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[Cep]

Jacob isn't really interesting, but I at least give his character props for having one of the best loyalty missions. That's really all his character has going for him, but it's still more than either Ashley or Kaiden had.

His loyalty quest was interesting. I liked it, but it was very weird (not talking about the scenario, but the writing).

And even when you consider the scenario, it was really mostly about what the twisted Captain Taylor did and had very little to do with Jacob. Contrast this to Tali's and Mordin's excellent missions.

Kaiden was boring as fuck and extremely one-dimensional: Still better written than Jacob.

Miranda only has her looks and is extremely one-dimensional: Still better written than Jacob.

Jack is an interesting idea not executed very well. But just being 'interesting' means: Better than Jacob.

And Ashley is just flat out better written than all the humans. Period.

 

[EatChildren]

Miranda and Jacob should have been merged together as a character. One Cerberus operative who's an ex-Alliance special ops and also genetically engineered to perfection, using Miranda as the template.

She should have told stories from her special ops days, as well as the emotional bond she had with a sister/brother. After taking a special ops mission with the alliance, a vessle she was supposed to be on but containing her sibling went missing. The loyalty quest would play out like Jacob's, with the sibling as the antagonist.

Thats how I would have written it and it would have been amazing.

 

[Dresden]

Miranda and Jacob should have been merged together as a character. One Cerberus operative who's an ex-Alliance special ops and also genetically engineered to perfection, using Miranda as the template.

She should have told stories from her special ops days, as well as the emotional bond she had with a sister/brother. After taking a special ops mission with the alliance, a vessle she was supposed to be on but containing her sibling went missing. The loyalty quest would play out like Jacob's, with the sibling as the antagonist.

Thats how I would have written it and it would have been amazing.

But you'd be removing the token black guy out of the story, and that's unacceptable.

 

[OMG Aero]

I didn't like Jacob's mission at all. He had already moved on from his father so there was no point to doing it all whereas the other loyalty missions were all important to the character.
Not to mention it was full of plot holes. If the ship had crashed abut 10 years ago, how did he have a supply of mechs to fight for him when they were only developed after the Geth attack?

 

[Dresden]

I didn't like Jacob's mission at all. He had already moved on from his father so there was no point to doing it all whereas the other loyalty missions were all important to the character.
Not to mention it was full of plot holes. If the ship had crashed abut 10 years ago, how did he have a supply of mechs to fight for him when they were only developed after the Geth attack?

Consistency was thrown out the window with the introduction of thermal clips, so let's not even dwell on that.

 

[Cep]

But you'd be removing the token black guy out of the story, and that's unacceptable.

Well, I would assume 'Jacob' would have a different personality (or any personality at all).

 

[Dan Yo]

I thought Ashley was pretty ugly, but her views are definitely interesting stuff. It's also quite a contrast to our own times, where the religious outnumber the non-religious, instead of it being the other way around.

I'm not sure how many are supposed to be religious in Mass Effect's world, but in these times, I think there are far less people that actually follow their religion than those that do.

 

[EatChildren]

But you'd be removing the token black guy out of the story, and that's unacceptable.

The chef would now be a wise cracking ex-con black guy with a shady past. During the final mission he'd sacrifice himself to save Shepard, possibly while charging a Collector and yelling "AWW HELL NAWWW".

 

[Dresden]

The chef would now be a wise cracking ex-con black guy with a shady past. During the final mission he'd sacrifice himself to save Shepard, possibly while charging a Collector and yelling "AWW HELL NAWWW".

Perfect. Make sure he only has one eye.

 

[Lime]

The chef would now be a wise cracking ex-con black guy with a shady past. During the final mission he'd sacrifice himself to save Shepard, possibly while charging a Collector and yelling "AWW HELL NAWWW".

You ate my bird.

 

[MisterNugNug]

You ate my bird.

You mean chicken.

How did that ever become a stereotype? Everyone eats chicken. The hell?

 

[Cep]

You mean chicken.

How did that ever become a stereotype? Everyone eats chicken. The hell?

Too easy.

 

[Lime]

You mean chicken.

How did that ever become a stereotype? Everyone eats chicken. The hell?

No, I was refering to this gem of a film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149261/quotes

 

[toastyToast]

Am I the only one who thinks evil Shepard looks too evil? It wasn't so bad before but now his eyes are glowing red. :lol

Seems way over the top.

 

[szaromir]

I thought Jacobs loyalty quest was the one of best ones after Tali's quest. Its kinda disturbing what had happened too bad Bioware skirted the theme and issues, and wrapped it up very quickly.

Just read Heart of Darkness/watch Apocalypse now instead and you'll get what you want.

 

[evanft]

So I just finished ME1 on the 360. Loved it. I was wondering how much better the graphics are in ME2. I tried playing ME1 on my laptop, and it ran and looked noticeably better than the 360 version (better textures, smoother frame rate, higher res, no pop-in). But it made my laptop hit 80 degrees, something I'm not comfortable with.

 

[EatChildren]

So I just finished ME1 on the 360. Loved it. I was wondering how much better the graphics are in ME2. I tried playing ME1 on my laptop, and it ran and looked noticeably better than the 360 version (better textures, smoother frame rate, higher res, no pop-in). But it made my laptop hit 80 degrees, something I'm not comfortable with.

ME2 looks better. Texture quality on NPCs has apparently taken a dive in quality compared to maxed out PC of the original, but the lighting and shadow engine has been given an overhaul and looks much nicer, the art is gorgeous, there's more variety in locations, and the texture pop-in from the original game is basically gone completely. Visually ME2 is a much more polished game.

And if it means anything, ME2 both looks and runs better maxed out than the original Mass Effect did on my PC. Its PC performance is much better.

 

[evanft]

Oh, I was asking about the 360 version.

 

[matrix-cat]

I'm also glad I didn't change Shepard's appearance back to default. My Shepard is kind of ugly, but he IS Shepard to me now. Pretty awesome to play through 3 games with the same user-created character.

This is what I love about the game. I was finding myself strangely unexcited by ME2's trailers, but when I imported my save file and got to playing it I realised it was just because default Shepard isn't my Shepard. It was weird seeing the Shepard voice coming out of someone else.

 

[Aesius]

Finally finished this last night. What an amazing game, and what an amazing universe (er, galaxy) that BioWare has created. I hope this series continues for a very long time, even after Shepard's story is done.

 

[Stallion Free]

Finally finished this last night. What an amazing game, and what an amazing universe (er, galaxy) that BioWare has created. I hope this series continues for a very long time, even after Shepard's story is done.

I know, it would be a waste if they stopped after the Shepherd trilogy. With such a rich universe, there are a million side stories that could be told. Just imagining that made me happy. <3 science fiction.

 

[HadesGigas]

Cerberus doesn't just need a hero - they need a one-man army. That's why the Equalizer Pack adds the Capacitor Helmet, Archon Visor, and Inferno Armor to Shepard's armor locker. The Capacitor Helmet stores power for kinetic barriers, allowing Shepard's shields to recharge faster. The Archon Visor manages omni-tools and biotic amps, reducing the recharge time of Shepard's powers. The powered Inferno Armor speeds up Shepard's movements and increases his tech and biotic power damage, additionally stress analysis software even gives him an edge in negotiations outside of combat. The Equalizer -- when the armor goes on, the gloves come off.
Price:

Xbox 360: 160 MS Points
PC: 160 BioWare Points

Available tommorow, it seems.

 

[Lakitu]

160 pts?

 

[Metalic Sand]

So pre-order armor is finally being sold...

I just want that blackhole gun that GS had.

 

[Dresden]

Meh.

 

[Mindlog]

I already have inferno armor :\

 

[Lakitu]

I already have inferno armor :\

Me too. I like the visor, but no way am I spending 160pts for that. Ridiculous.

 

[Confidence Man]

BAHAAHAHHAHHA

Just brings to the forefront what a watered-down mainstream moneygrab this game turned into.

 

[Doodis]

I just want that blackhole gun that GS had.

Meh. You weren't missing much. Takes too long to charge up to be useful.

BAHAAHAHHAHHA

Just brings to the forefront what a watered-down mainstream moneygrab this game turned into.

Moneygrab or not, it's still contender for GOTY.

 

[Stallion Free]

That's it? I want some meaty DLC for this game so bad. Ugh.

 

[Rubezh]

Capacitor Helmet

 

[subversus]

Not interested

 

[Wallach]

Sucks that they include the Inferno Armor in a pack with other items, reducing the value of it for people that already have that piece of DLC.

Would rather those items that were possible pre-order bonuses be offered individually for $1 or something.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

^ yep

160pts :s

 

[Rubezh]

I really don't understand why Bioware is augmenting the game with all of this trivial content. Instead of focusing on extra helmets, armour, and appearance packs which are extremely small parts of the game, they should be focusing on more substantial DLC like Kasumi.

 

[HadesGigas]

I really don't understand why Bioware is augmenting the game with all of this trivial content. Instead of focusing on extra helmets, armour, and appearance packs which are extremely small parts of the game, they should be focusing on more substantial DLC like Kasumi.

These aren't something you "focus on" they are something you "cash in on" while you're focusing on the story dlc you can charge more for.

 

[Karram]

So that's the DLC they were talking about ?

 

[VaLiancY]

They did say they would make more DLC in vein of Bring Down the Sky and the Dragon Age Origins side quests. I don't mind them offering pre-order stuff as DLC(despite I can't take off the helmet) but hopefully we hear something DLC related for E3.

 

[Skilotonn]

Design looks incredible as always, but I don't plan on buying them though.

Very cheap at the very least though, I'll give them that...

Halo Reach Beta and Super Street Fighter IV are cutting into the time I wanted to spend on beating ME2 again man - too many games to play!

 

[Ephemeris]

Very cheap at the very least though, I'll give them that...

Halo Reach Beta and Super Street Fighter IV are cutting into the time I wanted to spend on beating ME2 again man - too many games to play!

yeah, I understand completely.

 

[Coldsnap]

18 hours in and sort of disappointed in a way. Is this game just one big recruitment mission? ME1 story so far has trumped the sequel. I still love the music though.

 

[ColonelColon]

18 hours in and sort of disappointed in a way. Is this game just one big recruitment mission?

Sadly, yes. The main, linear storyline lasts only a couple hours at most.

 

[Articate]

18 hours in and sort of disappointed in a way. Is this game just one big recruitment mission? ME1 story so far has trumped the sequel. I still love the music though.

Sorry. It is. It's a good recruitment mission, but this was about 10% of ME1. ME2 sort of feels like sitting on a vespa on a 500 mile long road on which you can see the end the whole ride. Sure, you stop at a random gas station every once in a while where some truckers are fighting, but it's still the same road.

 

[Circle Jerk]

I really loved the focus on the team. Sure, the main story could have been a bit thicker, but the emphasis on the characters and gaining their loyalty is something I really hope gets used again in a future Bioware game.

 

[Coldsnap]

dang, I am so bummed. Can my space marine at least get a BJ like in Dragon Age but from an alien instead of a dude? :lol

All seriousness game is OK, it still has it major character hooks but some things bother me. For instance I feel like I'm the man with 1,000,000 questions when I meet someone for the first time; they sort off made interactions with characters exhausting.

 

[Cep]

Oh Bioware, my contempt at the way you handle DLC knows no bounds.

 

[Owzers]

long live crappy micro-transactions!

 

[Coldsnap]

So how do you change weapons through the weapon wheel without ejecting yourself from cover?

 

[Pancakes]

Oh Bioware, my contempt at the way you handle DLC knows no bounds.

Seriously, who buys this crap?

 

[soldat7]

18 hours in and sort of disappointed in a way. Is this game just one big recruitment mission? ME1 story so far has trumped the sequel. I still love the music though.

Well, on the positive side, you get to see some pretty cool places, even though they're kinda small and there's not much exploration. It's a pretty game with bad music. Ugh...just thinking about this game makes me mad...It was hard to think of something positive lol.

Oh Bioware, my contempt at the way you handle DLC knows no bounds.

I haven't been paying attention. Why is it bad? Is it expensive? Not enough? What's the deal?