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Na de eerste Mass Effect 2 review van OXM is het  nu tijd voor een Mass Effect 2 review explosie! Diverse publicaties hebben inmiddels een review online gelanceerd en we gaan eens kijken of deze veelbelovende Science-Fiction RPG de hooggespannen verwachtingen kan waarmaken.

Mass Effect 2 ligt officieel vanaf vandaag in de Amerikaanse schappen – wij in Europa zal pas volgende week aan de beurt. Dat betekent dat wij wel nog de tijd hebben om de verschillende reviews te lezen. Na de break een overzicht van de verschillende Mass Effect 2 reviews en de scores die de game heeft binnengehaald!

Laten we maar starten met de review van Eurogamer, waarin de game de perfecte score van 10/10 krijgt. De conclusie van deze review luidt:

BioWare’s greatest success in Mass Effect 2 has been taking a complex RPG and making it effortless to understand, play and enjoy on a constant basis, because it has done this in a manner that should prove utterly essential to veterans and newcomers alike, and more than enough to suggest Mass Effect 3 will be the most important game in BioWare’s history.

Games Radar geeft Mass Effect 2 ook een perfecte 10 en concludeert:

Mass Effect 2 strikes a perfect balance between intense shooter action and gut-wrenching drama, set in a richly textured world on the brink of destruction. It’s a must-own for science fiction fans, who will love exploring the depths of the galaxy and fighting to save humanity.

We gaan verder met de Mass Effect 2 review van TeamXbox, waarin de game wederom een 10 als eindcijfer krijgt:

Mass Effect 2 delivers the best experience of its kind in this generation-and considering I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished my initial 39-hour playthrough a few days ago, a lower score would feel disingenuous. From its mechanics to its writing to its presentation, Mass Effect 2 is the kind of game that justifies gushing clichés and superlatives. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Het begint eentonig te worden, want ook VideoGamer geeft Mass Effect 2 een dikke 10. Zij concluderen in de review:

Mass Effect 2 is easily a 10. Easily. We’re trying desperately to think of something to moan about, just so this review doesn’t sound too much like a Mass Effect love-in, but we can’t. The side missions are a bit abrupt. The game still takes too long to load. And your party members will occasionally get in your line of sight. But these annoyances are as inconsequential as a fly landing on a whale’s back. Mass Effect 2 is the perfect fusion of the shooter and RPG genres. When you’re not playing it, you wish you were. When you are playing it, you can’t imagine doing anything else. Engrossing, captivating, stunning. Roll on DLC, and Mass Effect 3.

Ook IGN is erg positief over Mass Effect 2 en beoordeelt de game met een 9.6. Uit de conclusie van de review:

Games like Mass Effect 2 don’t come around often enough. Look at any aspect and you can be sure it’s great. It’s incredibly personal while still retaining a sense of epic sweeping scale. The combat and mission design are outstanding. The visuals, voice acting, soundtrack, and direction are miles ahead of the competition. Perhaps most impressively, Mass Effect 2 manages to fulfill its incredible ambition while only suffering from very few technical hiccups.

Joystiq heeft een Mass Effect 2 review zonder eindcijfer, maar is lovend over de game:

Mass Effect 2 is a work of calculated contradictions. It’s an action game, but it’s imbued with all the best parts of the RPG genre. It’s simple to understand, but incredibly deep. It is — and this is crucial — a story, a universe that spans light years and millenia, but is intensely personal. To the casual observer, the parts may not all seem to fit together, but — as I’ve discovered after laughing, cheering, screaming and even crying (a bit) with Shepard and crew through their suicide mission — their sum is nothing short of one of the single best games I’ve ever played.

We sluiten af met de review van Kotaku. Ook hier wordt geen eindcijfer gegeven, maar worden “loved” en “hated” punten opgesomd. In totaal worden 7 “loved” elementen genoemd en 2 “”hated” elementen, met als conclusie:

Mass Effect captured the imaginations of the role-playing crowd. Mass Effect 2 has successfully tweaked the formula, creating a more accessible game that’s every bit the masterpiece that the original was. The experience should be different for everyone, but the final thought in every player’s mind should be the same: bring on Mass Effect 3.

Op Metacritic heeft Mass Effect 2 inmiddels een gemiddelde score van 97%. Ondanks de vele topgames die in 2010 nog zullen verschijnen, ziet het er naar uit dat we onze eerste serieuze GOTY 2010 kandidaat al binnen hebben.