Mass Effect 2

[cfriend]

I bought Mass Effect a few weeks ago in anticipation of the sequel, which was released Tuesday, Jan. 26th. I'd never played it before, but being as I loved KOTOR and KOTOR2, figured I'd enjoy this one too. I'm about 20 hours into it and thoroughly enjoying it. I'll probably get another few weeks out of it, then buy Mass Effect 2 and port my character into the new game. Anyone else going to buy this, or already playing it? I know I can't be the only RPG fan here...

 

[KarthVader]

I have not played either, but they look very immersive and time consuming (in a good way) !

I'll get Mass Effect soon and then the sequel later in the year. Great looking game though!

 

[NightLad]

I'm playing it now. The graphics are amazing, the voice acting is great, and the storyline is very... very... godd!

You are in for a real treat!

I'm an Adept; much more fun to play in ME2, since you can actually do a lot of dmg and kill things w/ biotics. ME1 mostly limited my Adept to CC.

 

[Spacegeezer]

I finally picked up Mass Effect on a sale back in November, via Steam. Had to drop it until late December, and then I was able to finish it last week. I really enjoy Bioware's recent consoley RPGs (KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect). Driving around planet after planet was a wee bit boring at times. I like to think they did that so that you don't end up playing it straight through. I'll definitely pick up ME2 when it is discounted.

 

[Rancor16]

This is what I'm pumped for http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/deceived-cinematic-trailer

 

[TheScalpel]

I played through Mass Effect (the first one) twice... GREAT game, the story was even more compelling than the game itself, which is exceptional... haven't had time to jump into the second yet, but if its half as good as the hype out there right now, I can see me happily burning through about 40 hours of my life again!

...somebody make a movie out of the first one!!!

 

[cfriend]

Yes, I'm glad someone mentioned the story. I won't discuss spoilers, but descriptions of a interactive cinematic experience and compelling characters were absolutely true in regards to ME1. ME2 looks even better in both aesthetics, cutscenes and gameplay, and I cannot wait to get it. Vanguard looks cooooool.

 

[Amer]

I've put in probably about 10 hours with ME2 now. It's a great game, but a different beast than ME1. More shooter with RPG elements than RPG with shooter elements. You now have a cover system that is pretty much like Gears of War, and you need to use it less you want to be torn to shreds. Leveling up and equipment has been simplified and streamlined. All of your bonuses come from equipment, which can be improved upon further by scanning planets and finding resources that can be used to buy upgrades. Most of your powers come through leveling up, but there are some you get by researching. Your teammates no longer have armor, so you only have to worry about your own.

The beginning of the game and the story quests are incredibly cinematic and engaging, and you now have times where something is about to happen and you can pick a Paragon or Renegade choice.

Going around the galaxy is similar to ME1, but you don't have to land on most planets anymore, you just scan them, shoot droids out and collect minerals. Every once in a while your scan will reveal an anomaly and you can land on the planet and do a side quest, somewhat similar to ME1 but much better as they aren't all the same thing. For better or for worse, no more mako, no more driving over mountains. You'll spend a lot of time scanning the planets just because the upgrades are so vital for buffing your characters and it's not terribly tedious since you don't have to land the mako and drive around to find stuff.

The story really brings in a lot of neat things depending on your actions from the first game and rewards you for collecting resources and money in the first game. If you had a level 60 shepherd you can transfer it in and have it already be level 5. 40-49 will give you level 3. The level cap in this game only goes to 30. Apparently in ME3 you will go 30-60.

Biotics can really do some damage this time around, but all your powers are either effective against shields or armor or health, or armor and health, or shields and armor, so you have to use them wisely. The game does a great job of showing you what powers are useful or not against the current enemy. But as a biotic you're not going to be killing a lot of things until you get their shields and armor down. Until then, you're pretty much still crowd control and taking down shields and such. On anything higher than Normal most enemies have at least shields or armor if not both so it really brings down the killing blows for biotics. They can take down shields or health though with one hit a good chunk of the time if you've got the right upgrades. Also, you can only use one power at a time, this goes for biotic or tech powers. Once you use it, you have to wait for the cooldown to use any other power. This means that in order to combo powers, you have to make your team work together, which I think is an improvement over ME1 where you were the one man army.

The sniper rifle is a monster in this game. Instant kills for headshots on unshielded enemies. Also, that brings up how neat it is that shooting different areas of the body has different effects. Shooting arms and legs will effect enemy movement and shooting. Enemies with flamethrowers can have their tank shot and explode.

It's really a fantastic game. I've seen some complaints that it's lost it's RPG-ness, but I think it's just different.

 

[Sullybob]

I have been looking to pick up Mass Effect 1 used, but no luck so far. I really like the KOTOR. I have liked pretty much anything that Bioware puts out actually. I really like RPG's.

This is what I'm pumped for http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/deceived-cinematic-trailer

This looks very good.

 

[cfriend]

I've put in probably about 10 hours with ME2 now. It's a great game, but a different beast than ME1. More shooter with RPG elements than RPG with shooter elements. You now have a cover system that is pretty much like Gears of War, and you need to use it less you want to be torn to shreds. Leveling up and equipment has been simplified and streamlined. All of your bonuses come from equipment, which can be improved upon further by scanning planets and finding resources that can be used to buy upgrades. Most of your powers come through leveling up, but there are some you get by researching. Your teammates no longer have armor, so you only have to worry about your own.

The beginning of the game and the story quests are incredibly cinematic and engaging, and you now have times where something is about to happen and you can pick a Paragon or Renegade choice.

Going around the galaxy is similar to ME1, but you don't have to land on most planets anymore, you just scan them, shoot droids out and collect minerals. Every once in a while your scan will reveal an anomaly and you can land on the planet and do a side quest, somewhat similar to ME1 but much better as they aren't all the same thing. For better or for worse, no more mako, no more driving over mountains. You'll spend a lot of time scanning the planets just because the upgrades are so vital for buffing your characters and it's not terribly tedious since you don't have to land the mako and drive around to find stuff.

The story really brings in a lot of neat things depending on your actions from the first game and rewards you for collecting resources and money in the first game. If you had a level 60 shepherd you can transfer it in and have it already be level 5. 40-49 will give you level 3. The level cap in this game only goes to 30. Apparently in ME3 you will go 30-60.

Biotics can really do some damage this time around, but all your powers are either effective against shields or armor or health, or armor and health, or shields and armor, so you have to use them wisely. The game does a great job of showing you what powers are useful or not against the current enemy. But as a biotic you're not going to be killing a lot of things until you get their shields and armor down. Until then, you're pretty much still crowd control and taking down shields and such. On anything higher than Normal most enemies have at least shields or armor if not both so it really brings down the killing blows for biotics. They can take down shields or health though with one hit a good chunk of the time if you've got the right upgrades. Also, you can only use one power at a time, this goes for biotic or tech powers. Once you use it, you have to wait for the cooldown to use any other power. This means that in order to combo powers, you have to make your team work together, which I think is an improvement over ME1 where you were the one man army.

The sniper rifle is a monster in this game. Instant kills for headshots on unshielded enemies. Also, that brings up how neat it is that shooting different areas of the body has different effects. Shooting arms and legs will effect enemy movement and shooting. Enemies with flamethrowers can have their tank shot and explode.

It's really a fantastic game. I've seen some complaints that it's lost it's RPG-ness, but I think it's just different.

 

[moodymick]

Son has just bought this, not really my cup of tea though. recently finished Assassins Creed 2 - much better than the first, if anyones interested. What i am eagerly waiting for is Bioshock 2, with Max Payne 3 to come along later in the year.

 

[Spacegeezer]

Amer, in general your review saddens me greatly. I appreciate that they're moving their game forward, but it sounds like they've thrown a couple of the babies out with the bathwater. It still seems that they've managed to make the story more compelling and integral and improved the action elements, though, so overall I expect it will be quite enjoyable. I think I will miss building my character level by level and selecting the appearance of my team.

One of my favourite moments in ME was driving the Mako around on Earth's moon. I'm glad you no longer have to spend 70% of your time in the Mako, but I'm disappointed that we don't get to use it at all. I was really hoping for some interactive ship-to-ship combat, too. Maybe in ME3

 

[cfriend]

Amer, in general your review saddens me greatly. I appreciate that they're moving their game forward, but it sounds like they've thrown a couple of the babies out with the bathwater. It still seems that they've managed to make the story more compelling and integral and improved the action elements, though, so overall I expect it will be quite enjoyable. I think I will miss building my character level by level and selecting the appearance of my team.

One of my favourite moments in ME was driving the Mako around on Earth's moon. I'm glad you no longer have to spend 70% of your time in the Mako, but I'm disappointed that we don't get to use it at all. I was really hoping for some interactive ship-to-ship combat, too. Maybe in ME3

I read there'll be some kind of vehicle made available in some DLC? Who knows.

 

[Amer]

I can't say for sure if there is ship to ship combat, but I don't know why else they let you upgrade the Normandy's guns and shields. =)

 

[cfriend]

I just completed Mass Effect, male Shock Trooper Shepherd. Maxed out charm, which most people I know gawk at... I guess KOTOR permanently ingrained some of that "these aren't the droids you're looking for" mentality into my RPG brain... My preferred squad was Kaidan and Wrex... dual biotics, some tech, etc. They throw/lift anything and everything, and I lay it down with rifle fire. We got along swimmingly.

 

[NightLad]

Just FYI for those importing ME1 toons;

I've read that over 75 decisions you make in ME1 are contained in the saved game file you import. I know that in my playthrough of ME2 I found a whole bunch of them. Some are very minor (overhearing a news broadcast) or MAJOR (determining significant aspects of the endgame in ME3) and starting entire Questlines in ME2.

And yes, some of the decisions you make in ME1 will carry through to ME3 -- and may even skip ME2!

I'm not too worried because I picked only good options in ME1, except for one occasion where it was really a grey-area. Ah well, we will see how it goes! lol

 

[GoldenMonkey]

I have a PS3, and this is the first game that really made me want a 360, lol...

 

[Echo]

Won't have the chance to play this for a few more months because I have a crazy back log. But I have to say I have watched the launch trailer for the game over 30 times now. It is the definition of epic.

 

[media]

I'd never played it before, but being as I loved KOTOR and KOTOR2, figured I'd enjoy this one too.

The new KOTOR mmorpg is going to be amazing.....you can still sign up to be a beta tester I believe.

 

[Amer]

I think I'm heading into the end of the game, so I just wanted to throw some more chum in the water.

No ship to ship combat in the main game, the reason for upgrading the Normandy becomes obvious later.

I'm a big RPG fan. I love KOTOR, I love Dragon Age, I love Oblivion, Fallout new and old, etc. I've seen a lot of "ME2 is no longer an RPG!" complaints and I just have to shrug. ME1's RPG components were not the greatest. The inventory system was a mess. The equipment was the same things over and over again in different schemes with different bonuses. ME2 just streamlines things. Sorry, you won't be carrying around 20 different rifles. But there are 3 or 4 you can choose to use and each one has it's bonuses and cons. You don't always want the most damage dealing weapon, sometimes you want something that is full auto or has a larger thermal clip. You still find loot as upgrades for weapons and armors (or the resources to upgrade them) and can do the minigame planet scanning to upgrade even more. Even without the DLC armor you have 4 or 5 pieces you can choose for each part of your body that give different bonuses and look different. Honestly, even though I've probably hit the 27-28 hour mark in the game I have no idea what I would have done with more equipment. The dialogue options and the amount of things that can happen as a result of your actions and choices are the greatest I've ever seen in a game, and to me that makes it more RPG than pretty much any RPG I've ever played.

So many scenes and choices in this game really give you an emotional response...some of these choices are just hard to make. I've never experienced a game where it's been so tempting to take the "renegade" choice, either because it's the smarter thing to do or because you so desperately want to do it for your party member's sake. Thankfully, it's not a single bar system where doing a bad choice makes you lose good points. You can be full paragon, make some renegade choices and still be a paragon. I've gone the total paragon route the entire game, and honestly it's been hard to do. Usually I'm the guy that can't play the "bad" guy in these kind of RPGs just cause I can't stand being a dick to people. But this is the first game where I've felt it can be just as hard to do the "right" thing sometimes. Very refreshing.

I can also say this is the first RPG where it's tough to decide who's going to be in my party every time I go out. Yes, logically, I'm an infiltrator so to properly fill out my party I should choose people with XX abilities and what not. But it's tough because almost every single character is likable and refreshing. Yes, some stand out more than others, but at different points of the game you at least care about each one of your characters, even if you kind of forget about them later on due to focusing on other character's stories.

Also, this game is hilarious. So many funny dialogue options and scenes if you play things right.

I just don't know what I'm going to do when the game ends. It's the first time where I don't want to stop playing. I've felt this way before with other games, but this is going to be different just because you can play so differently each time. Usually I get bored replaying games because I start to get that feeling of "oh yeah, that's what happened" or "oh that part I don't like is coming up now".