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[jacobs34]

So I've been calling my local Blockbuster all week to see when they would be getting Mass Effect 2 in and I ended up having the following conversatoin with a clerk today.

Me: So are you guys going to get Mass Effect 2 in this weekend?

Clerk: Um. Yeah. I don't think we are going to be getting that game.

Me: You mean this weekend, or at all?

Clerk: At all. We don't see that game doing well.

Me: Hm, really? Because I just read that it sold 2 million copies.

Clerk: Really?

Me: Yeah.

Clerk: Well, we just don't think that game is going to rent well.

Me: K, thanks bye.

It took me around five minutes to get a gamefly account up and runing, and rented the game. It's no wonder Blockbuster is going bankrupt.

 

[EatChildren]

Eh? It is almost a pure shooter, at least gameplay-wise, right now.

Its really not, and there's no reason to believe ME3 would be trimmed even further, but I'll let you guys keep on having a meltdown because it's pretty funny to read.

 

[Wiggum2007]

Why not just use your teammates to Warp?

Why not allow me to map whatever power I want to the Y button?

It just seems kinda silly to limit the player like that, imo.

 

[Red Blaster]

Its really not, and there's no reason to believe ME3 would be trimmed even further, but I'll let you guys keep on having a meltdown because it's pretty funny to read.

I'd like to know how ME2 is not almost a pure shooter. In terms of the combat I mean.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Its really not, and there's no reason to believe ME3 would be trimmed even further, but I'll let you guys keep on having a meltdown because it's pretty funny to read.

I definitely disagree that ME2 is basically a pure shooter, but I do feel like ME3 will actually be the opposite of "being more trimmed and streamlined" and will probably make it a bit more of a balance between ME1 and ME2. That's typically how trilogies work for games. The sequel tends to "stray" a bit, and then in the third they "find their way." Not to make it sound like ME2 is a step in the wrong direction, there are things about it that could be improved, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the better game so far.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Indeed. Elevator rides are looking pretty good right now. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

I know. I mean it gave you a chance to get a good look at female teammates asses. It's a DAMN shame there are no elevator rides with Miranda.

 

[ShogunX]

Eh? It is almost a pure shooter, at least gameplay-wise, right now.

Only its not at all. My first playthrough of ME2 I would say I spent more time exploring,shopping, traveling and chatting than I did shooting. If you ran through the game doing all the main quests only then you're playing it wrong.

 

[EatChildren]

I'd like to know how ME2 is not almost a pure shooter.

It's already been voiced quite a bit; extensive interactive dialogue, heavy focus on story, choice/consiquence non-linear mission outcomes for some, customisation of character and statistics, customisation of squad, interaction in no-combat environments, non-linear shop and research mechanic, non-linear quest selection, non-linear finding and selecting of optional sidequests. Etc, etc, etc.

You guys should really go play Half-Life, Gears, Unreal, Ghost Recon, Halo, Battlefield, or something thats actually a pure shooter before we start calling Mass Effect 2 just that. I'm not going to get into a debate about it because if someone cant see the glaring differences they're really not worth the argument.

 

[Red Blaster]

It's already been voiced quite a bit; extensive interactive dialogue, heavy focus on story, choice/consiquence non-linear mission outcomes for some, customisation of character and statistics, customisation of squad, interaction in no-combat environments, non-linear shop and research mechanic, non-linear quest selection, non-linear finding and selecting of optional sidequests. Etc, etc, etc.

You guys should really go play Half-Life, Gears, Unreal, Ghost Recon, Halo, Battlefield, or something thats actually a pure shooter before we start calling Mass Effect 2 just that. I'm not going to get into a debate about it because if someone cant see the glaring differences they're really not worth the argument.

No shit. It's pretty clear he was only talking about the combat, which is definitely closer to a pure shooter than ME1.

 

[Metroidvania]

Argh.

I'm going through my second playthrough, and I cannot find the pendant for that Asari during Miranda's loyalty quest. I've restarted twice, looked everywhere, and I still can't find the damn thing.

at least, I'm almost positive you find it there. >_>

 

[Ducarmel]

it near the end of that quest on top of a crate its a data pad looking thing

 

[-tetsuo-]

Wait, anomaly missions? Tell me more.

 

[EatChildren]

No shit. It's pretty clear he was only talking about the combat, which is definitely closer to a pure shooter than ME1.

He said it was almost a shooter gameplay-wise now, in reply to my statement about people worried ME3 will be streamlined into a shooter.

The combat plays out like a shooter. It did in the original too. If that's what he was getting at, and what people are worried about, they're being pretty silly as thats how it was from the start. If they're talking about the game as a whole, the whole 'gameplay', then they're wrong; ME1 and ME2 are not pure shooters and there's no reason to believe ME3 will be as well.

Wait, anomaly missions? Tell me more.

Sometimes when you click on a planet EDI will say "Anomoly Detected". If she says that then there is a place to land and a sidequest to do.

 

[Ducarmel]

Wait, anomaly missions? Tell me more.

it like the points of interest in ME1 on a planet instead of using the mako, you scan for it by pin pointing the transmission signal.

 

[SlasherJPC]

So the loyalty missions. I keep talking to people but not seeing this pop up yet and I'm 9 hours in. Anyone know the specifics on getting these to appear? Or do they just pop up over time after recruiting the people? Also do you get one for the two peeps that you joined up with at the start or only the people you recruit?

 

[Olivero]

Spoiler

I just finished the game. Wow, what a rush. I believe this is now my favorite game of all time. Every mission, level has such great atmosphere and writing. Each recruitment mission is unique, as is each loyalty mission. I recommend doing Zaleek's loyalty mission, they do some really neat things with explosions on that one.

I saved everyone. No one died, lost zero crew members and had an adventure with Miranda, blew up the collector base, pissed off a ton of reapers and the Illusive Man himself. Question: see as how the sun behind Illusive Man went from being yellow to blue I assume this means that he's the one behind the use of dark energy on stars? Anyways, yeah, ME3 cannot come soon enough. FANTASTIC BIOWARE, THANK YOU! I promise to give you my monies more often.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Even the combat isn't close to being a pure shooter. I'm constantly pausing combat and selecting abilities to use, which get stronger as I level up in those areas. Combat in Mass Effect 2 is all about pausing and making decisions.

 

[The Librarian]

There should be more missions like Thane's. Mix it up a little.

 

[Bloodsent]

So the loyalty missions. I keep talking to people but not seeing this pop up yet and I'm 9 hours in. Anyone know the specifics on getting these to appear? Or do they just pop up over time after recruiting the people? Also do you get one for the two peeps that you joined up with at the start or only the people you recruit?

Yeoman Chambers will let you know when someone wants to talk to you. This usually means that the loyalty mission will unlock. Making your way through the recruitment missions should unlock various squad loyalty missions as you go.

 

[-tetsuo-]

I haven't run into any of those :lol. Guess I need to go exploring some more.

 

[ExtraKr1spy]

So the loyalty missions. I keep talking to people but not seeing this pop up yet and I'm 9 hours in. Anyone know the specifics on getting these to appear? Or do they just pop up over time after recruiting the people? Also do you get one for the two peeps that you joined up with at the start or only the people you recruit?

Got Zaeeds immediately after he joined. Mirand and Jacobs appeared after Horizon.

 

[Odious Tea]

Within 5 seconds of realizing that Miranda was gonna be on Normandy, I knew I was gonna bone her. And bone her, I shall.

 

[Spasm]

So what triggers a romance? Jack said she has to think about it. Now I'm going to go flirt with Miranda.

Every time I wander into the head, I'm half-expecting

Spoiler

hoping

Jack to corner and rape me over a toilet.

Er, so yeah. I really don't know how to trigger romance. But every time Jacob starts getting flirty, I choose the renegade options.

I'm like 12 hours in and I'm getting really horny. Chambers is such a tease and I haven't even started getting any love interest dialogue options from anyone, I'm guessing I might have to knock out some more loyalty missions to get that going. I definitely want to ride Jacob's veined and swollen blood bomber, he just needs to open himself up to me.

:lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Olivero]

Within 5 seconds of realizing that Miranda was gonna be on Normandy, I knew I was gonna bone her. And bone her, I shall.

Hottest video game character ever, yeah?

 

[Borgnine]

I'm like 12 hours in and I'm getting really horny. Chambers is such a tease and I haven't even started getting any love interest dialogue options from anyone, I'm guessing I might have to knock out some more loyalty missions to get that going. I definitely want to ride Jacob's veined and swollen blood bomber, he just needs to open himself up to me.

 

[Ducarmel]

I wish the pausing really wasn't pausing, maybe just slow motion. The enemies can still attack but maybe a 1/10th speed while you are thinking about using your special abilities.

 

[Ultimo hombre]

People actually theorising Mass Effect 3 will be streamlined into a shooter :lol.

When GAF crashes, GAF burns.



I mix up my squad, but as an infiltrator keep your distance. Shields get ripped through pretty quickly. Hit up your machine pistol/smg with disrupter rounds. It already effective against shields, so having it hit even harder while shooting fast makes quick work of shielded enemies. Just watch the innacuracy and get closer if you need to.

Heavy pistol I equip with cryo rounds and save it for precise distance shots and taking out guys with armor, as that's what it's effective against. Cryo rounds will quickly freeze them, and if you dont want to waste the ammo you can quickly switch to your machine pistol/smg and spray them with rounds at a closer range until they die.

As for the sniper, equip whatever round is useful at the time, and make every shot aim for the head. At every opportunity engage tactical cloak for the shot you'll take, as it will do extra damage.

Thanks! So far my best sidekicks have been Gerrus and Jack. btw I just landed on Horizon for my first encounter with the Collectors so I'm not far in.

On Gerrus, I spec'd up his concussion damage + passive. Once I do his loyalty mission, I'll spec out the armor piercing stuff.

For Jack, I paid to upgrade her Biotics damage by 20% and then maxed out her shock wave.

This combo seems to do well. The shockwave takes down a bunch of them, Gerrus will knock down the biggest enemy. Jack is spraying them with SMG's while Gerrus and I do mass damage with our Snipers.

My spec is maxing out my passing and putting the rest into disruptor and cloak. I love cloak damage add.

 

[OMG Aero]

I'm just about ready to start ME2 having finished my Insanity play through of the first game but before I do, has anyone who ordered from Amazon UK received their code for the pre-order armour yet? I still haven't got it.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Hottest video game character ever, yeah?

For me it's between her and Chloe. It's close.

 

[Kitschkraft]

My CE just came......

But...I'm only about halfway through my final playthrough of the first game.....

I already had a level 60 but I wanted one final run so that my choices were exactly as I wanted and so that it was fresh in my mind...DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! Gotta finish, from the looks of it, from what everyone is saying, it doesn't seem like I'll be going back to ME1 ever again so I might as well finish it one last time.

 

[abundant]

So the loyalty missions. I keep talking to people but not seeing this pop up yet and I'm 9 hours in. Anyone know the specifics on getting these to appear? Or do they just pop up over time after recruiting the people? Also do you get one for the two peeps that you joined up with at the start or only the people you recruit?

You can only do Loyalty missions after you finish Horizon.

 

[Red Blaster]

Even the combat isn't close to being a pure shooter. I'm constantly pausing combat and selecting abilities to use, which get stronger as I level up in those areas. Combat in Mass Effect 2 is all about pausing and making decisions.

In Modern Warfare 2, I have to level up to unlock more weapons and perks and then said perks get stronger as I use them more too.

MW2 =! RPG

It's not necessarily a slight when I say ME2 is closer to a pure shooter. I'm more annoyed at all the random changes they did for no reason, such as the Normandy always disembarking when you board and the inability to put your helmet on outside your room.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

My CE just came......

But...I'm only about halfway through my final playthrough of the first game.....

I already had a level 60 but I wanted one final run so that my choices were exactly as I wanted and so that it was fresh in my mind...DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! Gotta finish, from the looks of it, from what everyone is saying, it doesn't seem like I'll be going back to ME1 ever again so I might as well finish it one last time.

Who's not going back? That's ludicrous. I'm so compelled to play these two games back to back for the rest of my life it's not even funny.

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

Man, my second playthrough is going to be very interesting (I hope). I'm going to import my female Shepard that was a complete bitch to everyone. I let the council die, appointed Udina, shot Wrex, and didn't even give Tali the Geth data. My face is going to look fucked.

 

[Cep]

Don't forget level scaling, fast travel, map markers, etc.

The simple fact remains: Simplified mechanics and an obvious interface improves it's chances to appeal to a larger audience. It's one of the reasons that even the Halo franchise took off. It did away with a lot of the conventions of FPS games at the time. Only two weapons at a time. Recharging shields. No real key hunting. Etc.

The population of NeoGaf, and anyone who even visits video game forums to any extent are your hardcore crowd. We are an extreme minority. We love convoluted systems and traditional conventions. The vast majority of people that play video games don't. See: Farmville, The Sims, Nintendo et al.

Yes, but there is still a market for complex games.

Just look at DA's sales. Besides, no matter how complex ME2 is, it would have sold the same.

Remember, most of these people are coming from ME1, and while the games RPG systems were shit, it was the right level of complexity.

 

[BobsRevenge]

I definitely got the med station upgrade thing as my first research purchase.

I hate when games try to show your moral choices on your character in shallow ways.

 

[Zeliard]

I still have several loyalty missions to do, but can anyone tell me about how much of the main plot is left after the

Spoiler

Collector ship

?

That area of the game has a fantastic aesthetic.

 

[EatChildren]

I still have several loyalty missions to do, but can anyone tell me about how much of the main plot is left after the

Spoiler

Collector ship

?

That area of the game has a fantastic aesthetic.

I'm playing that area now and it's awesome.

 

[Lunchbox]

I still have several loyalty missions to do, but can anyone tell me about how much of the main plot is left after the

Spoiler

Collector ship

?

That area of the game has a fantastic aesthetic.

theres still a few hours left, but do all the loyalty stuff and upgrade your ship. or youll regret it

 

[Zeliard]

I'm playing that area now and it's awesome.

It really is.

theres still a few hours left, but do all the loyalty stuff and upgrade your ship. or youll regret it

I'm probably not even gonna do the final mission till I've done damn near everything else.

I don't want any characters to die, though. I like all of those bastards.

 

[zero margin]

Argh.

I'm going through my second playthrough, and I cannot find the pendant for that Asari during Miranda's loyalty quest. I've restarted twice, looked everywhere, and I still can't find the damn thing.

at least, I'm almost positive you find it there. >_>

Found it in the big final area right before you reach the end of the quest. Explore the outer walls.

 

[Mindlog]

I'm just about ready to start ME2 having finished my Insanity play through of the first game but before I do, has anyone who ordered from Amazon UK received their code for the pre-order armour yet? I still haven't got it.

I'm in the US, but I got my code 3 days after I got the game. It's the only complaint about Amazon I have.

Found it in the big final area right before you reach the end of the quest. Explore the outer walls.

Yeah. Sitting on top of a crate. Can't miss it really :lol

I definitely got the med station upgrade thing as my first research purchase.

I hate when games try to show your moral choices on your character in shallow ways.

My import Sheppard had just the right amount of Renegade. The scars fit pretty well considering those circumstances.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Spoiler

Question: see as how the sun behind Illusive Man went from being yellow to blue I assume this means that he's the one behind the use of dark energy on stars?

Spoiler

I believe that's just a background that shows how pure paragon or renegade you were. Sort of like the ending of ME1 with Shepard in front of a blue or red background. I could be wrong though.

 

[Coxswain]

I still have several loyalty missions to do, but can anyone tell me about how much of the main plot is left after the

Spoiler

Collector ship

?

I'd say that's about 75% of the way through the game. However, after that, make sure you keep some save files to go back to.
Specifically (without any overt spoilers):

Spoiler

after that mission you get another mission called "Reaper IFF", which is somewhat like Virmire from ME1, in that it's not strictly a point of no return, but you should have all your loyalty/sidequesting wrapped up before you go. At the very least, keep a save around before you go there.

 

[neojubei]

For me it's between her and Chloe. It's close.

Everytime i see Miranda or Chloe, I think of Akon's song.

 

[Zeliard]

I'd say that's about 75% of the way through the game. However, after that, make sure you keep some save files to go back to.
Specifically (without any overt spoilers):

Spoiler

after that mission you get another mission called "Reaper IFF", which is somewhat like Virmire from ME1, in that it's not strictly a point of no return, but you should have all your loyalty/sidequesting wrapped up before you go. At the very least, keep a save around before you go there.

Good stuff. Thanks for the useful info.

 

[cresto]

So I just spent 10 hours on my disk 1 and it's requiring me to put in disk 2 (im about to start jacob's loyalty quest). Is it worth my while to install the 2nd disc to the HDD and then just reinstall disc 1 once I get back to it? How much time was spent on disc2?

 

[SlasherJPC]

So I just spent 10 hours on my disk 1 and it's requiring me to put in disk 2 (im about to start jacob's loyalty quest). Is it worth my while to install the 2nd disc to the HDD and then just reinstall disc 1 once I get back to it? How much time was spent on disc2?

Damn... I just hit the ten hour mark and I'm still recruiting people! :lol

 

[Jonsoncao]

saw this on kotaku :lol :lol

 

[BocoDragon]

I'm like 12 hours in and I'm getting really horny. Chambers is such a tease and I haven't even started getting any love interest dialogue options from anyone, I'm guessing I might have to knock out some more loyalty missions to get that going. I definitely want to ride Jacob's veined and swollen blood bomber, he just needs to open himself up to me.

Never clicked on a Mass Effect thread before but this is EXACTLY what I expected to see... bravo! :lol