29 réponses à ce sujet

[Mobar]

Hey guys from Bioware and everybody on this forum.

I am only a recent player of the first ME, and I loved it to bits. To many of the people reading this ME1 may be old news, but to me it's among the very best games ever made. I actually sat trough the end credits.

Let me sum up what I loved most about ME1 (Bear with me please, I know this is a ME2 forum, I have played it, but the ME1 experience is a part of the feedback I am trying to give.)

The entire story of ME1 felt epic and somewhat operatic. From start to finish I realy had the feeling Shepard was part of something epic, something huge. From the characters on the Normandy to the characters you meet on your way, the network of allies felt connected - it felt real.
I realy started to sympathize with Shepard, her (in my case) crew and people like Captain Anderson. Even the Alliance and Admiral Hacket. The dialogs were to my opinion very well written and I enjoyed them intensely. All of the main characters and their story angles were very convincing.
With the wonderful voice acting by I believe Jennifer Hale, the facial expressions and the proud military no nonesense -with a good heart- personality you had given Shepard, she made for one hell of a main character.
The ending sequence was realy rewarding, it gave the feeling that you had fought for something, that it mattered.
(I saved the council, and pretty much all the paragon choices.)

I went into ME2 expecting to go from there, but I was quite disappointed.
Make no mistake, I liked ME2, but I felt it didn't do it's predecessor justice in a number of ways.
The story didn't feel very connected to me, the early plot twists get fired at you in a hurry in a story continuation
that felt like -with all due respect- an easy way out. For example: the reaction the council gives you after you have gone missing for two years doesn't seem to fit with the heroic ending of ME1. The reason given is your connection to Cerberus and the fact that they'd like to deny the Reaper but again, it felt like an easy way out.

Shepard seems to loose her proud military personality as well, and flirt possibilities arise in virtually every crew-conversation after you looked at them twice.
Overall I never realy felt that there was a serious problem the crew was assembled to tackle, untill the Normandy gets boarded by the collectors. Wether this was becouse of the predictable crew sidequests or the lack of the operatic atmosphere -or me just having it in for ME2- I don't know.

However I did love the fact that you brought some old crew members back. And the part where Shepard catches up on old times with Dr. Chackwas was a nice surpise. The private conversations with the crew were a treat, and some characters (like Thane) were very intriguing.  His sidequest was very amusing as well, and far less predictable than the others.

The levels were very beatifully designed, aside from all the strategically placed obsticles you can use for cover, that also serve as a tell tale sign for when enemy encounters were going to spawn, wich was a bit predictable.

I loved the new normandy, the captains quarters and the fact that the crew actually has a place to sleep and bathrooms was a nicely realistic addition as well I also liked the spontaneous conversations between crew members that gave you a sense of what was happening on the ship and in the universe.

And finally the inventory and armors.
As I said above I played a custom female Shepard. Even though she was a Soldier I never chose to wear the heavy armor in ME1 becouse I didn't like the big bulky look of it. I was a huge fan of the medium armor design in ME1 and loved the fact that you had the choice.

The whole system of the armor together with the guns was extremely well designed, and convincing. The heavy weapon in ME2 seems out of place and oftenly doesn't realy seem to fit. Aslo adding to a bulkier look.

Further points:
No inventory: I liked the inventory in ME1. It may have needed an upgrade, removal didn't seem necessary.
Ammo system: ME1 was to my opinion the first game that realy introduced a good non-ammo system. I was sad to see it replaced by something simmular to what all the competition has been doing for years.
Armor and weapon mods: Again, why change a good and fun system.
Taking cover: In ME1 you didn't need to press a button to take cover, just draw your weapon and hit the wall, it worked perfectly, why the change?
PC version hotkeys: None of the menu options such as journal and map have a hotkey in ME2, wich they did have in ME1

Anyway, enough of my negativity. Regardless of this long post I do like ME2, I am just comparing it to part 1.
I realy respect Bioware and the great games you make, you seem one of the last houses that want to design a good, quality product that fits right into the art section. Please don't change! Don't let the marketing execuctives and producers ruin your creative spirit!

Modifié par Mobar, 08 février 2010 - 12:19 .

[tortuga8831]

Mobar wrote...
Taking cover: In ME1 you didn't need to press a button to take cover, just draw your weapon and hit the wall, it worked perfectly, why the change?

OMFG, I thought i was the only one thinking this. I HATE the new cover system. Also why can't we crouch anymore?

[Bawtzki]

I like the new inventory. Mass Effect 2 is the first game that I can remember where all weapons you carry are visible on the character. The way inventory was designed in ME1 just didn't make any sense, it took forever to scroll through and when you picked up a new batch of items during combat you couldn't convert them all to omnigel at once for example. Not to mention constant ammo swaping via the inventory interface - this is handled much better in ME2.

Weapons and Armor - when you think about it, ME2 actually has more weapons - while first game only had pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and sniper rifles, ME2 adds SMGs and heavy weapons. Except that now you don't have to scroll through countless nearly identical items every time you want to upgrade, instead you can find new weapons of same type that actually handle differently. Same goes for armor, you can buy specialized parts for it that increase specific stats. I actually liked the fact that my Shepard stayed in his N7 armor throughout the game (didn't use CE armor because it made me look like a freak

Cover system - I can see how it would be confusing to you, since you played both games one after another, but it is better to have control on when you want to take cover instead of letting the game decide. I also liked the new vault mechanic which was extremly useful when it was time to push forward in order to stop enemies from respawning (does this happen only on Insanity or other difficulty modes too?)

Overall, I think ME2 improved on ME1 in every area as far as technical and design issues go. Especially level design - in first games I often thought the maps were really small (something very typical for Bioware's games unfortunately), but in ME2 they did wonders with backgrounds which now give the feeling of much larger size, even if they're not. A good example is the view from terrace on Illium, or the research facility on Tuchanka. Story, character development, interaction with party members, etc, is on same level in both games and I hope they keep the same level of quality of it in ME3.

Modifié par batej, 08 février 2010 - 05:21 .

[Stofsk]

tortuga8831 wrote...

Mobar wrote...
Taking cover: In ME1 you didn't need to press a button to take cover, just draw your weapon and hit the wall, it worked perfectly, why the change?

OMFG, I thought i was the only one thinking this. I HATE the new cover system. Also why can't we crouch anymore?

Are you guys nuts? Being forced into cover is about the dumbest aspect of ME1's combat system. Especially when you're running around and not intending to go into cover, but the autocover forces you into it all the same.

I infinitely prefer the ability to choose when/if to enter cover on my terms.

[Awesome Helmet]

as a whole i like ME1 better. it was way too immersive and memorable to stop playing. its wasnt just some random third person shooter, it was well thought out, even complex, had a great great soundtrack, fun dialogue, just not enough times to say what all went well in ME1. ME2 is a good game on its own. if i hadnt played ME1, i wouldnt be keeping ME2 as an owned game and play it like i played ME1 which was way too gol dang much. ME2 seems to a great game so far, good music, great combat, although my biotics have become pointless, except for warp. i have high hopes for ME3 though if i can get something of a blend of the best of the ME games. they did nearly everything i though they would with the franchise, which i like. its not as story driven but it is a pretty decent one.



the inventory was stupid in ME1. i like having familiar guns. i dont want to switch through a listing of 100 guns each with very minor stat changes. i like the 19 weapons. they all serve a purpose, and one fits each players taste from revolvers to nuke guns. it makes ME weapons more acceptable and mainstream for me. also more memorable as well. would you rather have the widow maker, or the gausse rifle? its just something to compare with, but i like it. customizable armor was a needed too. i can customize my character and id like to be able to give him a sweet get up. theres nothing bad about adding a more cusomizable character. i just kindof hope i can wear whatever armor i wanted, like thanes little get up.



you need to have a manual cover system. auto cover is just a bad idea. crouch is needed though for accuracy reason, and it just feels cooler.



hot keys on my controller should be allowed to be hotkeyed however i see fit. id like B to be a hotkey and possible back or the analog sticks. i never melle and i have been mainly using only my three hotkey buttons over and over with this terrible universal cooldown idea. besides biotics sucking in ME2 becasue of 75% enemy immunity, universal cooldowns is my biggest greif.



both of those things suck. universal cooldown, and biotic suckage. im so anger i cant type about it any more.

[Space Shot]

I have to disagree with the OP on all points

ME1 did not have a good armor system. Customization was right out as stats and stats alone dictated selection above all else. The inventory was unwieldy to the point where it quite nearly broke the game, and as ME2 spectacularly proves it was totally unnecessary. The story was also uninspiring, uninteresting, and by in large derivative of KOTOR. Cover was also another thing about ME1 that was awkward, unintuitive, and was rightly removed to make way for something that was far better for the game at hand.

Awesome Helmet wrote...
universal cooldowns is my biggest greif. 

I'd rather have more rapid universal cool downs than exorbitantly long individual ones.  Despite the minor inconvenience it makes combat far less mechanical and far more dynamic.

Modifié par Space Shot, 08 février 2010 - 05:58 .

[Kajan451]

Great, i was looking for a feedback thread, so i am kind of hijacking onto this one.





I got 2 playthroughs in now and even went back to ME1 to create a new char for the Game. So i am having a fresh recollection of ME1 as well as ME2 and can very well relate to each other (besides playing ME1 again refreshed my memory).

I really like ME2 but its feels kind of swallow compared to ME1. I mean Storywise. Its much more "forced".

There are some things about the Story which bug me:
-----------------------------------------------------

- Why can't i have someone of my old crew screen the ship and remove all bugs?

Really, this bothers me to no end. I can act like "Oh all bad Cerberus" but i cannot undertake any means to follow that through. If i had been in Shepards position i had asked Garrus to perform a full sweep on the ship, removing all survillance bugs he can find. And i would have him do so at his own bidding whenever he felt it appropriate.

- Why can't i tell Tali to remove the Blocks on the AI?

Seriously, when i first talked to the AI and it came up with: I can't tell you this, i can't tell you that.... i didn't feel like Captain of my ship and i certainly would have send someone i can trust, like Tali, down to the mainfraim and if nessassary force the information out of the AI Core. - And i would have Spaced any personal who objected against that.. including and specially Miranda (the only Cast member i would want to leave at some astroid and never shed a tear about her again).


- Why do my romance partners ignore me after the Suicide Mission?

I played through romanced Jack and Tali,.. and both basically give me the cold shoulder after wards. Okay.. i mean if they didn't approve of Shepards performance, fine... but to simply put them into "Oh we have to wait for the night befor the Suicide Mission" loop is kinda odd. Especially Tali. She goes back to be all concerned about getting an infection (despite her telling me a second before she has one and it was so worth it).

I seriously hope you will expand on the romance options in ME3 and not like this time around. My one Char romanced Ash in ME1, the other romanced liara. Why can't i follow up on those? I mean all i get from Ash is some letter telling me she didn't mean it for real? Can't she... i don't know.. kind of... i would have loved to have the option to call her after the colony gig and receiving her Email. Thats the moment i would have (if it would have been me) kind of took up the phone and been like: "Listen, lets meet somewhere and talk about it". Of course i can have him stare at an picture for the final hour if i don't to the other women, but thats nothing compared to the cold welcome i got from Liara. I mean we had quite the connection going, she even goes at length to save my butt... and then? Cold shoulder.

I mean i really love being able to romance Tali, she was my favorit char in ME1 as well... but i seriously worry that you will take her from me in ME3. Her hinting at getting the Admirals position... that spells already doom for our "young" relationship, just like you doomed my old relation ships from ME1.


- Why can't we be friends?

On my first Playthrough i wanted to Romance Tali... but i still wanted to be friends with Jack. Being a true Paragon and such... i really wanted to show Jack that there is someone in the world that does care for her and doesn't want to use her, without wanting to drag her into my bed (thats what i wanted to have Tali for). And where do i end? Tali tells me i am kind of cheating on her and having to decide if i want her or Jack. I mean, seriously? Why can't i just.. at some point.. clearly decide to be just friends and still get to know her real good? Buddies for life.


- Where are the impacts from ME1?

Meeting the Messanger of the Queen or helping that girl from the Throian was kind of nice. Also meeting that Gianna and getting a kiss on the cheek from her was nice (she would make an intrigueing romance choice)... but it didn't seem to make any differance. Maybe the things will make a differance in ME3... but right now its kind of more or less just backgroundnoise. I fail to see the impact on the ME2 story.

I mean i save the council... and how does it end? Do i get support of the Council for saving their lives? No. Not only do i get to have that Thorian (a guy i hold a grudge for since ME1) talk down to my char again, but also the asari council does join in. Just the one that used to defend me and work as mediator... and now she is like "you're a lunatic". They saw the Reaper with their own eyes and... really... i don't want them to acknowledge it as official statment... but it so makes it feel like a waste of my time and efford if all reward you get from ME1 is... Shepard the lunatic, being manipulated by Saren and his propaganda.

I don't know... i just think with all those people who took a part in the Final Battle of ME1 and having that Reaper blow up in the middle of that huge station... there should be some people believing in Shepard. It wouldn't have hurt running into some Admiral or something who tells you: "Don't give up, there are people who believe in you"... i mean as opposed to be totally shot down and spit on. If the council at least had been like "Listen we want to believe you, but without definite prove we can't act on it"... now that would have been nice. It would have felt like having done what i did in ME1 (especially saving those people) mattered.

I don't know... it would have been nice if those Thorian Colonists would have found some useful stuff in the crashed Geth ship. Or the Queen... i don't know... sending some anti collector weapon. Some bioorganic gizmo or something. Not much.. just a little bit. Making the game a little easier.

I am really curious if the decisions will really have some kind of impact on the story in ME3, i certainly can't tell they did on ME2. (I mean appart from cosmetics)


Gameplay wise there is some stuff which bugs me as well:
---------------------------------------------------------------

- Why did you have to use that stupid ammunition?

I want the Heatsink again. I really hate running around and having to loot corpses for ammunition, even more since ME1 already had weapons without ammunition. Its even less fun as Infiltrator (i mean the class is okay.. not going there)... in ME1 i used to provide Sniper Support for my teammates while they gunned down those getting near to me. ME2 does totally ruin that for me. I have to run around and look for those stupid thermal clips. And afterwards i have to run around and search the whole area if there might be some laying around.

Can't you implent an option or something.. i mean to choose if we want to have ammunition or not? I certainly don't want to.


- Why do you have to keep those Minigames?

They are fun and challenging only a couple times. I don't know.. by now i kind of do them in my sleep and its just annoying having to do them over and over again. It annoyed me in ME1 already and it still annoys me.

Can't you implent some Threshold? Something you can Adjust in the options. Having succeded 10 or 20 Minigames and after that you don't have to do them anymore. Leave an option to turn them back on for those who want to drag through them again and again. But currently they bother me more as they add to my game. Or have some Research... like some AI uplink.. having EDI doing the hacking for you. Thats what she is there for, right?


- Those Planetscans?

Give me the Mako again. Yes, that thing was annoying when you had to drive onto mountain tops the gamedesigner clearly never intended to be be driven through (or never played the scenario himself)... but when you didn't have to climb mountaintops with a car... it was fun to bounce around in the Mako. I mean so absolutely opposed to this planet scanning stuff. That gets really boring.

I rather ride the Mako as scan planets. Even with the flaws of the Mako ride.. they are still more fun.


- Whats up with that Fuel?

The whole Galactic Map interface was much better in ME1. It felt like i was plotting the course... and ME2.. its well i don't know what it is.. point and hold... or something like that. And i don't know about the others.. but seriously.. whats the whole point about that Fuel stuff? I mean aside from being annoying.


- Interface/Startup Screen

I liked the ME1 approach much better. That whole "connect to database" stuff... it was great immersion. It felt like my PC was really the Interface Shepard saw. Now i am removed from it. Besides.. who does really spend much time in the main menu? Why does it need to be "fancy"? Thats a rethorical question.

Also ingame.. that thing just feels wrong and when i want to change my squadmates weapons i end up 1 of 5 times enlarging my own weapon "display" and having to wait for it to shrink again before i can click on changing the weapon of my squatmate.



Okay, thats all from top of my mind. I am sure i missed something, but those are the big ones. Otherwise than that.. i kind of like the new ME2 more than the old ME1. I just wish there would be some more Skillpoints. At least enough to fill 5 full bars for my squadmates. Having only 5 Skills anyway.. i think they deserve to fill them all, or at least let us refund those Squadpoints at a later date, once they unlock their loyalities. 

[Mobar]

Ok, my bad. In the original post I made the further points stand out like they were my main points, allthough they were a factor of my complaint, the story and armor part at the top are the crux of my post

I am curious if people agree with the story (and armor) part of my post.


Also here's another thread with a simular topic, but containing a number of points I neglected:
http://social.biowar...05/index/864183

Modifié par Mobar, 08 février 2010 - 12:25 .

[Mox Ruuga]

Good points from both Mobar and Kajan.

I agree with the gist of your comments, ME1 just blew me away, and while ME2 had many fine qualities, it ultimately didn't measure up. The story and plotting are the key, I think. ME2 was more of a collection of short stories that tie together in the end than a epic novel. The investigation and fighting against the collectors should have been given more of a priority. The choice of making us do tasks for our squad ultimately took too much attention away from the main plot and the overarching threat, making the final mission more of an afterthought to all the team building.

20 recruitment and loyalty missions vs. about a half a dozen "story" missions. Not a good balance in my opinion.

[jaff00]

Mox Ruuga wrote...

ME2 was more of a collection of short stories that tie together in the end than a epic novel. The investigation and fighting against the collectors should have been given more of a priority. The choice of making us do tasks for our squad ultimately took too much attention away from the main plot and the overarching threat, making the final mission more of an afterthought to all the team building.

20 recruitment and loyalty missions vs. about a half a dozen "story" missions. Not a good balance in my opinion.

Qft.
Not to say I don't appreciate the individual stories of your bunkmates, even if most of them were fairly straight-forward and nothing particularly astounding. I still liked 'm but the whole collector-ordeal was just too goddamn poopypants short.

[Mobar]

Mox Ruuga wrote...

I agree with the gist of your comments, ME1 just blew me away, and while ME2 had many fine qualities, it ultimately didn't measure up. The story and plotting are the key, I think. ME2 was more of a collection of short stories that tie together in the end than a epic novel. The investigation and fighting against the collectors should have been given more of a priority. The choice of making us do tasks for our squad ultimately took too much attention away from the main plot and the overarching threat, making the final mission more of an afterthought to all the team building.

20 recruitment and loyalty missions vs. about a half a dozen "story" missions. Not a good balance in my opinion.

I agree completely. ME2 felt more like an expansion pack than an actual sequal.

Also after finding Admiral Kahoku dead in the Cerberus research facility in ME1, my apreciation for the organisation received it's final deathblow. Especially since I had come to like the alliance and their missions (Admiral Hacket )

Learning that Shepard now after two years rather willingly surrenders to the will and resources of that same
organisation was very hard to swallow for me. It seemed like an easy way out, to start up a stand alone story while severing old connections. Especially after ME1 in all it's brilliance, the story plot in ME2 is far beneath the capabilities of Bioware.

Modifié par Mobar, 08 février 2010 - 02:28 .

[Urazz]

Personally, ME2 was about equal to ME1 in my personal score but in different ways.

Storywise, I felt ME1 was longer with the main plot than in ME2. Wish there was more missions facing the collectors, like you fight them at some more colonies a few more times and work on trying to get the Alliance/Council aware of who is attacking the colonies so they can fight back against them. It would've felt more meatier if you got the Alliance/Council aware of the threat and working to defend against it but unwilling to attack the Collector home base themselves (would've made the council seem less like idiots in ME2 somewhat).

ME1 had too much sidemissions that were repetetive but felt more longer in the main plot. ME2 had less side missions and they didn't feel repetetive in design. The loyalty missions of the party members felt like sidemissions though and it diverted from the main plot on taking down the collectors. Granted, ME1 didn't really have that many more main missions, but they felt longer.

Combatwise, I felt ME2 improved upon that a great deal. I only felt a few guns needed more ammo (shotguns, the heavy pistol, and vindicator assault rifle mostly). Maybe have multiple upgrades to ammo capacity in ME3 or ME2's xpac or DLC. Hitting a button to actually go into cover actually makes for an easier time and the ability to vault over cover and hop onto higher cover makes for better advancement/better strategic cover. Each class also felt alot more unique and the fact that you don't need techies to unlock stuff anymore is good.

ME2 also had a better inventory system in my opinion but I felt it needed like 4 more types of armor pieces for each section of armor to make things feel more varied. When I pretty much had every armor piece by Tuchanka, I was disappointed. Either way, it was nice not having to worry about breaking extra gear down or selling it in ME2.

Exploringwise, I felt ME1 did it better without the whole fuel crap thing. I prefer ME2's way of getting minerals than ME1's but still didn't like it much. Would've preferred to have the planet info tell what minerals are on a planet than me having to find out myself.  Didn't care that I had to buy fuel but buying probes to get minerals wasn't too bad and not expensive.

I kind of miss the Mako and liked it on the main plot missions in ME1 but didn't like it for the side missions. I have ME1 on 360 and PC and liked the controls for it in the console but it felt clunky and a bit difficult to control on PC. If they couldn't do anything better with it then I'm glad to see it gone then.

And finally, squad interaction with each other is a major gripe for me. I would've loved to see little scenes where the crew interact together on the Normandy together like in Dragon Age Origins at camp. Or they would end up talking when passing through certain areas like in Dragon Age Origins. Doing both would've made things felt better and actually make you think your team and the normandy crew are growing closer together. Like it would've been nice to see Tali actually growing closer to the crew on the Normandy, Garrus telling war stories/embarrasing stories about his time with Shepard in ME1. Mordin doing random experiments that go crazy and freak out the crew.

Modifié par Urazz, 08 février 2010 - 03:00 .

[Mrs Templar]

I loved ME1 and was anxiously awaiting the sequel. I loved the character development and LI aspects of ME1 and after playing Dragon Age I was really looking forward to seeing what Bioware had in store for ME2. I was disappointed overall because it felt like your squad mates were less real than they had been before. I was hoping to hear conversations between them as we explored, like you do in DA. Instead they felt more like two shadows following me for most of the game. I was glad to see Garrus and Tali's return, but why are they not in the meetings with Miranda and Jacob? Mordin is often included but not Garrus or Tali. This seems like a huge oversight. You would think after Shepard's experience with Cerberus she/he would want the opinion of the two people who have been through so much with her/him. I also thought there should have been more conversation choices with you LI from ME1. Especially if you stay loyal through the game. Why not let Shepard call/email them with a final message before going to confront the collectors?



As for the other aspects of the game. I agree that the use of ammo is a pain. I also found the mineral scanning to be a chore. I liked being able to customize the color of my armor, but wished I could customize it for my squad mates as well. I wouldn't mind seeing loot return for the third game, but maybe give us the option to break excess loot down into minerals to use for upgrades instead of just selling it or turning it into omnigel.

[Terminus Pi]

As for the main story in ME2, I find it a bit shallow. In ME1, you had to follow leads, go to places and investigate, to try and piece the puzzle together, just to find out that the real bad guy wasn't Saren, but a Reaper. And only then, would you have to focus on fighting the true bad guy.

In ME2, the main story is: Stop the Collectors -> assemble a team to stop the Collectors -> and (surprisingly) stop the Collectors. There's no mystery! You know from the very start of the game how the end of it will be.

You get some minor info (like them being what's left of the Protheans, or what they're actually doing with the humans they abduct) that's basically irrelevant to the resolution of the main story.

But ME is a trilogy. Keeping that in mind, I come to recall that the "middle" episode of any trilogy I've ever seen always seems a bit hollow - it's "the middle" it doesn't quite start well and you always end up disappointed with the "ending". It's just the middle portion of something and it doesn't quite make sense without the other two.

That is no excuse, however. They could have made it a bit less straightforward.



As for the playability, I loved both ME and ME2. The combat experience in ME2 strikes me as far superior.

Ammo is fine. I don't really like idea of a weapon with infinite ammo - kind of reminds me of the Rambo movies, where he shoots 50000 rounds straight out of a gun with a max capacity of 25

Actually, it makes sense and thermal clips are not really ammo, they're more like batteries - the guns have a solid block of metal in them. The gun then shaves a piece the size of a grain of sand off of that block and uses a mass effect field to collapse it and accelerate it to supersonic speeds (taken off the codex). Now, it makes a lot of sense that the gun should need some kind of power source to be able to do it, and there is no such thing as an infinite power source. If anything, having a limited amount of shots, forces you to be a better tactician and gives you a more realistic combat experience.

I really like the customizable armour, but I wish there were more pieces to add to it or "sets" like in some RPGs, where a single piece of a certain set has it's bonuses, but having the full set will boost those bonuses. I also find it sad that the collector chitin and the inferno armour are not customizable (at lest the colours and tints).

I have mixed feelings about the inventory, but I do miss the possibility to reduce stuff to omni gel and in turn use that to open locks (the mini-games get old fast).

Finally, I noticed that ME2 has key bindings for vehicles, but where are they?

[nicodeemus327]

I went back to play ME1 and its almost unplayable after finishing ME2. Bioware made a ton of good decisions. I will say armor customization should have gone a bit further. Give us a few more options and expand it to all of the characters. Also not limiting ammo to a particular class or character would be nice. However that's not much of a concern with the squad ammo evolution.

[david46]

Shooters want to shoot and role players want to explore. I felt ME was a very good synthesis of both, there was something for each type of player. After It came out Bioware listened to complaints of shooters and unbalanced ME2 making it more of a shooter.



The missions are episodic and fairly linear. Once you reach the exit point you are back on the ship except in a few cases where you are allowed to explore a little.I can't figure out the logical reason for flying the Normandy away from Omega after a mission only to fly right back to do another one. I wish they had gone the Star Trek route and had the captain go planet side, pick up a hot alien, get into fights, and leave.More shooting, more exploring and more romance, something for everyone.



My perspective might be a little off since I have no experience with first person shooters, I can't play them. I have DIMS and get sick With the rapid motion of a free camera. I even got nausea from the beginning of Star Wars Episode 3. If ME3 continues down the shooter path I will have to pass. Unless the game comes with a cool Normany barf bucket, then I might be tempted,

[Shoko86]

Guess I should post my  2 cents here too....

Well, I too agree that ME1 had the better story. Not saying ME2 story wasn't good.. but there was very little of it if you didn't care much for the characters. ME2 over is a great game, but all the "WOW" factor is in ME1. To have the character's stories as the main plot is where Bioware went wrong imo. I understand that it is a game about your companions, but doing their fetch quest is a pain... and it gets dull really fast when you do their quest and get little to no progress with the Collector's plot...

Also why does romance-able teammates stops talking to you when you tell them you don't want anything more than just friends? It's kinda like they only want to talk to you if you want their D-stick or what not. Kind of annoying really. Convo's are really short if you stay friends. Really Bioware? Really? Why can't we just be friends and have nice friendly convos? Why does the convos stops right after you decide to stay friends? In ME1 I would always tell Ashley to GTFO but she would always have something to say to me. I don't know what happened here... it seemed like a lot of dialogue was cut out so there was room for the fancy graphics.

What I really missed... and felt was really important, was your crew member talking to each other out of cut scenes. I cannot stress how much this adds to the story. Not only that, it brings the characters to life and builds on their personality. For ME1 I didn't like Wrex to begin with (I was scared of him. lol), but I used him in my party and his convos with other teammates really pulled me into his character. It felt like he was alive. Then I started talking to him and his character is really well done and amazing. ME2 characters felt dead. For example if you were doing someone's quest, that's the only time they felt alive, but the 3rd party member...  they don't even comment... it makes it seem like they are the third wheel or dead or something. They didn't count other than to fight.. it was pointless. (I think this also plays into re-playability, no new dialogue with different 3rd character = no excitement in replay value.) Also, another great example of how well it was done in ME1 is at the beginning when Jenkins got shot. If you walked right past Jenkins Alenko would suggest checking up on Jenkins. That was a "wow" factor for me. I was honestly in 'shock' when Alenko said that. It made it felt ... real. Like these characters actually have a mind of their own. I was impressed.

The combat system was improved in a lot of ways. I like the cover system better in ME2. I do like how it makes me use more than just the assault riffle... however... DEM THERMAL CLIPS. If Bioware decided to go with thermal clips instead of heat sink.. I wish they would explain why in the game. This part really bugged me cuz it wasn't consistence with ME1.. and made no sense for the weapon technology to take a step back 200 years within a 2 year time frame. I love the heatsink system, it was creative and futuristic. It was one of the "wow that's really creative and cool" factor in ME1. Sure combatwise it had it's issues, but I felt like Bioware could improve on it instead of taking it out.

Same goes for the Mako. Bioware had a great system with world explorations in ME1, sure it had it's bugs and didn't make sense at time... but the fact that the Mako could have been improved on in many many ways, Bioware decided to go the safe route and took it out, and add mining... omg mining is ok to start with.. but once you play the game more than once.. mining is a pain in the ass to do... same with the firewalls and such, fun at first, then just really simple, stupid, and boring after the 10th time... it's a pain to keep doing them especially if you are on your 2nd or 3rd run, bring back my medi-gel please.

Most sides quest in ME2 were very boring. As far as abnormality activity on uncharted planets goes, love what you guys did to it visually, but the quest itself were very bland and uninteresting. I would give up all that stunning graphic for a good side quest. Like for example Kohaku in ME1 was a great side quest, and it stood out... but in ME2 I can't think of one right away that was interesting, most were all "shoot this, shoot that, yay. Good job." Really? That's it? Hmmmmmm... There was one that I like in ME2 (forgot what it was called but you had to investigate why a ship crashed), but it was more for the scenery than the plot. (Yes I explored and did all the quest in ME1, and ME2 as well.)

ME1 was visually stunning for it's time back in 07, and ME2 did it's job right for the visually stunning area as well. I really enjoy looking at the characters, environments, and just about every little detail. It's amazing, it really is. Very impressive. However I would give up all that fancy graphics for a better plot that didn't seemed rushed, and more dialogues. Like I said earlier, ME2 is a great game, it deserves all the praise it is getting. It just felt like ME2 took away a lot of the little details that made ME1 great, and trade it in for stunning graphics. I played and finished ME1 more than I can count. As for ME2... I was done with it since I completed my first run, but only replaying it to achievement ****, and look at the shinny graphics. I do love ME2 a lot but only due to the simple fact that it is Mass Effect, and made by Bioware (). I love Bioware as a company and love what they give to the fans, and I appreciate everything they do, but overall quality wise, ME1 wins by far.

P.S. I miss Toxic rounds... my favorite in ME1. ;__;

[GlassRain]

I personally didn't want to play ME1 - expansion pack. All the changes in ME2 were a welcome sight, regardless if I liked or disliked some of them, the game was fresh.



Only 2 things stick out for me in ME2:



1. The 1 button does all spacebar.

-In concept it makes sense but in practice it can lead to activating things you don't wish to or in my case mounting cover that you're trying to hide behind only to be wrecked by the enemy. We have a keyboard with hundreds of key combinations, no reason there has to by 10 things bound to one key.



2. Conversation skipping

-It was a problem in ME1, how it made it into ME2 is just beyond me. You should be forced to left click dialogue options instead of letting spacebar select. Nothing more frustrating than skipping through a conversation only to choose something random on the dialogue circle. I don't think its much to ask to have it stop skipping when you have to choose and require a click instead.

[IceSavage]

Concerning the Inventory System, I think that BioWare went from one extreme to the other.



ME1 had too much stuff but not really enough that was truely useful. In the end there was only really the spectre gear, and getting lucky eventually in finding a colossus armor, or Predator Armor (if you had Pinnicle). Gear in the end was just thrown away almost. Still there was a certain amount of customization with Mods.



ME2 goes extremely minimalistic with no really inventory system at all. Just a load out selection. The only real customization comes from shepard's armor. And even there the amount of pieces are rather low. The research project pickup are rather anti climatic. Picking up Damage Protection 3 or 4 while good for you doesnt look like you actually did anything at all.



In ME3, BioWare needs to find a good balance. Personally I think, there should be a mix of unique weapons and standard ship build weapons. Having Loot drop isnt really a bad thing. The amount of loot that was dropped in ME1 went a bit overboard. In D&D terms, you would get the equivalent of longsword +1,+2,+3 weapons from the ship for everyone, but bosses would drop special named weapons of which you would have only 1 of.



ME3 should also bring back Mods, the mods would not be found like in ME1 but build by the ship again. You would still have to find the research project in order to build them but then you can just insert them in a weapon (which can be moded). It would just add another level to the weapon select screen. It would go from Weapon Type to Weapon Select to Mod Select. Mods types could be Large Heat Sink Clip size (amount of heatsinks in the gun before reloading), another clip all together, more heatsink in reserve. More damage at the expense of heatsink in a clip, maybe even ammo mods, which woulld not be as good as the powers.



Squad Customization needs to be improved too. Jack having as much Armor as Shepard while wearing a belt over her nipples is a bit ludicrous. Even if it is just a skin change that characters get more armored as the game progresses that is good enough. I also would like to have Armor Mods again as well, and have them be usable in squad members.



I also think that research projects shouldnt be so linear. The codex and the research system should be linked. Finding a technology would increase a whole slew of items instead of just 1 item.





That just my opinion.

[Synthetic Frost]

Howdy all, new poster, but long time reader here.


Let me say that for starters, I loved both ME1 and ME2. Both may have their issues, but they're still head and shoulders above most games on the market. I've been a die hard Mass Effect fan and forum reader from day one. I've had multiple level 60 characters of various moralities and classes played through both games, and I have a few things I'd like to point out about each game. Some of which have already been mentioned...



--------- The Story --------
Not a lot of points here. this was the area I had the least problems with. with a few minor admissions...


1) The transition from ME1 to ME2 just seemed too convenient. The death of Shepherd right at the start was an easy way to rebuild the character class and appearance for those looking for a change, but wait a moment here... Why would we want that in the first place?

If we're already carrying characters over from ME1, as opposed to starting a new character, chances are we're already happy with what we have. If we wanted something different, we'd either make a new character, or go back and rework our previous one.

A class change, I could see, as the best class in one game may not be the best in the next game, but a class change doesn't need a death to fit into the story.

Perhaps an advanced training course the Alliance puts Shepherd through just after the events of ME1.


2) A Terminator...? Seriously? THAT was the best you could do for a dark, epic "Empire Strikes Back-esque" sequel? Really? Wow.

What a freaking let down. Suddenly the Reapers are a whole lot less scary. It's almost like you guys got half way through ME2's production, and said "HEY! What if all the reapers look different... And were all designed after the race they're conquering!"

When I got half way through the game and found out that the Collectors were just repurposed Protheans, I really felt it weigh down. I was shocked, mortified, and heartbroken over what had happened to the Prothean race... That the Reapers could actually USE them like this.... Then you ruined it with a beyond-gimmicky boss fight. 

Let alone the whole idea that we end up killing a REAPER, a machine like the one that decimated the combined fleets of the four main races at the end of the first game, even an incomplete one.... With HAND GUNS.... Suddenly they just aren't that threatening anymore.

The MOMENT I saw the end boss. I lost all respect for the not only the main threat in the Mass Effect trilogy, but the story as a whole as well. Sad, but true.




--------- The Gear --------
This is where I had the most problems accepting things. Though a lot of these issues actually tend to mesh with "the whole package".


1) I understand "why" you guys dumped the old invetory system in favor of the new one, but did you have to go the complete minimalist route? Mass Effect started out as a western RPG. where we could select the gear we wanted and fine-tuned our mods and armor/shield ratios based on the types of enemies we were fighting.


We weren't playing a straight up action shooter. with a maximum of 3 different armor/gear choices.  It really felt like EA had a lot of say in how ME2 was made. Practically everything was watered down to the point of where a five year old would automatically figure out the best gear combos by the end of the game.


Take a queue from JRPGS here. Instead of "loyalty quests", make it so the best gear for you and your sqaudmates in the game was earned at the end of a chain of sidequests pertaining to each crew member. Much like Wrex's Family Armor from ME1, but make it equipable. Suddenly you have tangeble reasons for doing the sidequests without them overshadowing the main plot.


2) An extension of the first point. ME1's inventory system would've been made managable by adding one simple thing. Seperate lists for the equipable slots. Take the side scrolling action from the "Equipment" screen based on the equiment slot the item socketed into, and put that on the inventory screen. Seperate lists, for Armor, Weapon Mods, Pistols, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Assult Rifles, and Grenades.


And oh yeah, having 300 different guns all with 6 different names, 3 models, and stats that barely differentiated themselves from each other on the list didn't help things. Again, go back to older JRPGs, most have swords that look drastically different from each other.


This goes into the last paragraph of point 1, but having unique items for each character would've really helped sell the RPG aspect of Mass Effect.








--------- The Flow --------


Overall I felt that while ME1 had rather pointless sidequests, I much prefered exploring the generic maps with the Mako for minerals than the endless scanning of planets. Because while the actual rewards were worth less, at least I was DOING something. Driving over a unexplored (if uninteresting) landscape was infinitely more entertaining than slowly moving the cirle over the oversized volleyball waiting for a graph to spike.


I personally had zero trouble handling the MAKO. Granted the controls were a little awkward, if the MAKO got  flipped backwards, and you hit "up" on the stick, you'd continue driving in reverse till you realigned yourself. That in and of itself could've easily been fixed in a patch. Simply remap the controls to something more common. like "Up" being "forward" on the MAKO no matter which way the camera was oriented. Nevertheless, the controls weren't anything I wasn't used to within five minutes of driving the thing. And I miss that aspect of the game in ME2.


I also dislike the constant loading screens of ME2. I understand the desire to fix the texture popping of the first game, but I would actually prefer minor texture popping to the complete break and interuption from one room on the Normandy to the next. Likewise I preferred the elevators and the associated news reports and party conversations. 


ME2 feels very much like several mini-games or secluded sections that that don't really even relate to the room that's supposed to be right next to it. ME1 had a much "grander" feeling to it's zones.


The actual "plot" in ME2 is also completely dwarfed by it's party member sidquests. Acquiring Legion felt much more like the final task to me than going through the Omega 4 relay itself ever did.








--------- The Conclusion --------




Overall, I liked Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. But I remain a fan of ME1 far more than ME2. ME2 just felt like a watered down game to reach the franchise out for the masses rather than a dedicated sequal for existing fans.


It just felt like too many shortcuts were taken during production, then polished over, hoping no one would notice.


Overall the game is clean, but too simplistic.

Modifié par Synthetic Frost, 08 février 2010 - 06:15 .

[GHM508]

Overall, ME2 is the better game, but it isn't flawless and ME1 was definitly was better in certain areas.

When it comes down to gameplay ME2 takes the cake in almost every category. In my opinion, ME1 had a somewhat flawed gameplay system. The 3rd person shooter aspects were a little clunky and difficult to control in some situations. The auto cover is a good example or the fact that you can just spray bullets out of your assault rifle endlessly with a frictionless material upgrade, to name a few. Also driving the mako and exploring some planets really became a chore especially because some planets terrain felt like the ground was just a landscape of spikes making it increasly difficult and tedious trying to drive on the planet's surface with a bad control scheme.

The inventory system in the sequel overall is an improvment. With that said I still feel more could have been done. Choosing between 2-4 weapons for a type is the easy way out. Also I really dislike that you can't equip your squadmates with armor. While somtimes the armor you get can look really lame in some games, the armor I got from the collector's addition and the preorder are just sitting in my quarters collecting dust because I feel the N7 armor is better. Also no removing your helmet when in conversation in my opinion is a bad thing.

Still ME1 does do some things better. The story in the first was definitly better in scale, plot twists, and immersion. And as the OP said you really don't feel that your big decisions in the first game had any affect what so ever on the sequel. I agree with most of what the OP said about the story. Many of it seemed like the easy way out. It almost felt like the filler of an anime series, it's just filling the gap between the games with a story that works but isn't neccesaily up to our expectations. There also needed to be more main story missions. I guess you can argue that the loyatly/recruitment missions are the main story, and that the Illusive Man is finding these locations for you while you recruit everyone but the main story just felt too fast. Not enough seems to happen with the main missions as well in my opinion. There are what? 4? 5? main missions?

The collectors while intimidating up front weren't nearly as interesting as the Geth or Saren, nor as rewarding to defeat throughout  and at the end of the game. They just didn't have that spark in them that makes you the player feel like these guys are a huge threat. Sure they are upducting humans and using them to create a human reaper but the enemies of the first game just seemed more of a threat. Arguably, the second is just filling the gap between the first and the third and the third game's story will truly be epic. Only time will tell.

Scanning planets is not a good way of exploring, it becomes a tedious chore just like driving the mako on planets. Stil scanning is better than driving the mako. Thankfully if you beat it you're given 50.000 minerals of each type.

With all that I said, both these games are very good and bioware should keep up the good work.

[Mobar]

Synthetic Frost wrote...
--------- The Conclusion --------




Overall, I liked Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. But I remain a fan of ME1 far more than ME2. ME2 just felt like a watered down game to reach the franchise out for the masses rather than a dedicated sequal for existing fans.


It just felt like too many shortcuts were taken during production, then polished over, hoping no one would notice.


Overall the game is clean, but too simplistic.

Again, agreed. Though I still have a lot of respect for Bioware, I get the feeling they rushed ME2 to release asap.
Wether that was necessary to be competative or becouse their development team was spread too thin due to many other samultaneous projects, it's still sad. Again, ME2 is by no means a bad game, it just doesn't live up to the expectations set by it's predecessor.

[SovereignT]

They need to ditch dependency on ammo and make it less "Codish"(call of duty)



Make it have stronger RPG elements combine all the strong parts of both first and second game then you have a winner and a beast of a game.

[GHM508]

Sorry for double and triple posts, the wireless single I had kept disconnecting me and I wasn't sure if it was sent. My bad.

Modifié par GHM508, 08 février 2010 - 07:31 .

[Mrs Templar]

I also thought ME2 lacked the extremely difficult decisions from ME1. I do not think all of the crew members should be able to survive through the end of the game. Deciding whether to rescue/sacrifice Kaidan or Ashley was one of the most difficult decisions in the first one. It also felt like there were real consequences for your choice. Whoever you saved feels guilty for still being alive. I think at some point in the final mission no matter how prepared you were Shepard should have to make a decision like this.