*** Official Mass Effect 2 Thread ***
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Completed the main story and most of the side missions in about 18 hours. Bit disappointed with the game length, but I'm playing it through again as a different class
Great game though
I hope you don't take this the wrong way...but...
I don't understand how anyone can complete this in 18 hours while doing "most of the side quests" - I've only done a few side quests, haven't recruited all of my team (3 short) but I've done all the current loyalty quests - and I'm upto 20 hours already.
Do people hammer through the conversations? Skip with the spacebar? Ignore the "Investigate" bit in the conversations? Not bother to keep chatting to crew members inbetween missions?
If so, you're missing out and its your own fault that its "not long enough" and not the fault of Bioware. If you're going to skip most of the content, then of course it's not going to be long enough...
I didn't speed through it to be honest, I loved the first one and wanted to take in the story as much as I could. I did all but 2 of the loyalty missions, and majority of the assignments whilst I was at each city/planet. I did play it for about 2 days straight though
Completed the main story just now with a smidgen of side quests left. I was going to quit and restart ME1 and then replay ME2, but I gotta bone Miranda first before quitting and starting over. I was so focused on the story, quests and game world that I completely forgot the ladies 
. Jack died so I missed out there.
. Jack died so I missed out there.----------SPOILERS-----------
Yeah a few of mine died, but only the ones that I chose to be key parts in the omega ship take over. I think I was renegade at some points and decided to leave some people behind too
I was so focused on the story, quests and game world that I completely forgot the ladies
And you call yourself a man?
I noticed during the end sequence, several events - if you don't do the ship upgrades via the research does the SR2 get destroyed and it's game over or are you not allowed to proceed through the Omega 4 relay until you've done the upgrades?
----------SPOILERS-----------
None for mine died, basically the trick to the final mission is specialisation and loyalty, don't send someone to do a job they aren't suited to and don't expect non-loyal squad mates to back you up when it counts, your options are pretty much this:
Vents: Tali/Legion
2nd Squad Leader: Miranda/Garrus
Shield: Jack/Samara
Escort: As far as I know anyone will do besides Jack/Samara, even they might, I used Grunt.
Distraction: Miranda/Garrus/Jacob
Bold = My choices.
Also make sure you fully upgrade the Normandy.
On a side note, anyone else chose to romance Tali? For me she was the only worth while choice, Miranda was a bitch with an inferiority complex which really bugged me and Jack just struck me as a Renegade option. Tali however was quite obviously interested in Shep from the get go and the only one of the 3 without a personality disorder. The sex scene is slightly less interesting but it's probably just meant to be more character developing than anything else.
----------SPOILERS-----------
Game completion time = 23 hours. That doesn't include full exploration, I did a bit but most of the areas that open up in the 2nd half of the game were left behind. All side quests from the "hubs" completed though.
Over all judgement, Great. Story wasn't as rewarding as ME1 and I'll echo other peoples comments about not really getting into it, however the rest was good, I especially liked the loyalty quests.
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I especially liked the post where the guy went to great lengths to leave a gap after the spoiler tag... then someone quoted it
While i do think the idea of Probes, Scanning and Fuel works in theory... in practice it just begins to get annoying. It starts off as a nice change, a bit gimmicky but different, but by the 10th planet and the 4th time you've had to go find a Fuel Station for more probes/fuel, i think they could've streamlined it a bit more.
That or let your upgrade your probes/fuel sooner.
I don't have them yet. And that really is lame... did they just look at all the issues playtesters came up with and simply said 'Nah leave em in, we'll put em as an upgrade'. Increase scanning speed as an upgrade i think someone mentioned. You've got to be kidding me, thankgod someone reminded me the MX518 can up the sensitivity, so much easier.
Well after pondering whether or not to get the game last week, I ordered it anyway and after about 23hrs I finally finished it.
The reason I was pondering on whether to get the game was because I wasn't a big fan of the first game. I felt it was broken in its pace and direction, and it majorly lacked when it came to character development. I wanted to know and care about my characters, however the game did its best to keep me from getting to know them anymore than a few dialog options.
So heres my review
Positives:
As for Mass Effect 2, its WAY better than the first in nearly all aspects. I can honestly say there were times in the game that I just couldn't help but grin and sit back admiring what was happening, the developers did an unbelievable job.
Its one of the most polished games I've ever played in terms of direction, story pacing, environment interaction and character development.
The game kept me guessing, anticipating who was who and what their motives were, having me keep different parts of the story in mind for when I had to make decisions (i.e. whether or not Cerberus was upto something etc)
This time over they nailed it on the head with character development. As I said above, I felt the first lacked quite massively on this aspect and it made the rest of the game feel more like a mindless shooter to me. With ME2 they had me caring for who was in my team, the loyalty stories were a true joy to play and the game was constantly refreshing the dialog options with the crew that made them all feel real and made you believe that you actually ARE Commander Shepherd of the Normandy.
++++SPOILER++++
The part when the Collectors board the ship and Joker is guided around by EDI was simply amazing and completely unexpected. It was nice how they finally introduced the real EDI into the story and had Joker finally give up a piece of his reign over the Normandy to her, very good.
++++/SPOILER++++
Negatives:
The downsides of the game for me lay with a few technicalities. I thought the ammo system was awkward, it just never ever felt completely right with me. It wasn't terrible or game breaking, it was just weird and I thought the lack of differing armor was strange too.
Planet scanning was interesting at first, it was enjoyable to read about the planets environments, however it all started to go numb after the 25th planet scanning for resources just to upgrade a gun. Why not buy a gun? OK it doesn't need to be as heavy as the first ME (which had equipment all over the place) but to rely on that scanning thing for resources just made it a pain to upgrade, which you needed to do otherwise the frustration of the ammo system would become too much.
I think the planet scanning thing could have been better if they weren't as heavy on it. Like I was really disappointed that you couldn't explore a few of the habitable planets. Obviously you can't expect to explore them all, however to me it feels like they've gone from one extreme (the Mako buggy planet exploring) to the other with the scanning thing. The odd few anomalies don't really count IMO, they were just too far between to be effective. While the Mako buggy thing was a bit awkward in ME1, I feel they should have built on the idea instead of dropping it altogether.
Another thing I was kind of disappointed in was the story. While it was still very good and far better than most games, it wasn't as powerful as the first game. The game just kind of ended while having you believe there would be more twists from certain elements of the game... its hard to explain without going into spoilers (below)
++++SPOILER++++
The whole game from the beginning had you believing there would be twists and turns and a few backstabbing's along the way, with the Illusive Man, Cerburus history, motivations, the secretive AI on the Normandy, Miranda etc.
By the end I found myself a little disappointed that they never delved further into it like they had me believe they would, it kind of just ended.
At one point in the game I was thinking that the Illusive Man was some kind of artificial human (look at his eyes), and that EDI was controlled by him. Or that they would have transplanted something inside of Shepherd that would control your decision making at some point (which I thought was going to happen at the very end when the Illusive Man pops up on screen.
But no nothing, kinda anti-climatic really.
++++/SPOILER++++
Anyway overall I'd give it a 9/10 easily. Coming from someone who wasn't really expecting much more than the first game, I was pleasantly surprised! If you're like me (an RPG, story heavy game fan) then you'll love this. While the story isn't as grand as the first game, its put together FAR FAR better and makes you actually care for the characters and whats going on, which in my opinion is far more important.
Now I think I'll play through again as female Shepherd
The reason I was pondering on whether to get the game was because I wasn't a big fan of the first game. I felt it was broken in its pace and direction, and it majorly lacked when it came to character development. I wanted to know and care about my characters, however the game did its best to keep me from getting to know them anymore than a few dialog options.
So heres my review
Positives:
As for Mass Effect 2, its WAY better than the first in nearly all aspects. I can honestly say there were times in the game that I just couldn't help but grin and sit back admiring what was happening, the developers did an unbelievable job.
Its one of the most polished games I've ever played in terms of direction, story pacing, environment interaction and character development.
The game kept me guessing, anticipating who was who and what their motives were, having me keep different parts of the story in mind for when I had to make decisions (i.e. whether or not Cerberus was upto something etc)
This time over they nailed it on the head with character development. As I said above, I felt the first lacked quite massively on this aspect and it made the rest of the game feel more like a mindless shooter to me. With ME2 they had me caring for who was in my team, the loyalty stories were a true joy to play and the game was constantly refreshing the dialog options with the crew that made them all feel real and made you believe that you actually ARE Commander Shepherd of the Normandy.
++++SPOILER++++
The part when the Collectors board the ship and Joker is guided around by EDI was simply amazing and completely unexpected. It was nice how they finally introduced the real EDI into the story and had Joker finally give up a piece of his reign over the Normandy to her, very good.
++++/SPOILER++++
Negatives:
The downsides of the game for me lay with a few technicalities. I thought the ammo system was awkward, it just never ever felt completely right with me. It wasn't terrible or game breaking, it was just weird and I thought the lack of differing armor was strange too.
Planet scanning was interesting at first, it was enjoyable to read about the planets environments, however it all started to go numb after the 25th planet scanning for resources just to upgrade a gun. Why not buy a gun? OK it doesn't need to be as heavy as the first ME (which had equipment all over the place) but to rely on that scanning thing for resources just made it a pain to upgrade, which you needed to do otherwise the frustration of the ammo system would become too much.
I think the planet scanning thing could have been better if they weren't as heavy on it. Like I was really disappointed that you couldn't explore a few of the habitable planets. Obviously you can't expect to explore them all, however to me it feels like they've gone from one extreme (the Mako buggy planet exploring) to the other with the scanning thing. The odd few anomalies don't really count IMO, they were just too far between to be effective. While the Mako buggy thing was a bit awkward in ME1, I feel they should have built on the idea instead of dropping it altogether.
Another thing I was kind of disappointed in was the story. While it was still very good and far better than most games, it wasn't as powerful as the first game. The game just kind of ended while having you believe there would be more twists from certain elements of the game... its hard to explain without going into spoilers (below)
++++SPOILER++++
The whole game from the beginning had you believing there would be twists and turns and a few backstabbing's along the way, with the Illusive Man, Cerburus history, motivations, the secretive AI on the Normandy, Miranda etc.
By the end I found myself a little disappointed that they never delved further into it like they had me believe they would, it kind of just ended.
At one point in the game I was thinking that the Illusive Man was some kind of artificial human (look at his eyes), and that EDI was controlled by him. Or that they would have transplanted something inside of Shepherd that would control your decision making at some point (which I thought was going to happen at the very end when the Illusive Man pops up on screen.
But no nothing, kinda anti-climatic really.
++++/SPOILER++++
Anyway overall I'd give it a 9/10 easily. Coming from someone who wasn't really expecting much more than the first game, I was pleasantly surprised! If you're like me (an RPG, story heavy game fan) then you'll love this. While the story isn't as grand as the first game, its put together FAR FAR better and makes you actually care for the characters and whats going on, which in my opinion is far more important.
Now I think I'll play through again as female Shepherd
Hmm, that's interesting. Only read below if you want to see how decisions may affect your game.
----------MEGA SPOILERS-----------
Jack died on my ship from a laser blast.
Vents: Chose legion and he dies at the door because it didnt close properly.
2nd Squad Leader: Jacob. Doesnt die yet.
Shield: Samara, survives all game.
Escort: Zaeed, survives.
Distraction: I chose Jacob and he died.
As for other game decisions, I destroyed the geth ship, saved my crew and didn't both with Samara, Tali, Jacob or Jack loyalty.
Basically those you're not loyal with will die.
And Samara's mission was my favorite, you should definitely do it
** SPOILER **
I still don't understand this business with the Collector's damaged ship. It's all a bit fuzzy.
The Illusive Man says they've discovered a crippled Collector ship, damaged in a battle with the Turians. Yet after EDI makes the discovery that the Turian distress call contained Cerberus data, Shepard realises it was a trap. So who laid the trap? Why did the Illusive Man create the distress signal? Why was the ship just floating there if there was no real battle?
** END SPOILER **
I still don't understand this business with the Collector's damaged ship. It's all a bit fuzzy.
The Illusive Man says they've discovered a crippled Collector ship, damaged in a battle with the Turians. Yet after EDI makes the discovery that the Turian distress call contained Cerberus data, Shepard realises it was a trap. So who laid the trap? Why did the Illusive Man create the distress signal? Why was the ship just floating there if there was no real battle?
** END SPOILER **
Soldato
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BFBC2 beta has been taking up my time, but I'll probably start this tonight/tomorrow.
Is the game quite well optimised? Will it run ok on a C2D E8400, 4Gb Ram and 4870 1Gb? Bit outdated but will hopefully be ok.
Also, I played ME1 on my 360, so I won't be able to carry across my character. Will I be missing out by starting a new character?
Is the game quite well optimised? Will it run ok on a C2D E8400, 4Gb Ram and 4870 1Gb? Bit outdated but will hopefully be ok.
Also, I played ME1 on my 360, so I won't be able to carry across my character. Will I be missing out by starting a new character?