Starting Over With Commander Shepard

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Starting Over With Commander Shepard


Commander Shepard, hero of the Citadel and savior of the galaxy, is going to find himself somewhat less capable at the start of Mass Effect 2 [http://masseffect.bioware.com/] than he was at the end of the first game, as his abilities are reset to accommodate the game's new systems.

The question of what to do with characters in sequels who, thanks to their past exploits should be virtual superheroes, is one that has long plagued developers. Most take the easy way out by either ignoring the matter entirely or coming up with some lame contrivance to explain why the hero has been dialed back to "chump" status but with players able to import their own personal Commander Shepards into the upcoming Mass Effect 2, it appeared that perhaps BioWare [http://www.bioware.com] had come up with a better solution to the problem.

Apparently not. In an interview with Computerworld [http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=C6CCCE9F-1A64-6A71-CE798565ED423340], producer Casey Hudson says Shepard's abilities will be reset to a more basic level, although he promised the change would make sense within the context of the story. "There's something that's happening with the story that explains what happens with your abilities. It's something we can't go into detail about for obvious reasons, but it actually happens the other way around," he said. "Our goal with the story, in terms of getting the game started quickly and players into really compelling story situations... that dictated and allowed us to do certain things including changing the way that your abilities work and the way you develop your character."

Part of the reason for the reset, he noted, was the sheer number of changes to "every system in the game," from character stats and inventory system to weapons, combat and other functions. "All of those things have been dramatically improved, so there's no direct way to map the stuff you had in Mass Effect over to Mass Effect 2 anyway," he added.

"That said, we're taking into account all of your accomplishments in terms of building a character from the first game. So things you'd expect to be acknowledged, like if you were a level 60 character, or you were highly Renegade and don't want to start out at the middle again," he continued. "If you import your save game from Mass Effect, these kinds of things will be acknowledged in ways that map across to the new system. You will feel, even in terms of the character that you build, that you are continuing as that character."



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SilentHunter7

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Nov 21, 2007
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I can hear the sound of a million munchkin's nerd-raging as we speak.

Personally, I'm not bothered. I was kind of hoping something like this would happen, as I think it would get old if you started the game at level 60, and was able to one-shot everything that moves with your modified HMWSR Sniper Rifle.

That said, I'm also disappointed that I won't be able to go around and one-shot everything that moves with my modified HMWSR Sniper Rifle from the get-go.
 

WrongSprite

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Aug 10, 2008
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Well.....good.

You'd just destroy everything at a high level, and new players would be screwed, you couldn't balance that.
 

DarkLordofDevon

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Well starting at level X from a previous game is either going to completely unbalance the game for the player, or be forced to uber-strength the enemies meaning that you might as well start at level 1 for all the good it does you.
I think bioware had the right idea. Keeping the character traits, like extreme renagade, yet allowing the game to progress as a normal game. Makes it a worthwhile game in itself, rather than a glorified expansion pack.
 

Aac18

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While its a shame that the carry-over won't be as in depth for Shepard as we had hoped we still carry over some things like being renegade/paragon, being level 60, etc so its not a total cop out. Plus its an acceptable sacrifice given that the new combat system looks to be miles better than the already pretty decent first.
 

johnman

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normally I wouldnt be too happy, but he seems to have justified himslef quite well by saying the new systems wont fit with the old leveling. They are bringing over what they can, so kudos to them.
And to be honest wheres the fun in starting out as a killing machine as staying that way? Half the fun is in building up your characters over time.
 

GonzoGamer

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It sounds like they're going with the "lame contrivance" mentioned in the article.
Oh well, I'm sure it will still be very good, but now I have to decide if I should get it for my pc (like the first) or my ps3 (I hear it's getting a multipass).
 

Sparrow

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I suggest you see what they do before you mock them, Malygris. If it's good, that statement will come back to bite you in the arse.
 

The Bandit

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RedMenace said:
Sigh... I can already see it...

A fun day in the sun. ME cast playing catch.

Wrex: "Here it comes! Shepard! Heads up!"
*Hits Shepard in the head*
Shepard: "Ug.. Eh? Where am I? Who am I?"
Liara: "Gasp! He has AMNESIA!!!"
I can totally see Liara saying something annoying like that, too. Why couldn't I kill HER off instead of Kaiden?
 

Abedeus

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The Bandit said:
RedMenace said:
Sigh... I can already see it...

A fun day in the sun. ME cast playing catch.

Wrex: "Here it comes! Shepard! Heads up!"
*Hits Shepard in the head*
Shepard: "Ug.. Eh? Where am I? Who am I?"
Liara: "Gasp! He has AMNESIA!!!"
I can totally see Liara saying something annoying like that, too. Why couldn't I kill HER off instead of Kaiden?
YOU XENOPHOBE!!

Besides, you would kill a hot blue female alien (okay, ignore the squidheads) instead of a dumb generic URF SOLDA!, really?
 

Grayl

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Jun 9, 2009
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I thought they'd end up doing something like this. You're meant to start over in new games, who'd want to play through the game with almost unlimited cash and the best weapons, like I had?

I wouldn't. Fresh starts are good.
 

GodsOneMistake

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Jan 31, 2009
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Lemme guess, He gets upgraded with a new one of those chip things (the things that allow people to use biotics and all that other cool stuff).
And because of that, his abilities get reset...

Actually this makes a lot of sense. I'm proud of myself
 

Bigeyez

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Apr 26, 2009
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Did anyone really expect them to let you keep your super powerful level 60 stats/abilities? It should have been obvious that wasn't going to happen. At least they are actually going to give small perks to people with achievements and level 60 toons.

As far as the reasoning goes it could be a number of things. Maybe the normandy getting blown to hell happens earlier then they've hinted at? That'd be a good excuse to fry all our equipment. Say Shepard blacks out and gets knocked to high hell in the destruction. I'd figure he wouldn't be at 100% ability wise right after something like that.
 

L.B. Jeffries

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Nov 29, 2007
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Eh, screw it. Most of the fun of an RPG is levelling up and getting spiffy gear anyways. I'll be hitting 'New Character' when asked methinks.
 

Clashero

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Aug 15, 2008
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The Bandit said:
RedMenace said:
Sigh... I can already see it...

A fun day in the sun. ME cast playing catch.

Wrex: "Here it comes! Shepard! Heads up!"
*Hits Shepard in the head*
Shepard: "Ug.. Eh? Where am I? Who am I?"
Liara: "Gasp! He has AMNESIA!!!"
I can totally see Liara saying something annoying like that, too. Why couldn't I kill HER off instead of Kaiden?
True. I'd rather have Kaidan's snarky comments and interesting anecdotes than Liara's Spock Speak and dull, monotone speech.

On topic, I hope you can pick what stuff to carry over. For instance, I'm replaying the game now, going Renegade to see what it's like, but I don't want my ME2 Shepard to be a Renegade, yet I'd still like to keep my Specialization, level, and some story points (like being an ass to Conrad and releasing the Rachni).
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Abedeus said:
The Bandit said:
RedMenace said:
Sigh... I can already see it...

A fun day in the sun. ME cast playing catch.

Wrex: "Here it comes! Shepard! Heads up!"
*Hits Shepard in the head*
Shepard: "Ug.. Eh? Where am I? Who am I?"
Liara: "Gasp! He has AMNESIA!!!"
I can totally see Liara saying something annoying like that, too. Why couldn't I kill HER off instead of Kaiden?
YOU XENOPHOBE!!

Besides, you would kill a hot blue female alien (okay, ignore the squidheads) instead of a dumb generic URF SOLDA!, really?
Better to be a xenophobe than a homophobe.

Don't tell me you didn't notice the romantic mood lighting and sexual tension every time male Shepard had a conversation with Kaiden on-board the Normandy... Kaiden totally had the hots for Shepard and he didn't let a little thing like gender get in the way, the fruity psychic nutcase. "Oh Commander, I have a headache...it's nothing though, maybe if you just talk to me a little bit, it will get better".

I bet he suddenly wouldn't have a headache if Shepard propositioned him, oh no, his 'attention headache' would disappear faster than Ambassador Udina's career.

I hope he makes a return in Mass Effect 2 (if you didn't kill him), and I hope things are just as awkward between him and Shepard... it's melodrama like this that makes Bioware's games stand out.