Mass Effet 2 - The Humor

[Void(null)]

I'm not really one for easter eggs in games, I find they cheapen the atmosphere and break immersion, but the Game Salesman in Mass Effect 2 cracked me up.

I wonder if Bioware will release one of the Asari porn games the Salesman talks about.

*Snickers*

:D

[shawnmck]

I've been wanting to try Mass Effect 2 (haven't even played ME1), but I just can't afford it right now. :cry:

Hopefully some time in the future..? :confused:

[Void(null)]

Its a very worthy successor, they changed a lot of the game play, some of it for the worse but most of it for the better.

The Characters, the way the story plays out and the overall quality of the game setting is all vastly improved.

[shawnmck]

How is the loot system ?
Can you find various weapons & armor, or is it mainly an up-grade system ?

[Roros]

How is the loot system ?
Can you find various weapons & armor, or is it mainly an up-grade system ?

It's much more streamlined now, and it's something that you either love or hate.

Instead of getting loot from every mob, you research and find new weapons much less frequently, but they make a much bigger difference.
In ME1, the only difference between a bad assault rifle and a good one was it's stats. Now an assault rifle can be either full auto, burst, or even have a "wind-up" system where the longer you hold the trigger the faster it fires.

There is no "inventory system" per se. When you research or find a new weapon, it becomes available to everyone, and you equip it before starting a mission.
Same thing with armor. You purchase or research modules (chest piece, leggings, visor, etc) and mix'n'match them in your captain's quarters.

I understand why a lot of people hate it, but even as an rpg nerd myself I really feel it suits the game. I play Mass Effect for the character interaction and story, and I feel the new system helps facilitate that instead of hampering it.

Something I really hated in the old game was having to open my inventory and swap out my weapon module for every mob I encountered. Anti-shield rounds for shields, anti-synthetic rounds for geth, anti-organic rounds for humanoids. Same thing with armor. It's one of those things that you have no reason not to do other than being a pain in the ass.

You still have specific ammo, but it's a skill/toggle now. If you need anti-shield, you just hit the disruptor ammo button. It keeps you in the game a ton more instead of having to micro menues every 2 minutes.

[Void(null)]

How is the loot system ?
Can you find various weapons & armor, or is it mainly an up-grade system ?

The loot system is... different.

Its not bad, but it's also not good. It comes with its own series of pluses and minuses, all of which I feel make it viable.

It works, Its not great, but it works.

I am a fan of inventory Tetris, I like my items to have relative sizes and weights that are easy to identify and manage.

ME, KotOR, Fallout & Oblivion all suffer from bad console RPG inventory systems which are clumsy and cumbersome... so if I cant get my preferred system and have to choose between the two current offerings, I would pick ME2.

It doesn't really add much to the experience, but it also doesn't detract from it in any way, and if recipe drops and types were a little more varied and frequent then the ME2 system could become a really nice advancement to that Console/PC cross over inventory system that people seem to be attempting.

[shawnmck]

If you've never played the 1st one, can you still create (customize) your character, or is it set ?

[Roros]

You can create your character from scratch yes, including the face generator. They also let you loosely define a virtual ME1 playthrough by a quick memory recap sequence, where someone asks you what happened and you fill in the blanks.

Still, it's reccomended that you play the first one if you haven't. The events in ME2 will seem a lot more significant and grand if you know what's going on.

[shawnmck]

Interesting thing happenned yesterday that I'm a little embarrased to share, but what the hell....
I've been thinking about getting ME2. It looks interesting to me, much more so than the first one.
Anyway...my girlfriend comes up to me & asks me "if I've ever heard of the game Mass Effect?" ?
I reply, "yes, the sequel ME 2 has just recently come out....why ?"
She tells me the story how she watched her ex play it (they are divorced but she visits their daughter who lives with him), and wondered if I've heard of it or play it.

To make a long story short, she warned me that I better not play it, because there are strip clubs in the game, and it has nude women, and that she doesn't want me ever playing it.
what the hell ?
:confused:

[Roros]

There aren't "strip clubs" specifically, but you can click on exotic dancers to "watch" them. You can also get down with some of your crew mates, you can even have lesbian alien sex in the first game. I know you can have alien sex in the second one, but not sure if the lesbianism stayed.

[shawnmck]

In any case, this does not bode well for me being able to play it.
I either confront her about it & discuss it to try & persuade her otherwise (which is a losing battle)...
Or I go behind her back to play it (which if she finds out she will kill me, or cut off my private parts, or both)...
Or I can play it anyway, say "screw you I'm a big boy (err man), and can do what I want" (in which case she kicks my arse & then dumps me).

Even if I don't plan on hanging out in the psudo clubs watching alien strippers &/or getting it on with team members, she would still be suspicious & likely to go berserk on me.

I know, I'm whipped, but what can I do ?
We both need counseling.
Maybe I should just man up, and do what I want..? But I try to be a little respective towards her & her views.
:o

[Roros]

These are all things you can easily avoid. I've played through the first game 3 times and the second game once, and haven't ever even poked at the romance plots.

[shawnmck]

I know you can avoid them, but it doesn't matter to her. If you can then in her mind it means I will.
yeah, she has a trust issue.

[Void(null)]

To make a long story short, she warned me that I better not play it, because there are strip clubs in the game, and it has nude women, and that she doesn't want me ever playing it.
what the hell ?
:confused:

*Blinks*

I...umm... wow.

Perhaps you need to sit her down and have a discussion about your personal freedoms as a grown adult.

If she loves you, she should be able to trust you to play a Video game. Its not as if you would feel threatened by her reading a romance novel of which I can guarantee is infinitely more graphic and sexually charged.

I have been married for 8 years, my wife would never tell me what I can and can not watch/play/read because she loves and respects me, and likewise I love and respect her... and with that love and respect comes trust.

If she has this much of an issue over a video game, then what is she going to do when it involves something that's meaningful, and most importantly... real? While it may only be "Just a game" to you, its obviously a big issue that has a much deeper root, and perhaps the Mass Effect issue could be used to set the ground work for working on those trust issues of hers.

[Perturabo]

Been together with my wife for 5 years now, married for one year and such thing would just never arise between us. On the contrary she likes to sit next to me, watching when I play and sometimes even forcing me to choose options that are more sexual. This is just a game and she should understand that any kind of sexual action in such a game has nothing to do with real life. Jeez this is really freaky :eek:

[An7hraX]

I know you can avoid them, but it doesn't matter to her. If you can then in her mind it means I will.
yeah, she has a trust issue.

This really isn't the place for relationship advice, but what are you doing with a divorced chick with kids that aren't yours, and on top of that she gets to boss you around about what games you play?!
There's something terribly wrong here.

But on topic, Mass Effect 2 was weak in comparison to 1, even Martin Sheen couldn't make me complete it a second time.

[Fortuitous]

But on topic, Mass Effect 2 was weak in comparison to 1, even Martin Sheen couldn't make me complete it a second time.

Depends on what you are talking about, overall I enjoyed playing the game, perhaps equally or more then mass effect 1. Being able to import your decisions into Mass Effect 2 from your previous character was a nice bonus and well done; certainly an ingenious way to sell more copies of their older games.

The Good:
I think that the dialogue, the character interactions, humour, voice acting was masterfully done.

Graphics were noticeably improved and actually played faster on my PC then Mass Effect 1.

Combat was much more interesting then part one and far more challenging; very much like Gears of War (I was playing it on hardcore to give myself a bit of a challenge, as I'm usually a 'normal' level type of guy :) ).

Weapons feel different and more interesting to use then part 1.

(minor spoiler)
Certain story sequences are really exciting to watch...it was nice seeing the results of investing in ship based upgrades play out towards the end :D
(end spoiler)

The Bad:
Perhaps I missed something, but the story didn't quite make sense; it could of been that I wasn't paying careful attention, but it's almost like there were a whole lot of assumptions made that your character Shepard intuitively "knew" without explaining how it came to be.

RPG system is very much cut down; while only having 4 levels for each skill as opposed to 12 can be seen as a good thing as there is more of a leap between each level; the difference isn't that great for some abilities while others it can be significant. Also because the ammo upgrades have been taken out, some of them have become skills instead; there is a whole lot less character customization for sure then part 1.

There is no loot system, or inventory system. You find weapons and upgrades at fixed points in the game. It isn't bad, it's just less of an RPG and more of a tactical shooter (like gears of war). It's in the bad column because I like loot.

Upgrades suck; they're uninspired generic descriptions like +10% armour piercing, +20% armour piercing for the next upgrade an so on. You cannot customize your weapons (perhaps I'm one of the few, but I liked changing the ammo and weapon upgrades in mass effect 1), you can merely increase the damage potential in them. Oh and well if you want to figure out how good the weapon is, take a look at the mass effect website wiki...as there is NO INGAME INFORMATION grrr :mad:

Whoops, I forgot to add; one of the most annoying aspects is that you are not rewarded experience for any kills...only for doing sidequest and main missions.

I know I make the game sound more negative then positive, but seriously the parts they do well in the game really stand out, and I have to agree that there are some funny, laugh out loud moments; as well as 'f*** yeah shepard show them badasses what a real badass is'

[shawnmck]

Do I need to play ME1 to get into ME2, or can I just skip it?
The reason I ask is because i tried renting both, and am really enjoying ME2, but am finding ME1 a little boring.
Can I skip it, or should I trudge through?

[Opal Monkey]

I'd say that it's really a personal decision. If your playing through both kind of at the same time, then it's just if you want to see all the little details in the first one. You probably get the overall story of the first one already.

I quite liked ME, but then again, I took my sweet time and didn't even finish it until ME2 was out and I wanted to play that.

As far as your girlfriend goes... I'm just going to say that I'm sorry you have to go through that. It's not my place to judge whether you two are right for each other, but I don't think I could deal with anyone judging me on my games or trying to say what I should and shouldn't play... Pure fantasy, they are nothing more, and have nothing to do with what you would do real life.

That's like thinking that by playing Grim Dawn you might go out and start shooting real monsters. Or maybe blow up some arches with your exploding rifle rounds! Hehehe... Maybe not the best comparison... but what the hell. :p

As you might be able to tell from this, I'm not married, and I don't have a girlfriend.