Mass Effect 2 gameplay thread

**johnhughthom** · 01-29-2010, 18:54

Originally Posted by Beskar

You now require Ammo?

Umm, doesn't that go against the lore of the original?

**Beskar** · 01-29-2010, 19:00

Originally Posted by johnhughthom

Umm, doesn't that go against the lore of the original?

Yes. In the original, ammo was basically grains of sand, thus you pretty much had unlimited. The only issue was the overheating of weapons.

They decided now, to add "thermal clips", which they argue keeps the weapon cool enough for a certain amount of shots, which basically means, you got ammo.

**Greyblades** · 01-29-2010, 19:26

Huh, It would make more sense, in-universe anyway, if they were energy cells, unlimited bullets dont mean squat if you dont have energy to propel them.

**frogbeastegg** · 01-30-2010, 11:56

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.

**White_eyes:D** · 01-30-2010, 12:54

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

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:

About the KIA thing...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Kekvit Irae** · 01-30-2010, 14:08

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

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.

**Mailman653** · 01-30-2010, 17:45

Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

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.

**frogbeastegg** · 01-30-2010, 18:32

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.

Originally Posted by White_eyes:D

I am guessing you didn't talk to about 90% of the Crew.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

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:

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.

Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

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.

**White_eyes:D** · 01-30-2010, 20:04

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

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:

Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

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.

**gaelic cowboy** · 02-10-2010, 20:10

I ended up finishing it there last tuesday night at about 5 in the morning god I have not done that for years.

I am already salivating for the last one its sad I know.

The planetary scanning is pants get rid it Bioware or reform it at the least and another minor quibble the lack of a baddie to boo at like Saren kind of felt a bit lacking for me but overall its my game of the year already

**gaelic cowboy** · 02-10-2010, 20:16

I feel this might have significance later

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I have just realised that I both love and hate this game as in I hate the silly stuff we can do without like minigames but I am in love with the story and interaction .

To be honest if there were only four weapons and one suit of armor for the character I would not mind in the slightest.

Still my favorite game of the year even with all the things I hate in it and reading the thread I realised there were a lot of them I hated I still cant wait for the next instalment of the story.

**CrossLOPER** · 02-11-2010, 04:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQz7u0BWD9c

**Mailman653** · 02-11-2010, 09:08

I'm sure its in the Minos Wasteland

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**al Roumi** · 02-11-2010, 16:13

Originally Posted by Mailman653

I'm sure its in the Minos Wasteland

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I've been going through the systems, it seems there is an average of 1 anomaly for every 2 systems. Some are puzzles, others combat missions. The best have been those with follow-up missions, e.g. tracking a freighter's route, stop by stop.

This has meant alot of scanning, although i stopped picking anything up a while ago (nothing left to research). I'm a little frustrated that I can pick up endless resources but have nothing to do with them, and instead have want turns out to be limited cash for buying upgrades. I know this is not Elite or Freelancer but why can't I sell some of these damn resources?