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[Risette]

if i don't do ANY sidequests, how long do you guys think it takes to finish the game?

It depends on what you mean by sidequests. Do you consider the loyalty missions sidequests?

I only bother with the story, loyalty, and small quests that pop up ("find an item without trying while on a mission, give item to person who needs it, quest over" or "talk to person, talk to other person a few steps away, quest over" types) and I'm about 24hrs into the game. Just unlocked the IFF mission. I'm assuming that I'm probably about 3/4ths into the game or more.

I also still need to recruit two more characters, do their loyalties, and two more loyalty quests that I haven't done for characters I already have.

It's a pretty long game imo, but a lot of things are optional.

 

[erpg]

There's a video on youtube of a guy completing it in 11 hours. It's definitely a 'suicide' mission if you speed through it.

 

[CAW]

My sexy female Shepard:

My rough looking male Shepard:

 

[Kodiak]

wow im really impressed by the amount of DLC on offer. I ignored it when I first booted up the game but they did a really bang up job with this stuff. Definately looking forward to getting my rover back soon too.

 

[CAW]

Any world on the Cerberus armor?

 

[erpg]

By skipping cutscenes and rushing past enemies I have gotten to where I originally was, story-wise, in about 2 hours.

Now, how long is the final mission? Because I'm ready to beat this fucker and get a beer.

45 minutes - an hour or so. And barring the final boss, it's a hell of a ride.

 

[LiK]

Time to kick ass then.

the final mission is really well done. so awesome.

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

the final mission is really well done. so awesome.

Yeah. It is here that what some people consider spoiler information

Spoiler

anyone and everyone can die

makes the entire thing super intense, and you actually put thought into the choices beyond, "Oh, I'm a Paragon, I'm just going to hold the analog stick to the upper right and upper left all game."

 

[K.Jack]

What do you think about the exploding drone? Is the Combat Drone's bonuses too good to pass up?

I didn't even think to test out the exploding drone tbh. I didn't like the thought of a kamikaze gameplan.

The combat drone is pretty tough HP-wise, plus the cooldown is just 3 seconds, so you can heavily refresh/spam it at enemies and their attention will pretty much never focus on you. Plus it takes down shields, barriers, and armor. Not huge chunks at a time, but enough to help me conserve ammo. It does get it's fair share of kills, especially Geth.

Playing Hardcore/Insanity, I recommend upgrading the drone as a priority.

 

[HolyCheck]

God damn, just finished the game.

39 hours.

Spoiler

Thane died and Mordin too which sucks as they were my favourite. also I never got to hear mordin sing.

 

[LiK]

God damn, just finished the game.

39 hours.

Spoiler

Thane died and Mordin too which sucks as they were my favourite. also I never got to hear mordin sing.

hope you made a save before that lil show.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I'm glad they switched up the 'obvious right choice' a bit in some instances. Eg, in Samara's recruitment mission

Spoiler

I spared the Eclipse initiate who said that she had just joined and didn't realize what she was getting into, and then later I found a recording where she was talking about how she murdered that Volus and I was like "that bitch"

I'm glad they had some decisions that could backfire like that.

 

[Dresden]

I didn't even think to test out the exploding drone tbh. I didn't like the thought of a kamikaze gameplan.

The combat drone is pretty tough HP-wise, plus the cooldown is just 3 seconds, so you can heavily refresh/spam it at enemies and their attention will pretty much never focus on you. Plus it takes down shields, barriers, and armor. Not huge chunks at a time, but enough to help me conserve ammo. It does get it's fair share of kills, especially Geth.

Playing Hardcore/Insanity, I recommend upgrading the drone as a priority.

I actually tried it out just now with Tali, it seemed useless. Barely dented their health on Hardcore.

I think I'll go Combat Drone-Overload for my engineer, then. AI Hacking always let me down when Tali used it, probably isn't any different now. For my bonus skill, Warp Ammo is tempting... but I think I'll choose Slam. Fun ability, and hopefully the cooldown stacks with the Engi's class bonus.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Just to reiterate:

Does anybody know if this game is out in India?

I've got my laptop with me and am heading through Delhi next week and want to pick this up...

 

[LiK]

I'm glad they switched up the 'obvious right choice' a bit in some instances. Eg, in Samara's recruitment mission

Spoiler

I spared the Eclipse initiate who said that she had just joined and didn't realize what she was getting into, and then later I found a recording where she was talking about how she murdered that Volus and I was like "that bitch"

I'm glad they had some decisions that could backfire like that.

Spoiler

it's not bad, you hand over the info to the cop so she's a fugitive now.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Spoiler

it's not bad, you hand over the info to the cop so she's a fugitive now.

Well, yeah, but

Spoiler

it was still a twist because they made you think like you were sparing an innocent, only to find out that she was actually guilty.

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

I think I'm going total blackout mode for the next game. There was a bunch of stuff that would have been neat to discover for myself that the BioWare released character previews didn't allow to happen. Nothing huge or upsetting, just interesting.

(Spoilered for those who DID go on blackout):

Spoiler

Like why even hide Jack's gender in the game if everyone who has followed the coverage knows months before hand? Or the fact that you're getting Grunt in your party, not Okeer. Stuff like that. I didn't realize Archangel was Garrus, so that was a neat "discovery", but mostly because I was being dense.

 

[Hazaro]

I'm glad they switched up the 'obvious right choice' a bit in some instances. Eg, in Samara's recruitment mission

Spoiler

I spared the Eclipse initiate who said that she had just joined and didn't realize what she was getting into, and then later I found a recording where she was talking about how she murdered that Volus and I was like "that bitch"

I'm glad they had some decisions that could backfire like that.

If you talk a bit with the volus, or overheard him...

Spoiler

He mentions that ALL Eclipse have to kill to get in

So I dealt with her.

 

[LiK]

Well, yeah, but

Spoiler

it was still a twist because they made you think like you were sparing an innocent, only to find out that she was actually guilty.

yea, we'll get her next time! ME3!

 

[PuppetMaster]

Weird. Someone needs to go through the scripts or something to see what's happening.



I don't think this is too much of a spoiler, but there is someone who will offer to feed your fish for you. :lol

Spoiler

THOSE BASTARDS JUST TOOK MY FISH FEEDER FROM ME! KELLY!!!!

 

[EatChildren]

Any idea when the Hammerhead is going to hit? Cos I miss my Mako .

 

[MegaKungFuRadio]

Spoiler

THOSE BASTARDS JUST TOOK MY FISH FEEDER FROM ME! KELLY!!!!

That's why you save them!

 

[Cday]

Finished in 22 hours. Holy shit Mass Effect 1 was great in it's own right but Mass Effect 2 is like that older brother who is infinitely better than you in every way and you know you're destined to live in his shadow your whole life. In the words of Cliffy B "Bigger, Better, and more Badass".

No idea how they intend to top this one.

About the final mission

Spoiler

I inadvertently saw on another site that one of your team has to die, so I sent legion into the duct. Everyone else made it but it kinda bums me out that one of the two crew members I don't care about (the other being Jack) got killed so the coffin scene didn't have the intended effect on me.

I don't know what it is exactly but I used everyone on my crew at some point. Not because I thought I should but because I wanted to. In the first game I just stuck with two people the whole way. Good on Bioware for that.

 

[kai3345]

It's a shame you can't have a real conversation with Zaeed except on rare occasions

 

[Ronabo]

:lol :lol @

Spoiler

Elcor Shakespeare

&

Spoiler

Hanar action hero

 

[HolyCheck]

hope you made a save before that lil show.

Yes! I have one right before all the big choices thankfully, So will go back and play it tomorrow

 

[firehawk12]

Does anyone with the PC version know how the character generator for ME3 works?

On the Xbox, they've packaged all of a character's saves into a single file - and I was just wondering if I go back and change a decision, will there be two character export files or just one?

It'd be a pain to have to replay the whole thing (loyalty included) just to change a minor decision.

 

[neojubei]

Spoiler

Who should i choose for my teams?

 

[firehawk12]

Spoiler

Who should i choose for my teams?

It looks like it's somewhat random. My set up failed for someone else apparently. :lol

 

[Revelations]

If you do all your crew members loyalty missions does that help in their survival of the final mission? What else do I have to do to guarantee everyons survival?

 

[kamspy]

This is the most amount of polish spread out over a large game I've seen in a long time.

Bioware blew my expectations away.

I was ecstatic when I booted it up for the first time and it actually ran remarkably better then ME1 and looked remarkably better. Then the greatness just kept popping up.

I can't find much filler at all. Every mission seems to keep me interested with different environments.

I can't gush enough about this game. Double dipping on 360 just cuz.

 

[careksims]

The ending theme isn't as cool as the original's ending theme. it's just generic LOL EPIC MOVIE SOUNDTRACK.

I have to agree. I can't remember the ending theme for this one. In fact you don't really here the Mass Effect 1 theme so much I was listening to the OST. Just doesn't compare to the 1st.

 

[EatChildren]

Grunts loyalty quest was simple but lots of fun. I like him a bit more now. He's still no Wrex though .

 

[Mindlog]

The ending theme isn't as cool as the original's ending theme. it's just generic LOL EPIC MOVIE SOUNDTRACK.

easily rectified

now quick, someone list all the power combinations

 

[erpg]

I have to agree. I can't remember the ending theme for this one. In fact you don't really here the Mass Effect 1 theme so much I was listening to the OST. Just doesn't compare to the 1st.

When the scrolling text at the start went by, and the accompanying music from ME wasn't there...yeah, that was a missed opportunity.

 

[corrosivefrost]

Grunts loyalty quest was simple but lots of fun. I like him a bit more now. He's still no Wrex though .

Grunt and Garrus have me wanting to go back and do my hardcore run of ME with Garrus and Wrex... though I'm thinking I should really use Tali and Kaiden for that and save Wrex/Garrus for an insanity run.

 

[Sinatar]

:lol :lol @

Spoiler

Elcor Shakespeare

&

Spoiler

Hanar action hero

"This one doesn't have time for your solid fecal excretions"

 

[mattiewheels]

both dragon age and me2 have this serous problem with blurry, artifacted movies taking me out of the moment a bit. i wish they had the option for hd cinematic movies or something.

 

[Rabbit Lord]

I miss Admiral Hackett.

 

[EatChildren]

"Thats not good. Hospitals are not fun to fight through."
"What is fun to fight through?"
"Gardens. Electronic shops. Antique stores...but only if they're classy."

 

[golem]

btw is there a reason mass effect doesnt have the same sort of Bioware Social support DA has ?

 

[Cep]

btw is there a reason mass effect doesnt have the same sort of Bioware Social support DA has ?

Different team, different philosophy.

At least we have Coalescence.ini, I espect to see many mods come out of that.

I want insanity++ But, this time with a better party.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I miss Admiral Hackett.

At least you get a couple of e-mails from him. It's not the same as him constantly pestering you every time you open the Galaxy Map, though.

 

[Rabbit Lord]

btw is there a reason mass effect doesnt have the same sort of Bioware Social support DA has ?

Though both games are for console and PC's it seems DA is really a PC game and ME is a console game.

At least you get a couple of e-mails from him. It's not the same as him constantly pestering you every time you open the Galaxy Map, though.

Here's hoping he's in ME3.

 

[hateradio]

both dragon age and me2 have this serous problem with blurry, artifacted movies taking me out of the moment a bit. i wish they had the option for hd cinematic movies or something.

I'm not sure why they have to compress their videos as if they were on youtube, it's really annoying, but then again there aren't that many to see so I don't mind it so much.

 

[Darklord]

I feel like some of the voice acting is really underused in this game. Micheal Dorn and Michael Hogan both have tiny roles. I always wished Hogan voiced Navigator Pressly.

 

[Rabbit Lord]

I feel like some of the voice acting is really underused in this game. Micheal Dorn and Michael Hogan both have tiny roles.

Agreed, when I first heard that XO Saul Tigh was in ME2 I was pumped. Then you finally run in this character and hes just C-Sec cop, bah. Wasted. Should have been one of the crew, or at least a more meaningful role.

 

[erpg]

I feel like some of the voice acting is really underused in this game. Micheal Dorn and Michael Hogan both have tiny roles. I always wished Hogan voiced Navigator Pressly.

And overused, in some cases. Such as Grunt voicing both Wilson and a crewman on the Normandy.

 

[user_nat]

Sorta annoys me how the 3rd squad member is always completely silent on loyalty missions.

 

[JordoftheDead]

the final mission is really well done. so awesome.

I can attest to this as I've I just finished my first playthrough. My favourite game in a long long time.

I'm so absorbed in the game right now, parrticularly as I've just done my second Mass Effect playthrough and my first Mass Effect 2 playthrough back-to-back. I'm going to complete all of the sidequests now and then get started on a second run.