Mass Effect 2

[AgentHelix]

Loving this to death. Leaps and bounds beyond the first game in pretty much every way. This may be one of my top ten games ever at this point.

Anybody else getting all their free time sucked away by this?

[bangalore_monkey]

i considered buying this, and the first one for that matter.

but then i remembered being confused and frustrated with the controls of KOTOR.

so, is it more intuitive and fun for those not really big into RPG's.

[AgentHelix]

It's a shooter/RPG hybrid.

[Scripe]

I hear they are really reducing the RPG side of the game. Is it true, and if so does really play better?

[t.cypress74]

I loved, loved, LOVED the first Mass Effect. Never understood what people meant by "frustrating" controls.
The sequel is taking me alot of time to re-learn, I'm not used to actually "hitting" what I'm aiming at, and I keep playing it like it's a turn based RPG, rather than a shooter.

I'm only 4-5 hours into the game so far, but it's been taking me some time to get used to the improvements.
Really, Really GREAT story so far.

[AgentHelix]

When people say they reduced the "RPG elements" of the game, it means they reduced the tedious micromanagement of skill points and the burdensome inventory. It's just as much of a roleplaying game as the first. Maybe moreso, given how many decisions you have to make over the course of the game.

[AgentHelix]

Basically the biggest changes are in the combat, which is actually a perfectly functional third person shooter now, and the inventory system. Instead of having to put skill points to determine whether or not you can use an SMG or a shotgun, you either can or can't. Certain classes can use certain weapons, with the Soldier having all the firearms available. Rather than find hundreds of useless guns that you eventually have to either sell or reduce to an almost as equally useless goop, you find upgrades to be researched, as well as new models of weapons over the course of the game. Once you find a new weapon of a type, it's available for any of your characters that can use it. You pick the weapons you're going to take with you on a mission from a pre-mission loadout screen after you choose your squad.

Missions feel more like "levels" now, and you receive experience and money from a debriefing screen after you've finished. It's all still very much the same Mass Effect as before though, only better in about every conceivable way. There's so many characters to interact with, so many quests and great locales. If you're importing a character from the first game, the amount of your decisions that carry over is pretty much staggering. I've come across NPCs that I'd completely forgotten about since my playthrough of the first game, and I've come across a few choices I made in the first game that clearly won't have concrete ramifications until the final game in the trilogy. It's pretty revolutionary storytelling stuff.

[Moonman]

Well on a whim I decided to buy the first Mass Effect and play it through and it sounds like the sequel's eliminated all the bullshit I really dislike about numero uno. If what I heard about these game's lengths are true, ME2 should be fairly affordable once I complete this one.

[t.cypress74]

I think you'll be glad you played ME1, if your planning on eventually playing ME2.

I waited 2 years to find out what happened, and it's sooo worth it. The storytelling in this series defines epic.

[AgentHelix]

I beat the game on Saturday, and pretty much immediately started a new playthrough.

The only problem now will be waiting for the third game, because holy crap what an ending.

[ExplodingMonkey]

I haven't passed through the Omega 4 relay yet. Still earning the loyalty of all my teammates.

Great game. Vastly improved over the first one.

[krisvahl]

So from what I gather the aim of the game is to try and sleep with as many of your alien female temmates as possible, right?

Seriously though, I really love this game. I thought the first one was great but this is improved in leaps and bounds.

[krisvahl]

I never understood the immersion and obsession people felt with the Avatar movie but I came pretty darn close with it playing Mass Effect 2. Love the relationships you build with the characters (not just the romantic/sexual ones), and I found myself actually caring about their welfare, which made it even harder to take when one or more died.

ME3 can't come out soon enough.

[ExplodingMonkey]

Yes, the relationships you build are great! I connect with Jack more than any of the others.

While I'm not a criminal (or a biotic force of nature), her childhood and mine have enough similarities that I understood her problems the best. Still, I think she could have been developed just a little bit better, and the designers could have made her physical appearance slightly more unique. When I first saw her I thought, "Oh look, it's Riddick without the shined eyes and hooked knives."

[krisvahl]

Jack was also my favourite character in the game, but I was too much of a goody-two-shoes to be able to develop a relationship with her.

Concept artist, Matt Rhodes designed the look of Jack (Subject Zero). At his blog you can see the development the character went through (last pic on the first entry)-

http://mattrhodesart.blogspot.com/