Gaming Mass Effect 2

[Burori]

[quote name='CaNz' date='30 August 2010 - 06:17 AM' timestamp='1283163460' post='700013']
the intro allowed you to shape a lot of what happens later on. and i am sure the transition to ps3 will allow you to shape your backround even more.... bioware is good with these things.
[/quote]


Bare in mind though the experience of saying: "Yes I blew up the citadel with a Monkey and a blow torch." Does not hold the same appeal as actually DOING that.

(Btw that aforementioned action is not a plausible one in the game. I just wanted to use an example.)

[Jagan00]

[quote name='Burori' date='07 September 2010 - 09:29 PM' timestamp='1283894975' post='700310']
Bare in mind though the experience of saying: "Yes I blew up the citadel with a Monkey and a blow torch." Does not hold the same appeal as actually DOING that.

(Btw that aforementioned action is not a plausible one in the game. I just wanted to use an example.)
[/quote]

Can we give this man a round of applause?

THIS is exactly what the problem of playing ME2 without playing ME1

[Magus]

Alright, so I recently beat Mass Effect 1 and am jumping right into 2 now and first impressions, while I haven't been blown away I have to say that I like Miranda and Jacob so far, especially Miranda. She's a ##### of course but I like tough women so yeah. Couple of negatives with the game so far though. I think I had the same issue in ME1 as well. My tv is not big. It's a 20" and the words are so small. They're even smaller than what I saw in ME1, and they're yellow which makes it even harder to see at times. I have to play upclose on my tv at times during conversations and it's a bit annoying. The other thing, while it's not a negative, but I don't think I'll like it too much is the level up. It's probably more like getting used to but I liked the lieveling in ME1 more. It seems like I have to save points to put into skills and I don't like that idea at all. Edited January 25, 2011 by Magus

[CaNz]

you are playing it like its an RPG. The thing is... The enemies really don't get much more difficult. so if you spend the skill points on weaker stuff... you can get the instantanious advantage rather than the better-move-in -the-long-run type of thing you are most likely used to. also, the improvements are fairly minuscule. Also unlike the first game when you use a skill, all your freats need to recharge, so don't go buying both biotic moves thinking using two abilities back to back will work out. The only thing that really helps is the class ability. If you level that up with all your characters life will be a breeze.

[Magus]

[size=1]A little more of an update. This game can get pretty overwhelming at times. I wish they'd left the destination on the compass was still there, but at the same time I am digging the compass map here as well. I just liked how it was used in the first one.

I'm going to start my game over because I'm so used to playing as a vangaurd and right now my Shepard is a soldier, and wow, I'm playing on the easiest difficulty and while I haven't had a gameover these folks are putting up quite the challenge. I did manage to recruit both Mordin and Archangel [spoiler](I was not expecting to see Garrus so soon, but I'm glad I got to see him again though)[/spoiler].[/size]

Another update. I got all the way up to Horizon and my goodness. I don't know if it's my squad or me just playing as a soldier so terribly but that stage ramped up the difficulty big time. I'm playing on casual and wow, these folks are certainly way more agressive than they were on ME1. I've died 3 times now and still having issues waiting for this tower to charge or something.

I'm also having issues with trying to understand how the upgrades work. Is it automatic or something? I know I've seen a couple of upgrades for weapons and haven't seen a way to improve them.

[CaNz]

no weapon upgrades this time, the upgrading for weapons is done in the lab room. you can both buy and find them and you can then apply the upgrades when you have enough minerals.
(you can never have enough platinum.... never) and as for ammo, as you probably saw with Jacob it is a personal ability. Also you can upgrade your armor slightly when you have the pieces in your captains quarters.

as for auto leveling.. like most bioware games they give you the option for your teammates. this can be toggled on and off... but be careful cause the computer does a bad job on a few characters, and unlike Shepard they cannot be changed after they go.

[Magus]

[quote name='CaNz' timestamp='1296298450' post='704502']no weapon upgrades this time, the upgrading for weapons is done in the lab room. you can both buy and find them and you can then apply the upgrades when you have enough minerals.
(you can never have enough platinum.... never) and as for ammo, as you probably saw with Jacob it is a personal ability. Also you can upgrade your armor slightly when you have the pieces in your captains quarters.
[/quote]
Those are more like what I was talking about but still not answered completely. (I know auto level lol) Applying the upgrades is the confusing part. I found some parts and then I talked to some of my squad for upgrades as well but I don't know when or how the upgrades are applied.

I just beat the Horizon mission after dying about 5-6 times. Turns out I brought the wrong person along for the mission (Jack) and didn't start using my abilities until now. Not to mention that I only have 1 save file (Now I see the reason why people have multiple save files. Doesn't mean I'm gonna start doing that though). I was on the verge of starting over. Still thinking about it to be honest since I wanna know if I would've had an easier time bring someone else alone instead of Jack. I was also beginning to have the thought of trading the game in (it's time for another game anyway) since I'm having a lot more issues with this game than I had with the first one.

Anyway, the ability to slow down time worked wonders on that giant bug-thingy.

[CaNz]

The lab, you know, Doctor Mordin is in there... those two monitors. You don't just apply upgrades like you did in the last game. This time once you find or buy the upgrades (or talking to people in the ship like you did) go to the lab and you can pay for them. Its like you found the plan and then you need to fund the creation. Its the whole point behind the probe/mine mini-game.
if you haven't already been there then you probably just passed by it by accident.

Also, I never had multiple saves. This game is much less buggy compared to the original so I didn't die too often and not be able to do anything (stupid autosave right before you die)
Oh and I don't like Biotic users in this game, the way the fighting system works you can just use your best skill over and over, so Adepts usually get destroyed because they have no normal gun skills. As far as teams go, if you ever have problems throw in Miranda if you fully leveled her class feats. she gives a bonus for health and damage to the entire group making anything much easier.

[James]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]So as I mentioned in the Mass Effect topic, I just bought Mass Effect 2 on Friday and I had a couple of big marathon sessions with it this weekend (which was awesome - all gaming and no work!)

There's really so much to cover and I know that most of you have already played this extensively anyway, so I am not telling you anything new. But from my perspective, it's no exaggeration to say that this is probably now my favourite Xbox 360 game. And it's definitely one of my favourite games of this whole generation.

I'm playing as a...Sentinel, I think. I forget the name, haha. But yeah, I decided not to play as a Soldier this time around - it was getting a little boring and I wanted to experiment further with biotics. So far I'm thinking it was a good choice.

I'm now up to the point where I just escaped from the [spoiler]Collector ship[/spoiler] and from memory I'm now able to use the [spoiler]Omega 4 Relay[/spoiler]. I've decided not to go any further yet though - I want to round out my entire team and finish as many assignments as possible.

Describing the differences between Mass Effect 2 and its predecessor can be really difficult. There are really obvious differences with things like combat and weapon load out and that type of thing (changes that I think are very welcome, personally). But for me the biggest improvements are things like plot, characters, environments, pacing and the general game mechanics (i.e. way less bugs, smoother loading and much better use of the Galaxy Map).

I almost feel at times that they got different designers on board or something - Mass Effect 2 just feels so much more alive than the first game. Every location feels so unique and has so much personality. Even the dialogue and the various plot scenarios are way more interesting.

One of the things I like the most is the fact that Saren is gone. Saren was the primary villain in the first game (well, until you come across [spoiler]Sovereign[/spoiler]) but I didn't find him to be particularly interesting. In fact, I was far more interested in [spoiler]Sovereign[/spoiler], but he appears so late in the game that it almost felt to me like I was getting interested in the plot right when it was ending.

So in Mass Effect 2, the combination of the Reapers and the Collectors being there from the outset plays a big role in me being engaged in the story. And the lack of emphasis on the Council helped this also, for me.

Overall I just think Bioware dramatically upped their game for Mass Effect 2. If they do something similar for the third installment, then I'm going to be really impressed.[/font]