Mass Effect 2

[Flabio]

So the cerberus network is essentially a way to dole out freebies to people that bought the game new rather than second hand.

Sounds fair enough to me (but then I'm a gamedev, so I would say that).

[Riskbreaker]

I don't have a problem with the idea of doling out freebie's as an incentive to those that purchase it new. But if it's content near launch that could have gone on the disks I'd rather save the HDD space since I'm paying for disks anyway. Especially if the 360 install is meant to be huge.

[Irons]

So the cerberus network is essentially a way to dole out freebies to people that bought the game new rather than second hand.

Sounds fair enough to me (but then I'm a gamedev, so I would say that).

I feel the same and I'm just a gamer. I felt the same with Dragon Age as well which had a similar approach.

One thing I feel I'm always guaranteed with bioware games is value for my money. I can't recall any of their games I haven't played through at least twice.

I'm really excited for this game now, good thing I have the first week of next month off work or I might have 'fallen ill'

[Spatial]

Just listening to the Giantbombcast on this.

Quite amazing that, if you don't have a ME save, instead of the game tell you what happened, you can still dictate to it the choices you would have made. So instead of having to play what the game wants, you still have control over the previous storyline.

Very clever.

Plus Casey Hudson is already talking about the chain reaction of events for ME3 - is it wrong to be exited about the third game before the second is even out?

[sj33]

Apparently there'll be two separate types of DLC - free stuffwhich is offered through the Cerberus Network and paid DLC which can be purchased without the Cerberus Network (so basically via Xbox Live Marketplace - or whatever the equivalent would be for PC.)

The paid PC DLC presumably uses the nonsense EA Download Manager system where your purchases expire after a year unless you pay to renew.

[SuperBeatBoy]

I'm so tempted by checking out some videos for spoilers. But I WILL HOLD THE LINE!

[Irons]

http://xbox-360.nowgamer.com/reviews...-2?o=0#listing 9.8 from Nowgamer if anyone is interested.

Some of the guys over on RLLMUK have gotten hold of 'preview' copies and the general consensus seems to be, that you should believe the hype for once.

Next week is going to go very, very slowly I think.

[angelox]

I'm still working on my ME1 save, so really - there isnt enough time haha

[hudson]

Anyone know if this has improved visual performance than the first game?

[Spatial]

Apparently so - impressions coming out from those who have it early is that it's a great looking game. No pop in this time either.

IGN have posted their review and said

Games like Mass Effect 2 don't come around often enough. Look at any aspect and you can be sure it's great. It's incredibly personal while still retaining a sense of epic sweeping scale. The combat and mission design are outstanding. The visuals, voice acting, soundtrack, and direction are miles ahead of the competition. Perhaps most impressively, Mass Effect 2 manages to fulfill its incredible ambition while only suffering from very few technical hiccups. The only real caveat I should mention is that some of the revelations and plot twists won't be quite as powerful if you haven't played Mass Effect 1, but that isn't any reason to skip this fantastic videogame.

Could I be anymore excited about this game? I don't think it's possible!

[Morph]

Anyone know if this has improved visual performance than the first game?

There was a developer vid a long time ago talking about this, showed off better rendering of light and more realistic shadows complete with nicer effects. Hoping for no tearing and shorter loading times myself.

Although I'm another who needs to finish the first game first.

[Spatial]

Bit more on the disc swapping thing too from IGN:

Last month, BioWare Community Manager Chris Priestly noted players had to do one required disc swap for the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2.

But that is no longer the case.

The game will make players re-insert disc 1 as they make their way towards the end levels. BioWare producer Jessie Houston explained to IGN just what happens.

"Players will start with Disc 1 for the introduction and early level choices, then go through a funnel level of sorts, where they will need to switch to Disc 2," Houston said. "From there they will play the middle portion of the game, which is mostly on Disc 2. Then after another funnel point in the story they'll go back to Disc 1."

Houston noted this decision had nothing to do with combating potential piracy, and was done to help alleviate breaking up the gameplay during the middle portions of Mass Effect 2.

"The decision was made due to the nature of having to go to two discs for what is a non-linear game and fitting the right amount of content onto each of the discs," he added. "This way players won't have to swap their discs multiple times during the middle of the game."

[PeteJ]

Could I be anymore excited about this game? I don't think it's possible!

We'll see how you are on Wednesday

what did IGN score it? I dare not look at any reviews for fear of spoilers!

[Mr_Skinny]

IGN gave it 9.6

[Ajay1986]

Just listening to the Giantbombcast on this.

Quite amazing that, if you don't have a ME save, instead of the game tell you what happened, you can still dictate to it the choices you would have made. So instead of having to play what the game wants, you still have control over the previous storyline.

Very clever.

Very happy to hear that because I lost both my saves when my Xbox buggered up.