Will you be buying Mass Effect 2?

[gramboh]

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...

Ugh, this is a bit of a let down, I liked the skill trees and experience, it was a simple system but worked well, you had to choose skills based on how you wanted your char to play.

I still pre-ordered it on Steam last night, I know it will be fun and that is why I play video games. Only played through ME1 once as an infiltraitor (sniper type), not sure what I will do for ME2, the cloak seems kind of gimmicky, basiaclly you get in close and pistol people? I loved sniping, especially later in the game when you could one/two shot most baddies. Singularity looks fun, hard to decide.

 

[Hyperlite]

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

huh. interesting.

 

[PUN]

huh. interesting.

It's not under ingame option. It's under the small box configuration after the launch of ME2

 

[Zenoth]

Alright, so I came back home a few moments ago with great anticipation.

I've let Steam decrypt the whole thing (it took a good five or six minutes, no biggie), and then I've looked at my Promo, Cerberus and Game keys. So after the game decrypted and before actually launching it I went to my BioWare Social Network account and registered ME2 there, and then entered my Promo key there as well and successfully downloaded the Blood Dragon Armor, the Incisor Sniper Rifle, the Collectors' Armor and Weapon, and finally the Inferno Armor extra content. After that was done I installed them all, and I saw no errors.

Then, finally, I launched the game. The actual game launching process (after it was decrypted) took a good six or so minutes, which surprised me, but anyway... it launched, and finally I thought I would play, but alas, it wasn't that simple, apparently. I had to connect to my on-line EA Account. So, alright, I enter my EA Account login information, the exact same that I have for my BioWare Social Network and Dragon Age: Origins. So after entering that info it sends me to a "please wait..." screen. And, well, that's the problem, because that screen has been there since the past twenty minutes. I see my modem's DSL light flashing for a brief period as if it was downloading something, then it stops... then it starts again, and it stops once more, and it resumes like that in a cycle.

Briefly said, I haven't been able to play the damn thing since I've tried to login as I type this, fantastic job there EA, or BioWare, or whoever is responsible for taking the decision to HAVE to connect to anything even before I can adjust in-game settings. Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

 

[Absolution75]

GRRRRRRR

at least above poster can install it. . .And you wonder why steam is getting popular. . .

 

[PUN]

Alright, so I came back home a few moments ago with great anticipation.

I've let Steam decrypt the whole thing (it took a good five or six minutes, no biggie), and then I've looked at my Promo, Cerberus and Game keys. So after the game decrypted and before actually launching it I went to my BioWare Social Network account and registered ME2 there, and then entered my Promo key there as well and successfully downloaded the Blood Dragon Armor, the Incisor Sniper Rifle, the Collectors' Armor and Weapon, and finally the Inferno Armor extra content. After that was done I installed them all, and I saw no errors.

Then, finally, I launched the game. The actual game launching process (after it was decrypted) took a good six or so minutes, which surprised me, but anyway... it launched, and finally I thought I would play, but alas, it wasn't that simple, apparently. I had to connect to my on-line EA Account. So, alright, I enter my EA Account login information, the exact same that I have for my BioWare Social Network and Dragon Age: Origins. So after entering that info it sends me to a "please wait..." screen. And, well, that's the problem, because that screen has been there since the past twenty minutes. I see my modem's DSL light flashing for a brief period as if it was downloading something, then it stops... then it starts again, and it stops once more, and it resumes like that in a cycle.

Briefly said, I haven't been able to play the damn thing since I've tried to login as I type this, fantastic job there EA, or BioWare, or whoever is responsible for taking the decision to HAVE to connect to anything even before I can adjust in-game settings. Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

It's EA. Just click no to EA connection.

 

[icyroy05]

Briefly said, I haven't been able to play the damn thing since I've tried to login as I type this, fantastic job there EA, or BioWare, or whoever is responsible for taking the decision to HAVE to connect to anything even before I can adjust in-game settings. Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

Having the same exact problem. The Mass Effect 2 forum on Bioware's site is flooded with all sorts of problems right now.

 

[Hyperlite]

it's ea. Just click no to ea connection.

qft

 

[Kev]

Anyone who has played the game... did they fix the AI at all? I frequently got fed up with my dumbfuck teammates shooting at walls.

Also, the enemies always saying "Enemies Everywhere!" "I will DESTROY you!"

 

[Dorkenstein]

I hate to say it, but it seems like that problem is there. One of my biotic team mates keeps using Pull on solid objects and bits of cover to get enemies behind them.

 

[toyota]

I think it was in the Gamespot or maybe Gametrailers review where the AI was doing some dumb stuff like walking right in front of you and getting on top of something when they should be getting to cover. it looked pretty retarded but its hopefully a very rare occurrence.

 

[PUN]

qft

were you able to enable AA under pre-game, config menu?

 

[Zenoth]

Having the same exact problem. The Mass Effect 2 forum on Bioware's site is flooded with all sorts of problems right now.

Indeed... I've seen it now, lots of people are having the exact same issues (in my case, like others, it's the "time out" connection issue). The thing is that I've paid for the extra content, it's the Digital Deluxe Edition, I wanted it, and I did not want it only for useless bragging purposes since modders or pirates will make extra content available for free anyway, I simply paid for it to support BioWare and thank them for making the game, and obviously I want to play with that extra content even if in the end I'll end up not using a single of those extra items since they "suck" compared to the vanilla items just like it was in Dragon Age (for my own characters builds anyway), I want that extra content recognized and enabled from my very first game.

I've finally been able to access the "main menu" and adjusted the in-game settings, but I still haven't started a "new game", not until BioWare and/or EA fix their stupid Cerberus crap, which I've never been fervent about, we have enough of Steam as a layer to deal with before playing our games. I also had some problems with Dragon Age: Origins and the DLCs. It's getting frustrating, I don't have much patience for that kind of thing, but like many others I'll deal with it until it's fixed. I hope that I'll be able to play with the extra content I've paid for today, the very same day that the game has launched.

If in the end of the day BioWare and/or EA haven't fixed the time out issue then it will be the very first time in my entire video gaming history that I haven't been able to play a game with the content I paid for due to external (developers or publishers) issues the same day it was made available, it would really be a first, for me anyway.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Oh boy, just installed and I'm getting 'Mass Effect 2 has encountered a problem and needs to close'. I don't even make it to the loading screen...

 

[Bateluer]

The dumbing down of games for consoles and mass market appeal concerns me. I'm all for making money, but degrading every genre of game into a first-person shooter-type game and removing all the deeper elements doesn't seem like a good way for gaming to evolve. Deep, RPG and strategy games seem to be going the way of the passenger pigeon and dodo.

 

[s44]

If anyone is wondering: the extra content sucks. All the bonus armors have non-removable helmets that keep you from seeing any facial expressions even during conversations. Giant fail.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Yeah, I feel pretty let down by the Day-One content. Save 10 bucks and just get the regular edition. Or wait until a price drop.

It also occurred to me as I watch the pandemonium unfold on game forums too numerous to mention, that tech support/troubleshooting is probably contributing to game devs moving to console emphasis. Tech support is a nightmare for everyone. Simpler, uniform hardware much easier. One of the biggest hurdles is just people having to communicate over tech trouble. I wish it wasn't this way. I want my high-res textures.

 

[icyroy05]

Indeed... I've seen it now, lots of people are having the exact same issues (in my case, like others, it's the "time out" connection issue). The thing is that I've paid for the extra content, it's the Digital Deluxe Edition, I wanted it, and I did not want it only for useless bragging purposes since modders or pirates will make extra content available for free anyway, I simply paid for it to support BioWare and thank them for making the game, and obviously I want to play with that extra content even if in the end I'll end up not using a single of those extra items since they "suck" compared to the vanilla items just like it was in Dragon Age (for my own characters builds anyway), I want that extra content recognized and enabled from my very first game.

I've finally been able to access the "main menu" and adjusted the in-game settings, but I still haven't started a "new game", not until BioWare and/or EA fix their stupid Cerberus crap, which I've never been fervent about, we have enough of Steam as a layer to deal with before playing our games. I also had some problems with Dragon Age: Origins and the DLCs. It's getting frustrating, I don't have much patience for that kind of thing, but like many others I'll deal with it until it's fixed. I hope that I'll be able to play with the extra content I've paid for today, the very same day that the game has launched.

If in the end of the day BioWare and/or EA haven't fixed the time out issue then it will be the very first time in my entire video gaming history that I haven't been able to play a game with the content I paid for due to external (developers or publishers) issues the same day it was made available, it would really be a first, for me anyway.

I tried again about thirty minutes ago and had no problems. It logged right in the first time. Hopefully it works for you too.

 

[JoshGuru7]

The dumbing down of games for consoles and mass market appeal concerns me. I'm all for making money, but degrading every genre of game into a first-person shooter-type game and removing all the deeper elements doesn't seem like a good way for gaming to evolve. Deep, RPG and strategy games seem to be going the way of the passenger pigeon and dodo.

Remember that Bioware has just released two RPGs in relatively close succession. Dragon Age was a very deep, tactical, stat-driven RPG worthy of yesteryear while Mass Effect 2 went the other way with a focus on FPS elements. Bioware clearly wanted to differentiate the gameplay between the two titles while providing an excellent storyline in both... and I wouldn't read anything into it beyond that.

 

[Hyperlite]

were you able to enable AA under pre-game, config menu?

No. I never see a pre-game config menu. I did find a standalone configuration utility in the game's install folder, but it only allows me to enable AF, not AA. Odd, but doesn't take away from the game experience for me.

Anyone else able/not able to....enable...AA?

another bug i'm having is that, after a manual save, i have no sound when i load the game again. I have found the fix to this is to delete the user config file, and let the game recreate it.

 

[aclim]

wow, glad I didnt buy this right away. Ill wait a month or so till they get this game the way id like it. Its fine for me because I have a backlog and want to play AvP and BFBC2 also!

 

[Regs]

More than likely. I tried the first one, but didn't give it enough time to get into it.

Fall Out 3 took the RPG slot last year for me and I hardly ever play RPGs.

 

[CrystalBay]

Yeah, there is only AF in the config utility...

 

[Canai]

F yeah. Loved the first one!

 

[Slick5150]

Played it for a couple hours tonight. Enjoying it quite a bit, though I'm a bit puzzled by some of the changes, mainly with the weapons. It's like, really? in the 2 years since Sheppard's been out of action, all weapons have completely changed in functionality, and now require heat coil/ammo/whatever you want to call it? And the leveling system seems rather dumbed down now too.

Not sure what's up with that, seems like those were things that were well enough to leave alone. But, oh well.