Mass Effect 2
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Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2...
Buy it... just drop what you are doing and buy it. I never got that far with the first game because it had little quirks that bugged me. But with the new release, I pondered over getting it, looked at reviews, read about the adjustments, downloaded quite a few videos off from Xbox Live and finally went out and used one of the Game Stop gift cards I received for Christmas (I ended up with quite a few) and I am VERY glad that I did. My big problem in the first game was that I didn't seem to be able to kill that many 'bad guys', maybe I had a setting wrong or something but I was always getting my *SQUEE* handed to me. I think maybe because the game was not REALLY a 3rd person shooter (might of had something to do with it). But the combat AND the pretty quick dialogue moments are the focus and all for the better. this one is slick, shiny and does not stutter one frame.
I highly suggest getting it.
I am getting rid of my Mass Effect game and a game guide if anyone is interested. ($12 plus s/h)
I am sure that this one will keep me entertained for quite a while and THIS game is not bogging me down with too much talking. (AND it helped me pass the 15,000 achievement points mark !!)
With what was left over on my card, I put reserves on:
Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)
Dante's Inferno Divine Edition (PS3)
Crackdown 2 (Xbox 360)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360)
And I already have God of War III (PS3) on reserve. This should take me out until March or so.
Some will collect dust until I get through Mass Effect 2.
Buy it... just drop what you are doing and buy it. I never got that far with the first game because it had little quirks that bugged me. But with the new release, I pondered over getting it, looked at reviews, read about the adjustments, downloaded quite a few videos off from Xbox Live and finally went out and used one of the Game Stop gift cards I received for Christmas (I ended up with quite a few) and I am VERY glad that I did. My big problem in the first game was that I didn't seem to be able to kill that many 'bad guys', maybe I had a setting wrong or something but I was always getting my *SQUEE* handed to me. I think maybe because the game was not REALLY a 3rd person shooter (might of had something to do with it). But the combat AND the pretty quick dialogue moments are the focus and all for the better. this one is slick, shiny and does not stutter one frame.
I highly suggest getting it.
I am getting rid of my Mass Effect game and a game guide if anyone is interested. ($12 plus s/h)
I am sure that this one will keep me entertained for quite a while and THIS game is not bogging me down with too much talking. (AND it helped me pass the 15,000 achievement points mark !!)
With what was left over on my card, I put reserves on:
Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)
Dante's Inferno Divine Edition (PS3)
Crackdown 2 (Xbox 360)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Xbox 360)
And I already have God of War III (PS3) on reserve. This should take me out until March or so.
Some will collect dust until I get through Mass Effect 2.
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Drift
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The first Mass Effect is one of the best video games I have ever played. It is right up there with Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil II in terms of how good it is.
The story was pretty standard SF fare but the amount of effort, thought and research they put into the background of the game was immense. Also considering it was originally meant to be a Star Wars game, the change is amazing.
The idea is that after developing reliable space flight technology, humans ventured out into the Solar System. During a mission to Mars, a team discovered the ruins of an ancient but technologically advanced race called the Prothians. After researching and eventually, partially reverse engineering Prothian tech, humans were able to venture further afield and started to research faster than light travel.
Years later the discovery was made that Charon, Pluto's only moon and mostly composed of ice, was in fact a moon. Inside the ice was an enormous machine that, when activated, blasted the research ship millions of miles to another machine just like it allowing the Earth Alliance to explore new reaches of space.
Being the unthinking lot that we are, humanity started to colonise the planets of the new systems they explored and eventually drew the attention of a warlike race called the Turians who didn't like the fact that their territory was being invaded. Thus started the Contact War.
Eventually a group known as The Council, a multi-racial alliance made up of the Turians, the Asari - a race that favours religion and spirituality - and the Salarians - a race that specialises in scientific research and advancement - stepped in to end the conflict and invited the Earth Alliance fleet to travel with them to the Citadel, an immense space station made by the extinct Protheans, colonised by the Council races and their allies and maintained by a mysterious insectoid race called the Keepers.
Life on the citadel and alliance with the council allowed humanity to advance and expand throughout the galaxy and the first game is set just as humanity is on the cusp of being allowed a seat on the Council, an accolade not given to any race since the original inception of the Council.
Mass Effect II is right up there in terms of quality. It is every bit as good as, if not surpassing, the first one. Following the story directly from the first and introducing new races, colonies and outposts in a logical manner.
After finishing the first game you can import your character over so the game feels more like an expansion than a separate game. Your decisions in the first dictate some aspects of the second game, including the opening sequence which just happens to be one of the best opening sequences I have ever seen.
Unlike some games with import flags such as the .Hack series, you do not start at your previous level so even if you topped out your character at the level 60 cap, you will begin at level 1. Don't let that put you off though. Rather than your boss being ticked off with you and taking away your abilities like the first Assassin's Creed though, there is an interesting story dynamic that starts you off back at step one but I won't go into it here as not to spoil it for everyone.
BioWare have completely redesigned the new game to fit the darker, faster atmosphere of the game that comes about due to the new threat. To start with it is an over the shoulder shooter rather than an overview third person so it is more like the last two iterations of Resident Evil. Your health is done more like recent first person shooters like CoD with the screen fogging and the audio going like your head has just been submerged in the toilet and rather than using a med-pack to recover, you recover over time - explained in game by your armoured spacesuit releases a small trickle of healing Medi-gel to aid recovery. Instead, you use Medi-gel every time you use the Unity ability which was a special tech ability in the first game.
Also in the new ME, instead of gathering a team consisting of the best the galaxy has to offer, this time you are gathering a team of the worst kind of rogues and scumbags ever to have passed through a Mass Relay.
The weapons system has also been redesigned so rather than your gun overheating after a certain amount of shots, now you eject a thermal heatsink clip after a set amount of shots giving the game more of a traditional shooter feel than the last.
I have yet to find any fault with the game except for the minor texture loading issue during the cut scenes that the first also suffered from but as it doesn't detract from the gameplay in any way, it is easy to overlook it. I am also happy to say that so far (about 8 hours into the game) it is nowhere near as buggy as the first and I have yet to get trapped inside a piece of scenery at all (bloody Matriarch Benezia fight
)
As Knightt says:
Get!
The story was pretty standard SF fare but the amount of effort, thought and research they put into the background of the game was immense. Also considering it was originally meant to be a Star Wars game, the change is amazing.
The idea is that after developing reliable space flight technology, humans ventured out into the Solar System. During a mission to Mars, a team discovered the ruins of an ancient but technologically advanced race called the Prothians. After researching and eventually, partially reverse engineering Prothian tech, humans were able to venture further afield and started to research faster than light travel.
Years later the discovery was made that Charon, Pluto's only moon and mostly composed of ice, was in fact a moon. Inside the ice was an enormous machine that, when activated, blasted the research ship millions of miles to another machine just like it allowing the Earth Alliance to explore new reaches of space.
Being the unthinking lot that we are, humanity started to colonise the planets of the new systems they explored and eventually drew the attention of a warlike race called the Turians who didn't like the fact that their territory was being invaded. Thus started the Contact War.
Eventually a group known as The Council, a multi-racial alliance made up of the Turians, the Asari - a race that favours religion and spirituality - and the Salarians - a race that specialises in scientific research and advancement - stepped in to end the conflict and invited the Earth Alliance fleet to travel with them to the Citadel, an immense space station made by the extinct Protheans, colonised by the Council races and their allies and maintained by a mysterious insectoid race called the Keepers.
Life on the citadel and alliance with the council allowed humanity to advance and expand throughout the galaxy and the first game is set just as humanity is on the cusp of being allowed a seat on the Council, an accolade not given to any race since the original inception of the Council.
Mass Effect II is right up there in terms of quality. It is every bit as good as, if not surpassing, the first one. Following the story directly from the first and introducing new races, colonies and outposts in a logical manner.
After finishing the first game you can import your character over so the game feels more like an expansion than a separate game. Your decisions in the first dictate some aspects of the second game, including the opening sequence which just happens to be one of the best opening sequences I have ever seen.
Unlike some games with import flags such as the .Hack series, you do not start at your previous level so even if you topped out your character at the level 60 cap, you will begin at level 1. Don't let that put you off though. Rather than your boss being ticked off with you and taking away your abilities like the first Assassin's Creed though, there is an interesting story dynamic that starts you off back at step one but I won't go into it here as not to spoil it for everyone.
BioWare have completely redesigned the new game to fit the darker, faster atmosphere of the game that comes about due to the new threat. To start with it is an over the shoulder shooter rather than an overview third person so it is more like the last two iterations of Resident Evil. Your health is done more like recent first person shooters like CoD with the screen fogging and the audio going like your head has just been submerged in the toilet and rather than using a med-pack to recover, you recover over time - explained in game by your armoured spacesuit releases a small trickle of healing Medi-gel to aid recovery. Instead, you use Medi-gel every time you use the Unity ability which was a special tech ability in the first game.
Also in the new ME, instead of gathering a team consisting of the best the galaxy has to offer, this time you are gathering a team of the worst kind of rogues and scumbags ever to have passed through a Mass Relay.
The weapons system has also been redesigned so rather than your gun overheating after a certain amount of shots, now you eject a thermal heatsink clip after a set amount of shots giving the game more of a traditional shooter feel than the last.
I have yet to find any fault with the game except for the minor texture loading issue during the cut scenes that the first also suffered from but as it doesn't detract from the gameplay in any way, it is easy to overlook it. I am also happy to say that so far (about 8 hours into the game) it is nowhere near as buggy as the first and I have yet to get trapped inside a piece of scenery at all (bloody Matriarch Benezia fight
)As Knightt says:
Get!
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superman-prime
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I loved Mass Effect 1 so much that I knew going into Mass Effect 2 I knew I was either love it or hate it.
The answer is: I loved it.
You once again play as Commander Shepard after being killed and the Normandy is destroyed in a spectacular prologue set one month after the events in the first game. Then two years later Shepard finds herself (since most of my Shepards from ME1 were female this is the gender that I will refer to Shepard as) awakens at Cerberus research station that is under attack and you meet new teammates Miranda and Jacob.
After escaping you meet the Illusive Man (who looks like and is voiced by Martin Sheen) who sends Shepard to a small colony there Shepard meets Tali and learns that an alien race called the Collectors is now targeting and kidnapping entire human colonies in the Terminus Systems.
Once that is done the Illusive Man gives Shepard command of the new Normandy piloted once again by Joker (voiced once again by Seth Green) and by EDI (voiced Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica) an Artificial Intelligence that Joker verbally spars with and a bunch of dossiers to gather a crew for the ultimate suicide mission.
Graphics are much better this time around with no major graphics popping or frame rates dropping. The only gripe I have with the graphics is some odd color differences in areas where they shouldn't be like on the walls of the Normandy.
Also the layouts and maps are much more diverse and aren't the same structure with boxes in different places. Bypassing locks on doors and hacking terminals are all new mini-games and aren't just random button punching.
Combat is greatly improved for the most part with the exception of healing yourself with medi-gel this time you have to duck behind some cover to heal which can be a major pain but it does force you think before charging in but it still for the most part very enjoyable.
The exploration part of the game is annoying. You scan planets and fire probes to find various elements to upgrade the armor, weapons, and the ship and find some side missions but the scanning the planets are boring and gets tedious really fast (although firing 2 probes at Uranas allows to hear a you a pair of cheap jokes by EDI).
The romance this time around only heterosexual loves (except for an awkward kiss between a female Shepard with Liara and Kelly Chambers, Shepard's assistant with whom Shepard can flirt with Shepard regardless of gender). The female gets the chance to romance with Jacob, Thane, and Garrus while male Shepard gets to romance with Miranda, Jack (aka Subject Zero), and Tali. None of the love scenes that I have seen are NOT very graphic and IMHO the Garrus and Tali romances are just pandering to the fanboys and fangirls who wanted to see Shepard get it on with them in ME1.
While Joker, Dr. Chakwas, Garrus and Tali rejoin the crew of the new Normandy the rest of the crew form the ME1 make only NPCs Liara is now an information broker and is wanting to kill the Shadow Broker (apparently for events in Mass Effect: Redemption comic book series), Wrex is now leading the krogan, Ash or Kaiden (depending on who survived the first one) are reduced to only to a minor cameo.
Some of the new characters are interesting (like Miranda, Samera, Thane and Morden) but only up to a point and others are bland (like Grunt and Jacob) or completely unlikeable (like Jack).
The voice acting is top notch with a great list of actors including those I already listed Micheal Hogan (from Battlestar Galactica as Baily), Micheal Dorn (from Star Trek: The Next Generation[/i] as a krogan warlord whose name I forget), Keith David (from The Thing as Anderson), Carrie-Anne Moss (from The Matrix trilogy as Aria), and Adam Baldwin (from Serenity as Kal Reiger) just to name a few.
The biggest problem that I have with is that the sound goes out occasionally in the game during the climax to one Samera's loyality quest the game went mute and it did it again during the second time only on the third time did I actually hear the dialoge, so my advice is keep the subtitles on. The game can also lock up so save often and have the auto save turned on.
If you beaten the first Mass Effect the import feature allows you to bring the Shepard and the decisions you made from the first game into Mass Effect 2 which is very cool because a lot of your actions carry over and there are a lot of surprise cameos and funny call backs. If you haven't played Mass Effect 1 you can still play the game.
Overall Mass Effect 2 is a great game with some flaws, less characters or more time to get know them better would have been nice. It's a much darker game in terms of tone and characters, but there are still plenty bits of humor and call backs to the first game.
If you are like me and loved the first one you'll love this game or if you love RPGs and shooters you would do well to try this game out. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.
The answer is: I loved it.
You once again play as Commander Shepard after being killed and the Normandy is destroyed in a spectacular prologue set one month after the events in the first game. Then two years later Shepard finds herself (since most of my Shepards from ME1 were female this is the gender that I will refer to Shepard as) awakens at Cerberus research station that is under attack and you meet new teammates Miranda and Jacob.
After escaping you meet the Illusive Man (who looks like and is voiced by Martin Sheen) who sends Shepard to a small colony there Shepard meets Tali and learns that an alien race called the Collectors is now targeting and kidnapping entire human colonies in the Terminus Systems.
Once that is done the Illusive Man gives Shepard command of the new Normandy piloted once again by Joker (voiced once again by Seth Green) and by EDI (voiced Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica) an Artificial Intelligence that Joker verbally spars with and a bunch of dossiers to gather a crew for the ultimate suicide mission.
Graphics are much better this time around with no major graphics popping or frame rates dropping. The only gripe I have with the graphics is some odd color differences in areas where they shouldn't be like on the walls of the Normandy.
Also the layouts and maps are much more diverse and aren't the same structure with boxes in different places. Bypassing locks on doors and hacking terminals are all new mini-games and aren't just random button punching.
Combat is greatly improved for the most part with the exception of healing yourself with medi-gel this time you have to duck behind some cover to heal which can be a major pain but it does force you think before charging in but it still for the most part very enjoyable.
The exploration part of the game is annoying. You scan planets and fire probes to find various elements to upgrade the armor, weapons, and the ship and find some side missions but the scanning the planets are boring and gets tedious really fast (although firing 2 probes at Uranas allows to hear a you a pair of cheap jokes by EDI).
The romance this time around only heterosexual loves (except for an awkward kiss between a female Shepard with Liara and Kelly Chambers, Shepard's assistant with whom Shepard can flirt with Shepard regardless of gender). The female gets the chance to romance with Jacob, Thane, and Garrus while male Shepard gets to romance with Miranda, Jack (aka Subject Zero), and Tali. None of the love scenes that I have seen are NOT very graphic and IMHO the Garrus and Tali romances are just pandering to the fanboys and fangirls who wanted to see Shepard get it on with them in ME1.
While Joker, Dr. Chakwas, Garrus and Tali rejoin the crew of the new Normandy the rest of the crew form the ME1 make only NPCs Liara is now an information broker and is wanting to kill the Shadow Broker (apparently for events in Mass Effect: Redemption comic book series), Wrex is now leading the krogan, Ash or Kaiden (depending on who survived the first one) are reduced to only to a minor cameo.
Some of the new characters are interesting (like Miranda, Samera, Thane and Morden) but only up to a point and others are bland (like Grunt and Jacob) or completely unlikeable (like Jack).
The voice acting is top notch with a great list of actors including those I already listed Micheal Hogan (from Battlestar Galactica as Baily), Micheal Dorn (from Star Trek: The Next Generation[/i] as a krogan warlord whose name I forget), Keith David (from The Thing as Anderson), Carrie-Anne Moss (from The Matrix trilogy as Aria), and Adam Baldwin (from Serenity as Kal Reiger) just to name a few.
The biggest problem that I have with is that the sound goes out occasionally in the game during the climax to one Samera's loyality quest the game went mute and it did it again during the second time only on the third time did I actually hear the dialoge, so my advice is keep the subtitles on. The game can also lock up so save often and have the auto save turned on.
If you beaten the first Mass Effect the import feature allows you to bring the Shepard and the decisions you made from the first game into Mass Effect 2 which is very cool because a lot of your actions carry over and there are a lot of surprise cameos and funny call backs. If you haven't played Mass Effect 1 you can still play the game.
Overall Mass Effect 2 is a great game with some flaws, less characters or more time to get know them better would have been nice. It's a much darker game in terms of tone and characters, but there are still plenty bits of humor and call backs to the first game.
If you are like me and loved the first one you'll love this game or if you love RPGs and shooters you would do well to try this game out. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.
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Dr. Solar
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So... I thought Mass Effect 1 was the most disappointing Bioware game I have ever played. I tend to like their games a lot, but ME left me with a pronounced "meh" feeling.
It kinda sounds like it is more of the same, maybe just polished and cleaned up a bit. Am I wrong?
Have they changed the game enough?
Are there more than 2 maps for outposts and space stations?
It kinda sounds like it is more of the same, maybe just polished and cleaned up a bit. Am I wrong?
Have they changed the game enough?
Are there more than 2 maps for outposts and space stations?
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cinlach@aol.com
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xodacia81
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For digital crack, might I direct you to either a Final Fantasy or Metroid game?Drift wrote:Finished it today. Absolutely outstanding. Ending was sweet. Hurry up with number 3 Bioware, I need digital crack now.
They need to do a TV series so that non-gamers can enjoy it. Finish up season 1 with the beginning sequence of ME2 just to really tease everyone.
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Drift
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I do love me some Final Fantasy but nothing from the last few years has held my interest the way Mass Effect has. I have probably finished less than 10 games in the last 2 years and at least one of those was literally just killing off the last boss.xodacia81 wrote:For digital crack, might I direct you to either a Final Fantasy or Metroid game?Drift wrote:Finished it today. Absolutely outstanding. Ending was sweet. Hurry up with number 3 Bioware, I need digital crack now.
They need to do a TV series so that non-gamers can enjoy it. Finish up season 1 with the beginning sequence of ME2 just to really tease everyone.
Currently trying to finish the .Hack series on PS2 and will back to Final Fantasy X and XII or will hit up some ShinMegaTen.
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xodacia81
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FF X & XII are wonderful ways to kill some time. I think my current "long save" in FFXII is around 128 hours...Drift wrote:I do love me some Final Fantasy but nothing from the last few years has held my interest the way Mass Effect has. I have probably finished less than 10 games in the last 2 years and at least one of those was literally just killing off the last boss.xodacia81 wrote:For digital crack, might I direct you to either a Final Fantasy or Metroid game?Drift wrote:Finished it today. Absolutely outstanding. Ending was sweet. Hurry up with number 3 Bioware, I need digital crack now.
They need to do a TV series so that non-gamers can enjoy it. Finish up season 1 with the beginning sequence of ME2 just to really tease everyone.
Currently trying to finish the .Hack series on PS2 and will back to Final Fantasy X and XII or will hit up some ShinMegaTen.
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cinlach@aol.com
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cinlach@aol.com
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March on with #2 my friend... I have a copy of #1 and didn't care for it and playing it did nothing advantageous for me in #2. #2 is SO much better with the dialogue, combat system... everything.cinlach@aol.com wrote:I'm seriously interested in playing 1 and 2 back to back, unfortunately a buddy of mine borrowed my copy of Mass Effect 1 and has yet to return it.
Darn friends! They're no good I tell ya...