polytourist97 on 31/3/2010 at 19:25
Just finished the game a few days ago. I enjoyed it, though perhaps not as much as some.
I liked the darker tone thematically and artistically in contrast with ME1. I thought the weapons system was a lot better, though I would have liked having to choose between upgrades (ala ME1) rather than merely having a "your weapons are better now" system. Planet scanning was tiresome, though preferable to mako-foraging. Voice acting was excellent, though I didn't seem to care as much about the characters. I wasn't too happy with some of the control decisions (combining the sprint and use key? really?) but thankfully there was enough room to configure things to my liking.
The one thing I really cannot seem to justify in my mind is how relatively shallow and uninteresting main plot was.
The Cerberus alliance was interesting to begin with, and the Illusive Man, while an absolutely groan-inducing name, was a great character, but after that, it's pretty much:
"Go stop the collectors."
How do I do that?
"We're still gathering information, go get a team."
(goes to get team.....randomly interrupted in team-gathering)
"COLLECTORS! STOP THEM!!!"
(stops them, saves galaxy...sort of, but not really)
"Excellent work Shepard, now we just need to stop the Reavers."
I'm not really sold on the implementation of team-recruitment as the main plot-driving force for the game. In the first game, (and in all other BioWare games I've played) team-recruitment is a result of the plot being explored and developed, not the other way around.
However, still a good game. I loved the skill evolutions. I thought the skill system was done much better in this game than in the first. It was also a brilliant move having the persuade ability centered around how much you used certain persuade options (and thus developed your paragon/renegade score) rather than having to spend skill points on it.
Sulphur on 31/3/2010 at 19:59
I'm halfway in and I can see how the team recruitment thing seems contrived, but considering that ME2 is a sequel with a very clear plot arc, it's the most obvious course of action available. Sure, this doesn't feel as natural and seamless as ME1, but repeating the open-ended party building dynamic would be at odds with the time-limited nature of the arc. (Which was a flaw that ME1 exhibited, by the way.)
What strikes me as really and actually contrived is that each member has his/her own inevitable 'loyalty' mission. These are well-constructed and fun as isolated vignettes, but still annoying because they're not well-disguised or integrated into the over-arching narrative very well.
polytourist97 on 31/3/2010 at 21:02
Yeah, that's a fair enough point. I agree completely about the loyalty missions.
mothra on 1/4/2010 at 09:05
same here. me2 is like 2 games, brilliant company missions somehow unrelated and the tacked-on main plot. They really could have integrated it much better and given you mates as you go along, maybe loosen the "suicide mission" prerequesites so you don't automatically fail the last mission.... here the parts are more than the whole, in contrary to other "cult" games where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. But if ME2 is any indication of the direction they are taking or trying to move the story/characters to, ME3 could top its predecessor.
faetal on 1/4/2010 at 09:52
I played them both sequentially and I love the complete shift in tone of the second one. The "assemble a team" part was so different to ME1, that I got an exciteable sequel fell from it, rather than just a continuation of familiar mechanics. The streamlining made things much better and while I agree to an extent about the weapon upgrades (though you do get generic upgrades via research), I prefer the newer system to the inventory micro-management of the first game, but would prefer something between the two.
I thought the sound design overall was an order of magnitude better than than the first one too.
mothra on 1/4/2010 at 11:40
everytime I hear the me2 title melody I get an flashback-gasmn to the game.
"my name is commander shepard and sofar 2010 only AlphaProtocoll and NewVegas could be cooler than me....although I highly doubt it."
mothra on 16/5/2010 at 10:44
necro !
heads up for all ME2 lovers out there: I'm using this mod for my ME2 replays and I couldn't play ME2 without it anymore:
(
http://www.moddb.com/mods/flashs-mass-effect-2-mod1)
* Jacob's weapon loadout changed to assault rifle + heavy pistol due to his military training,
* non-combat storm stamina and regeneration 5x original value,
* like in ME1 shields don't block powers anymore, making gameplay closer to the lore,
* health regeneration 100x slower to enforce medigel usage,
* second playthrough resource bonus increased to 500000, making planet scanning unnecessary,
* planet scanning speed is equal as when the scanner is not active,
* Geth Pulse Rifle damage 2.5x of original value, this ups its DPS to the same level as the Avenger Rifle's (originally Geth Pulse Rifle's base damage and DPS are the lowest of all the equipable guns in the game),
* enemy shields and barriers (not armor) set as rechargable to remove player's unfair advantage over AI,
* shields don't absorb full damage on break anymore (example; before, having 1 shield point would absorb any ammount of damage on last hit before reducing health),
* added 13 top rated male face presets and 18 top rated female presets, faces codes from Masseffect2faces.com
* all ingame cinematics set as skippable. (NOTE: although all cinematics are set as skippable, some of them ignore settings from ini file and can't be skipped in game. Can't do anything about it, the game decides by itself in this case)
it's from the same guy that made the best Witcher mods.
EvaUnit02 on 16/5/2010 at 15:12
Quote:
health regeneration 100x slower to enforce medigel usage
Someone's clearly missed the point of medigel in ME2. Its purpose is to revive downed team-mates during combat.
Mr.Duck on 16/5/2010 at 16:58
Still, nice mod....hmmm.....might do a longplay at some point soon (ME then ME 2).
Fun times :)
gunsmoke on 16/5/2010 at 17:19
I just downloaded ME 1 from my Steam account. My old PC could handle maybe 5 fps. I am anxious to play, I have never seen anything besides the ship's bridge.
