Deeply Delving Dungeons

So I’ve had a chance to play Mass Effect 2 for a few hours now and so far I’m loving it. The opening sequence really blew me away and though it sort of stumbled a bit after your initial combat engagement it has quickly recovered and has me wishing that I was a Salarian and didn’t need 6 hours of sleep every day. It definitely takes a bit of getting used to the modified control scheme and other changes to the game, especially considering how recently I played through the first game, but I have been able to acclimate myself to these changes with relative ease. A couple more things I wanted to mention before moving onto the main point of this post: the new hacking minigames (yes, there is more than one this time) are a huge improvement over the original, even the PC version; also, the first time I used the Vanguard class’ Biotic Charge ability to warp into an enemy cluster and lay waste to them in seconds the first thought that popped into my mind was, “That just felt right.”

Ok, so what’s the point of this post’s title? Well, I’ll tell you right now that it’s not that I’m drunk right now, but rather thanks to a very minor, but to me very noticeable detail that Bioware has paid attention to in their latest sci-fi epic. Anyone who has had any experience with cinematic games should be well aware of how silly drinking (and eating for that matter) looks in a game. One moment you see an empty glass, the next it’s completely full, then a character picks it up, holds it in the general vicinity of their time-wasting mouth, and poof! the glass is empty again. This is a really good thing to do if you’re trying to destroy your game’s immersion.

Now, I know that such a seemingly simple process as realistically pouring and draining a glass is in reality anything but simple. It is doable however, though most devs just seem to ignore it. Not Bioware though.

At first I was happy when I saw a bartender pour out a shot and I could actually see the pouring stream coming out of the container. Shepard then quickly knocked back the drink and the contents poofed!, though that is what you would expect from knocking back a shot of liquor. What really impressed me as far as Bioware’s dedication to the art of pouring drinks goes however was when I had a short exchange with an old friend from the first game as we reminisced and decimated a fine bottle of brandy. This time I watched as Shepard drank normally and the liquid level and surface angle changed over the course of the drink as you would expect it to in real life (or close to at least).

I know you’re thinking to yourself: who gives a shit?

Well, just based on what little I’ve played of Mass Effect 2 so far this minor detail is indicative of what I feel is the biggest evolution in RPG dialogue systems yet, that being the simulation of physical mannerisms/behaviour during the course of an exchange. Most of the time RPG dialogue sequences consist of actors spewing out exposition as their physical forms stand rigid and expressionless. This is anything but dynamic and anything but interesting.

The original Mass Effect was a nice step forward in my mind, not necessarily thanks to an innovative dialogue system (the radial snap emotion system is anything but innovative) but rather because of the vocalization of your dialogue choices and the occasional infusion of life into the actors’ composure. They still didn’t do much with that however, the blocking and choreography of a scene I mean.

Enter Mass Effect 2 and finally we get to seem some life from the actors in a game as they move about, change their posture, even do things like *gasp* lean on stuff! Heh, I know of course that there were moments in other games where there would be some action going on occasionally but it has really been perfected (ok, maybe not perfected, but you get the idea) with ME2. These characters are full of life and that draws the player far deeper into the narrative and that is what should be most important with a game like Mass Effect 2 (though it certainly helps that the combat is better this time around). So bravo Bioware, and kudos to your animators, writers, and scene scripters. You’ve really outdone yourself this time!

Oh yeah, did I mention that you get to collect toy spaceships with which you can decorate your private quarters? Man, I wish I didn’t have to sleep right now!