‘Ruthless’: Mass Effect fans unanimously agree one game is the toughest of them all

The recent hype surrounding the supposed development and release of the next Mass Effect has fans returning en masse to the original franchise for a little replay of sorts—but some are treading with caution around one of the titles as it is unanimously considered the toughest of them all.

The Mass Effect fanbase believes Mass Effect 2 is by far and away the hardest game to beat on the franchise’s maximum difficulty mode, Insanity, with many backing the second game in a Nov. 24 Reddit thread. While a number of missions in the sequel Mass Effect 3 come close, the sheer toughness players encountered while attempting to clear Mass Effect 2 stands above all.

In order to understand why there is such unity in this opinion, we must first look at why both the first and third entries are less demanding on stress levels. Simply from a game mechanics perspective, Mass Effect has become more balanced in favor of your AI opponents. The first outing of Shepard, as an example, heavily overturned biotics.

“In the entire game there are only two moments that can be considered difficult,” one player said, “both are on the Liara recruitment mission.” The point made here is that Mass Effect’s story structure funnels you into recruiting fan-favorite companion Liara T’Soni early on. There isn’t much opportunity to grow your build specifically to overcome the hordes of Geth you must deal with. 

Mass Effect 3 largely rids players of this unbalanced experience. In fact, as the same player further points out, this is the only original trilogy offering in which any build can be viable. Your main hurdles in this outing will be maps restricted to buildings and other structures. The missions on Sur’Kesh, Grissom Academy, and Earth come to mind. 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Mass Effect 2. Biotics are next to useless in the latter stages of the game thanks to the introduction of Collectors and their shielding specifically designed to resist this trait. Even if you are not running biotics, the way defenses work inevitably leads to far more time out of cover. I’m sure you can begin to see how that might not be ideal when your health bar has the sturdiness of a chocolate bar in a microwave. 

Another issue is that combat fluidity simply does not exist in any of these games. “Shepard controls like they’re moving through [a] viscous fluid,” as CookEsandcream put it. It all adds up to a torturous cycle of attempting to do something and getting clipped before you can find cover again. This area is one thing that Andromeda got spot on, of course, and I will sing that until the proverbial cows come home. 

So, should you be looking to endure hours of brutality as you sluggishly plug your way through the original trilogy on Insanity, remember to brace yourself for Mass Effect 2. You’re welcome, sincerely, everybody else who has suffered.