Mass Effect 2: Disappointing (Spoilers)

[Teroniss]

Gods was I disappointed in the overall scale of this game. 2 Years after the first one's epic proportions, and they've gutted everything that made that first one great.

They removed non-linear plantary exploration (While I disliked the Mako, I enjoyed being able to explore alien worlds at my leisure.)

They rehashed the entire class and class skill system, bringing the max level down to 30 and removing several key skills in favor of more compact micromanagement skills, and made weapon skills automatically mastered based on class.

Removed weapon and armor customization in favor for research based upgrades tht effect everyone and ammo powers. Removes grenades.

Removed achievement based rewards that effected current and later gameplay.

Rehashed the story from the first one, changing the main enemies and removing the plot twists. New big villian of the story (The Collectors) only make 2-3 appearances throughout the game. Rest of the game involves fighting mercs for various and often inane reasons. Overall story has basically become futuristic Dragon Age in space.

[Turnsky]

Gods was I disappointed in the overall scale of this game. 2 Years after the first one's epic proportions, and they've gutted everything that made that first one great.

Well lookie here, Ma! it's REBUTTAL Time!

They removed non-linear plantary exploration (While I disliked the Mako, I enjoyed being able to explore alien worlds at my leisure.)

Oh yeah, Alien, yet oh so familiar, as if they were the same cookie-cutter planets that you bummed around in the mako with just little features thrown in to make them look diverse like differing textures and whatnot.

They rehashed the entire class and class skill system, bringing the max level down to 30 and removing several key skills in favor of more compact micromanagement skills, and made weapon skills automatically mastered based on class.

i suspect you'd bitch if they just took your skills down to square one regardless, so this would be what's often referred to as "logical" given it's a SEQUEL. Otherwise this gripe has been noted in many a discussion between me and other folks, valid, but there's plenty of room for me to play "devil's advocate" on this.

Removed weapon and armor customization in favor for research based upgrades tht effect everyone and ammo powers. Removes grenades.

ME1's inventory system was horrid (and don't you DARE deny it) and you get heavy weaponry INCLUDING a freaking grenade launcher, one would think that more than makes up for vast swaths of otherwise pointless loot.

Removed achievement based rewards that effected current and later gameplay.

If you finish the game you get a achievement that gives you 25% extra experience points, doing the party member loyalty quests gives you bonus powers for when you make a new character or import another one.. that works rather well.

Rehashed the story from the first one, changing the main enemies and removing the plot twists. New big villian of the story (The Collectors) only make 2-3 appearances throughout the game. Rest of the game involves fighting mercs for various and often inane reasons. Overall story has basically become futuristic Dragon Age in space.

Shepard's trilogy in the Mass Effect universe was, and always will be revolving around the Reapers... if it were a completely different story, it wouldn't be part of a trilogy, no?

if you paid attention to the collector general called "harbinger", you'd know that it's still the same story flowthrough.

[Keleth]

I haven't finished it yet, but I got so engrossed into it.

My first (and only) gripe was "nooooo not my unlimited ammo" But getting ammo based powers I could flick to -on the fly-. Heavy weapons like the Black hole gun. And the ability to learn unlocked teammates powers?

I'm in heaven. Ammo isn't as much of an issue as I thought. Heavy weapons are the "Oh shit oh shit" buttons, and they work very very well for it.

I do miss some parts of the Mako bit. . but . . overall the mako levels were annoying, and a timesink. I have around 26 hours sunk into my game right now, and I have one loyalty mission left. And some various sidequests I haven't done.

My old ME1 game, had 23 hours, after the pointless missions and mako running to get almost all the minerals.


Characters are more in depth, most side missions are more than the simple "open this building. Kill everyone. Yay you're done" They have dialogue, they have sequences, there's more interesting renegade and paragon options. And



. . . LEGION!

That's all I have to say

<3 this game.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Everything Turnsky said

+1


Just finished my 2nd playthough, both done with a ME1 Character.

I have to very much agree with Turnsky, thoroughly enjoyed the game and will probably go back for more

[Sicill]

I've finished a few playthroughs, and I really miss the ability to throw grenades that have a delayed detonation. The heavy weapons are nice but they don't successfully replace it.
I don't know about other people but I found the system to take cover behind objects or crouch was a little buggy for me. The biggest problem I had was being behind an object and ether switching weapons, using an ability or simply firing would bring my character completely out from behind cover after the action had finished (game played on the 360). It only happened rarely, but enough to be very annoying.

The only other gripe would be the mission limit between getting Legion and the attack.

Shepard's trilogy in the Mass Effect universe was, and always will be revolving around the Reapers... if it were a completely different story, it wouldn't be part of a trilogy, no?

if you paid attention to the collector general called "harbinger", you'd know that it's still the same story flowthrough.

I can't seem to recall the Collector General either mentioning or demonstrating being allied with the Old Machines or Reapers until literally the end of the game. From my perspective it appeared the connection was just assumed or inferred for most of the game.

[Turnsky]

*stuff*

well their link was inferred throughout during the course of the game, the revelation coming to light in the game's final act, the Husks should've been fairly clear evidence of this link, also.

my general rule of thumb, though? do all your other missions first before you go and grab legion. yes i know legion's awesome and everything, but it works out better this way.

[bill]

there's a save-game editor that lets you get Legion early, and he even has lines on some of the early missions

http://mod.gib.me/masseffect2/saveedit_rev25.zip

open a save, hit plot-henchmen-flags, and hit "acquired" "revealed" and "selectable" for Legion. might break a few things, so keep backups before editing a save

[TheJimTimMan]

Mass Effect 2 has the sole distinction of making me feel so bad about failing to keep someone alive I went back and did the finale again, just to save them. And feeling bad about that for disrupting the plotline. Actually, come to think of it, it's one of the few games (if not the only one) in which I've developed a heavy emotional attatchment to the characters.
Say what you will about it, Bioware certainly nailed the script and characterisation for ME2. Bringing Legion to the Migrant Fleet was hilariously good fun. Much as I love the Quarians, their reactions in general were priceless. And did anyone hear the conversation between Garrus and Tali about the good ol' lifts days?

Actually, I do have a few gripes:

• Once I'd finished the main storyline, there was almost nothing to do save the few side missions; most of which were rather decent, especially the Hahne Kedar arc, which I wish they'd done more of.
• The DLC just felt like filler material, although Zaeed is a pretty interesting character in his own right.
• The Reaper IFF forces the story progression on you. It was fine the first time, if a little jarring, but with successive playthroughs it just became an annoyance more than anything else.
• Some of the dialogue felt a bit wooden in some places.

Minor stuff, overall.

[Arcalane]

there's a save-game editor that lets you get Legion early, and he even has lines on some of the early missions

http://mod.gib.me/masseffect2/saveedit_rev25.zip

open a save, hit plot-henchmen-flags, and hit "acquired" "revealed" and "selectable" for Legion. might break a few things, so keep backups before editing a save

Legion: "There is a high statistical probability of death by gunshot. A punch to the face is also likely."

Ed: Also, save editing to tweak the face morph/settings is fun:





Illusive Man-style eyes!

[Kipiru]

Mass Effect 2 came out to solidify BioWare as the current gods of solo-RPG making. The game is vastly better than it's predecessor in both atmosphere and gameplay. There are more quests, more conversations and the action part is much more dynamic and challenging than in the first part. Interaction with your team is at a new high and at some point you actually feel like you are conversing with a living being rather than a NPC. So am I the only one that thinks this game rules and it's only rival is BioWare's flagship Dragon Age?

[Merged as per Kipiru's request -TW]

[Cvstos]

I'm going to be playing it for a long while, it seems, especially with all the DLC they're releasing.