It's all about the elemental scanning

[jcallen]

I hated the mako, and mining was fun the first few times. But it got old fast. Although fighting a Tresher Maw on foot in one was fun.

 

[Gralian]

Anything is better than the Mako.

Seriously... to hell with that useless thing. I can't stand the bouncy driving mechanics, the awkward vehicle gunplay, the endless bouncing around surfaces to look for minerals... no thanks. Especially if the terrain is incredibly rocky and tedious.

I didn't mind the scanning mechanic. I certainly appreciated being in the comfort of the Normandy while i did my thing, and i found it at least somewhat entertaining. I liked watching the wavy lines spike right up when i found a good deposit of minerals and the controller vibrating like crazy. I'd be like, "Alright! I found me a big pile o' booty!"

But in all seriousness, it wasn't too bad. Might've been a pain if you were looking for specific resources to upgrade with or grinding it for achievements, though. It's hard to improve on a system that covers such a broad, diverse galaxy of planets when more than half of them have to be trivialised in order to focus on the key planets that actually matter.

 

[KwaggaDan]

On one hand, you've got a mini-game that has virtually no challenge involved and is pretty much zero fun to play.

On the other hand, you've got open-world exploration in a vehicle that handles awfully in a world that, for the most part, is made up of inexplicably-unscallable mountains.

The mini-games are perhaps more bearable than exploring a planet's surface with the Mako, but when you look at it, they're more insidious.

If you just play Mass Effect 1 and 2's main quest lines, you'll find yourself in the Mako a few times, but you'll never be asked to try and traverse the difficult and infuriating parts of the landscape. In Mass Effect 2, you can skip the planet scanning altogether, but not doing so could seriously shift your perspective on Mass Effect 2, because it plays a large part in the last parts of the game.

I just wanted to raise this point. The Mako is annoying, but you only have to endure as much of it as you want to and the end result of Mass Effect will still be the same. It's not the same with Mass Effect 2. Planet scanning is boring, and you only have to endure it if you want the best ending. Which, obviously, you do.

Personally, though, I went through a lot with the Mako and I fucking hate that stupid thing. Planet scanning is a much better way to gather resources, but it still kinda sucks that the resources are so integral to the game's story.

This is a good point. I guess ultimately it's up to Bioware to come up with something. I'm not sure how though, because we're all pretty fickle...

 

[KwaggaDan]

Planet scanning. Possibly the most tedious mini-game ever.

Think again, compadré.

I thought about the Bioshock/Pipe Dream, but at least it created a sense of pressure (until you got the upgrade that used bullet time on hacking). With planet scanning it's just RMB + click... click... click...

 

[Shade184]

I didn't mind it, it was an okay way to pass the time.

I just wish they'd speed up the damn scanner, that thing moves so, so slowly. -_-

 

[Jekken6]

I hated planet scanning too. I think the Mako was something that shouldn't have been cut completely, but instead get more refined.

 

[mikev7.0]

I've only played ME 1, but planet scanning led to the creation of this song:

<youtube=YFCZMEwl_K8>

It is, therefore, well worth any boredom.

That is strangely appropriate for a game where the NPCs can bust out with Gilbert and Sullivan. Just keepin' it surreal dog....

Well I've got to play it now. Is it something like this?

<youtube=DyyjCn1ML3k>

I've only played a bit of ME 1 so I need to finish that game first before ME2. Hopefully it'll be in a Steam sale, or something.

It was less dramatic and more comedic. I don't want to embed the scene due to major plot spoilers but a direct quote from a possible conversation in Mass Effect 2 was:

Shepard: "I'm sorry I know that was important, but you performed Gilbert and Sullivan?"

Dr. Mordin: "I am the very model of a Scientist Solarian, I've studied species Turian, Asari, and Batarian, I'm quite good at Genetics as a subset of Biology, because I am an expert which I know is a tautology! My Genoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a Scientist Solariaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Dr. Mordin: *coughs*

I love both Mass Effects I just have to remember that this is a trilogy (at least) and this is the middle act. It's Mass Effects "blue period". I'm the type of player though who gets attached to his crewmates. Hmmmp. Yet they say survival horror is a dead franchise....

 

[Hader]

I had little problem with the mako. It had some jerky mechanics but that made it all the better for screwing around with. Planet scanning was a bit tedious but on PC having the mouse made it much faster. I would rather see the mako back instead actually, though with planets that are less copy-paste and have more depth. And far fewer mountains.

 

[Wayneguard]

I loved the mako from me1. It actually felt like you were exploring the galaxy in that thing. You get dropped into big sandbox planets and get to go wreak havok (granted there wasn't ever much to do on the planets but that's what I hoped they would improve in me2). Instead of an improvement on the existing mako gameplay they scrapped it altogether and replaced it with a minigame that is only tolerable after a 50,000 iridium speed upgrade. I was sad...

 

[KalosCast]

Yeah, the Mako was awesome. The planets themselves could have been improved a bit (less gigantic mountains, plz) but I don't know where people got the idea that it was hard to handle. Either these people have never played a game with vehicles in it, or they're confusing it with a completely different game that also had Makos.

Planet scanning was just horrible. If everything didn't cost so damn much, it wouldn't have been much of an issue, but you're going to be spending hours scanning planets just to get the upgrades you need for the good ending. Hell, Bioware had to have known that it was a terrible feature since they give you a huge stockpile of resources for every playthrough after the first one... either that or I have the best glitch ever.

From a storytelling standpoint, it doesn't make sense that all these super mineral rich worlds don't have anybody claiming rights to excavate them to get peeved at you, or even somebody complaining about the massive ecological damage you have to be doing when shooting probes from space to bore deep enough into the planet to strip-mine these things out.

 

[repeating integers]

The Mako was one of the main reasons I played, and keep going back to, Mass Effect. I never get tired of it. I just find it so damn fun to drive up mountains and then jump off for the lulz (those of you who thought they were unclimable needed to try harder, dammit) and I never had a single problem with the handling/controls. Then again, I played it on a console, and the controller is better suited to driving mechanics (IMO), and most people here play on PC, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Planet scanning... is one of the main reasons I find that I keep making excuses to go play other games and haven't been in a Mass Effect 2 mood for a goodly while now. I'd much rather shoot covenant/vietcong/mutants/Akrid than fire probes into planets. Coupled with a sudden realisation of just how linear Mass Effect 2's combat is, and the lack of the Mako, and all sorts of other things... mean I don't like that game as much as I used to. At this rate, I'll only have one character to port over to Mass Effect 3, which I am increasingly finding I don't care about as much as my other anticipated titles.

Honestly, Bioware. WHYYY?