Mass Effect 2 release date: Jan 26 2010

[Flames89]

Question: Do you advise playing ME1 first? Is it worth it? It's not like I have a TON of free time...

[TSXCman]

I've been trying to play Mass Effect 1 for pc for a while now. I always freeze up and glitch in the first huge spaceship that you get to walk around in. I have downloaded mods that are meant to bypass this problem but I just freeze up elsewhere.

The game runs sooo slow and such crap graphics, considering I can play oblivion and other visually strong games at high levels of smoothness.

I can't wrap my head around why it is so hard, I would like to be playing the first one then get into ME2 upon completion

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Question: Do you advise playing ME1 first? Is it worth it? It's not like I have a TON of free time...

very worth it. if you create a new character in ME2 the big decisions in the first game are made for you, and you'd miss out on so many cool encounters with characters from the first game (well not miss out, but they wouldn't mean near as much)

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Question: Do you advise playing ME1 first? Is it worth it? It's not like I have a TON of free time...

If you have a TON of free time why not? I told my friend to go back and beat it before he picked up ME2 and he beat it in like 2 days.

Totally worth it.

[Hemi-Cuda]

for those that may still be on the fence

Hollywood's next sci-fi franchise

In short, there is an amazing amount of talent in this sequel, more than is often seen in many Hollywood productions. All of this talent have come together to produce an artistic marvel. Seldom does the movie-making business produce anything as entertaining as this scifi-action drama.

So what is this top-tier Hollywood production? You might have figured it out, already. If not, chances are you're playing it, now: It is Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 2 is a cinematic, gaming joy. It is likely to become a science fiction franchise with all the enduring appeal of Star Wars or Star Trek, and it's a franchise born not of TV nor film but gaming.

That's a revolution in and of itself, but Mass Effect 2 also represents a revolution, not just in gaming, but in interactive entertainment.

...Mass Effect 2 is a masterpiece.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

If you have a TON of free time why not? I told my friend to go back and beat it before he picked up ME2 and he beat it in like 2 days.

Totally worth it.

Actually, he said the opposite. He doesn't have a ton of free time...

[photon]

Fun fun game, lots of cool interesting stuff, I love Mordin, best character in a game in a long time.

Still hate this "oh by the way making this decision will screw you up for the rest of your life" idea though, made the "wrong" choice apparently on the Collector ship so I didn't get the Widow sniper gun, and apparently even if I start a new game I can NEVER get the Widow sniper gun because that choice sticks with you forever. I have to start a new game with a new character entirely.

Seriously, who sits there in game design meetings and honestly says "You know what, we need more choices in the game that have huge repercussions later on that the only way a player will know what they're actually choosing is to play the game with a wiki of the game open on their other monitor."

That's the opposite of fun.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by photon

Fun fun game, lots of cool interesting stuff, I love Mordin, best character in a game in a long time.

Still hate this "oh by the way making this decision will screw you up for the rest of your life" idea though, made the "wrong" choice apparently on the Collector ship so I didn't get the Widow sniper gun, and apparently even if I start a new game I can NEVER get the Widow sniper gun because that choice sticks with you forever. I have to start a new game with a new character entirely.

Speaking of, should I go Assault Rifle or Sniper Rifle for my Sentinal (playing Hardcore / might rush through Insanity later)? Haven't figured out which one I want to keep yet.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

Fun fun game, lots of cool interesting stuff, I love Mordin, best character in a game in a long time.

Still hate this "oh by the way making this decision will screw you up for the rest of your life" idea though, made the "wrong" choice apparently on the Collector ship so I didn't get the Widow sniper gun, and apparently even if I start a new game I can NEVER get the Widow sniper gun because that choice sticks with you forever. I have to start a new game with a new character entirely.

Seriously, who sits there in game design meetings and honestly says "You know what, we need more choices in the game that have huge repercussions later on that the only way a player will know what they're actually choosing is to play the game with a wiki of the game open on their other monitor."

That's the opposite of fun.

how did you make the wrong choice? when you're on the collector ship and browse the weapon pile, it states pretty clearly what special weapon or additional training you can take. and if it bugs you that much why not just load a save from before you went to the ship? this game is all about re-playability though, so even though there were some choices i wish i had done differently my first time though i knew that i'd be running through the game with at least 4-5 characters so it wasn't a big deal

[photon]

I didn't know the choice would be permanent so I chose assault rifle (event though I'm an assassin) because I wanted another choice.

Reloading now would be arduous, I've done a bunch of the personal missions for the team since then, hours and hours at least.

I don't get much time to play games these days so I doubt I'll have any more than 1 reply through after this, if even that (too many other games out there that I haven't played).

It's not a huge deal, I still do well with the sniper rifle I have, it's just annoying and not fun IMO to have little things like that.

[jeremywilhelm]

Hoe do you get the widow?

[photon]

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Wid...Material_Rifle

[Jordan!]

25 hours in, this has to be the best game i've ever played in my life. Taking the spot from Final Fantasy VII.

I've savored every second i've played this game. I'm glad I took the time to knock out Mass Effect 1 before playing this one.

[3 Justin 3]

I miss a lot of things from ME2. I liked how there was more than 1 armor instead of just upgrading, it makes it more RPG. I liked the infinite ammo, I could use my shotgun more than twice in the game (everything but heavy weapon should be unlimited). I thought this game was a bit too short. It would have been nice if there was more story missions, there was the IFF, the suicide mission and that's really it (besides the ally missions). I wish they had included the Mako in the game, yeah it sucked, but still use it, just tone it back. I hate ABSOLUTELY HATE how they gutted the skills system, and exp system. The old system (lvl 60) with the 10+ skills, is way better than the one in ME2. Gutting the exp as well (only get it for missions, rather than kills + missions), is also stupid.

I think ME2 is the better game, but I miss A LOT of the old stuff from ME, which made it unique and more RPG. ME2 is as shooterish as Gears of Wars.

[photon]

Yeah they streamlined it just a little too much. The # of weapons and stuff you'd gather in your inventory was just WAY over the top in ME1, but this feels like RPG on Rails; no real choices, just find the stuff to upgrade.

But I also agree, one of the best games I've played in an looooong time, and not even done yet.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

I miss a lot of things from ME2. I liked how there was more than 1 armor instead of just upgrading, it makes it more RPG. I liked the infinite ammo, I could use my shotgun more than twice in the game (everything but heavy weapon should be unlimited). I thought this game was a bit too short. It would have been nice if there was more story missions, there was the IFF, the suicide mission and that's really it (besides the ally missions). I wish they had included the Mako in the game, yeah it sucked, but still use it, just tone it back. I hate ABSOLUTELY HATE how they gutted the skills system, and exp system. The old system (lvl 60) with the 10+ skills, is way better than the one in ME2. Gutting the exp as well (only get it for missions, rather than kills + missions), is also stupid.

I think ME2 is the better game, but I miss A LOT of the old stuff from ME, which made it unique and more RPG. ME2 is as shooterish as Gears of Wars.

think of all the useless skills though. forcing you to spend 10 points in a weapon skill just to use it effectively? and finding random armor in a box that's better than what the Alliance would give it's best human operative? i like almost all the changes because they fit this mold of game better. what Bioware did was really challenge the definition of what an RPG is. to me making decisions that have a huge impact and letting me decide how i want things to unfold makes more of a ROLE playing game than random loot drops

i also prefer how they organized the missions this time. sure the main missions were quite few, but when you knew exactly where the bad guys were and just had to figure out how to get there, it made sense. this way with all of the recruitment and loyalty quests Bioware got to show off more of the Mass Effect universe, instead of just mission after mission against the same enemies. the Quarian fleet, Krogan homeworld, Omega base, all extremely awesome locales and they helped make the ME universe feel so much more alive than the first game

what Bioware did was perfect IMO. they looked at the core strengths of the first game, improved vastly on them, and shedded most of the extra fluff that wasn't needed. i think it's unfair to try and classify it as an RPG or a shooter, with so much focus on the cinematic elements and character development (has any sequel ever cared about what happened in the first game more than ME2?) it's pretty much in a genre of it's own

[3 Justin 3]

Well, I have 50/51 achievements, just need to beat Insanity now. Those stupid Incinerate/Warp/Overload achievements were so bitch to get as they never update so I don't know my progress.

Thinking about going back to play ME1 now and finish up those.

I want more Keith David in ME3, I only got to see him once in ME2.

[CaramonLS]

Agree with Justin on the weapons/armor angle.

Kinda wish there were a lot more weapons/types to use. That would be one of my few complaints with ME2. Great game overall though.

[photon]

Just finished it, still didn't get enough Paragon points to make Jack loyal to me again.

Awesome game, will probably replay it as Renegade at some point.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by photon

Just finished it, still didn't get enough Paragon points to make Jack loyal to me again.

Awesome game, will probably replay it as Renegade at some point.

much more fun as renegade. some of the renegade interrupts are epic, as is Zaeed's loyalty mission