Mass Effect 2...seriously, wtf?

Ninemanec

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Jun 30, 2010
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Okay, from the start I will say that this will contain spoilers, for those who don't wish that, yeah....you've been waaarned.

Now, on to business.

In Mass Effect 1 I loved many many things. One was gameplay itself, one was customizations, one was character depth, one was the ending, one was the storyline, and another was the renegade/paragon choices you could make.

Mass Effect 2 keeps the fun gameplay part with the choices, but that's where it stopped in my opinion.

Character depth was dropped in sub for a "loyalty" thing that just gave you a bit more insight to your characters, whereas Mass Effect 1 kept building your characters from the second you got them to the end (or where they died...I dropped K, because Ash had ass). Customizations have been subbed out and I don't even know why, there's about four weapons for each type of gun excluding the hand gun and the heavy weapons, there's no armor customization for anyone other than Shep him/her-self and even then it's low...other than that each character has TWO outfits, that have no benefits. And even then, the main character has far fewer development paths, truly. The storyline was okay, not particularly bad, but not ME1 either....that game was amazing as far as dragging the player into the game...my friend didn't even like the game itself when he started playing it and at the end he STILL didn't like the gameplay, but kept playing because of the story...but my biggest beef is with the ending...

If you (you-all) remember, in ME1 you had to take on Saren at the Citidel...it was epic...it was huge, you KNEW it was the ending you felt it even back on Virmire, but the Citidel was epic and clearly ended the game, left you wanting more, but I was satisfied to chill and wait for ME2. In Mass Effect 2 you just come to the Omega 4 Relay and no one is in a rush to save the galaxy...it's just a chill and go whenever you feel like it kinda' thing...and when you get there, sure it's a huge ship...so you'd think it would take you an hour or two to complete it...no..it took me about half an hour, and it was over. I felt the entire time that something was going to come in and a new mission would be issued (Like Virmire where you now had to go to Ilos and the Citidel), but no....that's it...then you get to destroy or keep the ship and it's endgame..I was let down by Mass Effect 2. I expected more from Bioware after playing ME1 and Dragon Age (which I THINK was made by Bioware, I don't remember, been awhile)...anyways, just spam your thoughts.

P.S. I am not saying this game was bad...it was still well-done and I plan on playing ME3 and killing the Illusive Man if it will let me...along with meeting the Shadow Broker and such...plus the Shockwave power is cool looking, lol. But anyways, that's just my thoughts.
 
Nov 28, 2007
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Character depth was dropped in ME2? I don't really agree with that. I mean, did you try talking to your crew? Sure, it doesn't develop their characters much in the main quest or just the loyalty quest. But if you actually take the time to consistently talk to them, they are realistically developed and quite complex.

In my opinion, the characters from the first game were party members, but little more. In the second game, they were supporting cast.
 

Brad Shepard

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Sep 9, 2009
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I just want to say Tali is the best charecter in that game, Garrus is 2nd, and Shepard is 3rd, im mad i had to sell this game ><
 

XSA37

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Aug 5, 2009
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I have to respectfully disagree. Though I wasn't a fan of Mass Effect 1, I still picked up a copy of Mass Effect 2. I was surprised to find that I was actually enjoying it more than the first game. True, some of the powers and classes are utterly useless in my opinion, but the fact of the matter still remains that I enjoyed the game.

And I feel that the ending was epic. You were rushed if you wanted to save all of your crewmates and the final mission did feel final. Plus, a battle with another reaper (not too much of a spoiler) was plenty cool and felt like a nice conclusion. Would I like to see more from ME3? Yes. But overall, I feel that ME2 was more of a success than you have made it out to be.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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thebobmaster said:
Character depth was dropped in ME2? I don't really agree with that. I mean, did you try talking to your crew? Sure, it doesn't develop their characters much in the main quest or just the loyalty quest. But if you actually take the time to consistently talk to them, they are realistically developed and quite complex.

In my opinion, the characters from the first game were party members, but little more. In the second game, they were supporting cast.
this.

and ALOT of people complained about the inventory menu from the first game..it took me about 20 minutes to get used to it and figure out everything about it but i know a good 3-4 people who hated it, there are a ridiculous amount of shit you pick up, alot of it utter useless, and the menu itslf wasn't entirely user friendly, so bioware took a different approach to it and turned it more into a gameplay and story/character game rather than an rpg with customization

i can agree that they are both different games, but for character wise i really got to know my characters alot better in the second one than in the first one..that could just be me though..

and besides the ending of the firts game, i think the plot and story during the main game of the second built up lot better than the first game
 

Lyri

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Dec 8, 2008
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I think the lack of urgency is what kills that game in my opinion.

There is no real sense of danger or anything overwhelming to overcome, I never once thought I had to prepare for an epic battle.
Which was a problem and disappointing.

I sent my laptop away for repair once I'd gotten to the Omega 4 relay, when it returned I'd lost my save point and I couldn't be bothered to drag myself back through a pretty linear game.
I may revisit it in a few years, maybe.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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Customizations have been subbed out and I don't even know why
By "customisations" do you mean "Prestige Classes"?

In which case, yeah, but they got traded out in the new skill system so that you specialise at the end of each talent instead of just your class.

there's about four weapons for each type of gun excluding the hand gun and the heavy weapons
There was only four weapon typs in ME1. That was it. Everything else was slightly different stats and model/texture/colour swaps. That was it. All the Sniper Rifles fired the same. All the Assault Rifles fired the same.

In ME2 they switch it up a bit. The starting pistol can be just as useful as the one you get on Omega. The SMGs can be interchangeable. Hell, one of the Assault Rifles is arguably better than the Special unlock due to it being accurate 3-shot burst instead of spray and pray.

In other words, in ME2, the weapons are more varied even though there are less of them overall. They feel different and you use them differently. The Sniper Rifles are a prime example of this, with the starting sniper rifle being a 1-shot clip with high damage while the second one you acquire on Ilium has a...12 shot(?) clip with lower damage but obviously has higher shield penetration capability.

there's no armor customization for anyone other than Shep him/her-self and even then it's low.
Ties in to my above point for weapons, but in ME1 there were three sets of armour for Shepard: Light, Medium and Heavy. Again, everything else was colour/texture swaps and slightly different stats. I can't recall, but I think Garrus and Wrex each had two separate armour models (Light and Medium, Medium and Heavy respectively). Tali's armour was just her model and never changed.

So in total, you've got 9 separate armour models, including all your allies.

I've got at least that many on Shepard alone in ME2, and that's not counting all the different combinations for the modular N7 armour, but rather counting 4 parts=one set of armour.

Then you factor in that each of your...eleven? Twelve? allies have an armour model each, plus a colour/slight model swap (see: Jack) and you see that Mass Effect 2 really doesn't lack in the armour department at all.

Obviously this applies to PC only (and might be possible on Mass Effect 1) but you can mod in your own 'armours' as well, by tweaking and adding to some files, giving more flexibility if you want it.
 

cerebus23

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May 16, 2010
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well i disagree about the no sense of danger, i mean whole human colonies are getting abducted, the collectors are targeting you and your crew, there is evidence that the collectors will target earth itself if not stopped, cereberus makes your skin crawl, the council spent the last two years making you look like a moron.

While the ending was no where near as epic as me1, aside the very last shot of your ship staring down a gigantic reaper fleet, it sets up the third act of the trilogy rather well and i think number 3 will be mind blowing epic, with that reaper fleet vs the rest of the galaxy how could it not be epic. I wonder who is pulling the strings behind the reapers tho, seems there is more to it than just them.

i do agree some of the rpg elements of the first game were overnerfed in a big way for number two, but many of the casual rpg players loved the new, streamlined in many ways game.
 

Zaik

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Jul 20, 2009
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I enjoyed playing with all the various upgrades and whatnot, although switching ammo back and forth was a little annoying.

But I'd rather something new than them using the same thing again. Also thank god no Mako.
 

hiddendragonv5

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Apr 18, 2009
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I have to say you are right I loved the first Mass Effect and the final battle on the Citidel with waves and waves of geth I loved getting Saren to kill himself but the round 2 with him was just crazy it was better then the Mass Effect 2 final boss, I liked the Collectors but turning out that they are Protheans was kinda random to me, I like the fact that they brought back both Tali(my favorite) and Garrus ( the one with a clouded judge ment) but why not Wrex don't get me wrong Grunt is cool but Wrex is just cooler ( note I went back after beating mass effect 1 and did every quest to see if the story got better and for me it seemed to get beter)note: I played the story as a good guy both times.
 

Vrex360

Badass Alien
Mar 2, 2009
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I kind of agree about the characterisation aspect to a point. While I still think Legion, Mordin, Grunt, Thane, Samara, Garrus and Tali and everyone else on the team did have a lot of personality the one thing that annoyed me was that if you decided you weren't interested in one of the potential love interests romantically then they just ran out of things to say. I much preferred the romance with Ashley in Mass Effect 1 anyway, fit better in the plot.
Also while it is true that the Loyalty missions seemed to replace just basic conversation to get to know your teammates at least they were interesting for plots sake (even if a lot of them ended up as just boring gun fights).

Also I do agree that the lack of a true villain for the story, although given that you were working for Cerberus I get the feeling we can still count the Illusive Man as one, was kinda lame and that by comparison to the hugeness of the first games conclusion the Collector attack isn't as hugely epic, but in gameplay in and of itself it is still ONE HELL of a rush when you get everything right.

Ultimatley I still think Mass Effect 2 is a damned good game that made a lot of good improvements over the first yet still I find the first just had more charm for me personally.
 

Lust

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Mar 23, 2010
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Ninemanec said:
Okay, from the start I will say that this will contain spoilers, for those who don't wish that, yeah....you've been waaarned.

Now, on to business.

In Mass Effect 1 I loved many many things. One was gameplay itself, one was customizations, one was character depth, one was the ending, one was the storyline, and another was the renegade/paragon choices you could make.

Mass Effect 2 keeps the fun gameplay part with the choices, but that's where it stopped in my opinion.

Character depth was dropped in sub for a "loyalty" thing that just gave you a bit more insight to your characters, whereas Mass Effect 1 kept building your characters from the second you got them to the end (or where they died...I dropped K, because Ash had ass). Customizations have been subbed out and I don't even know why, there's about four weapons for each type of gun excluding the hand gun and the heavy weapons, there's no armor customization for anyone other than Shep him/her-self and even then it's low...other than that each character has TWO outfits, that have no benefits. And even then, the main character has far fewer development paths, truly. The storyline was okay, not particularly bad, but not ME1 either....that game was amazing as far as dragging the player into the game...my friend didn't even like the game itself when he started playing it and at the end he STILL didn't like the gameplay, but kept playing because of the story...but my biggest beef is with the ending...

If you (you-all) remember, in ME1 you had to take on Saren at the Citidel...it was epic...it was huge, you KNEW it was the ending you felt it even back on Virmire, but the Citidel was epic and clearly ended the game, left you wanting more, but I was satisfied to chill and wait for ME2. In Mass Effect 2 you just come to the Omega 4 Relay and no one is in a rush to save the galaxy...it's just a chill and go whenever you feel like it kinda' thing...and when you get there, sure it's a huge ship...so you'd think it would take you an hour or two to complete it...no..it took me about half an hour, and it was over. I felt the entire time that something was going to come in and a new mission would be issued (Like Virmire where you now had to go to Ilos and the Citidel), but no....that's it...then you get to destroy or keep the ship and it's endgame..I was let down by Mass Effect 2. I expected more from Bioware after playing ME1 and Dragon Age (which I THINK was made by Bioware, I don't remember, been awhile)...anyways, just spam your thoughts.

P.S. I am not saying this game was bad...it was still well-done and I plan on playing ME3 and killing the Illusive Man if it will let me...along with meeting the Shadow Broker and such...plus the Shockwave power is cool looking, lol. But anyways, that's just my thoughts.
Alright, alright, I see where you are coming from. You didn't like some aspects of this installment compared to the first. Okay. Just remember to look at the series as a whole. This would be like the middle of a marathon, you may not enjoy parts of the journey, but, the ending is sure to pay off. And you'll come out for the better, hopefully.

Now..........................who else thought Jack was one hot biotic? I know I'd want her to <color=blue>Push me around. Also, <color=green>Thane stole my heart. :p
 

mykalwane

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Oct 18, 2008
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Same problems in ME1 are in ME2. I haven't played more then the demo. Pretty much will pick it up when it is in the discount bin.
 

NoriYuki Sato

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May 26, 2009
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Brad Shepard said:
I just want to say Tali is the best charecter in that game, Garrus is 2nd, and Shepard is 3rd, im mad i had to sell this game ><
why did you have to sell it? =(

OT: i honestly love how action-y ME2 is, but i miss the lvl 60 cap from ME1, and the powers and training things you upgrade. i miss how the renegade/paragon points were gained. i mean..in ME2...depending on what you are...or the point in the game. you only get 1 option. RT for Renegade. or LT for Paragon. but you only get one option on screen depending on what mission and your rengade/paragon points ((that circular sentance was so i could explain a bit better as i went)) bottom line. i love ME1 AND ME2, but..ME2 was lacking in SEVERAL departments, but also added a lot that ME1 was missing. i still think the outcomes of your actions need to go MUCH much further in ME3. the ones you made in ME1 have almost nothing to do with ME2. it's all just in the beginning of the game that they matter. and even then...if you picked
Anderson to take over in ME1, you can reverse that choice to Kohaku at the start..not that it matters either way. they only play a bit part for like...45 seconds of the game only difference? dialouge. and even then it's still virtually the same dialouge.
i know it seems like i hate ME2 right now, but i honestly don't...i'm just remembering what i dislike about it...

anyways...that ends my rant.
 

War Penguin

Serious Whimsy
Jun 13, 2009
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There were a few parts of that statement I agreed with and some parts that I didn't. I agreed with the customization and the story/ending. In the ending in ME 2, I didn't feel too rushed or get the sense of danger, like in ME 1. But I'm pretty sure Bioware will make up for that in ME 3. I missed the customization and it was what made it an RPG. However, it wasn't user friendly and many players, including myself, got confused on how to customize. Other than that, I kinda disagreed with a lot of your statement.

First off, when you say there were only about four weapons, yes that's true. But there were only four weapons in ME 1, as well, except they started out crappy and got slowly better when you got different ones [small](seriously, the sniper rifle was unusable. It has a harder time staying still than jello in an earthquake)[/small]. It's not the best shooter if you got bad weapons. In ME 2, you got solid weapons. Not the best, but not crappy [small](finally, a sniper rifle with a steady scope)[/small]. And character depth barely changed at all. Getting to the point of knowing your crew mates was like the last ME: Finish mission, talk with this person, then talk to this person, oh look, side mission.

Over all, I thought it was a great game. Even though it went from an shooter RPG to a shooter with only RPG elements, it was still fun.

Although, I want to get one thing off my chest. I missed the MAKO. Yes it drove like ass, but the planet exploration was really immersive.
 

TheAmazingTGIF

Friday Only Superhero
Aug 5, 2009
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I disagree with the characterization point, but I completely agree with your ending argument.
What I found the problem to be was:
In 1 there was a clear villain, everything that went wrong you could shake your fist and yell: "SSSSSSSSSSAAAARRRRRRRRREEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!" or "KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!"
In 2 there was more of this faceless evil entity known as the Collectors. Sure they did things, but because there was such a focus on the party members, the villains got pushed off to the side and they didn't feel like they were doing anything particularly evil. The threat never seemed real for me.