Jasonp107Mass Effect 2
Long-awaited sequel lives up to the hype?!
Mass Effect was one of my favorite RPGs ever -- while eagerly anticipating Mass Effect 2, I had become too jaded to expect it to live up to the mountains of hype.
But Mass Effect 2 is awesome. Everything you loved about ME1, everything that was slightly annoying removed, and a whole lot more. Much more detailed review, tactics, etc. to come, but for now I'm still busy playing it. My only disappointment is that I don't have my character saved from the original game.
I'm an adept (biotic jedi):
But Mass Effect 2 is awesome. Everything you loved about ME1, everything that was slightly annoying removed, and a whole lot more. Much more detailed review, tactics, etc. to come, but for now I'm still busy playing it. My only disappointment is that I don't have my character saved from the original game.
I'm an adept (biotic jedi):
Mass Effect 2 Adept Trailer
Let me know what you guys think of the game.
Finished my Adept run on hard a few weeks ago -- I don't think I'm spoiling by saying there are multiple endings, and I was pretty satisfied with mine. Making your final big decision is a whole different beast when you consider that it sets the stage for ME3 rather than just being the final evil/good feather in the cap of an obsolete character.
So I'm running it again on Nightmare as a soldier -- my impression is that Adept would have been much easier. Part of the reason being that for Adept skills, you generally get to pause, line it up, and then when time resumes you have 2-3 powers that detonate whoever you pointed at (singularity + warp = win). Soldier skills, unsurprisingly given the FPS play-style, do not lend themselves to spending most of combat paused. Combine with the instant death awaiting you if you don't find cover, and it's a pleasant challenge.
Fortunately, the level design essentially always cues you when there's a battle coming, with a few obvious cover choices and maybe some clever alternatives. If I got trapped in a hallway with dudes at either end I would likely die from shock as well as bullets.
Regardless, still loving the game. Not spending quite as much effort clicking through all the conversation trees, which has stunted my character's cinematic development a bit. Normally I spec heavily in persuasion because not being <i>able</i> to use an option (conversation choice or otherwise) drives me mad. It usually pays off -- I remember convincing the bandits to pay <b>me</b> for the privilege of letting me pass in Dragon Age, and defeating Saren in ME1 by convincing him to kill himself in disgrace was pretty awesome.
Probably my last update of this one, so I will call out the few minor downsides I noticed. Mentioned above is the rather predictable level design, which is also quite linear as a result. Doesn't really detract from the fun; the design is thoughtful and well-done, but may irk those expecting more of a sandbox within missions. There were also some clipping issues I ran into periodically -- going to pick something up would leave me standing on/in a desk with no way out but a quick-load. Never much of a set-back, and probably only 4-5 occurrences during my first playthrough, but enough of a glitch to stand out. Beyond that, the planet scanning for resources is still pretty dull. Most of the mini-games were pretty well-implemented -- hopefully they'll get the resource bit right next time.
Most of all, I'm surprised how little I care that it feels like a console game. The cover, the soft targeting (for adept skills at least), the one-button interaction with everything, etc. Generally I'd rather have a button for use, one for jump, one for cover, etc. I like pushing numbers to switch guns. It's a pretty flexible keyboard. The simplicity which usually grates on me terribly is almost a virtue here -- at least it doesn't hinder my PC-centric interaction. Still, there might be some room for improvement.
But ultimately, the extremely minor flaws are more than outweighed by the grace, wit, charm, and overall execution of the game. Mordin's Gilbert & Sullivan parody alone would have been enough.
Finished my Adept run on hard a few weeks ago -- I don't think I'm spoiling by saying there are multiple endings, and I was pretty satisfied with mine. Making your final big decision is a whole different beast when you consider that it sets the stage for ME3 rather than just being the final evil/good feather in the cap of an obsolete character.
So I'm running it again on Nightmare as a soldier -- my impression is that Adept would have been much easier. Part of the reason being that for Adept skills, you generally get to pause, line it up, and then when time resumes you have 2-3 powers that detonate whoever you pointed at (singularity + warp = win). Soldier skills, unsurprisingly given the FPS play-style, do not lend themselves to spending most of combat paused. Combine with the instant death awaiting you if you don't find cover, and it's a pleasant challenge.
Fortunately, the level design essentially always cues you when there's a battle coming, with a few obvious cover choices and maybe some clever alternatives. If I got trapped in a hallway with dudes at either end I would likely die from shock as well as bullets.
Regardless, still loving the game. Not spending quite as much effort clicking through all the conversation trees, which has stunted my character's cinematic development a bit. Normally I spec heavily in persuasion because not being <i>able</i> to use an option (conversation choice or otherwise) drives me mad. It usually pays off -- I remember convincing the bandits to pay <b>me</b> for the privilege of letting me pass in Dragon Age, and defeating Saren in ME1 by convincing him to kill himself in disgrace was pretty awesome.
Probably my last update of this one, so I will call out the few minor downsides I noticed. Mentioned above is the rather predictable level design, which is also quite linear as a result. Doesn't really detract from the fun; the design is thoughtful and well-done, but may irk those expecting more of a sandbox within missions. There were also some clipping issues I ran into periodically -- going to pick something up would leave me standing on/in a desk with no way out but a quick-load. Never much of a set-back, and probably only 4-5 occurrences during my first playthrough, but enough of a glitch to stand out. Beyond that, the planet scanning for resources is still pretty dull. Most of the mini-games were pretty well-implemented -- hopefully they'll get the resource bit right next time.
Most of all, I'm surprised how little I care that it feels like a console game. The cover, the soft targeting (for adept skills at least), the one-button interaction with everything, etc. Generally I'd rather have a button for use, one for jump, one for cover, etc. I like pushing numbers to switch guns. It's a pretty flexible keyboard. The simplicity which usually grates on me terribly is almost a virtue here -- at least it doesn't hinder my PC-centric interaction. Still, there might be some room for improvement.
But ultimately, the extremely minor flaws are more than outweighed by the grace, wit, charm, and overall execution of the game. Mordin's Gilbert & Sullivan parody alone would have been enough.