History YMMV / MassEffect2

* IdiotPlot: The plot is driven by Reapers EvilPlan to have the Collectors [[spoiler: build a human Reaper]]. But as the Reapers were mere years away from their full-scale invasion it's unclear how [[spoiler:a single Reaper]] would make a difference given [[spoiler:Sovereign, with a whole army behind its back, already failed]]. All that it seemingly would have accomplished was alert the galaxy with their mass human abductions giving away one of their main advantages, the element of surprise, if not for the unforeseeable galactic races governments idiocy of ignoring the overwhelming evidence as opposed to making preparations.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: While the idea of a morally complicated former black ops soldier joining a terrorist organization in the name of helping others sounds like an awesome character on paper; Jacob’s black ops past receives minimal exploration, his motives for joining Cerberus is basically just to excuse his presence, and his loyalty mission does nothing to explore either or better flesh Jacob out. He’s very underwritten to the point of being uninteresting to many fans.

* FetishRetardant: Not only is his "But the PRIIIIIIZE" line extremely cheesy, the fact that he says it while looking at Shepard with cold, unfeeling eyes after he's just admitted to sneaking into her cabin adds an unintentionally creep factor to the encounter.

** Grunt's recruitment mission is also a pain. Literally every other weapon is armed with a homing missile launcher, which can easily stunlock you or knock you out of cover.

** Rocket troopers. Their attacks will frequently stun you and knock you out of cover, allowing other enemies to fill you with lead. Worse, their rockets can curve around cover in some circumstances.

** Rocket troopers. Their attacks will frequently stun you and knock you out of cover, allowing other enemies to fill you with lead.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Clearly meant to be a naive [[TheEveryMan every man]] soldier. The problem is, he shows vitriol towards ''some'' squadmates, admittedly for valid reasons, but not others whom he'd also have plenty of reason to do so with. This, by itself, would be a downplayed version of the trope at worst, since he only does this when they're first recruited, and lets it go after that. But come the third game, he ''cheats on you'', should you have romanced him. The [[UnfortunateImplications Racial Stereotypes]] he exudes in that game (and arguably, during his romance), do '''not''' help.

* DracoInLeatherPants: [[VillainHasAPoint While not completely wrong all the time]] and also doing some genuinely good things for Shepard, the Illusive Man is still a ruthless KnightTemplar and the leader of an amoral terrorist organization, and yet inevitably some people focus far more on the former than the latter.

* FourthWallMyopia: Many players don't seem to notice that nearly all of the information that may have convinced them that Shepard is still trustworthy [[LockedOutOfTheLoop was actively withheld from them]], something [[InvokedTrope the Illusive Man encouraged with strategic information leaks]].
* InformedWrongness: If you're playing a Renegade Shepard (especially one who shows contempt for the Alliance and the Council and ''prefers'' Cerberus) then they are kind of right to say that you've betrayed the Alliance and thrown your lot in with a terrorist organization versus a Paragon or Neutral Shepard's doing it only because it's necessary.

** Miranda's physical features sometimes verge on this trope. See UncannyValley below.

* UncannyValley:
** The Unreal Engine 3's age is starting to show with its inability to handle flowing water without significant modification; PC Gamer's review wondered why the characters cried "oil slicks".
** A lot of the faces just don't look ''quite'' right. Much of it has to do with the lighting.
*** Miranda's face sometimes leans more towards a lumpy potato than her voice actor's face (Yvonne Strahovski). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71cxSdFEXqU She also looks the worst in bad lighting]], but on the other hand looks better in softer and warmer lighting. The ''Legendary Edition'' fixed this with a minor, but very noticeable upgrade in textures and by toning down the harsh lighting.
*** Dr. Chakwas's face is particularly frightening in the brief moment when she swivels in her chair to face you before a conversation.
*** [[http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/105/index/2247010/1 Shepard himself]]. It's not much better if Shepard is female.
*** The Illusive Man may be this ''deliberately''. According to one dev diary, they deliberately made him perfectly symmetrical. Combine that with the normal mapping on his skin, and he's deep in the valley.
*** Jacob's face model looks fine when his mouth is closed, but the width of his lips makes too many of his teeth show up when he's talking.
*** Morinth and Samara, despite being modeled on the same woman, have different animations. Samara looks a lot more normal than Morinth and her creepy square teeth and her creepy smile. Considering [[TheSociopath who Morinth is]], this may very well be intentional.
** Many of the female character's proportions just look wrong, particularly Miranda's (a realistic head on a spindly, very thin body but with big breasts and buttocks). In fairness to this one though, this is par for the course for many female video game characters.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Eyes are [[UncannyValley very hard to animate well]]. Samara's eyes look ''stunning''.

* UncannyValley: Her face looks a little... off at times. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when it's meant to be perfect, thus looks a little off. Frequently she comes under criticism for SpecialEffectsFailure (not helped by the fact that her face often doesn't look too good in cold hard lighting) but her face looks a lot prettier in softer and warmer lighting.

* UncannyValley: Not his face, obviously (it's a just flashlight, after all), but Legion has a habit of awkwardly mimicking the movements and posture of those he speaks to, particularly Shepard. The best example is the handshake Shepard offers -- Legion obviously has no clue what to do and just repeats the motions.

* TheScrappy: She is not well liked at all due to being a sociopath, and having no relevance to the story at all compared to her mother. Having an unsettling UncannyValley face even though she almost looks exactly like her mother doesn't help, and there's also the fact that most of her dialogue is identical to her mother's.

* CompleteMonster: [[ItsAllAboutMe Ronald Taylor]] is Jacob Taylor's [[ArchnemesisDad father]] and cares only about himself. Serving as Acting Captain when his ship crashed on a remote planet, Ronald discovered the food on the planet caused neural decay in whoever ate it. Restricting the ship's rations to him and his officers before killing them, Ronald exiled all the men so that he could keep all the women as his [[SexSlave own personal harem]] for years. Ronald eventually activated the distress beacon only to [[DirtyCoward save himself]] after the men became dangerous, and when confronted on what he's done, Ronald only [[NeverMyFault came up with excuses on why he wasn't to blame]].

** Because there's [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters twelve party members]], and they're largely interchangeable during missions, cutscenes often use the same animations for each character. This works fine for the most part, but can get strange if you have Garrus and/or Grunt in your party--their models are noticeably larger than the rest of the characters', meaning that an animation or pose which works for the other ten characters ends up...not working for Garrus or Grunt. For example, bring Garrus on Tali's loyalty mission--during [[spoiler:Tali's trial]], check the background. Garrus is sitting in the stands...with his arms clipping through his legs.

** The Hammerhead replaces the Mako, and to its credit, it's faster, handles better, and doesn't have problems going up gentle hills... it also has the durability of wet ''toilet paper''. You will learn to hate and fear the alarm noise it makes when it takes too much damage, because it'll only take a few hits before that happens. Add to that its weapon has a shoddy aiming system, unlike the Mako's guns. Missiles might actually hit what you aimed at. Or they might not.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is she a JerkassWoobie or simply a {{Jerkass}}? Part of that might depend on whether fans play as female (whom Jack is not as horrid with) or male (to whom she is a BastardGirlfriend) Shepard, and how a romance is handled.

* LesYay: With Jack, at least as far as some fans are concerned. Mocked and Lampshaded in the Citadel DLC where Shepard can "helpfully" suggest that the two get laid, even claiming that all of their supposed sniping [[SarcasmMode surely]] must [[BelligerentSexualTension indicate] hidden feelings.]]

* JerkassWoobie: She's tortured over the manner in which she was "created", had to spend her early childhood having to live up to [[AbusiveParents her father's]] crazy high expectations, (and its also heavily implied that he murdered Miranda's older "siblings" for not meeting said expectations) and worst of all, [[spoiler:is incapable of conceiving a child, something she desperately wants (as the Shadow Broker files on her clearly show)]]. Needless to say, when one takes all that into consideration, its easy to see why she can be [[IceQueen so cold and nasty sometimes.]] It also makes it unsurprising that either Paragon or Renegade dialogue choices acknowledging her flagellation over not having a single good aspect of hers to take credit for can start a romance with her. Paragon Shepard will compliment her service record, and more pointedly, her body; Renegade Shepard will try to push her buttons further until she claims Shepard himself as an example of her "damned good work".

* FetishRetardant: Not only is his his "But the PRIIIIIIZE" line extremely cheesy, the fact that he says it while looking at Shepard with cold, unfeeling eyes after he's just admitted to sneaking into her cabin adds an unintentionally creep factor to the encounter.

** Squadmate conflicts in general. They got hyped up prior to the game's release as being a result of the squad's TeethClenchedTeamwork situation. In the final product, only two of these instances actually pop up in the story; one between Miranda and Jack and the other between Tali and [[spoiler: Legion]]. In these instances, Shepard runs the risk of losing the loyalty of the character they don't side with, but in both cases, the player can squash the conflict right then and there if they have a high enough Paragon or Renegade level. Even failure then, Shepard can still make up with the other character individually. The fact that this was an undercooked feature and that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Grunt and Mordin's conflict didn't make the final cut]] and Jacobs antagonism towards Thane seemed to hint that those two would also have one, left many unsatisfied with the final result.

* FanNickname: The Space Hamster has been dubbed "[[VideoGame/BaldursGate Boo]]" by the fanbase, since it was obviously included as a ShoutOut.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Sang "Major General's Song". Played for comedy. Then ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' came. Not so funny in replays.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** During [[spoiler:his mini mission]], Joker wonders if he's dooming the galaxy by [[spoiler:hooking up EDI]]. At one point, he mutters, "...now I have to spend all day computing pi because Joker plugged in the Overlord." Then comes the Overlord DLC...
** A Website/YouTube user made a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQvPFNjxxU0&context=C4045cc8ADvjVQa1PpcFPlCObhVG4znLyTaB8NJUflIkyZAeYoiRQ= video]] that depicted the series ending like ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. It was meant to be a joke, but it turned out to be prophetic when the third installment came out and the fans' reaction towards the endings being similar to ''Evangelion'''s 16 years earlier.
** One of Jack's lines is "If I die, I'm haunting you, Shepard," a typical BadassBoast that shows her HiddenDepths that she believes in that sort of thing. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', those who have died haunt Shepard.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:Yeah, go ahead and shoot your gun at a supremely pissed off PARAGON COMMANDER SHEPARD. That will end well. In the end, probably the only thing that saved his life was that Paragon Shepard was more worried about helping his brother than killing Archer.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Not only is ''ME2'' the highest rated game in the franchise, it also strongly contends for the distinction of being atop many publication's lists of great [=BioWare=] games and greatest games of the [=2010s=]. In several ways, it was the last game by the company that released to universal acclaim and minimal controversy. Every single game [=BioWare=] has released since has been mired in controversy either starting at the time of release ([=DA2=], [=ME3=], [=ME:A=], Anthem) or in retrospect following media reports of mismanagement at the company ([=DAI=]). For fans who may be dismayed or disillusioned, [=ME2=] is looked at especially fondly because it is more than just Mass Effect at its peak; it's also [=BioWare=] at its peak.

* IdiotPlot: All sides commit major strategic blunders between ME 1 and ME 3, which are borderline idiotic. For Shepard and the Council races, this leads to the galaxy being woefully unprepared when the Reapers finally invade in ME 3, exacerbating the already horrifying death toll. On the Reapers' side, this leads to [[spoiler: their eventual defeat after inflicting devastating destruction]].
** The Collectors: The plan of the Collectors in ME 2 is to [[spoiler: build a human Reaper]].
*** Yet, it is hard to see how a single [[spoiler: human Reaper would help the Reapers accomplish their plan, with the vast majority of the deaths being caused by the Collectors themselves as they abduct humans to build the Reaper]]. This is particularly mysterious, since Sovereign, with a whole army behind its back, already failed in the previous game.
*** Moreover, according to EDI's estimate, the completion of this [[spoiler: Reaper]] is still in its early stage at the end of the game. Given that the Reapers invade the Milky Way less than a year later, this begs the question of what the use of one half-completed [[spoiler: Reaper]] could possibly be.
*** Finally, while the [[spoiler: Reapers continue to wait in dark space until the eventual completion of the human Reaper]], they give the galaxy ample time to prepare. This means they give away one of their main advantages, i.e., the element of surprise. Granted, the Council races don't use the time to prepare (see below), but the Reapers couldn't have foreseen this.
** The Council races: In ME 2, Shepard is forced to join up with Cerberus, a highly questionable organization to say the least, because [[ApatheticCitizens everybody else is dismissing their warnings of the coming Reaper invasion]]. This kind of ignorance may be plausible from the type of politicians, say, found on the Council. However, the game makes it seem that aside from a few individuals like the Virmire survivor, Anderson, Hackett or Kirrahe, all the higher-ups of top-notch intelligence organizations and governments is now convinced that Shepard and their team were basically imagining things and are actively burying their heads in the sand out of fear of dealing with the Reapers. Given all the evidence, this kind of willing ignorance is simply unbelievable.
*** The game tries to [[HandWave hand wave]] this with a couple of lines about the Vigil on Ilos having shut down. This, however, completely ignores the sheer size of the combined evidence.
** Shepard: Half-way through the game, we encounter [[spoiler: the corpse of an actual Reaper]]. Since getting the galaxy ready for the coming Reaper invasion is the single most important thing, making this find known to the Council should have top priority. Yet, we do no such thing, which leads to the galaxy being woefully unprepared when the invasion starts in ME 3. The game [[HandWave hand waves]] this by having the Council either acting as if Shepard doesn't exist (if the original Council died, whether they were replaced by humans or aliens) or giving them baack their Spectre status but ordering them to stick to the Terminus systems or else (if the original Council survived), so any warning would've fallen on deaf ears.

* AngstWhatAngst:
** For someone who lost the most advanced ship in the Alliance at that time and was responsible for getting the captain killed, Joker shows no angst at all about his confidence in being able to fly the new Normandy and handle the mission that he is on. Could be justified in that he has the EDI to automatically correct any mistakes he might make, and he's had two years to come to terms with the guilt. [[spoiler: Subverted somewhat in Mass Effect 3 when you find out he feels tremendously guilty about Shepard's death.]]
** Then of course there’s Shepard him/herself. He/she DIED and yet seemingly takes it all in stride over the course of Mass Effect 2, casually joking that he/she “got better” to virtually anyone who brings this up. Its possible Shepard believed that he/she thought he/she was only severely wounded and that the line “only mostly dead” was the truth, but in Mass Effect 3 [[spoiler: when you invade the Cerberus base, you find some data logs about the Lazarus project where it is put to rest once and for all that Shepard was DEAD. Full stop, deader than a door nail, DEAD. Shep reveals that he/she has actually been having an existential crisis, wondering if he/she is just a clone or an advanced VI that only thinks it’s Shepard.]] Made worse when you realize that the Citadel DLC has to happen before this moment to be canon and Shepard literally has to fight [[spoiler: his/her clone.]]

** Appears to be played straight, but ultimately subverted by Garrus. He appears to take his new scars well, but by speaking to Kelly or Garrus himself, you'll find out he's in serious pain (emotionally and physically) and just putting on a brave face for the sake of the mission. When you're romancing him, when he tries to dissuade Shepard, he says: "Look, Shepard, I'm not--" He stops there, but his hand is touching the scarred side of his face for a moment before he drops it. His Lair of the Shadow Broker dossier also reveals that he won't go on video chat with his sister since he was injured. In the third game, however, Dr. Chakwas mentions that she's discussed dermal regeneration with him, but he refused, as he seems to like his scars.
** The amount of trauma Tali is put through is almost comical, yet she remains outwardly optimistic, polite, and helpful through it all. Ultimately subverted, as demonstrated when Shepard speaks to her on the ''Normandy'', saying that Tali deserved better. Tali will state that life isn't about what you deserve -- and that she thinks [[spoiler:her father would have found it fitting that she mourned him by blowing up a lot of geth]]. In addition, if you read Tali's dossier on board the Shadow Broker's vessel, it reveals that Tali [[spoiler:tried to write to the families of the quarian soldiers that died on Haestrom, but put her email aside for the moment when she was unable to think of how she could justify their sacrifices]]. She also downloads a book on grief and loss, although whether its about the loss of her [[spoiler:father, squadmates on Haestrom]], or [[spoiler:Shepard during the original Normandy's destruction]], or some combination thereof, is up to the fandom's interpretation.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Subverted. Shepard dies ten minutes into the game, and is brought back… but can potentially [[KilledOffForReal die for real]] at the end of the game, so, yes, they ''would'' really do it. Then DoubleSubverted in that save games where the entire team dies won't carry over to ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', and it is the only story-possibility that the ExpandedUniverse directly contradicts and ignores.