 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Mass Effect 2
- Xbox 360, Windows
- Price: $59.99 ($49.99 for PC)
- Genre: Role Playing
Common Sense Media says
Extraordinary sci-fi sequel with mature content.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Mass Effect 2 is for mature audiences only. The subject matter is adult-like, including violence (with blood), profanity, drug references, and sexual imagery and discussion. This game takes place in the future, throughout space and with aliens, and has a fantasy setting. Players must make moral and ethical decisions and live with the consequences of those decisions.
What's it about?
MASS EFFECT 2 continues the heroic space adventures of Commander Shepard in the 22nd century, but introduces many new characters, weapons, and plotlines. Therefore, you don't need to play the original Mass Effect to understand and appreciate this sequel, which takes place two years after its predecessor, though you might get more out of it as it's part of a larger story arc. In fact, you can import your saved game into this seuqel to continue as your own Commander Shepard, retaining his customized look, attributes, and personality. Speaking of story, the fantastic tale in Mass Effect 2 revolves around a mysterious new threat to humankind and Shepard's reluctance to work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization (bordering on terrorists, says Shepard), in order to stop "The Collectors" in their path of destruction. By previewing a huge 3-D map of the galaxy in his starship, Shepard can fly to various worlds to handpick an elite team of fighters to ensure a well-balanced squad (and you can preselect team members before each mission, too). As with the first game, there are also love interests, betrayals, mini-games, and numerous side-missions that will also affect the story.
Is it any good?
Mass Effect 2 is very, very good. More so than the first game, third-person combat plays a huge role, with many character classes to choose from (including a brute soldier, tech specialist, or stealthy infiltrator), multiple futuristic weapons and powers to choose from (all of which are upgradeable), and different ways to fight based on your preference (real-time combat or pause the action to make weapon/power selections or assign squad commands). The enemy artificial intelligence (A.I.) is smart, quick and ready to peg you off as soon as you break cover.
A few issues, remain, however, including a hard-to-see weapon and power wheel interface (where you must make a selection) and some anticlimactic moments when the dialogue builds up to a short fight. Shortcomings notwithstanding, Mass Effect 2 is an extraordinarily fun and great-looking action RPG for the Xbox 360 and PC. Sci-fi fans, rejoice — Mass Effect 2 is well worth the wait.
Platform Note: Despite some minor interface differences, the two versions of the game are the same.
Online interaction: The game lets you download bonus content but there is no multiplayer options in this game.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the moral and ethical decisions the protagonist must make and how it affects the story. Is it a good idea for game designers to put in consequences of actions?
Do you like games that let players choose between a noble or ruthless path? Or should there not be a darker side of the main character because it might promote negative behavior in real life?
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AGE
I have watched several news things that talked about how there was "Full nudity and sex in Mass Effect 2" . I had already played before and couldn't remember anything with sex and/or nudity. Curious to see if this was true (And if so, I would be very disappointed in the game) and to write an accurate and 'mature' review, I tried to get into a position to even just ask someone. To my amazement (And to some extent relief :) ), I couldn't get it to even get close. I tried going through again normal, and once again, NO SEX. Both times the majority of my team had the loyal thing underneath them. Not getting to that point, I went to youtube to look at some of the cutscenes and they are not all that bad-scene worse on PG-13 movies (There is the Miranda one, which shows her straddling Shepard, but once again, seen worse in PG-13 movies) . You have to start a relationship with that person, and let it grow (As close to real life as game makers have gotten so far), then ask them. So in my opinion the sex aspect of the game has been blown way out of proportions. The game has lost a good crowd due to the "Oh no Mass Effect 1/2 both have complete nudity and SEX, "OMG!" from news reporters and overprotective parents (I have/had two of these :P).
This game has a wonderful AI (Standard Bioware). You can choose certain dialouge that will affect other available dialogue down the road and allow you to do certain actions. Things that you may have thought trivial when you selected a conversation option will come back and haunt you. Characters will become angry and will express this, though im not sure if they go so far as to betray you or leave the group.
As the conversation options and actions are so diverse you can choose to be a 'good cop' or 'bad cop'. This can lead to bad rolemodels, but I think that is taking things to the extreme.
Overall I think this is a fun game that misses a lot of people because of the sex that doesn't really exist (Once again, you have to TRY and KNOW and be MATURE to get to the point where the sex becomes a problem-and from what I have seen, the worst is seeing an alien butt for about 2 seconds and the Miranda scene). PG-13 material at worst, seen WAY, WAY more stuff going on in a PG-13 movie. Solid 4/5 game! Mature 14/15 year olds can handle this...
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AGE
Great game.
Absolutely brilliant game, the sex scenes aren't excessive and violence is NOT an issue. I said good and bad rrole models because of the fact that its your choice to be good or bad.
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AGE
Perfect
This is an amazing game. the whole customization, alteration of the personality, and enormous spaces to explore are amazing. the controls are pretty simple (although more complex combat options can be more difficult), there's no online, so noone can really complain about safety or exposure (althought online would be pretty epic), you are a really good person by default, and the bad desicions usually have consiquences. there is some suggestive content, and a few bad scenes and dialouge, but nothing really bad, in my opinion. gamewise, my only complaints are long loading screens and the whole mining thing. contentwise, my only complaints are a bit of suggestion and violence
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AGE
perfect for mature kids starting at 10
This is a great game. The language is extremely infrequent and if you want you can just turn the sound off. All cutscenes can be skipped if you are afraid of your kid seeing sexual content. All in all, a great game.
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AGE
i dont know if anyone has heard but mass effect 1,2 and 3 when it comes out. There are no release dates yet but it really comming out. If you dont belive me go on VGreleases* and go to Playstation 3 and go to search and type in Mass Effect and it will come up. Make sure you go to ps3 and then type it in. And keep in mind that there are no release dates yet
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AGE
seriously Who is the idiot who reviews these games do they actually play these games or is the person just dumb you dont try to save the world you try to save the galaxy, and it has alot of good role models. You guys piss me off with your arrogance.
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AGE
A game with a more healthy representation of adult relationships, and guns.
This is a deep and interesting game that requires a level of engagement children might not be used to. The game-play is not very violent as it remains cartoony. Any guns used in the game are fake and in the vain of sci-fi, so kids are unlikely to make mental connections to real life weapons.
The main issue most of my friends had with letting their kids play this game was the romantic element of this game. You can make your character engage in implied sexual behavior with one of the people your character grows to like most. What bothers me is that none of what is shown is gratuitous, and yet it has been given lots of flak. PG-13 movies have a tendency to show more sex than this game. While many of those movies are quick poorly written cash-ins, this game develops it's characters naturally and remains more realistic.
Sex was a touchy subject with my parents, and I have just started talks with my daughter. Having more realistic representations of adult relationships in your kids life wouldn't be a terrible thing. I will probably let my oldest play this when she is 15 if she wants to, however my boy will have to wait a bit longer.
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AGE
Love it not that violent compared to call of duty! long and very detailed game!
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AGE
Good game beat it and the sexual content is a relationship over a lot of time i dont see why mature 12 year olds cant play this game.
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Kid, 12 years old
February 2, 2011
AGE
Amazing sequel!
The first Mass Effect was not very good and the dialogue was cheesy. I never found the first one to be any good. But now this amazing sequel has really changed my opinion on the games. It isn't very bad in terms of violence, sex, foul mouths, and drinking. The violence can be iffy at some points, and there can be blood seen. A little kissing but nothing else. I love this game!
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| Platforms: | Xbox 360, Windows |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Role Playing |
| Developer: | Electronic Arts |
| Release date: | January 26, 2010 |
| Price: | $59.99 ($49.99 for PC) |
| ESRB rating: | M for Blood, Drug Reference, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence |
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