Mass Effect 2 [thread contains spoilers]

[Salzella]

I finished it for the first time last night (admittedly on casual difficulty) with my very gorgeous femshep, pictures once i figure out how to get screencaps...

 

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I lost:

Tali :(

Kelly (watching her get disentegrated was actually pretty freaky)

and Miranda

 

Enjoyed it a lot tbh, don't see grounds for all this criticism it seems to be getting here. Mindless entertainment it may be but it's a good deal less mindless than most games out at the moment.

[mimartin]

*sigh* Who else is expecting ME3 will have a 5 hour campaign that plays so much like a third person shooter it just has skills and dialogue to set it apart as an RPG, be entirely multiplayer focused and have a completely balls storyline/characters?

 

Just me?

 

Just you and a few of the cool kids that think it is fun to bash on BioWare.

 

First Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 give you choices, sure you can finish the game on speed mode in 10 to 15 hours, but others have taken 28 to 40 hours. My average for both is around 25 and I happen to know where most everything is.

 

Fan boys and fan girls have been clamoring for ME multiplayer since day one, but the Devs on the BioWare forum have pretty flatly stated keep wishing because it is not going to happen. Perhaps after ME 3, EA will continue to milk the franchise for all it is worth and we will see a multiplayer campaign, Lego ME and Sim ME, but only after ME 3.

 

Who really cares if the Mass Effect franchise is considered a FPS or a RPG? All I care is that is fun entertaining game with a minimum of bugs. Sometimes I need mindless fun instead of running all over the universe worried about where I’m going to sell the 1000th piece of Phoenix armor.

 

Already have ME and ME2 for the PC and the 360. It looks like this fanboy needs a PS3 so I can continue to support BioWare in making their highly cliché, but just as highly entertaining and more important playable games.

 

Off to PM D333 about a certain rules change.

[Achilles]

I think Achilles was suggesting a simultaneous multi-platform (i.e. PC/360/PS3) release for ME3, not launching ME3 at the same time as ME2 on PS3.

Yep

 

Mindless entertainment it may be but it's a good deal less mindless than most games out at the moment.

Yep

 

First Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 give you choices, sure you can finish the game on speed mode in 10 to 15 hours, but others have taken 28 to 40 hours. My average for both is around 25 and I happen to know where most everything is.

Yep. And my complaint now (as was my complaint then) is that they make you choose between the story and the game. Albeit they did a slightly better job of making the choice a) relevant and b) integrated in ME2 than they did in ME1 (i.e. ignoring the threat to the galaxy to secure the loyalty of your team members is slightly less boorish than ignoring the threat to the galaxy to collect asari writings, salarian/turian dogtags, etc).

 

Lego ME

Sweet. I would definitely buy it for my son. He's not happy that he's has to wait for many-much-lots-more years before he can play the ME franchise.

 

Who really cares if the Mass Effect franchise is considered a FPS or a RPG?

If they turn it into a FPS, I won't play it. Continuing the 3rd person shooter trend won't bother me that much though [/pickingofnits]

 

All I care is that is fun entertaining game with a minimum of bugs. Sometimes I need mindless fun instead of running all over the universe worried about where I’m going to sell the 1000th piece of Phoenix armor.

Indeed. It seems that Bioware understands their audience very well. As does Michael Bay

 

highly entertaining and more important playable games.

Interesting that you consider those things to be separate.

 

[mimartin]

Yep. And my complaint now (as was my complaint then) is that they make you choose between the story and the game. Albeit they did a slightly better job of making the choice a) relevant and b) integrated in ME2 than they did in ME1 (i.e. ignoring the threat to the galaxy to secure the loyalty of your team members is slightly less boorish than ignoring the threat to the galaxy to collect asari writings, salarian/turian dogtags, etc).

Guess I just don’t have that much of a problem suspending disbelief while playing a make believe game. However, I agree with you ME 2 is one of the few games, I remember, that actually gave some consequences for not tackling the problem at appropriate time. Even if it really does not actually make any real difference story wise.

If they turn it into a FPS, I won't play it. Continuing the 3rd person shooter trend won't bother me that much though [/pickingofnits][/Quote] My elevator was not going all the way to the top when I wrote that.

Interesting that you consider those things to be separate.

I had fun at Graybox, but was unable to play AP beyond that.

[Achilles]

Guess I just don’t have that much of a problem suspending disbelief while playing a make believe game.

 

Suspending disbelief works just fine when you tell me that you want to have FTL travel, tidally-locked planets with atmospheres and habitable areas, and captured-object planets in damn near every solar system. Suspending disbelief is not applicable when the main quest is titled "THE RACE AGAINST TIME", then ask me to do things like turn on water for colonists, negotiate the transfer of illicit goods for local merchants, or track down people blackmailing the local doctor. That falls well outside the purview of suspension of disbelief.

 

Again, I have no problem chalking it up to bad writing, accepting that the game has some fun elements regardless of its flaws, and admitting that every hour I play is indulging in a guilty pleasure. What I do mind is when that particular author is lauded for his fantastic writing.

 

However, I agree with you ME 2 is one of the few games, I remember, that actually gave some consequences for not tackling the problem at appropriate time.

Indeed that was a nice touch. Not sure who at Bioware deserves accolades for trying to gritty things up a bit in ME2, but I definitely appreciated that it happened.

 

Off-topic: I know that "assuming direct control" gets a fair amount of fun poked at it, but it's so much more acceptable than the 15 "your demise is inevitable" monologues we had to suffer through in the ME1. We never-ever spoke to any of the Collectors and when we did hear from Harbinger, it wasn't the melodramatic exposition we saw in the first game. No doubt the writing falls short of "great" but there is noticeable improvement and I think that deserves to be acknowledged.

 

I had fun at Graybox, but was unable to play AP beyond that.

Because the game was broken or because it introduced an element of gameplay that you found frustrating (and doesn't have a workaround)? To the best of my recollection, you've never mentioned the former and to the best of my knowledge, the latter doesn't exist in AP.

[DeadYorick]

Fan boys and fan girls have been clamoring for ME multiplayer since day one, but the Devs on the BioWare forum have pretty flatly stated keep wishing because it is not going to happen. Perhaps after ME 3, EA will continue to milk the franchise for all it is worth and we will see a multiplayer campaign, Lego ME and Sim ME, but only after ME 3.

 

It appears that Bioware is considering multiplayer for Mass Effect a bit sooner then you expect.

 

http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=060110_6

 

http://www.totalvideogames.com/Mass-Effect-3-unannounced/news/Mass-Effect-Going-Multiplayer-15279.html

 

If in case your thinking this might be for another Mass Effect game. There is a quote to take into consideration

 

Intriguingly the post claims the role will involve working "with both the front and back ends to take existing single player user experiences and make them multiplayer safe.

 

To us, that doesn't sound as though it's a brand new game the studio is creating, but possibly working on the existing technology to incorporate multiplayer. It's probably a little late in the day for a Mass Effect 2 update, but seems reasonable to expect some sort of multiplayer antics for Mass Effect 3."

 

I am suspecting Co-Operative gameplay for ME3. I do recall Casey Hudson saying in one of his dev interviews that they would have considered Coop for ME2 if it fit into their development cycle.

[Taak Farst]

Fan boys and fan girls have been clamoring for ME multiplayer since day one, but the Devs on the BioWare forum have pretty flatly stated keep wishing because it is not going to happen.

 

Chris Priestley said the same thing about the mass effect series coming to ps3..

 

EDIT: No..just no. i will resort to being a childish fan boy if this multiplayer thing happens. I demand i have a long and well told story to finish the series on a high. If you want to create more work by making it multiplayer, do that in a future spin off dammit!!

 

The only way i will ever approve of this is if they follow in rockstars footsteps with red dead redemption..i mean, look at it..plenty of mini games, lots o' sidequests and quite a long campaign, with online multiplayer in it too. if bioware can pull this off, but with the same mass effect feel the first two games have, i'll be satisfied

 

EDIT2: In fact no, ill be happy if its "red dead effect" but the campaign has to be a LOT longer than RDD's...my total playtime is 18 hours..and i sure as hell haven't done a speed run. ive even left the ps3 on and going out, forgetting. and im well into mexico, i would say, about 3/4 of the campaign done. in mass effect, as i got from the other 2 games, i expect a campaign that lasts at least 25 hours..with sidequests and loyalty quests and such leading to about 35 hours. 30 playtime hours minimum. is it too much to demand?

[DeadYorick]

The only way i will ever approve of this is if they follow in rockstars footsteps with red dead redemption..i mean, look at it..plenty of mini games, lots o' sidequests and quite a long campaign, with online multiplayer in it too. if bioware can pull this off, but with the same mass effect feel the first two games have, i'll be satisfied

 

Red Dead Redemption`s development was far different then Mass Effect. The same with Grand Theft Auto 4. What they did was their development team worked on both designing a large world the player would explore, and then setting and characters. If you compare RDR or GTA4`s missions they are exceedingly linear with very little variations except for a different line here or there if you failed it already. Mass Effect is an RPG and it isnt a sandbox game. Bioware designed large, but officially still boxed in maps the player would go through. With Red Dead Redemption all they had to think about would be what would make this part of the world interesting. That brings things like minigames to light. Online multiplayer would just require scripting and coding and I can still imagine Bioware doing it. (Look at the links I posted previously).

 

Also I have to mention this, but budget is a big issue as well. GTA4 cost 100 million dollars to develop, and had a much larger development staff at it`s helm (roughly 1000 people).

 

EDIT2: In fact no, ill be happy if its "red dead effect" but the campaign has to be a LOT longer than RDD's...my total playtime is 18 hours..and i sure as hell haven't done a speed run. ive even left the ps3 on and going out, forgetting. and im well into mexico, i would say, about 3/4 of the campaign done. in mass effect, as i got from the other 2 games, i expect a campaign that lasts at least 25 hours..with sidequests and loyalty quests and such leading to about 35 hours. 30 playtime hours minimum. is it too much to demand?

 

A longer campaign also removes other features from the game. Bare in mind that they do have a limited disk space and budget, and the campaign drains that heavily. So a longer campaign could result with drawbacks such as less weapons, less subquests, re-skinned modules instead of new ones etc. You can`t have both a long campaign and a large amount of good quality subquests. That IS to much to demand because it is too strenuous on both the developers and the game. The reason why Mass Effect 1 had a whole bunch of subquests that were basically exactly the same to one another was they just modified things in a txt file. (Like change the mountain size here and there, add object to this area of the map, etc.) Mass Effect 2`s subquests had a lot more depth, but there were significantly less of them.

 

There is rarely a balance struck in this, and a lot of the times game developers have to make sacrifices. Mass Effect 2 was put on 2 disks for the console, and gamers ended up hating that.

[Salzella]

A longer campaign also removes other features from the game. Bare in mind that they do have a limited disk space and budget, and the campaign drains that heavily. So a longer campaign could result with drawbacks such as less weapons, less subquests, re-skinned modules instead of new ones etc. You can`t have both a long campaign and a large amount of good quality subquests. That IS to much to demand because it is too strenuous on both the developers and the game. The reason why Mass Effect 1 had a whole bunch of subquests that were basically exactly the same to one another was they just modified things in a txt file. (Like change the mountain size here and there, add object to this area of the map, etc.) Mass Effect 2`s subquests had a lot more depth, but there were significantly less of them.

 

There is rarely a balance struck in this, and a lot of the times game developers have to make sacrifices. Mass Effect 2 was put on 2 disks for the console, and gamers ended up hating that.

All true but rather missing the point, which was that however the campaign is constructed, it will be as long and fulfilling as possible - multiplayer would compromise that however you choose to build it. It would be a bad idea, if it has to be done, make it a spin-off as someone said ^^.

[mimartin]

Chris Priestley said the same thing about the mass effect series coming to ps3..

And Chris Priestley was correct Mass Effect is not coming to PS3, Mass Effect 2 is.

[Drunkside]

Hmph.... Im really not liking what im reading. If Bioware insists on going down this path of evil I have no other choice but to unleash some holy wrath(also known as flooding the forum with hate mail and trolling like this

) upon them. And the same goes for EA, exept that i will use an army of bots for that rather than the loving hatred of a human being.

[Taak Farst]

And Chris Priestley was correct Mass Effect is not coming to PS3, Mass Effect 2 is.

 

note the word series in what i said?

 

@topic

Ray Muzyka was recently interviewed on the "bonus content" the ps3 version will have, and said that it will have all the post release dlc (basically..just..the dlc) and something to make a "seamless introduction to the mass effect franchise"..when asked onn what this introduction would be, he didn't comment.

 

Source.

 

I still think that Sony must have gave EA a whole wad o' cash for this. Chris Priestley said multiple times that the ME universe wouldn't be on ps3. EA are really making it clear that they ARE the boss.

 

Chris: Mass Effect 2 Will NEVER be on PS3

EA: ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!!!!!

Chris: We are excited to announce, Mass Effect 2 is coming to PS3!

[mimartin]

Note: the ":xp:" too, which usually means someone is joking.

[DeadYorick]

Chris: Mass Effect 2 Will NEVER be on PS3

EA: ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!!!!!

Chris: We are excited to announce, Mass Effect 2 is coming to PS3!

 

Somehow I always imagined EA as being an enigmatic alien race from beyond the Omega Four Relay

[Taak Farst]

Note: the ":xp:" too, which usually means someone is joking.

 

smartass

 

@DeadYorick

 

They so are. they have more money than the collectors though.

[Achilles]

Who needs money when you can use swarms to get the chicks?

[DeadYorick]

Who needs money when you can use swarms to get the chicks?

 

Yeah but then you have to deal with the fact they are frozen stiff with a look of horror on their faces...

 

Okay never mind, that might make some readers actively campaign for "Collector Rights" just so they might get a chance to put some swarms into action.

[Darth_Calo]

having just learned of Mass Effec 2 coming to PS3 all I can say is

 

*shakes fist angrily at EA*

 

Big companies ruin all.

[Mav]

having just learned of Mass Effec 2 coming to PS3 all I can say is

 

*shakes fist angrily at EA*

 

Big companies ruin all.

 

Yeah bro, **** EA for bringing a great game to people that were unable to play it before, jerks.

[DeadYorick]

Yeah bro, **** EA for bringing a great game to people that were unable to play it before, jerks.

 

EA Bought Bioware when Dragon Age Origins was done, and when Mass Effect 2 was nearing completion. Then we get news of Dragon Age 2 being a fantasy Mass Effect.

[Taak Farst]

EA Bought Bioware when Dragon Age Origins was done, and when Mass Effect 2 was nearing completion. Then we get news of Dragon Age 2 being a fantasy Mass Effect.

 

what's your point?

[Sabretooth]

EA Bought Bioware when Dragon Age Origins was done, and when Mass Effect 2 was nearing completion. Then we get news of Dragon Age 2 being a fantasy Mass Effect.

 

EA bought BioWare in 2007, more than two years before the game's release. Additionally, they are the only known publisher BioWare had in mind to release the game. We have no reason to believe that Origins was a finished game by 2007, or that EA did not exercise any control over it.

[DeadYorick]

EA bought BioWare in 2007, more than two years before the game's release. Additionally, they are the only known publisher BioWare had in mind to release the game. We have no reason to believe that Origins was a finished game by 2007, or that EA did not exercise any control over it.

 

True, but considering the fact Mass Effect 2's production started before Mass Effect 1 was completed, it can be assumed that EA had less creative control as the project was underway already.

 

EDIT: Accidentally put "post" before production

[Darth_Calo]

Yeah bro, **** EA for bringing a great game to people that were unable to play it before, jerks.

 

hahaha no all I was trying to say was Mass Effect was one of the games that drew people to the 360. I mean if Resistance: Fall of Man was released on 360, the PS3 fan boys would be up in arms. same with Gears of War if it went to PS3. the 360 fan boys would be livid. so, in that vein, Mass Effect 2 going to the PS3 and losing the "360 exclusive" kind of detracts from it

 

don't get me wrong I am still going to pre-order Mass Effect 3...but ME 1 was exclusive to 360/PC and now with ME2 having the EA branding on it and coming to PS3 it is another example of big companies ruining stuff. I want everyone to be able to enjoy the ME games but at the same time i liked having a great game that PS3ers didnt. they have that with Resistance: Fall of Man. I'd love to play it, but I don't have a PS3, so I can't.

[Sabretooth]

I mean if Resistance: Fall of Man was released on 360, the PS3 fan boys would be up in arms. same with Gears of War if it went to PS3. the 360 fan boys would be livid.

 

I want everyone to be able to enjoy the ME games but at the same time i liked having a great game that PS3ers didnt.

 

Fighting fire with fire only adds to the flames.