Mass Effect 2 [thread contains spoilers]

[igyman]

Have to agree with you there. Visually, the job the developers did was awesome, but I'm disappointed that the Shadow Broker ended up being just another mini-villain. One other thing I didn't like, nor understand is the change of Liara's face. What's up with that!?

 

As for the carry-over to ME3 - well, it is a good way to write off Liara's character, or rather reduce the amount of her ME3 screentime to the amount Anderson had in ME2. Also, it would seem that Shepard is setting up his own organization, in a way. I wouldn't even be surprised if the Normandy SR-2 ends up in pieces at the beginning of ME3, after which your HQ relocates to the Shadow Broker's ship and it's from there that you take a shuttle to visit other systems.

[DarthParametric]

I don't think it can play much part in ME3 simply by virtue of the fact that it is a paid DLC, meaning not everyone will have played it. I would think it is much more likely to be a "flavour" carry-over, rather than a significant element.

 

As for Shep, I would think the choice at the end of ME2 would have the most significant impact on his/her allegiances in ME3. If you were a Renegade Shep that chose to keep the facility then I see no reason why you would break up the relationship with Cerberus. Still, they likely have to come up with some contrived method to set you back to level 1 again, so maybe that will factor into it.

 

I agree on the Liara texture change. It's pretty bizarre:

 

 

Seems like the default ME2 Liara texture is the same as ME1, it's just the lighting that makes her look a bit purple. Although possibly her eyes are a slightly different shade. LOTSB's texture though is obviously completely different. The head "scales" are different, the lip colour is different, the freckles are different, but the most obvious thing of course is the eyes. If they'd left those alone most people probably wouldn't have noticed the other changes.

 

EDIT: Poking around in the files, the DLC diffuse texture is definitely different from the ME1 tex. Still trying to find where the base ME2 tex is hiding. For the eyes, it looks like in ME1 she used the Human eye tex, but in the DLC she is using Samara's eye tex. Not sure about the base ME2 eye tex.

[igyman]

True, not everyone will have played it, but that doesn't make this particular part of the story completely optional. I'm pretty sure that there will still be a time gap between the last thing that happens in ME2 and the beginning of ME3. I'm also sure that Liara will take down the Shadow Broker during that time gap and take his place. The only remaining question is "Did Shepard have a part in taking the SB down?" For those who played the DLC the imported answer would be "yes", while for those that didn't, it would be "no".

[DarthParametric]

Might want to hide that in spoiler tags.

[stoffe]

So I ran through Lair of the Shadow Broker last night, although not before having to download the whole freaking thing twice (way to check your crap before release Bioware). It seems to be getting a lot of gushing praise, but I wasn't overly excited by it.

 

Played it yesterday and in my opinion it was their best DLC so far (for any of their games). An interesting, fairly lengthy mission with a good mix of combat, exploration and character interaction. If you were romancing Liara in ME1 (and didn't move on to another romance option in ME2 I guess) the ending was kind of sweet too, adding some more flesh to that relationship that was sorely missing in ME2 before and showing a more human side of Shepard.

 

All in all I'd say it was well worth the money and trouble to get it (had to download the whole thing three times since Firefox kept corrupting the download for some reason. ).

 

I don't think it can play much part in ME3 simply by virtue of the fact that it is a paid DLC, meaning not everyone will have played it. I would think it is much more likely to be a "flavour" carry-over, rather than a significant element.

 

Not necessarily. Just because something comes separately it shouldn't mean that it has no significance for the overall story. That would almost be like saying that ME2 has no effect on the overall Mass Effect storyline since some people might just be buying Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 3. It's there, and if someone choose to skip it that'd be their loss.

 

The outcome of that particular mission does after all have some far-reaching consequences (much more so than the other personal missions in ME2), given the importance and influence of the Shadow Broker on the scene of galactic society. So it would be kind of stupid to just pretend it never happened.

 

Show spoiler

(hidden content - requires Javascript to show)

Having access to the Shadow Broker's intel network and resources should allow Shepard to be less dependent on TIM telling her what she needs to know and funding the operation in ME3. Which makes sense especially if you pick the paragon ending where Shepard tries to sever her ties with Cerberus. I can't see the Citadel Council suddenly becoming an asset rather than a foil in ME3, that would be pretty out of character for them. And Shepard does need some kind of backing to have a chance of stopping the Reapers. The New Shadow Broker seems like the best option presented so far for that.

[DarthParametric]

Yeah I can see that being made canon for ME3, but I still can't see what it is, choice or otherwise, that you are meant to be carrying over to ME3 in your LOTSB save.

[ChAiNz.2da]

Saw this on a Tali's Face thread on BioWare Forums and i found it hilarious so i thought id share it

Show spoiler

(hidden content - requires Javascript to show)

 

* searches for ban button *

 

 

 

[mimartin]

Played it yesterday and in my opinion it was their best DLC so far (for any of their games).

Could not agree more, while I really liked Bring Down the Sky from ME, it does not hold a candle to Lair of the Shadow Broker. There were some nitpicky things that annoyed me about the story and the game play, but overall it was extremely pleasurable to play.

 

I used a FemShepard from my fist playthrough that had remained loyal to Liara. One of things that I was the most pleasantly surprised about is both Liara and the Shadow Broker commented about the mission with the Collector being over.

 

If it carries over or not does not concern me. It was fun to play and gave me a couple hours escape from the real world.

[Salzella]

I thought it was absolutely awesome. The atmosphere in the Illium section was amazing, and the second section was unbelieveably epic.

 

and the romance scene (once i had restarted the final fight after missing a paragon prompt <_<) between my femshep and Liara was awwwwwwww very glad i bought it.

[Darth Payne]

One of my favorite parts(after playing through the Shadow Broker DLC) was the consoles that allow you to invest in either schemes, or mining locations.

 

Heck, there is a room beyond the console that Liara always stands infront of that lets you view various videos from various planets.(one of my favorites is the one where the reporter with the difficult name gets punched in the face by a Krogan)

[DarthParametric]

Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani.

 

The dossiers have some interesting info, some of it quite humorous.

[Darth Payne]

Bint?

 

Part of her name is actually Bint?

 

(snicker) Fitting.

[stoffe]

I used a FemShepard from my fist playthrough that had remained loyal to Liara. One of things that I was the most pleasantly surprised about is both Liara and the Shadow Broker commented about the mission with the Collector being over.

 

That dialog does appear to change depending on your progress in the game. I did the Shadowbroker mission right after I did Liara's normal quest on Illium just after doing the Horizon mission. At that stage Liara remarked on Shepard saving the colonists on Horizon and going away again to vanish through the Omega-4 mass relay, and the Shadow Broker's taunt was about the Collector bounty on Shepard still being active.

 

I guess I'll try it after the final mission some time too, but from a gameplay perspective it makes sense to do the Shadowbroker mission as early as possible. You'll get a ton of resources and research upgrades from the drop box in the Shadow Broker HQ every time you return after having done another quest. (Many upgrades that boosts previous 5/5 research projects to be 6/6 instead.) Not much use for those if the game is already over.

 

Part of her name is actually Bint?

 

(snicker) Fitting.

 

Means daughter in arabic.

[mimartin]

I guess I'll try it after the final mission some time too, but from a gameplay perspective it makes sense to do the Shadowbroker mission as early as possible.

You're right playing the Shadowbroker mission does make more sense doing it earlier rather than later, but per your advice; I was trying to find a Shepard that remained loyal Liara. Pretty much all the rest of my Shepards from ME1 have cheated.

[Salzella]

Shadow Broker made me glad I stayed faithful to Liara with my femshep (and chose her over Kaidan for that matter (my femshep doesn't so much swing both ways as *all* ways)). very cute, and much more fleshed out than the other female options, and most of the male ones although Tali will forever be my male romance option.

 

one a related note, i'm finding it hard to play as a Shepard that's not Kiera Shepard, my main character if you like. anyone else get this or am i just obsessed to an unhealthy degree?

[Taak Farst]

Salzella, I am exactly the same with James Shephard. This guy has been with me since ME1 and all my ME2 playthroughs. I find it hard to get involved with a different shephard. Same with Dragon age in a way. When Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch hunt were released, i never made a new character (e.g the Orlesian Warden)..It's gotta have my Gene Couseland.

[Drunkside]

Shadow Broker made me glad I stayed faithful to Liara with my femshep (and chose her over Kaidan for that matter (my femshep doesn't so much swing both ways as *all* ways)). very cute, and much more fleshed out than the other female options, and most of the male ones although Tali will forever be my male romance option.

 

one a related note, i'm finding it hard to play as a Shepard that's not Kiera Shepard, my main character if you like. anyone else get this or am i just obsessed to an unhealthy degree?

 

Same here, three playtimes behind me now already (yeah i know some of you nerds play all your games through once a week, but ME2 is the first game i have played 3 times in under one year from the release), all with Bente Shepard Have been thinking of playing ME1 and 2 with a new character for a long time but sometimes I just end up doing new playthroughs on my first character Just finished the third today actually, galaxy 100% explored and with an empty journal. By the way, I liked the Overlord a lot, I dont know why so many people bash it. It had too much of that "Hammerhead"-sh**e (if hammers actually had heads that soft the humanity would never have built a single wooden house) but other than that it was fun. The lair was also fun, pretty much as good as the recruitation missions.

[Darth Payne]

Bente?

 

Odd, that just happens to be my mothers name.

[Drunkside]

Bente?

 

Odd, that just happens to be my mothers name.

 

Your mother a man? I know its still used somewhere, but i use it cause it´s the "ancestor" of my own name. And it sounds cool.

[Salzella]

hah, good to know i'm not the only one. I'm on my second playthrough of ME1 with her, which will be followed by her 3rd outing in ME2. all with Liara 'natch. Kaidan is a bit wet.

 

I have actually started a male playthrough but it's not gone far...

[Alkonium]

This isn't directly related to Mass Effect 2, but Concordia University in Montreal has added Mass Effect to the reading list for its Contemporary Canadian Fiction course:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/09/09/f-videogames-education-learning.html

[swphreak]

I rather liked the Shadow Broker DLC. It bridges that ME comic into the game. I thought that was pretty cool. Plus, my femshep got to resume her relationship with Liara. It seems they're going to release some more DLC that closes the gap between ME2 and ME3? I think that's what I read anyways.

 

 

I'm playing as a renegade male shepard on my current playthrough. I picked Sentinel for my class, and I like it. I get the Tech Armor AND decent offensive powers (Push and Warp). Plus I get to pick a bonus power (Warp Ammo).

 

Since I've played ME2 so many times, I just turn on subtitles and listen to podcasts while playing. And since my last playthrough was femshep, whenever I read the subtitles, I hear femshep in my head. It's really weird when my current Shepard is a dude.

[Salzella]

^^ at least it means you don't hear mr-thick-neck-chops-of-steel-farts-bullets macho man Mark Meers do his thang. Jennifer Hale is way better. helps that she was Bastila as well if i'm being completely honest.

 

oh, and sentinels are amazing in Me2, damn near unkillable, but they suck a bit in Me1 for me. give me a vanguard any day.

[Darth_Calo]

^^ at least it means you don't hear mr-thick-neck-chops-of-steel-farts-bullets macho man Mark Meers do his thang. Jennifer Hale is way better. helps that she was Bastila as well if i'm being completely honest.

 

truth. I definitely vote for Female Shepard as the canon (despite the default being a male in-game) and them casting Jennifer Hale as Jane Shepard in the upcoming Mass Effect movie. anyone? anyone?

 

oh, and sentinels are amazing in Me2, damn near unkillable, but they suck a bit in Me1 for me. give me a vanguard any day.

 

infiltrator for the win. X-98e Widow Anti-Material is pure beast

[Drunkside]

truth. I definitely vote for Female Shepard as the canon (despite the default being a male in-game) and them casting Jennifer Hale as Jane Shepard in the upcoming Mass Effect movie. anyone? anyone?

 

 

 

infiltrator for the win. X-98e Widow Anti-Material is pure beast

 

I dont even want a movie that "canonises" some choices. Isn´t playing your own story one of the main points of ME? And yeah, Infiltrators ftw. Played INF in ME1, played it in ME2 and will play it in ME3. Also, i made a ME1 playthrough with a soldier a few weeks ago, but didnt like it. It was just so freaking boring shooting everything with those assault rifles....