Will you be buying Mass Effect 2?

[Bateluer]

Question about Mass Effect, what are the optimal controls for PC? I don't have a gamepad/360 controller. Will mouse and keyboard suffice? *crosses fingers*

Why would you want to play a shooter-esque game on the PC with a console style controller?

 

[Zenoth]

Right now I wish that it would be a midnight release on Steam, just out of curiosity, does anyone know if it ever happened at all? That an incoming game was released on midnight of the due release day in the respective time zones? I can't recall... but I think it never happened.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Right now I wish that it would be a midnight release on Steam, just out of curiosity, does anyone know if it ever happened at all? That an incoming game was released on midnight of the due release day in the respective time zones? I can't recall... but I think it never happened.

Half-Life 2 was released at midnight, but it was Pacific time rather than per-time zone. That might not count, though .

 

[TJCS]

Teaser: Mass Effect 2 Cast Video in 720p.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Retail appears to only have a disk check, so I'm buying it.... once I finish playing the first one and play through some other stuff and lose interest in pc gaming for a few months then get back into it.

 

[toyota]

Retail appears to only have a disk check, so I'm buying it.... once I finish playing the first one and play through some other stuff and lose interest in pc gaming for a few months then get back into it.

the first one didnt even have a disc check though.

 

[s44]

(though switching equipment across party members will be tedious I imagine, as will knowing exactly what to buy from merchant, or just wait to find shit)

Don't buy anything except Spectre weapons and high-end nonhuman armors (if top stuff doesn't drop for alien party members). The rest you'll get from drops.

 

[s44]

http://www.annakie.com/me/home.htm

Has anyone sent this link to Tycho? He seemed to be flipping out that you couldn't customize the big choices with a new ME2 character.

 

[Bateluer]

Ars reviews ME2.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2010/01/mass-effect-2-review.ars

 

[Kev]

Inside your case you'll find a code to unlock the Cerberus Network, the pipeline for DLC and new equipment inside the game. If you buy the game used or don't have a code, the network will cost you a stunning 1,200 Microsoft points, or $15. Let that sink in: you'll have to pay EA before you can buy stuff.

Still, right off the bat you can get some nice content. The Blood Dragon Armor and two missions are there for free if you bought the game new. For reviewers who had the game before launch, only one mission is available for download. It's a neat little feature, and when you activate the Cerberus Network a monitor pops up in the main menu and starts feeding you news and information.

Yet another reason to hate DLC, as if I didn't have enough already. Now they're going to try to use it to stifle the resale value of the game.

 

[R Nilla]

Yet another reason to hate DLC, as if I didn't have enough already. Now they're going to try to use it to stifle the resale value of the game.

Whoever you're quoting has it wrong. Any DLC that is not free will be available to anyone to purchase. You won't need the Cerberus Network to purchase DLC. The Cerberus Network just gives you access to free DLC as well as other content (which I think is just ME2 related news). This is like what Gears 2 did with the Flashback map pack.

If you buy the game used you essentially will have to pay $15 to get this otherwise free content. It's incentive to buy the game firsthand so that BioWare and EA actually see some of that money rather than 100% of the proceeds going to GameStop or your local used game shop.

 

[blckgrffn]

LOL, actually, I emailed it to him No idea how regularly he checks that email or if that will un-bum him out...

I imagine he is probably getting a lot of email directing him to that site...

Tycho @ Penny Arcade, that is...

 

[ZzZGuy]

the first one didnt even have a disc check though.

I can live with disk checks, like some people can live with online activation.

 

[HunterDT]

Can anyone confirm if they upgraded the audio support this time around? In ME1, Realtek HD Audio was not supported. Only select Creative X-fi configs were able to enjoy surround sound.

 

[thilanliyan]

Seems they cut back on RPG elements.

 

[Dumac]

Seems they cut back on RPG elements.

They've cut back almost all rpg elements out as well as elements of non-linearity to make it pretty much a complete shooter.

where ME was an RPG that looked like a shooter, ME2 is more of a shooter that has vestigial RPG components. The crunchy role-playing underpinnings of the original are almost entirely gone, replaced by a squad-based shooter that happens to have character classes and a lot of player-driven dialogue...

...There's a heavy emphasis on cover -- real cover this time -- and your weapon proficiency is dependent on actual skill rather than dice rolls or how much you've leveled up your shooting stats. Aim at something, pull the trigger, you hit it. The character skill trees have been simplified accordingly, with many attributes made obsolete by the game's more action-driven style and others having simply been wrapped into other stats...

..., I found myself disappointed by the lack of variety within the weapon classes. Worse, ME's unique infinite-ammo cooldown-based weapon system has been abandoned in favor of a bog-standard style that has you picking up rifle magazines -- sorry, "thermal clips" -- the enemies drop as you go. You earn no experience for kills, and there are no random drops at all aside from clips. Vehicular missions are gone, replaced by a tedious planet-scanning minigame and a placeholder promise of DLC, and environments sacrifice non-linearity for improved aesthetic variety. ME2 does a brilliant job of creating variety and choice and freedom in dialogue, but the action-driven and character-building portions feel a lot more limited than before. Much of ME's appeal was the sense of Star Trek-like exploration, something completely absent in this follow-up...

 

[Hyperlite]

I'm about 20 hours into it...the game is downright fun. The differences from 1 ring true, but i'm having a good time. Other than that, the graphics on PC are kinda disappointing, in my opinion. They'll be raved over on the console, but it looks very much like a console port to me. near textures, like faces and personal armor, are generally very good. Other than that, it seems to fall apart. The game NEEDS AA badly, but i haven't found a way to implement it. That said, my system runs full settings @ 1680x1050 @ 40fps+...so it isn't exactly taxing.

Someone said something about the control scheme...it works very well with mouse+keyboard. It takes a little getting used to, and cover to cover doesn't REALLY work as well as it should IMO, it adds a little bit of freedom to combat, but i find myself stuck against a wall with an enemy's shotgun in my gut as often as i did in Gears, but maybe that's just me. After some practice, combat and ability use will flow smoothly and easily.

 

[KMFJD]

Nope, no interest at all

 

[PUN]

I'm about 20 hours into it...the game is downright fun. The differences from 1 ring true, but i'm having a good time. Other than that, the graphics on PC are extremely disappointing, in my opinion. They'll be raved over on the console, but it looks very much like a console port to me. near textures, like faces and personal armor, are generally very good. Other than that, it seems to fall apart. The game NEEDS AA badly, but i haven't found a way to implement it. That said, my system runs full settings @ 1680x1050 @ 40fps+...so it isn't exactly taxing.

You better get your eyes checked. ME2 has a stunning graphics.
I am currently running under max settings @ 2560x1600 with 16X.

Does anyone know how to equip armors or buy greater weapons for your mates?
I am almost done with the game but there is no option to equip armors for your mates. Also the stores have very limited weapons (1 or 2, nothing useful)

 

[Hyperlite]

You better get your eyes checked. ME2 has a stunning graphics.
I am currently running under max settings @ 2560x1600 with 16X.

Does anyone know how to equip armors or buy greater weapons for your mates?
I am almost done with the game but there is no option to equip armors for your mates. Also the stores have very limited weapons (1 or 2, nothing useful)

how did you enable AA?

**possible spoiler alert*********

Spoiler

The only weapons you can give your squad members are ones that are already available to you, and/or that you've unlocked through research. You can cycle them out in the "Weapon Loadout" thing in the armory, but AFAIK no one else can carry more than 2 weapons. Other than research upgrades that specifically state that they effect your entire squad, squad members don't get specific armor upgrades.

 

[zinfamous]

Don't buy anything except Spectre weapons and high-end nonhuman armors (if top stuff doesn't drop for alien party members). The rest you'll get from drops.

so once you become Spectre, and the requisitions guy at D-seq in the citadel (D-Seq, right?) unlocks the special equipment--that would be Spectre gear, no? it doesn't specifically say Spectre, but I assume it is. I'm looking for a tag or something on each item to hint towards it.

I remember reading some advice that said don't spend money on anything until you get to ~1 million credits, as the only stuff worth buying in the game is somewhere near those prices.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

No.

Spectre gear becomes available on the normady and the citadel requisition agent only after you get the achievement requiring you to have 1 million credits. That's why you need to save up - it doesn't go on sale til you're a millionare.

It's clearly marked as spectre master gear, and better then everything else. The mark VII's get sold at first, and they are better then everything else - except their own mark X versions.

 

[PUN]

No.

Spectre gear becomes available on the normady and the citadel requisition agent only after you get the achievement requiring you to have 1 million credits. That's why you need to save up - it doesn't go on sale til you're a millionare.

It's clearly marked as spectre master gear, and better then everything else. The mark VII's get sold at first, and they are better then everything else - except their own mark X versions.

Unfortunately, none of those armors are available in ME2

 

[PUN]

how did you enable AA?

**possible spoiler alert*********

Spoiler

The only weapons you can give your squad members are ones that are already available to you, and/or that you've unlocked through research. You can cycle them out in the "Weapon Loadout" thing in the armory, but AFAIK no one else can carry more than 2 weapons. Other than research upgrades that specifically state that they effect your entire squad, squad members don't get specific armor upgrades.

Under Video Config, it's very at the bottom.

 

[Pepsei]

i love the first game, will play the second one.

however, i saw the ad during the vikings-saints game. and i didn't like it at all. it's like a very bad B-movie ad.