Mass Effect 2 - thoughts, opinions?

People who are nit-picking about this game just simply don't like games. I'm about 20 hours in, doing every side mission, taking my time and having a complete blast. ME1 was one of my favorite games of all time and this 1ups it in every aspect. I like how they made the renegade choices a lot more natural, less forced and completely realistic (in most situations) unlike in the first game - I'm not really trying to be paragon or renegade but just following through on actions as I see fit for the different situations. This game is awesome and I'm going to be sad when it ends because I'll know that I will have to wait 2 more years for the 3rd installment :(
 
contrivance said:
People who are nit-picking about this game just simply don't like games. I'm about 20 hours in, doing every side mission, taking my time and having a complete blast. ME1 was one of my favorite games of all time and this 1ups it in every aspect. I like how they made the renegade choices a lot more natural, less forced and completely realistic (in most situations) unlike in the first game - I'm not really trying to be paragon or renegade but just following through on actions as I see fit for the different situations. This game is awesome and I'm going to be sad when it ends because I'll know that I will have to wait 2 more years for the 3rd installment :(
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Yep, I agree. I like how you can be both renegade and goody two shoes as the situation mandates. I let my friends cry on my shoulder and I kick mouthy mercs out the window on a case by case basis :)
 
Loving every second of it here. Pulled me right in, just like I thought it would. I was hoping Dragon Age would, but it didn't. It's not even completely the setting, as I love Ultima games, but for some reason, it just didn't click. I'm still playing it and enjoying it, but not like ME and ME2. Everything about these games just clicked with me, pulled me in, and I have to make myself stop playing when I need to.

The ME games, System Shock games, and Ultima series all have done this for me. There have been plenty of others too, but these ones really do the immersion thing for me.
 
Ok, sorry if this has already been asked, but I didn't want to read through the whole thread for fear of spoilers. Does anyone know how to arch your biotic powers? I've seen it done in almost all the trailers, but I can't get my character to throw his powers in an arc (specifically "pull").
 
Hmm, lately after about 30-40 minutes of play, sometimes more, I get like a popping sound every 5-10 seconds or so. It's not entirely intrusive, but it gets annoying. It's just one "pop" every few seconds. I don't recall hearing this prior to playing a few nights ago so I am not sure what would be the cause. The only changes to my system have been to update my video card drivers. Anyone else experiencing this?
 
fornarmr said:
Hmm, lately after about 30-40 minutes of play, sometimes more, I get like a popping sound every 5-10 seconds or so. It's not entirely intrusive, but it gets annoying. It's just one "pop" every few seconds. I don't recall hearing this prior to playing a few nights ago so I am not sure what would be the cause. The only changes to my system have been to update my video card drivers. Anyone else experiencing this?
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Does it happen in other games? Are you using onboard sound?
 
fornarmr said:
Hmm, lately after about 30-40 minutes of play, sometimes more, I get like a popping sound every 5-10 seconds or so. It's not entirely intrusive, but it gets annoying. It's just one "pop" every few seconds. I don't recall hearing this prior to playing a few nights ago so I am not sure what would be the cause. The only changes to my system have been to update my video card drivers. Anyone else experiencing this?
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Try messing with the sound options in ME2? What speakers and/or amp are you using?



I never noticed it in other games, but I think its pretty sweet how you can turn one way and the sounds will fade or move to the side your facing. Like when you turn to the right, you'll hear stuff in the left ear. If you turn to the left, hear it in the right, etc etc.Most noticeable when playing with headphones on. :D

Pretty fun game. Really warming up to Miranda. :D :p ;)
 
Itchyeyes said:
Ok, sorry if this has already been asked, but I didn't want to read through the whole thread for fear of spoilers. Does anyone know how to arch your biotic powers? I've seen it done in almost all the trailers, but I can't get my character to throw his powers in an arc (specifically "pull").
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Don't you mean Push?

Anyway, you arc the powers, applicable tech and biotics, by aiming a bit away from the enemy near the reticle. The powers that use a projectile track enemies so its just a matter of aiming above or to the side of their cover to give the power a good enough arc to nail em.

So just aim above or to the side of the enemy a bit and then put your crosshairs back on him while the power is en route.
 
I was reading the wiki and Miranda was modeled after the actual voice actor,

605px-Miranda_in_Black.png
Australia+Week+2009+Black+Tie+Gala+OG9hTUygC00l.jpg


And apparently shes done some playboy stuff....Can't put that up though. :D :p

:D Nerdy I know!
 
King Icewind said:
Try messing with the sound options in ME2? What speakers and/or amp are you using?
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This information would help us a lot.



I never noticed it in other games, but I think its pretty sweet how you can turn one way and the sounds will fade or move to the side your facing. Like when you turn to the right, you'll hear stuff in the left ear. If you turn to the left, hear it in the right, etc etc.Most noticeable when playing with headphones on. :D
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The stereo imaging with nice headphones on this game is exceptional.
 
I'm about as anti-console as they come, but this game isn't too consolized. The omni-spacebar (run, use, hide, take a piss) is definitely because of consoles. That and being limited to only 5 skills is because of consoles. (and consoles will generally keep the graphics down of any game). But other than that, game is solid, and doesn't feel consolized. I for one really like the way inventory and such is handled. No need for any invisible backpacks that hold 150 items.
 
Q-BZ said:
This information would help us a lot.
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Auzentech X-Fi Forte. Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones. No issues in other games whatsoever, and this only recently starting ocurring in ME2, like 2 days ago. Also, you can't mess with the sound settings in ME2, all you can do is change the volume. I haven't fiddled with any config files either. I will randomly notice it start happening like 30-40 minutes in a play session, just a small "pop" at regular intervals. It's pretty subtle but enough to annoy the hell out of me.
 
fornarmr said:
Auzentech X-Fi Forte. Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones. No issues in other games whatsoever, and this only recently starting ocurring in ME2, like 2 days ago. Also, you can't mess with the sound settings in ME2, all you can do is change the volume. I haven't fiddled with any config files either. I will randomly notice it start happening like 30-40 minutes in a play session, just a small "pop" at regular intervals. It's pretty subtle but enough to annoy the hell out of me.
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Cool. I'm a headphone user as well with similar hardware so I think I can help you. :)

I had an occasional issue myself not unlike yours. I noticed it immediately with the opening menu music when you'd hit start and the sound effect would kind of clip on me for lack of a better term.

Here's how I fixed it (and this is credit to some advice I got in the Battlefield hardware acceleration thread):


Try the following:

Go into your Windows Control Panel Sound section.

Check properties on whatever gear you see listed there and settings on your sound hardware. You're not using SPIDIF out so ignore that. You'll probably see "Speakers (name of soundcard)" and a check mark on it as default. That's good.

Hit configure and make sure it's set to stereo or headphone if that choice is there. After that, look at the Tone tab and make sure those sliders are at dead center 0.0Db (they should be), SoundBlaster tab (if there) make sure it's unchecked (no enhancements), Advanced tab 24/192 max out if your hardware can handle it otherwise 24/96. I suspect your soundcard goes all the way. Make sure both Exclusive Modes are checked on.

^^ Your settings are probably just fine. Just look it all over to make sure. :)




After that's done, your sound card control panels might be a little different than mine but basically it goes like this:

Go into your sound card's control panel or whatever and turn off EAX, CMS, Crysallizer, the EQ...all of it OFF. Encoder (if any) OFF. ALL gimmicks, all post processing of any kind: OFF.


If the sound card is in Game Mode leave it there. Speakers tab Headphones, SVM off, Dynamic compression off if you see that anywhere.

Make sure it's set to headphones, set the volume the way you want, and check on all available audio frequencies which your card certainly can handle. Go into advanced and max that out at at least 24/96 if not 24/192.

With headphones I've found "less really is more" in terms of eliminating gimmicks, post processing and things like that.

I bet your problem goes away with these settings or whatever you can do that's close to what I'm talking about. I had an occasional audio issue myself in the game like yours until I did this.

The stereo imaging and overall audio quality after I turned off the gimmicks and post processing impressed me to a surprising degree. I had really good sound before. I have even better now and I was surprised at how much better all the way around.

I'm keeping my settings this way from now on.

No more occasional audio issues either. :)
 
Q-BZ said:
Cool. I'm a headphone user as well with similar hardware so I think I can help you. :)

I had an occasional issue myself not unlike yours. I noticed it immediately with the opening menu music when you'd hit start and the sound effect would kind of clip on me for lack of a better term.

Here's how I fixed it (and this is credit to some advice I got in the Battlefield hardware acceleration thread):


Try the following:

Go into your Windows Control Panel Sound section.

Check properties on whatever gear you see listed there and settings on your sound hardware. You're not using SPIDIF out so ignore that. You'll probably see "Speakers (name of soundcard)" and a check mark on it as default. That's good.

Hit configure and make sure it's set to stereo or headphone if that choice is there. After that, look at the Tone tab and make sure those sliders are at dead center 0.0Db (they should be), SoundBlaster tab (if there) make sure it's unchecked (no enhancements), Advanced tab 24/192 max out if your hardware can handle it otherwise 24/96. I suspect your soundcard goes all the way. Make sure both Exclusive Modes are checked on.

^^ Your settings are probably just fine. Just look it all over to make sure. :)




After that's done, your sound card control panels might be a little different than mine but basically it goes like this:

Go into your sound card's control panel or whatever and turn off EAX, CMS, Crysallizer, the EQ...all of it OFF. Encoder (if any) OFF. ALL gimmicks, all post processing of any kind: OFF.


If the sound card is in Game Mode leave it there. Speakers tab Headphones, SVM off, Dynamic compression off if you see that anywhere.

Make sure it's set to headphones, set the volume the way you want, and check on all available audio frequencies which your card certainly can handle. Go into advanced and max that out at at least 24/96 if not 24/192.

With headphones I've found "less is more" in terms of eliminating gimmicks, post processing and things like that.

I bet your problem goes away with these settings or whatever you can do that's close to what I'm talking about. I had an occasional audio issue myself in the game like yours until I did this.

The stereo imaging and overall audio quality after I turned off the gimmicks and post processing impressed me to a surprising degree. I had really good sound before. I have even better now and I was surprised at how much better all the way around.

I'm keeping my settings this way from now on.

No more occasional audio issues either. :)
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Cool man, I'll test this all out when I get home from work. I know for a fact that CMSS3D and Crystalizer are on, but won't turning off EAX enhancements or whatever not allow me to have 3d sound? There is even a test to see if your 3D sound is working in there. I just don't get that I would need to turn all of this stuff off if I never have had problems in any other games, and only recently in ME2. 3 days ago I didn't get that "popping" sound. I dunno, I guess I'll try this all anyways.
 
fornarmr said:
Cool man, I'll test this all out when I get home from work. I know for a fact that CMSS3D and Crystalizer are on, but won't turning off EAX enhancements or whatever not allow me to have 3d sound? There is even a test to see if your 3D sound is working in there. I just don't get that I would need to turn all of this stuff off if I never have had problems in any other games, and only recently in ME2. 3 days ago I didn't get that "popping" sound. I dunno, I guess I'll try this all anyways.
Click to expand...

For laughs, try it. :) There's nothing "wrong" with your gear or your settings or the game itself. :)



In my case, I just find that I like it all a lot better with all the gimmicks and post processing turned off. I had overall better sound quality. It was more accurate. Better stereo imaging. Better sense of direction. Better everything. With headphones, less is more at least by my experience. It's worth experimenting with if nothing else.

I'd had a once in a blue moon quirk in some other games that I ignored but it was more apparent in this game and I just think it's the nature of the beast. Great audio fidelity with a lot happening up and down the frequencies and it just got my attention more in this game.


Again: I was surprised at how much better things sounded to me with the gimmicks and post processing turned off. You're still getting the benefits of your nice hardware but you're "purifying" your audio as much as you can, if that makes sense. :)
 
Dallows said:
There are some pretty good "lol" moments in this game.
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Joker-
"Looks like Garrus has finally worked that stick out of his ass.. to bad he's trying to beat people to death with it now.."

I had to stop playing the game for a few to stop laughing.
 
Vashypooh said:
Joker-
"Looks like Garrus has finally worked that stick out of his ass.. to bad he's trying to beat people to death with it now.."

I had to stop playing the game for a few to stop laughing.
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Joker really has some great lines in this to be sure.
 
btw, I might've been the only person to think this. But did anyone else think the Normandy's A.I looked like a vag when it talked? Anyone?
 
Dallows said:
btw, I might've been the only person to think this. But did anyone else think the Normandy's A.I looked like a vag when it talked? Anyone?
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QFT


Anyone else find that cloning the Normandy was the laziest thing. Atleast call it the Normandy 2.
 
Droc said:
QFT


Anyone else find that cloning the Normandy was the laziest thing. Atleast call it the Normandy 2.
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um it is? the first one was the Normandy SR1 this one is the SR2
and it really isnt any diffrent then what Star Trek did >.> Enterprise-A any one?
 
King Icewind said:
I was reading the wiki and Miranda was modeled after the actual voice actor,

605px-Miranda_in_Black.png
Australia+Week+2009+Black+Tie+Gala+OG9hTUygC00l.jpg


And apparently shes done some playboy stuff....Can't put that up though. :D :p

:D Nerdy I know!
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Is the camel toe accurate depiction also I' am wondering lmao?
 
I'm not sure if I posted here about it or not. But Yvonne looks like Michael Jackson face in ME2.. lol. Not in real life of course ;).
 
Dallows said:
btw, I might've been the only person to think this. But did anyone else think the Normandy's A.I looked like a vag when it talked? Anyone?
Click to expand...
Originally, no.
But now that I read this, it will bother me forever. Thanks.
 
Last night I finished the first DLC mission in the game, which was really my first mission after receiving my orders from The Mysterious Guy or whatever his name is. At the conclusion of this, I was informed via the end-briefing screen, that my new squadmate (this is the guy with the two different colored eyes) had received a new uniform. So how do I equip him with the new uniform then? Will he be wearing it automatically the next time I select him for my squad?
 
Also, what's the name of the actress who voiced Miranda? She's done Playboy? ... er, a guy here at work wants to look that up...
 
WabeWalker said:
Last night I finished the first DLC mission in the game, which was really my first mission after receiving my orders from The Mysterious Guy or whatever his name is. At the conclusion of this, I was informed via the end-briefing screen, that my new squadmate (this is the guy with the two different colored eyes) had received a new uniform. So how do I equip him with the new uniform then? Will he be wearing it automatically the next time I select him for my squad?
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At squad selection there will be a button "Cycle Appearance".
All of your squad members can get 2nd clothes.
 
I would have preferred the same armor customization that you get for Shepard to also be applicable to all of your squad mates (individually).
 
UtopiA said:
I would have preferred the same armor customization that you get for Shepard to also be applicable to all of your squad mates (individually).
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Same. And that Miranda's second outfit actually be black instead of dark blue.
 
UtopiA said:
I'm guessing the squad and the consequences from the final mission will carry over to Mass Effect 3, hence the "bridge" effect a previous poster used.

ME1 had a great plot.
ME2 doesn't.

In my opinion ME2 had better core gameplay (combat especially) so hopefully ME3 will merge the best qualities of ME1 and ME2 and produce a really kickass finale.

I'm most interested to see how the different squad combinations will change how ME3 plays out. It seems difficult for BioWare to figure this one out. There's a lot of different possible combinations, depending on how ME2 ended for each game.
Unfortunately it seems like ME1 was written without any forethought to ME2 or ME3, as if it stands on its own. And ME2 suddenly remembered: "Oh yeah, we have ME3 coming after this" and started preparing TOO SOON, as if they had to catch up from ME1's losses, and the result is a story-gimped ME2. They introduce a new species which was NON-EXISTANT in ME1, so we literally know nothing about it. The Reapers play a minimal role (no role) in ME2, a lot of characters are gone from ME1 and probably won't be coming back. So they introduce even more new characters in ME2, after we went through the trouble of meeting ME1's characters. I can only hope this time they will carry over; based on the final mission, I'd say that's plausible.

So it has me asking why a lot of things in ME1 even existed? Most of them are only consequential to ME1 and completely useless for the overall story of ME.
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As for indroducing a new species... actually they introduced 3... lulz

SPOILERS

As for reapers... um reapers are collectors... well at least one is. I have a feeling the reapers didnt use the collectors in the first game because they had the geth (heritics), and didnt want to seem out of place and random geth attacks in the terminus systems is not uncommon, where as collectors are more rare.

Liara bothers the shit outta me on her new placement, also ashley is a bitch now as well. man what 2 years can do. Liara should have been at ilos with a dig team finding out info about he reapers and the protheans, instead of having a crazy vendetta about a "guy".

The Zaeed guy is a douche, and adds nothing to the game. pointless DLC.



Another note. At the end is says the reapers were our salvation. Salvation from what? other reapers? why try to destroy humanity? unless humanity was a threat to the rest of the galaxy (aka cerberus style)? whats with the illusive mans eyes? is he just a cyborg or something else?

Is there more then one faction of reapers like there were geth? was Harbringer part of the other faction but thought the only way to defend agaist his other reapers was to build up his forces with a human reaper?
 
Anyone using the ENB series ini tweaks with ME2? I want to use it but it makes the colors bleed badly and with Depth of Field it's far too dark to be enjoyable. Anyone tried it that can share their settings?
 
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