Mass Effect 2

SaiyajinNoOuji

I'm still better than you
^^^^^^^ It's not that far fetched. I don't think too many people were expecting WoW to come after the three Warcraft RTS's.

I'm sure they could find a way to tie in that world to the single player Mass Effect world or what ever. I am just saying that it happened to Knights of the Old Republic in Star War's and probably will with Neverwinter Night's!

Besides, an FPS style MMO done correctly would be pretty good. Hellgate tried it and it wasnt very good... Planetscape did good but then SOE raped it. I know would I play an MMO like that. :carcus:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
SaiyajinNoOuji said:
^^^^^^^ It's not that far fetched. I don't think too many people were expecting WoW to come after the three Warcraft RTS's.

I'm sure they could find a way to tie in that world to the single player Mass Effect world or what ever. I am just saying that it happened to Knights of the Old Republic in Star War's and probably will with Neverwinter Night's!

Besides, an FPS style MMO done correctly would be pretty good. Hellgate tried it and it wasnt very good... Planetscape did good but then SOE raped it. I know would I play an MMO like that. :carcus:
Hahaha, dude you are talking out of your ass, and I have a feeling you know it.

None of the other titles you mentioned were planned as a trilogy. I'm sadly not excluding an MMO for the ME universe in the distant future, but to think ME3 would suddenly change genres and set completely new gameplay rules for the final game in the trilogy is just absurd.
 

Saephon

Die young and save yourself
If The Old Republic does well, it's a possibility they'd continue the Mass Effect universe in an MMO someday. They've already said they'd be interested in doing something with this gigantic world they've created after the trilogy's done. But yeah, there's no way 3 would just change gears. And god, I want it already...*starts second playthrough*
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
SaiyajinNoOuji said:
Besides im just trying to fit in. :sad:
I understand, but I think you're in the minority here. Though this isn't the best place to discuss it, I've really never understood why gamers think an MMORPG is the peak of the evolutionary road for popular franchises. It's just the current zeitgeist.

All that being said, I think a kind of arena or gladiator-type multiplayer mode would be great. It's something I've wished for since playing Pinnacle Station. Whose Shepard is TRULY the greatest? :ubik:
 

SaiyajinNoOuji

I'm still better than you
Walter said:
I understand, but I think you're in the minority here. Though this isn't the best place to discuss it, I've really never understood why gamers think an MMORPG is the peak of the evolutionary road for popular franchises. It's just the current zeitgeist.

All that being said, I think a kind of arena or gladiator-type multiplayer mode would be great. It's something I've wished for since playing Pinnacle Station. Whose Shepard is TRULY the greatest? :ubik:
Well I dont think an MMO is the peak of any game... now a good single player game where you can go multi-player with 3 of your bud's for 4 player co-op or death match... well... that is a lot of good gaming right there.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Got my N7 gear today from BioWare :badbone:

n7-gear.jpg

The shirt fits snugly, and the hat looks great. They're both very well made. The hat is "one size fits all" which really just means it's fitted with a slightly elastic band. Sounds cheap, but it's very, very nice. Sadly this is probably among the trendiest shirts I own. But, I ... probably shouldn't wear these in conjunction.

When someone at work asks the inevitable question, I'm just going to say that my chest is of the highest ranking military proficiency in Allied Space.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Walter said:
Got my N7 gear today from BioWare :badbone:

Lucky you, mine are still being shipped. Might take a while too. Anyway, finally finished the game yesterday. Great ride, but I have complaints. Will post my comments soon. Haven't read like the last 6 pages of this thread to avoid spoilers so I should probably catch up on that too. :iva:
 
Ending spoilers:

Did anyone manage to kill off Shepard? I've been trying, but he always lives. I want him dead to see how it ends.

Oh, and it turns out the new Mako, Hammerhead, will be a DLC and will be released soon!
 

Saephon

Die young and save yourself
Eluvei said:
Ending spoilers:

Did anyone manage to kill off Shepard? I've been trying, but he always lives. I want him dead to see how it ends.


It's tough, but actually kind of rewarding to see it. You have to not do anyone's loyalty quests, don't upgrade your ship, and pick poor choices for leaders during the final mission. Watching people die one by one from the very moment you pass through the relay, and finally when Shepard is all alone and he himself dies after completing the mission....it's kind of depressingly epic. Poor Joker though!

Nice apparel Walter. :serpico: I just noticed they have a nicely striped hoodie too! Though it's sold out at the moment.

.f
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, Ive been waiting for that hoodie to be restocked all day...

Just beat the game. I'm going to wait to post my reflections though.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Warning: spoilers for the entire game below. Also lots of rambling.

So overall an excellent experience, but some things detract from it. My two biggest disappointment from a purely storytelling/design point of view are: the handling of the previous relationships from ME1 (specifically with Liara) and the last boss. Seriously, a giant cybernetic skeleton? Who thought that was cool? When ALL other Reapers are squid-like ships, why should that one be human-based?

Now, while I wasn't totally convinced by the idea that Reapers absorb whole species to build themselves, I can live with it and expect something cool to come out of it. I do feel that making them not just machines but a mix between organic and cybernetic is a cop-out though. But my bigger beef is with the design. Giant robot skeleton was not very cool IMHO. Felt rather uninspired. It's even addressed in the dialog ("why does it look human"). I don't know, maybe it's just me but a space ship with limbs and a mouth seems stupid. Big failure right there. I don't know if they'll be able to find a good enough explanation for it, though I certainly hope they will. Maybe it'd habe evolved into something different since it was a larva, or would have been integrated into a regular Reaper-like structure, whatever. I have the feeling it'll be hard to swallow.

That aside, I felt the ending sequence was pretty good overall. Predictable but very well executed, and you have to marvel at all the choices you have and at the different ways things can go. The ending with Harbinger being revealed to be a Reaper was great, though I'm not sure how Shepard got it since he doesn't get to see the screen inside the Collector's base. The idea that Collectors are modified Protheans was extremely cool too and I didn't see it coming, so props to Bioware for that. The bit with the Illusive Man was not too different from what happens with the Council at the end of ME1, except you get to choose whether to be his ally or not. Not bad, but not particularly impressive either. I thought the credits lacked coolness compared to ME1's as well, maybe due to the lack of Faunts? I'd have liked something a little more epic, for example a really scary tune with the last image being the Reapers on their way. Felt expedited.

Now concerning the way your former team mates from ME1 react to your return. I felt Bioware really dropped the ball there. They're barely surprised and seem almost indifferent. I mean, what? You lead these guys to save the galaxy, went through hell with them, did them huge personal favors (assuming you did the sidequests), and after thinking you dead for 2 years that's how they react to your return? The only one whose reaction felt right was Wrex, and he's ironically just optional since you can kill him in ME1. Now I get that they learned of your return ahead of time (except maybe Tali) but still, it was disappointing to me. And that's power 10 for the romantic relationship.

I can understand the idea to keep your previous lover away, give Shepard the opportunity to go for someone else, and maybe (hopefully) bring them back in ME3. But the way it's handled in the game? Meh. I don't know how it plays out with the humans, but being loyal to the Alliance is at least a good motive considering Cerberus' reputation. For Liara however they decided to make her go after revenge. A radical change for her character. In itself, why not, but I found the execution particularly lackluster. So you meet her in her office, kiss and hold your faces close, and then... She tells you she needs you to run errands for her and give you 2000 credits for your trouble. Wow.

I've only read issue #1 of the ME Redemption comic book, which specifically addresses her involvement with the Shadow Broker in the hope of securing Shepard's body, and it helps fleshing out the meager stuff you learn in-game, but on the whole it still feels odd. Especially the way she goes about it, all business-like. It's like you're just an old acquaintance, which is true for some playthroughs but not for others. And the problem is precisely that they didn't do the extra effort of adding 15 seconds of poignant dialog with violins where she tells you she'd really, reaaaally want to help but can't because of something major. As it stands it's more "well I'd like to come with you but I'm kinda busy right now, sorry."

It's not even a question of her having moved on because she accepts your kiss. But if she still feels something for you, should her business with the Shadow Broker, who could take years according to what she says herself, take precedence over your imminent suicide mission to save the galaxy from corrupted Protheans, the race she spent all her life studying before her career change? And the reason she gives for it is lame too. A friend of hers died. Wow. How about her lover (you)? Counts for nothing? I think they should have gone all the way if they wanted to have her embroiled in something too dangerous and constraining to allow her to join you. Like having her only talk to you through a holo over the network and from a secret, secluded location. Hiding from the Shadow Broker's men as she hunts him down. As physically unable to join you as much as she is determined to stop her enemy. That would have been perfectly acceptable. Not just sitting uncaring at her desk.

On another note, the lack of interaction between Garrus/Tali and other former members is rather disappointing. I haven't tested it with Wrex or Kaidan yet but I'm also not expecting anything. A little comment would have been nice. More generally, I felt that team mates didn't interact enough in this game compared to ME1. Sure, there are no elevators anymore, but having them talk spontaneously in certains places would have been nice. There are a few such lines in the game already, so adding more was possible. Regrettable.

Now about the gameplay. Very good overall but a few complaints here as well. Streamlining things is good. Streamlining everything? Not so much. I dig the new powers like Charge, Shockwave, Incinerate, Slam, etc. Changing Levitate into Pull was a good idea too. Getting rid of weapon mods and turning them into individual character powers? Bad. And not very convenient in-game. I also question the interest of team mates ammo-related powers when you play a Vanguard who's already got 2 such powers by default, since they can be cumulated. That ties with the general complaint of the inventory having disappeared. Managing the inventory was a hassle in ME1, alright, but removing it altogether isn't what I wanted. As it stands finding new weapons is basically just getting an upgrade and it doesn't go beyond that. Disappointing. I liked the various competing companies for hardware and being able to get some really good gear. Buying upgrades is cool but lacks charm and could be compatible with getting a larger variety of guns and mods. There has to be a middle point between "inventory full of junk" and "no inventory at all".

Same goes for armor and talents. Being able to tweak Shepard's armor in detail is awesome. You don't get a lot of variety though, and in the end you don't modify it much. Missed opportunity right there. And while I'm not asking for as much details when it comes to team mates, being able to change their own armors would have been cool. Just polarizing their color scheme doesn't really cut it. As for talents, why reduce the number of options? Again, while I like the more general "equipment improvement through research" thing, it effectively gives you less choices in how you level up. That's not desirable. One particular example is how Paragon/Renegade boosting skills were merged with the general class-improving one. This pretty much removes the possibility for players to forsake the charisma-based approach to massively invest in combat skills. Thus making the cool Renegade/Paragon moments less cool because you have to go out of your way to not be able to choose them instead of feeling like you've worked for them. Speaking of which, there weren't enough Paragon/Renegade choices, and I felt there were less sidequests in hubs than in ME1. Again, not something desirable.

Now, about exploration. Driving endlessly on empty planets with the Mako was a hassle. Like the inventory. Removing the Mako altogether? I don't know, I miss it. :iva: I feel like there should have been at least a few missions with the Mako, for old time's sake. A great scenery and a challenging objective are all it takes to make it cool. The resource gathering in ME2 is Ok, but it's not super fun either. Not the best replacement for the Mako exploration really. I don't dislike it, and it's a cool concept, but it quickly becomes "work", even with the updates.

Moving on to the new characters. I have mixed feelings. I dig Legion. Had forgotten all about him by the time I played the game (even that he was in the first teaser trailer) and had been hoping for a Geth ally, so I was really happy. When I first heard "Shepard-Commander" I must have had the widest grin ever on my face. Generally I enjoyed the side missions to gain each ally's favor. I think Garrus' could have been better done (he still felt like a wannabe to me), but otherwise I really enjoyed them. Samara's could have used a little more polish to justify the choice they give you between her and her daughter though... Morinth didn't seem all that enticing to me. Anyhow, making Garrus into a h4rdc0r3 vigilante was cool, and it fit his weird ethics. I didn't catch he was Archangel until I learned he was Turian, so that was great too (I figured Archangel would be Thane). Well done bit.

I also enjoy Mordin. Nice to have a Salarian onboard, and his take on the genophage was really welcome and well done. Grunt wasn't so hot to me. It's obvious the devs knew they weren't going to top Wrex, so they went for the extreme opposite. Cool on paper, but in-game he felt like a generic Krogan to me. Exactly what he looks like: a tank-bred specimen without much experience or personality. Not bad in itself, but suffering from not being Wrex, who was Zaeed and Grunt combined but cooler. Tali was a favorite in ME1 so I was glad to have her back (side note but her skills and Legion's are completely redundant, understandable but too bad).

Zaeed himself... Felt like a DLC character. Cool enough for a bonus. Samara's nice as the old, dignified and emotionless Asari. A drastic change from Liara while not being generic, all good. Thane, I don't know. Got him last in my playthrough, and while he's cool, he didn't stand out too much for me. Maybe it's just that I didn't spend enough time with him and overloaded from all those characters. Jacob and Miranda were alright. Better than Ashley and Kaidan on pretty much all counts IMHO. Not my favorite additions but I enjoyed them. Lastly, Jack is fun. I like the bad attitude to some extent, and the traumatized childhood bit is well done even though it's not the most original story ever. A good human addition who isn't just either from the Alliance or Cerberus.

I felt the romantic choices they propose you were alright. Not exceptional, but they do the job. Miranda was obvious and felt natural, Jack was also to be expected and got an "awww" out of me when she curls up on you in bed. Tali felt a bit forced to me, but maybe it's because I was already far into the game. SimplyEd must be veeeeerrry happy though. :void: Anyway, my favorite and the one I'll choose to import into ME3 is just to not woo any of the girls, and instead have my Shepard longingly look at his picture of Liara. I felt that was well executed and I think it's awesome they put that bit in.

The actual sex scenes are disappointing though. Not that I expected full on nudity, but the first game tried to have a certain intimate, mildy erotic approach where your characters were suggested to be naked. Now we've moved back to dry humping. Maybe it's because of the controversy this caused in the first game (I hope not) but I found it regrettable. Tali's scene is probably my least favorite of the 3 I've seen.

If you wait until after the mission is completed to make your move it's not handled very well though. The girls talk like you haven't beaten the Collectors yet (e.g. Miranda asking you to promise her you won't die). I also felt some generic lines should have been included for all characters once you're done talking to them. Instead Garrus just tells you he's making calibrations. Why the special treatment for some and not others? Moving on to Joker... I liked him more than in the first game. Less annoying/stupid. The section when you play as him was cool, and his evolving relationship with EDI is great. Speaking of EDI, she might be my favorite new character, seriously. I started out with mixed feelings on her but she grew on me and now I just love her.

About the soundtrack... It's good overall, but it lacks a few excellent tracks that stand out IMHO. No real equivalent to Vigil, the Virmire battle track or Sovereign's theme in ME2. And no Faunts at the end. They dropped the ball.

Now to conclude this overlong yet rough and incomplete summary of my thoughts about the game, I have to say I really liked the humor. I laughed out loud several times through the game, which is not a common occurrence. Standing out right now are Liara imitating her mother to threaten some person (have you ever faced an Asari commando before?) then saying she'll flay them with her mind (ultra nerdy reference), Blasto the first Hanar Spectre (parody of Dirty Harry), and the video game seller in the Citadel. But there's so many and they're all so nerdy that it's a real delight.

The connexions from ME1, like I said in a previous post, are so numerous they're mind numbing. I loved it all, but I wish they'd been more subtle about them sometimes, instead of sometimes throwing several characters at you almost at the same time (e.g. Asari sent by the Rachni queen, then the next zone, Asari you saved from the Thorian). Still, very cool overall, and we'll see what the Reapers say when I throw my armies of Rachni and Geth at them! Mwhahahahaha.

Shepard-Commander out.



Eluvei said:
Oh, and it turns out the new Mako, Hammerhead, will be a DLC and will be released soon!

Very nice! I wonder how it'll be used.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Replying to some stuff from earlier that I didn't read until now.

Henry Spencer said:
Sucks to be a big Mass Effect fan when Amazon tell you that your pre-order ain't coming until Monday. Thanks, Amazon for fucking up, again.

Strange, Amazon delivered in my case. Shipped the game early, and when UPS didn't deliver it on time, they refunded me the shipping fees. Still got to play the game before it came out in my country too! :badbone:

Walter said:
What weapon type do you guys find you use mostly?

As a Vanguard, I started with mostly the Heavy Pistol, then began to use the SMG and Shotgun as time went by since the Heavy Pistol ammo limit really nerfed it compared to what it was in ME1. All things considered I think the SMG is overpowered compared to the others. Also, I chose the Krogan shotgun as my upgrade and while it packs a punch, being only able to shoot once before reloading kind of kills its usefulness. In retrospect I wish I'd chosen the Assault Rifle.

Heavy Weapons are alright. Like I said before, I don't miss the grenades from the original game. The Cain (Nuke gun) is fun, but the ammo limitation is so harsh it's hardly useful. The Collector beam weapon is probably the most convenient heavy weapon overall from what I've seen. Didn't even try the flamethrower.

Walter said:
Im a Vanguard, but yeah, it's not as interesting as it was in ME1. Without Push or Barrier, staples of the class, it's just not the same.

I agree. I don't miss Throw much because Shockwave is awesome, but Barrier was truly a staple and I sorely miss it. I'm also not a fan of the fact using a power creates a cooldown for all powers. It lowers your tactical possibilities and also makes it possible for someone to just use one single power again and again. I won't cry about the removal of Stasis, but a paralysis biotic field could have been cool. I guess they saw it redundant with other abilities like Field Pull. If so I can understand that.

Charge is very cool for Vanguards but considering how quickly you can be mowed down in the game, I feel it's a little underpowered. Specifically because an enemy with a shield or armor is barely affected. I feel like they could have tweaked it a bit. And I'm not a fan of the ammo boosting powers. One's cool, two was too much IMHO.

Proj2501 said:
Yo Aaz. Thanks for making me get into this series. Cheers.

You're welcome bro. :casca:

Walter said:
I appreciate how open the middle portion of the game is, allowing you to recruit whatever characters you want and choose when to pursue the individual character stories.

I agree, that feeling of freedom was very cool. I wish there had been some more "mundane" sidequests though.

Walter said:
Has anyone bothered wearing the alternate armors? Some of the stat bonuses are tempting, but I can't stand that they force you to wear a helmet. Half the game is dialogue driven, so watching a static helmet spout words isn't exactly compelling.

I agree, the helmet stuff was unbearable. I ended up wearing one of the Dr. Pepper helmets (Sentry Interface) for most of the game. They should have just removed it whenever Shepard talked. To hell with realism.

Eluvei said:
I wonder if any ME2 character will be playable on ME3, considering that all of them can die on the last mission (can anyone confirm if this is true?). Imagine how awesome it would be to have Legion and Wrex on the same team...

That's precisely what they're going for I think. ME1 and ME2's cast united against the Reapers. That'd mean a cast of 14 characters (counting Wrex) assuming they don't add more.



More comments:

Still on the streamlining... Less levels, less option for powers (apparently the new name of talents), and less ways to earn XP. Not good. The mission reports from the Illusive Man's point of view are cool enough, but they took it too far. I can understand why they'd make you gain XP by mission instead of giving you small chunks with everything you scan or every enemy you kill, but I think it takes away from the feeling of freedom and from the charm of the game. Takes you out of the story as well, like you're playing levels with a beginning, an end, and score rankings. And the few times you get XP within the game feel like token moments they added just to pretend it isn't like that.

Same with the Renegade/Paragon choice options, to go back to that. I felt they were underused in ME1, and I felt they were used even less in ME2. That was a bit disappointing, despite how awesome the "QTE" parts were. Not having things to scan anymore was a bummer as well (Ok, there are still a few, but it's like 1/10th of what was in the first game). Being rewarded for exploration was awesome, showing that combat isn't all there is to the game.

The fights between members of the team were cool, but I still wish there had been more interactions in general. Between themselves and between them and Shepard. Loyalty system was a great addition though. Very nice. I think it's too bad there was no giant hub zone like The Citadel was in the first game. Omega could have filled that role, had they added a few more zones. Would have been cool seeing fights break out in the streets too, something we saw in ME1 (Chora's Den) but that was restrained to special zones in ME2.

On that note, having certain areas of the Normandy be locked until you get the squad member that occupies it seems dumb and unnecessary. So I can't go to the observation room because Samara isn't on board? Yet it's the room all the crew is supposed to be able to go to when they want to catch a break. Illogical. The encounter with the Council was disappointing as well. It's like they don't care. They reinstate your Spectre status but you aren't even given the opportunity to report anything to them. Adding a few token choices in that direction would have been welcome, like what was done with the Cerberus data you can deliver to the Alliance, keep for yourself or send to the Illusive Man.

Overall, I have to say this game's plot strikes me as less ambitious than that of the first one. Less grand, less epic. Like it's just a transition between ME1 and ME3. Which it is, but that's not how it should feel to the player. Maybe it's because the Collectors aren't made to be a big enough threat. They are a threat, but I felt it wasn't stressed as much as it had been for the Geths in ME1. I know they attack covertly and all but I wish there had been a couple more encounters with them, showing that the Alliance and Council are helpless, but also that the situation is reaaaaaally worrying. To me, in that regard, ME2 does not equal ME1. But I'll need to replay the game and to wait for the excitement to cool down a bit before I can be sure of how I feel about it all. For all the stuff I post negatively about, I really enjoyed a lot of the game. I guess that's the problem when you have very high expectations.
 
I had to switch from Vanguard to another class because it was changed to close combat focus and I felt I was using my SMG more than anything else, this after 18 hours of play with Vanguard.

I've been playing on Veteran and Hardcore difficulties too so that makes the biotics of the vangurad even less useful to me because they only work on shieldless/barrierless enemies and when they get that low its better to just shoot them anyway. You also get mowed down pretty quick as well. I found tech powers to be much more useful as well as just pure combat abilities. You can't really combine powers anymore either because of the global cool down unless you have squad members with biotics to compliment yours and even then since it requires to be on unshielded enemies it usually just kills them with one ability.

My biggest complaint is how they took a lot of the RPG elements out of the game entirely instead of trying to improve on them though.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I won't elaborate too much because Aaz and I think alike for most aspects of Mass Effect 2. I've already expressed how miffed I was at how they handled Liara. But rather than focus on characters, Id like to talk more about the plot and gameplay mechanics.

I'd like to start by highlighting a few things BioWare likely set out to accomplish and did so in spades. First off, the combat is far more interesting, dynamic and challenging than it was in Mass1. From the very first time I shot a round, I knew I was in for something special. The gun reports well. It has some kickback, and that makes each shot feel like it counts. It feels like an actual shooter, not a hybrid RPG/Shooter.

Another is the Quick-Time-Events that allow you put your paragon/renegade points to work by bullying or Ghandi-ing your way through an obstacle. That's a nice touch. It's good to have more than _just_ an extra dialogue option. However, 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. For example
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...
.

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."

Will post more later...
 
-Was it just me, or did absolutely no Hanar make conversation with you this time around?

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

-Watching Shepard dance alone at the Dark Star Lounge with his helmet is good for a laugh.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
I agree with most of what Aaz has said, particularly this,

Overall, I have to say this game's plot strikes me as less ambitious than that of the first one. Less grand, less epic. Like it's just a transition between ME1 and ME3. Which it is, but that's not how it should feel to the player. Maybe it's because the Collectors aren't made to be a big enough threat. They are a threat, but I felt it wasn't stressed as much as it had been for the Geths in ME1. I know they attack covertly and all but I wish there had been a couple more encounters with them, showing that the Alliance and Council are helpless, but also that the situation is reaaaaaally worrying.

I strongly agree.
It's almost like as soon as you get introduced to the enemy threat you can head out for the "suicide" mission, if you skip all the side stuff. The first game seemed to (did) have way more encounters with the main enemy which kind of adds to the buildup of the final attack. This game didn't have that feeling. And I totally agree about this game just being a bridge between the "main" storyline.

think it's too bad there was no giant hub zone like The Citadel was in the first game. Omega could have filled that role, had they added a few more zones. Would have been cool seeing fights break out in the streets too, something we saw in ME1 (Chora's Den) but that was restrained to special zones in ME2.

Totally.
Omega could have been three times bigger. It certainly didn't feel like the size or scope the Citadel had when you got to wander around.


All in all
there's no doubt that Mass Effect was bigger, better and more epic than it's sequel. On the plus side most of the annoying things have been taken out (to a fault) and it looks and plays great. I know the game isn't about the graphics but visually this game is orgasmic. It's improved eons in that aspect than Mass Effect 1. On the down side, instead of simply improving things that didn't work well in the first game, they just took it out, dumbing it down to an insanely easy game that basically anyone could play and finish. The goal for the final installment should be to combine the massive amount of customization and inventory from the first game (and the mako) as well as the large scale of the environments with the polished look and feel MA2 had. They have set themselves up for a perfect game here and I really hope they deliver. Of course most fans were expecting this to be it, but when your such a fan of the original it's hard not be disappointed in one way or another.

Still, this remains one of the best series around.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
You know what trumps all these complaints and criticisms though?
Legion (o)
. It makes everything awesome.

Thanks go to Aaz for finding this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwzoedQ_ZQ8
 
Awesome indeed, how can I see that ingame?

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.

Garrus: You ever miss those talks we had on the elevators?
Tali: No.
Garrus: Come on, remember how we'd all ask you about your life on the flotila? It was an opportunity to share!
Tali: This conversation is over.
Garrus: Tell me again about your immune system!
Tali: I have a shotgun.
Garrus: Maybe we'll talk later.

Saephon said:
Bahaha. Awesome find. Which reminds me...
Mordin's Gilbert and Sullivan had me in stitches.

Hahaha, that was amazing.
The speed of which he gets over his personal mission's events is really funny too.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Hands down,
Mordin
is easily my favorite character in the series. Tied at second is Garrus
especially after he became the Punisher
and
Legion
.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I don't think saying
Mordin's
name is a spoiler, but I'll be safe... And yeah, he's right up there with
Legion
for me with favorite character. Going into the genophage more was something I was very excited about with ME2, and they delivered.
 
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