Just finished Mass Effect 2

Somewhat literally. I stopped playing about four minutes ago and came straight here. Then I disappeared for two months and found this today and posted it.

I waited a while to get into the original Mass Effect. I was worried it would be a little too heavy on role-playing elements. I don't play a whole lot of RPGs these days. I think the mechanics and design are outdated and that the storytelling hasn't improved to help mitigate the pain of sitting through turn-based battles and fumbling through crummy menus. But I decided to give Mass Effect a chance when I heard it was more shooter oriented, with real-time combat. Unlike most RPGs, you don't stand around waiting for your turn to attack. The game played more like a third-person shooter with some behind-the-scenes role-playing mechanics that didn't get in the way and, if anything, made the experience a lot better. Mass Effect wasn't perfect (I reviewed it for Thunderbolt and gave it a very good 8, but definitely had some complaints).

If I were to review Mass Effect 2 (I won't be because Bart Robson and Richard Wakeling already have for our site), it's definitely up to a 9 for me. It's one of the first games in a while that I've wanted to start a new game of moments after playing through (update - didn't do this), though I think I'm going to stick around and finish up some sidequests and exploration missions first (update - did all of this). Everything has been improved this time around. When I spoke with Bioware founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk at E3 last year, they told me that they thought of Mass Effect 2 "as a shooter RPG, so [they were focusing on] amping up the intensity of the combat, focusing on the frame rate, making sure the precision of the controls is there, heavy weapons, AI on the enemies, really detailed animation systems, and trying to make it a really smooth experience."

On all accounts, they succeeded. The combat is much better this time around, playing more like a third-person shooter than the RPG that it allegedly is. Perhaps the most noticeable adjustment is the inventory, which was pretty difficult to manage before. Fortunately, the whole process has been streamlined: you keep the same guns throughout the game and just upgrade them over the course of your adventure, keeping you from the tedious inventory management that marred the first one.

The experience is definitely more linear than the first game, but probably for the better. While players are given less control, we're given a better story with much smoother development. The cutscenes are much less awkward and the cinematic touches - camera angels, lighting - those have all been substantially improved. This keeps the player much more engaged in the narrative, which was captivating without being overbearing. Though the player is given some choices, you're really given very little control over the direction of the plot, but you never, ever feel as boxed in as you do in JRPGs like Final Fantasy.

Probably the only area where they really failed was in "ramping up enemy AI," which didn't seem much better than in the first. I'd go as far as to say I felt the first game was actually harder, even if the AI has been updated for this installment. That said, I suffered few (what I interpret as) cheap deaths and didn't get particularly frustrated at any point, which are probably good things. I do wish the developers would have offered a little more exploration, beyond just scanning worlds, but I enjoyed hunting for particular resources for most of the game. Resource-hunting is a major part, requiring you to scan planets for mineral deposits that you can then probe to use for weapon upgrades. It does get a little boring after a while, particularly when you're looking for one particular rare resource, but it's manageable and I choose to view it as a representation of the more mundane aspects of space travel.

In the end, I'm really excited for Mass Effect 3, the final entry in this trilogy. It's always a positive sign if a player wants to play more of a game after spending at least 25 hours of my life in it (my Raptr account says 107 hours, but I definitely left the game running for a long time).

A passion for games

I know only a few things about myself that are "for sures" at this point in my life. One of those is that I will likely enjoy Coca Cola for the rest of my life. I've been drinking it for years and it is just delicious. I also love turkey sandwiches. If I were on death row, you can be sure a turkey sandwich would be part of my final meal. Another is that Anthony Karge will probably be my best friend until I expire, death row or not. Outside of food, few things are certain. But one thing that is becoming increasingly certain is that I will play video games until I die. I was pretty sure of that fact when I was younger, but it was only recently that I came back to the conclusion.

Since I started working, after I graduated college, the amount of gaming that I've done has steadily declined. Where I reviewed 26 games in 2008, I reviewed 8 in 2009. I hardly played a thing in over a year and it didn't feel good. For the better part of the last year, I've felt kind of bored and disinterested. I didn't have any passion for anything. But in the last few weeks, since I started working at GameStop again, I realized what it was that I like about gaming so much: being a gamer. Being in. Knowing what's happening in the industry. Following it. Living it. Playing everything. And being proud of it.

I love video games. Unabashedly. I used to try to cover it up. All the long, somewhat ashamed, feeling that my knowledge of gaming was a useless and dorky waste of time. I covered it up and somewhat hid it. I acted embarrassed when my girlfriend Nicole found out about Thunderbolt, the Web site that I have been deputy editor of for years, despite the fact that as an accomplishment, it is something I'm most proud of.

When I was a kid, I remember getting my gaming magazines in the mail and going crazy over E3 coverage. I remember wishing I could go to E3. Because of the seriousness with which I've treated games, I've been able to go twice. I'm probably going again this year. Both shows were awesome experiences. I wrote over 20 previews for games I got to play before anyone else and got to talk with game creators that I spent my childhood idolizing. I've been flown to New York and San Francisco to chat about games with legendary designers. I got to live the dreams I had as a I kid. I've been blessed.

I don't want it to end. There's a big part of me write now that wants to really strongly pursue a career in this industry. Even if I just climb the GameStop corporate ladder for a while, I think I'll be pretty content. I've been playing games like crazy lately, devouring them voraciously in a way I haven't since I was younger. I'm eating up games and I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. There's just something about this hobby that I find absolutely fascinating. I've witnessed over the course of my short lifetime an immense amount of progression and development. Over 20 years, I've played nearly every significant video game released and many lesser titles. I am a lexicon of knowledge, for better or worse, on the universe of video games.

I've decided in the last few weeks that I'm going to dedicate myself to this again. I had the best time of my life when I was doing this really actively - busting on Thunderbolt, talking to PR people, playing games by the boatload - and I want to keep doing that. It keeps me happy. I'm filled with excitement playing them, reading about them, thinking about playing them. I love them. I always will love them. Video games are my passion and I'm happy about that.