Mass Effect

Although I haven't mentioned it here at the blog yet, I've been spending most of the last week with my oldest son. He's here for his Spring Break, so the lack of updates is mostly due to the fact that we've been staying up late every night trying to squeeze every last minute out of every day. He's a fantastic kid and I love him very much, and I am more than a little proud to say that he's cutting his game-playing teeth on Monster Hunter, Trials HD, and a number of other things that might not be traditionally seen as kid-friendly fare.

We're back and less offensive than ever! Our conversation about detail and immersion becomes an impromptu "State of Rockstar Games" debate. Plus: Our personal gaming tragedies; tales of data loss and other disasters. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Tim "The Traitor" Spaeth.

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Games discussed:

• Infinite Space
• Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
• Red Dead Redemption

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Finally!!!

HIGH Getting the long-awaited resolution to a massive loose end.

LOW The best Mass Effect 2 DLC came last.

WTF Who knew Legion was a hardcore gamer?

This Rogue AI has its Head on Straight

HIGH The reveal at the end of the mission.

LOW Not being able to freely search for missing data logs.

WTF I never expected to see "platforming" in this game.

Is that Princess Amidala in the Shadows?

HIGH Kasumi's backstab attack is incredibly deadly.

LOW Seven dollars feels a little steep for the amount of content.

WTF The firefight near the party doesn't cause any concern.

The Spiritual Successor to a Long-lost Friend

HIGH The return of a sorely-missed planetary vehicle option.

LOW No new Achievements.

WTF Why (oh why!) was this not integrated into the main game?

Although I've had more than my fill of talking about Mass Effect 2 since my extremely popular and well-regarded review hit Metacritic, I have to admit that I'm not quite ready to let the topic go. Getting right to the point, I've been thinking about the way homosexual relationships were removed for the most part, and what a disappointing choice that was.

Brad's review was just the beginning; we debate the exhilarating highs and inexplicable lows of Mass Effect 2. Plus: Tim quits games, classic sequels we love, and statistics, statistics, statistics. With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike "The Outlier" Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS
Read: Transcript

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

I am the Very Model of a Scientist Salarian...

HIGH: Agonizing over choices during the endgame.

LOW: Planet scanning.

WTF: ...I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian.

The Normandy's Back, but She's Taken Some Damage

HIGH Plenty of the same great writing and character work BioWare is known for.

LOW The collective lack of surprise at Shepard's resurrection.

WTF Do people really want to have sex with grotesque alien crewmates?