Mass Effect 2

uberpixie

Because I was impatient: I payed the steam tax and preloaded, unlocked the game last night after 12:00, got 1hrs sleep, come home from work wrecked @ about 4pm today, think "ah sure I will play a little bit and go to bed early..." I now notice it's nearly 2am and my stupid brain is trying to convince me to keep playing that I will hit my 2nd wind anytime now!:D

Enjoying it to say the least. When a game starts acting like a "time machine" it's always a good sign.:pac:

Really liking the streamlining steps they took regarding inventory and squad management: you really concentrate on the story more and the NPCs when you are not worrying about what gear to spec, or having to do multiple re-equips for all you team mates....

Xyo

Just cleared it there.. tis pretty good. I'll probably go for a second playthrough.

pixelburp

I'm just installing it now, as I sit with a horrible hangover, crossed with a cold. Very exciting! (the installation that is, not the feeling crappy)

Ciaran500

Xyo wrote: »

Just cleared it there.. tis pretty good. I'll probably go for a second playthrough.

How many hours did you put into it?

Xyo

Ciaran500 wrote: »

How many hours did you put into it?

took me 15 hours

balkieb2002

Xyo wrote: »

took me 15 hours

Took me just under 30hrs... i'm a bit of a completionist
Actually still playing the first playthrough completing side missions I never got round too so its currently at 32hrs!

Sephiroth_dude

Im not that far into it,but Im loving it so far .

Zeouterlimits

Currently 26 hours, I'd say I'm pretty close except I want to fully upgrade as much as I can .

oceanclub

Just one question - how are the planetary side-quests in 2 as compared to 1? (In 1, they were pretty unvaried and dull)

balkieb2002

oceanclub wrote: »

Just one question - how are the planetary side-quests in 2 as compared to 1? (In 1, they were pretty unvaried and dull)

I've done nearly all of them and actually found them enjoyable

especially the Shepard alone missions for variety

and more importantly quick and to the point

RIP Mako

. Plus the obvious advantage of more XP/resources.

grizzly

I'm only a couple of hours into this, but does the skill point system seem too streamlined now? I'm playing a solider and for skills you can put point into Adrenaline Rush, Combat Mastery and a couple of ammo upgrades and that's it... Can you still upgrade armour?

Otherwise loving it so far

Burgo

grizzly wrote: »

Can you still upgrade armour?

Yes you can upgrade your standard armour with different parts,usually bought off vendors on the main planets/space stations.

Krieg

grizzly wrote: »

I'm only a couple of hours into this, but does the skill point system seem too streamlined now? I'm playing a solider and for skills you can put point into Adrenaline Rush, Combat Mastery and a couple of ammo upgrades and that's it... Can you still upgrade armour?

Otherwise loving it so far

shepard also gets a bonus skill, which you obtain through the upgrade system.
The bonus skill is available based on who is loyal on your team, you can change the bonus skill as many times as you like.

I thought barrier skill was the best choice

Sephiroth_dude

Are there many side missions to do?

Tusky

Question to folk of this thread. I got stuck on a boss fight in mass effect one. I tried it about 15 times but couldnt beat her and then gave up. I'm now thinking that it will be really hard to go back and pick up where i left off. If I couldnt beat her when I was playing regularly, probably wont be able to do it now.

So - should I go ahead and buy mass effect 2, or is it worth my while starting the first game over?

[edit] The bit Im stuck on is Matriarch Benezia. Ive had a read around and looked at a few youtube videos explaining how to beat her. However, when I loaded up the game - I realized that my character is only level 14. Is it possible to beat her at his level ? Can I leave this station and go do some side missions first to level up, or am I stuck here until I beat her ?

Kiith

Its good to have a ME1 save game, as you'll meet plenty of people in ME2 that you met on your playthrough on ME1. Nothing major, as you can select the main choices that effect the storyline when you start.

Tusky wrote: »

Question to folk of this thread. I got stuck on a boss fight in mass effect one. I tried it about 15 times but couldnt beat her and then gave up.

Benezia was a bitch alright :P

Tusky

Kiith wrote: »

Its good to have a ME1 save game, as you'll meet plenty of people in ME2 that you met on your playthrough on ME1. Nothing major, as you can select the main choices that effect the storyline when you start.

Benezia was a bitch alright :P

Im just after realizing my error. When you get a choice of..was it 3 planets ? Long time since I played it. I picked the one with Matriarch Benezia first.

Kiith

The enemies level up with you in both games, but you get more powers as you go through the game, and it makes it much easier. I generally do Benezia 2nd or 3rd (4 planets in total). Id say you should go back and play it again, as its a great game. Some fantastic scenes towards the end of the game. Plus it makes the 2nd one even more enjoyable with your own personalised Sheppard.

Kiith

Right, just cleared it there. And if you thought the last few missions in Mass Effect 1 were great, you aint seen nothing yet. That was fantastic. Real adrenaline rush through the whole last section of the game, with a few hair raising moments thrown in there (as a sucker for cool space cinematics). Definitely Bioware at its best.

Minor end game spoiler:

Also managed to save my entire team, which was sweet.

bizmark

This is the best game iv played for as long as i can remember

Gunmonkey

Kiith wrote: »

Right, just cleared it there. And if you thought the last few missions in Mass Effect 1 were great, you aint seen nothing yet. That was fantastic. Real adrenaline rush through the whole last section of the game, with a few hair raising moments thrown in there (as a sucker for cool space cinematics). Definitely Bioware at its best.

Minor end game spoiler:

Also managed to save my entire team, which was sweet.

Yeah the ending was amazing, that and

The Collector ship infiltration

had me sweating, hands trembling.....been long time since game made me that engrossed in it.

And damn you, how did ya save them all?? Garrus took a shot to the face in mine and Mordrin was lying dead on the ground in a later cinematic

Tusky

Kiith wrote: »

The enemies level up with you in both games, but you get more powers as you go through the game, and it makes it much easier. I generally do Benezia 2nd or 3rd (4 planets in total). Id say you should go back and play it again,

But can I not just leave the station I'm at now without defeating Benezia, go back and do the other planets, and then come back later when I'm higher level ? Or am I stuck here until I beat her ?

Burning Eclipse

Tusky wrote: »

But can I not just leave the station I'm at now without defeating Benezia, go back and do the other planets, and then come back later when I'm higher level ? Or am I stuck here until I beat her ?

If you really can't beat her, i.e., it's impossible, then do what gamers everywhere try to avoid. Lower the difficulty. Right down to whatever is lowest, then once she's done with, stick it back up. Just an idea, although I'd understand if you didn't want to.

Sephiroth_dude

I take it your using cover?She was bitch to get alright,keep blasting away and she'll eventually fall.

Tusky

Burning Eclipse wrote: »

If you really can't beat her, i.e., it's impossible, then do what gamers everywhere try to avoid. Lower the difficulty. Right down to whatever is lowest, then once she's done with, stick it back up. Just an idea, although I'd understand if you didn't want to.

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I take it your using cover?She was bitch to get alright,keep blasting away and she'll eventually fall.

I'll give the difficulty a go but from reading other forums I think im just too low level. A lot of people posted up that they were level 20 and finding it really difficult to beat her...im level 14!

grizzly

I might restart this on a higher difficulty then normal as I'm not finding the combat much of a challenge. How have people found the other settings?

pixelburp

I started out the game on "Veteran" difficultly level & find some of the battles quite challenging. Certainly I have died a fair few times (though that might also be because I'm not yet used to the new healing mechanic; I can't just quickly shoot up a med-gel when I'm on the verge of dying).

As for the overall game, I'm really enjoying it. They refined pretty much all of the elements that weren't exactly perfect in the first game (the combat mostly). I'm happy enough just to drift around the cosmos, picking up side-quests & avoiding the main quests. Though against that, I'm eager to learn more about the plot; what are the various factions really up to? Is Shephard really a vessel of free will? Will I bump into all my old crew at some point? And on that, will I get to get jiggy with Tali this time? :eek:

My only complaint so far is that no matter how much you try and hide it, calling yourself "The Illusive Man" is just idiotic. Every time someone says it, with their straight faces, I can't help but chuckle.

Agricola

For anyone playing the pc version, will it play nice with an older graphics card?
I was supposed to get a 5850 over christmas but the shop fúcked up twice so I cancelled. Im still running my old 8800GT. (Albeit on a Core i7 with 6gigs of ram)
Will this game crucify that card? Can it be scaled down and still look / perform ok?

Kiith

Tusky wrote: »

I'll give the difficulty a go but from reading other forums I think im just too low level. A lot of people posted up that they were level 20 and finding it really difficult to beat her...im level 14!

My tactics for that fight was to immediatly move to the platform to the left of where you start. Benezia cannot do anything to you there, as she is blocked. From there, you can slowly take out the Commando's and Geth, then once they are all down, just nuke the **** out of Benezia. It can be tough, but doable.

Worst comes to worst, cheat. Thats what i did on my most recent playthrough, so that i could just get a refresher on the story.

Agricola wrote: »

For anyone playing the pc version, will it play nice with an older graphics card?
I was supposed to get a 5850 over christmas but the shop fúcked up twice so I cancelled. Im still running my old 8800GT. (Albeit on a Core i7 with 6gigs of ram)
Will this game crucify that card? Can it be scaled down and still look / perform ok?

I'd say an 8800GT will work, but i cant say for sure how well. I'm playing on a 4890, with everything maxed out and didnt have even a slight bit of slowdown at any stage during the game.

Tusky

Kiith wrote: »

Worst comes to worst, cheat. Thats what i did on my most recent playthrough, so that i could just get a refresher on the story.

How does one cheat ? That may the most favorable option!

I have seriously tried everything to kill her. Its a massive effort to even take out the commandos. I dunno, maybe my equipment isnt good enough or something. My team literally dies within a minute of the fight starting.