Mass Effect 2

[Jistic]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Bioware got a legit shot of GOTY for '09 and '10. This game is gonna be great again. I just love the 1980's sci fi music and feel of this game.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 to Feature Water, Swimming, Drowning

However, one thing jumped out at us. It wasn't actually something we played, but something we saw on a loading screen. While I didn't have time to write it down, as it was only on screen for a moment, I was able to see enough to know that Mass Effect 2 would be adding some water to the universe.

It was something along the lines of "Different armors will effect how Shepard can swim and will make him less likely to drown," meaning that there will be sections of the game with the good commander needs to get his suit wet. It was fairly obvious that the person showing the demo didn't expect the message to show up, and he couldn't really say much beyond confirming that what we saw was, indeed, true.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

1UP Preview

This scenario also shows off one of the "cutscene triggers," where during a cinematic scene, an icon will briefly pop up on-screen (in a Quick Time Event type of manner). If you hit the prompt, you gain an advantage of some sort; for this scene, I manage to hit the left-trigger while Shepard sights some troops through Garrus' sniper rifle, and as a result, Shepard instantly takes out one of them. So when the cutscene ends and combat begins, there's one less guy to worry about. BioWare personnel point out that these moments will always be beneficial in some way, and that similar to the dialogue system, you can figure out if the action is going to be a Paragon or Renegade one by habit. If you hit the left-trigger, it will be a Renegade action while hitting the right-trigger will result in a Paragon action. It's a nice way to keep players on their toes during cutscenes (without the death penalty of similar cutscene QTEs like in RE4).

When it comes to combat, again, the most efficient way to describe the game is that it feels "tighter." The combat remains fundamentally the same as in the previous game, in that it's a third-person shooter with light cover mechanics, squad control, and use of abilities. But there're a lot of little tweaks that add up to making the combat look and play better. Such as how there's location-based damage now; you can pop someone right in the head for critical damage, or shoot them in the legs to severely hamper their maneuverability.

Or the fact that that ammunition types are now on the radial menu -- which is a complete godsend. Instead of having to fumble around with the inventory screen, I can simply switch between incendiary, disruptor, and concussive rounds for my assault rifle right from the left-bumper's radial menu. This is valuable when my foes consist of a mix of LOKI Mechs (light robot infantry) and Eclipse Trops (mercenaries); I take out the LOKIs with my disruptor rounds, and then seamlessly switch to incendiary rounds to burn up the regular Eclipse fellows.

Another welcome tweak is the revamping of the overheating mechanic. Previously, you fired your weapon until your heat reaches the end of a meter (causing an overheat), and then you had to wait for your weapon to cool down before firing again. The developers didn't like making the player actually wait, so weapon heat is now mitigated by thermal clips. These are essentially disposable heat sinks; when you reload your weapon (done via X button now), on top of changing magazines, you also eject the hot thermal clip and insert a new one in, which instantly reduces your weapon's heat. This way, the player now has more control or input over heat management, as opposed to waiting for the game's clock to wind down.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

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[jmood88]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I can't stop watching the gameplay video. Epic needs to get the Bioware guys to do the Unreal Engine tech demos cause this looks way better than anything they've done to show off the engine.

[Wet Bandit]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Next week's episode of Gametrailers TV will be all about ME2, including the reveal of an all-new squad member and details on changes to one of the classes. I think it's on at 12 est on Thursday night, but I'm not positive. Regardless, it should be available on gametrailers.com next weekend.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

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The weapon is badass.

[thaima1shu]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Damn that is an absurd weapon. I want it, but I hate Gamestop. Bah ... what am I to do?

Any chance I could pre-order it, use the code, then return the game? Probably not, eh?

[jmood88]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I don't get why you wouldn't just buy the game at gamestop if you want the armor/weapon, it's just a store.

[thaima1shu]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I don't get why you wouldn't just buy the game at gamestop if you want the armor/weapon, it's just a store.

The Gamestops around here have 1) terribly rude and incompetent employees, and 2) their new games aren't "new" and all seem to be gutted. I just don't like the idea of supporting a store that I don't like. I've got my order on Amazon anyways.

[trobinson97]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I don't get why you wouldn't just buy the game at gamestop if you want the armor/weapon, it's just a store.

Because I personally hate supporting Gamestop.

[Wet Bandit]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I don't get why you wouldn't just buy the game at gamestop if you want the armor/weapon, it's just a store.

Because it's cool to hate GameStop. Just like it's cool to hate Nickelback, Microsoft, American Idol, etc. And it's especially cool to tell people how much you hate these things.

I'm assuming there's a few people that have legitimate gripes (so don't think this is directed at either thaima or trob), but for the most part, it's just one of those counter-culture bandwagons people like to jump on.

[Flawless]

Re: Mass Effect 2

GTTV promo. We will see the Illusive Man.

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[SoxFan01605]

Re: Mass Effect 2

Just like it's cool to hate Nickelback

I thought it was the other way around? Hmm...I had no idea how "cool" I was.

Anyway, I can understand the hate for Gamestop simply because they've destroyed other comparable small businesses in many areas. That said, that gear/weapon is tempting. I wonder if it will be released as paid DLC at a later date (I could have sworn this happened with another store "exclusive" before)?

[jmood88]

Re: Mass Effect 2

I thought it was the other way around? Hmm...I had no idea how "cool" I was.

Anyway, I can understand the hate for Gamestop simply because they've destroyed other comparable small businesses in many areas. That said, that gear/weapon is tempting. I wonder if it will be released as paid DLC at a later date (I could have sworn this happened with another store "exclusive" before)?

One of the Bioware guys said that it's not happening, I can't find a link right now though.