Anyone else really hyped for Mass Effect 2?

[WaLkAwaY]

Almost everything plays out in third person; only the scope on the sniper rifle will take you into first- all the rest of the weapons have an aiming mode as well, but the camera only draws in closer to your shoulder while using it. When exploring, the camera will be centered behind your character; when in combat it will shift to a right-hand over-the-shoulder perspective.

 

From my experience, the combat difficulty curve is much steeper in ME2 than it was in ME1. I was able to play ME1 on its second-highest setting without any trouble, but I have so far found ME2 combat frustrating when I turn it up above Normal. As long as you fight from cover, you shouldn't have too many headaches, but if you're not big into shooters it might be best to leave the game on Casual. There aren't any experience penalties that I am aware of for doing so; if there are they do not have much effect.

 

None of the romances really change the way the game plays out. You will not live or die based on who you decide to get kissy with; you can choose not to bother with any of them if you so desire- nothing else you do will be affected. However, if you romance a character, they will often tell you things about their past which you wouldn't find out any other way. It's a way to add depth to the characters (yours and theirs), not just a way to shoehorn in some alien sex. Sex scenes on network TV are raunchier than anything you'll see here. The emphasis IMHO is more on character development; the devs have hinted that there will be some kind of follow-up on the romance options (from both games) in ME3, including some kind of consequences if you went and fooled around on whoever you were with in ME1 (if anyone at all). It isn't like there are stat bonuses that can only be had through the power of love. ;)

 

I never played the first one so I would not know but thanks for the reply. As far as the romance stuff, I know I was not really worried that it was going to be that detailed, I just would rather play games without that element as I see no need for it to even enter into gaming. Unless of course as I said before it is for total immersion like Oblivion where you are basically creating a virtual world almost like the Sims.

 

One other thing, you said that the camera goes centered or during combat, in a right hand... can you change the camera angle during combat or it is pretty much set?

 

 

[WrathOfDeadguy]

I don't believe that there is a way to change the camera settings. The only time your point of view will change in combat is when you take cover; the camera will shift in the direction you're facing so that you can see where you will pop out when you take aim. I do not believe there is anything in the options menu to change the camera's location, for example, from right-shoulder to left-shoulder in combat. While exploring, you can pan the camera around but its point of focus is always centered just above your head.

[evilneko]

If ME2's camera is exactly like ME1's, there's nothing to worry about. It doesn't get in the way. It's a model for all cameras!

 

some kind of consequences if you went and fooled around on whoever you were with in ME1

So if I romanced Liara in ME1, since she doesn't play a role in ME2 I have to stay chaste?

[Sarya]

Well, Liara is actually present... and no, it seems the game assumes that the previous romance ended for good. That's at least what I can say by making a new one - she got dumped by her assumed previous-game romance.

 

I must say the game got much better. At least new problems are fewer than those that are gone. Still not as interesting as Dragon Age, but a huge improvement.

[SceneGG]

Absolutely loving ME2, and the fact that whatever you do in it is going to directly effect ME3.... can't wait

[Alastair91]

Is it better than the first one? Can you say that it's the best RPG you've played so far? I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[LHammonds]

Well, I finally got my copy in the mail yesterday and stayed up quite late playing this puppy.

 

I have to say it was hard to put down the controller...just wanted to keep on going. But then again, it wasn't "too" hard to put the controller down, I did afterall need to take a shower before heading to work. ;)

 

I found myself running out of ammo during the battles which required me to do 3 things different that what I did in ME1.

 

#1 - Had to pay attention where clips were laying around (they apparently will respawn during each wave of attacks)

#2 - Had to utilize each of my teams special forces more often to maximize biotics to reduce ammo usage

#3 - Had to aim better to ensure more headshots (thus reducing ammo usage).

 

I have not progressed far in the story and not obtained many weapons but of the couple varieties that I have found, each weapon seems to require a bit different method in tactics for each one which is really cool. The initial assault rifle seems to be a fairly standard spray-n-pray type of gun that allows for a lot of shots per clip but not much damage per round. The 2nd rifle I acquired did 5-round bursts which seemed to pack a bit harder punch but was most effective when aiming for the head. Same goes for the pistol, the initial pistol was plain-jane but the 2nd packed a larger punch and had less rounds per clip. I felt more confident carrying that heavy pistol than the original assault rifle!

 

I R * E * A * L * L * Y like how they replaced the boring "Simon Says" mini-game with more immersive chip re-routing / hacking and firewall bypass mini-games. Even though they too get boring after a few times, it is MUCH better than the Simon-says game.

[SceneGG]

Is it better than the first one? Can you say that it's the best RPG you've played so far? I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

I think I can say yes to this. I spent 26hrs straight last w/e playing this baby - as LHammonds said, I found it really hard to put this game down

[rebalious]

One of my friends decided to spam my email with pics.Now thats just not nice. Seriously considering getting it just to make him stop, although he did let me play on his for a bit. Default controls were a bit of a pain but after a little tweaking much better.

 

Wonder whose smart Idea it was to move the power hud button, that got me killed a few times.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

My take on the weapons I've tried so far... another big post. :)

 

 

Pistols...

 

M-3 Predator- Decent damage, good ammo reserve. Brilliant for popping mooks. I consider this gun to be the equal of the Hand Cannon; it simply has different strengths and is not as well-suited to my particular play style. Don't think that it is inferior just because you get it first; give it a chance later on.

 

M-6 Carniflex Hand Cannon- Great damage, small ammo reserve. I carry it a lot but tend to only pull it out when my sniper rifle runs out of ammo; this baby is a great backup because of how much punch it packs. 'Hand Cannon' is not an exaggeration at all. One headshot dispatches most mooks, but I almost feel guilty wasting the ammo on anything less than an elite.

 

 

SMGs...

 

M-4 Shuriken Machine Pistol- Modest damage, modest ammo reserve. This is a panic weapon; something to pull out when an enemy is too close and you don't have time to aim carefully. Once you get the Tempest, you will forget this gun even exists.

 

M-9 Tempest SMG- This became my standard crowd-control weapon the instant I acquired it. It is better in every way than the Shuriken; it fires longer bursts, has a larger magazine and a larger reserve, and is much more accurate. While not quite an assault rifle, it's damn close. Great weapon.

 

 

Sniper Rifles...

 

M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle- The basic sniper rifle is no slouch. Though it has a small ammo reserve, a single shot is (as expected) plenty to deal with most enemies. There isn't much else to say; it's a good gun.

 

M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle- The Viper is not an upgrade to the Mantis, it is more of a sidegrade. While the Mantis deals high per-shot damage in exchange for a slow reload time, the Viper deals comparable damage to the Handcannon pistol at a higher rate of fire. IMHO, with the Handcannon as an option, the Viper feels a bit redundant- sure, it has a scope and carries more ammo, but by using it you lose the reach-out-and-kill-something oomph that a sniper rifle is meant to provide. Great for crowds of faraway mooks, but severely lacking against more powerful enemies.

 

M-98 Widow Anti-Material Rifle- The Widow is just plain better. In addition to a slightly larger ammo reserve than the Mantis, the Widow does more damage and takes the same amount of time to reload. This is the sniper uber-weapon- if you like sniping, you should grab it over all other options when you find it (for my Infiltrator, the other options were assault rifle or shotgun training). The Widow does more per-shot damage than any other standard weapon in the game. It actually does more per-shot damage than several of the heavy weapons. Having the Widow along is like having a second heavy weapon with a scope on it. It is just that good. Easily my favorite gun in the game.

 

 

Heavy Weapons...

 

M-100 Grenade Launcher- An all-around decent crowd-killer. While not overly punchy compared to some of the other options, there are few drawbacks to the M-100 as a weapon. With all of the upgrades, it carries a respectable ammo reserve, fires pretty quickly, and deals quite a bit of splash damage. A good fire-and-cover weapon for dealing with tougher critters.

 

ML-77 Missile Launcher- I tried to love this weapon; I really did. However, despite its strengths, it has one crippling weakness that severely limits its usefulness: the missiles go wherever they please, not wherever you want them to. Unless you simply can't or don't want to aim, there is no reason at all to take the M-77 over the M-100. None at all.

 

M-622 Avalanche- Haven't tried yet. I don't expect I'll be impressed. The Mass Effect Wiki describes it as more of a defensive support weapon, which IMHO is what powers are for.

 

M-920 Cain- I'm in two minds over this one. On the downside, it gets you two shots at the very most even with every ammo upgrade and the heavy weapon ammo pack armor mod. On the upside, if you aim it well your trigger turns into an instant I-WIN button. It will take out absolutely anything short of the Thresher Maw and the final boss in the game with a direct hit... and even an indirect hit causes epic carnage. The biggest problem with the Cain is its charge-up time; it is very easy to get interrupted by enemy fire while aiming, which means the Cain is best paired with the Infiltrator class' cloaking ability. You can easily liquefy yourself if you aren't careful where you're aiming (or if a Husk runs across your line of fire just as the charge cycle finishes. Dammit). I don't use this weapon often because its utility is sharply limited; because you only get one shot you will want to save it for something that is really asking for it. Or, y'know, you could drop one on a Varren just because you can.

 

Collector Particle Beam- Quite possibly the most useful of the heavy weapons. This beauty fills a lot of roles quite handily- it is pinpoint-accurate and cuts through shields, armor, and health bars like a hot knife through a cliche. The only downside is that it is very easy to get carried away with it against heftier foes; because it is a sustained-fire weapon you will want to keep it on target and firing until your target dies. This is not always the best idea when you are taking fire from several directions. It also grants the best ammo efficiency of any heavy weapon; since it is (again) a sustained-fire weapon, you can give each target exactly as much ouch as it wants, no more and no less. You might even decide that the Particle beam makes things too easy, which is exactly the conclusion I came to. An all-around fantastic weapon is this.

 

M-451 Firestorm- A DLC-only weapon that comes bundled with the Zaeed pack. It's a flamethrower (and a cute little Ray Bradbury shout-out), obviously. It does what flamethrowers are known for; it burns things at short range. It's a great weapon... for short range fights. It lacks the reach of every other heavy weapon, and doesn't stack up well against the Particle Beam since (both being sustained-fire weapons) the Beam is not range-limited. Flamethrowers do not make the best fight-from-cover weapons, and since fighting from cover is what Mass Effect 2 combat is all about... the Firestorm comes up a bit short.

 

 

I haven't gotten around to trying the Assault Rifles or the Shotguns yet, since my first two playthroughs were different Infiltrator builds both of whom chose the Widow rifle. I plan on playing a Soldier next.