Mass Effect #55 : Othor Games

» Mon May 14, 2012 6:24 am

Just completed my ME2 run.
All missions completed, All clusters explored, all upgrades researched.
Your going to be cutting it close though.

My average 100% run lasts some 20 hours for ME1 and a little over that for ME2. Cutting dialogue I can easily reduce it to around 18 each.
EDIT: And of course if I fail I can just improve my previous, not so 100% Shepard to ME3. Doesn't really matter.

» Mon May 14, 2012 6:50 am

So, after playing ME3 for a hour. I got through the single-player campaign, that was fine what really messed with me was one option. The option to pick your choices in conversation, or to let the game do it for you. I lost a little faith in humanity at that moment. Other then that, the demo was fun, I'll most likely buy it on day 1. I'm not going to pre-order it. Why? I just don't feel like doing it.

» Mon May 14, 2012 12:26 am

The Planet Scanning looks improved and I like the infinite probes.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:12 am

So... anyone want to play a few games with me?

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:05 pm

Been playing ME1 with the boring soldier character that never before has made it trough it, and i have to say that i'm glad that ME3 is ME2 with Reapers :hehe:

Most of the gameplay is just... :yuck:

And of course "Enemies everywhere! Go, Go, Go! I will destroy you!" :lmao:

I almost think the comic DLC for ME2 would be worth it just to skip ME1 :tongue:

But the storyline and some other aspects do make it worth suffering the gameplay ^_^

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:39 pm

Soldiers in ME1 are way too tough.
I was tanking around 6 krogan and a Geth prime on insanity.

» Sun May 13, 2012 10:46 pm

turns out i lost my masseffect saves, and i only have the second one...oh well. Wonder how long it will take me to rerun through me2 and not get a horrible ending, guess i'll have to see

» Mon May 14, 2012 12:12 am

Been playing ME1 with the boring soldier character that never before has made it trough it, and i have to say that i'm glad that ME3 is ME2 with Reapers :hehe:

Most of the gameplay is just... :yuck:

And of course "Enemies everywhere! Go, Go, Go! I will destroy you!" :lmao:

I almost think the comic DLC for ME2 would be worth it just to skip ME1 :tongue:

But the storyline and some other aspects do make it worth suffering the gameplay :happy:

Are you out of your mind. :blink:

ME2 was good, but it just felt like the gameplay was lacking in areas. I like the whole trading system in ME1 and how you could buy completely different armors and weapons. It gave you something to work for. I was constantly searching through things trying to find the best equipment.

In ME2 there was practically no equipment. What little you did have was just customization to your current N7 armor. And there were at most 4 or 5 guns per class with DLC. Not being able to see how each gun compared to each other on a chart was crap as well. I like how in ME1 it showed you that shotgun A does 330 damage while shotgun be does 290. I loved the gameplay in ME1. The combat, even though not as refined as ME2, was great.

I played ME1 nonstop (33 hours) recently when I bought it for PC, and now I'm running that save through ME2 and find it hard to play the game longer than an hour at a time. ME2 is better in some areas, but lacking in others.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:09 am

I'm bored out of my mind finishing a ME1 playthrough, but that's because this is my 23rd. I just need to get it out of the way. ME2 is far more fresh and less stale. My main guy is almost ready for important ages ago, just have to max out my mineral bars and I'm good to go. This new run is a renegade. I'm finding it almost impossible to play as one. i keep trying to do horrible things, but never seem to get any renegade points. It's a little disheartening. I've only got two more missions and than Virmire. Not even half way done the renegade bar. I might just give up and download a save file. See how it goes.

A lot of people die for no reason when you play as a Renegade. It's like watching a mentally impaired person try and save the universe. Not going to end well.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:50 am

Yes.

It's not that it's integral to the story, but it's... it's a big part of one of the core story elements of the trilogy. It was a [censored] move on EA's part. I can't believe people are putting up with it...

Yes.

It's not critical at all. It's just a neat side character that adds a little extra lore to one species in the game. It's not essential. What you do need to know of said species is in the game. He's just a bonus to expand the concepts further. Lore freaks might think he's essential, but that's because they like reading everything. He isn't. I'm not even sure how much he can add to the lore if what backstory I've been told he has. There just wouldn't be any way for him to have known. Which makes it kinda tragic when thinking about it. So no, it isn't needed to explore any of the content in the main Mass Effect game. Gives you a squad mate, quest associated with him, weapon, and skins for all the characters in game. All for the price of ten dollars, which is pretty standard asking price for new squad mates. Zaeed and his project 10 dollar were the same, and Kasumi as well. Though she didn't come with any alternate skins for other characters. So they've sweetened the deal more.

The day 1 DLC was designed outside of the games development time and budget. As each part of the larger team finished, they moved on to making the DLC. So by the time primary programing was near complete or complete on ME3 and it was waiting certification they started programming the DLC in full. Given what I know of the squad mate I can say he's completely non-essential. I can also see why they cut him out, he's just not that relevant to the plot. At the end of the day they're only allotted so much time and money to work on ME3. If you wanted this squad mate in, than someone would have gotten taken out. (Personally I would see Tali kicked out, but think of the fan backlash. Bioware wasn't going to include her, then a veritable and actual [censored] storm occurred unlike this "anger protest" that people are doing now about the DLC.)" Other than Tali rewrite all of the characters have reasons to be there. Even the new guy who needs to ease new players in. They also didn't want such a gigantic squad as in ME3, since the story was more about stopping the Reapers. SO at the end of the day you got to decide what's more important to have in the game.

Thats what I thought. Thanks for reassuring me.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:09 pm

Are you out of your mind. :blink:

ME2 was good, but it just felt like the gameplay was lacking in areas. I like the whole trading system in ME1 and how you could buy completely different armors and weapons. It gave you something to work for. I was constantly searching through things trying to find the best equipment.

In ME2 there was practically no equipment. What little you did have was just customization to your current N7 armor. And there were at most 4 or 5 guns per class with DLC. Not being able to see how each gun compared to each other on a chart was crap as well. I like how in ME1 it showed you that shotgun A does 330 damage while shotgun be does 290. I loved the gameplay in ME1. The combat, even though not as refined as ME2, was great.

I played ME1 nonstop (33 hours) recently when I bought it for PC, and now I'm running that save through ME2 and find it hard to play the game longer than an hour at a time. ME2 is better in some areas, but lacking in others.

The problem in ME1 is that is has too much equipment with too little variation, and it dropped way too often. Inventory management was a chore in that game...

And then we have ME2 with too little equipment, though with more variation. If they added more equipment ME2 style then that would be ideal.

» Sun May 13, 2012 6:29 pm

The problem in ME1 is that is has too much equipment with too little variation, and it dropped way too often. Inventory management was a chore in that game...

And then we have ME2 with too little equipment, though with more variation. If they added more equipment ME2 style then that would be ideal.

Oh boy, have they ever added more equipment. Leaked photos showed for multiplayer (I also assume singleplayer). 4-5 guns per weapon class. Up from the 2-4 of ME2. It's also been confirmed the demo had only roughly half the unlockable content. So I expect a few more weapons per category. Then in singleplayer there's the DLC guns. So there's plenty of weaponry to go around this time. They've also added in weapon modifications. Like scopes, silencers, larger barrels. Rather than having like 20k variants of all guns. You simply "level them up" as you increase in rank online. I'm sure in game there's a way to improve them too. So finding duplicates of guns might do something similar in game. It looks better than ME1 and ME2. Less tedious, but still a wide variety.

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:31 pm

Are you out of your mind. :blink:

Propably, since i think 2 does almost everything better than 1. Except scanning :swear:

» Mon May 14, 2012 9:00 am

Soldiers in ME1 are way too tough.
I was tanking around 6 krogan and a Geth prime on insanity.

All of the classes seem to get like that eventually. I was doing pretty much the same on an infiltrator when I did my 100% run of ME1 a few weeks back. The survival missions for Pinnacle Station are a joke at high levels. I was having trouble dying on purpose once I hit the target time and eventually just spammed grenades at my feet.

» Sun May 13, 2012 11:24 pm

So I'm at the IFF point in Mass Effect 2 (but chose to continue building my team) and I was wondering if I should bother with ME2 DLC? If so where should I start, Cerberus network?

Or should I just save my money, finish out ME2 and jump right into ME3 when it comes out?

» Sun May 13, 2012 8:37 pm

So I'm at the IFF point in Mass Effect 2 (but chose to continue building my team) and I was wondering if I should bother with ME2 DLC? If so where should I start, Cerberus network?

Or should I just save my money, finish out ME2 and jump right into ME3 when it comes out?

The only real DLC that you should even consider are Arrival, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Overlord, Kasumi - Stolen Memory, Zaeed: The Price of Revenge, Firewalker, and Normandy Crash Site. Even among those, only the first two are important to the game's plotline and help bridge the gap between ME2 and ME3.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:41 am

Do you have to buy the Cerberus network to buy the other DLC though? (I got ME2 used)

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:30 am

Cerberus Network gets you Zaeed, Firewalker, and Normandy Crash Site. Hmm, and maybe something else?

(Firewalker just seems like some random sidequests. Normady Crash Site is really just some sentimentality about the old ship & crew. Zaeed's useful just because more party members = tougher team.)

Other than the Cerberus stuff, the only ones that seemed important to me were Shadow Broker (since I wanted to continue Liara's story) and Arrival (seemed plot important). Wasn't obvious that Overlord and Kasumi were very important. But, hey, could be wrong. :tongue:

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:09 pm

The Planet Scanning looks improved and I like the infinite probes.

It's better but much worse than before IMO they should have used ME 1 system.

Spoiler

Now when you scan the galaxy reapers come after you in the section of the galaxy you're in. When you escape you're locked out of that section and most likely you'll have to run away from them.IMO that just sounds so far just annoying. :dry:

» Sun May 13, 2012 7:26 pm

It's better but much worse than before IMO they should have used ME 1 system.

Spoiler

Now when you scan the galaxy reapers come after you in the section of the galaxy you're in. When you escape you're locked out of that section and most likely you'll have to run away from them.IMO that just sounds so far just annoying. :dry:

From the appearance of the video. It looks like when you scan to find them out in space. Nothing is stopping you from slowly going over each planet and remaining hidden. The scanning just shows you what planets have valuables. Though I'll have to play the game to say for sure. Otherwise it will get really annoying.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:15 am

From the appearance of the video. It looks like when you scan to find them out in space. Nothing is stopping you from slowly going over each planet and remaining hidden. The scanning just shows you what planets have valuables. Though I'll have to play the game to say for sure. Otherwise it will get really annoying.

It appears in the video that as soon as you leave the planet they'll countinue to go after you (and they appear to go fast). I wonder how long the lock will be for...... either way it's going to be annoying.

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:32 pm

It appears in the video that as soon as you leave the planet they'll countinue to go after you (and they appear to go fast). I wonder how long the lock will be for...... either way it's going to be annoying.

I hate being out of the loop here - what video are you guys talking about? Of all videos I've seen of ME3, I havn't seen anything to mention what you guys are talking about.

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:51 am

It appears in the video that as soon as you leave the planet they'll countinue to go after you (and they appear to go fast). I wonder how long the lock will be for...... either way it's going to be annoying.

Huh, this looks like it will add a layer of tedium to replace the old one. *sigh* Bioware just can't get exploration right since ME1. All it needed was refinement, and it would have been fine. Or have a hybrid system. Like most of the exploring is done like ME2/3, but when a more important planet is found you land and use Mako/Hammerhead. There would be 2-3 planets like this, just to satisfy us people who want to drive the Mako. I loved that thing. I feel like Zaeed right now. The Mako was just so awesome. :'( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-dLzzQuVM When I was at the Normandy crash in ME2 I was very much tempted to place the statue at the Mako.

Edit
IGN got a space copy, or something. Anyways they're doing a review in pieces for it.

Edit2
Guns ahoy, big spoilers here. Just what weapons there are. It's speculated it may or may not be complete. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9028411

Edit3
And the armors. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9478281

Edit4
Adept, Blood Dragon Armor, and that lovely M-5 Phalanx are how I'm going to roll. Carnifex has greater stopping power, but the DPS of the Phalanx allows it the sustainability of a rifle with less weight. Also I guess once in awhile the M-12 Locust can come too.

» Sun May 13, 2012 5:12 pm

Huh, this looks like it will add a layer of tedium to replace the old one. *sigh* Bioware just can't get exploration right since ME1. All it needed was refinement, and it would have been fine. Or have a hybrid system. Like most of the exploring is done like ME2/3, but when a more important planet is found you land and use Mako/Hammerhead. There would be 2-3 planets like this, just to satisfy us people who want to drive the Mako. I loved that thing. I feel like Zaeed right now. The Mako was just so awesome. :'( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-dLzzQuVM When I was at the Normandy crash in ME2 I was very much tempted to place the statue at the Mako.

Edit
IGN got a space copy, or something. Anyways they're doing a review in pieces for it.

Likewise and agreed.

IMO they should have improved ME1 system (by adding trees,etc.) it made the universe feel huge.
I'm probably in the minority but I also loved the planet view when looking at planets in ME1 (where it was close and you could see the atmosphere).

EDIT:

Edit2
Guns ahoy, big spoilers here. Just what weapons there are. It's speculated it may or may not be complete. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9028411

Other than appearance what's the difference between the M-98 Widow and the Black Widow?

Edit3
And the armors. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9478281

Reckoning really looks like it dosen't belong in ME.

» Mon May 14, 2012 7:26 am

Ewww god, that N7 Defender armor looks like ass. Like burned tire rubber, or soon to be burned old tire rubber. It's just so thick, chunky, and slow looking.

Edit
I think the one gun has an even higher damage. At the cost of speed, ammo, ect. But don't quote me on that.

Also yea, it doesn't fit. It looks nice as an armor, but not as a Mass Effect armor. They needed to add some more sci-fi bits to get it to fit in.

Edit2
I could see it as as futuristic space gladiator armor of some kind. Might be used in the Terminus systems, but not as a serious military gear. All of those spikes will just get stuck on things. And in melee combat unless they're supremely monomolecular. Yet, we can clearly see it isn't. Unless on a smaller scale it's just spikes, on spikes, and spikes ect. So most likely useless decoration that can't get the futuristic space armor/kevlar.

Edit3
Second favourite armor has to be the Collector's armor, but never played a character who could use it really. Kestrel armor is cool too. Runner up goes to Terminus(the tron armor).