9 Video Games That Will Leave You A Changed Person

6. Mass Effect 2

The middle part in a trilogy of epic spacefaring games, Mass Effect 2 is considered by many to be the best of the series. It had the best story, the best characters, the best mechanics, the best weapons and no one at all hated the way the game ended. It's a masterpiece of the last generation of gaming and an essential game for anyone who has even considered liking a roleplaying game.

ME2's ending either raised players up or broke them down entirely. The story of the game involves a mysterious race of aliens known as The Collectors who are kidnapping humans from across the galaxy. Commander Shepherd and his/her intrepid crew bounce their way around the Milky Way trying to find out where the people are being taken and how to rescue them. The journey leads them to the centre of the galaxy where they assault the Collector's mothership, liberating captured humans as they go.

Things are much more sinister. The Collectors are taking humans to build a humanoid Reaper, a living spacecraft built from the genetic code of a species, designed to wipe out natural sentient life at specific cycles. Once the Reaper is destroyed, a rapid escape from the mothership is on the cards and this is where you will either be victorious or you will fail. As you get closer to your ship, certain obstacles are put in your way and you are challenged with picking the right team member to get the job done. A door needs to be opened by someone with telekinetic powers, do you use Samara or Jack? Pick the right one, the door is opened and you can progress, pick the wrong one and the door will still be opened but one of your party will die. It's possible to actually lose half of your party in this escape which can include not only some of the main characters in the series, but some of your favourite party members too.

Should they die in this sequence, they subsequently won't be available to use in Mass Effect 3 either. If you get out with everyone alive, you will feel like the consummate hero, but if you fail and people die, you will mourn their loss and have to live with the consequences. Or reload the level and do it again, but that defeats the point, really.