Mass Effect 2

[jUmpSt0p]

my brother rented it.. I've only played about 6 hours so far, but WOW.

WOW!

they hit the ball out of the park! I am HUGELY impressed. the first game I thought was way overrated, but Mass Effect 2 looks like it might just be the best sequel ever in terms of how much it improved from the first game.. they went and improved everything in this game!

even when I was just watching my brother I was like, "Wow, that looks way better than the first one. That combat looks really cool. Those graphics and environments look seriously polished. I really don't remember the first one being that good.."

and they are. graphics are gorgeous, combat has been upgraded and has a lot of sweet little details, and the story is just totally great so far, really has a lot more of an 'edge' than the first one, and gets you motivated right from the start!

the last time I felt this excited at the beginning of a game was Dead Space, and that was one of the greatest games I've ever played!

can't wait to delve deeper! and I was totally not excited about ME2 b/c the first one let me down..

 

[remake20]

Should I get it?

 

[Leonel]

Yes yes for the love of god yes

 

[LightSpectra]

Haven't played ME1, is the plot good enough to warrant playing that first?

 

[remake20]

I might.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Haven't played ME1, is the plot good enough to warrant playing that first?

Haven't played ME2 yet but I have to say yes.The story and the presentation in Mass Effect are great and you should play it before Mass Effect 2.
First playthrough shouldn't take more than 15 hours if you skip the lame sidequest.

 

[Captain2]

is the game that different if you're continuing on from ME?

I ask because I played the first on the PC and since that PC ceases to exist I dont have my save game anymore, I'm going to have to play the second on my xbox

 

[PhroX]

While I'm enjoying ME2, I disagree with the notion that everything is better than the first. Combat in particular, is worse: less abilities, horrible global cooldown system, tedious contrived ammo instead of the far superior heat system, most biotics not affecting shielded/armoured targets (which on the higher difficulties is pretty much everything - basically, if it's worth using a power on, you can't ) etc.

Add in scanning planets (I know driving around in the Mako wasn't great, but this is just tedious in the extreme), the lack of variety in weapons and armour (yeah, there was too much junk in ME1, but removing drops totally is overkill and not being able to equip my teammates beyond picking a gun is stupid) and it really doesn't feel as good as the first. Don't get me wrong, as I said at the beginning of the post, I am enjoying it, just that so far, I'm definitely feeling that ME1 was better.

Oh, and what have they done to my Liara???

 

[Oruc]

is the game that different if you're continuing on from ME?

I ask because I played the first on the PC and since that PC ceases to exist I dont have my save game anymore, I'm going to have to play the second on my xbox

Not really, the only really big difference is whether Wrex died, if you don't bring a character over he is dead everything else is just email the occasional run-in with some side character

While I'm enjoying ME2, I disagree with the notion that everything is better than the first. Combat in particular, is worse: less abilities, horrible global cooldown system, tedious contrived ammo instead of the far superior heat system, most biotics not affecting shielded/armoured targets (which on the higher difficulties is pretty much everything - basically, if it's worth using a power on, you can't ) etc.

Add in scanning planets (I know driving around in the Mako wasn't great, but this is just tedious in the extreme), the lack of variety in weapons and armour (yeah, there was too much junk in ME1, but removing drops totally is overkill and not being able to equip my teammates beyond picking a gun is stupid) and it really doesn't feel as good as the first. Don't get me wrong, as I said at the beginning of the post, I am enjoying it, just that so far, I'm definitely feeling that ME1 was better.

Oh, and what have they done to my Liara???

The combat is much better! They had to change the ammo system because in the last game you could hold trigger and you never had to stop with the right upgrades. Only one thing ME1 did better and that was squad interaction they hardly talk to each other, scanning was crap also.

 

[PhroX]

The combat is much better! They had to change the ammo system because in the last game you could hold trigger and you never had to stop with the right upgrades.

a) So what? It was fun.
b) If you must change it, then fix it, rather than ripping the whole system out and starting from scratch. Actually, this sums up pretty much all my issues with ME2. Instead of refining what they had, they've started over too often.

 

[Leonel]

Finished the game. Holy F-ing S.

That is Game of the Decade material there! I even got hand tinglies during the final mission, the kind you get from an adrenaline rush!

Plus to hit some sweet sweet quarian tail too and survive to hit it again.

 

[steviejay]

I bought it on Friday. Played it a bit as time's tight at the moment.

It's a real sexy b1tch of a game. I mean it really is. damn it's hot.

there's isn't probably a single bit so far I don't like or a change they've made I don't agree with (the idea of ammo now I like, makes fights more interesting).

Infact no that's a lie. I do have one complaint. Engineer Donnelly.......... where's his accent from? Aye ok I get it, they wanted to do a subtle nod to Star Trek by having a Scottish engineer but I'm from Glasgow and can't even begin to work out if it's Scottish, meant to be Scottish, or what. I think he must be from the Orkneys or something.....

 

[steviejay]

Finished the game. Holy F-ing S.

That is Game of the Decade material there! I even got hand tinglies during the final mission, the kind you get from an adrenaline rush!

Plus to hit some sweet sweet quarian tail too and survive to hit it again.

wait......... you finished the game? how long did you play it for?

 

[jUmpSt0p]

my brother already finished it too!!! 5 days!
he had some time off, and basically played 8 hours a day... I think he said his final time was round 40 hours, but he skipped many of the sidequests of course.

I haven't gotten to the 'mining the planets' stuff yet, but on X-Play they did say that was really boring and it was their only real complaint on the game, which got 5 Stars and tons of compliments..


I think the combat itself, the feel and just the FUN of it, is WAY improved. however, I also agree the inventory system is rather annoying (can only access inventory on the ship, huh?) especially as it prevents you from comparing guns and stuff when you are shopping, which is ridiculous... or at least it seems to!


whoever asked about STORY. YES! get this game for the story! just the feel and pacing and 'coolness' of the story is great right off the bat, and WAY better than the first game I think..

also, I don't really think it's necessary to play ME1 first, as the Codex (think civolopedia) in the game is fantastic! everything is narrated to you, and I can't stress how great this is!! you can sit back and enjoy learning about the game world and the history and the fiction and monsters and ships and tech and ALL OF THAT (or go make a snack or something! while the guy talks) without having to actually read it, which is so annoying, for example, in Dragon Age.


so don't worry about ME1... you can get the whole story in ME2 once you get past the intro part of the game and can access the full Codex.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

The inventory stuff seems really stupid and much worse than ME1 if you're right.
Are you playing it on PC or XBox ?

 

[PhroX]

Found a post on some other forums I frequent that pretty much summed up my issues with ME2's combat in relation to ME1's.:

ME1, individual cooldowns on powers, individual shields, ability to activate or restore shields without losing access to every other power, high health and instant use medi-gels for use when health was low, no forced reliance on cover to fight.

ME2, all powers tied together via global cooldown, restricts combat options. Individual shields and shield recharge powers almost entirely removed, remainder restricted by global power cooldown, and shields weakened significantly as a means of forcing player to focus on cover instead of shields. Medi-gel usage replaced by hiding behind a box and waiting for health to regenerate. Combat no longer fluid, can't dodge around, can't charge into battle, have to park butt and poke head out.

Screw auto-aim. Has nothing to do with this. Combat dynamics, everything. Gutted. Can't use powers sequentially. Can't heal up and keep pressing the advantage. Can't even take many hits. Forced to play hide and seek. Slow. Freeform approach in ME1 more enjoyable for me. Could use cover in ME1, but not required, and had more combat flexibility overall. ME2, not true.

There's just much less freedom to how you fight in ME2. You hide behind a box and occasionally stick your head out to fire. Maybe it's more "tactical" and "challenging", but it's much less enjoyable.

That said, I am still loving the game. Found a rather amusing easter egg: go to the local cluster and send a couple of probes down to Uranus

 

[Rub'Rum]

Damn damn damn. I was going to wait before I bought it since I recently bought a crapload of games... You guys aren't helping me. Could someone post about how much they hated it?

 

[Oruc]

Found a post on some other forums I frequent that pretty much summed up my issues with ME2's combat in relation to ME1's.:


There's just much less freedom to how you fight in ME2. You hide behind a box and occasionally stick your head out to fire. Maybe it's more "tactical" and "challenging", but it's much less enjoyable.

That said, I am still loving the game. Found a rather amusing easter egg: go to the local cluster and send a couple of probes down to Uranus

I was a Vanguard so I did less hiding behind boxes then you I guess, i'd charge into someone kill a couple of guys and my charge power would be back up

 

[jUmpSt0p]

anyone got some tips on winning Loyalty with the various team members?

 

[PhroX]

anyone got some tips on winning Loyalty with the various team members?

Do their missions. Simple as that.

edit: Actually, just remembered, there is something else. In addition to doing the side missions, there's two situations where you will lose a teammates loyalty unless your dialogue skills are high enough.