Judith on 12/4/2011 at 07:44
Yup, Insanity pretty much ridiculous, countless waves of enemies (something like Dragon Age 2 on normal) and everyone has a shield or armor. You have to stay on your toes at all times during combat, it's best to switch off NPC using powers and do everything manually. And yes, those icons on powers are a bit misleading, e.g. heavy warp works quite well on everything, shields included. Some powers work better when the enemy is in the air, I'm not sure why (warp is an insta-kill most of the time).
Although the last mission was the most frustrating, the Harbinger was "assuming control" all the time when there was a free drone.
Malf on 12/4/2011 at 08:13
I've done 3 play-throughs, twice at Insanity difficulty, with a normal one sat between the 2 (new game + of my first game to mop up the single achievement I didn't get on my first play-through).
And to be honest, anything lower than Insanity just doesn't do it for me.
Oh, and all 3 play-throughs were as an Adept. Gun powers and abilities just don't appeal to me in ME2. Same goes for the engineering stuff.
gunsmoke on 12/4/2011 at 14:57
I think this may be the next game I play.
june gloom on 12/4/2011 at 19:54
Yeah, playing ME1 and 2 back to back for the first time was a hell of an experience. I'm very, very glad I got the two games.
mothra on 13/4/2011 at 03:06
Quote Posted by Judith
Yup, Insanity pretty much ridiculous, countless waves of enemies (something like Dragon Age 2 on normal) and everyone has a shield or armor. You have to stay on your toes at all times during combat, it's best to switch off NPC using powers and do everything manually. And yes, those icons on powers are a bit misleading, e.g. heavy warp works quite well on everything, shields included. Some powers work better when the enemy is in the air, I'm not sure why (warp is an insta-kill most of the time).
Although the last mission was the most frustrating, the Harbinger was "assuming control" all the time when there was a free drone.
thats where the sniper shines. I just hid from the stupid harbinger using cloak and mopped up all the other drones so there was nobody left to "assume control of". adept is the easiest holding enemies at bay, especially the ones that charge you. I always invested most in warp/pull and got another teammate with maxed out throw. that way you can throw many enemies over the railings. but the game sometimes has them stuck in the geometry and you can then reload because you can't advance without killing everyone. Wrex can take the most beating if you want your mates to do some damage as well. I always let him charge the harbinger, fun times. unity is your friend.
june gloom on 13/4/2011 at 04:18
Wrex isn't a party member in ME2 though. Perhaps you mean Grunt?
Briareos H on 15/4/2011 at 08:41
Finished it yesterday. Many thanks Sulphur.
Bioware's lack of vision (/skill?) for the RPG aspect in the game shows right until the end. The mechanical approach of killing one crew member for every cutscene unless you have made the right selection, perfect alignment or loyalty, feels underwhelmingly like what a bad GM would do to force his players into believing thay made meaningul choices beforehand.
(Un)fortunately, it works really well on the emotional level :'( I have been bonding with the Normandy crew (something obviously made easy by exaggerating their characters, but you won't see me criticising that) and seeing some of my favourites getting killed at crucial moments, although designed very clearly to have that effect, made me start a new game immediately. I'm hoping to go for a full Paragon, full loyalty run.
Goddammit Bioware.
Sulphur on 15/4/2011 at 09:01
You're welcome! It's not a terribly great RPG, but it's a more than decent shooter. I'm as irritated about how it boils down to arbitrary bullet points on a checklist that determine who survives, but that's what my second replay is for, too. Aaand now I can't get Morinth because my Renegade points aren't enough. Ah well. :erg:
CCCToad on 26/4/2011 at 00:09
Thats definitely true. There's other games out there such as the Witcher which kick the RPG aspect of Bioware's product every which way. Witcher 2 is looking to do the same though.
However, being aware of Mass Effect's failings doesn't mean it isn't fun. Its still great because it captures the mood and atmosphere of an epic space adventure like few other games do.
Phatose on 26/4/2011 at 01:10
Look, I liked the Witcher, but "Piss off A, Piss off B, or Piss off A & B" isn't exactly a massive step above "Upgrade like we told you to or die".
If you're referring solely to the underlying mechanics, Witcher may be a little deeper on the RPG scale, but not much. It's still an action game at it's core.
