Mass Effect 2 Gameplay

[Havok]

We should probably change the title of the first thread... Mass Effect 2 Bashing.

I figure now that the game is out and we all have it in hand, we cold use a new start instead of wading through 16 pages.

I'm currently downloading the disc to the hard drive so I haven't started playing yet, but I was very surprised to open the case and have there be two discs inside.

[Gramzamber]

Stupid Americanskis, you have it now while I have to wait until Friday. Inequity that's what it is. I shake my fist in your general direction!

[Vympel]

We get it tomorrow. Waiting with baited breath.

[adam_grif]

I was disappointed there was no midnight launch. Going to wake up early tomorrow (i.e. shortly after Midday, which is very early for me) and stroll down to EB to pick it up.

[Vympel]

As far as bashing goes, my only complaints so far, in the absence of playing it, are as follows:-

* No option to toggle helmets on the fly - game-relevance death for the DLC armor; and
* The introduction of an unecessary reloading mechanic.

Pretty minor stuff. I doubt there'll be anything major. I really really dislike the helmet thing though.

[Gramzamber]

The helmet thing gets me too, that and BioWare seem to be taking lessons from the Fable School of Ham Fisted Alignment.
I swear if Paragon Shepard runs around with flourescent blonde hair and a halo I will go to Canada and confiscate all of BioWare's beer.

[Vympel]

The helmet thing gets me too, that and BioWare seem to be taking lessons from the Fable School of Ham Fisted Alignment.
I swear if Paragon Shepard runs around with flourescent blonde hair and a halo I will go to Canada and confiscate all of BioWare's beer.

Seriously, "ur negative emotions are fucking with your implants so your eyes red lol" just ... what?!

But yeah, rule of cool, I still like the look of it.

[adam_grif]

I think it would look cool if I was some random thug, but 99% of the interactions are going to be completely ridiculous.

*Glares down with glowing red eyes and glowing red face craters all over*

"Oh, you're so beautiful Shepard!"

[Havok]

I'm pretty impressed so far. You can still totally stop in the middle of a massive attack and have a conversation though.

[adam_grif]

I'm pretty impressed so far. You can still totally stop in the middle of a massive attack and have a conversation though.

As they say, talking is a free action.

[Phantasee]

Let's not bring TVTropes into this discussion.

Would this game be interesting to someone who doesn't play many video games? For reference: I'm almost done Metroid Prime and half done Metroid Prime 2, but I finished all the HALO games over the course of several weekends, and I finished Killzone 2 in one. So I'm thinking genre plays a role here.

[Xon]

I'm very worried about the cover system in combat, it is painfully easy to screw up.

[Serafine666]

Just got ME2. Love it to pieces... improved combat, you can actually take the resources you find for YOURSELF to make your shit more badass, you don't automatically duck and cover just because you get too close to a wall, and THERE IS AN AMMO LIMIT! You wouldn't think it's so awesome that you actually have to reload your guns in combat instead of enjoying "infinite ammo, only limiter is heat" but having to actually aim instead of spraying infinite fire is a neat increase in sophistication. The new "scan a planet for resources" feature is also sort of neat although you have to be one of those people who enjoy mindlessly accumulating resources so you can max out all your upgrades to fully appreciate the neatness of it. Overall, I just plain enjoy this game better than ME1 and am impressed that they increased its looks without making it a system-killer.

[General Zod]

Have they made the side-missions more interesting than "A slightly minor change in the environment and layout of the last mission in this template series" at least? Because really, all the side quests were boring as fuck.

[adam_grif]

Have they made the side-missions more interesting than "A slightly minor change in the environment and layout of the last mission in this template series" at least? Because really, all the side quests were boring as fuck.

According to all reviews, yes.

[General Zod]

Have they made the side-missions more interesting than "A slightly minor change in the environment and layout of the last mission in this template series" at least? Because really, all the side quests were boring as fuck.

According to all reviews, yes.

I have a tendency to not trust reviews.

[adam_grif]

It's not like it just doesn't get mentioned, the reviewers explicitly state, in 99% of the reviews I've seen or read, that the boring cookie cutter side missions are completely gone.

That said, it appears that the Mining game mechanic is grindtacular. Reportedly it works very quickly on PC, but for some reason the 360 version is several times slower to mine. But regardless, ME2's hovering at around 96% for both versions on GameRankings right now.

[Andrew_Fireborn]

Had a few hours with it after Blitzing a ME1 file after picking it up.

Good:
* Combat is a lot less throw bullets in the general direction of the enemy until they explode/crumple.
* Powers seem a little better, (including mind powers that track!)
* The new ship is vastly better.
* Movement feels a little more fluid.

Bad:
* Global Cooldown... It's already grating on me, and I haven't even finished the intro.
* It's an ammo system. Despite any protestation otherwise. Only specialty to it is that your spent clip is a red hot cylander...
* The color scheme of the HUD/Pause Menu is god awful... And there's no option to change it that I've found. (Seriously, Orange on darker orange? The hell were they thinking...)
* The "Object is interactible" indicator is very easy to lose on screen... Especially as it will lock onto things on the periphery of the screen.
* My X360 signed itself out of Live, presumably for this update it froze on afterward, and this caused the game to FORCE me all the way back to the Bioware start-up logo. (Which is unskippable... Seriously... it's 20 fucking 10... can't we skip these splashes now?)


Going to go try the update again...

[Stark]

Oh man, people care about aggregate sites?

Anyway, Hav tells me that helmets are an armour piece that give bonuses, so it's not surprising they're not 'toggleable'. What's sad is that there's no 'remove helmet in towns' option, since that's well known from MMOs.

[Xon]

Major issues;

• The cover system honestly sucks. It is bizarrely sticky and often inconsistently so, it will auto-release depending on the direction you move relative to the surface you are stuck too. Sometimes. Worse, when running towards a surface sometimes you will "stick" to it.
• The game has clipping issues, it is possible to 'stick' to raised area and then move up into a position you can't get out of barring a reload. For example, I once bumped into a desk and was then standing above my teammates heads while I tried to find a path to get the stupid game to let me back ont he floor.
• Combat is hidiously unbalanced. Fire-ammo on an SMG-style weapon is hidiously overpowered. To the point you don't really need any other weapon untill later. And since you can get upto ~710 ammo on the SMG, it just becomes a bullet hose again.
• The rocket launcher heavy weapon is worthless. The missiles are only slightly faster than running speed.
• Pull got nerfed by because it is single target, just use shockwave which goes through cover for massive lols (it will even effect enemies it doesn't let you target).
• Global cooldown makes Vanguard's Charge largely worthless as you are basicly defenseless after it.
• Drones are completely worthless.
• Even installing onto an G SKILL 128gb FALCON ssd w/ a q6600 and a hd4870x2, load times are still in the plus 10-25 second timeframe. On worse hardware they appear to be over +45 seconds to almost a minute.
• Mining game mechanic is grindtacular, painfully so. Worse it is the only way to discover a bunch of mini-quests which unlock a number of weapons addons.

[Xon]

Oh man, people care about aggregate sites?

Anyway, Hav tells me that helmets are an armour piece that give bonuses, so it's not surprising they're not 'toggleable'. What's sad is that there's no 'remove helmet in towns' option, since that's well known from MMOs.

IMO the best helmet is the one +10% bonus to headshots. It also is little more than a set of headphones+mic with a holoscreen covering a single eye.

[adam_grif]

Oh man, people care about aggregate sites?

Anyway, Hav tells me that helmets are an armour piece that give bonuses, so it's not surprising they're not 'toggleable'. What's sad is that there's no 'remove helmet in towns' option, since that's well known from MMOs.

Yes, but you can also "take helmets off". If you choose to utilize any of the DLC/preorder bonus armors, you can't remove your helmet, at all. Worse, the armors (collector armor, inferno armor, terminus armor, blood dragon armor) all compeltely block your face, unlike some of the head gear which still leaves most of your face visible.

[charlemagne]

Anyway, Hav tells me that helmets are an armour piece that give bonuses, so it's not surprising they're not 'toggleable'. What's sad is that there's no 'remove helmet in towns' option, since that's well known from MMOs.

DA even automatically removes helmets during conversations, so it's pretty weird that they didn't think it would be a good idea in ME2, too.

[Xon]

There is a helmet which gives poorly-definied conversational bonuses which is themetically dependant on being there.

Also, there are some conversation options which are utterly schizophrenic. The disconnect between the summary on the option and the actual action can be enormous.

[Agent Fisher]

Anyone else having issues with the Thane loyalty quest? Keeps freezing up on me.