Mass Effect 2

Walter

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A trailer showcasing the new Vanguard abilities is up, for those who want to hunt it down. It's the class I think most of us will be playing as, given some of the previous conversation here.
 

Walter

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Steam finally has Mass Effect 2 listed (http://store.steampowered.com/app/901242/), but it's not yet available for preorder. That's not out of the ordinary for games that have just been added to the store. I expect it'll be available for purchase within the next few days. At least now it's inevitable!

Nothing special about Steam's package. It includes all the aforementioned digital deluxe edition special features (art book, comic, video, soundtrack, incisor rifle, collector armor and rifle) and pre-orders for either edition will get the Inferno armor. Very similar to how they handled DA:O.

Available: January 26th, 2010
This game will unlock in approximately 2 weeks, 5 days and 20 hours
I know my sig has a better countdown, but it sure is nice to see it on Steam :beast:
 

Walter

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Well! I know what I'll be drinking until ME2 comes out!

http://kotaku.com/5443649/would-you-be-a-pepper-for-ea-dlc

In Mass Effect 2 (shipping January 26th for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PC), a shooter RPG from EA's award-winning BioWare™ division, there are three unique pieces of armor: two helmets and a visor.
 

Aazealh

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Eluvei said:
First review is a 9.5 from the Official Xbox Magazine. They loved the game... but were apparently disappointed by the story.

For reference, they'd given ME1 a 10/10. While I obviously won't expose myself to spoilers, I'm curious about that disappointment.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Aazealh said:
For reference, they'd given ME1 a 10/10. While I obviously won't expose myself to spoilers, I'm curious about that disappointment.

Curious myself, but it's only .5 of a difference so I don't imagine it being that bad.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Curious myself, but it's only .5 of a difference so I don't imagine it being that bad.

YEa that's a little strange. You would think with all the improvements it would only get a higher rating, but I guess it couldn't get any higher than 10 anyway. Still, Mass Effect, although an amazing game, had it's flaws, and reading what little I did about the sequel it seems that the Mass Effect team knew exactly what needed to be fixed and expanded on. I won't read anything at this point, I'll just wait and see for myself, but it's a little weird. 9.5 is still amazingly high though, so that much is refreshing. If it got an 8 or something I would be worried, but that's just because the standard set by the first game is so incredibly high.
 

Walter

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Aazealh said:
For reference, they'd given ME1 a 10/10. While I obviously won't expose myself to spoilers, I'm curious about that disappointment.
Every reviewer has different standards. I sincerely doubt ME1 was reviewed by the same guy as ME2, since they were about 2 years apart.

Anyway, Metacritic just has an excerpt of the review, and it's certainly nothing spoilerific. The only critique is extremely vague: "few gameplay weaknesses." It's otherwise chock full of positive adjectives :carcus:

Mass Effect 2 overcomes its few gameplay weaknesses with a fantastic weave of dynamic combat, lavish presentation, and engaging character and weapon customization. But for all the myriad improvements that make Mass Effect 2's visuals so appealing and its combat so exhilarating, it's ultimately the way it moves us that makes it so memorable.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Must be a different guy then, and hell maybe he never even played the first one if they bring up "gameplay weaknesses", because the gameplay didn't change, right?
 

Walter

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Oburi said:
Must be a different guy then, and hell maybe he never even played the first one if they bring up "gameplay weaknesses", because the gameplay didn't change, right?
Gameplay encompasses a lot of things. He could really be referring to any game mechanic -- shooting, biotics, or even just the overall flow of the game. I wouldn't take it too seriously.
 

Aazealh

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Walter said:
I sincerely doubt ME1 was reviewed by the same guy as ME2, since they were about 2 years apart.

ME1 was reviewed by Paul Curthoys. Not sure who reviewed ME2, but apparently this guy works at a different place now, so it isn't him.

Oburi said:
maybe he never even played the first one

I highly doubt that.

Oburi said:
the gameplay didn't change, right?

Of course the gameplay changed. There were lots of changes. New weapons, a pseudo-ammo system, and lots of other things I haven't checked out.
 
What does gameplay even mean? I think the first thing that comes to mind is the battle system, the weapons and shooting... but on Mass Effect's case, we're "gameplaying" what in other games is supposed to be just dialogue or cutscenes. So when the guy vaguely criticizes the "gameplay" on a game with planet exploration, character customization, interactive dialogues, etc, we can't come to any conclusions without reading the full thing. And no one wants to read the review now, obviously.
 

Walter

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http://kotaku.com/5446283/mass-effect-2-sets-its-sights-on-the-modern-warfare-crowd?skyline=true&s=x

While Mass Effect 2 will remain very solidly in the realm of role-playing game, the combat has been reworked specifically to try and attract the same sort of gamer who plays Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2 project director Casey Hudson told Kotaku.

"When it comes to the shooter quality of the game there are things that a really experienced shooter is looking for," Hudson said. "The feel, the precision, things like that, so we made sure those things are there as well."

"We do have third-person shooter combat. That was a big thrust, including that. That world continues to evolve with games like (Modern Warfare 2). We need to put Mass Effect 2 combat against the very best that is out there. And say this is absolutely state of the art shooting.

"I think in combat moments they will feel it is the same sort of game."
Sounds good to me. The shooting mechanic in ME1 always felt sort of clumsy. Serviceable, but certainly not accurate and realistic. Good to see they're putting a lot of love into it this time around.

But really, I don't think you can draw from the so-called MW2 crowd by including interesting gunplay mechanics. That crowd plays the game for the FRAGS.
 

Aazealh

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Walter said:
But really, I don't think you can draw from the so-called MW2 crowd by including interesting gunplay mechanics. That crowd plays the game for the FRAGS.

Yeah, I think what Casey Hudson was really saying is that they're pitting their combat system against those of pure shooters in order to obtain the best possible quality, so that players that are used to shooter mechanics will not feel it's lacking. That doesn't mean people who've been playing de_dust everyday for the past 10 years, that means us.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
I know what class I'm playing as! It's the Soldier encase anyone was wondering. http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14235013/mass-effect-2/videos/masseffect2_trl_soldier_11210.html *SPOILERS IN VIDEO - Walter*

Also almost finished my 6th play through, completed almost all of the side quests. I'm going to play through only 1 more time, but that time I'm going to do the minimal so I can see the differences in ME2.
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
I know what class I'm playing as! It's the Soldier encase anyone was wondering.
I'm wondering what the hook will be for the Soldier, since every other class has been beefed up quite a bit. The versatility of the soldier class doesn't hold as much water for me as a beefed up Vanguard class.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
I'm wondering what the hook will be for the Soldier, since every other class has been beefed up quite a bit. The versatility of the soldier class doesn't hold as much water for me as a beefed up Vanguard class.

I'm not sure my self, as every other class has gotten some badass features. Basicly the biggest hook in BW opinon at least is the ability to have more guns than everyone else.

The way I look at it, the soldier class would be faster, higher accuracy and have better tactical options then other classes. Which alone would be it's benefits.
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
The way I look at it, the soldier class would be faster and have better tactical options then other classes.
I wouldn't say that. The Infiltrator will probably have the largest array of options, given their many abilities (some spoilers from character class videos:
from summoning creatures to hacking enemies to killing shields, etc. etc.
) A soldier will just be the fastest way to punch a hole in your enemy's face -- the direct approach.

For these reasons, the soldier will probably be one of the last classes I pick in my ME2 playthroughs because it seems like it would favor the least interesting approach to combat in a game that gives you a wide array of options.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
I wouldn't say that. The Infiltrator will probably have the largest array of options, given their many abilities (some spoilers from character class videos:
from summoning creatures to hacking enemies to killing shields, etc. etc.
) A soldier will just be the fastest way to punch a hole in your enemy's face -- the direct approach.

Whoops! I meant to say idealy, but I see what you're saying.

Personally I like the soldier class because it is the most simplified class.
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Personally I like the soldier class because it is the most simplified class.
And I can understand that. Sometimes you want old faithful to be able to slice through enemies as fast as possible.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Walter said:
And I can understand that. Sometimes you want old faithful to be able to slice through enemies as fast as possible.

Though, after you were telling me about the infiltrator class I know what I'm going to be playing through ME2 with also.
 

Walter

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Vampire_Hunter_Bob said:
Though, after you were telling me about the infiltrator class I know what I'm going to be playing through ME2 with also.
Whoops, I misspoke. I meant the Engineer, not the Infiltrator.

One thing that BioWare hasn't discussed at all yet (thankfully) are the second-tier class specializations that you received in Mass Effect 1 about roughly halfway through the game. I wonder if they'll be the same or completely new this time around.

UPDATE: Mass Effect 2 available for PREORDER on Steam finally: http://store.steampowered.com/app/901242
 
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