Mass Effect 2 Discussion

[Orogun01]

BTW, anyone else feels like socking Shepard on the noggin for not figuring out that the dying suns all over the galaxy is the Reapers opening rifts to dark space?

[Purkake]

I just turned the sound off and listened to a podcast while scanning the planets. I got enough resources to do most upgrades, but I didn't really have to scan a huge number of planets. Just do a quick-over and get all the hotspots, there's no need to deplete all the planets.

 

@Orogun01: where did they explain that?

Edited February 3, 2010 by Purkake

[Raithe]

I just turned the sound off and listened to a podcast while scanning the planets. I got enough resources to do most upgrades, but I didn't really have to scan a huge number of planets. Just do a quick-over and get all the hotspots, there's no need to deplete all the planets.

 

@Orogun01: where did they explain that?

 

 

It's not explained per se, but there's mention of the Reapers using Dark Energy... and then there's Tali's recruitment mission where

the whole research of why the sun is going funky comes down to some strange injection of Dark Energy into the sun's core....

so really it's more of a .. heavy hint then any actual say-so.

[Purkake]

But how exactly are they injecting it when they are somewhere very very far away?

[Raithe]

But how exactly are they injecting it when they are somewhere very very far away?

 

 

Well since they're supposed to have invented the Mass Relays, who says they don't have other technology available? The Mass Relays and the Citadel are meant to make sure other civilizations follow specific scientific routes.. Maybe it's just a cunning plan to make sure people don't look into other scientific areas to solve problems the Mass Relays and such seem to solve...

 

 

It's one of the wonders of sci-fi series, you never know what tech is available to some uber-powerful advanced culture...

Or it's a cheap throwaway deus ex machina to set up some hints for ME3....

 

Oh, and how many people noticed that if you select the Continue Playing option after the suicide mission, there's a new Codex entry that more explains Harbringer

as a Reaper who was puppeteering the Collector-General, and that it wasn't just the Collector-General pupputeering other Collectors

?

[Deraldin]

Oh, and how many people noticed that if you select the Continue Playing option after the suicide mission, there's a new Codex entry that more explains Harbringer

as a Reaper who was puppeteering the Collector-General, and that it wasn't just the Collector-General pupputeering other Collectors

?

 

Never saw the codex entry, but I thought it was pretty obvious even without.

[Raithe]

Never saw the codex entry, but I thought it was pretty obvious even without.

 

Ah I've heard a bunch of people over the place who were still doing the "where was the Reaper connection beyond the stupid

human-reaper embryo?"

, just thought it was worth pointing out that they included that as an extra clue-stick for those that needed it.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Raithe

[HoonDing]

I feel as if 90% of my playtime so far has consisted of either chatting up weirdos or scanning planets.

 

The combat missions are way too short, even for me who sucks at anything even remotely related to shooters. Recruiting Jack took 15 minutes, Zaeed's mission, while awesome, was about the same length.

[Nepenthe]

Yeah, do 300k and you're set.

 

Just finished the game. Was quite satisfying but nowhere near all that greatness I've been reading around elsewhere. I'm not sure it's even any better than Me1 since it has plenty of bull**** you guys have already mentioned and discussed. Maybe I'll play it again to get the remaining 2 achievements , Warp 30x and get char to lvl30. I don't even know what i have to do for the last one, afaik i saw everything i cpuld and finished every quest i could and i was still only lvl 28 by the end of the game.

I've heard that the only way to hit level 30 on your first run is to import a level 60 character from ME1.

 

You get an extra 25 % experience for completing the game (and all subsequent playthroughs), if you have a lot of N7 missions left over you can probably hit 30 even with a lower level import by playing "after completion". Or just get it the second time around.

 

I feel as if 90% of my playtime so far has consisted of either chatting up weirdos or scanning planets.

 

The combat missions are way too short, even for me who sucks at anything even remotely related to shooters. Recruiting Jack took 15 minutes, Zaeed's mission, while awesome, was about the same length.

 

I thought they were just perfect after the endless tunnels of DAO.

 

On an unrelated note, I got my bottom really handed to me several times during Jack's recruitment mission. Going to be interesting if my fine-tuned tactics work better now that I'm playing on insanity.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Nepenthe

[Malcador]

Replayed to get the renegade ending and something odd happened

Legion died when he didn't in the first playthrough and the only change was taking Grunt instead of Thane to fight the Human-Reaper. He wasn't loyal in either case - maybe the first time was just a bug ?

[HoonDing]

Going to be interesting if my fine-tuned tactics work better now that I'm playing on insanity.

What tactics? Hiding behind a conveniently placed crate, letting Miranda spam overload/warp & pulling out the sniper rifle/missile launcher once the enemy's defenses are down is the win at all times.

[Orogun01]

But how exactly are they injecting it when they are somewhere very very far away?

 

That's exactly why they would be trying to turn stars into black holes. According to Sovereign the Reapers are at the confines of the Universe on dark space; this fits very nicely with them making the Collectors base on a black hole and since the Citadel portal is closed they need another in, ergo the wormholes.

 

[RPGmasterBoo]

What tactics? Hiding behind a conveniently placed crate, letting Miranda spam overload/warp & pulling out the sniper rifle/missile launcher once the enemy's defenses are down is the win at all times.

 

More or less true. Playing on veteran forces me to use skills, and the different armor/health properties to change weapons.

 

Its not tactics though, you simply have to play that way. If you pop out of cover you're shredded in seconds, because the enemies never miss. So you go from cover to cover, headshot, skill, headshot...and that's it.

 

With the bigger enemies you have to change position sometimes, as you might have to with the charge prone ones. Even that is an exercise in frustration because enemies pracically have a never ending stream of fire, and you can rarely pop from cover to cover without dying (on veteran). Most times I died from being shot in the back while retreating.

 

Some of the combat areas are a bit larger with a few more approach points but you're essentially choosing between tunnel 1, tunnel 2 and tunnel 3 - and they all feature the same defenses so you just end up choosing the closest one.

 

I don't know if this sort of constrained gameplay even qualifies the game as a tactical shooter. Its more a pumped up arcade game.

Edited February 3, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Purkake]

That's exactly why they would be trying to turn stars into black holes. According to Sovereign the Reapers are at the confines of the Universe on dark space; this fits very nicely with them making the Collectors base on a black hole and since the Citadel portal is closed they need another in, ergo the wormholes.

You may want to check up on your astronomy, wormholes and black holes have a few distinct differences

Edited February 3, 2010 by Purkake

[HoonDing]

More or less true. Playing on veteran forces me to use skills, and the different armor/health properties to change weapons.

 

Its not tactics though, you simply have to play that way. If you pop out of cover you're shredded in seconds, because the enemies never miss. So you go from cover to cover, headshot, skill, headshot...and that's it.

 

With the bigger enemies you have to change position sometimes, as you might have to with the charge prone ones. Even that is an exercise in frustration because enemies pracically have a never ending stream of fire, and you can rarely pop from cover to cover without dying (on veteran). Most times I died from being shot in the back while retreating.

I tried playing a bit on Insanity & all enemies I've encountered come with multiple defenses, while on lower difficulties there are enemies with just a health bar (and who all go down very fast). To me gameplay became very boring, since I was reduced to waiting for Warp to recharge (the most effective way to reduce defenses).

 

The problem is the global cooldown on powers. At least in ME1 one could use other powers while waiting for another to recharge. So I switched back to a lower difficulty... mooks should remain mooks, imo.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I tried playing a bit on Insanity & all enemies I've encountered come with multiple defenses.

 

That's stupid. It just prolongs the fighting and makes it more annoying.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I tried playing a bit on Insanity & all enemies I've encountered come with multiple defenses.

 

That's stupid. It just prolongs the fighting and makes it more annoying.

I didn't find it all that annoying.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I didn't express myself very well. Its okay, only annoying occasionally. Like when Shepard decides not to go into cover even though you're slamming the space bar, or not being able to dash from cover to cover when you need it. There were a few good kicks when I met weaker enemies and pulverized them with a Rambo action, but most of the time its a routine.

Its better than in Jade Empire, KOTOR or ME at any rate - I'm at least watching the screen intently.

 

Having multiple shields on every enemy would be annoying, since it turns the whole thing into attrition.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I didn't express myself very well. Its okay, only annoying occasionally. Like when Shepard decides not to go into cover even though you're slamming the space bar, or not being able to dash from cover to cover when you need it. There were a few good kicks when I met weaker enemies and pulverized them with a Rambo action, but most of the time its a routine.

Its better than in Jade Empire, KOTOR or ME at any rate - I'm at least watching the screen intently.

 

Having multiple shields on every enemy would be annoying, since it turns the whole thing into attrition.

Ah, but I think most enemies still have only one - or no - protections.

 

I have to agree with the complaints about the cover system. Sometimes using a skill got me out of cover and torn to shreds by enemies, and there seems to be a "gap" in between the distance Shepard needs to be to slide to cover or just stick to it immediately, meaning you'll be pressing that cover button like crazy without any results.

 

Still, it's really fun, especially when you start getting creative with the powers and combos.

[Volourn]

There's no need to get creative. Guns are simply more effective in the long run. Biotics are simply nowhere as sueful or as fun as they were in ME1 which hurts the enjoyment of the combat even more.

 

 

"Its better than in Jade Empire, KOTOR or ME at any rate - I'm at least watching the screen intently."

 

Better than KOTOR, yes. Better than ME1 or JE. Hell to the no.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Volourn

[Purkake]

There's no need to get creative. Guns are simply more effective in the long run. Biotics are simply nowhere as sueful or as fun as they were in ME1 which hurts the enjoyment of the combat even more.

 

 

"Its better than in Jade Empire, KOTOR or ME at any rate - I'm at least watching the screen intently."

 

Better than KOTOR, yes. Better than ME1 or JE. Hell to the no.

Your strange views are both shocking and unexpected. Please do tell us more.

[Raithe]

I had some fun with the powers.. Although the amount of Shields stopping most forms of biotics was a touch annoying.

Figuring out some of the entertaining power combo's on enemies can be fun. Although getting the timing right isn't always as much fun.

[Orogun01]

I had some fun with the powers.. Although the amount of Shields stopping most forms of biotics was a touch annoying.

Figuring out some of the entertaining power combo's on enemies can be fun. Although getting the timing right isn't always as much fun.

Don't the biotics damage shields?

[jaguars4ever]

There's no need to get creative. Guns are simply more effective in the long run. Biotics are simply nowhere as sueful or as fun as they were in ME1 which hurts the enjoyment of the combat even more.

 

 

"Its better than in Jade Empire, KOTOR or ME at any rate - I'm at least watching the screen intently."

 

Better than KOTOR, yes. Better than ME1 or JE. Hell to the no.

Your strange views are both shocking and unexpected. Please do tell us more.

I think it has something to do with this new "forced cover" system. You can't stay out in the open anymore and reign down Dark Side force death on hordes of angry mobs. Otherwise you get pr4wned in double time. Of course by taking cover, you might as well pop out every other second, take a shot, and rinse and repeat. Naturally, this favors shooting. Kind of like bringing a fat chick back to your place. You might as well pork her. Just close your eyes, and you won't know the difference. Not to mention that using biotics in cover is awkward at best, in no small part due to the baddies also being in cover. Most of the powers I used wouldn't work right, since they bounced off obstacles or otherwise couldn't home in on a clean lock: This is the downside of porking fat chicks.

[Pop]

You don't know how to use biotics, apparently.