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First Impressions of Mass Effect 2:

Holy gak.


Graphics: fething amazing. I expected to see a similar but improved set of graphics, kind of like KOTOR to KOTOR II. Watching the launch trailer, the graphics looked similar to the first game. This couldn't have been more misleading.

Maybe it's the high def, not sure...but it doesn't even look like the same series. I mean, it's a quantum leap forward in every way. Details, shading, smoothness of movement. It's absolutely incredible. I have never seen such a level of improvement from a first game to a sequel. Ever. Mass Effect 1 looked like its KOTOR "cousins" but with a higher level of detail. Mass Effect 2 looks like a completely different engine.

You see things you'll recognize from ME1, like computer banks, med stations, wall safes, crates, your weapons...but they all look so much better now. Holographic displays at data terminals are simply amazing. You will view some recordings right on the displays and it's mind-boggling how well they did it.

I've never really associated Bioware with top of the line graphics, but they really rolled up thier sleeves and put some work in. It looks amazing at 1080i on my 37 1/2" flatscreen. If you are playing this on a top-notch PC with a big monitor, it's going to be incredible.


Gameplay: It's all better. Everything's better.

Combat, there's a real cover system now and you can map up to three powers to the LB, Y, and RB buttons. It's nice to skip the radial sometimes. Unity now revives "dead" squad members using medi-gel. You take cover to regen health and shields. It's much faster, and it's much more challenging. I can tell that you're going to have to learn to change cover positions very quickly and react to changing combat conditions on the fly efficiently. It feels very different from ME1, but in a good way.

You can assign a separate position to each of your two squad members, which is great. Flanking is finally a real option.

Hacking and decrypting: the minigames are quite fun. Gone is the "X, Y, B, A" Simon game. Now, to hack safes you have to match up pairs of symbols. There are 8 blue circles on a circuit board. Scroll over a circle to reveal a picture. Find the matching one, click A on each half of the pair, it draws a circuit. You start off with the safe being worth a high amount of credits, and the longer you take the less you get.

Hacking datapads is very fun. Small pictures of "code" are arranged three to a row, and there are maybe five rows on the screen to begin, and they slowly scroll up. You are given a picture of the code section you need to select and press A on, and there are three or four sections of code you have to find while a timer runs down. It's actually sort of challenging.

My current toon is a Renegade, and you can sometimes get "Renegade actions" that pop up during conversations. You pull RT to commit to the action. It just adds a nice physical flair to conversations.


Leveling: Different system for assigning points. I only have five categories of skill progression for each character in my squad. You get "squad points" which you then spend to unlock skills and power levels of those skills, 1 squad point for Rank 1, 2 for Rank 2, etc. It looks like they just simplified the whole leveling system. We'll see if more skills unlock as you go.


Classes: Each of the six classes from ME1 are back, and they each have their own unique power. Anyone can unlock crates, or safes. Basically, think everything you needed Electronics and Decryption for in ME1, and now anyone can do it.


Exp: Only given through mission completion. Different, but so far I like it.


Voice acting: Goddamn is Martin Sheen good in this so far. All the voice acting is good, but hearing him in the role of the Illusive Man is a real treat. I don't know, it lends an air of legitimacy to the dramatic work, maybe?


The ME1 character import: was very smooth, very easy. It was a real thrill to see our ME1 toon perfectly reproduced but with the upgraded graphics. They let you change your class along with a few other characteristics if you want. We elected to remain the same class as before. Then the game reviews your important choices from ME1 as a reminder.

You are given an option to customize your armor and select the clothes you'll be wearing when you are on the Normandy in-between missions.


That's all I can say for now without giving away spoilers, and I haven't even touched life on the Normandy SR2. I can't wait to see what space travel and exploration are like, now, but my God...I am rarely this impressed by a game this quickly. I simply was not expecting, even after reading the IGN review that heaped praise on this game, such an improvement over the first game. It's almost unrecognizable, it's that good.

well my roomies sure to cream his pants, he adores all bioware games haha (they're great, but he literally humps the disk cases)

I have to wait until 9:00 AM thursday to get it. Damn you Australian release dates!

I don't have an HDTV or an awesome computer, but the first game looked incredible on my standard-definition TV, which really says a lot about the graphics.

I'm going to be up all thursday night playing this, I just know it. Gotta get more sleep the next two nights, and if I go to sleep early, then thursday will get here faster! Genius!

Oh yeah, there's some... interesting romance options this time around.

*Has his copy on pre-order*

Now just have to decide whether I am going to fight the wife to see who plays it first, or just let her play before me

I'm not paying a cent for it. I'll be trading in Dead Space, Halo Wars and Gears of War 2 for it (trade three, get it free offer). Better than paying $99 AU.

I've been playing straight for the last 10 hours. Here's what I got so far.

Story:
At this point I've assembled a decent size crew (6 outta 10). The storyline isn't as epic feeling so far, but it seems like I'm just scratching the surface and not even close to the end. The background stories for your teammates are actually interesting and I like this new batch far better than the old ones. Seriously though, stop with the cameos, they literally cameo every minor quest giving NPC from ME1.

Gameplay:
Less walking around towns. I nearly killed myself after spending 2 hours wandering around the Citadel doing quests in the first game. First town I walked into, I only had to talk to one person and they pointed me straight at the action.

The customization is awesome now, they dropped the massive inventory train wreck from the first game. Instead of swapping upgrades out of weapons, you swap weapons (which actually have noticeable differences) and research improvements for your team's equipment.

Combat: Wow, massive overhaul. The shooter elements, class limited weapons, improved level design and the new powers make a big difference; squad tactics and composition are actually important now. Seriously impressed.

Exploration: They got ride of the planet side exploration, which I'm glad. They replaced it with a manual scan for planets which is equally as tedious, but less time consuming. They also tied it into the upgrade system so at least it's worth exploring. They did add in some bs fuel system for god knows why.

Graphics:
It's really just the same engine with cosmetic improvements, but I didn't really expect more. There's way more attention to detail, which makes up for it.

Only one major disappointment, they didn't fix the load times. Instead of the stroke inducing elevator rides of awkwardness you get a load screen, which is faster by virtue of not forcing you to stare at a wall the whole time. Also the Normandy has four decks now, so you get four of those bad boys whenever you tour the ship. It almost makes seducing your crew not even worth the effort. The real icing though is the fact you can only change your armor in your personal quarters, which involves sitting through two load screens, the airlock and the elevator. Awesome.

Well, I got into space finally.

First, the Normandy SR2 is fething huge. It's fantastic. Having your own quarters is nice.

You actually pilot the ship within a system, and between systems now. As in, you are looking down at a display of the system and you push the stick and the ship moves, and then you press A to drop into orbit around a planet or station. Scanning planets is pretty cool...you hold down LT to scan the surface while you look at a scanner that peaks when one of four kinds of mineral deposits are present under the scanner on the planet. Then you launch a probe, and it collects the minerals for you. The scanner tells you how many mineral deposits are left by rating the planet's mining potential from "Excellent" to "Poor" on like a four-point scale, and then when the planet reads "Depleted" you're done.

You also pilot from system to system within a cluster, and that requires fuel. You get fuel and probes from stations at hub systems, where the Mass Relays are located I believe.

I've only done one bonus mission that was a free download, and we saved on the Citadel just now. The graphcis continue to be amazing. I've only been to one Ward on the Citadel, and already it feels like a real city, very busy, very noisy, chaotic background noise. Holographic advertisement kiosks that cater their ads to you, Galactic News terminals all over the place with really cool updates...it's still amazing.


@ avantgarde

The planet scanning gets easier once you learn how to skip the scanner around the planet's surface. Running out of probes will be your only problem, but I suspect we're going to need a lot of those minerals later for upgrades. I think it's worth it, and kind of fun.

I LOVE the cameos from the ME1 NPCs. If story is where you're at, that's a huge bonus and tie to the first game.

In terms of the graphics...I don't think you could be more wrong. This doesn't even feel like the same engine as the first game. The improvements are not "cosmetic," they're a total overhaul. Dynamic lighting sources, character expressions, the whole scale of the presentation is different.

And I think the loading screens are just fine. We're not going to get the smoothness of gameplay we want on a console with this much going on in terms of content and graphics in "zones" without loading times. At least we're not staring at the same Mass Relay every time now. I honestly think that if you're having problems with the loading screens you're just very impatient.

In this day and age any high polish game like ME2 should have good load screen instead of a looping animation. For example: MGS4's Snake smoking or the combo practice in Bayonetta (I actually wanted longer load times so I could get more combos in). I mean 1. it's not really a deal breaker 2. it's just my opinion, and I'm either used or resigned to it by now.

I did get the faster scan upgrade for the ship, which makes it less annoying, but it still feels like work to me. I don't even deplete all the way, since going for the little deposits strikes me as a waste of a probe.

btw What class are you playing with? I imported my Vanguard, the charge power is awesome but you got to wait for the right moment in a firefight or you die horribly. So far I've cleared the first batch of missions you get, and currently am being destroyed on the next mission.

20 1/2 hours to go, baby! Argh, I've never been this hyped for anything!

Which goes to show how empty my life is.

I guess the load screens is just aesthetic preference. I like them, personally. Gives me a moment to take a drink, or say something to the wife, pet the cat lying on the ottoman next to me...or just rest my eyes.

I didn't mean a scan upgrade for the ship, though I am glad to hear there is one. I meant more how you scan....I skip the scanner up and down a planet and briefly press the scan button for like a half second. That's enough for the scanner to show me if anything is around there. If so, I find it. If not, I move on. Doesn't take me long to max out a planet anymore. The real problem is running out of probes. I only have 30 right now and so I can go through two planets and be out...

I imported a level 60 Sentinel. Very fun class so far. Only used the Blackstorm weapon once, and man is it deadly. Not using my Terminus armor, though, because you can't display the helmet as "off" and so all the dialogue scenes would lose a lot for the wife and I.

Where do you get the Blood Dragon armour? I got it for Dragon Age: Origins, and you start with one piece of it in that game, but since all armour in ME comes as one item and there are no restrictions on it, wouldn't starting the game with it be kind of unbalanced? In DA: O you need a high strength to equip it so you don't get to use it until around midgame.

got it. fun man. dont know why im talking when i could be playing but i guess i needed a quik break.
Cheese. you have to download it at the main menu then you have to check your personal terminal.

Thanks garret. I've seen the picture in the code-paper that came with Dragon Age and it looks fething sweet!

Stupid Europe and its stupidly late release date.

Why is the release date different everywhere? And why do we always get things last? :(

Anyone who, like me, no longer has completed Mass Effect saves on their drive should check out this site.

Chees the thing is all the blood dragon armore does is increase pwoer damage by 15 and sheilds by ten. other then its like your starting armor

that it will most likely be replaced fairly arly by things that can do more.

Still nice to have at the start of the game though.

Bought it at Wal Mart. That place is awesome - they only stock Collector's Edition copies for PC. If you're buying MA 2 on PC get it there. Same cost as the standard game anywhere else too

I can't possibly praise this game enough. I'm not even done in the starting cluster and I've logged about 6 hours total yesterday. It's -HUGE-. I love how the Space Travel system is done like the worldmap in FFVII and FFVIII. It makes the whole game just -feel- more like an RPG than the previous game, which just seemed more like an action game with RPG elements.

Some of the reworking done is amazing too. The Citadel will be much different from what players experienced in the first game - the old areas have disappeared (At least from what I can tell in my short visit there), and have been replaced with previously unrevealed locales.

As well, scanning planets from orbit is a fun manual process now. Gone are the days of merely pressing a button and getting a popup window saying that you found resources. Now the player has to run a scanner over the surface of the planet and watch the reading on the top left for activity, which belies deposits. The stronger the activity on the scanner, the higher then mineral content. The player then launches a probe and recieves the bonus from the deposit. This is done multiple times until the planet's supply is depleted.

The conversation videos feel -much- more alive now, thanks to an environmental awareness AI that detects nearby objects. What this means is that Shepherd or another character in the conversation may choose to lean against a table or wall behind them at random if the mood in the conversation is suitable. I've played through a few conversations multiple times to see if this is scripted, but suprisingly I did not witness this behavior every time, which lead me to this conclusion. This is amazing, as ME1 felt very stale thanks to nearly stationary characters during discussion doing little more than taking a few steps or waving their arms.

I've barely scratched the surface, but this game looks like absolute gold. And the cherry on top? Bioware took a page out of Bethesda's book by making Mass Effect continuous. That's right - apparently after beating the game, you can still run around in free-play and do anything you might have overlooked.

The only thing bad I have to say about this game, in fact, is that it's only making me want ME3 that much sooner so I can finish this epic story of awesomeness.

By the by.

Screw you all, I have a Space Hamster.

AND, what's more, I also have the M98c 'Widow' Sniper Rifle on my Infiltrator.

Y'know. A rifle made for putting down APCs, Geth Armatures AND charging Krogan!

Kanluwen wrote:By the by.

Screw you all, I have a Space Hamster.

AND, what's more, I also have the M98c 'Widow' Sniper Rifle on my Infiltrator.

Y'know. A rifle made for putting down APCs, Geth Armatures AND charging Krogan!

I have that Hamster too!

And some spikey fish. So 1up here

All the fish die, even like five minutes after buying them.

no they just go off screen.

Actually no. When you go back to Shepherd's Cabin, you get a new interaction on the console between the two fish tanks.

It's "Clean Out Dead Fish".

Does anyone know how to recruit Legion? I know you have to unlock the area of the galaxy map where he's located somehow, but I don't have the foggiest idea.

Got the game today, currently slaving away on Illium. Liara is a total bitch now. Finished the loyalty missions for Jacob, Tali and Grunt.

Ask me on MSN and I'll let you know, don't want to give out spoilers on here.

Did any onf you experience any problems with accessing the DLC, importing your ME1 character or saving your game manually? The official Forum is FULL with stuff like that.
I'm still hoping they release the English Voice-over as DLC in Germany. otherwise I'll have to order my copy from England.

Nope, nope, and nope.

Accessing DLC: Renew your code on your bioware account page, not via the link in-game like they tell you to. DA:O was like this too. Bioware seems incabable of providing a simple in-game link function, and the links are always broken if you click them from the main menu. Open your internet program and manually enter the URL. Then renew your codes in your bioware profile.

ME1 Import was easy enough, just gotta click "Configure" in the launcher, and then "Saved Game", and the rest pretty much handles itself.

What sort of Save problems did you have? I haven't come across anything yet.

I didn't have any because I don't have the game yet. I want to play the English version and if BioWare won't release the original voice-over in Germany over the marketplace I'm going to order mine from England. I have exams next week, so I'm not going to play it before the 10th anyway. But looking through the BioWare forums was very ... interesting.

pretty cool thus far although I'm not buying that graphics are that much of a leap from ME1

Manchu wrote:pretty cool thus far although I'm not buying that graphics are that much of a leap from ME1

If your ME1 graphics took a random dive for the sh**s without any apparent reason despite having settings maxed like my copy did, then the ME2 graphics are an insane jump