Mass Effect 2, Bioware's epic sci-fi RPG for the Xbox 360 releases in stores today. I'm not sure if PC hits now or later. Day one buyers get access to special armor and two free downloadable missions that will be paid content in the future. Can't wait to get this, the first game was great and I loved Bioware's recent effort, Dragon Age Origins. Should be fun stuff.
I actually just recently got into the Mass Effect universe. When I first picked up the game so many moons ago I didn't enjoy the play style of the game. So I ended up putting it down with the intent to never pick it up again. When the trailers for the new game started coming out and I liked what I saw I decided to give it another go... and I absolutely love the game. I have no idea what I was thinking before... but I'm glad I gave it a second chance.
I know that there are three different sets of armor that are being given out. There is a set that comes with a Game Stop pre-order, and Amazon / EA pre-order and another for the collectors edition of the game. The Game Stop one also comes with a nice weapon.
From what I hear the game for the 360 is coming with multiple disks because they put a lot of content in this game. You also can carry over your save from the first one. So any of the major decisions you made in the first one will effect aspect of the sequel. All in all this games looks amazing and I can't wait to play it. :-)
I just have to say this game is amazing. Anyone who enjoyed the first one should love this game. Granted they turned it into more of a third person shooter in parts... but all in all they made some improvements that adds to they enjoyment of the game.
Is the game (first one) just as good on a PC? I am tempted to pick it up.
The PC version has better graphics then the 360 version. As far as game play I enjoyed the first one a lot. It's more of an RPG style then the second one. When you go to shoot an enemy it does a roll in the background to decide on how much damage you do, based on your stats as a character and in the particular type of weapon you are using.
The main reason I would suggest picking up the first one is for more of the story and background of some of the characters. There are events in the first one that can effect some of the story and game play elements in the second one. Plus you can carry over your character from the first one to the seconds one. You get some bonus squad points when carrying over you character... and if you did any modifications to the way the character looks those carry over as well.
But if you really don't care to much about the story then there would really be no reason to... other then wanting to play a fun game. :)
I really enjoyed the first Mass Effect. There are some draggy parts for sure, technical problems and elements of the gameplay that were poorly implemented (Mako driving is what I'm talking about there) but for anyone on this site reading this post it is almost guaranteed that you will really enjoy your experience with the game. There's tons of geeky greatness shoved into the backstory and codex history of this game. So much effort went into the fleshing out of the universe, its history, and even the science behind the technologies in the world. You could read the codex alone for hours and not get bored, the writing is that good. That's not even mentioning what's great about the game, which is the roleplaying elements and how you develop your character by making conversational choices with the characters you encounter along the way as well as the actions you perform. The decisions you make have a realistic impact on the world around you, and dramatically effect the ending of the game and fates of your character and party members.
In Mass Effect 2, if you have a character from the first game, you can import him/her and the game recognizes and remembers the choices you made in the first game, and tailors the story around them. Also, you start at level two instead of level one, and if you had alot of money they consider you a "rich" character and get a 100000 credit bonus to start, which comes in handy early on. If you don't import a character, the stroy doesn't change very much. There's a section in the beginning of the game where you are being interviewed by a couple of party members, and the conversation choices you make during that interview determine what direction the story takes as if you had played the first game. So it doesn't matter all that much. That being said, Mass Effect 1 is a great game, and is readily available for less that twenty dollars most places so it is almost a must play for the sci fi geeks around here if you haven't already experienced it.
The level you start on in the port is based on your ending specs from one. The max is level 5 with a ton of credits
Thanks for correcting me there. I imported a level 47 character and started at level 2.
Started 2, but couldn't port my character for some reason. Since I traded the game, I can't go back to fix it. I got the paragon ending and saved the council and made my friend the rep, but can't carry that over. Might have to rebuy and fix that.
Well I've heard great reviews from Jen who is glued to the xbox( hurry up I bought star wars Lego for a reason lol ;) ) so I think I may pick up the first one and give it a go. Still playing Arkham Asulum at the moment :)
Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on February 08, 2010, 07:54:41 AM
Well I've heard great reviews from Jen who is glued to the xbox( hurry up I bought star wars Lego for a reason lol ;) ) so I think I may pick up the first one and give it a go. Still playing Arkham Asulum at the moment :)
:D I know you bought Lego Star Wars just so that we can play together. I'm sorry, Meds... I do intend to play it with ya... but...I'm currently addicted to ME2. I may need an intervention. ;)
Imported my character, but changed her from an Adept to Vanguard. I like that a lot better. The story hooked me from the beginning with something I was NOT expecting. And since then, after particularly crazy action scenes, I keep saying "WOW....that was fun!"
Also, I'm not going to pursue any of the crew members in this game. Call me old fashion but my version of Shepherd had a boyfriend in ME1 and she's not going to cheat on him no matter what. ;)
I was always a fan of the Vanguard in the original game. I REALLY need to finish ME1. I won't get 2 till I do so.
Funny Jen, I played Vanguard in the first game and switched to Adept for ME2! I loved the biotic powers of the Adept and I wasn't too crazy about the changes they made to the Vanguard class for the sequel. It's so freaking awesome curving your Biotics over and around cover to nail hiding enemies. Such a great mechanic. I finished with my female Paragon the other day and started a new playthrough with a male character that I intend to play renegade this time. What an awesome game!
I finished the game last night. The ending was awesome-fun! Lots of action....I felt like an action hero! ;)
I was very proud of my achievements. Seemed to snag more of those than I did on Oblivion, which I spent A LOT more time playing even after I finished the main quest. I plan to return to Oblivion and grab up the rest of the achievements...but not for a little while. I need a break from my game binging. Time to do something constructive now. :D
I also beat it last night and loved the ending.
Did you guys save your whole team and crew or did you lose anyone? I heard that there are some cool but grisly ways you can lose team members during the ending if you make the "wrong" choices or fail to do certain things during your playthrough. I managed to save my whole crew and team :) 75 point achievement for that one I believe.
I messed up Tali's mission so she died as the tech specialist and the entire misc crew died except for Chakwas, since I just lost Tali I think I am ok
Quote from: Jen on February 08, 2010, 10:37:41 AM
Also, I'm not going to pursue any of the crew members in this game. Call me old fashion but my version of Shepherd had a boyfriend in ME1 and she's not going to cheat on him no matter what. ;)
Old fashion! Also good idea, rumor has it ME3 will be a soap opera if you do indeed cheat on your ME1 love interest
I ended up with jack. It was worth the wait in letting her open up after refusing the casual sex
Quote from: Just X on February 16, 2010, 09:43:18 AM
I ended up with jack. It was worth the wait in letting her open up after refusing the casual sex
lol what other game would people say that to?
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 07:15:41 AM
Did you guys save your whole team and crew or did you lose anyone? I heard that there are some cool but grisly ways you can lose team members during the ending if you make the "wrong" choices or fail to do certain things during your playthrough. I managed to save my whole crew and team :) 75 point achievement for that one I believe.
I lost Jack, the assassin and the bounty hunter. Not sure why as Jack and the bounty hunter were both loyal to me. I screwed up the assassin's mission to save his son. Going to go back and play just that part so I can do him justice. :D
Jack died a horrible death. The assassin and the bounty hunter in MY version of the ending didn't.
If it weren't for my steam friends I would have lost almost everybody, I only upgraded my ship from friends telling me to. So how did Thane, Jack, and Zaeed die? Tali got shot in the head for mine
My thoughts on keeping people alive:
[spoiler]I'm really not sure all the ins and outs of why people die and why they live. I would guess it's a combination of loyalty, whether or not you upgrade your ship and your individual crew members with their bonus abilities (I think Jack's bonus was extra biotic damage, did you buy that one Jen?) and whether you make the right choice of who is going to be the team leaders during the different sections of the final mission. I purchased all the available upgrades for the characters and ship, and had everyone loyal. I picked Tali for the tube, Garrus for the first team leader, Samara for the biotic specialist, and Zaeed to escort the crew back to the ship, and everyone survived everything.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 12:58:14 PM
My thoughts on keeping people alive:
[spoiler]I'm really not sure all the ins and outs of why people die and why they live. I would guess it's a combination of loyalty, whether or not you upgrade your ship and your individual crew members with their bonus abilities (I think Jack's bonus was extra biotic damage, did you buy that one Jen?) and whether you make the right choice of who is going to be the team leaders during the different sections of the final mission. I purchased all the available upgrades for the characters and ship, and had everyone loyal. I picked Tali for the tube, Garrus for the first team leader, Samara for the biotic specialist, and Zaeed to escort the crew back to the ship, and everyone survived everything.[/spoiler]
I did the same but Tali was not loyal, and freaked out during the door part. I also had Mordian escort everyone back.
more ending spoilers:
[spoiler]Darkmolerman, I think whether your miscellaneous crew lives or dies depends on the conversation choices you made during the final mission about how urgent you were to save them, as well as how much time you took before you went through the mass relay after your crew was kidnapped.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 01:17:22 PM
more ending spoilers:
[spoiler]Darkmolerman, I think whether your miscellaneous crew lives or dies depends on the conversation choices you made during the final mission about how urgent you were to save them, as well as how much time you took before you went through the mass relay after your crew was kidnapped.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
According to the wiki it is if you go straight after they are kidnapped or you wait, the more you wait the longer everyone dies, I got stuck with the doctor and a hand full of misc crew[/spoiler]
Quote from: Darkmolerman on February 16, 2010, 01:24:09 PM
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 01:17:22 PM
more ending spoilers:
[spoiler]Darkmolerman, I think whether your miscellaneous crew lives or dies depends on the conversation choices you made during the final mission about how urgent you were to save them, as well as how much time you took before you went through the mass relay after your crew was kidnapped.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
According to the wiki it is if you go straight after they are kidnapped or you wait, the more you wait the longer everyone dies, I got stuck with the doctor and a hand full of misc crew[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Yeah I made sure I did as much as I could before I started the IFF mission because I had a very strong feeling that once I started it I would be unable to do anything else. When I was playing Mass Effect 1 all that time ago I made the mistake of starting the final mission before I had done evrything I wanted to do, and in that game there was a "point of no return" where you couldn't go back anymore. I didn't want to run into that with the sequel.[/spoiler]
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 01:30:05 PM
Quote from: Darkmolerman on February 16, 2010, 01:24:09 PM
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 01:17:22 PM
more ending spoilers:
[spoiler]Darkmolerman, I think whether your miscellaneous crew lives or dies depends on the conversation choices you made during the final mission about how urgent you were to save them, as well as how much time you took before you went through the mass relay after your crew was kidnapped.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
According to the wiki it is if you go straight after they are kidnapped or you wait, the more you wait the longer everyone dies, I got stuck with the doctor and a hand full of misc crew[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Yeah I made sure I did as much as I could before I started the IFF mission because I had a very strong feeling that once I started it I would be unable to do anything else. When I was playing Mass Effect 1 all that time ago I made the mistake of starting the final mission before I had done evrything I wanted to do, and in that game there was a "point of no return" where you couldn't go back anymore. I didn't want to run into that with the sequel.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
I thought Legion was in the shuttle so I started the mission on accident, I then woke up legion AFTER it all, and did his loyalty mission....I had a timing fail...[/spoiler]
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 16, 2010, 12:58:14 PM
My thoughts on keeping people alive:
[spoiler]I'm really not sure all the ins and outs of why people die and why they live. I would guess it's a combination of loyalty, whether or not you upgrade your ship and your individual crew members with their bonus abilities (I think Jack's bonus was extra biotic damage, did you buy that one Jen?) and whether you make the right choice of who is going to be the team leaders during the different sections of the final mission. I purchased all the available upgrades for the characters and ship, and had everyone loyal. I picked Tali for the tube, Garrus for the first team leader, Samara for the biotic specialist, and Zaeed to escort the crew back to the ship, and everyone survived everything.[/spoiler]
I was a bit obsessive compulsive about updating the ship, weapons and talents. I had my ship pimped out and I had a surplus of each of the elements needed to do so at the end of the game. I probably scanned every single planet to do it too. I purchased Jack's upgrades as well.
My thought is that ALL the crew has to be loyal and it's the combination of team members that results in who lives and who dies. I'll be playing again (and saving frequently) to try and figure out what exactly it takes to save everyone.
To succeed you need to have everybody loyal, all the ships upgraded (minus med thing) with all of that its fine. You also of course need a tech person as your tech-specialist and a biotic person as your biotic specialist
Quote from: Darkmolerman on February 17, 2010, 06:35:19 PM
To succeed you need to have everybody loyal, all the ships upgraded (minus med thing) with all of that its fine. You also of course need a tech person as your tech-specialist and a biotic person as your biotic specialist
I didn't have everyone loyal, but I did have all of the upgrades minus the medbay. just pick your team from the right people and you should be fine.
Hope we did not spoil anything, I figured with all the many endings it would be almost impossible to spoil
Found this on the Bioware forums
Evil Shepard's To Do List:
1. Kill the Illusive Man
2. Take over Cerberus
3. Destroy the Reapers
4. Disband the Council
5. Name yourself Grand High Emperor of the Galaxy.
That sounds like a joke :D
I have just finished playing the first one, so what is the most useful class to use in this one.
Quote from: Jen on February 19, 2010, 06:36:03 AM
That sounds like a joke :D
It is but I gotta say, up to 5 I can see it happening
Quote from: iceman on February 19, 2010, 11:03:58 AM
I have just finished playing the first one, so what is the most useful class to use in this one.
One of the best things about the sequel is that the class choices are so much more diverse. The pure biotics or tech classes play almost completely differently than the weapon specialist soldier or the stealth infiltrator. I played Adept my first playthrough and totally loved it. I am currently using the infiltrator and it feels totally different. I've heard that the sentinel is the most powerful class as a blend of biotics, tech, and weapon specialty. The vanguard is supposed to be really fun too beacause of his super strong charge ability. I'd say just go for whatever seems like it fits your preferred play style. If you like tactical play, to hang back, use cover, and fire off spells or sniping, pick adept, engineer, or infiltrator. If you like up close action and mayhem go for soldier or vanguard. For the best of both go for the sentinel. You'll love any of them whichever you choose.
I found some of the "in between" classes like bad knock offs, I had a vanguard but it seemed like it was sentinel lite...
Thanks for the info
I'm playing a second time through, this time I'm using an Infiltrator class character. I've picked up a few more achievements that I missed the first time and apparently I've discovered A LOT more side missions. BUY the star charts! I couldn't find the store that sells them last time I played. I really wish the stores had a little description of what they sell somewhere on the map or something. Is there only one place that sells star charts? I've only been able to find one thus far. If there's more than one store that sells them...are they the SAME star charts across the board?
One thing that has annoyed me a little is one of the side missions is bugged in the XBOX version. I've experienced the bug both times I played the game, so I'm certain it's not a fluke.
It may be a spoiler so I'm going to hide the description of what happens. Let me know if you've experienced similar issues:
[spoiler]I can't remember which planet it's on, but there's an old wrecked ship teetering on the edge of a mountain. You have to land on the ship in order to the retrieve data that will inform historians of the vessel's tragic end. I have had to restart the mission three times because I have become hung up...my character has been stuck in mid air, caught on the top of a railing, lodged in a corner, etc. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm glad that it is the only thing I've discovered so far to be a bug, but MAN is it annoying. [/spoiler]
I take it back...I thought of another bug. But it only got twitchy on me the first time I played it through. The second time, it was fine. This happen to anyone else?[spoiler] When the Justicar attacks her daughter on Omega...I couldn't hear what the heck they were saying because the voice overs stopped as they started fighting. LUCKILY I had the subtitles on. LOL. It was fine the second time I played. [/spoiler]
Speaking of the Justicar. There are two choices you can make during the mission you must perform in order to gain her loyalty. [spoiler]Did anyone choose to have the daughter kill the mother? You have the option of telling one to kill the other. Has anyone gone Dark Jedi? I couldn't bring myself to do it. :D [/spoiler]
Quote from: Jen on February 22, 2010, 10:59:10 AM
Speaking of the Justicar. There are two choices you can make during the mission you must perform in order to gain her loyalty. [spoiler]Did anyone choose to have the daughter kill the mother? You have the option of telling one to kill the other. Has anyone gone Dark Jedi? I couldn't bring myself to do it. :D [/spoiler]
[spoiler]I went with the justicar, if you go with the kid its exactly the same but with a slightly different npc model [/spoiler]
I never found a store that sold star charts, and I thought I explored everything, everywhere. Does anyone have any more information about that?
Quote from: Jen on February 22, 2010, 10:59:10 AM
Speaking of the Justicar. There are two choices you can make during the mission you must perform in order to gain her loyalty. [spoiler]Did anyone choose to have the daughter kill the mother? You have the option of telling one to kill the other. Has anyone gone Dark Jedi? I couldn't bring myself to do it. :D [/spoiler]
Samara's loyalty mission was the only time in the game I used the save system to backtrack just to see the different possible endings to the scenarios. I loved the conversation you have with the daughter as you try to seduce her, and then the battle scene is just epic. The first time I played it is was like..."Holy Crap that was cool"
Quote from: Jen on February 22, 2010, 10:56:55 AM
I take it back...I thought of another bug. But it only got twitchy on me the first time I played it through. The second time, it was fine. This happen to anyone else?[spoiler] When the Justicar attacks her daughter on Omega...I couldn't hear what the heck they were saying because the voice overs stopped as they started fighting. LUCKILY I had the subtitles on. LOL. It was fine the second time I played. [/spoiler]
I've read this is a common bug. It happened to me once but corrected itself quickly. I play with subtitles too though so I didnt miss anything.
Quote from: Jen on February 22, 2010, 10:30:18 AM
I'm playing a second time through, this time I'm using an Infiltrator class character. I've picked up a few more achievements that I missed the first time and apparently I've discovered A LOT more side missions. BUY the star charts! I couldn't find the store that sells them last time I played. I really wish the stores had a little description of what they sell somewhere on the map or something. Is there only one place that sells star charts? I've only been able to find one thus far. If there's more than one store that sells them...are they the SAME star charts across the board?
One thing that has annoyed me a little is one of the side missions is bugged in the XBOX version. I've experienced the bug both times I played the game, so I'm certain it's not a fluke.
It may be a spoiler so I'm going to hide the description of what happens. Let me know if you've experienced similar issues:
[spoiler]I can't remember which planet it's on, but there's an old wrecked ship teetering on the edge of a mountain. You have to land on the ship in order to the retrieve data that will inform historians of the vessel's tragic end. I have had to restart the mission three times because I have become hung up...my character has been stuck in mid air, caught on the top of a railing, lodged in a corner, etc. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm glad that it is the only thing I've discovered so far to be a bug, but MAN is it annoying. [/spoiler]
I never hit any geometry bugs in my playthrough. This was a cool mission, great sound effects of the girders creaking and groaning as the structure slowly collapses around you.
That was a cool mission. by the way did anyone take Grunt to the "gourmet" food place on the citadel? Grunt won't eat Ramen because it looks like dead worms. It is funny how the chef calls it a "gourmet food" seeing that you can buy it in microwaveable cups
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on February 24, 2010, 05:25:14 AM
I never found a store that sold star charts, and I thought I explored everything, everywhere. Does anyone have any more information about that?
I can tell you exactly where it is.
[spoiler]On Illium is where I found my star charts. If you do this quest, the woman you have to talk to about the medical scans is the woman who sells the charts. (I just found this link today, but I stumbled across the store while playing the game. I actually bought the charts before doing the quest) http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Illium:_Medical_Scans (http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Illium:_Medical_Scans) [/spoiler]
I'm trying to buy upgrades for my weapons. All I need is ONE MORE to gain the "fully upgrade one weapon" achievement. I seem to have cleaned out all the stores on Illium, Omega and the Citadel. Does anyone know where i can find others? Do I have to just stumble across them in my missions?
Quote from: Jen on February 24, 2010, 10:35:51 AM
I'm trying to buy upgrades for my weapons. All I need is ONE MORE to gain the "fully upgrade one weapon" achievement. I seem to have cleaned out all the stores on Illium, Omega and the Citadel. Does anyone know where i can find others? Do I have to just stumble across them in my missions?
you get rewarded after some missions, and you need to find it on people
Here is the latest comparisons of the new P3 version to the XBOX
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=123109 (http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=123109)
Has anyone played the lair of the shadow broker DLC add on for this game? I bought it last week and played through. It's only a couple hours but boy is it fun. Lots of action and a great story. Anyone who loved ME2 should play this.
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on January 18, 2011, 08:11:09 PM
Has anyone played the lair of the shadow broker DLC add on for this game? I bought it last week and played through. It's only a couple hours but boy is it fun. Lots of action and a great story. Anyone who loved ME2 should play this.
Yeah, I loved it! I did an entire replay of the game to use it.
Quote from: X on January 18, 2011, 09:04:08 PM
Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on January 18, 2011, 08:11:09 PM
Has anyone played the lair of the shadow broker DLC add on for this game? I bought it last week and played through. It's only a couple hours but boy is it fun. Lots of action and a great story. Anyone who loved ME2 should play this.
Yeah, I loved it! I did an entire replay of the game to use it.
Best DLC I have ever had the pleasure of buying. DLC should be to this standard imo. :)
King