Mass Effect 2

[Scorpio]

Spoiler

Did anyone else take Legion to the Citadel? Not a single person bats an eye, with Anderson being the only one who even comments on him and that's after you re-ask him about the geth threat. You'd think someone might be a little suspicious at the checkpoint designed to screen for geth?

Spoiler

I took Miranda's side when she got in a spat with Jack. That effectively ended Jack's loyalty with me. But if I speak with her, I see there's a Paragon conversation route, but it's greyed out. I combed the universe and couldn't raise my Paragon anymore than I already had. It's like if you fucked up in Mass1 and didn't level enough points to save Wrex...

.

Spoiler

I took Jack's side because I felt that Miranda was being the more aggressive one/starting it. But anyway, I found it incredibly odd that I could somehow convince Tali and Legion, a Quarian and a Geth to work together for the greater good of both their people, yet I was somehow not enough of a paragon to make Miranda stop being a stuck-up bitch. And yea, like you I was never able to win back her loyalty, so of course she kicked the bucket at the end. Maddening.

 

[Eluvei]

Spoiler

Did anyone else take Legion to the Citadel? Not a single person bats an eye, with Anderson being the only one who even comments on him and that's after you re-ask him about the geth threat. You'd think someone might be a little suspicious at the checkpoint designed to screen for geth?

Spoiler

I had Legion with me when I made that sidequest about the customs C-Sec guard being suspicious of two Asaris. It was funny when Shepard asked "Do they LOOK Geth to you?" while I had an actual Geth right beside me. Indeed, if they didn't want to bother with extra reactions, they should have prohibited us to take Legion along to the Citadel and other places. I didn't take him to the Flotilla though, I bet there are quarian reactions there.

 

[Aazealh]

I don't like how the game makes you really work to raise your affinity bar. In Mass1 you could spend talent points on Charm or Intimidate to achieve the same effect. In Mass2 you have to literally earn them with choices. That's great on paper, but in reality, there aren't enough opportunities to make that route effective.

Agreed.

Structurally, Mass2 falls apart when compared to Mass1. The narrative thread of the game is a straight line: Collectors are abducting humans. Find out why and stop them. The plot doesn't expand, ebb or flow in the same way the hunt for Saren did in Mass1. As some other posters pointed out, it's also missing keystone characters operating outside your story that give additional perspective into what's going on (or isn't) in the story and the universe. Those were Anderson, the Council and Saren in the former game. The council and Anderson are still there ... but not really. For Mass2 we have the Illusive Man. That's ... it. And for all his machinations and creepy cybernetic eyes, he sort of falls flat to me. He doesn't develop, and we never see any other side of his personality than "cool and collected."

Very good point and I completely agree.

-Was it just me, or did absolutely no Hanar make conversation with you this time around?

Spoiler

None. Lame. The bits and pieces you learn about Hanar culture are cool though (from Thane among other sources), and Zaeed's story about how a Hanar nearly choked him to death was great. That doesn't excuse the lack of interaction with a Hanar though.

Spoiler

-Went to say hello to Anderson, post suicide mission, no congrats or anything. :(

Spoiler

Yeah, the lack of interaction with Anderson/the Council sucks. I get that they aren't supposed to help you or anything, but they could at least listen to what you have to say. It's a shame there weren't a few more encounters with them, considering the very important role they played in ME1 and will play in ME3.

Spoiler

I agree with Aaz about the lack of character interaction. But did anyone see this Garrus and Tali conversation on the Citadel? Walk around there with both of them if you wanna see, to be more specific, it happened to me at the stairs that take you from level 26 to level 27. Or read below.

I saw it and I enjoyed it a lot, but it only made me regret that there weren't more moments like that one.

Spoiler

Miranda and Jacob are supposed to have some similar dialog if you've completed ME Galaxy, but I didn't see it. It's probably unimpressive anyway. Talk about a "bonus".

Spoiler

Did anyone else take Legion to the Citadel? Not a single person bats an eye, with Anderson being the only one who even comments on him and that's after you re-ask him about the geth threat. You'd think someone might be a little suspicious at the checkpoint designed to screen for geth?

Spoiler

There's also some funny talk at the checkpoint, but yeah, it's not very believable. He shouldn't be able to wander the streets. Should just be greyed out with a message telling you a Geth isn't welcome.

Spoiler

I took Jack's side because I felt that Miranda was being the more aggressive one/starting it. But anyway, I found it incredibly odd that I could somehow convince Tali and Legion, a Quarian and a Geth to work together for the greater good of both their people, yet I was somehow not enough of a paragon to make Miranda stop being a stuck-up bitch. And yea, like you I was never able to win back her loyalty, so of course she kicked the bucket at the end. Maddening.

Spoiler

Worked fine here. Not only my Paragon score was enough to shut them up, but my Renegade score was as well and I just told them I was the boss and MY WORD is law.

Anyway, an interview (from before ME2's release but that still contains some spoilers) that might interest you guys: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dd78xshh_82cx7t67db

Some excerpts:

Spoiler

CaseyH-ME2: [...] One reason that the love interests [from ME1] were not recruitable in ME2 (but are still part of the story) is that they need to be around for the ongoing story in ME3.

Spoiler

Xeyska: What inspired the creation of the Drell species?

CaseyH-ME2: The creation of the Drell happened as part of coming up with a new love interest that would be a male alien. We knew he'd be a stealthy assassin, and would have to be attractive, so that presented a lot of challenge to the art team. In the end, we created a look that worked for Thane, but also became the basis for other Drell that you'll see in the ME universe.

Spoiler

WhisperPiano: By now, we are aware that most of the characters from the first game have been given greatly reduced roles, including the three potential love interests. While the new crew is intriguing, many of us are irked by what appears to be a disregard for the personal subplots through which each of our Shepards' stories were individualized. My question is: wil those of us who choose to have our Shepards remain faithful to one of the original romance options be able to come away as satisfied with the roma...


CaseyH-ME2: This is an interesting question that we see a lot. Here's our take...

While Mass Effect fans have grown to love our characters, you can imagine that after spending years crafting them, we have at least as much of an attachment to them. So it's definitely not a case of the team disregarding player's decisions with them or interest in those characters - in fact, it's the opposite...

We actually want to make sure these characters survive the ME2 story, which ultimately is a suicide mission: some of your crew will almost certainly die. Some of the ME1 characters are back, and recruitable (more than you might think), and the ones that aren't still play an important role in the story and will be around for ME3 - which we can't say for the new characters.
Another important thing to consider is that much of the fun of ME1 was the discovery of new people and places. If we made ME2 out of the same characters, you'd miss out of the fun of that discovery.

Finally, if you are worried about the role of the ME1 love interest in the trilogy, consider that the romance itself is told across the trilogy, in 3 acts. Apply the 3-act concept to what's happening in your relationship with them, and you might guess where we're going with it.

The real challenge is that many people will be unfaithful to their ME1 love interest because the ones in ME2 are really compelling.

 

[Aazealh]

For those interested, since we'd talked about it a while ago, 2 of the composers that had worked on ME1's OST alongside Jack Wall returned for ME2's, and there was a newcomer as well. Press release:

BioWare Reunites with Legendary Composer Jack Wall for Mass Effect 2 Original Score
Renowned Composer Provides Original Music for 2010's First Mega-Blockbuster

EDMONTON, Alberta, Jan 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- BioWare(TM), a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today that accomplished composer, Jack Wall, will compose the original score for Mass Effect(TM) 2, the epic second act in the award-winning action-RPG trilogy. Featuring nearly three hours of extraordinary orchestral arrangements, the score explodes with a symphony of sounds that spur the game's intense action and dramatic storytelling. Wall scored the award-winning soundtracks for the original Mass Effect.

"We are thrilled to again be collaborating with Jack Wall, this time on Mass Effect 2," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. "Jack did an outstanding job with the original game and has a firm grasp for our vision of the trilogy. His score for Mass Effect 2 perfectly blends classic sci-fi inspired sounds with unique arrangements to achieve an emotionally charged complement to the dramatic, action-packed gameplay."

"Working on the Mass Effect franchise has challenged me to create music beyond what I've written before," said composer Jack Wall. "With Mass Effect 2, the story is even more engrossing and affecting, so it was important for me, along with my team of composers Sam Hulick, David Kates, Jimmy Hinson, and music implementation by Brian DiDomenico, to develop a score that complemented the scope and intensity of the gameplay while captivating the players and drawing them deeper into the story."

From what his website says, Sam Hulick wrote ~30 minutes of material.

Here's also an interview of Jack Wall about the soundtrack: http://www.dailybestarticles.com/jack-wall-and-the-music-of-mass-effect-2/



Bonus:

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[redria]

Is anyone following/planning on following the Redemption comic? You can get issue 1 for the iPhone/iPod touch for free for a limited time

 

[Saephon]

I read the first issue a couple days ago, but it didn't really do much for me. I'm not really a fan of stories that fill in gaps or explain subplots in a different media than what it started out in; it's hard for me to get immersed. Or maybe I'm just too old to enjoy an American comic book anymore.


In other news, I decided to abandon my New Game+ in favor of trying out the Sentinel class. I'm loving the Tech Armor, and now that I'm about 6 hours into Insanity, I have a feeling continuing to be a Vanguard would have been like a cinder block to my head. Anyone else try/going to try a class you're not familiar with yet?

 

[Scorpio]

Is anyone following/planning on following the Redemption comic?

I'm interested in the story, but the art-style and general presentation didn't do much for me. I'll likely try to find a recap somewhere that describes the events instead.

Anyone else try/going to try a class you're not familiar with yet?

I thought the infiltrator class sounded interesting, as stealth was impossible in ME1 I was curious to see how well it would work in the sequel.

 

[nomad]

I've been taking my sweet time with this game. Now one thing I do like about this one (so far), has been that planets and missions done, aren't exactly big maps unlike ME1. I myself hate going back to back on big places... But anywho, my game somehow got bugged, and the autosave does not work. There's been quite a few times when I start the game, it asks for disc 2, I pop it... then again asks me for disc 1... A bit aggravating. Anywho, so I'm starting the crew's loyalty quests... so far so good. My question is, I'm going for the good guy here. Is creating relations (Miranda for example) going to affect my status? Or is that just an added extra? And who else can our beloved hero hook up with?

 

[Aazealh]

Is anyone following/planning on following the Redemption comic? You can get issue 1 for the iPhone/iPod touch for free for a limited time

I got the first issue with my Collector's Edition. Art and storytelling are both subpar, but I'm interested to know what happened to Liara... Still, I'd have preferred to see/hear about that stuff in-game instead.

In other news, I decided to abandon my New Game+ in favor of trying out the Sentinel class. I'm loving the Tech Armor, and now that I'm about 6 hours into Insanity, I have a feeling continuing to be a Vanguard would have been like a cinder block to my head. Anyone else try/going to try a class you're not familiar with yet?

I'll be trying other classes over time as I import more characters from ME1. I'll probably stick to Vanguard as my main character though.

 

[Proj2501]

Is creating relations (Miranda for example) going to affect my status? Or is that just an added extra? And who else can our beloved hero hook up with?

Well, here's how my in game romances went down. I had a fling with Jack, tried to see if the Justicar was DTF, she wasn't and then made sweet sweet love to Miranda...THEN after said suicide mission was complete, I got with Tali but only by telling Miranda I thought it was best to keep it professional.

 

[Walter]

You're a real virtual ho bag aren't you proj?

 

[Vampire_Hunter_Bob]

I really want Mass Effect 4 to deal with all the male Shepard's children from the first two games.

 

[Proj2501]

You're a real virtual ho bag aren't you proj?

What can I say man, the ladies couldn't resist the Dr. Pepper Recon Hood I was sporting.

You made that happen so I don't want to hear anymore about my free spirit nature.

 

[Eluvei]

Here's also an interview of Jack Wall about the soundtrack: http://www.dailybestarticles.com/jack-wall-and-the-music-of-mass-effect-2/

The Feed: Last question: Is there a game or game franchise that would make you say, “Hey, I REALLY want to put my musical pedigree on that?”

Jack Wall: Yes. Mass Effect 3.


Heheh, the guy is pretty awesome. Nice interview, and it's weird his name is the only one on the album's cover. Wall posted another little interview on his blog, for Gamershell this time. He talks a bit more about that Wwise thing he mentioned: http://www.gamershell.com/articles/1094.html

"We are fully responsible for the transitions and the emotional arc of each piece of music played in the game. This is unprecedented in my career of over 30+ titles. This marks a new era in how video game music gets composed for games."

Spoiler

Have you guys seen the early sketches of the Reaper-Human Larva in the artbook? It looks infinitely better, they should have kept it instead. Had potential to look more like the Reaper design we're used to in its maturity, I think. I also found an early sketch of how the Human-Reaper would have looked like in its final stage in a forum post, but I don't know if it's official: Here

 

[Aazealh]

Spoiler

Have you guys seen the early sketches of the Reaper-Human Larva in the artbook?

Yes.

Spoiler

It looks infinitely better, they should have kept it instead.

Yes...

Spoiler

Had potential to look more like the Reaper design we're used to in its maturity, I think.

Yeah, I also think so (and I think I mentioned it in a previous post, too). If anything, the size of the

Spoiler

larva

was much smaller than that of Nazara (:nerd:), to the point that it could be wholly enveloped in a typical

Spoiler

Reaper outer shell

. But that's not really an excuse for the mediocre design we got.

Spoiler

I also found an early sketch of how the Human-Reaper would have looked like in its final stage in a forum post, but I don't know if it's official: Here

That's also from the artbook, actually (page 16), and it was yet another design for the

Spoiler

larva

. It's my favorite out of the lot. Definitely more

Spoiler

Reaper-like, but with a touch of human-ness

.

 

[Eluvei]

But that's not really an excuse for the mediocre design we got.

Yeah, and it stands out even more now that we look at these cool sketches.

Spoiler

I thought the Reapers at the end of the game were pretty cool though, I liked to see how different they were from each other.

That's also from the artbook, actually (page 16)

You're right, dunno how I missed it.

Here's a link to the lead concept artist's deviantART, there are some ME2 pieces, some were new to me (beware of spoilers): http://mattrhodes.deviantart.com/

 

[Walter]

The first of the post-release DLC has been announced. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/103/index/1074772

On Tuesday February 09 2010 Mass Effect 2 fans will be able to get the new Cerberus Assault Armor and M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun DLC fof free through the Cerberus network. It should be available for all fans, both on PC and Xbox 360 at 12:00pm Mountain Standard Time.

Cerberus Assault Armor
Cerberus assault armor is designed for shock troops, to turn the tide of battle against creatures or forces that would decimate normal soldiers.
Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by +10%
Increases shields by +10%
Increases health by +10%

M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun
The M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads. This design also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22a is not distributed to militaries.

You can learn more about the Cerberus Assault Armor in a Arsenal update with screenshots of the armor in action here: http://masseffect.bioware.com/universe/arsenal/armor/

It's implied that this equip is free to Cerberus Network members, i.e. most of us.

 

[Aazealh]

Yeah, and it stands out even more now that we look at these cool sketches.

Spoiler

I thought the Reapers at the end of the game were pretty cool though, I liked to see how different they were from each other.

Spoiler

Yeah, they were alright. I wonder how many they are in total.

The first of the post-release DLC has been announced. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/103/index/1074772
It's implied that this equip is free to Cerberus Network members, i.e. most of us.

It's not much, but since it's free... Seems nice enough. The Eviscerator might fix shotguns at least, since currently they're not terribly useful.

 

[Proj2501]

It's not much, but since it's free... Seems nice enough. The Eviscerator might fix shotguns at least, since currently they're not terribly useful.

http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/bioware/masseffect2/resources/assets/universe/armor/screenshots/cerberus-02-p.jpg

Looks kind of blah to me. I want Collector Armor.

 

[Walter]

Looks kind of blah to me. I want Collector Armor.

Collector armor already exists. What'd you buy, the standard edition?

 

[Aazealh]

Looks kind of blah to me. I want Collector Armor.

Yeah the armor itself isn't so good looking. Won't beat the good old N7 one. And the Collector armor is very nice, I assure you.

 

[Proj2501]

And the Collector armor is very nice, I assure you.

What'd you buy, the standard edition?

The two of you can- *is snuck up on by Aaz*.

 

[Walter]

I've got 2 more Dr. Pepper codes up for grabs. No poems or bullshit hoops to jump through this time. First 2 people to PM me get them.

------
All codes snagged!

 

[Eluvei]

New

Spoiler

character

DLC spoilers, I guess.

Spoiler

There's a rumor (almost confirmed) that a new character will be revealed soon, Kasumi, The Master Thief. There's some pics, and a video of the character select screen too.

OCRemix is holding a Q&A with the composers this week: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27640

 

[Aazealh]

New

Spoiler

character

DLC spoilers, I guess.

Spoiler

There's a rumor (almost confirmed) that a new character will be revealed soon, Kasumi, The Master Thief. There's some pics, and a video of the character select screen too.

Yeah I saw pictures of that last week already. Was obvious from the beginning that a new character would be introduced opposite Zaeed just by looking at the character selection screen anyway.

OCRemix is holding a Q&A with the composers this week: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=27640

Awesome stuff, and I didn't know Jimmy Hinson was from OCRemix. Thanks for the link!