Mass Effect 2 [thread contains spoilers]

[Nedak]

Great game.

 

Best characters are Joker, Jack, Garrus, Samara, and Thrane.

[Mav]

Great game.

 

Best characters are Joker, Jack, Garrus, Samara, and Thane.

Really? I hated Jack, granted I didn't end up hating her as much as I thought I would going into the game, but I still hated her. It's also hard to keep her & Miranda both loyal, seeing as how they have that fight you basically have to be pure Renegade/Paragon to keep them both loyal. So if you're like me, and you've been playing through the game picking the choices you felt, and not trying to stick to one or the other, you end up more Paragade, and you can't keep them both happy. Same thing with Legion and Tali.

[mimartin]

Mav knows nothing. If you put some squad points into the proper power you will not have to worry about that. Plus Jack kicks butt, however Mordin may be my favorite squad mate from either game. Poor Tali is being replaced.

[Mav]

Mav knows nothing. If you put some squad points into the proper power you will not have to worry about that. Plus Jack kicks butt, however Mordin may be my favorite squad mate from either game. Poor Tali is being replaced.

Too bad Tali's practically useless in this game, AI Hacking, very useful for all those Geth/Mechs that you come across, oh wait almost all the enemies in this game are Mercs/Collectors. But that's why you have Combat Drone which is basically nothing more than a distraction. You're much better suited with a squad mate that can take down shields/barriers, especially on harder difficulties.

 

Also what power negates the need for a high enough Paragon/Renegade score to settle their catfight? I mean every class has a power that when maxed gives either +70% or +100% to your Para/Rene score, but if your decisions throughout the game were as split as mine were the bonus still wasn't enough.

[Ghost]

Meh, I haven't played ME2 much nor MW2. Wish I could, but I gotta save up my allowance

[DarthParametric]

So if you're like me, and you've been playing through the game picking the choices you felt, and not trying to stick to one or the other, you end up more Paragade, and you can't keep them both happy. Same thing with Legion and Tali.

Yeah ME doesn't really support a middle of the road approach. It's very clearly a black/white, lightside/darkside kind of thing (the SW prequel influence being obvious with the ridiculous scaring Renegades get). While you're better off going one way or the other, as with the first game playing Renegade is far more entertaining than playing a Pussy - sorry Paragon.

 

Too bad Tali's practically useless in this game

Ditto Legion. There's no real role for either, other than flavour, without Overload to take down shields. Miranda, with Overload and Warp, is arguably the best all-round character, although a bit squishy on higher difficulties. Mordin is an excellent complement with Incinerate to take down armour. Grunt is quite good with Incendiary Ammo, Concussive Shot and Fortification (although the latter isn't much use on higher difficulties). As is Garrus with Concussive Shot, Overload and Armour Piercing Ammo.

 

The real limiting factor with party members is that the AI is still just as retarded as in the first game. They still shoot at enemies they can't hit, hide on the wrong side of cover, stand out in the open and get gunned down, jump in front of you blocking your line of sight or stealing your cover, run off head-first into a horde of enemies and get splattered, etc.

[Mav]

Yeah ME doesn't really support a middle of the road approach. It's very clearly a black/white, lightside/darkside kind of thing (the SW prequel influence being obvious with the ridiculous scaring Renegades get). While you're better off going one way or the other, as with the first game playing Renegade is far more entertaining than playing a Pussy - sorry Paragon.

It would have been nice if it would have just added the Paragon and Renegade scores together to get a total, and offer up the Blue/Red choices, if not both, then whichever one your character happens to favor. I guess it didn't matter in the long run, even without loyalty you can still get your squad mates to survive.

Ditto Legion. There's no real role for either, other than flavour, without Overload to take down shields. Miranda, with Overload and Warp, is arguably the best all-round character, although a bit squishy on higher difficulties. Mordin is an excellent complement with Incinerate to take down armour. Grunt is quite good with Incendiary Ammo, Concussive Shot and Fortification (although the latter isn't much use on higher difficulties). As is Garrus with Concussive Shot, Overload and Armour Piercing Ammo.

 

The real limiting factor with party members is that the AI is still just as retarded as in the first game. They still shoot at enemies they can't hit, hide on the wrong side of cover, stand out in the open and get gunned down, jump in front of you blocking your line of sight or stealing your cover, run off head-first into a horde of enemies and get splattered, etc.

Miranda is by and far the best squad-mate in the game, she has Overload for Shields, Warp for Barriers, and her passive power grants a damage bonus for the entire squad. Garrus complements her well too, since he can take on all forms of protection to an extent, Concussive Shot for Barriers, Overload for Shields, and AP Ammo for Armor, you can even have him specialize in Squad AP Ammo then Miranda also has a counter for enemy armor. This is basically the setup I went with for my Insanity run. I played Infliltrator, so I had Disruptor Ammo for shields/mechs, Incinerate Blast for Armor, and Warp Ammo Bonus Talent for Barriers. With that setup, everyone in my squad had a counter for every type of enemy. The Tactical Cloak was just icing on the cake.

[mimartin]

They still shoot at enemies they can't hit, hide on the wrong side of cover, stand out in the open and get gunned down, jump in front of you blocking your line of sight or stealing your cover, run off head-first into a horde of enemies and get splattered, etc.

I agree with everything you wrote here, but I still disagree with this.

The real limiting factor with party members is that the AI is still just as retarded as in the first game.[/Quote]AI is 100% better in ME2, I have yet to see my a member of my unit shot a wall in the opposite direction of the enemy the entire fight as I had on numerous times in Mass Effect. In ME2 I have not encountered my squad mates shooting Shepard in the back the entire battle either, like I have in Mass Effect.

 

Personally, I believe they got the balance just about right this game. Party members are way better at following commands in ME2. They are decent at holding their own, but it is still up to the player to command them in order to get the most out of their talents. That is the point of the entire thing since it is a game. It would really stink if the AI was so intelligent that all you had to do was run into a room find cover and let the computer do all the work.

[DarthParametric]

Yeah but it might also be nice if you didn't have to babysit them completely, especially with such a limited and clunky way of issuing orders.

 

On a different note, I started a new playthrough as a FemShep. Only just got to Omega but so far I'm finding Jennifer Hale's VO even less impressive than ME1. I never understood why people got so excited by it the first time around. It would be a gazillion times better if she did it in the faux English Bastila accent, but even then if the delivery was the same it still wouldn't do much for me.

[igyman]

AI is 100% better in ME2, I have yet to see my a member of my unit shot a wall in the opposite direction of the enemy the entire fight as I had on numerous times in Mass Effect. In ME2 I have not encountered my squad mates shooting Shepard in the back the entire battle either, like I have in Mass Effect.

 

I dunno, my impression is quite the opposite - squad AI was a lot worse in this game than in ME. I can't tell you how many times my squadmates would block my view in a firefight, which made me wish I could fill some of them up with bullets.

 

The cover system was also much better in ME. Now I have the triple action button for sprint, talk and cover. Not counting the talk function, it was at times extremely annoying for me to try to run for cover and end up sprinting and autocovering on the wrong side.

 

Too bad Tali's practically useless in this game

 

I wouldn't say that. I found her pretty useful on my playthrough.

[Star Admiral]

Really? I hated Jack, granted I didn't end up hating her as much as I thought I would going into the game, but I still hated her. It's also hard to keep her & Miranda both loyal, seeing as how they have that fight you basically have to be pure Renegade/Paragon to keep them both loyal. So if you're like me, and you've been playing through the game picking the choices you felt, and not trying to stick to one or the other, you end up more Paragade, and you can't keep them both happy. Same thing with Legion and Tali.

 

Jack was kind of meh to me. While I understand how her childhood shaped her into the person she is, I disliked her attitude toward other squad members. Strange about the fight between her and Miranda, though. I had a very high Paragon score but only half Renegade, yet somehow I could only resolve the issue using Intimidate; Charm was grayed out. Figures.

 

Too bad Tali's practically useless in this game, AI Hacking, very useful for all those Geth/Mechs that you come across, oh wait almost all the enemies in this game are Mercs/Collectors. But that's why you have Combat Drone which is basically nothing more than a distraction. You're much better suited with a squad mate that can take down shields/barriers, especially on harder difficulties.

 

True enough. But at least the drone's distraction works against all enemies, even bosses, and if upgraded to Explosive Drone, can at least damage enemies when blown up.

 

Yeah ME doesn't really support a middle of the road approach. It's very clearly a black/white, lightside/darkside kind of thing (the SW prequel influence being obvious with the ridiculous scaring Renegades get). While you're better off going one way or the other, as with the first game playing Renegade is far more entertaining than playing a Pussy - sorry Paragon.

 

Really? I didn't get that opinion. I played mostly as Paragon, taking Renegade choices only when they weren't excessively nasty. I tried a pure Renegade playthrough; left me with a bad taste in my mouth, feeling like total jerk. That said, the facial scarring was an unnecessary addition.

 

I agree with everything you wrote here, but I still disagree with this.AI is 100% better in ME2, I have yet to see my a member of my unit shot a wall in the opposite direction of the enemy the entire fight as I had on numerous times in Mass Effect. In ME2 I have not encountered my squad mates shooting Shepard in the back the entire battle either, like I have in Mass Effect.

 

QFT. With Friendly Fire turned on in ME1, it was most annoying to have half my shields destroyed by enemies and the other half by my squad members' return fire.

 

On a different note, I started a new playthrough as a FemShep. Only just got to Omega but so far I'm finding Jennifer Hale's VO even less impressive than ME1. I never understood why people got so excited by it the first time around. It would be a gazillion times better if she did it in the faux English Bastila accent, but even then if the delivery was the same it still wouldn't do much for me.

 

While Jennifer Hale's VO may not have been the best ever in video game history, I still found her's to be a lot better than Mark Meer's VO for a male Shepard. Many of his lines are cringe-worthy IMO, with too little emotion, almost in a monotone.

 

I dunno, my impression is quite the opposite - squad AI was a lot worse in this game than in ME. I can't tell you how many times my squadmates would block my view in a firefight, which made me wish I could fill some of them up with bullets.

 

The cover system was also much better in ME. Now I have the triple action button for sprint, talk and cover. Not counting the talk function, it was at times extremely annoying for me to try to run for cover and end up sprinting and autocovering on the wrong side.

 

Guess I should be lucky I haven't had this issue much. For the most part, the cover system has worked perfectly for me.

 

- Star Admiral

[Drunkside]

Yeah ME doesn't really support a middle of the road approach. It's very clearly a black/white, lightside/darkside kind of thing (the SW prequel influence being obvious with the ridiculous scaring Renegades get). While you're better off going one way or the other, as with the first game playing Renegade is far more entertaining than playing a Pussy - sorry Paragon.

 

 

Really? I didnt end up doing (finding) a lot of side quests, and completed the game in 25 hours, and was still able to keep all the party members loyal. And i played the game in a way i think i would do in real life, ending up with 4 blocks (out of 5) of paragon and 3.5 renegade.

[Mav]

Personally, I believe they got the balance just about right this game. Party members are way better at following commands in ME2. They are decent at holding their own, but it is still up to the player to command them in order to get the most out of their talents. That is the point of the entire thing since it is a game. It would really stink if the AI was so intelligent that all you had to do was run into a room find cover and let the computer do all the work.

I wouldn't say that the balance was just right, they still did too many stupid things, like running right up to Heavy Mechs with a SMG, going pewpewpewpewpew... But they were a lot better than in ME1, there were a few moments while playing where I'd be aiming for a kill on an enemy and out of nowhere he'd take a shot to the face and drop to the floor, <3 Thane.

 

I wouldn't say that. I found her pretty useful on my playthrough.

Did you use Tali on Insanity? She dies, a lot, and maybe you did use her, doesn't change the fact that almost any other character is a better choice.

 

Jack was kind of meh to me. While I understand how her childhood shaped her into the person she is, I disliked her attitude toward other squad members. Strange about the fight between her and Miranda, though. I had a very high Paragon score but only half Renegade, yet somehow I could only resolve the issue using Intimidate; Charm was grayed out. Figures.

That's odd, I had about 4/5 Paragon and 3/5 Renegade, and neither option appeared for me, there must be something else that factors in there.

 

True enough. But at least the drone's distraction works against all enemies, even bosses, and if upgraded to Explosive Drone, can at least damage enemies when blown up.

Yeah I mean Tali's got some uses, but what I was getting at is that you're pretty much always better off with another character anyway.

[DarthParametric]

there must be something else that factors in there.

I've never had a problem with it but apparently the point at which you trigger the scene (presumably calculated by story progression and/or the PC's level) determines the Paragon/Renegade score required.

 

I haven't seen the Elcor Hamlet add, but I do remember it being advertised in ME1 during elevator rides

Here it is:

[Bob Lion54]

I'll just leave this here.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nh02jVEHIQ&feature=related

[DarthParametric]

Lol lame.

[Rogue Nine]

Wrex needs to come back in ME3 along with Grunt.

 

 

"Wrex. Grunt."

[DarthParametric]

The problem is that Wrex could be killed in ME1 and Grunt (along with everyone else) could be killed in ME2. At this point I would say only Liara is guaranteed to definitely play some role in ME3, along with with whichever of Ashley and Kaiden survived Virmire. I'd much rather not have a whole new cast of squad mates introduced for ME3, but Bioware have kind of painted themselves into a corner with the possible outcomes of ME2's final mission.

[stoffe]

The problem is that Wrex could be killed in ME1 and Grunt (along with everyone else) could be killed in ME2. At this point I would say only Liara is guaranteed to definitely play some role in ME3, along with with whichever of Ashley and Kaiden survived Virmire. I'd much rather not have a whole new cast of squad mates introduced for ME3, but Bioware have kind of painted themselves into a corner with the possible outcomes of ME2's final mission.

 

I hope that at least some of your ME2 squad gets a chance to stick around in ME3, though I won't be sad if some of those who feels like they have no good reason for being there (Jack etc) would vanish. It worked pretty well to have a few of the party members stick around for the whole Baldurs Gate trilogy, gave that story a better sense of continuity. I'm also hoping that you start at level 30 and go up to 60 in ME3 and they won't come up with another half-arsed reason for de-leveling Shepard again. Worked once, but any more would be pushing it.

 

It would be interesting if player decisions in ME2 actually did have consequences in ME3 in that you'd get less squad members if you let them die in the previous game (and import a save). After all...

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...at least one squad member needs to survive in order for Shepard to survive herself...

...so you wouldn't be entirely without someone coming along with you into ME3 no matter what choices you make.

 

Would also be nice if you could get the Rachni and Geth to support your cause in ME3 if you made the right decisions to spare/befriend them in the earlier games. But since both those possibilities are optional I doubt it could play a major role, unfortunately.

[DarthParametric]

They'll never do it for fear of alienating new players (which explains a lot of ME2's revisionism) but I'd really like to see them implement a proper system of consequences for your actions. It would actually be really cool to not be able to beat ME3 based on decisions you made back in ME1. Like I said though, it will never happen. All we'll get is a few token cutscenes of Rachni/Geth/Quarian ships turning up in the final big space battle (in front of the Citadel again no doubt) taking a few pot shots at random Reapers.

[Quanon]

Don't forget the Krogan.

 

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Since I let Wrex live, he seemed to be building his own small empire

I think if you helped out the Krogan in ME 2, they'll play a role in the end battle.

 

Well I think a succesfull attack or stronger precense at least. We'll have to wait and see. But ME 2 was good indication that the whole "carry on" dicisions isn't that strongly worked out.

[DarthParametric]

Sorry.

 

Add an extra cutscene of Wrex and/or Grunt head-butting a Reaper.

[Quanon]

 

The headbutting is great, my Sheppard joined into that habbit.

To bad it wasn't in ME 1, Ambassador Udeena would have been skull crushed xD

[DarthParametric]

Yeah that was one of the best interrupts in the game. Good thing Shepard had so many metal plates bolted all over his/her body.

[mimartin]

I hope that at least some of your ME2 squad gets a chance to stick around in ME3, though I won't be sad if some of those who feels like they have no good reason for being there (Jack etc) would vanish. [/Quote]I actually believe some party members from ME1 will return in ME3. Part of the reason for not using Liara and Ashley/Kaidan in Mass Effect 2 was to preserve them for use in ME 3. Don’t really see Wrex making an appearance beyond a cameo as Leader of the Krogan forces where they could also use Urdnot Wreav in that capacity if Wrex is dead.

 

Personally I’m hoping you have the choice to replace certain members of your party due to death or disloyalty with party member from ME 1, if not I at least hope you can kick untrustworthy members out of your party. The three Shepards I played so far would definitely not allow Zaeed to remain onboard the Normandy.

 

Guess it would also depend if you remained faithful to you ME love interest in ME2 if they would even want to come back. Although saving the galaxy should take precedents over libidos, but if the writing in ME2 is any indications, or Dragon Age for that matter, BioWare characters will put libido and revenge over the good of the galaxy. Still it would make for some more interesting party member fights, maybe in the catfight between Liara/Ashley and Tali will allow us to finally see Tali’s face.

 

I I'm also hoping that you start at level 30 and go up to 60 in ME3 and they won't come up with another half-arsed reason for de-leveling Shepard again. Worked once, but any more would be pushing it.

I hope, I don’t really see The Illusive Man using Cerberus resources to bring back my Shepard again. At least not without a control chip implanted deep within Shepard’s brain.

I actually see another enemy in Mass Effect 3 either being Cerberus or the Alliance/Citadel Council depending on your choices in Mass Effect 2.

 

Renegade could even end up with the council sending a specter to bring Shepard in. As to Cerberus, this seems another reason to remove Zaeed from the Normandy. Cerberus/Alliance enemies could also be a reason not to bring back all the ME2 party member even if they survived the suicide mission.

Would also be nice if you could get the Rachni and Geth to support your cause in ME3 if you made the right decisions to spare/befriend them in the earlier games. But since both those possibilities are optional I doubt it could play a major role, unfortunately.

I don’t think it will mean that much to game play in general, but like upgrading the Normandy, it may make the battles easier and/or play a role in deciding who will or will not survive at the end of the game.

Even though I doubt it, I could see the Geth solution going either way. You rewrote them, so now instead of having the Geth and/or Quarians help you have neither because they are busy fighting each other.

 

All we'll get is a few token cutscenes of Rachni/Geth/Quarian ships turning up in the final big space battle (in front of the Citadel again no doubt) taking a few pot shots at random Reapers.

I actually have a feeling that the final battle will be in the Sol System. The reapers have taken too great an interest not only in Shepard, but in humanity in general.

 

I could also see the game’s opening cut scene taking place in the Dholen System, they made too big a deal about Dark Matter and Haestrom's sun for it not to mean anything. It can’t have anything to do with the Reapers wanting to get rid of the Geth, they already had the virus for that. I think it is more along the lines of trying to create a black hole. Oh look another cliché.