Mass Effect 2 [Xbox 360/PC/PS3]

[vanpeebles]

I was all set to get this, but not having the Mako sections dampened my spirits. I really enjoyed them myself. Getting up momentum for a good run at a hill was a bit like a 3d kickstart or that old offroad game 1nsane.

[PeteJ]

Remember the Mako replacement is coming in as DLC later this month

[Prototype]

Having completed this now, I regard it as something of a paradox. On one hand I found it considerably disappointing, on the other I'm (just about) glad I experienced it.

The game's greatest merits, without doubt, are the characters and dialogue which set new standards. The story for the most part is excellent too despite the rather silly, Hollywood-like finale. And the cut scenes and general level of design and detail in regards to the sci-fi setting are top notch.

But I definitely found more to dislike than appreciate. Clumsy, clunky controls, and bland and uninspiring level design that never once conveyed the sense of a universe going on beyond the confines of the game's boundaries left the game feeling rather hollow and lifeless.

The new Citadel was awful, I know the original was a nightmare to navigate, but least it felt like the capital of the Milky Way. The absence of the Mako left a gaping hole in the game, like curry with no turmeric, Mass Effect with no Mako felt lacking. The new weapon system is weak and a step backwards from the original's and it's hundreds of upgrades and configurations. The side missions this time were all 15 minute affairs meaning, unlike the original's, there was never a sense of sinking your teeth into something outside of the main quest.

The structure of the game, again unlike the original's, felt incredibly linear and the fact it?s impossible farm experience/credits is, in my opinion, unforgivable. I mean it's meant to be an RPG. A role playing game. When I take the role of a character I expect to be able to take a break from the story and use my skills and abilities to make money/experience if I so choose. The Normandy has access to the whole of the Milky Way galaxy yet nowhere can you land to just explore, kill and collect. It?s silly. The game holds complete control over how many credits one can receive, how much experience they can make. Talk about limiting the player. Indeed the only thing that can be farmed is minerals but that?s almost criminally time-consuming and unbearably dull.

I don't know if EA are to blame (perhaps this was always the direction Bioware were gonna take) but, overall, the game felt extremely dumbed down and sterilised compared to the original. It felt like it was designed to appeal to a wider audience, an audience used to being spoon-fed.

What a silly thing to say regarding EA. How are EA to blame? Why would they change the direction of a game that has sold a million copies before they bought Bioware? EA are one of the finest publishers going at the moment. I much prefer them to Activision.

Anyway Hi Edd. I hope you don't troll the PS3 like you do on other boards, I've seen you do.

[Charlie]

It's not something anyone should subscribe to.

I subscribe to it. Does that mean I'm in the wrong?

What a silly thing to say regarding EA. How are EA to blame? Why would they change the direction of a game that has sold a million copies before they bought Bioware? EA are one of the finest publishers going at the moment. I much prefer them to Activision.

Anyway Hi Edd. I hope you don't troll the PS3 like you do on other boards, I've seen you do.

lol I know who you are. I didn't say EA were to blame, I voiced my curiosity that, perhaps, they persuaded Bioware to tone down the authentic RPG elements. Whoever decided on the change in direction, it was the wrong decision for me. One of the draws of proper RPG's is once you've beaten the story you can continue developing your character, continue exploring, continue making money and spending said money on better equipment. You can't do that in Mass Effect 2. Once you've beaten the game you're left, in gameplay-terms, with an empty and lifeless galaxy. If you're lucky you may have a few side missions left but that's it.

[sj33]

Then again, the original Mass Effect didn't even have that.

[Charlie]

No, true, once you beat Mass Effect that was it; the end. But you could farm experience/credits during the game, at least.

[Concrete donkey]

No, true, once you beat Mass Effect that was it; the end. But you could farm experience/credits during the game, at least.

I'm pretty sure there was a limit to experience in the first game as there is in the second forcing you to chose between specialities. There was no way you could max out your character on one play through with no DLC. I tried when it first came out. By the end of Mass Effect I had way too much money and not enough to spend it on. There was no strategy onto where to place your money but if you like accumulating resources in vast quantities to the point you couldn't possibly spend a tenth of it within reason there's always Element Zero and other planetary resources in the scanning mini game.

[sj33]

I think Mass Effect 2 actually does a better job of leaving it open for people to explore, farming the minerals and searching for missed side quests. Mass Effect 1 does an excellent job of giving the illusion of exploration and scope, but it's exactly that - an illusion. Most of the side missions that do exist are cookie-cutter, and many of the planets serve no purpose other than farming minerals.

[Prototype]

I subscribe to it. Does that mean I'm in the wrong?



lol I know who you are. I didn't say EA were to blame, I voiced my curiosity that, perhaps, they persuaded Bioware to tone down the authentic RPG elements. Whoever decided on the change in direction, it was the wrong decision for me. One of the draws of proper RPG's is once you've beaten the story you can continue developing your character, continue exploring, continue making money and spending said money on better equipment. You can't do that in Mass Effect 2. Once you've beaten the game you're left, in gameplay-terms, with an empty and lifeless galaxy. If you're lucky you may have a few side missions left but that's it.

You can continue to develop the character during a second playthrough. I don't see any change in direction. It's not an old school RPG for once. The gameplay is 10 times better than Mass Effect 1. Even Edge have noticed that hence the jump from 7 to 9.

[Brats]

The structure of the game, again unlike the original's, felt incredibly linear and the fact it?s impossible farm experience/credits is, in my opinion, unforgivable. I mean it's meant to be an RPG. A role playing game. When I take the role of a character I expect to be able to take a break from the story and use my skills and abilities to make money/experience if I so choose. The Normandy has access to the whole of the Milky Way galaxy yet nowhere can you land to just explore, kill and collect. It?s silly. The game holds complete control over how many credits one can receive, how much experience they can make. Talk about limiting the player. Indeed the only thing that can be farmed is minerals but that?s almost criminally time-consuming and unbearably dull.

I don't know if EA are to blame (perhaps this was always the direction Bioware were gonna take) but, overall, the game felt extremely dumbed down and sterilised compared to the original. It felt like it was designed to appeal to a wider audience, an audience used to being spoon-fed.

Fairplay if you prefered ME1 over 2, but I disagree with the suggestion the second game was dumbed down compared to the original. Let's not paint a rose painted image of the original game as having a deep equipment system and a non-linear structure, it was very much 'dumbed down' compared to other previous Bioware RPGs (even KOTOR).

ME2 wasn't dumbed down from 1, but it took what Bioware had already stripped out of ME1 and made sense of it. Yes ME1 had hundreds of weapons and armour and the ability to apply upgrades, but the end result was no more than basic stat increasing. Yes you could land on lots of planets, but loads of planets with nothing to do except scan a few rocks does not make it less linear. If anything, ME2 is more open as there are so many main missions that can end in different ways (and affect the ending) and so many that are optional (where participation in them or not affects the ending).

I too didn't mind the Mako as far as toodling around the alien planets was concerned, but it always felt like a side dish, not a main ingredient. And combat in the Mako was awful, just simply a matter of moving within range, firing off a few shots and then moving back out range whilst the shields recharged. The Mako was so vulnerable, the controls so basic and the ominigel took soooo long to recharge that no other tactics worked against multiple enemies.

And grinding for credits or experience is not a facet of role playing - although unfortunately it has become a staple in many poorly designed games. Grinding is as dull as any planet scanning, so I applaud an RPG that does not require the player to attain a required level or equipment to progress.

[capcom_suicide]

Finished ME2 last night, 30 hours. I'm now tidying up and scanning planets etc.

I love the way

->Open Spoiler<-

that you get to talk to all the crew again after mission complete, and hear what they think. A brilliant brilliant way to feel both closure on Episode 2 and also excitement for Episode 3, a new hope.

Of the game then?

I thought it was stella. I would describe the game as a "Third person shooter with soul", a massive involving shooter with a wonder storyline & brilliant characters. I loved the feeling that I could change the outcome of the game & almost feel that this must be the way to go in the future.

Visually the game was wonderful, so many locations and graphical assets, but I felt a little more claustraphobic than ME1, I guess this maybe to work to the strengths of UE3, but I felt the levels that used nice background art to give the impression of scale were great. The 360 is 6 years old, so I don't mind them cheating to give scale, if that's what's needed.

I hope more DLC is released, the game seems well suited to that & I would willing to part with a few 800cr notes for a few more worlds. Is there any good place for ME2 DLC info?

Can't wait for ME3!

One thing I hope though, is that if we install all discs onto the HDD, why give me the "Swap disk" message? That sucks!

[PeteJ]

I hope more DLC is released, the game seems well suited to that & I would willing to part with a few 800cr notes for a few more worlds. Is there any good place for ME2 DLC info?

Hammerhead (Mako replacement) is coming later this month for free, and I think there is a new character coming after that. The Bioware doctors have said there will be content throughout the year. They've also said something big is coming next year but haven't announced if this is an addon or ME3.

[englishbob]

One thing I hope though, is that if we install all discs onto the HDD, why give me the "Swap disk" message? That sucks!

I thought that too. It was the only flaw in an impressive game though!

[Spatial]

Hammerhead (Mako replacement) is coming later this month for free, and I think there is a new character coming after that. The Bioware doctors have said there will be content throughout the year. They've also said something big is coming next year but haven't announced if this is an addon or ME3.

They've said they hope to support this one with DLC right up until the release of number three so I bet it's that rather than announcing the final part.

Rumour has it that it'll involve other playable characters and side stories (like expanding on what happens with things like

->Open Spoiler<-

Liara and The Shadowbroker. Or the Quarian fleet

. Although all this is little more than a rumour right now.

This would be good though because it might be a way for them to deal with the side stories for each character before they get into the meat and bones needed for what's coming in the final chapter. Otherwise they've got all these brilliant, well crafted characters who could easily support games of their own, and they'll end up not giving them enough space to utilise them all to their potential (something I though ME2 was guilty of). Which would be an utter shame.

However there's one flaw in that whole idea, which is

->Open Spoiler<-

if that character died in your suicide mission then you can't continue anything!

[Charlie]

Fairplay if you prefered ME1 over 2, but I disagree with the suggestion the second game was dumbed down compared to the original. Let's not paint a rose painted image of the original game as having a deep equipment system and a non-linear structure, it was very much 'dumbed down' compared to other previous Bioware RPGs (even KOTOR).

ME2 wasn't dumbed down from 1, but it took what Bioware had already stripped out of ME1 and made sense of it. Yes ME1 had hundreds of weapons and armour and the ability to apply upgrades, but the end result was no more than basic stat increasing. Yes you could land on lots of planets, but loads of planets with nothing to do except scan a few rocks does not make it less linear. If anything, ME2 is more open as there are so many main missions that can end in different ways (and affect the ending) and so many that are optional (where participation in them or not affects the ending).

I too didn't mind the Mako as far as toodling around the alien planets was concerned, but it always felt like a side dish, not a main ingredient. And combat in the Mako was awful, just simply a matter of moving within range, firing off a few shots and then moving back out range whilst the shields recharged. The Mako was so vulnerable, the controls so basic and the ominigel took soooo long to recharge that no other tactics worked against multiple enemies.

And grinding for credits or experience is not a facet of role playing - although unfortunately it has become a staple in many poorly designed games. Grinding is as dull as any planet scanning, so I applaud an RPG that does not require the player to attain a required level or equipment to progress.

Mass Effect was indeed dumbed down compared to Bioware's previous offerings, certainly, but, to me, it still felt like an RPG; where as Mass Effect 2 doesn't.

Regardless of what people think about the Mako, whether it was fun, whether it was dull, whether they miss it or not, there's no denying it played a key role in the majority of missions and took up a considerable chunk of gameplay time. For those reasons I consider more than a side dish and thought it a fine gameplay accompaniment to the on-foot action and dialogue sections.

About grinding, I don't like games that require a player grind in order to progress either, but I do like the option of being able to grind if I so choose, be it to make cash or to experiment with different weapons and abilities. And if it was included as an option then the game would better cater to players like myself without intruding on the gaming sensibilities of others. It's a win-win scenario.