New Mass Effect 2 character

[Purkake]

The elevator rides were there to mask the load times. Were there extra load times on the 360?

[Maria Caliban]

Why don't they simply use Wrex again? Also on some screenshots I've seen a quarian - is that another new follower instead of Tali?

 

Because you could kill Wrex in the first game. IIRC, we don

[Maria Caliban]

Make some compromises, the PCs have to look great, the other models can look a bit crappier if you can have more variety.

 

That's what they're doing with Dragon Age, and people are constantly complaining it doesn't look as sharp and shiny as ME. There is no WIN button with fans.

 

The best thing about consoles is that my pc is more than a year old and still runs all the new releases super awesome. As long as the limits of consoles freeze system requirement creep, its ok with me.

 

I agree with that somewhat. One of the benefits of the casual market is the de-emphasis of cutting-edge graphics, which I think is important if you want quality and innovation in gameplay.

[Azure79]

Graphical arguments aside, I'm more interested in how an assassin character will play. It would be really boring if they build up this Thane character into this invisible, deadly assassin, then have him follow Shepard around like any other soldier, taking cover and shooting at things, with maybe a few talents like 'assassination' with the sniper rifle.

 

I hope that they add in some gameplay elements that can showcase what Thane can do. Perhaps the ability to reach places unreachable to other characters, either through climbing or slinking through the shadows or crawling into vents etc. I want the option if I have Thane in my party for Shepard to cause a major explosive distraction while Thane assassinates high priority targets up close, since that seems to be his style.

[Maria Caliban]

That would be awesome.

 

I'm sure it won't be in the game.

[Hell Kitty]

Make some compromises, the PCs have to look great, the other models can look a bit crappier if you can have more variety.

 

That's what they're doing with Dragon Age, and people are constantly complaining it doesn't look as sharp and shiny as ME. There is no WIN button with fans.

 

Folks will always find something to complain about. A PC exclusive game that pushes hardware to it's limits will only result in people complaining that they can't run it at the highest settings. Crysis shows us this.

 

Games have always been limited by the hardware of the time, be it console or PC. Games like Deus Ex and Thief feature large open levels, but graphically they were below the level of other games from the time. Hitman Blood Money is a more modern example of the same thing.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I know several people who are used to traditional RPGs, and found themselves struggling with the speed of combat in the original ME. They’re trying to make a real time, third-person shooter, with tactical, party-based combat and a ton of superpowers. Yeah, it’s cluncky.

 

Similar things have been done before, they just cant seem to get the hang of fluid combat.

 

My bad for playing Counter Strike obsessively.

 

I don’t think any BG2 map was ugly. There were some beautiful ones, like the Temple of Waaken. The majority were pedestrian though. However, I’d never accuse BioWare of having an artistic flare. Look at KotOR vs KotOR II. One looked like Star Trek, the other looked like Star Trek as conceived by Obsidian. NWN was very generic looking. The Citadel looked like a giant space mall. Ilos was the only time in ME that I felt the need to stop and look at my surroundings.

 

That's correct, much of their post BG stuff was generic, that's why i didn't mention it. They make passably good design, except for Jade Empire which was better than the usual, but you have to keep in mind that:

1. RPGs are a small genre

2. The competition is much, much worse

 

They may not be pushing truly artistic graphical design a la Ico, Shadow of the Collosus, Okami etc. but they have done very good stuff in the past.

 

 

This is the type of problem Blizzard doesn’t make. Art, clothing, and architecture reflects the tastes and sensibilities of the people who make them. If Blizzard had made the Citadel it would both 1) look alien as opposed to modern American, and 2) suggest the design of Sovereign in some way.

 

I think Blizzard's art while really being consistent and clever (in the way you describe it) is also the most gaudy and tasteless (Warcraft III, WoW) fantasy art ever. A sort of manga like simplicity with an insane assault of color on the senses, a combination .

 

 

Yes, the character models are very detailed. The reason you don’t see the same in DA is that they have far more models. Did you ever notice that other than humans, there’s only one gender for each species of alien?

That said, I like both Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and wouldn’t consider ME second-rate.

 

Obviously, but the models they do have in DA look as if they were popped out of one model generator (which they probably were), which makes them look somewhat dull. All I was saying is what some people commented before: that it looks as though the AAA team is working on Mass Effect and the rookies on DA. So far i havent seen anything remarkable about DA, to disprove this. And I dont mean in terms of of OMG WHAT AMAZING GRAFIX, but really different, original design of the sort seen on ME char faces.

Clarification: second rate as in not much as a shooter, and not very good as an RPG. Doesn't leave much to praise.

Edited August 16, 2009 by RPGmasterBoo

[213374U]

Because you could kill Wrex in the first game.

Yeah. That's why "choices made in the first game will have an impact", right? C&C?

 

Instead, we get "grunt", regardless of what we did in ME.

 

*grunts*

 

 

Graphical arguments aside, I'm more interested in how an assassin character will play. It would be really boring if they build up this Thane character into this invisible, deadly assassin, then have him follow Shepard around like any other soldier, taking cover and shooting at things, with maybe a few talents like 'assassination' with the sniper rifle.

 

I hope that they add in some gameplay elements that can showcase what Thane can do. Perhaps the ability to reach places unreachable to other characters, either through climbing or slinking through the shadows or crawling into vents etc. I want the option if I have Thane in my party for Shepard to cause a major explosive distraction while Thane assassinates high priority targets up close, since that seems to be his style.

Either this, or he's just a poser.

[Maria Caliban]

Because you could kill Wrex in the first game.

Yeah. That's why "choices made in the first game will have an impact", right? C&C?

 

Instead, we get "grunt", regardless of what we did in ME.

 

*grunts*

 

As far as we know, Wrex will appear in the game if you didn't kill him, but not as a party member.

[213374U]

Yeah, and that's precisely my point. Other than cosmetic, no real consequences for the decisions made. One of the most dramatic moments of ME reduced to just another footnote.

[Llyranor]

I guess a cameo is an easy way to implement 'consequence' between the games without actually putting much effort into it.

[Purkake]

I agree that Bioware is pretty much making your choices meaningless and forcing their own new story down your throat. How many people expect to continue on with the same party they ended the game with? I certainly would, considering what Bioware has been saying.

 

There's nothing wrong with adding new characters and maybe even killing off a couple of the old ones, but this is pretty much a new game.

[Bos_hybrid]

I agree that Bioware is pretty much making your choices meaningless and forcing their own new story down your throat. How many people expect to continue on with the same party they ended the game with? I certainly would, considering what Bioware has been saying.

 

There's nothing wrong with adding new characters and maybe even killing off a couple of the old ones, but this is pretty much a new game.

 

Agreed, if there is no Wrex, then that decision is quite meaningless, same goes for Ashley/Kaiden's lack of appearence. So far the only two that seem to reappear are Liara and Tali. God I bet they read all those Tali romance threads and decided to make her romanceable..... Hey maybe that the big decision in ME2, do the deed and kill Tali or have an emo love triangle with a pregnant Liara.

[Meshugger]

Hey maybe that the big decision in ME2, do the deed and kill Tali or have an emo love triangle with a pregnant Liara.

 

*Shrugs*

 

Since little seem to matter from ME1, why the hell not?

[Pidesco]

[RPGmasterBoo]

So, what, they pushed the restart button on the plot on account of recognizing how boring the characters were?

If you've got to remove half the characters to make a sequel then something is very wrong.

[Purkake]

I guess they didn't want to add more depth to the current characters or just wanted to show off more wacky rubber forehead aliens with their own sad childhoods.

 

Also, stop misquoting me Meshugger and Pidesco.

[Meshugger]

I guess they didn't want to add more depth to the current characters or just wanted to show off more wacky rubber forehead aliens with their own sad childhoods.

 

Also, stop misquoting me Meshugger and Pidesco.

 

Okay

[Pidesco]

I guess they didn't want to add more depth to the current characters or just wanted to show off more wacky rubber forehead aliens with their own sad childhoods.

 

Also, stop misquoting me Meshugger and Pidesco.

 

No

[Slowtrain]

[213374U]

Bull**** is the lubricant of human relations.

[Maria Caliban]

Yeah, and that's precisely my point. Other than cosmetic, no real consequences for the decisions made. One of the most dramatic moments of ME reduced to just another footnote.

 

You've convinced me. Wrex isn't a party member, therefore no choices made in the first game will have real consequences in the second.

 

When it comes to BioWare, I feel like a ping-pong ball. I go to their forums, and feel like I

[Wrath of Dagon]

I'm 100% sure ME1 was a crap game. Also the Citadel was built by a very ancient and dangerous race, commercial land developers.

[213374U]

You've convinced me. Wrex isn't a party member, therefore no choices made in the first game will have real consequences in the second.

*is dazed*

 

Wow. The logic is so, so flimsy in your poorly assembled strawman bait, that it actually took me a second to identify it as such. Congrats.

 

Wrex's case is just ANOTHER example of the lack of meaningful consequences from choices made in the first game, from what little BIO has revealed. It's also a very telling example, since as I said the confrontation with Wrex is one of the most tense and dramatic moments in ME. And for some reason, they decided to reduce the impact of that to a cameo. A wink to the player. It doesn't get much more irrelevant than that. The reason, you tell me.

 

 

I've got to ask, how sure are you that ME2 will be a crap game? 80%? 60%? I ask because I find myself in what I perceive as a very critical position of ME and of what I see of ME2, but your statement appears to be a work of massive speculation.

I have no idea. On the other hand, applying percentages to something as unquantifiable as opinions is just... lol. But hey, it's what people call an "educated guess". You know, venturing an opinion based on what (little) you know?

 

I'll admit, though. They won me over when they said about the mini-nuke: "don't like it? well, don't use it!".

[Maria Caliban]

You've convinced me. Wrex isn't a party member, therefore no choices made in the first game will have real consequences in the second.

*is dazed*

 

Wow. The logic is so, so flimsy in your poorly assembled strawman bait, that it actually took me a second to identify it as such. Congrats.

 

Let's ignore your misuse of the word strawman (unless you aren't actually talking about whether choices from ME will create consequences in ME2) and try to salvage something.

 

Wrex's case is just ANOTHER example of the lack of meaningful consequences from choices made in the first game, from what little BIO has revealed.

 

But you didn't talk about the *other* examples. You didn't even mention that there were *other* examples. What are these other examples? We believe that depending on whom you romanced, Kaiden, Ashely, or Liara will begin in your party. We know that how you dealt with Natalia Dantis changes how she interacts with you. We know nothing about the Rachni Queen, or the Council.

 

I said Wrex was not in your party, but in the game. You said that there were no real consequences in the second game. That is ALL you said.

 

If you have other information, please give it to me.