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Mass Effect 2

G

Gigantism

Gawd
Joined
Mar 3, 2008
Messages
585
Hello,

I tried ME1 when it came out, and after playing for about 2 hours, just couldn't get into it.

I wasn't interested in ME2 (obviously) but some friends really insisted that it was much much better than the 1st one in all aspects.

I downloaded the demo on 360, and must admit that I had a lot of fun playing it.
I saw it at various stores for $20, and am thinking of buying it.

My question is: will I miss out on a lot of stuff by not having played the 1st one?
or can I just go ahead straight to the 2nd one and still have the same awesome experience?

Thanks!
 
If you have a PS3, you can pick it up on there in January, and it comes with an interactive comic thing that will help you catch up on the story.

If not, I don't think you'll miss much. I never finished the first one and I wasn't really lost in the second. Just look up the ending of ME1 on YouTube or something.
 
IGN did a feature last year when Mass Effect 2 came out called something along the lines of "Mass Effect in 5 minutes" I think it summarizes the story pretty well from what I understand.
 
Strange. Between the two, I liked ME1 more in many areas (story, loot, certain gameplay aspects). I think you would miss out on a bit by skipping over ME1, especially in the character/companion development department.
 
ME1 was definitely better when it comes to weapon customization and arguably for the plot.
The real issues with ME1 (for me) were the horrible Mako sequences and the fact that even though all action was played like a shooter - the gameplay was shaky at best.
If you skip out on the Mako missions, you can probably cruise through ME1 rather quickly.
I think it's worth playing if you have time.
 
Absolutely play ME1 before 2. Why? While ME2 fixes a lot of pacing and technical issues that were in ME1, unfortunately the story, character and story telling in ME2 while good are nowhere near as Space Epic and great as ME1 was. I would argue that the Mass Effect universe is probably the greatest space universe since Star Wars (4,5,6). Trying to trim, and cut corners means you are quite literally cheating yourself out of some of the most fantastic sci fi story telling out there. Movie producers dream of creating a universe as deep, epic and rich as Mass Effect's, Bioware absolutely took their time crafting this IP and I cannot advise anyone to skip any of the games. Period.

The story and its progression in ME1 is a genuine space epic. ME2's story was very single layered, flat and uneventful. There was no milestone point in ME2's story that was captivating, whereas ME1 had several memorable moments.

Play ME1, shit your pants, but realize there are technical design flaws. Play ME2 and see all of these flaws gone, but lackluster RPG elements, and the core game/story does not exceed the first nor come close. I absolutely adored ME2, but I fell in love with ME1 the first time playing through it and no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise ...

Mass Effect 2 did not have that magic that Mass Effect 1 did. Then keep in mind that said 'magic' exists in a few rare elite titles in the entire industry and you realize what a treat ME1 is/was. It cannot be passed on, it should not be passed on.
 
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Personally, there is no way I would ever recommend playing ME2 without playing through ME1 first. The ability to carry over your Shepard into the second game is awesome. The decisions you make in the first game have a pretty big impact on your ME2 playthrough. It also think it gets you closer to the characters, and you'll actually be excited to see old friends from ME1 pop up in the second game.

I had the same issue with ME1. I'm one of those OCD RPG players that has to do EVERY every side mission and get EVERY uber item etc. Attempting to do this in ME1 made me put down the game for several months. I decided to pick the game up again after ME2 was announced, but I decided to only do the main story. That was one of the best video game choices I've ever made IMO. The main story in ME1 was absolutely amazing. It was those side missions (the Mako can diaf) that had ruined my experience the first time. Now I can say that the ME series is easily my favorite series of all time...absolutely gorgeous universe Bioware put together.
 
bpizzle1 said what I was thinking best. Even the little things that transfer over to ME2 from ME1 just makes the game feel larger than it is. Like you are truly influencing the world around you. No other game does this, not to this level anyways.

Replay ME1. It has a slow start but gets much much better after the Citadel.

ME2 might be much more streamlined but it feels right. Personally everything everyone misses seemed useless to me in ME1. Money and loot was all tossed aside because I always seemed to have a better weapon I about 10 hours ago. I beat the game the first time with 1 million credits because it was pointless to spend it. I always had to keep Tali around to hack or whatever. In ME2 I could play around with my squad more.

I think ME1 had the better overall story yet ME2 was good in its own way. Although ME1 felt more complete I kind of expected ME2 to be the way it was since it was a planned trilogy. The characters were interested enough. I feel ME2 is to Mass Effect is to what Empire Strikes Back is to Star Wars.
 
I always found it weird that in ME1 - once you get the Spectre Level 2 gear, everything else is pointless. You can just go down the line selling everything else that isn't an upgrade.
 
Thank you all for your opinions.
I guess I should really try to get my hands on ME1 now...

If I were to do only the main quest line for ME1, how long should I expect to finish the game in?

Same question for ME2 please.

Cheers!
 
If you play through ME1 and stick to the main quest you could probably complete it in less than 10-15 hours. Best of all, while there are side missions that feature the Mako (a vehicle) - most of them don't really introduce any major plot-lines.
ME2's a bit longer if you want it to be, but you could probably race through it without doing all of the optional companion quests in the same amount of time.
 
You won't miss much. When you start a new game of ME2 without using a ME1 save you are asked to make some decisions that then fill in the back story.
 
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