Sméagol Posted December 29, 2010 Posted December 29, 2010 The best way to play Mass Effect and Mass Effect two is with at least two playthroughs. Just wanted to comment with my own personal experience: I've not played through ME1 & 2 a second time, because I wanted to wait untill 3 is out (plus dlc probably). I'll stick to my "canon" run for now.
gaggle64 Posted December 29, 2010 Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) I must say, having dug up my "canon" career to play the DLC I'm surprised by how much there was to enjoy in Overlord. The vehicle combat was somewhat aggravating given the Hammerhead's propensity of detonating itself any time anything sneezes violently enough, but over all it was a fairly meaty and interesting slice of ME2, especially the last section leading up to the boss battle. Most unexpected. Now onto Kasumi and then a grand finale with Liara and the Shadow Broker. Edited December 31, 2010 by gaggle64
Sméagol Posted December 29, 2010 Posted December 29, 2010 Oh yeah, I haven't even finished Overlord. How great the game and the dlc is, they need to fix their bugs, god damn it! For so far I could play it, it was great though. There something about a team of 3 engineers in a mission full of Geth !
gaggle64 Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 Comepleted Kasumi and Shadow Broker. Kasumi's not bad though nothing to write home about. Shadow Broker on the other hand, good god - I never thought I could be so impressed just by a sky-texture. Great level design and some of the best writing in the game in there too. Very involving, especially if your character has a history with Liara from ME1. The chase sequence in the skycar was irritating mostly because it's looks so fantastic but plays like a pig.
Sméagol Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 Oh I liked Kasumi too, especially her character, but yeah, too bad the mission is short. And the sky texture yes.. I just took a few minutes just standing on the side of the ship, watching it . But then I also did that on the Kasumi mission. Fantastic background there as well. I had no problems with the carchase. Controls could be better, but they could be far worse as well, and that part is very hard to fail (as far as I can recall). I simply saw it as a humorous intermission .
Cube Posted January 1, 2011 Posted January 1, 2011 I decided to get Kasumi ASAP in my latest play-though. I've taken her on most missions and she has a surprising amount of lines in them.
James Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 This is 5 pounds at game..... http://www.game.co.uk/Games/Xbox-360/Role-Playing/Mass-Effect-2/~r342328/ DEAL!!! for what most people are calling GOTY
James Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 That's an insanely good price for this game! I was gonna buy 10 copies and sell them on ebay but didn't want to be 'that' guy. So I just bought the one. Can't believe they are selling it at that price.
LegoMan1031 Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) Wow, ace price! I'm currently spreading the word to anyone i know who doesn't yet own it! EDIT: Infact ive just ordered a copy for a friend who i know would jump at the price of this but i cant get hold of him! Just incase it sells out quick. Edited January 3, 2011 by Mike1988uk
Hero-of-Time Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Just incase it sells out quick. It shouldn't do, it's been £5 for around 3 days now.
LegoMan1031 Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 It shouldn't do, it's been £5 for around 3 days now. Oh........................... lol
gaggle64 Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 The odd thing about Mass Effect 2 is you can recommend it specifically to people who hated the first game. At a fiver no one has any excuse now. Honestly, that's just redonkulous.
The Bard Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 The weird thing is, that the existence of the first game actually detracts from the sequel, in that you get the most out of 2 if you've experienced the first and so the outcome of the decisions you make have a direct resonance; unfortunately the first, while awesome at the time, is way inferior.
Sméagol Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 I personally wouldn't call it way inferior. ME2 is better yes, mainly presentation-wise (graphics, leveldesign & story) and the feel of the controls, but I thought the customisation was way better in the first, also I didn't like the key mapping in 2, and what the fuck is with the ammo and the fuel?
daftada Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 I've repurchased this to play Shadow Broker, so i've got a spare cerberus network key if anyone wants it? First come first served: 5VHT-S6E6-35XB-ZAFF Enjoy!!
James McGeachie Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 The weird thing is, that the existence of the first game actually detracts from the sequel, in that you get the most out of 2 if you've experienced the first and so the outcome of the decisions you make have a direct resonance; unfortunately the first, while awesome at the time, is way inferior. It's certainly not "way inferior", the second game polished up combat significantly and overall is a more accessible experience, but the first game is still a fantastic rpg. There are a lot of things I prefer about the original too, the greater customisation, more rpg-like level up system (going by memory I believe it was experience per kill rather than per mission) and larger amount of freedom to explore planets (yes, the Mako isn't perfect as a vehicle. However, if they had open planets like Mass Effect 1 but with the Hammerhead vehicle from the ME2 DLC, then that'd be awesome). I dont get how some people have such big issues with the first game. The only real issue I had was the loading times. The Mako stuff was a little annoying at times but I think people grossly exaggerate how bad that was.
Dan_Dare Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 the second game actually has a much better rpg element than the first. The move to divorce morality decisions from the skill upgrades for one means that your choices in game are no longer influenced by any constraints or pre determined narrowing of choice. You get to play a much more fluid role than in the first game.
Magnus Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 My biggest issue with Mass Effect 2 was that the story pretty much went nowhere. Spending almost the entire game doing nothing but recruiting people (or playing optional loyalty missions) got old fast. The first game had fewer main missions, but they all felt larger in scale and had more to do with the overarching plot. I also really disliked how they turned every mission into a 'stage', with a results screen at the end. It took me right out of the game and felt way too arcade-y. I really missed the Mako. Yes, the first game went overboard with repetitive Mako missions, but removing them entirely felt like a step in the wrong direction. Overlord showed how they should have handled the Mako in the sequel. Overall I loved both games, though.
Mundi Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 I've repurchased this to play Shadow Broker, so i've got a spare cerberus network key if anyone wants it? First come first served: 5VHT-S6E6-35XB-ZAFF Enjoy!! And thanks for that.
gaggle64 Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 I loved the first game but it had it's problems that stopped it from being so much more then it was - the glitches, a clunky graphics engine, dull exploration a needlessly drawn out and finicky skill & inventory systems. Parts felt flat out unfinished. ME2 basically improved in every single way, not just with what went wrong but even improved on what it got right - the strong universe, subtle characters and morality themes, presentation, music, combat, every god damn thing. I thought even the writing was so much stronger. The first had great writing and decent plot-progression, introducing us to the Mass Effect universe. Both the story and the characters in the second game are so much stronger though, right from the off. A genuinely thrilling opening sequence kicks of a fantastic series of encounters, oscillating finely between action and quiet emotional drama. I've read comments like the one above complaining about the lack of plot progression towards of the eventual conclusion of the defeating the reapers. That's not an unwarranted complaint, but we've still got the third game, the Return of the Jedi with it's Reapers, Death Stars, military politics and it's legions of dead Bothan spies to do all of that. This was Empire Strikes Back territory, lots of character and world development with multiple arcs spinning off in various different directions, depending on how you played. All of it is brilliant, just brilliant. As a middle act it's essentially perfect at setting us up for the start of the final chapter in a rich, complex universe teeming with stories to let us blow shit up in the most spectacular and involving way possible.
Dan_Dare Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 Exactly, right! although, really, I thought the badshits should have been a more immediate threat. I'd have liked to have seen them wreck more shit as a general note on the game.
Magnus Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I've read comments like the one above complaining about the lack of plot progression towards of the eventual conclusion of the defeating the reapers. That's not an unwarranted complaint, but we've still got the third game, the Return of the Jedi with it's Reapers, Death Stars, military politics and it's legions of dead Bothan spies to do all of that. This was Empire Strikes Back territory, lots of character and world development with multiple arcs spinning off in various different directions, depending on how you played. All of it is brilliant, just brilliant. As a middle act it's essentially perfect at setting us up for the start of the final chapter in a rich, complex universe teeming with stories to let us blow shit up in the most spectacular and involving way possible. I agree with this, but strictly comparing Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 to each other (which was what I was doing in my post), I definitely preferred the plot in the first game. I'm sure playing through the entire trilogy, the second game will work a lot better.
James McGeachie Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 When people say they "improved" a lot of the bad features in the second game, I agree that they did get rid of the problems, but in many departments they didn't so much "improve" the area but instead discarded it virtually completely. Finding and customising weapons and armour is one of these areas. It needed to be scaled back from the mind boggling mess it was in the first game, but it was extremely bare bones in two. What would be ideal was a middle ground that retained a sense of complexity (i.e. still being able to equip specific ammo and upgrades onto weapons and armour and customise them anywhere to suit current needs) while still keeping a streamlined interface that doesn't involve cluttered inventories. More customisation options = more items = more items to actually find while exploring, giving more incentive to look about areas outside the main quest. Too much is a bad thing, too little strips away from it feeling like as much of an RPG experience, a middle ground would be great. Note that I'm not talking about RPG as in the literal definition of "role playing game" but just talking about the kind of aspects people generally expect from the genre, including a good sense of customisation depth. The Mako exploration is a similar topic. It needed to be fixed heavily, instead it was scrapped completely. "Exploration" is replaced with "driving" the ship around galaxies and then clicking on anomalies to go straight into a mission. The Hammerhead was brought in as an "experiment" with DLC but it would be nice to see it used in a way more similar to the Mako in the original game, exploring large areas of the surface of planets, but this time in a far faster and more fluid way. Thankfully I believe they're considering that for 3. Imagine that instead of mining planets, you have areas like the Project Overlord HUB to explore on a great number of planets. That's basically what I hoped for with ME2. Hopefully it'll be what's actually in 3. I think everything about the Project Overlord and Firewalker DLC was ideas for how to improve upon the Mako and Mining minigames to balance exploration and resource gathering with a good mechanism. Hence why you pick up resources not with a button tapping minigame, but by hovering over an area and "sucking" them up, meaning there's still a "mechanic" to it but you can do it without leaving the vehicle and in a way that makes sense. Also why instead of scanning for anomalies to find missions, you are given a few locations around a hub world to check in the order you wish to.
Aimless Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I think limiting the amount of weapons is a good thing, that way they can be more easily differentiated: this is the highly accurate one, this one has a high rate of fire, this one fires 3-round bursts, etc. There definitely needs to be weapon customisation, though. Basically I'd like to see them have 3 or 4 base weapons for each class, the various modules and modifications you can attach to them taking on the role of the loot, allowing you to specialise your guns further. It would hardly be a daunting system for players, the CoD games have been training people in such things for years. More important than any of this, though, is the ability to have helmets automatically toggle during cutscenes. In fact they can throw in a cool fold-up animation whilst they're at it.
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