[360, PS3] Mass Effect 2 *(Spoiler Warning)

[DuckThor Evil]

yea I started my imported Paragon character as a soldier and then started a NEW character as a Vanguard. (Jane) I enjoyed the vanguard so well that I have stuck with the default character.

I would say based on the decisions that the default is based somewhere somewhere in the middle of Paragon/Renegade. the council is dead, Wrex is dead, Alenko is alive etc... I kind of miss having my decisions show up but it's not a game breaker.

I'll probably go back and finish my soldier eventually

Alenko is alive because you have a female character. He's dead if you play with male.

edit: wow nightshade is fast! I'm impressed

 

[AlNom]

unless you left him to die that is. keke

 

[Tap In]

The decision of default character is totally renegade imo.
- Only the possible love interest is alive [ie Kaiden for female, Ashley for male]
- Council is Dead
- Wrex is Dead
- Udina is the representative.

I'll start it again on PC with my female character imported from ME1 & will play as an Infiltrator. [Though want to play it on 360 to make it 1000/1000GS, but I dont want to play Vanguard again so as to reach lvl 30..atleast now]

oh yea forgot about Udina... that was BS and the default part that pissed me off more so than the council being dead...


dammmit! I need to start my import over as Vanguard or infiltrator now.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

Just thought I would pop in and voice some of my opinions on this game.

I have completed the game on Veteran with an Sentinel class character, managing to save every party member along with the crew of the Normandy. Initially I found the game to be very fun, however, upon starting my second playthrough with the Vanguard class on Hardcore, I began to realize the game has some pretty serious game-braking issues. For one, the Vanguard class in completely broken as its primary Biotic ability charge is totally worthless, and nine times out of ten results in you getting killed within 10-15 seconds of charging an enemy. The only time I can figure this ability is of any use is when you have killed all the other enemies in an area, and decide to take down the one last straggler with it, and even then that can be dicey. This issue highlights and even more serious problem with the game, the fact that using most biotic and tech abilities is a complete waste of time, as you are better off 99% of the time to stick behind cover and slowly take down your enemies one by one with the pistol. This applies equally to your squad, as in most cases the abilities they have are useless, relegating them to little more than cannon fodder - which is ridiculous in an RPG (shooter or otherwise) -. Another problem which I have encountered is the total uselessness of the heavy weapons, steaming both from the limited ammo they have along with the fact that they simply just do not do enough damage to justify the limited ammo capacity.

Anyway, those are just some of the complaints I had in mind with regards to the gameplay mechanics. I think the game has gotten a lot of praise in the press that is unjustified as it suffers from some pretty significant flaws.

 

[nightshade]

Vanguard is good when you are playing at difficulty level below Insanity.
On Veteran it needs a bit of getting used to [I finished as vanguard on Veteran in my first run] & on normal its purely badass.

Well either ways Biotics is extremely useful when playing Adept [Pull+Throw does a lot of room clearance cause of their fast recharge time]
That said I'll agree that the guns do a far better job than most abilities & playing as Soldier just means there is no stopping.

P.S.[I miss the Sniper rifle of ME1, the cool future weapon sound effect are here replaced by the usual sounds]

 

[RobertR1]

I'm really happy that I picked inflitrator. The sniper rifle I have does a ton of damage (ugraded on the Collectors ship). My biotics are useful also. I can do AI hacking along with incinerate. Both have their usgae. I advanced train myself on Reave which is life leech. I replace AI hacking with that when I'm facing organics.

My favorite is the Cloak with assassination. I get 70% added damage for sniping when cloaked. The I add another 10% for headshot damage from my head armor piece and I have other armor pieces that add upto about 10% weaopon damage. So each of my sniper rounds (which are already VERY powerful) does an additional 90% damage. The Blue Sun shielded soilders go down with one hit. This is on Veteran.

 

[nightshade]

^ LOL...talk about classes being nerfed xD

 

[scooby_dooby]

For one, the Vanguard class in completely broken as its primary Biotic ability charge is totally worthless, and nine times out of ten results in you getting killed within 10-15 seconds of charging an enemy. The only time I can figure this ability is of any use is when you have killed all the other enemies in an area, and decide to take down the one last straggler with it, and even then that can be dicey.

Completely disagree! Charge has saved my ass more times than I can count, using full upgraded charge, with a Shotgun with upgraded ammo, is extreemly powerful. I cvan kill all but the toughest bad guys with 2-3 shots in the face. In addition, charge refills in about 3-4 seconds (after upgrades), so you can often charge one guy, kill him, charge the next, kill him, rinse repeat...

Actually, all powers recharge extremely quick (after upgrades) which is why they've toned down their effectiveness. BY using all 3 squad members, you can basically have a non-stop stream of biotic powers.

I think the console version is somewhat handicapped with regards to biotic powers, because it doesn't have the full 8 hot keys that the pc has. Powers recharge so fast in this game, that when using hotkeys I can basically jutst fire one after another, after another.But, if I had t constantly go into tactical view, I'd be way less likely to do so.

I set my Game Pad up to allow for 7 hot keys, and the combat suddenly took on a whole new life.

I personally find my powers far more effective than weapons. Weapons are great when the enemy is in the open, but usually they're behind cover, and powers is the way to go to quickly finish the fight. Sure, I could sit there and pistol snipe for 2 minutes...or unleash a bunch of biotics, charge in and finish the whole battle in 30seconds...

 

[Gradthrawn]

I think the console version is somewhat handicapped with regards to biotic powers, because it doesn't have the full 8 hot keys that the pc has. Powers recharge so fast in this game, that when using hotkeys I can basically jutst fire one after another, after another.But, if I had t constantly go into tactical view, I'd be way less likely to do so.

I set my Game Pad up to allow for 7 hot keys, and the combat suddenly took on a whole new life.

Interesting... Considering what you've said Chatpad support for hotkeys would be nice for those of us with the 360 version.

Although, I'm going to take a wild guess that that isn't going to happen for ME2 or any other game for that matter.

 

[nightshade]

I like to regularly go into tactical view cause most of the time I like to use my squad's biotics for enemies that I am not paying attention to, so its like I tell one member to hit the guy on left then the other to hit the guy on right & then resume the game & while doing so I charge towards the guy infront of me immediately followed by two shotgun blast & then a pull followed by a shockwave [since pull recovers very fast] !!

It happens so naturally that it never bothered me & I never felt handicapped with my controller having only 3 hotkeys.
Since there is a global cooldown time for biotics I never felt the need for more than a few hotkeys. [But that may just be me. ]

 

[Scott_Arm]

Just thought I would pop in and voice some of my opinions on this game.

I have completed the game on Veteran with an Sentinel class character, managing to save every party member along with the crew of the Normandy. Initially I found the game to be very fun, however, upon starting my second playthrough with the Vanguard class on Hardcore, I began to realize the game has some pretty serious game-braking issues. For one, the Vanguard class in completely broken as its primary Biotic ability charge is totally worthless, and nine times out of ten results in you getting killed within 10-15 seconds of charging an enemy. The only time I can figure this ability is of any use is when you have killed all the other enemies in an area, and decide to take down the one last straggler with it, and even then that can be dicey. This issue highlights and even more serious problem with the game, the fact that using most biotic and tech abilities is a complete waste of time, as you are better off 99% of the time to stick behind cover and slowly take down your enemies one by one with the pistol. This applies equally to your squad, as in most cases the abilities they have are useless, relegating them to little more than cannon fodder - which is ridiculous in an RPG (shooter or otherwise) -. Another problem which I have encountered is the total uselessness of the heavy weapons, steaming both from the limited ammo they have along with the fact that they simply just do not do enough damage to justify the limited ammo capacity.

Anyway, those are just some of the complaints I had in mind with regards to the gameplay mechanics. I think the game has gotten a lot of praise in the press that is unjustified as it suffers from some pretty significant flaws.

Haven't played on hardcore yet, playing on veteran, but I've got to disagree with some of that. I'd agree that charge is not a great power. You can end up in the middle of a group and get killed, if you aren't careful where you charge to. On the other hand, I find pretty much every other power in the game useful.

 

[Tap In]

i love charge

but I'm playing on pedestrian street AKA, normal.

 

[AlNom]

Charge was fun aesthetically. I ended up using shockwave more to throw enemies off platforms.

 

[nightshade]

Shockwave helps a LOT on the derelict reaper mission, if it wasn't for that ability & the sniper rifle [which I picked up from the collector ship] I would've been a hell lot more annoyed by the Husks & those big guys [2-3 husks fused together] in that mission. Cause Vanguard's other powers & guns simply do no good against them.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Shockwave helps a LOT on the derelict reaper mission, if it wasn't for that ability & the sniper rifle [which I picked up from the collector ship] I would've been a hell lot more annoyed by the Husks & those big guys [2-3 husks fused together] in that mission. Cause Vanguard's other powers & guns simply do against the.

I use cryo ammo on the husks and mechs without shields. Works wonders. They take more damage when they're frozen and they're stuck long enough that you don't get swarmed.

 

[RobertR1]

Beat it tonight. What a game. It's not perfect on every front but it comes together perfectly. Some very difficult choices towards the end also. Can't wait to start my 2nd play through. I'd write more about the game but I rather go play some more. However, it's a 10/10 from me. They can improve the squad AI and clean up the combat a bit more for ME3. The stable performance in battle was very nice to have.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Gah, still don't understand how people like it. I'm about to finish up the last loyalty missions and so far this game isn't even 1/4 the game ME1 was.

Tempted to rant some more about it, but I've already done enough of that in the PC forum.

This is easily a 3/10 game for me. ME1 was about a 8/10 for me. The only thing better in this than in the first one is the graphics, IMO. And that's about it. Story and character interaction are sadly, quite lacking in comparison.

Regards,
SB

 

[nightshade]

@ SB
When I tell a few people the same about NPC interaction & the robotic "one mission = Loyal, One fight = Loyalty lost" formula. But they go on disagree with me & mention that how ME2 has more charm to characters & how their back story is laid out and how each character has a unique personality which was mostly absent in ME1, where it was basically nothing but random conversations with characters.

Though they never really gave reasons as per why they think its better than ME1, and I never bothered asking them either. But now I am gonna ask you, as how exactly do you think the interaction is worse ??

 

[Silent_Buddha]

@ SB
When I tell a few people the same about NPC interaction & the robotic "one mission = Loyal, One fight = Loyalty lost" formula. But they go on disagree with me & mention that how ME2 has more charm to characters & how their back story is laid out and how each character has a unique personality which was mostly absent in ME1, where it was basically nothing but random conversations with characters.

Though they never really gave reasons as per why they think its better than ME1, and I never bothered asking them either. But now I am gonna ask you, as how exactly do you think the interaction is worse ??

It doesn't really matter what you say or what you do. You will get their side missions (Loyalty mission) no matter what you did up to that point as long as you decide to do it. At which point they are basically yours.

In ME1 you at least had to think about them as a potential person. What do I need to do to convince this relative stranger to be a loyal friend/follower/whatever. What makes this person tick? What should I try NOT to say to this person?

In ME2, hell just treat them all the same. Because we all know that treating everyone the same works on every person we meet, right? And as long as you answer 1 question right, they'll be your best friend forever... Treat 'em like a person or treat 'em like a jerk. Or be a schizophrenic and just randomly do whatever. Doesn't matter, as long as you answer one question right, they are 100% loyal.

Hell Garret still bugs me. One of the main characters close friends. After you get him. He basically doesn't want to talk to you until he needs you. Then after you do that he goes back to not wanting to talk to you. WTF?

Hell you don't even have to work or think much to get any of the love interests to fall in love/go to bed with you.

I'd disagree that the backstories are any better. There's some interesting attempts at showing the psyche behind some of the characters, but they are all rather one dimensional. There's no feeling of gradually peeling aways the layers of a person as you got to know them like there was in ME1.

And once you realise that there is nothing you can change that will alter their becoming 100% loyal to you as long as you answer one question... Well it all just becomes rather pointless.

And without the character interactions meaning much, the game has nothing. Its main plot and side plots are but a shallow skeleton compared to what was available in ME1.

So we take a game that relies on Character interaction as its main plot device and then dumb that down. Then provides just a skeleton of a plot for the rest of the game. Meh...

And that's just one aspect of how this game is so much worse than ME1.

/sigh. I had so much hope for this game. Especially after how brilliant DAO was. Especially with regards to character interaction. And with the promising base of ME1 to work off.

But it's like they sat there and thought up all the ways they could make this game worse (or even worse just went by forums posts of anonymouse people on the internet), and then scrapped all the things they did right in ME1.

Hell combine that with the absolutely tiny levels (even Citadel is only the size of one of the smaller levels in ME1), and I get the feeling this game was rushed or something.

And after playing this, I have virtually no hope that ME3 is going to be any good. So sad...

Regards,
SB

 

[Scott_Arm]

I have to complete Tali's loyalty mission and then I can start IFF. It's been a while since I played Mass Effect 1, but I think overall I like the way this one plays better. I would have liked the Mako to be in it, just for some more varied gameplay. The removal of inventory doesn't bother me at all. The upgrades fill that void quite nicely. The ammo system isn't bad either. Maybe it's an unnecessary change, but it hasn't bothered me.

The planet scanning isn't great, but you don't have to do it too much and it doesn't take long. I have three upgrades left, and they require a ton of platinum, which I don't have, and I may just skip over them. They're sniper rifle upgrades, and I think heavy ammo, so I don't really care since I use neither.

Overall, I think the missions are better in this one, and I think the conversation options were very well done. I do understand the complaint that the game is very largely built around gathering your team, and not enough time is spent dealing with the collectors. Still, I've been having a lot of fun playing through, so the game is working very well for me, despite that shortcoming in the story. I have found the character stories and missions pretty interesting. They succeed on their own, even though they don't contribute as much toward the overall plot as I'd like. There should have been more interaction with Cerberus throughout the game. I'm sure there will be a good chunk of that as I play through the finale.

I'd say this is one of my favourite games this gen, along with the first one.