Mass Effect 2

[capcom_suicide]

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.

It is a nightmare On PC from 1440p to 480p it a huge drop.....

[saturn-gamer]

PC version owns this demo. All real time, locked 60fps... its a tour de force on my rig.

But I must say I prefer ME2 with controller! I also didn't play the paid DLC so i'm going to pick this one up as soon as its on the shelves.

[jim g]

PC version owns this demo. All real time, locked 60fps... its a tour de force on my rig.

But I must say I prefer ME2 with controller! I also didn't play the paid DLC so i'm going to pick this one up as soon as its on the shelves.

PS3 ?200 ish, 360 ?200 ish, PC rig, shed load of money, I will stick with me consoles!

[capcom_suicide]

PS3 £200 ish, 360 £200 ish, PC rig, shed load of money, I will stick with me consoles!

I'm running ME2 at 2560 x 1440 (45-60fps) and yeah it looks great, BUT it also looks fantastic on console! Of all the games I've played I don't think ME2 is a good example for dropping console. I believe the Unreal Engine 3 is heavily optimized for console, and you don't get much extra on PC except for perhaps better textures & frame rate, none of which make much difference in this game.

EDIT1: Apparently the 360 is FPS locked to 20fps and the PS3 is unlocked at around 30fps. This should mean the 360 would be terrible, but I don't think it matters too much. Odd, as I am very keen on high fps! I think ME2 is not a "Racer" and thus doesn't suffer too much at lower FPS.

EDIT1: Loading on PC however is fantastic! Just for example moving between levels on Normandy with almost no load time is nice.

What is different is the control scheme. They have a completely different interface to console, and I haven't made my mind up if I like it better than the pad or not. You can try the demo to see if anyone is thinking of a PC re-run before ME3.

I'm now several hours in on my second ME2 playthrough (1st on console, 2nd on PC at uber res) & I am just sucking every last detail out of the game world.

I think this might be one of my favourite games of all time.

[saturn-gamer]

Yeah its grand for console standards. The framerate seems quite steady at some points, felt 30+. But the seemingly Bink video encoded FMV's do look kind of bad when compared to the PC's real time ownage. The loading is kind of crap when coming from the PC.

And I love the pad controls. I usually had Run under the mouse 4 button (logitech mouse, with a sidebutton), issuing commands to member 1 and 2 was under Q and E. On the DS3 I just press left and right on the D-pad for that. Same goes for special powers when in firing mode and running under L2 feels better mapped. I think ME2 has the best pad controls out of the ME1, DA, ME2 triangle.

Its not all glory, I like the hacking game less with controller. It was much faster with mouse. I figure the same goes for the harvesting. Thats pretty minor though.

[capcom_suicide]

Yeah its grand for console standards. The framerate seems quite steady at some points, felt 30+. But the seemingly Bink video encoded FMV's do look kind of bad when compared to the PC's real time ownage. The loading is kind of crap when coming from the PC.

And I love the pad controls. I usually had Run under the mouse 4 button (logitech mouse, with a sidebutton), issuing commands to member 1 and 2 was under Q and E. On the DS3 I just press left and right on the D-pad for that. Same goes for special powers when in firing mode and running under L2 feels better mapped. I think ME2 has the best pad controls out of the ME1, DA, ME2 triangle.

Its not all glory, I like the hacking game less with controller. It was much faster with mouse. I figure the same goes for the harvesting. Thats pretty minor though.

Yeah, totally agree mate. Good post!

[k0pp0]

Looks like new dlc for Mass Effect 2 is on the way.. http://www.destructoid.com/even-more...2-190653.phtml

Via destructoid

[Mr_Skinny]

Sweet!!!

[EvilBoris]

I saw that note yesterday , didn't realise it was unannouncned.

[PeteJ]

Played through all the other DLC the other day (got them in the sale, 200 points each!) and now I've caught the Mass Effect bug again. I need more!

PS - ShadowBroker was awesome.

[sj33]

If the DLC is of the same quality and scale as the ShadowBroker DLC, then yes please. It was a significant improvement on the tiny, 30 minute long DLC that came before it.

[PeteJ]

I liked Overlord too, hoping that's the kind of design we see more of in ME3.

[EvilBoris]

I just finished the 200 point bargain DLC. I want more too.

Might play through it again for the missing cheevs.

[JP]

Good news from Digital Foundry is that the issues with the stuttering FMV has been remedied in the final code.

The FMVs do unfortunately appear to be the same crappy quality that appeared on the 360 which is the only real problem I had with that version. I'm disappointed with that but I was expecting it and I'm used to crappy Bink FMVs playing the 360 version.

The two versions seem close to identical with some elements being better on one console and other elements being better on the other. It seems the main difference between the two is the lighting which seems to have more emphasis on the PS3 version, I preferred the stronger colours in the PS3 build but not everybody did.

In the end though, none of the differences really matter as when playing through the 360 version none of the minor issues ever got in the way of the game and that's what really matters.

If you haven't played this game before I'd really recommend buying it, the format doesn't really matter and the prices are probably going to be quite close once you factor in all the free DLC included in the PS3 version.

[nonny]

I just completed this (on Xbox 360) as part of my new years resolution to get rid of my gaming backlog. Man what a ride... it's an exceptionally good game. Took me 30+ hours and I completed the Overlord and Shadow Broker DLC as well.

The shadow broker DLC is an absolute stand-out in this... do not hesitate to download it. It's up there with part of the main mission in terms of quality, especially the end location... loved it. Also loved some of the wise cracks about using omni-gel and how that was old tech as a reference to ME1.

Amazing game... PS3 owners should be chuffed.