Mass Effect 2

[Robsturgh]

So, I haven't seen a mention of this game around here, and I'm pretty sure we had a few fans of the first game.

A bunch of reviews are up, ranging from awesome to fucking awesome, and all its doing is frustrating the hell out of me that it is NOT CURRENTLY UPON MY MONITOR NOW.

The IGN review is fairly spoiler-free, which can be found here.

The coolest looking thing about this game is how much info seems to be carried over from the first game, even side-quest decisions seem to have been carried over for the most part.

Long and short? Bring on Friday. Or Tuesday for you bastard Americans.

[Kaney]

There are things that are being carried over from the first game that won't even really appear until the third game! This is the first real major release I've been looking forward to since well, Fallout 3 probably. I have a full two weeks off next week to play it

[King Ellis]

Game needs more Elcor and Hanar.

[LL!]

Game needs less 60 dollar price tag.

[Bobfoc]

I have been waiting for Mass Effect 2 ever since I finished the original for the first time. It's definitely my most anticipated game of 2010, with Alan Wake and Bioshock 2 (which comes out just a week or so after Mass Effect 2) my next most wanted titles. Sadly, I live in the UK too and will have to wait an extra three days, which means that I will stay a long way away from any topics remotely related to Mass Effect 2 until next Friday.

[mystikz]

I can't wait, been excited for so long. Elcor maybe but no stupid jellies! trying to avoid too many spoilers since of course there is a fucking pirated version I guess. trying to decide who to use in my first team.

[Lint]

I started playing the first one again to get myself ready for ME2...should hopefully be done with it by tomorrow at midnight..or I would be if i didn't take time out to watch House, 24 and RAW... >_<

[SRN]

I am fucking psyched for this. I absolutely adored the first game, played it through at least three times. And just today I bought the Super Duper Deluxe Ultra Special Edition of ME2 so yeah, the 29th better come here very quickly.

[King Ellis]

I hope Riceman comes back to tell us he got the game early, just for Nostalgia's sake.

[EddieRuckus]

I really hope we get this in stock for our store tomorrow or Wednesday, otherwise I'll have to wait til Saturday to play it.

[GhostMachine]

Pre-ordered. Picking up at Gamestop some time today. Unfortunately, they had quit taking pre-orders for the Collector's Edition already, so I'm hoping they might have some cancels (guy at the store told me that might happen).

I've read some spoilers, but nothing major, and I will drop one that shouldn't get anyone upset, because you'd have to have been living under a rock not to hear it:

Yes, Tali is a romance option, but you don't get to see her face. Apparently we won't find out what Quarians look like unmasked until ME3 (if they ever decide to actual reveal that). Garrus is a romance option for females. And I've heard conflicting reports about whether or not there's a lesbian romance option this time. It was rumored that Subject Zero may swing both ways, but apparently she's only an option if you're playing a male Shepard.

Apparently Dr. Pepper has a promotion going on where you can get codes to download content for various games (you pick the game, apparently). The ME3 download is a set of two helmets and a visor. Haven't seen pictures of them yet, though.

And apparently its going to be easier to share your own Shepard facial design with others. Someone made a post over at GameFAQs and has started a site for people to send in their ME2 designs. Some people who already have the game (not sure if they're pirated; I've heard some stores released the game a few days early) have sent in theirs, and a lot of them look really cool. (One is based on HK actor Donnie Yen and looks pretty good, but there's an evil looking one based on Jason Statham, which looks pretty awesome except for the scars and red eyes)

http://www.masseffect2faces.com is the URL. I plan on submitting my main game Shepard from ME after I get ME2, since I'm going to re-use the face unless its looks crappy when converted over.

[apsham]

Tali is a romance option? Getting this game for sure!

[Lint]

I admit I am somewhat disappointed. They replaced the "dull lifeless" planet exploring with a dull actionless scanning minigame. The entire "thermal clip" idea is flawed. It says they are universal yet how come I can have zero clips for one weapon and 10 for another? Fueling the ship is a decent idea but only having 1000 units of fuel to start isn't enough imo. Scanning the planets for resources, while making sense, is too time consuming given the size of some planets verses the size of the scanning reticle. And the mission accomplished screen after levels makes it feel too much like an action game then action/rpg, and the credit system is completely screwed up. In ME1 it felt like credits were useless. You could just find most of the better weapons/armors/mods. I think the entire game I only purchased 2 weapons and found the rest. In this one it feels like the credits are too few. 50,000 credits for an armor mod? Come on now. Atfirst when I imported my ME1 character and saw I got like 100.000 credits for it I was like "ohhh..can get some great stuff!" Then I saw how much stuff costs.

As for what I like..exploring the Normandy and the levels in general is a blast. Except for The Citadel which feels strangely closed off. The action is just as good and the streamlined leveling system means you can't maxout some stats from the getgo and actually build toward them. The graphics are great and, on my 5.1 surround sound system, the audio is immersive. The opening levels are enough to grab your attention and keep it.

Hopefully some of the disappointing stuff gets better as I advance. I've only played for about 4 hours so far and still haven't finished recruiting my crew so I'm pretty early in the game.

[mystikz]

the combat seems better, I'm on Omega right now. Really glad to see Tali and Garrus back. I still miss Ashley, Liara and Wrex... especially Wrex. Love the new Normandy.

[Lint]

Oh..and another thing...this isn't so much ME2 but most bioware games in general. How come bad=facial deformities? Getting told the scarring on my face will only get better if I do good things? Geez come on. It is entirely possible to be evil and look normal. Atleast, for men, have them grow a sinister goatee or something different.

And how'd you get Tali?

Edited January 27, 2010 by Lint6

[RoyWill Rumble]

Ummm... where the fuck did you hear that? You can get rid of your scars buy just upgrading the medical bay.

Andddd... could you bitch any more? Christ.

The only bad thing about the game so far is harvesting minerals, and I've found that just tapping left trigger helps quite a bit instead of constantly holding it.

Fuel consumption really isn't that big of a deal.

As for things being overpriced? No, they're not. They're relative to the insane amount of credits you get this time around.

[GhostMachine]

I bought the strategy guide, and once you have Mordin you can research an improvement to the Normandy that improves the fuel capacity by 50%. It requires 3000 Element Zero.

The med bay upgrade that gets rid of the scars is incredibly expensive, though. 50,000 Platinum. You're better off using Platinum on other things first.

This game is definitely tougher than the first, because you do have to take cover; the first game you could shrug off a lot of shit that will kill you quick in this one. I've died about 4-5 times (mostly while trying to do the closing the shutters part of the Archangel mission), and I'm not too far into it. I've recruited Garrus and Zaeed (Zaeed is DLC and you just have to talk to him to get him, but he comes with a mission to do later) and just got the plague cure mission from Mordin. Haven't been to the Citadel yet. The first game I didn't die at all until near the halfway point of the game.

One thing I don't like about this game is that not only do heavy weapons only carry a couple of shots, but ammo clips for them seem to be freaking rare. I've got the Blackstorm, but am only using it if absolutely necessary. (Wish I had been able to use it when doing the shutters part of Archangel....)

I like the two hacking mini-games better than that lame one in the first, but some things can be a bitch to hack. I think I'm going to go buy that upgrade in Omega that increases your time to hack once I get done with Mordin.

And Shepard's yeoman Kelly is freakin' cute!

Edited January 27, 2010 by GhostMachine

[wolves]

I'm going to grab this on Saturday. I've been looking for something to play besides Modern Warfare 2 and my Live Arcade games. I had Assassin's Creed II but I just can't bring myself to play it for whatever reason. I'm just going to trade it in and get Mass Effect 2. I've been really wanting to get a solid RPG game to really get into and this seems like the right one.

[GhostMachine]

I'm going to grab this on Saturday. I've been looking for something to play besides Modern Warfare 2 and my Live Arcade games. I had Assassin's Creed II but I just can't bring myself to play it for whatever reason. I'm just going to trade it in and get Mass Effect 2. I've been really wanting to get a solid RPG game to really get into and this seems like the right one.

Just keep in mind that the Mass Effect games are actually RPG/FPS hybrids.

[wolves]

I'm going to grab this on Saturday. I've been looking for something to play besides Modern Warfare 2 and my Live Arcade games. I had Assassin's Creed II but I just can't bring myself to play it for whatever reason. I'm just going to trade it in and get Mass Effect 2. I've been really wanting to get a solid RPG game to really get into and this seems like the right one.

Just keep in mind that the Mass Effect games are actually RPG/FPS hybrids.

Yeah I know, that's why it's appealing to me. Straight up RPG's just aren't that good anymore in my opinion. I'm much happier playing Mass Effect 2 and then getting Super Mario RPG on the Wii to quench the RPG thirst.

I'd really like to get into the new Final Fantasy coming up but I've never been into 3D RPG's that just have you wandering around the same scenery for hours on end as you stumble to find what you're supposed to do.