Mass Effect 2 - thoughts, opinions?

Hit a bug last night where I was locked in the room at the end of the Modrin loyalty quest and 'F' wouldn't work to end it ( I had stayed to hack the console for credits).

I occasionally get stuck floating over environmental objects like rocks and planters, just like in ME1.

The "F" key by defult is the melee button. Did you edit the melee button? If so that is what was wrong. For some reason the programmers got lazy and didn't make it so that the game told you to use the updated buttons. Stuff like this makes me witsh I had just bought this for the 360 instead of the pc. It just feels like a lazy port.
 
yep if you changed your melee bind use that key instead, all the key tips are worthless since they only show the defaults, so any ones you have changed will not match what's on the screen. which they will keep repeating over and over throughout the whole damn game, apparently the only way to get rid of them is to play on vet+ difficulty. I guess they figured we don't need options, and anyone who plays on normal must be half retarded and won't know how to change their binds. besides those of us who play it just for the story of course, and don't feel like grinding through halfass balanced pseudo-shooters.
 
Spoilers


I finally beat ME2 and I have to say it is better than the original in many ways. Its a solid, fun 3rd person shooter that looks great and the voice acting is top notch. However I just can't understand why BioWare decided to just remove features from the original instead of making them better. I really feel like this really lowered the scope of the game. The levels felt smaller and more cramped, probably so that they could increase the graphics level. I miss the itemization and I actually miss the Mako. By the end I was glad it was over, whereas in the original I just wanted more.
 
i think in the case of me2 the thought was "more is not always better" which i would for the most part agree with.

less setting up of you character and more time spent on playing the game.
 
Spoilers


I finally beat ME2 and I have to say it is better than the original in many ways. Its a solid, fun 3rd person shooter that looks great and the voice acting is top notch. However I just can't understand why BioWare decided to just remove features from the original instead of making them better. I really feel like this really lowered the scope of the game. The levels felt smaller and more cramped, probably so that they could increase the graphics level. I miss the itemization and I actually miss the Mako. By the end I was glad it was over, whereas in the original I just wanted more.

I wish they would've kept more rgp elements. But what they did was make a tighter, more solid and enjoyable game (to the masses). I had a hard time getting into ME1 but this just kept rolling and had me hooked. Maybe with ME3 they'll bring back some rpg stuff while keeping the good combat intact.
 
The "F" key by defult is the melee button. Did you edit the melee button? If so that is what was wrong..

Only with your gun drawn. At the end of missions a popup will give you the option to push & hold 'f' to immediately end, saving you the time to jackass back to the LZ.
 
I've got an insanely annoying problem. ME2 keeps randomly CTD for me. Anybody have a fix?

I get that too, but its not so bad that its not playable.

I'm going jump on the bad code bandwagon. Having finished my second play through there are a good number of spots in that game where you wonder if that wasn't so much a design choice as one yielded by highly coupled code. The previously mentioned bug about displaying the wrong binded key for something is a prime example. The desktop crashes and polygon collision resulting in a forced reload are two more examples. I actually ended up in some kind of skybox once.

Still, the game is damn fine.
 
At the end of missions a popup will give you the option to push & hold 'f' to immediately end, saving you the time to jackass back to the LZ.

One of my only gripes about the game. When you finished a "mission" (for example, illium or tali's quest) but wanted to continue exploring the planet for whatever reason, there was no way to remove the damn pop up box. Sure you can hit esc, then resume and it doesn't come back for ~10 seconds but seriously?

I remember I had an npc I still needed to talk to and I couldn't read some of my dialog options because they were covered by this damn box.
 
I get that too, but its not so bad that its not playable.

I'm going jump on the bad code bandwagon. Having finished my second play through there are a good number of spots in that game where you wonder if that wasn't so much a design choice as one yielded by highly coupled code. The previously mentioned bug about displaying the wrong binded key for something is a prime example. The desktop crashes and polygon collision resulting in a forced reload are two more examples. I actually ended up in some kind of skybox once.

Still, the game is damn fine.

it really is a very good game and reminds me much of HL:2. I'm not sure how much of this CTD i can take though! I hope they patch it up.
 
it really is a very good game and reminds me much of HL:2. I'm not sure how much of this CTD i can take though! I hope they patch it up.

If you're having a bunch of ctd issues I'd be looking at drivers and voltage stability if your overclocked on anything. Only crash I've had with the game was due to using nhancer other than that its been flawless.
 
CTD = crash to desktop? (noob question?)

The game has not had any problems for me, no glitches, crashes, performance issues. I finished 2 playthroughs and the only problem I had was getting stuck on top of a box once.
 
CTD = crash to desktop? (noob question?)

The game has not had any problems for me, no glitches, crashes, performance issues. I finished 2 playthroughs and the only problem I had was getting stuck on top of a box once.

Yeah, CTD refers to crashing to desktop. I've had the same experience as you though, absolutely no issues except ONCE I was stuck on top of a box. I was actually able to use that ramming power to get out of the situation. Stability has been rock-solid, never a single crash/hang.
 
If you're having a bunch of ctd issues I'd be looking at drivers and voltage stability if your overclocked on anything. Only crash I've had with the game was due to using nhancer other than that its been flawless.

the system has been prime95 tested stable for 12hrs ever since i did the OC (long time ago). Doesn't happen at any other time. I think transcoding HD movies is more demanding on the CPU, and it's been rock solid!
I searched around on google and it appears to happen to some people, though most report rock solid stability.
 
I did just read that for whatever reason Antivirus software could crash it, so maybe thats it. I'll give it a shot and post later just in case this helps anyone else!
Also, it does not occur with any noticeable frequency or pattern. Sometimes at 30 minutes, sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes during movies, but never during intense fights. Hitting F5 is a habit for me now.
 
There IS a random CTD bug, even for stable hardware. It's rare, but it's there. If it's happening "frequently" though, you should double check your hardware.
 
could be your gpu if you oc. this is the only thing that caused any problems for me, otherwise it never crashed twice the whole way through. if you're on the edge of stability there then you will get ctd or huge artifacting, the game really burns it in. this obviously prime doesn't test so you got to use furmark or something, I found that even the highest furmark stable clocks might not run properly here.
 
the system has been prime95 tested stable for 12hrs ever since i did the OC (long time ago). Doesn't happen at any other time. I think transcoding HD movies is more demanding on the CPU, and it's been rock solid!
I searched around on google and it appears to happen to some people, though most report rock solid stability.

Digressing a bit here: its worth mentioning that dust is like OC erosion. As dust builds and builds and builds your cooler, to dissipate the same amount of heat power, has to climb to a higher change in temperature.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm stable, and on my first run through everything went pretty smoothly. I got caught on a grand total of 2 benches and a table. But on my second playthough, for whatever reason, its been crashing like mad.
 
could be your gpu if you oc. this is the only thing that caused any problems for me, otherwise it never crashed twice the whole way through. if you're on the edge of stability there then you will get ctd or huge artifacting, the game really burns it in. this obviously prime doesn't test so you got to use furmark or something, I found that even the highest furmark stable clocks might not run properly here.

funny you mention futuremark, just registered my copy of 3dmark vantage and ran it while I was at work today actually. everything was fine when i got back.
 
Digressing a bit here: its worth mentioning that dust is like OC erosion. As dust builds and builds and builds your cooler, to dissipate the same amount of heat power, has to climb to a higher change in temperature.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm stable, and on my first run through everything went pretty smoothly. I got caught on a grand total of 2 benches and a table. But on my second playthough, for whatever reason, its been crashing like mad.

yeah I noticed my temps weren't so great anymore on my last GPU so i pulled it all apart and cleaned everything. Then I decided to watercool, so everything got a second do-over when I bought a new case and installed all the watercool hardware
 
FWIW, I fixed my crashing issue. I'm not sure how but what I did do was switch my cpu to Q6700 that I had laying around, OC'd to 3.6ghz. :confused:
My E8400 must be on its way out the door. It's been 2 years of 4.0ghz @ 1.4v which is kind of high voltage but it's C0. Anyway, I guess you guys were right pointing at hardware!
 
I finished the game, having recruited all NPCs and keeping everyone loyal and alive by endgame. The end game was excellent.... much better than ME1 and a very close second for GOTY vs. DAO.

A few quibbles: rated PG romances. Bioware/EA apparently lost their collective sacks after the predictable bitchfest in the conservative press over ME1.

No pausing during cutscenes. The game even continues after alt-tabbing to desktop. This is a PITA with sprogs around the house. DA:O handled this much better.

No way to skip long cinematics during the end mission, a place where one might want to go back to try different tactics and endings. There were limited save points here as well. Off to watch youtube captures instead.

No way to skip the intro screens. Renaming them leaves a near equally long black screen.

I had unacceptably long load times most of the time (40-60 seconds, even between decks). Steam updated itself a few days ago and I noticed marked improvement, but after a couple of days they were long again. The Mass Affinity utility did not help. I did not have CTDs that I recall.
 
I enjoyed it. I wish it had more depth in RPG elements and gear, more like ME1, but with less clutter. Overall though I enjoyed it and am looking forward to 3.
 
Have any other Firefly fans noticed the similar cinematic style in ME2's shots?
 
Have any other Firefly fans noticed the similar cinematic style in ME2's shots?

Now that you mention it, yes. But I was thinking battlestar galactica when I saw a few of em. Sort of a poorly tracked shot, out of focus slightly at times. Think firefly came first, but BSG was more recent in my memory.


I liked the game, did two play throughs as engineer and vanguard. Vanguard is a lot more engaging than engineer. I tried a few of the other classes but not very long because I was getting tired of hearing the same dialog. Skipping over it quickly made me randomly pick dialog options that messed up my paragon/renegade spread enough to be irritating.

I wish the game had either a way to un-equip weapons and go knuckles, or some melee weapons. Because hitting F repeatedly while trying to move and target got pretty tedious, plus the melee combat past the initial charge and maybe one hit knocked them either so far out of range you couldn't melee....or they flew over something.

Vanguard gets really fun when you get your biotic charge and core ability skill (the one that lowers cooldowns/raises health/shields/whatever for all the guys). The cooldown on the charge is low enough that you can hop around fairly easily on flat surfaces. Engineer just wasn't nearly as engaging....and just can't bring myself to play another character through to try out something else.
 
No pausing during cutscenes. The game even continues after alt-tabbing to desktop. This is a PITA with sprogs around the house. DA:O handled this much better.

No way to skip long cinematics during the end mission, a place where one might want to go back to try different tactics and endings. There were limited save points here as well. Off to watch youtube captures instead.

Hahah, gaming with a family (I know how it feels too). Even when the kids are in bed, there are always ways be interrupted. I really wanted the pausable dialogues too. I don't remember DA:O being any better. Did it stop when you tabbed out? or was there some pause feature that I'm unaware of?
 
Hahah, gaming with a family (I know how it feels too). Even when the kids are in bed, there are always ways be interrupted. I really wanted the pausable dialogues too. I don't remember DA:O being any better. Did it stop when you tabbed out? or was there some pause feature that I'm unaware of?

Space bar would pause at any time IIRC, and it would also halt on alt-tab.
 
I know i'm late to teh game but i thought i'd share what i thought about ME2 upto this point..

i have put off playing ME2 since i wanted to play ME1.

ME1 was a beautifully crafted game, playing it i can see how much effort and time went into making. From teh story, the the dialog, to the powers, to the effects to everything. What a great game..

the controls are good, graphics are good, almost everythign about ME1 is good.

it has its downside, driving the maco over some of the worlds gets really old (but some of the side stories are awesome) and having more loot than i know what to do with can just be bothersome but its story, gameplay and graphics easily make up for any short comings.


I finished ME1 and there were only 2 or 3 quests i didn't finish, i couldn't find one of the solarian medals and i somehow missed the feros power cells but at the end i was Level 50 and had 999999 (topped out) credits. i was a full on vanguard and i ran primarily with Ashley (Combat) and Tali (Tech)


I finished ME1 today and the ending and story were epic, i coudln't wait to get into ME2..

i loaded up ME2 and the first think i thought of was .. What did they do to my controls???

everything is wrong , backwards. E (Action), F (Heal), Q, etc.. etc.. all different.. even my U,J,I aren't working. Can't believe they didn't keep any of the controls from the first game. After having played ME1 and moving to ME2 i got a real appreciation for the ME1 controls.


The introduction to ME2 was great, not going to spoil it (incase there are any hold outs) but the opening was just about as epic as the ME1 ending. great job on that.

but then i get to one of the biggest issues i have with ME2, it feels so closed off. In ME1, they did a good job at the illusion of a giant galaxy, ME2 actually has a "end mission" screen. What is going on here? since when does an RPG have an end mission screen?

As far as graphics goes, ME2 is superior over ME1 in every way except one. Animation.

the animation in ME2 is horrid, the lip sync isn't nearly as good as ME1 and the lighting and mood is completely off. Everythign in ME2 seems so sterile, there is no life to anything. I knew it was going to be bad when in the beginning the Illusive man moved while his cigarette didn't (akk!!)

where ME1 was polished , ME2 feels very cludged together.

and then that brings me to the RPG portion of ME2, were did my awesome skills go? instead of having these indepth skills like charm, indimidation, spectre etc.. i have these very simplified 1,2,3,4 levels na donly 4 skills to choose from?

no weapon specialization? nothing like that?

Also some of my options in ME2 are very limited (RPG options). in one instance instead of stopping my potential crewmember from being evil i just watched it happen. In ME1 they took into almost every single good / bad /neutral consideration while in ME2 i feel liek not nearly as much effort was put into the dialog and the situations.

as far as story, goes, have to wait to the end for that verdict but right now ME1 feels like so much more time and effort went into it. While ME2 doesn't do the bioware name justice.


I thought they would have stayed more true to the feel and atmosphere they had in ME1 but they definately didn't.
 
Getting rid of the Mako and elevator rides makes ME2 superior to ME1 in my book :)
 
Yeah, I'm late. Anyway it has its flaws, but I liked it.

The good:
- Excellent story
- Importing from ME1
- There are less skills, but the skills themselves are a huge step forward. (Reave is simply amazing)
- No inventory! ME1 had the most fundamentally broken inventory system I have ever seen, and I am glad to see it go.
- No random planets that don't even seem to have anything to do with the rest of the game
- Much better combat
- You can run around freely after the game is over

The bad:
- I use SSD, why is it taking so long to load?
- Scanning for resources just sucks
- Hacking went from I don't really mind it (ME1) to stupid (ME2)

The WTFSAUCE??:
- No weapons hotkeys
- No jumping
- No journal/codex/etc. hotkeys
- Hotkeys in general
 
My load times are maybe 8seconds max on some missions and 2 seconds max on elevators using an old ass 250gig 7200rpm WD.

My friend was complaining about load times, he said that everything loads up much faster as long as he isn't logged into Cerberus/EA, that might alleviate your load times but I'm doing just fine staying logged into Cerberus.

/boggle
 
My load times are maybe 8seconds max on some missions and 2 seconds max on elevators using an old ass 250gig 7200rpm WD.

My friend was complaining about load times, he said that everything loads up much faster as long as he isn't logged into Cerberus/EA, that might alleviate your load times but I'm doing just fine staying logged into Cerberus.

/boggle

I'm not logged in. Load times are generally blazing fast on the SSD for most games, but feel unusually slow in ME2, about 15-20 seconds on some levels. Elevators are almost instant though. Not sure what is going on.
 
I'm not logged in. Load times are generally blazing fast on the SSD for most games, but feel unusually slow in ME2, about 15-20 seconds on some levels. Elevators are almost instant though. Not sure what is going on.

Yeah I'm running two indilinx drives in raid 0 and I got terrible load times. When you've spent $400 on 120GB worth of hard drives, long loading screens are like death.

Turns out the Unreal engine here actually has trouble with thread handling. Set mass2 process's affinity to only 1 CPU, and your load times increase drastically. Didn't notice any real detriment to the performance of the game.

As far as graphics goes, ME2 is superior over ME1 in every way except one. Animation.

the animation in ME2 is horrid, the lip sync isn't nearly as good as ME1 and the lighting and mood is completely off. Everythign in ME2 seems so sterile, there is no life to anything. I knew it was going to be bad when in the beginning the Illusive man moved while his cigarette didn't (akk!!)

I'm not sure if I trotted this around in this thread already, but the meet the crew videos really are quite subtle in that its the first time ever that lip syncing has been done, well... well.
 
Apparently I spent about 30 hours on each game, leisurely playing.

Mass Effect 2 is not a disappointment, but I really wish they had taken another long look at it. There wasn't much wrong with 1, so why not fix some of the hokey and tedious stuff and add new characters? It should be like the 2007 Impala becoming the 2010 Impala, clear improvement, not becoming the 2010 Camry. Or like Metallica's S&M, they still used their normal instruments and played the hits, just working in a huge twist.

There wasn't anything substantial from the original in 2. Well I shouldn't say that... the loyalty missions are basically Wrex's family armor and Dr. Hart, for each crew member. I mean, they remind us of the choices from the original, of lives we spared, etc. But nothing really happens, it's more like a codex entry with dialogue. We can just change the council nomination/selection, boom. Conrad Verner has more input than the rachni! This is disappointing, because they basically set it up that really cool things could happen, but it was all just floating it. Helping Zhu's Hope was the only new mission I can think of, and it takes 2 minutes of talk. Now there's so much saved up they can't cram it all in 3.

The side quests are not deja vu and are lean... they did need some fixing...but they went a little past trimming the fat, to the point of jerky. They seem to be thrown in at the end, or extra maps that had to be used for something and were filled with mechs to kill. Basically Omega has more action than all the "minor" planets combined (that aren't for loyalty). The Citadel is also gutted, too much so, to the point where Councilor ____ has ZERO dialogue changes after completing the main objective of the game. Options are reduced from the original, i.e. I usually can't take contraband item X or sensitive information to Y's boss and have him killed, or keep it for myself. This is disappointing because the Noveria office scene was so well done, or even the low-level quests (give placebo, etc.) but they really didn't even try to reach that level again, except for the Marinth arc and Tali's trial (that I can think of). But the Marinth arc also had a ridiculous bar scene and "courtship" that required reciting the correct answers. Then she talks about dueling to the death, and later asks how I know she has killed... lol.

These combined to really frustrate me, there's no reason the Helena Blake decision (or Toombs attacking while Shep was working for Cerberus, they did put in an e-mail) couldn't have led to rich side missions in new environs.

They also hint at things, like a killer flying insect-dragon that makes a death dirge... and spawns pseudo-rachni. Whoopee. Was there an open mine somewhere? It should have just attacked before the maw. There are missions that should be there but aren't, dealing with the Shadow Broker or ANY of the non-Cerberus entities (ExoGenii, etc.)

Weapons inventory is basically a small fraction of damage upgrading, even as a soldier. I changed my armor color more than main guns. I didn't want 150 items again, but maybe 30? Damn. Also it's pretty ridiculous that Cerberus can rebuild Shepard from death, AND the Normandy, and have a multi-trillion dollar comm device, but doesn't give Shepard a Kokalyov assault rifle that he could find in caches on random planets. Oh, wow, an Avenger... did you get this from one of Fist's goons?

What was also frustrating is that the game was building a nice tempo of dispatching Blue Suns and some Eclipse... lengthier fights than the one-room showdowns in ME1... then it dries up, quickly and funnels into the final missions.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top