Like the first game, I had a difficult time putting Mass Effect 2 down until I was done with it. And also like the first, this second installment is very imperfect, with some glaring, systemic problems. But unlike Mass Effect, which I only enjoyed in spite of itself - ignoring large swaths of gameplay purely for the sake of sci-fi and laser guns - Mass Effect 2 sold me on a more meaningful part of the package. It succeeded in compelling me to do side-quests.

Relative to its predecessor, combat is significantly spiced up, with fun abilities and scenarios. And, playing to their strengths, BioWare has shifted the writing balance away from a Roddenberrian all-encompassing plot, toward a tighter, more character-driven narrative. Almost all of Mass Effect 2's party members are genuinely intriguing, and fun to conversationally poke.

But the conversation mechanics remain a bit of a let-down. There are still instances where the "system" - top is Paragon, bottom is Renegade, left delves deeper, right gets out - is the only way to tell what an option really means, because the text isn't illuminating at all. There are still instances where the preview text is entirely different from what comes out of Shepard's mouth. And there are still instances where choices are blatantly limited for the sake of narrative direction. Overall these problems seem less frequent than in the first game, but I may have simply gotten more used to them.

Mass Effect 2's problems aren't just old ones, though. The new planet-mining mechanic is fun at first, but quickly wears out its welcome, in the face of the massive amounts of resources required for ship and weapon upgrades. Really, the resource costs just seem way too high. The new hacking mini-games are - well, the node-connecting one is a neat diversion, but the code-matching one is a royal pain, especially when the code I need to match just won't appear. The new equipment system - a loadout menu instead of an inventory/equipment screen - is a definite improvement, but weapon options are anemic, with each type seeing two (at most) upgrades from the beginning of the game to the end.

There were times when I was downright irked by environment glitches. On probably a half-dozen occasions throughout the game, I would find myself floating in the air, unable to get down. Once I tried saving and re-loading in this state; it put me back in the same impossible position. Luckily, I had an auto-save only a few minutes back, but that could have been really nasty.

And the New Game + option is welcome - but restricted to the same class I already played? Why not start me with an advantage into a new class? That would be a much more persuasive offer for replaying the game, given that, in addition to the countless things that can change in subsequent playthroughs, there are countless more that don't. I'm simply not that interested in going through hours upon hours of the same old stuff again.

My complaints are numerous, but what ME2 does right is more than a match for them. The shooting is fun, the characters are interesting, and the game world is, in general, a pleasure to take part in. The sequel is superior to the original, and a significant step forward. But there's still a long way between it and perfection. Here's hoping Mass Effect 3 doesn't rest on this game's laurels.

Better than: Mass Effect
Not as good as: I had been led to believe
My Shepard banged: No one. I respected them too much. Can you believe it?

Progress: Finished on Veteran

For a sequel, Mass Effect 2 sure is full of surprises.

One is the importance of class. In the first game, class choice only really changed relative biotic/weapon/tech strength, and the guns Shepard could use. Mass Effect 2 makes the classes feel special, with unique abilities; my Infiltrator has a temporary invisibility cloak, and enters bullet-time while aiming a sniper rifle, allowing for some wicked headshots. I'm not sure what all of the other class specialties are, because the class-selection screen does a poor job of illustrating it, but I'm sure they're just dandy for people who don't love sniper rifles.

Also surprising is the modified ammo system, or rather, the effects thereof. In Mass Effect I mastered the waiting game: fire my sniper rifle, wait for it to cool, and fire again, ad infinitum. Mass Effect 2 implements 'ammo' in the form of thermal clips, which means I don't have to wait inbetween firing, but also means that it's possible to run out of ammo. Especially sniper ammo, which has a relatively low maximum cap (currently, I can only carry 10 shots). I would really have preferred some hybrid system, where I could wait for the weapon to cool if I'm out of clips.

The blatant lack of care in the PC version is another surprise. For a genre-combination that basically screams "PC" - and considering that the original game's PC version was a significant retool of its console brother - ME2's PC interface is baffling. Clicking on buttons will sometimes, but only rarely, actually execute anything; frequently I'll also have to click an OK button of some sort. In-game text windows can't be scrolled with a mouse-wheel, nor with the arrow keys, usually. Fortunately the real-time combat controls are solid enough, but it seems a bit ridiculous for an RPG to have shitty menus.

A more pleasant surprise is the removal of the nonsensical Omni-Gel. Now Shepard collects four different kinds of raw material, by searching treasure chests ambient debris in missions, as well as by scanning planets for resources. These materials are used variously in upgrading the Normandy, improving squad weapons, enhancing armor, and for other miscellany. So far I've only really used the Iridium resource, though, leaving me with ass-loads of Platinum and Palladium, which just sit around on my ship I guess.

Another surprise? How awesome it feels to take orders from Martin Sheen.

One thing that isn't surprising is the story and writing: it's the same stuff, although with less of a boring introduction (unless you're new to the franchise, and decide to laboriously read through everything in the Codex). The plot is enough to pique my interest, but not terribly compelling. Lead characters are well-written and intriguing, while bit parts are low-budget and expendable. The Paragon/Renegade system is a little more user-friendly this time around, but sometimes just seems goofy - how is sucking up to Cerberus a renegade act?

I'm not quite as awe-inspired by ME2 as I thought I'd be, but it's still fun, and unquestionably more polished than its predecessor. In fairness, too, I've still got plenty of hours left for the game to heat up.

One more surprise: Miranda's teeth. Promotional materials do a good job of not focusing on her face, but when the game zooms in... eesh.

Progress: Recruited Mordin

Dark Legend makes a few welcome changes to the Overlord formula: shared Life Force for all minion types, purchasable minion upgrades at the Castle Forge, and an in-game map that resembles sense. But not all its ideas work out. Pointing at the screen to order your horde is great in theory, but in practice is often marred by shoddy pathfinding and minions getting stuck in the environment. And the manual camera control would be useful if not for its undersensitivity, and the fact that ordering minions and rotating the camera simultaneously is unfeasible.

All this is compounded by the game generally feeling like a remedial version of the original - and while you might imagine that a less-frustrating Overlord would be a winning formula, in execution it just feels silly and insubstantial. The simple controls and barely-navigable environment ensure that enemy encounters are nothing more than point-and-button-mashfests. Also, there is a waggle move to blow things up by sacrificing minions? So you get to lose control of the battle for several seconds, foolishly shake a Wii remote, and lose part of your fighting force, all at once. Excellent.

The story isn't at all interesting (you know the ending even before the game begins), and the writing doesn't seem up to franchise quality. That's the character writing, mind - the in-game encyclopedia was certainly written by a cadre of underpaid interns, as it has about as much life as the 3,000+ Nazis I recently killed. And I never like being that guy, but the graphics are distractingly bad; the game tends to run at a good clip (aside from occasional chugging), but the incredibly low level of detail makes everything blend together. And visible interlacing, really? What year is this? Come on.

Even if Dark Legend did nothing but improve from here on out - I only finished two of the twelve (linear) quests - it is so dramatically held back, as in, couldn't pass the fifth grade on its own, that I can't imagine it surpassing "meh" territory. But there's no way I'll slog through the rest of the game to find out.

Progress: Gave Up -- Reclaimed the Castle Forge

Total Game Time: ~43 hours
Total Nazis Killed: 3,188

Alright. I guess that's enough, for now.

Progress: 100% Missions, 100% Freeplay Targets, All Gold Perks

Pretty sure my co-op buddy has lost interest in this, and so have I (in the single-player, anyway). I'm glad to have the game around for online multiplayer, as infrequently as that might come up; I'm still pretty impressed by how much fun the Combat Simulator is. But the campaign feels pretty antiquated, in light of ten years of industry sophistication in such areas as checkpoints, in-game directions, and maps.

Progress: Gave Up -- Saving the President

Progress: Gave Up -- Lost interest

I completed The Saboteur's campaign last night, and I still haven't really gone in-depth on its title feature - that is, sabotage. I could go on and on about the intricacies of the game's radar, how it notifies you of Nazi suspicion, line-of-sight, advantages and disadvantages of a disguise... but suffice to say, there is an extremely robust system of mechanics that allows you to expertly infiltrate and pick apart Nazi installations. Climb up a guard tower to take out the lookout while nobody else can see you; set off an explosion on one side of the base to draw attention to it; plant charges behind objects so no one notices until it's too late.

The system involves careful planning and strategy, but also gives you the freedom to go in guns blazing if you so desire (and have the hardware for it). And screw-ups are no big thing, with plenty of opportunities to escape Nazi retribution, and fairly lax dying penalties if that doesn't work. Even barring that, though, I'm way more impressed with The Saboteur's stealth system than with anything I've seen in Metal Gear Solid. This game really delivers on the premise of covertly reducing the enemy to rubble.

Which is great, because the campaign is not nearly as impressive. The pacing is all wrong: missions tend to come in spurts, with too-lengthy action sequences - often multiple missions in a row - followed by complete dramatic breaks. The last couple missions of Act 2, and the entire third Act, were basically like watching the last half of Indiana Jones without stopping. (Except with a slightly sillier plot, and a much less satisfying ending.) The optional side-missions help, and are structured in a much more friendly, episodic way, but there aren't all that many of them.

Although the plot in general isn't too special, and most of the characters are disposable, Sean Devlin is a great protagonist. He's a rough-and-tumble anti-hero who you'll be rooting for all the way. Plus, he swears like a, well, like an Irishman, which gives all the game's tense moments a necessary shot of "Fuckin' Hell!" commentary.

The Saboteur isn't perfect, not even mentioning relatively infrequent but sometimes rather bad bugs. What it is, though, is incredibly fun. Provided you enjoy killin' a lot of Nazis.

Better than: Red Faction: Guerrilla (without driving a truck through a building, even!)
Not as good as: Grand Theft Auto IV (in GTA, at least, non-Nazis -mobsters are still fun to interact with)
I'd buy a sequel: so, come on, guys

I may have seen the ending, but I'm not done yet! I've still got almost half of the game's Freeplay Targets left. There are plenty more Nazis to kill.

Progress: Finished the story, still killin' Nazis

I unlocked a perk earlier that makes me able to plant explosives, while disguised, without arousing Nazi suspicion. I stole a uniform, waltzed into a rocket base, and proceeded to plant remote-detonation charges by every group of Germans I could find. On my way out, someone saw through my disguise; so I took out my detonator, ran to a safe spot, and pulled the trigger. The entire base lit up and all the Nazis were instantly blown to kingdom come. (In so doing, I unlocked two new perks!)

This game is tits.

Progress: Act 2

It is really hard for me to stop playing this game. Earlier today I described it to someone as "Red Faction: Guerrilla with real Nazis" (as opposed to Martian Nazis), and I'm having a hard time coming up with a better comparison. The biggest difference between the two is, where in RF:G you felt like the leader of a rebellion, in Saboteur you are pretty much a rebellion all by yourself. This game also has friendly AI, but it doesn't come up very often; almost invariably, you rely solely on your own personal ability to infiltrate and demolish.

This being said, it's occurred to me that your enjoyment of The Saboteur is entirely dependent upon how much you like killin' Nazis. The game's prologue leads you to believe that it's a mission-driven game, but that's really not true; looking back at some less-than-positive reviews from the game's release, I can now immediately understand that these people did not "play the game right." Not that it's their fault, but - if, rather than taking your time to surgically extricate the Nazi presence from France, you instead try to charge through the game's story missions, you will find that these missions are made difficult by Nazis being fucking everywhere. Also, the game world will be predominantly in black-and-white. So, frustrating and depressing, all at once.

I will readily admit that this aforementioned Nazi presence is staggering - I've spent most of the past several days blowing up tanks and lookout towers, and the game's stats screen informs me that I've only done around 20% of its "freeplay" targets. That's a lot of Nazis! Fortunately for me, and my opinion of the game, I love killin' Nazis.

Progress: Act 2

Most GTA clones stick to imitating the gritty modern-crime formula, with some floaty aiming and driving controls tacked on; "not as good," in so many words. But, as they showed in Mercenaries, Pandemic has had a knack for making an open-world havoc game thematically different enough that it feels unique - special, even. The Saboteur does this in two ways.

The first is killin' Nazis. It may sound hackneyed, but through the city's oppressed color palette, asshole Nazi NPC behavior, and (somewhat spotty) story scenes, The Saboteur does a great job of vilifying its villains. More so than receiving upgrade points or advancing the plot, killing those fuckers feels like a genuine reward in and of itself.

The second is tits.

The Saboteur is a rare case where, in spite of some jarring voice-over accents and jerky character animations, the game world feels highly immersive - because I want to play in it. It preys on my knowledge of historical events, my desire to see the Nazis defeated, and my desire to help Sean Devlin get his revenge. It's a compelling package.

As for the gameplay, it's very workable, although I don't know that I've been blown away (no pun intended) by anything so far. Naturally, the driving controls are a little floaty; aiming is okay, though. There's some Assassin's Creed in here, too, as Sean can climb to the rooftops - but once he's up there, rather than parkour around the city, he tends to just blow shit up.

There are a jillion non-linear objectives scattered around Paris, from destructible Nazi structures, to observation points, to car collecting, not to mention unlockable "perks" from completing particular challenges. For instance, killing a bunch of Nazis with grenades got me a bigger bomb bag. Though I have yet to dive in too deeply, all those little objective blips on my map are very enticing.

Progress: Act 1