To make a good game you need a lot of components, you need smooth fun gameplay, maybe a good story, and some good character models. You might need an interesting art style or something else that makes it unique. The same can be said for other pieces of art. However, a good piece of work is hard to make, but a great piece is even harder, yet to make something truly special, something beyond great, an all-time piece of work you need to make the small things work.
Mass Effect 2 is the second installment in the Mass Effect trilogy. All the games in the trilogy are at least good to great, but the second one seems to be peak gaming. There are of course a lot of examples of this. The gameplay is super fun, and the characters are the best in all of the video games (this is a fact, deal with it). The story is easy to understand needing little setup yet still yields a lot of pay off and it’s easy to understand as well.
Mass Effect 2 focuses on the more quiet and intimate moments between Commander Shepard and her crew. – I play female Shepard so I will be saying her, but you can change it in your head if you play male, I believe in you.
Again there are thousands of things the game does well, but to showcase exactly what I mean I will be exploring a scene from the game.
Every single companion gets a loyalty mission you can do to grow closer to them. By doing this quest you unlock a new outfit, and you enhance the probability of them surviving the last suicide mission. The moment I want to showcase comes in the loyalty mission for Jacob, nobody’s favorite companion and nobody’s favorite loyalty mission and that is to be expected, Jacob sucks.
In these loyalty missions, you’re required to bring the companion the mission is about. You also get to bring one more squadmate, who usually comments on the situation as it unfolds. Jacob’s mission is about finding his father, who’s been missing after a shipwreck. Turns out, Jacob’s dad survived the crash, hoarded supplies, and created a power dynamic with the survivors that gets creepier the more you learn about it. Poisoned rations, mindless zombie-like enemies, and a disturbing personal power trip. It’s not great.
Eventually, you reach Jacob’s father. There’s a confrontation. In true Mass Effect fashion, you decide his fate, though your choice here doesn’t affect the overall game much. The moment I want to highlight actually happens just before the choice
As Jacob begins to confront his father, Shepard notices some of the infected shambling toward them. Without saying a word, she moves closer to Jacob. On her way, she nods subtly at your second companion. When the scene ends and the camera pulls back, you see that squadmate standing at the edge, weapon raised, guarding the perimeter.
What I enjoy so much about the moment is that it’s not loud at all, in fact, you might just miss it if you are not paying attention. It’s a moment that fits the situation, characters, and overall feel of the story. To make a good piece of art you need a lot of different elements to work To make something good, you need solid parts. To make something great, you need vision and style. But to make something legendary, you need small, human moments like this — scenes that feel like they exist because someone cared enough to add them. Mass Effect 2 is full of those.
And that’s why it’s one of the all-time greats.