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[Zzoram]

Anyone know which Shockwave specialization is better?

 

[feel]

Replaying ME1 at the moment, since I want to have it all fresh in my memory before starting ME2, and I can't really see how ME2 is supposed to be that much better than this (besides the framerate). ME1 is already way incredible.

 

[Zzoram]

Oh, is the very last teammate you acquire impossible to miss? Got them all but with one empty slot and all I seem to have left is a few loyalty missions, the citadel stuff and then the omega 4 relay which I'm guessing locks you in till the last mission.

If it's the first slot, that's Zaeed, the Cerberus Network Code free DLC guy for new copies of the game.

 

[adamsapple]

Oh, is the very last teammate you acquire impossible to miss? Got them all but with one empty slot and all I seem to have left is a few loyalty missions, the citadel stuff and then the omega 4 relay which I'm guessing locks you in till the last mission.

Spoiler

Yeah the story dictates you meet him and bring him onboard the Normandy at least.

 

[zero margin]

Is this a scripted upgrade you can take at some point? I just opened up the second group of quests to find team mates...

yeah I was given the choice of AR or sniper training or you could get a high end shotgun.

EDIT - to be more specific I think it happened in one of the invisible man missions, speaking of that here is a pro tip, don't ever go talk to him in the comm room if you have other stuff to take care of first. Two times I've made this mistake.

 

[soldat7]

I also really really miss armor. While it is true that gun updates in ME1 only really updated stats and not how the gun behaved making the mods more important strategically, I really liked having my squad wearing matching armor.

It bugs me that I can't change my team's armor. They don't even wear helmets into battle. And I can't even remove my helmet in conversations so there you go.

Replaying ME1 at the moment, since I want to have it all fresh in my memory before starting ME2, and I can't really see how ME2 is supposed to be that much better than this (besides the framerate). ME1 is already way incredible.

ME2 is definitely a worthy successor. It vastly improves upon ME1 in many ways, but takes several steps back in others.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Goddamnit I really was looking forward to getting this, but Steam won't let me buy it in my region even though they claim it is released WORLDWIDE.

I am really getting tired of running into these region problems online. It seems like the most ass-backwards decision to lock out regions from online purchases.

It's horrible too because I can even find an import 360 copy in local stores, but I want to play it on my brand new PC.

 

[Zzoram]

Replaying ME1 at the moment, since I want to have it all fresh in my memory before starting ME2, and I can't really see how ME2 is supposed to be that much better than this (besides the framerate). ME1 is already way incredible.

ME1 is great, but ME2 really is better. Even conversations are better with the characters moving around more while talking, and the camera moving around better.

 

[BobsRevenge]

And people are seriously complaining that this is too much like Gears of War. There's enough in ME2 to criticise in a valued way. No need to scrape the barrel and make shit up.

I don't like Gears, so it's annoying for me. The combat is like a constant reminder of how dumb that game is. :lol

 

[Zzoram]

It bugs me that I can't change my team's armor. They don't even wear helmets into battle. And I can't even remove my helmet in conversations so there you go.

I like that my team keeps their unique appearance.

 

[Dennis]

Anyone else feel the Heavy weapons are overpowered ?

I don't really use them much - I think they are to unbalanced and ruin the battles. Increasing the difficulty just makes the regular weapons feel underpowered in comparison to the heavy. I am on Veteran.

Also, ME3 needs to be more RPG. "Streamlining" the RPG elements almost out of existence was not a good idea IMO.

 

[zero margin]

If it's the first slot, that's Zaeed, the Cerberus Network Code free DLC guy for new copies of the game.

sorry, should have mentioned I already had him

Spoiler

Yeah the story dictates you meet him and bring him onboard the Normandy at least.

ok, that must be it. TY.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Replaying ME1 at the moment, since I want to have it all fresh in my memory before starting ME2, and I can't really see how ME2 is supposed to be that much better than this (besides the framerate). ME1 is already way incredible.

Just wait. I am currently on my first ME2 playthrough having JUST freshly played ME1 myself. It's a real treat playing back to back, one of my best gaming experiences.

Anyone else feel the Heavy weapons are overpowered ?

I don't really use them much - I think they are to unbalanced and ruin the battles. Increasing the difficulty just makes the regular weapons feel underpowered in coparison to the heavy. I am on Veteran.

I definitely try to not use them much unless I really find myself between a rock and a hard place. They really do just dominate. I just always have the Avalanche equipped because I think it looks the coolest on my back :lol

I'm also on Veteran, btw.

 

[MMaRsu]

Goddamnit I really was looking forward to getting this, but Steam won't let me buy it in my region even though they claim it is released WORLDWIDE.

I am really getting tired of running into these region problems online. It seems like the most ass-backwards decision to lock out regions from online purchases.

It's horrible too because I can even find an import 360 copy in local stores, but I want to play it on my brand new PC.

Where do you live?

 

[Zeliard]

The uncharted worlds and Mako exploration made you feel like the universe was big and unexplored. A vast galaxy, and kinda lonely, in the good way.

They made me feel like the universe is staggeringly boring and unadventurous, filled with nothing that we can't find something far more wonderful of right here on Earth. Realistic, maybe, but so incredibly dull.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I don't see how Mass Effect 2 is like Gears of War in any way that Mass Effect 1 wasn't, other than "Mass Effect 1 was a really shitty Gears of War, and Mass Effect 2 is Gears of War".

I agree 100%. I loved the original ME and it's probably my favorite game of the generation so far, but I really never saw the insane amount of depth that those who cry "ME2 is dumbed down!!!!" are alluding to. The original was never this tactical, extremely deep RPG, nor was it meant to be.

The majority of loot and equipment changes provided slight, incremental bonuses, you could never directly control your squadmates, and combat was very similar to this go around. There were a handful more active skills you could use in an encounter and more options to leveling up, that's about it.

Is the sequel more streamlined, absolutely. But are we going from BG2 levels of depth, customization and complexity to a Gears of War clone? No.

 

[soldat7]

I like that my team keeps their unique appearance.

But do they have to keep the same armor/clothes on the entire game? Really? And no helmets?

 

[Doytch]

yeah I was given the choice of AR or sniper training or you could get a high end shotgun.

Nice, thanks for info. Gonna give Grunt that special shotgun now that I won't need a dedicated sniper.

 

[Ducarmel]

Replaying ME1 at the moment, since I want to have it all fresh in my memory before starting ME2, and I can't really see how ME2 is supposed to be that much better than this (besides the framerate). ME1 is already way incredible.

Well your either going to love the changes or hate it. I think everybody in this thread know i wish it was more an improved ME1.

 

[TheFreshPrince]

Can anyone help me with a progress check?

I just finished

Spoiler

the mission on Horizon

, and I'm trying to do as many side missions as possible. How far along in the game am I? 33%? 50%?

Thanks!!!

 

[Dennis]

I just always have the Avalanche equipped because I think it looks the coolest on my back :lol

:lol I do the same thing - what looks best in screenshots, I will carry.

 

[Affeinvasion]

And I can't even remove my helmet in conversations so there you go.

Yeah it's kind of annoying but the Dr. Pepper Recon hood actually looks pretty badass.

 

[Trickster]

Shooting people in the head from a long distance is pretty useful. :lol Seriously though I took sniper rifles as a vanguard and I don't regret it at allll.

You don't have all that much ammo in a sniper, and playing on veteran as an infiltrator I often experience enemies surviving a headshot from a cloaked shot. So I think the slowdown bonus is very important since it will increase your accuracy and make you waste less ammo than you would without it.

Of course if you're only playing on normal or easier, I can imagine sniper rifles being a one hit one kill type of thing no matter where you hit the enemies.

Well your either going to love the changes or hate it. I think everybody in this thread know i wish it was more an improved ME1.

Isn't it basically a mass effect sequel with a shit ton of improvements? it has a much improved combat system, better graphics, runs smoother, has more content and more squadmembers

 

[REV 09]

just got this yesterday and played 5 hours of it. Awesome, awesome game, but very different from the first.

I would almost call this Gears of War with a dialogue system and a few mini games, but it works quite well. The only thing that i truly miss is the mako and the sense of exploration.

Loading Screens>Elevator...it helps that the loading screens seem relevant to what your character would be doing anyways, it only speeds things up considerably.

 

[adamsapple]

Can anyone help me with a progress check?

I just finished

Spoiler

the mission on Horizon

, and I'm trying to do as many side missions as possible. How far along in the game am I? 33%? 50%?

Thanks!!!

I'd say 33~40% is accurate. The game really WANTS you to do the side stuff, the loyalty stuff at least. So you're good.

 

[soldat7]

nvm

 

[zero margin]

You don't have all that much ammo in a sniper, and playing on veteran as an infiltrator I often experience enemies surviving a headshot from a cloaked shot. So I think the slowdown bonus is very important since it will increase your accuracy and make you waste less ammo than you would without it.

Of course if you're only playing on normal or easier, I can imagine sniper rifles being a one hit one kill type of thing no matter where you hit the enemies.

Also playing veteran and it holds 50+ rounds so it's double what, say, the heavy pistol carries, couple times in big fights I've ran out but. Accuracy doesn't seem to be a problem but slowing down time I could imagine would help significantly.

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

I'm starting to regret choosing Veteran instead of Hardcore. I'm not finding much difficulty in Veteran, granted I'm not exactly breezing through and never dying, but still, it could be a tad harder. I know I could change it, but I feel like I should stick to whatever difficulty I picked from the start to keep things consistent? I don't know

If you're at a decent level, increase it. I was blown away by how different it was. No interest in Insanity, though.

In regards to Heavy Weapons:
They are indeed powerful, but hard to use. The truly destructive ones take a huge charge time where you're wide open to get shot and killed. I'm actually sticking with grenade launcher and missile launcher because everything else is a bit impractical--as awesome as the nuker and blackhole guns are.

Also, the ammo is SO limited, it balances itself out. On Hardcore, it takes like 10 missiles to kill a Scion (I haaaaaate Scions).

Just finished

Spoiler

Legion's loyalty quest. Last bit took two tries. This would have been a LOT easier if I didn't have to use Legion because he sucks almost as bad as Tali. I miss when Engineers ruled the universe...

Man, this game has so tough decisions.

 

[MisterAnderson]

just got this yesterday and played 5 hours of it. Awesome, awesome game, but very different from the first.

I would almost call this Gears of War with a dialogue system and a few mini games, but it works quite well. The only thing that i truly miss is the mako and the sense of exploration.

Loading Screens>Elevator...it helps that the loading screens seem relevant to what your character would be doing anyways, it only speeds things up considerably.

I feel like if I had only played through Mass Effect 1 once, I would miss the Mako. But playing through it a second time made it clear that it just broke up the flow of the game for me (especially the side quests). I appreciated the variety a lot more on my first go, and feel like it definitely could have been improved instead of taken out all together, but at the end of the day I'll choose a more streamlined, enjoyable experience over a slightly repetitive and tedious one.

I love exploration. Hell, Super Metroid is probably my favorite game of all time. But I'm playing Mass Effect for the story and the action. There really wasn't any exploring in the first game anyway, only the illusion of exploration (open up your map, go to this question mark, go to this "anomoly", rinse, repeat). Sure you could go off the path and lawnmower the map with your Mako to find stray mineral deposits, but I'd rather just scan the fucking planet from orbit to do that :lol

Also I really love the loading screens. They nailed it. It's funny because I was kind of blown away when I was introduced to the first loading screen which was a perfect transition from the Lazarus project in the intro; It was seamless.

 

[EatChildren]

I don't like Gears, so it's annoying for me. The combat is like a constant reminder of how dumb that game is. :lol

I dont like Gears either, for how boring and dumb I find it. Mass Effect felt like it was trying to seperate itself from Gears while still using foundations of a third person cover based combat design. That's the similarity the franchises share.

In my opinion ME2's changes to the combat in only very slight ways resemble that of Gears of War, but as a whole does a ton more different to make it feel more varied, exciting, and deeper. Only the ammo system, and maybe the health system, seem to be direct nods towards the design of Gears. Otherwise everything else to me seems like Mass Effect's combat, only improved by a huge margine.

Gears bores me to the point of quitting. This is fantastic fun.

 

[hulot]

I understand why they have ammo for the heavy weapons, but I honestly don't even get why they bothered adding ammo to the regular weapons. Personally I rarely run out of ammo to begin with, so I'm guessing they just wanted to have the player to have to think about their clips and reload, etc.

I think what would have been better is, take away the ammo and keep the overheating system from the first game, but keep the "thermal clips" concept intact by having the player collect spare thermal clips. If the player overheats, they could choose to either wait for the gun to cool off, or eject the thermal clip and replace it with a spare one allowing them to get back to shooting quicker than if they were to wait for the gun to cool off. Granted for all I know, they might have tested something like this out and figured that the way it is now tested better. Just an idea, who knows if it would suck or be good?

Actually that sounds great. Drastically increase weapon overheat, keep thermal clips mechanic for instant cooldown and remove ammo counts. Best of both worlds; I personally love reloading but picking up ammo is silly and also a complete retcon.

 

[Dennis]

The only place where ME2 is "dumbed down " from ME is in the loot and stats elements - but thats pretty bad for someone like me who really like those things.

The combat is hugely improved in ME2.

Also, maybe ME2 is somewhat more linear - at least it feels to me like some of the sense of exploration have been lost. Driving the Mako around in that seaside-like level felt great (I forget the name of the planet).

 

[Trickster]

Also playing veteran and it holds 50+ rounds so it's double what, say, the heavy pistol carries, couple times in big fights I've ran out but. Accuracy doesn't seem to be a problem but slowing down time I could imagine would help significantly.

Wait what? 50 rounds in your sniper? I still only have 10 and I'm pretty far into the story, haven't found any ammo upgrades for the snipers yet.

 

[soldat7]

I agree 100%. I loved the original ME and it's probably my favorite game of the generation so far, but I really never saw the insane amount of depth that those who cry "ME2 is dumbed down!!!!" are alluding to. The original was never this tactical, extremely deep RPG, nor was it meant to be.

The majority of loot and equipment changes provided slight, incremental bonuses, you could never directly control your squadmates, and combat was very similar to this go around. There were a handful more active skills you could use in an encounter and more options to leveling up, that's about it.

Is the sequel more streamlined, absolutely. But are we going from BG2 levels of depth, customization and complexity to a Gears of War clone? No.

I'm merely arguing that BioWare should have enhanced the customization and RPG elements of ME1 rather than tossing them away.

 

[Coxswain]

Shooting's way better, cover's way better. To really see the combat shine, though, play on Hardcore. Rather than just scaling damage and health to be more unfair, it adds another layer of strategy beyond point and shoot.

Oh, I played on Insanity, and yeah, the combat in ME2 is fucking awesome.
I'm just saying that, everything that I can see in Mass Effect 2 that's similar to Gears of War was also in Mass Effect 1. It was just done badly in ME1 (ex. Cover, shooting, health, running, etc).

 

[Dennis]

Wait what? 50 rounds in your sniper? I still only have 10 and I'm pretty far into the story, haven't found any ammo upgrades for the snipers yet.

You will get a better sniper rifle with much more ammo, eventually. Maybe it is a specific mission, I don't recall.

 

[Facism]

endgame spoiler, nothing really terrible if you highlight

Spoiler

Blue balls. Didn't flow well at all and hardly epic finale, plus shitty cliffhanger of the generation Possibility of losing squad members was apparently talked up more than it was worth in the previews.

Can't wait for ME3 though

 

[Duke Togo]

This is one of the most satisfying PC gaming experiences I've ever had. Anybody here played on both PC and 360 by chance? How did they compare gameplay wise?

 

[BobsRevenge]

I dont like Gears either, for how boring and dumb I find it. Mass Effect felt like it was trying to seperate itself from Gears while still using foundations of a third person cover based combat design. That's the similarity the franchises share.

In my opinion ME2's changes to the combat in only very slight ways resemble that of Gears of War, but as a whole does a ton more different to make it feel more varied, exciting, and deeper. Only the ammo system, and maybe the health system, seem to be direct nods towards the design of Gears. Otherwise everything else to me seems like Mass Effect's combat, only improved by a huge margine.

Gears bores me to the point of quitting. This is fantastic fun.

No doubt the combat is fun, but I attribute it mostly to the Brothers in Arms style squad commands. THAT is the biggest improvement from the past game for me. The improvements to the core combat handling seems to all be aiming directly at Gears. So, while there are only a couple major changes towards being more Gears, it feels like almost every aspect at least made a shift in that direction.

Actually using my squad is awesome. The game still doesn't give you that many reasons to care about them though. They are basically just there to use powers when you're recharging your own. :lol

I almost never revive them if they die, I just wait for combat to end so they can just stand up. I've hit the "3" button, like, 2 times the entire game to revive them.

 

[rhino4evr]

Question
can you only hot button one power? From what I could tell my biotic powers could only be activates via control wheel except singularity

ps I'm currently away from home and only have played the game for 30 mins so far . Sorry if the questions seem elementary

 

[kodt]

Hmm not really liking the combat, I mean I guess it is the same as ME1, but it has been so long since I played that I forgot how bad it is. Dragon Age spoiled me I guess. It is like a combination of boring and less fulfilling Gears combat mixed with simplified and dumbed down Dragon Age combat. I don't think it mixes well.

Strange that there is no inventory, I looked for it once but then realized I didn't need it really. Played a bit more and then noticed you changed gear with load-out stations, kinda weird. I guess they are going for more of an action game then RPG?

The new hacking mini-games are kinda neat, how was that done in the first one? I don't remember.

Also, another thing I don't remember, could you take control of your teammates in the first one?

 

[Zeliard]

While ME2's equipment diversity isn't quite what it could/should be, I think it's a lot better than ME1's. Every gun in the first game handled exactly like every other gun in its category, and the only improvements that ever happened amounted to generic damage boosts, which were tied directly to your character's level, so there was no surprise, and were doled out according to random probability, giving the player no choice or involvement with the entire process - and even then, it only lasted until about halfway through the game when you got the Rich achievement, at which point you more or less stop advancing altogether, aside from a different set of slightly stronger Spectre gear. Mods gave you, at best, a gimmick weapon equivalent to ME2's Heavy Weapons (ie: High Explosive Sniper Rifle), a flat bonus to damage that outclassed every other option available, or some silly little effect that was so minor as to be pretty much negligible.

In contrast, ME2 starts right off the bat by giving every class one completely new weapon type, plus half a dozen or so Heavy Weapons that are all completely unique (save the Particle Beam which is just an amped up AR). But more importantly, they didn't make each weapon in a particular category a linear upgrade over the previous one. The Pistol you begin the game with is a viable alternative to the Hand Cannon. The starting Sniper Rifle is a good deal more powerful per-shot than the semi-automatic one. The Geth Assault Rifle is stronger on Shields and Barriers, and Weaker on Armour compared to the Battle Rifle that it replaces. They didn't pull it off perfectly (I can't see a reason to go back to the original Machine Pistol after getting the Tempest, or the original Assault Rifle compared to the Battle Rifle, and the upgraded AR/SR/SG you can get are pretty definitively better than at least one of the weapons in their class), but it creates a whole hell of a lot more equipment diversity than the first game had, in my opinion. Plus it's supplemented by upgrades that are largely player-driven, so you advance mostly at your own pace, along upgrade paths that you choose, rather than relying entirely on your character level and a random number generator to do the work for you.


It's not where it could be, but the core idea is a lot stronger than ME1's. Even if it's not quite got the diversity and depth that I'd want it to, a basic-but-thoughtfully-designed system is infinitely preferable to me over the alternative, which would be taking the cumbersome, slapdash system from the first game and trying to retrofit depth onto a fundamentally flawed idea.

Good post.

edit2: I think the worst conversations in both games are the Genophage convos. I can never say what I want to. I've never been able to express how I feel about the genophage to these people in my computer, and that frustrates me. I want my resignation to the necessary horribleness to be known, but I don't want to force myself into a moral position on it! It's too complex of an issue, and I can't possibly fully understand it from my human perspective.

I love the Genophage debates - it's one of the few times that Bioware has been able to truly nail grey morality. Did you do Mordin's loyalty quest? I had to ponder a few things at the end there.

I'm merely arguing that BioWare should have enhanced the customization and RPG elements of ME1 rather than tossing them away.

And this would have come at the expense of other things. They don't have unlimited time and resources. They have to get a sequel out within a certain timeframe, especially since they're trying to get the trilogy out within this generation. They prioritized what they feeled needed the most attention - the core gameplay, the combat, was one of those things.

I don't think it's written in the RPG handbook that every RPG must have shitty combat mechanics, yet some people seem to expect and even want this from their RPGs. Yeah, the RPG shooter is now actually competent at the shooting aspect that comprises its entire core gameplay, that makes it Gears of War. We shouldn't be afraid of our RPGs having combat mechanics that rival those of genres that concentrate solely on that aspect. And I say all this as someone who puts both Deus Ex and Planescape: Torment is his top 5 games of all-time.

 

[corrosivefrost]

ugh. i hate horizon on insanity.

 

[Ricker]

Singularity makes this a breeze (on Normal). You can stop vulnerable people from coming up stairs or whatever since the Singularity ball affects whoever walks into it. Also later on when you have to close some doors, Singularity will trap those it effects and allow you time to take down those it doesn't effect. If all you need to do is stop a group of people from moving, Singularity gets that done on the basic units.

That`s one of my problems hehe...not even sure what singularity is yet up until this section,everything was a breeze on normal but this part is harder so i`ll have to start and play better hehe...thanks for the heads up

 

[ExtraKr1spy]

The Cerberus sidequests where you have to save smuggled items from 3 of those giant robots is bullshit. The bullets and rockets they fire go through the rocks you can take cover behind in the level. Playing on Insanity so I don't expect it to be easy but its annoying going behind a rock just regen health just to get shot or hit by a rocket. Team mates are also fucking useless in that mission.

 

[MisterAnderson]

If you're at a decent level, increase it. I was blown away by how different it was. No interest in Insanity, though.

I'm level twelve and am currently on

Spoiler

Illiam

. Should I change it? And also, do I still unlock achievements if I play in offline mode on Steam? I know some games you need to be logged into your friends list or some crap in order for Steam achievements. Hell, I don't even know if ME2 is tied to Steam achievements, I'm just assuming.

 

[Trickster]

Hmm not really liking the combat, I mean I guess it is the same as ME1, but it has been so long since I played that I forgot how bad it is. Dragon Age spoiled me I guess.

Sounds like you're more of an oldschool rpg kinda person if you like the combat in DA, yet think the combat in ME2 is bad?
Also, the combat in ME2 is NOT the same as the combat in ME1 :lol

 

[Lostconfused]

But do they have to keep the same armor/clothes on the entire game? Really?

Goes double for Garrus. Giant hole in the back of the suit, pft who cares.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Goes double for Garrus. Giant hole in the back of the suit, pft who cares.

I love battle damage Garrus :lol

 

[Killthee]

Question
can you only hot button one power? From what I could tell my biotic powers could only be activates via control wheel except singularity

ps I'm currently away from home and only have played the game for 30 mins so far . Sorry if the questions seem elementary

You can map two of your powers to the bumpers (tapping them will trigger the power, while holding brings up the wheel), 1 for each squad mate (selecting left or right on the d-pad while aiming at an enemy will trigger the squad power on that enemy), and your class exclusive power which is auto mapped to Y.

Bring up the wheel and press X or B to map your powers to the bumpers and X to map a squad power.