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[BrassMonkey1010]

Whoa, let's not get crazy now. The shooting and cover system were servicable in ME2. Nowhere as good as a dedicated shooter though. Just fine for an RPG, though.

Shooting and cover system felt as good as a dedicated shooter to me. I played through Gears2 and Socom the past couple weeks and they are not any better.

 

[I <3 Memes]

Who is the guy who that does all Codex voice overs? His voice sounds so familiar and I can't put my finger on it.

LOL I never played ME1 but his voice in on A&E.. and some crime shows.

The guy from A&E you are thinking of is Bill Kurtis. The guy who does the voice work in the codex for ME1 and ME2 is not Bill Kurtis. They do sound similar though.

He also did codex-type voice work for Doom 3. Maybe that's were you remember his voice from. You could always try IMDB to see what he has worked on.

 

[Lunchbox]

The RPG system isn't even close to being the same. It really is a completely different game in that respect - a worse one.

 

[WanderingWind]

Shooting and cover system felt as good as a dedicated shooter to me. I played through Gears2 and Socom the past couple weeks and they are not any better.

Nah, I disagree. Shotguns hit when and where they want, and deal random damage. Sometimes one shot would kill a husk, sometimes three shots! Some headshots, even with the +10% to headshot visor and maxed out weapons, would barely register.

 

[charlequin]

I pretty much did the loyalty quests as soon as I could because I didn't trust bioware to put an obvious "this is your last chance" failsafe in there.

Wise man!

I really didn't feel that disconnect at all.

Huh. This is honestly surprising to me, although obviously I can't gainsay your actual particular experience.

For me personally, I put points into powers early on and neglected my weapon stats until midway through the game, and I was playing as a Vanguard -- so my experience was of the shooting being pretty erratic over significant distances. Then I mastered pistols and discovered that suddenly I was hitting dudes from 200 feet away that I couldn't even see. Didn't ruin the game for me or anything, but it always just felt... weird to me.

Anyways, now that Bioware has some game balance and solid combat fundamentals in place, I'd expect them to start adding back more involved stat stuff back in for ME3.

This is certainly my hope. An ME3 that blends elements of ME2's combat execution with restored aspects of exploration and RPG complexity would be incredible (IF YOU'RE READING THIS BIOWARE DEVELOPERS WHO POST ON NEOGAF HINT HINT)

 

[firehawk12]

Ironically, that's the only good RPG moment in the entire game. A mission where you don't have to shoot shit? What a concept. :lol

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Ironically, that's the only good RPG moment in the entire game. A mission where you don't have to shoot shit? What a concept. :lol

Oh jeepers, you mean like several of the loyalty quests?

 

[Red Blaster]

Shooting and cover system felt as good as a dedicated shooter to me. I played through Gears2 and Socom the past couple weeks and they are not any better.

The fact that you can't vault over anything without taking cover first in ME2 makes this statement laughable. It's especially hilarious in Garrus' loyalty quest when a series of waist-high platforms rise out of the ground and you have covervault over all of them to get to your destination.

 

[Dina]

Ironically, that's the only good RPG moment in the entire game. A mission where you don't have to shoot shit? What a concept. :lol

Combat and RPG go hand in hand, son.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

The fact that you can't vault over anything without taking cover first in ME2 makes this statement laughable. It's especially hilarious in Garrus' loyalty quest when a series of waist-high platforms rise out of the ground and you have covervault over all of them to get to your destination.

That was pretty funny.

 

[Mad_Ban]

Oh jeepers, you mean like several of the loyalty quests?

IIRC, Samara's loyalty quest is the only one that doesn't involve any combat. All of the others had varying degrees of combat.

EDIT: Gah, Thane's quest slipped my mind! Well

Spoiler

I punched the shit out of the guy in the cell so there's combat ;D

.

 

[firehawk12]

Oh jeepers, you mean like several of the loyalty quests?

Ah, well, there's Thane. But everyone else requires the pew pew pew.

Combat and RPG go hand in hand, son.

I don't know. I did appreciate that in ME1 I could just finish quests by talking to people. And of course, they tried to replicate the end game moment in Fallout 1 but didn't go all the way with it.

 

[Ventrue]

Ironically, that's the only good RPG moment in the entire game. A mission where you don't have to shoot shit? What a concept. :lol

Thane's loyalty quest, multiple uncharted worlds, the city hubs (which involve various non-combat quests), the quests for the Normandy crew.

Also, I'm glad to hear that all the combat rules of D&D et al are not real RPG stuff.

Honestly, short of something like Planescape, this game gives one of the highest levels of involvement with characters and decisions in a CRPG.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

IIRC, Samara's loyalty quest is the only one that doesn't involve any combat. All of the others had varying degrees of combat.

Was there fighting in

Spoiler

Thane

's? If there was I know the bulk of it wasn't.

 

[Xevren]

IIRC, Samara's loyalty quest is the only one that doesn't involve any combat. All of the others had varying degrees of combat.

EDIT: Gah, Thane's quest slipped my mind! Well

Spoiler

I punched the shit out of the guy in the cell so there's combat ;D

.

Bah, way to edit.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

To be fair, how many Final Fantasy quests don't involve combat?

 

[WanderingWind]

Thane's loyalty quest, multiple uncharted worlds, the city hubs (which involve various non-combat quests), the quests for the Normandy crew.

Also, I'm glad to hear that all the combat rules of D&D et al are not real RPG stuff.

Honestly, short of something like Planescape, this game gives one of the highest levels of involvement with characters and decisions in a CRPG.

Yeah, it's pretty rare for an RPG to make it so

Spoiler

that's it's possible to kill off your entire freaking party.

But, seriously, the hints they gave on how to

Spoiler

keep everybody alive were pretty clear. I kept everybody alive on my first playthrough by just paying attention.

It's an RPG, people. Your choices are supposed to have consequences and rewards.

 

[Psychotext]

One of the strangest quests in the game has no shooting...

...actually, now I think about it, two of them.

Spoiler

The quest you get from scanning which has you making your way through the derelict ship which is about to fall off a cliff, and the quest where you're on the space station with the insane VI.

 

[firehawk12]

Thane's loyalty quest, multiple uncharted worlds, the city hubs (which involve various non-combat quests), the quests for the Normandy crew.

Also, I'm glad to hear that all the combat rules of D&D et al are not real RPG stuff.

Honestly, short of something like Planescape, this game gives one of the highest levels of involvement with characters and decisions in a CRPG.

Hey, I'm just saying - in Fallout 2, if you leave your INT at 1, your character can't read. Now that's roleplaying. :lol

 

[WanderingWind]

Hey, I'm just saying - in Fallout 2, if you leave your INT at 1, your character can't read. Now that's roleplaying. :lol

And that was good for nothing more than a laugh. It was artificial depth, IMO.

 

[Red Blaster]

Thane's loyalty quest, multiple uncharted worlds, the city hubs (which involve various non-combat quests), the quests for the Normandy crew.

Also, I'm glad to hear that all the combat rules of D&D et al are not real RPG stuff.

Honestly, short of something like Planescape, this game gives one of the highest levels of involvement with characters and decisions in a CRPG.

No Bloodlines? I'd have expected that given your name.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

One of the strangest quests in the game has no shooting...

...actually, now I think about it, two of them.

Spoiler

The quest you get from scanning which has you making your way through the derelict ship which is about to fall off a cliff, and the quest where you're on the space station with the insane VI.

Also the two buggiest quests in the game.:lol

 

[I <3 Memes]

...actually, now I think about it, two of them.

Spoiler

The quest you get from scanning which has you making your way through the derelict ship which is about to fall off a cliff, and the quest where you're on the space station with the insane VI.

So I did miss missions by not scanning all of the planets. Awesome! That will make my second play through that much better.

 

[firehawk12]

And that was good for nothing more than a laugh. It was artificial depth, IMO.

Perhaps, but then again, so is the whole concept of Paragon/Renegade or any binary morality scale.

 

[WanderingWind]

Also the two buggiest quests in the game.:lol

What? How do you even begin to qualify something like that?

Perhaps, but then again, so is the whole concept of Paragon/Renegade or any binary morality scale.

True, which is why I like that renegade is far more gray than black-hearted. But, point taken.

 

[WanderingWind]

dp

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

What? How do you even begin to qualify something like that?

Well, in my experience.

I enjoyed both quests, but the

Spoiler

derelict ship on the cliff

had a couple of places where I got stuck and started walking in air, and then had to restart the mission, and the

Spoiler

rogue VI quest

caused my game to crash like five times until I went and did things in a different order.

 

[Kodiak]

wow i didn't realize all the squad upgrades would actually have such a dramatic impact on the ending. There were some parts in that mission that were really really gut wrenching. I need to replay it so its not so god damn sad : (

 

[WanderingWind]

Well, in my experience.

I enjoyed both quests, but the

Spoiler

derelict ship on the cliff

had a couple of places where I got stuck and started walking in air, and then had to restart the mission, and the

Spoiler

rogue VI quest

caused my game to crash like five times until I went and did things in a different order.

I don't know, man. I'm not saying bugs don't exist, but I didn't run into any in two playthroughs. I'm just saying to call two quests the buggiest this early from release is just working off of too little information.

But, bugs are present in even the best of games, so whatever.

 

[Psychotext]

I enjoyed both quests, but the

Spoiler

derelict ship on the cliff

had a couple of places where I got stuck and started walking in air, and then had to restart the mission, and the

Spoiler

rogue VI quest

caused my game to crash like five times until I went and did things in a different order.

For what it's worth, I got through both without any glitches. I got through 52 hours of gameplay with only one glitch though (killed an enemy, got stuck in him and the wall) so maybe I was lucky.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Well, those were pretty much the only places I ever encountered bugs, which is why I brought it up. Outside of that, the game is extremely polished, but both of those missions felt buggy to me, and I never really encountered any other bugs.

 

[GhostRidah]

anyone have a high quality pic of this? Really want to use it as my lock screen on my phone.

 

[Solo]

Im on the final mission now. Will finish up the game in a few hours. Did everyone's loyalty quests and as far as I know, every single quest period in the game. My two favorite easily were Thane's RECRUITMENT mission, and Samara's LOYALTY mission.

 

[WanderingWind]

My favorite quest was Jack's loyalty mission. So creepy, seeing that broken spaceship on a picturesque beach, with a phantom beacon going off. Then,

Spoiler

finding out his father was a sadistic, evil fuck and forcing him to kill himself

was a great moment.

 

[wRATH2x]

Just beat the game, pure awesomeness! Already planning new game +

Spoiler

Everyone survived! And looks like its all out war with the Reapers, that'll be pretty awesome.

Spoiler

I missed Faunts at the credits though Any reason wht they weren't used?

 

[Psychotext]

My favorite quest was Jack's loyalty mission. So creepy, seeing that broken spaceship on a picturesque beach, with a phantom beacon going off. Then,

Spoiler

finding out his father was a sadistic, evil fuck and forcing him to kill himself

was a great moment.

Jacob...

 

[wRATH2x]

My favorite quest was Jack's loyalty mission. So creepy, seeing that broken spaceship on a picturesque beach, with a phantom beacon going off. Then,

Spoiler

finding out his father was a sadistic, evil fuck and forcing him to kill himself

was a great moment.

Spoiler

Wat!?

 

[hateradio]

anyone have a high quality pic of this? Really want to use it as my lock screen on my phone.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2hdwcj4.jpg

I think this is the largest I've seen:

 

[WanderingWind]

Jacob...

Oh, dammit. :lol

 

[Parham]

My favorite quest was Jack's loyalty mission. So creepy, seeing that broken spaceship on a picturesque beach, with a phantom beacon going off. Then,

Spoiler

finding out his father was a sadistic, evil fuck and forcing him to kill himself

was a great moment.

You mean Jacob, right?

 

[No_Style]

My favorite quest was Jacob's loyalty mission.

Fixed for accuracy.

It was one of my favorite loyalty quests as well.

 

[Red]

My favorite quest was Jack's loyalty mission. So creepy, seeing that broken spaceship on a picturesque beach, with a phantom beacon going off. Then,

Spoiler

finding out his father was a sadistic, evil fuck and forcing him to kill himself

was a great moment.

This confused the hell out of me.

 

[I <3 Memes]

Talis was my favorite by far.

Spoiler

I was pretty torn about telling the truth at the trial. I ended up saying what Tali wanted me to say. I was strangely affected by that mission.

 

[Hachimaki]

Also the two buggiest quests in the game.:lol

I had a buggy situation with that one particular quest.

Spoiler

When I did the mission when have to navigate through the ship wreck I was somehow able to float in the air. I eventually ended up falling on the platform below, but damn that was a weird bug.

 

[Shrennin]

I had a buggy situation with that one particular quest.

Spoiler

When I did the mission when have to navigate through the ship wreck I was somehow able to float in the air. I eventually ended up falling on the platform below, but damn that was a weird bug.

Same thing happened to me.

Also, on one particular loyalty mission

Spoiler

I wasn't able to interact with Jacob's father, so I had to reload and then it worked.

 

[Patryn]

Let me clarify some of my criticisms. Taken in isolation, as games by themselves, I agree that a person would have to be crazy to say that ME1 is superior to ME2. ME1 had so many technical issues it's a marvel that they actually released it to the public.

However, that doesn't mean that people can't PREFER ME1 to ME2. That's the category I fall into. Despite all its flaws, ME1 is just more of the type of game that I love.

I love the longer missions that slowly evolve, with multiple elements (Noveria is a great example: Talk your way into the vehicle bay, then drive up the mountain, then clear out the base) as opposed to the shorter, more compact combat missions ME2 has.

I'm in the camp that liked the Mako, so of course I prefer that to mining.

I liked the longer and more twisting main story that advanced the universe instead of single characters (although ME2's characters are much better). I liked the inter-squad banter on the elevators more than

Spoiler

the lousy two scripted fights in ME2.

I'll also freely admit that I had a vision of the game I wanted ME2 to be. It didn't help that I went on a total media blackout, so all the streamlining took me by complete surprise. So part of my experience was soured by those realizations.

Does this mean that I didn't enjoy ME2? Hell no. I loved ME2. The fact that I'm willing to discuss it as much as I am should say something about how I feel.

But I won't pretend it's perfect. I want to express my frustrations with the game in the hope that Bioware will listen and try to correct my issues the same way they did with others' complaints about ME1.

Finally, anyone who is defending ME1's cover system is insane. I'm replaying ME1 right now in order to understand the whole Tali love thing going on, and the cover system is driving me NUTS. I keep hitting the button to go into cover, but it's not working. And half the time I want to go in cover, my Shepard is just standing there facing the wall. It's HORRIBLE.

 

[charlequin]

Mordin's loyalty quest > *

Legion's isn't bad either. Both of 'em are real, honest-to-goodness SF and they also both feature honestly challenging ethical questions (which very little else in the game does.) Even if I hadn't liked anything else in the game (and I very much did) these two made me very, very happy.

 

[charlequin]

I'll also freely admit that I had a vision of the game I wanted ME2 to be. It didn't help that I went on a total media blackout, so all the streamlining took me by complete surprise. So part of my experience was soured by those realizations.

Does this mean that I didn't enjoy ME2? Hell no. I loved ME2. The fact that I'm willing to discuss it as much as I am should say something about how I feel.

This is actually almost exactly how I feel, except that I knew how much ME2 wasn't the game I was expecting upfront so I was already used to the idea by the time it went in my 360.

Finally, anyone who is defending ME1's cover system is insane.

Thank you! :lol ME2's isn't perfect either (putting vault and cover on the same button was a mistake for at least two completely different reasons) but 90% of the time it does what I want, which is to put Shepard in cover so I don't die and I pretty much could never rely on the first game to do that for me.

 

[evlcookie]

wow at some people taking 30, 51(?) hours to finish the game. I thought i was going through it at a nice slow pace, i'm only 24 hours in and i've completed every loyalty quest i have. Just missing the last person.

 

[The Librarian]

I liked the longer and more twisting main story that advanced the universe instead of single characters (although ME2's characters are much better).

One of my main criticisms with ME2's storyline is there aren't any scenes like your discussion with the AI on Ilos. The music, atmosphere, and story (you hear about the Prothean scientists working on a way to stop the cycle while their entire civilization falls around them) all came together in such a magnificent way.