Mass Effect 2 Thread of hot, sweaty space love

[LeonJ]

Should be an excellent romp. The first game was brillant and you'd think the second will improve on everything the first one suffered with.

Can't wait.
_________________
Shin J Leon.

XBL - LeonJ
PSN - LeonJ

[lapzod]

[Vervain]

I've had my copy of the CE preordered since the first day it was up on EB's website. It is easily my most hyped game this year.

My love for Mass Effect is almost purely just for the character depth it has. Nowadays too many games have basically no story, and no real depth to their characters, and I really love me some character depth and story. So for me Mass Effect was a breath of fresh air after some of the games released in the past few years.

Plus technically speaking it's the first shooter I've ever bothered finishing.
_________________

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-6u9h.html

[Jarrod]

EDGE review appears to be fake, so expect it to be much lower. They did give ME 7/10 and Dragon Age 5/10, so I expect similar scores.

[Soap of Death]

I'm excited for this game. Not just excited, but excited in the way that Big Kev used to be.
_________________

[JackSlack]

[LeonJ]

Mako bits were very poorly done. Not the exploring but more then crazy hills that prevent you from getting to places on the map.
_________________
Shin J Leon.

XBL - LeonJ
PSN - LeonJ

[Tooki]

I like that Saren wasn't just a bad guy too. He is still an absolute tosser but it shows he isn't some narrow minded villain. It also adds depth to the plot twist of the Reapers.
_________________


Year Of The Husky 2010

[Jarrod]

Some more details from the OXM review;

• Uncharted planet exploration overhauled. You 'tease open' a planet on the galaxy map for the mineral mining and what-not, and are directly dropped to sidequest locations rather than explore the planet via the Mako.
  
• XP is not earned from every kill now, but instead from completing missions.
  
• Game will be on two disks for the Xbox360, though apparently only will require one swap.
  
• Plot takes a bit longer to pick up pace, but still delivers.

_________________

[matrix-cat]

Wow, gross. I hope we can still be evil without going all icky, I spent a long time making my Shepard as handsome as possible.

I think it's a real shame there won't be any more Mako-ing in ME2. I'm well aware of the public opinion on the subject, but I just can't get behind it. I loved every second I spent in that glorious Rocket Tank. From what I understand the control was awful on the 360 version, but the PC controls were perfect. Or, rather, they would have been perfect if there was an additional horizontal thruster. I loved being able to hop into the air vertically, but I was hoping the sequel might bring a Mako Mk 2 with maybe a red stripe and a booster for getting up those inclines that were just sliiiightly too steep.

Now Bioware has bowed to the more vocal people who had the misfortune of playing the game on the wrong platform, or who simply couldn't recognise the awesomeness of a bouncy Rocket Tank that can leap into the sky to punch the face of God at the touch of a button.

I'm also gutted that the Normandy has been replaced by an uglier version without the T-tail that has the nerve to call itself SR.2. The Normandy sits just behind the Millennium Falcon on my list of Greatest Spaceships of All Time; it was absolutely gorgeous. Now apparently it gets destroyed in the sequel. She will be sorely missed.

Still, I can't wait for Mass Effect 2. I was utterly enthralled by the first game, I pumped thirty hours into it over five days and then started a new game as soon as the credits finished rolling. I'm doing my 'get ready for the sequel' playthrough now.
_________________

[PixieGirl]

I didn't enjoy driving the buggy (PC version) it seemed like it was too sensitive and a little tap of left or right would make it skid everywhere like It didn't have any grip. and I kept falling off edges all the time. Really frustrating!
_________________

[Sinthesys]

No XP for killing? Lame.

I hate it when games take away the whole levelling up mid-mission after clearing a room of tough enemies. It makes you want to charge in and kill a bunch of people, instead of just rushing towards the mission objective so that you can cash in the useless item and get your xp...
_________________

GT: Da Herbalist - Keep on Choppin'

[Cerebral]

But on the other hand, it means the game doesn't penalise you if you don't choose to kill every enemy you come across. i.e. talking your way out of a situation is rewarded more highly (through paragon and renegade points) rather than simply killing everyone and getting more XP.

I hope they overhauled the economic system as well. In the original you'd get XP and money for killing enemies - and it scaled. Toward the end, I'd get tens of thousands of credits simply for clearing out a room, when quests throughout the game will offer you 500-1000 credits. Didn't make sense, and diminished the reward for persuasive barter.
_________________

My play-asia affiliate link (I may as well be honest about this)

[Nietzsche]

The mako is horrible in every way. In later playthroughs I didn't even even shoot any enemies with it I just went to the end objective. Even worked on Hardcore, not sure about Insane difficulty. Not getting XP for killing things is a strange choice. Could be great or leave one with no satisfaction for exploring everywhere. I like the idea that avoiding killing stuff nets you the same XP for killing everything though.

[matrix-cat]

[Nietzsche]

Did you collect all the mining stuff? I can't understand that at all

[Jarrod]

[Jarrod]

• There are more planets to explore than the original, and each has more effort put into backstory and questing.
  
• Heatsink system works pretty much exactly like ammo. clips and reloads, have to pick up 'ammo'.
  
• You do get XP for kills, but you now cant level up until a mission is over. Essentially it tallies up points for level ups.
  
• Combat feels more like Gears of War / Uncharted 2 now, mostly due to greater refinement of controls and mechanics, and heavier control of squad.
  
• AI opponents have different tactics based on race rather than a universal AI system. Krogan are far more aggressive than others, for example.
  
• cannot alter squad-mate armor and they automatically level up.
  
• Can customise the look of your armor.
  
• Install is ~18GB apparently. Load times from the DVD on the Xbox360 are ~12 seconds, and with an install ~6 seconds.
  
• Around 100 choices in Mass Effect will cross over to Mass Effect 2 and 3, and the same obviously applies to choices made in ME2. Even stuff like how you treated the reporter in ME will make some kind of impact in either ME or ME2.
  
• ~30 hours of cinematics in ME2. Not sure if this includes a single play, or a collection of all possible cinematics.

_________________

[LeonJ]

I don't like the whole importing a character thing.

I can't remember what choices I made in ME and how I upgraded him.
_________________
Shin J Leon.

XBL - LeonJ
PSN - LeonJ

[Chopbusted]

[JackSlack]

[Cerebral]

[Nietzsche]

EatChildren wrote:
# cannot alter squad-mate armor and they automatically level up.

You can change their armor you just can't change their colour. Levelling up is a weird one. I can't see why they would disable manual level up of allies

[JackSlack]

[Jarrod]