Mass Effect 2 [Xbox 360/PC/PS3]

[Spatial]

Well, at 37 hours, I've finished it. Feel a bit sad that it's all over - then I guess that depends on how good Bioware are going to be with implementing the DLC.

Overall an amazing game and it's given me hours of good, solid entertainment that I don't regret a moment of. However...

*Big ending spoilers*

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The whole suicide mission itself was really, really tense. In the end I managed to get all my team out alive, but I have a bit of a problem with the way that was handled.

Until I went off and read other threads I didn't realise that your team members could die. For someone who had upgraded the ship, made everyone loyal and didn't piss about making wrong decisions like not covering your flank or making Grunt team leader, I was left a bit baffled at the end by how little danger there actually seemed to be. Perhaps I should just be amazed at how good a Commander I am and that no one died instead of getting down about it

But I my biggest problem with this game is in terms of the decisions and its pacing.

This one doesn't really present you with the same challenges and decisions as the first and I missed those - they were hat made the first one great. During the suicide mission / side missions it would have been better if it forced you put characters in dangers way with no way of saving them - just like it did with Kaiden / Ashely in ME.

I kept waiting that that sort of thing to happen but it never did and it left the experience feeling a bit limp. The decisions didn't seem to have any immediate weight to them. If they hadn't done those sort of things in the first then I wouldn't bat an eyelid, but here it was almost like they were afraid to do it the same way again. Just seemed really odd.

There's no doubt that this game is the equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back. I couldn't help but feel that all the choices and the recruitment, as good as some of them were, ended up just backstory filler, building up to

->Open Spoiler<-

events which you will only really see any impact in during ME3 - that or they're going to have to release a shed load of DLC content to compensate.

But perhaps my biggest problem tied into this is some of the pacing.

->Open Spoiler<-

Take Legion for example - I was all like `ZOMG!` when you come across him, yet he's then criminally under used because of how late in the game you potentially get him.

It could just be the way that I went about doing scant few side missions before getting him as I'd been told that after that one the game was pretty much on the last mission, and if I hadn't then I might have got more of a a chance to use him, but it seemed like all the recruits didn't have enough space to breath. Maybe less of them would have been more, or maybe they needed to make the game longer to compensate - I don't know which would have been the better option.

And they really need to stop with getting Commander Shepard to bonk his way across the galaxy. Just because I want to know about my team mates, doesn't mean I want to stick my hose into them - by the end I was afraid to talk to anyone in case they thought I was trying to bed them. Even Mordin thought I was trying to cop off with him because of the way I was blinking

I really want to believe that we'll be getting some substantial Fallout 3 style content for this game because of the way it lets you go back to cruising the galaxy once you're done. If they don't, then it will be a real missed opportunity and I can't help but feel it'll actually hurt the game overall. There was so much more I felt I wanted to do and see with the characters and the universe itself.

[Eight Rooks]

Meh, the Kaiden/Ashley choice might have meant something to me if he wasn't a bland knockoff of Ender's Game and she wasn't a petulant, childish racist. One-dimensional and forgettable, the pair of them. The first game made the typical Bioware mistake of thinking simply putting the choices in made everything ZOMG EPIC; the second game correctly realises you have to have characters worth caring about.

You have a definite point in that many of the characters feel criminally under-used. But I'll take ones with potential over being forced to spend time with or decide between a bunch of non-entities. The mere fact Tali and Legion exist is more meaningful to me than anything in the first game.

EDIT: Oh, and you're certainly right in picking

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Legion

as the most under-developed character - going by my friend's playthrough, try

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taking him to the migrant fleet

if you really want to see wasted potential.

[eastyy]

really enjoying the game....one little gripe is on my sd tv i am struggling to read the text :S

[Jebus]

And they really need to stop with getting Commander Shepard to bonk his way across the galaxy. Just because I want to know about my team mates, doesn't mean I want to stick my hose into them - by the end I was afraid to talk to anyone in case they thought I was trying to bed them. Even Mordin thought I was trying to cop off with him because of the way I was blinking

This!

I had my "interest" in mind, and it was all set to be green lit. Then, out of nothing I'm just chatting to my crew, and I suddenly realise that it's a 4 way triangle and 3 of the women are gunning for my elephant trunk!

Anyway, I've encountered another thing that is a bit annoying, in some of the major gunfights I have this wierd thing where I pop out of cover, go to change weapon and then I can't stop that animation, so I'm stuck out of cover and it takes AGES...so I die!

I love this game though, 21 hours now and everyone loyal! Time for this **** to get real....

...tomorrow, hopefully.

[Eight Rooks]

I have no problem with the potential for hot human-on-<species> action, I just don't like the way Bioware have backed themselves into giving the player the choice of sex or, well, nothing, basically. Nor do I like the way it seems all too likely that - because hey, every game has to have an entirely new cast of characters, right? - everything I went through in this game vis-a-vis my partner of choice will be out the window in the third. I'd like a relationship, please.

Doesn't need to be a ren'ai or visual novel knockoff, just the acknowledgement that what I just went through was 'special', at least in some sense, and that I've established a bond that'll last into the next game. It always used to piss me off about Bond films - fantasy wish-fulfilment is one thing, but a good dose of maturity in some respects as far as storytelling goes is usually far more rewarding. I wasn't playing the relationship thread through because hur hur hur sex scene (which I'll admit I was mostly doing in the first game <_< ), I was doing it in large part because unconsciously I liked the feeling I was making sure someone had Shepard's back.

Still, I was wrong about the second game, so who knows? Maybe Bioware will work it in. I'm still not that confident, though.

[Tobal]

The game does need some Bro-Fist action, i was playing female shepherd, Miranda didn't seem interested in any of the talks i had with her, but then she is a corporate whore and jack's an asshole, tali made jokes about it when pushed so that went nowhere, ended up with the picture staring moment. Talks Garrus ended with me try to get him in to bed so i stopped talking to him, got a fist-pumping bro-fist of Jacob which made me laugh and forgot about thane's existance... Legion easily the biggest wasted character while still being the best.

One thing i would like to see in the next game is an uncharted 2 style melee system, give more worth to grunt like characters.

Fav moments as far as comedy goes to Garrus and Tali together in the cidadel(lifts anyone), Wrex and talking to Legion.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Absolutly great game, love the universe and all the characters. Took me 49hrs to finish, but i explored and talked to everyone constantly. Already started an insanity playthrough.

This could easily be my game of the year.

Must get the books! Roll on ME3!

Bioware I LOVE YOU!

Spoiler:

->Open Spoiler<-

I was so hoping for Legion to be Nihilus when i first started to speaking to him.

[PeteJ]

It scares me that people can play a game for that many hours close to release. I feel like I've been playing non-stop and have only made the 15 hour mark!

[mr_sockochris]

It scares me that people can play a game for that many hours close to release. I feel like I've been playing non-stop and have only made the 15 hour mark!

Normally I would agree but I just finished it today at the 40hr mark - just couldn't stop playing it! Just gutted there isn't anything more to do now, I did every mission, scanned every planet, etc. The wait for DLC begins...

[Kaosu]

Ran into a couple of weird glitches, when I came out of cover whilst fighting guys, Sheaperd was walking sideways, as in looking to the right whilst walking in any direction. I wanted to laugh, but when you're getting your shields killed every five seconds, it just ends up being annoying.

Also, I had Mordin randomly walking around in the air after he climbed up a pile of crates... really strange stuff.

I'm half way through Insanity now, it's getting easier with all the tech upgrades, but still requires paitence through some of the larger fights.

[Jebus]

Doesn't need to be a ren'ai or visual novel knockoff, just the acknowledgement that what I just went through was 'special', at least in some sense, and that I've established a bond that'll last into the next game. It always used to piss me off about Bond films - fantasy wish-fulfilment is one thing, but a good dose of maturity in some respects as far as storytelling goes is usually far more rewarding. I wasn't playing the relationship thread through because hur hur hur sex scene (which I'll admit I was mostly doing in the first game <_< ), I was doing it in large part because unconsciously I liked the feeling I was making sure someone had Shepard's back.

Still, I was wrong about the second game, so who knows? Maybe Bioware will work it in. I'm still not that confident, though.

I have to agree. I've seen the love scenes, and the only one that truly touched me was the Jack one, although the Tali one is pretty decent in that it's a big deal, but the Jack one is actually "emotional", whereas the others seem a bit more like "Lets ****".

As I said earlier, it's too easy to do! I was accidentally triggering romance story-arcs when all I wanted was a chat and to learn more about my crew!

Remember another bug as well, when Thane went into one of his memories, he disappeared, I continued the converstation talking to nothingness.

[Eight Rooks]

No, I did think the Tali romance quest was very good - no problem with how it was done - it just loses a lot of its significance IMO if in the next game you know it's straight back to 'Okay, ladies, who's next?'. Male or female, really - surely some of these characters are agreeing to sleep with you in the hope of a bit more than that?

Ten hours into a second playthrough on Veteran and still hugely enjoying it. Despite what all the ranting PC nerds have been saying on some other forums I've visited, I'm personally finding the combat even better with the difficulty up a notch.

Oh, and another bug, skipping through conversations - talking to Jacob straight after a chat with the Illusive Man, and when I tapped the space bar to look back at myself it switched back to a camera pointed straight at the Illusive Man's empty chair. <_<

[Jebus]

I'm literally at the point where I'm being told by Tali "I don't want to share you" and Jack "It's me or Miranda, choose".

It just all seems a bit ridiculous to me and I'm scared to go and talk to any female crew member at the moment, even the Justicar has a dialogue option for you to try it on with her!

I felt the way they dealt with the previous games love interest was well done, they'd changed enough for me to realise I didn't like them anymore anyway.

If whomever I do decide to "stay with" isn't "in a relationship" with Sheppard in Mass Effect 3 I'll feel VERY let down.

[Eight Rooks]

I'm literally at the point where I'm being told by Tali "I don't want to share you" and Jack "It's me or Miranda, choose".

It just all seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Oh, I'd agree, inasmuchas it's badly obvious how the romance quests are designed to close down every other option. Still, the 'me or Miranda' should just be their conflict, nothing specifically to do with a relationship - you can get them both to calm down with enough Paragon/Renegade points (though oddly enough I couldn't manage it before - sided with Jack - or after - kept going back but the conversation options were never lit up). I did manage to talk

->Open Spoiler<-

Tali and Legion

down though.

It's just the game mechanics holding it back, really. The writing is infinitely better.

[Red Hogg]

I'm literally at the point where I'm being told by Tali "I don't want to share you" and Jack "It's me or Miranda, choose".

I'm at that point with Miranda and she's telling me I need to end my burgeoning relationship with someone else first. Problem is I've no idea who it is, I've gone to all the ladies I've been flirting with (Jack, Kelly, and Liara) and there's no option to dump them. Think I may have to settle for Jack, but my God she's rough.

It's crap anyway, I want to fulk all of them.