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  1. #1

    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    The game arrived yesterday, by some miracle of postal competence. I'm 5 hours in. The things I like are all to be expected because they're obvious. Things like how closely it ties in to the original game, the cinematic conversations, the little touches such as my Shepard having a picture of Kaiden in her quarters, etc.

    The things I'm not liking, oh boy.

    I hate the new interface. Tiny, hard to see, missing information that I relied on in the first game.

    The new style area map. Again, tiny. It takes up less than 1/4 of my screen and can't be zoomed in on.

    My squad seems to be hyperactive and loves to run off leaving me alone in combat while they stand behind a pillar on the far side of the area doing nothing.

    I hate, hate, hate the new ammo system! It adds nothing and cramps my gameplay quite badly. "Oh look, a perfect situation for me to go sniper and support my team as they close in with biotics and tech powers. Oh look, 5 shots later and I'm out of ammo. Back to plugging away with the pistol it is, then. Weee!"

    Gun balance so far is even worse than the first game. Sniper and pistol are useful, everything else either does fractional damage or is inaccurate as heck. The assault rifle takes an entire clip to drop a single weak enemy, assuming you burst fire and aim carefully. I used to rely on my assault rifle.

    I miss customising my weapons.

    [Oliver Twist] Please, sir, I want some loot.[/Oliver Twist]

    What's with the waves of individual enemies coming out of a 'locked' door in the combat area to replace ones which died?

    I despise the new galaxy map. it's rubbish, confusing, needless, and horrible to deal with.

    The new mini games can get deleted now, please, All rubbish, all a pain to play, and all completely needless. I was sick to death of planet scanning before I'd finished my first one, and the other two aren't any better.

    Can I turn the tutorial off now please? How about Now? Now? Please, shut up and stop spamming me with messages about how to breathe!

    But they wont tell me about the things which could have used explanation. Like how the crappy new mini games work.

    Speaking of messages, some flash up on screen for less than a second. These are the ones I want to read. Others in the same type of box sit there for ages. These are the ones I do not want to read.

    No in-party banter while travelling.

    I don't like any of the party members I've found so far. I've got 4.

    Oh goodie, I have some levels to spend at the beginning because I ported my game over. Let's see what we've got. Four abilities?! FOUR!? Each with four levels!? That's IT!? And some of those levels cost more points than I gain per level up so it appears that I'm going to spend a lot of time with the interface flashing and nagging at me to spend points when I can't because I need to save up.

    Paragon and renegade points shower down on Shepard like confetti. My paragon bar is nearly 1/3 full already! Aligned dialogue options are everywhere and are always guaranteed and easy to get. Blergh. I got a discount in every single shop in that first major area simply by walking around and using the paragon option, and then waltzed around successfully charming people in situations where it made no sense whatsoever. Those options used to be a bit special, and had requirements before you could use them.

    Why does Shepard still move so slowly?

    Observation: sticking several zeroes on the price of every item does not make the start of th game epic or high level. It makes it a pain to keep track of how much money you have because someone chose to use microfont 2.0 so my resource pool requires a magnifying glass to be readable.

    What was the point of that dramatic beginning? Everything which is lost is handed right back 5 minutes later.

    And the big hairy deal which is destroying my enjoyment of the plot thus far: who I'm working with and how it was done. Shepard basically shrugs her shoulders and says "Ok." and that's it, I'm working for one of the major enemies in the first game. A corp which killed people Shepard liked, tried to kill her, which committed a bunch of completely hideous experiments, and was the space going equivalent to the nazis. I'm blaming it on brain damage during the reconstruction.

    Which reminds me, the whole lazerus concept is ludicrous even for space opera.

    Thought for the day: Why does the game wait until I put the controller down to relax during a cutscene before offering an interrupt? Does it have a sensor which checks if Im still holding the controller before triggering them?

    Where are the side quests? I've been to and scoured the citadel, my ship and the first real planet/asteroid base thingy and I've turned up a bare handful.

    Why is Shepard and crew obsessed with drawing their weapons in certain designated areas? I'll clear all of the enemies out and then each time I talk to someone or interact with something they draw their weapons again. So I have to put them away again. For no reason.

    No mako? But some of the coolest moments from the first game involved the mako. :(

    And why is barely anyone surprised or pleased to see Shepard? They act like she was tagged with week long quarantine for a cold instead of KIA.
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  2. #2
    Semi-Corruptible Member White_eyes:D's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    And the big hairy deal which is destroying my enjoyment of the plot thus far: who I'm working with and how it was done. Shepard basically shrugs her shoulders and says "Ok." and that's it, I'm working for one of the major enemies in the first game. A corp which killed people Shepard liked, tried to kill her, which committed a bunch of completely hideous experiments, and was the space going equivalent to the nazis. I'm blaming it on brain damage during the reconstruction.

    Which reminds me, the whole lazerus concept is ludicrous even for space opera.

    And why is barely anyone surprised or pleased to see Shepard? They act like she was tagged with week long quarantine for a cold instead of KIA.
    I am guessing you didn't talk to about 90% of the Crew.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Most of them were thrown away by the "Alliance and Council" because they supported Shepard's opinion about the "Reapers returning". As you play though the game you will see that "Cerberus" is the only one willing to do anything about them.(As far as I could see)


    About the KIA thing...
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    I am guessing they didn't see your corpse or something. I recall Joker or someone mentioned that the "Alliance" tried to sweep the "Reaper threat" under the rug(By saying Shepard was KIA right away)."Much easier to blame pirates and slavers" -The Illusive man

  3. #3
    Robot Unicorn Member Kekvit Irae's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    The new mini games can get deleted now, please, All rubbish, all a pain to play, and all completely needless. I was sick to death of planet scanning before I'd finished my first one, and the other two aren't any better.
    They are annoying, but are certainly more logical than playing Simon (360) or Frogger (PC).

    No in-party banter while travelling.
    It depends on where you're at and who you're with. Garrus and Tali have a really amusing conversation at the Citadel when walking up/down the stairs.

    Garrus: Don't you miss our conversations in the elevators?
    Tali: No.
    Garrus: I could ask about your immunity, or what's under your mask.
    Tali: I have a shotgun.
    Garrus: Maybe some other time.

    Oh goodie, I have some levels to spend at the beginning because I ported my game over. Let's see what we've got. Four abilities?! FOUR!? Each with four levels!? That's IT!? And some of those levels cost more points than I gain per level up so it appears that I'm going to spend a lot of time with the interface flashing and nagging at me to spend points when I can't because I need to save up.
    Another thing I hated. I liked having a lot of skills, even if they were mostly weapons. It gave me a choice. You CAN, however, research a fifth skill of your choice once you get the research data, and you're not stuck with that skill if you don't like it.

    Paragon and renegade points shower down on Shepard like confetti. My paragon bar is nearly 1/3 full already! Aligned dialogue options are everywhere and are always guaranteed and easy to get. Blergh. I got a discount in every single shop in that first major area simply by walking around and using the paragon option, and then waltzed around successfully charming people in situations where it made no sense whatsoever. Those options used to be a bit special, and had requirements before you could use them.
    To be fair, the new Paragon/Renegade QTEs are pretty nice. But... you don't need any points to do them, and they will always work regardless of your Paragon/Renegade status.

    What was the point of that dramatic beginning? Everything which is lost is handed right back 5 minutes later.
    Convenient plot point to get rid of all the characters we loved and bring in others we don't. At least Tali is back.

    Where are the side quests? I've been to and scoured the citadel, my ship and the first real planet/asteroid base thingy and I've turned up a bare handful.
    There are actually quite a few sidequests in the game. Just not a lot in the first area. You can also find them by visiting uncharted worlds. You'll need to scan them to find them, but if EDI doesn't say anything about "Anomoly Detected", there's no sidequest there.

    No mako? But some of the coolest moments from the first game involved the mako. :(
    I enjoy the lack of the M35 "Drunken Monkey" Mako. I don't like how it was replaced by the new galaxy travel system.


    EDIT: Oh, and another thing I'll add to the list of things I don't like about the game. The damn fish! You have to go up to your cabin to feed them every five minutes or they die. At least Kelly will feed them for you if you get her in the sack, but that's midway through the game. Fortunately, my hamster doesn't require feeding. I'm going to make a new ME2 character based off of Minsc and do nothing but look at my new space hamster.
    Last edited by Kekvit Irae; 01-30-2010 at 14:13.

  4. #4
    Undercover Lurker Member Mailman653's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
    Convenient plot point to get rid of all the characters we loved and bring in others we don't. At least Tali is back.
    Yeah, this is really significant with who ever you rommanced in the old game. I think it would be awesome if in ME3, you can pick anyone from the first two games to join the team.

    I just started a new game on Insane.....it really is insane. I died more times on the second level then I died in the 30+ hrs of the normal difficulty. I think I picked the wrong upgrade when I started a new game.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Blergh. Got another 2 party members. The biotic I already dislike after her generic angry tattoo girl intro, and the other is a more boo-hoo version of a character I previously liked. From the things he’s saying I now expect him to be a romance candidate for a female Shepard; Bioware do think angst is the main attractive trait a man can have.

    Quote Originally Posted by White_eyes:D View Post
    I am guessing you didn't talk to about 90% of the Crew.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Most of them were thrown away by the "Alliance and Council" because they supported Shepard's opinion about the "Reapers returning". As you play though the game you will see that "Cerberus" is the only one willing to do anything about them.(As far as I could see)
    I talked to them as far as the game will let me, which right now is 2-3 conversations each. I stand by my comment: Shepard must be brain damaged. As for the crew, most of them are complaining about how they don't like the organisation, its politics or its methods. It's like joining the Space Nazis(TM) because Space Winston Churchill didn't offer you a cigar and ooh look shiny toys!

    About the KIA thing...
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    I am guessing they didn't see your corpse or something. I recall Joker or someone mentioned that the "Alliance" tried to sweep the "Reaper threat" under the rug(By saying Shepard was KIA right away)."Much easier to blame pirates and slavers" -The Illusive man
    You’d still expect your dear old friends and allies to say something like, “It’s good to see you again!” or “It’s been a while and by the way, I heard you were dead?” They act like you have been gone for 2 days on an out of town shopping trip.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
    It depends on where you're at and who you're with. Garrus and Tali have a really amusing conversation at the Citadel when walking up/down the stairs.
    So far I've mainly been using Miranda and what's-his-name the generic soldier you get at the beginning. Not a whisper passed between them. I used the DLC mercenary for a bit, found his powers to be a bit crap and his personality grating, so I sidelined him. Not a word from him other than those scripted into the mission.

    No Tali yet, and to be honest her earlier intro has completely cheesed me off. It's like they used the relationship from my xenophobic renegade Shepard playthrough instead of my original sweetness-and-light character.

    There are actually quite a few sidequests in the game. Just not a lot in the first area. You can also find them by visiting uncharted worlds. You'll need to scan them to find them, but if EDI doesn't say anything about "Anomoly Detected", there's no sidequest there.
    Oh good. Nice to know I might get something other than repetitive strain injury out of the planet scans.

    I enjoy the lack of the M35 "Drunken Monkey" Mako.
    I liked the mako when it tied into full missions, such as storming by way along the beach to the cloning facility. Made for a change of pace. In fact I wasn't that impressed with the original game until the section where you rescued Liara; then I started to fall for the game.
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    Semi-Corruptible Member White_eyes:D's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    You’d still expect your dear old friends and allies to say something like, “It’s good to see you again!” or “It’s been a while and by the way, I heard you were dead?” They act like you have been gone for 2 days on an out of town shopping trip.
    Most people might already know about it....
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    If you didn't kill Wrex in the last game, he is the only guy who acted like that and the only one; who I was really glad to see(in a non-party member way).

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    I talked to them as far as the game will let me, which right now is 2-3 conversations each. I stand by my comment: Shepard must be brain damaged. As for the crew, most of them are complaining about how they don't like the organisation, its politics or its methods. It's like joining the Space Nazis(TM) because Space Winston Churchill didn't offer you a cigar and ooh look shiny toys!
    It's more like going from "Military forces" to "CIA or some other black ops agency".

    And why not? If there was a threat that BIG(Everyone dies from a genocidal race) and politics were getting in the way because its more of a "Bogeyman issue" I would jump sides too.

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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    I am still wondering how they vacuum sealed Miranda's outfit while she was wearing it. If there is a romanace option, I think Shepard will have to brush up on his surgey skills to remove it.
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    Undercover Lurker Member Mailman653's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    It's because she is perfect so even her suit hugs everything perfectly? ha ha ha.

  9. #9
    Robot Unicorn Member Kekvit Irae's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by White_eyes:D View Post
    Most people might already know about it....
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    If you didn't kill Wrex in the last game, he is the only guy who acted like that and the only one; who I was really glad to see(in a non-party member way).
    What pissed me off SO BADLY about the game wasn't the Gears of War ripoff, wasn't the Call of Duty health system, wasn't the stupidification of the inventory... no. What really got me was
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Liara going from a sweet and innocent girl to a cold-blooded and ruthless killer with only a professional interest in Shepard (even though the game DOES acknowledge the previous game's romance).
    WHAT THE HELL, BIOWARE?

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    I liked the mako when it tied into full missions, such as storming by way along the beach to the cloning facility. Made for a change of pace. In fact I wasn't that impressed with the original game until the section where you rescued Liara; then I started to fall for the game.
    The Mako isn't THAT bad on the 360, but god help you if you ever play the PC version like I do. The simple task of staying on the road during Ilos is a test of skill itself.
    Last edited by Kekvit Irae; 01-31-2010 at 01:03.

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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae View Post
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Liara going from a sweet and innocent girl to a cold-blooded and ruthless killer with only a professional interest in Shepard (even though the game DOES acknowledge the previous game's romance).
    Have you tried confronting her on it?
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    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

  11. #11

    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Finally! 15 hours on and it's picking up. I have enough upgrades that the combat is a little less bad, Ilium is loaded with absolutely brilliant interactions and dialogue (I want that bartender in my party, now!) and the 'gone for shopping effect' may have finally ended. Miranda's personal quest made her more bearable.

    I have decided that I also dislike the global power cooldown which replaces the individual power cooldown of the first game. It seems like I am always waiting for my squad to let 12 seconds pass so I can get them to try again (they keep hitting walls instead of targets) or that the opportunity created by using one power goes unexploited because I can't follow it up with a different power for a long time. Or the AI uses a power and I have to wait for 12 seconds to pass before I can ask for the one I need them to use. It also makes power combos next to impossible. I miss hitting big nasties with overload -> warp. No way to influence cooldown times either.

    spoilers for a meeting on Horizon
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Kaiden was delighted to see Shepard instead of the usual "Meh" reaction. Then he realised who she was working for and there was a nicely done argument about it, with him saying all the things I have been. Cue massive falling out and him leaving. He sent an email later, apologising and asking for time to get used to the idea of Shepard being alive. AND this when he already knew I might be alive!


    spoilers for a person you meet on Ilium
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Liara was also very happy to see me, and didn't act as though I'd been off shopping for a weekend.




    Quote Originally Posted by White_eyes:D View Post
    It's more like going from "Military forces" to "CIA or some other black ops agency".
    Cerberus are a completely independent, self funded political and paramilitary organisation which likes to perform terrorist attacks, illegal experiments, torture people, assassinate, murder, blackmail, intimidate, and has a political ideology which says "This one tiny group which is the same as us is fine, everyone else is so much rubbish lying in our way and needs to be removed."

    It's like going from the army to the IRA, Nazis, Al Quaeda or similar extreme group.

    It's also a group which spent a lot of the last game trying to kill my Shepard and crew, and which killed people she knew and liked. And she joins up because the man in charge of the organisation claims they are doing good against an unsubstantiated threat. She doesn't question much, she doesn't demand proof, she doesn't try to join any alternate group, and she doesn't even question their improbable story about the Lazerus project. No, she just nods her little head and goes "Ok." Brain damaged.



    What is this frogger mini game people keep mentioning? The only mini game I remember in ME1 is Simon says to hack or open locks. Is it something they added for the PC port?
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  12. #12
    Robot Unicorn Member Kekvit Irae's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    What is this frogger mini game people keep mentioning? The only mini game I remember in ME1 is Simon says to hack or open locks. Is it something they added for the PC port?


    The yellow blocks are stationary and simply block your path with no further disadvantage. The red blocks circle around and will take you to the outer ring if hit. The objective is to get the curser to the inner ring. Harder difficulty locks have more blocks of both colors.


    And there's already a mod out for the ammo. It turns the ammo into the pre-release version, which regenerates on its own.

    http://www.annakie.com/me/mods.htm

    SUMMARY:
    This mod restores Mass Effect 2 to the hybrid ammo system seen in some of the earlier preview videos: you can fire until you run out of ammo and eject your clip like in this game, but you can also sit and have it recover with time.

    Note that in this version there is no longer a way to manually reload your weapon, but there is still tactical benefit in that you can choose to either reload a clip or wait a bit for it to reload. Even with no clips in your weapon, the slow reload will still work - but will still be less effective than simply finding a new clip.

    INSTALLATION:
    - Drop this in your Mass Effect 2 install folder and it should work from there

    UNINSTALLATION:
    - Head to Mass Effect 2\BioGame\Config\Pc\Cooked and delete Coalesced.ini, then rename the included backup to Coalesced.ini, and you're golden.

    FUTURE PLANS/CONTACT:
    - This mod makes many weapons reaaaally unbalanced, especially those with high ammo capacities like the SMG - it simply replenishes ammo too fast, and that can't be slowed down without crippling other guns. Possible workarounds would be to lower SMG ammo capacity or to increase it for other guns. Tell me what you think.
    Last edited by Kekvit Irae; 01-31-2010 at 11:57.

  13. #13
    Master of useless knowledge Senior Member Kitten Shooting Champion, Eskiv Champion Ironside's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

    Quote Originally Posted by frogbeastegg View Post
    It's also a group which spent a lot of the last game trying to kill my Shepard and crew, and which killed people she knew and liked. And she joins up because the man in charge of the organisation claims they are doing good against an unsubstantiated threat. She doesn't question much, she doesn't demand proof, she doesn't try to join any alternate group, and she doesn't even question their improbable story about the Lazerus project. No, she just nods her little head and goes "Ok." Brain damaged.
    I think that you end up with plenty (I suspect more than two) of your old crew members, makes the transition a bit more easy. If plenty of your old crew joins a faction that tried to kill them earlier, they probably had a good reason. And they can comfirm that the Lazerous project is what they say it is.
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    If you remeber passing out due to suffication and add that no mysterious vessel picked you up moments after (which you can confirm by the people in the life pods), you can conclude that you were dead, really dead.

    And you get the idea that the council wouldn't help you with any more resources than what you already got (spectre status+ ship with crew+ better intel).
    You can be quite clear that it's an alliance of convenience (well rather desperation) during several conversations if you want to as well.
    So stretching, but not brain damaged.
    We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?

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