Mass Effect 2

[Neon Ignition]

Deleted due to mis-posting

[SmokeMeAKipper]

I think both points are valid - on the one hand lots of things carried over but on the other hand it was disappointing how much of a direct impact it had on the game. I think we have to acknowledge how difficult it must be to cater for this and I think Bioware did an admirable job, but I agree with Boris that it was disappointing if only because I expected more from it.

Let's hope they improve again for ME3...

[drmick]

I was afraid to carry over my save game from the first game because I thought I would have more options, so to speak, if I started afresh.

But I persuaded Wrex to calm down in the first, so I was pissed off that the default position in ME2 was no Kaiden or Wrex.

Won't make the mistake for the third game. I saved EVERYONE in ME2 (after googling how to, after half them kicked the bucket).

[JP]

A PS3 demo will be available over here on Wednesday the 22nd and on Tuesday in the US. I really can't wait to play through this again, it's so very close to being my favourite 360 game but Crackdown just edges it...maybe.

[112]

Thanks for the heads up JP! Im itching to play my first Mass Effect game

Any idea on file size? Is it possible to down load it on a PC and transfer the data? Work has a faster connection

112

[sj33]

I honestly have to wonder how a demo of this would work (was there a 360 demo? I play the game on PC). This seems like exactly the kind of game that would seem quite poor as a demo.

[Number45]

Still can't decide whether to bite on the PC ME1, or wait for the 'interactive comic' version.

[sj33]

The original Mass Effect has been on offer on Steam quite a few times (bought it on there myself for under a fiver, though it's under a tenner on there these days anyway), so it might be on offer again around Christmas time. It's still a brilliant game, and I highly recommend it (though a lot of things that didn't work quite so well in the original game were dropped entirely from the sequel, much to the chargrin of some).

I'm actually replaying both Mass Effect games now, as well as reading the novels.

[JP]

It seems the "improvements" that BioWare said the PS3 version was getting are actually improvements according to the IGN preview.

• PlayStation 3 Preview
• Touring the Normandy: X360/PS3 Comparison
• Meeting Jacob: X360/PS3 Comparison

They aren't exactly game changing improvements and it was always a gorgeous game anyway but it certainly does no harm having it all performing a bit better.

There's no mention of whether the audio has also been improved or whether the CGI cut scenes have been. I really hope the CGI is HD this time as there was such a gap between the first and second due to them seemingly not having the space to include decent videos, it was something that really stood out to me as there was such a gap between the game graphics and the CGI that it really stood out at times.

Hopefully both consoles will benefit from these improved visuals in Mass Effect 3. Can't wait for the demo next week although I'm going to buy the game and spend hours playing it again anyway.

Thanks for the heads up JP! Im itching to play my first Mass Effect game

Any idea on file size? Is it possible to down load it on a PC and transfer the data? Work has a faster connection

112

I don't think there's been any mention of the demo apart from when it's happening.

To be honest, I'm not convinced the demo will sell the game well because of the type of game it is. The 360 was fine and it was the first I'd played of the series but I remember not being impressed by it.

It's a fantastic game, I hope you enjoy as much as other people have on here.

[sj33]

I had no idea the 360 version had such concessions (having never played it). I'm pretty sure the cutscenes are realtime on the PC version.

[JP]

Ah, don't think I explained that very well.

The story cutscenes were all realtime from what I can remember, what I meant was the CGI that was shown whenever you did something like landing on a planet or warped from on gate to another. It was just a jump moving from the gorgeous real time stuff to poorly compressed SD CGI every time this happened. It didn't happen in the first game at all.

It wasn't a major issue or anything but I did find it grated each time it happened for me.

They've explained now that the visual improvements are due this version being run on the Mass Effect 3 engine.

One of the first things you're gonna see is improved graphics. We actually created the engine for Mass Effect 3, and used that to make Mass Effect 2 PS3. So we took the content, the story and all the other assets that made up Mass Effect 2 and we put it into the Mass Effect 3 engine, and that's what we're actually delivering.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Was thinking of picking up the 360 version again, won't bother now. Will wait for the ps3 version. Which makes a change.

[JP]

I'd completely forgotten about the demo going up today (USA today, UK tomorrow).

[jim g]

USA demo is up - 2.3GB downloading now!

[spagmasterswift]

Shepard looks much better when he had a shaved head imo...looks a bit camp now...