Mass Effect 2

[Korax]

Tracking information tells me that my copy is at a processing center within an hour's drive of where I live. I am getting restless.

[Squid Division]

I love it when they ship it past your house several times.

I'm torn on whether or not to play through ME1 and then move on to ME2 with my good character, or just start ME2 with my evil character tomorrow when I pick the game up.

[kuddles]

Holy crap. Nearly every review says the game is between 35-40 hours long. I'm a little wary that it might start to wear out it's welcome at that length but considering they managed to improve nearly every every problem with the first and doubled the size at the same time suggests they really hit it out of the park.

I managed to force AA using nhancer so this game is looking gorgeous now.

[eljay]

The original was around 35-40 hours long for me, but then I did absolutely everything. So maybe factor that into your perception of how long it is? Are the reviews specifying whether that's with or without ancillary content?

[Garple]

Well, if the length spooks you, maybe you play it halfway and then pick up something else and return to it later? Nothing says you have to trudge through a game when you're not enjoying it.

[miffy495]

Thanks for that link, Kuddles, I may look into that. I was hoping to finish my playthrough before the sequel went live, but alas I'm just touching down on Virmire at the moment. I still intend to finish before I start playing though. I think I'm just going to carry my character through from where I'm at on the PC this time, as it'll have been played this past month and not two years ago, but if I suddenly decide that male Shepard's voice is too irritating (which it may well be) I'll get a save with more-or-less the same outcome and start over.

[Murdoc]

Ten seconds in and the three voice commands I chose shepherd was mute... dragon age lameness strikes again? But why there are only two voices they needed this time; maybe don't hire a sheen and I can get my god damn voice back.

[miffy495]

What do you mean Shepard isn't voiced? They had the old voice actor in all the trailers. It can't only be for cutscenes or similar crap, can it?

[Murdoc]

What do you mean Shepard isn't voiced? They had the old voice actor in all the trailers. It can't only be for cutscenes or similar crap, can it?

False alarm, false alarm! I guess they stuck the start in at the last minute or something because there was no voice for my choices until I got passed it.

edit:

Awesome.

Just got a run down about why our power couplings or something are peices of shit and how it'd be nice to get some new ones from the engineer dregs, this is what being a real space captain is all about.

OMG, I just met our space janitor! This is friggin awesome!

Edited January 27, 2010 by Murdoc

[kuddles]

Five hours in and it just continues to get better. The only thing I don't like is the whole "Mission Complete" thing that comes up between intervals, it's a little gamey and it takes me out of the cinematic moment a bit. But I think it speaks volumes that I have to look at stuff like that to find complaints.

I have to admit, I like the customization options to your armor way more than I should. My Jane Shepard just looks so adorable in her baby blue helmet.

Also, I was kind of turned off by the change in music to a more traditional symphonic sound since it seemed like such a unique style in the first one, but now that I realize it fits better with the different tone of the sequel.

[Murdoc]

Well, I think I just "broke" the game, so that's awesome. I died, it said resume, so I pressed something, and I got to watch my corpse watch my team mates die, then I'm just watching my corpse.

Oddly enough I haven't figured out how to save, so surely there must be an autosave function, I mean they improved everything else; right? Well, theres not a single save on my profile; so wtf do I do?

Is this a planned feature of watching your corpse; is it supposed to bring up another menu? Can I bring up that menu again? I have no idea, no info in the book.

edit: I guess the no saving thing is a bug, awesome, well I guess I get to experience those 4-6 hours again some other day. I'm a pretty die hard ME fan so it's no big deal, but it does kind of suck.

ps: dissapointed with change of music as well.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Murdoc

[mikemariano]

I just started playing this evening. Man, they changed every single interface design for the worse. The huge cards that fill the lower left corner of the screen after every interaction ("+2 Renegade!" "New Codex Entry!") are distracting. They are actually harder to read than the smaller updates we got in the first game.

And combat seems far worse than it did in the first game. Did we really need a manual cover system?

When cover was automatic, I could use the A button to "dash and duck" to new cover. In this game, I have to make sure I'm not facing anything that could be used as cover before I decide to run.

[JonCole]

I just started playing this evening. Man, they changed every single interface design for the worse. The huge cards that fill the lower left corner of the screen after every interaction ("+2 Renegade!" "New Codex Entry!") are distracting. They are actually harder to read than the smaller updates we got in the first game.

And combat seems far worse than it did in the first game. Did we really need a manual cover system?

When cover was automatic, I could use the A button to "dash and duck" to new cover. In this game, I have to make sure I'm not facing anything that could be used as cover before I decide to run.

If you're here to argue that the Mass Effect cover system is somehow proficient in any way, I just want to tell you that you're completely wrong.

[mikemariano]

If you're here to argue that the Mass Effect cover system is somehow proficient in any way, I just want to tell you that you're completely wrong.

It's the lesser of two evils; observe my reactions:

MASS EFFECT COVER SYSTEM: "Oh, this isn't very good. I'll have to learn to live with it."

MASS EFFECT 2 COVER SYSTEM: "Oh, this isn't very good. I'll have to babysit it forever and ever..."

[elmuerte]

Grrr... stop playing! Or at least stop posting

Taking to long for my copy to arrive.

[miffy495]

Out of curiosity, what are people playing it on? If somebody using a 360 is having issues with interface, I'd assume that I, being one of the chosen PC users, would not have the same problems. Just wondering how seriously to take interface complaints. I'm sure they're an issue for those who are playing on console, but if you're playing an RPG of this calibre on console, you're doing it wrong.

Yeah, so I played the first ME on 360. In my defense, it didn't come out on PC until about 4 months after I'd already finished it. I'm greatly preferring the PC playthrough I'm enjoying now. (Just got to Ilos for the final non-citadel showdown! w00t!)

[Patters]

I just started playing this evening. Man, they changed every single interface design for the worse. The huge cards that fill the lower left corner of the screen after every interaction ("+2 Renegade!" "New Codex Entry!") are distracting. They are actually harder to read than the smaller updates we got in the first game.

And combat seems far worse than it did in the first game. Did we really need a manual cover system?

When cover was automatic, I could use the A button to "dash and duck" to new cover. In this game, I have to make sure I'm not facing anything that could be used as cover before I decide to run.

Text size doesn't bother me at all, as I'm on PC with a decent sized screen.

I played the demo thing at a games convention, which I have no problems with, admittedly my experience with cover systems is decent. Admittedly it isn't on the levels of Gears competency but it's no way near the worst. So forgive me if I completely disregard this.

[Korax]

Did anyone else find the Subject Zero reveal to be painfully obvious?

You're sent to get "Jack," a violent criminal. At this point I already know that Zero fits that description, but figure that maybe there's another character that wasn't shown in the trailers. Then, as the quest progresses, I find out that "Jack" is more or less completely psychopathic and must be kept in stasis, which is inching ever closer to being Zero. And then I start to notice that when I talk to people about "Jack," they never use any gender-specific words. By the time that the cryo-thing opens up to reveal that, holy shit, Jack is a chick, I had already guessed it, and it just came off as dumb and trite.

[kuddles]

I know it's obvious they wrote it to get quoted by EA's marketing, but I thought this line by TIME magazine was hilarious:

With beefier combat added to the role-playing, it's the Avatar of video games — except it's better written.

Also, while I loved the intro, I almost wish

that BioWare had done a mind fuck equal to Metal Gear Solid 2. All the hype and previews of the game and talk about how importing your character would be a big deal, only to say "Ten minutes in and Shepard's dead! Time to roll a new character!" Although I know that would probably piss off way more people then it would impress.

Out of curiosity, what are people playing it on? If somebody using a 360 is having issues with interface, I'd assume that I, being one of the chosen PC users, would not have the same problems. Just wondering how seriously to take interface complaints. I'm sure they're an issue for those who are playing on console, but if you're playing an RPG of this calibre on console, you're doing it wrong.

I'm playing on the PC so I don't know if it's different on the 360 version, but I also post at Something Awful and Gamers with Jobs, and I haven't read a single other person (or review for that matter) who doesn't agree that the combat, cover mechanic and interface are far, far better than the first game. Not to say mikemariano doesn't have a valid opinion or anything but he is in the extreme minority in this case so I wouldn't let it get to you until you experience it yourself.

[Murdoc]

I'm a little thrown off by the lack of inventory and weapon adjustments/overheating from the first game. While I agree that the way it was handeled in ME1 was a bit confusing, it kind of seems like it's been thrown out the window... it feels a little less like an rpg now.

This is super nitpicky about the first half hour and my memory is poor from the first one but...

When shepherds corpse is floating in space the music is cool, but kind of lacked the hard edge of the music from the first when the title came up... but what kind of irritates me(I've played the beginning 3-4 times now due to that save bug/not making up my mind on which character to play) but then it cuts to a black screen with a static logo. It would have been nice if the logo came up, did it's little flashy thing from the first over top of the horizon without cutting away from that scene... I just wanted the death of shepherd to be a little more impactful. Not to mention when you meet people that realize who you are, even your friends, they aren't that shocked... but i guess this is the future with aliens, faster then lightspeed travel, and giant ai trying to destroy humanity, I guess coming back from the dead just might not surprise anyone.

Also, they sort of made a lot of leeway on the Ai and robots thing this time around; I mean everyone seems to have a god damn mech.

[mikemariano]

SPOILER ALERT: In the first hour of the game, Shepard does not punch any women in the face.

[Squid Division]

Also, while I loved the intro, I almost wish

that BioWare had done a mind fuck equal to Metal Gear Solid 2. All the hype and previews of the game and talk about how importing your character would be a big deal, only to say "Ten minutes in and Shepard's dead! Time to roll a new character!" Although I know that would probably piss off way more people then it would impress.

On the one hand that would be awesome. On the other, I, like many many other people, am playing back through the first one to get a character that I want to transfer.

[Murdoc]

SPOILER ALERT: In the first hour of the game, Shepard does not punch any women in the face.

Maybe not your shepherd, but mine was punching women in the face while he was still in his mothers womb.

[elmuerte]

Maybe not your shepherd, but mine was punching women in the face while he was still in his mothers womb.

My Shepherd punched women through the mail slot.

[Patters]

My Shepherd punched women through the mail slot.

You mean the Male slot.

.... sorry.