with all his offsiders also firing at you, being clever is a necessity. Finally, after taking care of all of this gang, it’s time for the last wave.
The thing that this quest gets right about a defensive mission is that each attack is slightly different. The final wave is based mainly around the gunship that the Sergeant was repairing. It will regularly drop troops around the apartment you’ve been defending and the aim of this wave is just to destroy the ship itself. But half way through this wave, something terrible happens… Garrus is shot and heavily wounded. Shepard angrily takes out the gunship and rushes to Garrus’ side; it doesn’t look good…
Back on the Normandy, Shepard and Jacob discuss the mission and how we might not have him in our squad after all… Just before the turian himself comes around the corner and makes a joke about his facial scars; he seems to be doing much better than expected. He isn’t happy about being involved with Cerberus, but he’ll come along because he trusts Shepard.
And with that, our time is up on Omega for now.
In the next play through instalment, we’ll head to the Citadel and pick up some more squad members. What’s could be in store for us?
Click HERE to catch up on previous ‘Mass Effect’ and ‘Mass Effect 2’ play-throughs!
David Nolan
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