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Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Ashrak on May 18, 2009, 03:23:27 pm

Title: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Ashrak on May 18, 2009, 03:23:27 pm
oh yes baby :D

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/prelude-to-mass-effect/49313

Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: starbug on May 18, 2009, 05:41:14 pm
Never thought i would get this so excited over a game but its happened! I am so so so so so looking forward to 2010 for the PC release. Mass effect 2 just looks amazing and i am so glad there going for a much darker setting and what about the normandy from that trailer it looks like it might need a bit of a service  :nervous:

So a huge thumbs up from me, just waiting on Starcraft 2 now, got a feeling ME2 will be out before SC2.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: SpardaSon21 on May 18, 2009, 06:30:01 pm
I really hope ME2 doesn't have that atrocious SecuROM DRM, but knowing EA it will.  That's the only thing stopping me from buying ME1.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Vidmaster on May 20, 2009, 11:23:39 am
luckily, EA is giving up on that **** slowly. Sims3 won't have it (which will be EA's money print machine for the next 3 years).
All games have Deactivation Utils now (although "scanning" your PC for installed games, well  :ick:).


Seriously, MassEffect 1 was wonderful, so cinematic. Just like WC3.
And now look at this! WHOA!!!
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Blue Lion on May 20, 2009, 12:02:15 pm
but will it have the sex?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Vidmaster on May 20, 2009, 01:58:48 pm
it will. All Bioware games have.
But I really pity you if that's the first thing you think when you hear MassEffect.  :lol:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Blue Lion on May 20, 2009, 04:15:39 pm
I never played Mass Effect, that's all I know about it.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 20, 2009, 04:23:28 pm
it will. All Bioware games have.
But I really pity you if that's the first thing you think when you hear MassEffect.  :lol:
Actually, it's pretty low on the list of things you think about when you've actually played the game. Unless you're ****ing 12, of course.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Grizzly on May 21, 2009, 01:18:03 am
I read somewhere that one should keep his savegames, for the decisions made in Mass Effect 1 will affect Mass Effect 2 (Ala Baldur's Gate, but better, hopefully. I think saving the Rachni will probably have some effect :) ).

As for the game itself, I do hope that they make it easier to command your teammates, as doeing it from a third person perspective seems to suck hard in this way (Shame on them! They've got enough experience to get that right from the first game, like using a top-down perspective to give orders, Ala Hidden and Dangerous), and the complete boringness of the sidequests, which used the same areas every time...
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Unknown Target on May 21, 2009, 05:25:56 am
Awesome. I've been playing through the first one, it's spectacularly fun. Can't wait for this.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 21, 2009, 08:45:53 pm
Meh.  Mass Effect, while not a bad game, was only slightly above average - and the really bad parts, the sidequests and the god awful inventory system - were both things that Bioware should have damn well known how to do better.  The dialogue itself was pretty good, but the conversation system was oversimplified.

I'll pay attention when I start seeing signs that they're addressing the real problems. 
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 21, 2009, 10:18:08 pm
Damn, where do you place the "average" bar?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: CP5670 on May 21, 2009, 11:03:51 pm
It did have a lot of problems with its gameplay, but I would still put it well above average. I hope they address those issues in the sequel.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 22, 2009, 02:32:18 pm
Damn, where do you place the "average" bar?

The game closest to the Bar is Oblivion.

Mass effect had a lot of good points, but it also had a lot of downsides, and most of the things it does, other games have done better in the past.  The dialogue has great presentation but is simplified even beyond KotOR, which was pretty simplified compared to the Fallouts/Baldur's Gates/Torment.  The combat is interesting, but the number of spells and special abilities is pretty small compared to KotoR and the AD&D games.  Lots of weapons, but they've got little variety beyond statistical shades of the 4 base weapons.  A god awful interface, party members who function more like options from gradius then actual teammates, and side quests straight out of rogue.

Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 22, 2009, 04:15:41 pm
Quote
The game closest to the Bar is Oblivion.

The game closest to the [Average] Bar is Oblivion.   :confused:
Brackets added to clarify what I was talking about, and to ask if that's what you actually meant.

Surely you don't really mean that Oblivion is the closest to the most average game?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 22, 2009, 05:14:42 pm
That's exactly what I mean - if you were to stack up games from top to bottom, with bad games at the bottom and good games at the top, then put up a bar that indicates average, that bar would be on the level of oblivion.


----Good games
----games
----games
----Oblivion     ----------------AVERAGE BAR
----games
----games
----games
----games
----bad games
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: SpardaSon21 on May 22, 2009, 05:29:23 pm
I would rate Oblivion above ME because Oblivion has something ME doesn't.  Mods.  You have complaints with Oblivion's gameplay?  There are more than a few that change it, in addition to mods doing other things.  How many mods does ME have, period?  I'm fairly certain its pretty damn low.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 22, 2009, 08:35:07 pm
Problem is, they don't help all that much.  Oblivion is where it is in my stack taking into account mods that pull some of Bethesda's most inane decisions upward to the level of average, kicking and screaming.  If I were to discount mods, it would be much, much lower.  But the modders still would have to make an entire game's worth of content to create, at a reasonably professional level, and they'd have to do it without requiring me to sort through 8,000 "OHHH CLOUD STRIFE'S SWORD" and "NAKED MOD! LOL!"s to get there.

They haven't.


Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 22, 2009, 11:52:03 pm
Eh, maybe I'm just unable to come to grips with the fact that you seem to rate games about as harshly as Yahtzee would.  Do you just not like RPGs?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Ashrak on May 23, 2009, 01:07:39 am
both oblivion and mass effect are eccelent game in my eyes, cuz the story in them rocks.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Polpolion on May 23, 2009, 10:00:23 am
I believe I have a chart that will help with the quantifying of this game's goodness.

Pic related, it's the chart. I'd place Mass Effect between "Me Likes" and "Salivates."

[attachment deleted by ninja]
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 23, 2009, 12:11:05 pm
Eh, maybe I'm just unable to come to grips with the fact that you seem to rate games about as harshly as Yahtzee would.  Do you just not like RPGs?

Like cRPGs just fine.  I'm just highly intolerant of bad interfaces, shallow content and poorly designed game mechanics.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: CP5670 on May 23, 2009, 01:33:52 pm
Quote
Eh, maybe I'm just unable to come to grips with the fact that you seem to rate games about as harshly as Yahtzee would.  Do you just not like RPGs?

I don't like most "traditional" computer RPGs and I liked Mass Effect and Fallout 3, as they avoided some standard things in those types of games. :p
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mikes on May 24, 2009, 05:29:12 am
I actually disliked the amount of generic "filler" content in Mass Effect...

... the main story was excellent, agreed, but it also was quite short...

Compared to certain old Bioware classics the amount of "quality content" was a bit lacking or more to the point: The quality of the sidequest content was outright embarassing.

So overall Mass Effect made a quite ambivalent impression to me.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Dark Knight on May 27, 2009, 05:41:20 pm
but will it have the sex?

it will. All Bioware games have.

... Bioware made a Sonic the Hedgehog game last year ...   :(
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 27, 2009, 06:20:15 pm

it will. All Bioware games have.
KoToR had sex?  Damn, the stuff I miss sometimes. :doubt:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: NGTM-1R on May 28, 2009, 05:27:49 am
KoToR had sex?  Damn, the stuff I miss sometimes. :doubt:

Well, they implied it awful heavily.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 28, 2009, 08:23:23 am
With who?  Or do you mean Gerlon Two Fingers?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: NGTM-1R on May 28, 2009, 08:46:33 am
With who?  Or do you mean Gerlon Two Fingers?

I swear there was a fade-to-black with Bastila in there somewhere, but perhaps I'm merely going mad.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Grizzly on May 28, 2009, 09:38:38 am
Wait a moment. Baldur's Gate (1) actually didn't have any.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on May 28, 2009, 02:10:38 pm
With who?  Or do you mean Gerlon Two Fingers?

I swear there was a fade-to-black with Bastila in there somewhere, but perhaps I'm merely going mad.

Well, there was a fade, but that was a kiss, not sex.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 29, 2009, 02:47:23 am
I swear there was a fade-to-black with Bastila in there somewhere, but perhaps I'm merely going mad.
Well, there was a fade, but that was a kiss, not sex.
True, but there were cooties involved, so it rates about the same.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: NGTM-1R on May 29, 2009, 08:47:32 am
Well, there was a fade, but that was a kiss, not sex.

If it was a fade, how can you be sure? :P
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Kszyhu on May 29, 2009, 10:12:24 am
Erm... Sound effects?  :nervous:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Javito1986 on May 29, 2009, 12:16:36 pm
There wasn't sex in KotoR. There's a fade to black with Bastila that involves a kiss. Video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwZ6nBT3erQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwZ6nBT3erQ)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Dark Knight on May 29, 2009, 01:27:50 pm
Wait a moment. Baldur's Gate (1) actually didn't have any.

Yes it did. u could hire whores/courtesans  in the Underceller.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: starbug on May 29, 2009, 01:29:43 pm
Hey new trailer up http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=215975&site=cvg and it looks good and i like the music in the trailer! I am now really looking forward to this  :nod:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Ashrak on May 30, 2009, 01:19:08 am
sweet, well i guess you keep playing shepard from level 50 :D
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 30, 2009, 01:31:22 pm
Sixty, if you play the same file again.  Just go to new game, existing profile, select character.  The character actually has to have finished the game first.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Dark Knight on May 30, 2009, 03:14:24 pm
I'm a little annoyed that i completed the game 3 times, did all the quests 3 times and the dlc twice. Even all the uncharted worlds stuff twice and yet only got to level 59 AND never found any Onyx X Hvy Armour (yes i know there are better amours but it looks the best IMO and i'm shallow enough to care how my PC looks while shooting things in the face) I'm now waiting for the final DLC to come out for my fourth and final play through.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 30, 2009, 03:58:40 pm
Completed three time, lvl 58(9?) with my Predator H X armor (best shields in the game :yes:).  I got a little peeved when I beat it on insane and it didn't give me the acheivment :ick:.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 30, 2009, 07:21:46 pm
Completed three time, lvl 58(9?) with my Predator H X armor (best shields in the game :yes:).  I got a little peeved when I beat it on insane and it didn't give me the acheivment :ick:.
Shields are useless. You want damage protection.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 30, 2009, 07:26:28 pm
Shields are very helpful.  With my Predator X H (whichever order the letters are in) and two Shield Interface X, I had 860 shields (540 armor + 160*2 shield interface X).  With the soldier's shield boost ability, I had the next best thing to 1500 shields.  Even on Insane that goes a long way.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 30, 2009, 07:48:01 pm
Yeah, but once the shields are down, you're screwed. The net protection you get from having a high damage reduction value is more useful than having boosted shields. That's why the Colossus X is, to be honest, better than the Predator, since the DR value is so much higher.

Take for example the Rachni warriors. Their attacks bypass shields altogether.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 30, 2009, 09:05:42 pm
That's where another aspect of the soldier comes in hand, the ludicrous amount of health.  Although, granted, the Rachni were the hardest part of the game for me.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 30, 2009, 10:12:26 pm
They wouldn't be if you had some better bloody damage reduction!
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 30, 2009, 10:23:51 pm
Hey, I beat it on insane, Rachni or no Rachni.  They were just bigger pains than the other enemies.  It was helped, somewhat, by their lack of ability to get into range.  I was using the HMWA (I think that's the spectre rifle) X with Inferno Rounds X and two Frictionless Materials X, full Assault Rifle skill.  I could, quite literally, fire with perfect accuracy for eternity, without overheating.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mefustae on May 31, 2009, 08:57:36 am
Wait, you finished on insanity, and you're not Level 60?
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: MP-Ryan on May 31, 2009, 09:41:23 am
Wait, you finished on insanity, and you're not Level 60?

Maybe he started a new character for insane?  *shrug*
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on May 31, 2009, 03:21:38 pm
No, I just did the main quests and only the main quests.  I was pretty sick of "planet hunting,"  looking for a new planet to go kill people on.  Made worse by the fact that some of them didn't even have people to kill on them.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: SPARTAN-367 on June 01, 2009, 09:19:44 am
Played it once.. I like the story and thats about it. Hopefully they'll put some COOP in part 2.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Dark Knight on June 01, 2009, 10:10:18 am
Well since its a single player RPG I doubt that.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on June 01, 2009, 12:11:33 pm
Story >>> Co-op.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: SPARTAN-367 on June 01, 2009, 12:36:27 pm
Story >>> Co-op.

true that also.. but its awesome to play with a friend who enjoys the story also.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: CP5670 on June 01, 2009, 01:26:10 pm
Mass Effect's main attraction is its dialogues. That wouldn't work well in co-op, and the gameplay is otherwise pretty weak.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Vidmaster on June 01, 2009, 02:46:10 pm
Yeah, single player! No fancy stuff, just a great single player adventure.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: NGTM-1R on June 01, 2009, 03:22:55 pm
Mass Effect's main attraction is its dialogues. That wouldn't work well in co-op, and the gameplay is otherwise pretty weak.

And its worldbuilding. It's worthwhile to read the Codex on its own, or to read the descriptions of the planets you get in the orbital view. A hundred tiny mysteries exist in the game that have no effect on you or your story, they are simply there; the gas giant with something large and solid stored deep inside; the planet that shows geometric patterns of light on its darkside that fade away when ships approach; the gas giant with strange cloud patterns suggesting massive objects just beneath the surface that sank out of sight as the survey ship made orbit and were never seen again. Those are just the ones I can remember easily.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Scotty on June 01, 2009, 08:44:47 pm
Don't forget the planet that has that pirate captain's bragging etched into it with lasers. :lol:
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Vidmaster on June 04, 2009, 02:23:34 pm
never found that one...      cool
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Ziame on June 05, 2009, 06:32:33 am
One thing I hated in Mass Effect was that in some dialogues, whatever option you chose, Shephard spoke the same thing.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: starbug on June 05, 2009, 04:32:38 pm
I hope that this time round with the PC version it won't be as bugged as the first, just been replaying the first one and the all random crashes almost makes it unplayable!
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: TrashMan on June 09, 2009, 08:32:02 am
I believe I have a chart that will help with the quantifying of this game's goodness.

Pic related, it's the chart. I'd place Mass Effect between "Me Likes" and "Salivates."

Strange...Conquest: Fronteer Wars was a very good and innovative game.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: phatosealpha on June 09, 2009, 10:10:32 am
One thing I hated in Mass Effect was that in some dialogues, whatever option you chose, Shephard spoke the same thing.

That kind of thing has been going on since voice acting became standard in rpgs.  All roads lead to rome - the dialogue is carefully crafted that all your selections can use the same dialogue.  They've been pulling it since at least KotOR.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Ziame on June 09, 2009, 04:04:30 pm
I know it just pissed me off...


I select "Harsh" option which says "GET OUTTA HERE!" (example)

Shepard says - "I'm tired of you" or something like that
I select the most peaceful options "Please, leave me be"
Shepard says "I'm tired of you"

Though gameplay-wise - it rules. Story is great everything is great. (Now if we can has swords and JA-style battles too...)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: dANGER boy on June 10, 2009, 02:32:41 am
I didn't really like how MUCH dialogue they had.  Good story, excellent gameplay, but sometimes I would get so sick of long conversations that I just started pressing the Spacebar so I could get back to combat or exploring.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: TrashMan on June 10, 2009, 08:06:23 am
I didn't really like how MUCH dialogue they had.  Good story, excellent gameplay, but sometimes I would get so sick of long conversations that I just started pressing the Spacebar so I could get back to combat or exploring.

then the game was not for you.

Bioware RPG's are all about the story and interaction.

Sound like Diablo is more of your thing. Hack, slash and loot.
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: Mikes on June 10, 2009, 10:29:34 pm
I believe I have a chart that will help with the quantifying of this game's goodness.

Pic related, it's the chart. I'd place Mass Effect between "Me Likes" and "Salivates."

Strange...Conquest: Fronteer Wars was a very good and innovative game.

Indeed strange. Conquest offered a quite intense campaign and was good fun in multiplayer as well and by offering classic RTS gameplay, but with multiple systems and jump nodes it indeed was a very innovative title for its time. It was however a quite hard game later on in the campaign too, so maybe someone just got frustrated heh. ;)
Title: Re: Mass Effect 2
Post by: TrashMan on June 11, 2009, 07:13:32 am
Indeed strange. Conquest offered a quite intense campaign and was good fun in multiplayer as well and by offering classic RTS gameplay, but with multiple systems and jump nodes it indeed was a very innovative title for its time. It was however a quite hard game later on in the campaign too, so maybe someone just got frustrated heh. ;)

It was challenging, yes.
Good thing that AI admirals were so good at doing their job. I'd just make 3 fleets, assign the admirals to 2 of them, order 1 to defend, the other to search and destroy and I would lead my fleet to attack. Worked like a charm.

anyway, I look forward to ME2. the first part was great, but it was lacking in a few aspects. Let's hope 2 improves on those.