Mass Effect 2

[DaeJi]

One of the biggest games of this year was Mass Effect. Great reviews, great word of mouth, great gameplay. Considered one of the best of the year. And according to BioWare, the first in a trilogy. Good times are a coming.

However, there were a fair amount of choices in the first game. With my ear to the ground, I've heard from a few of the more trustworthy snakes that Commander Sheperd will be the star/PC in all three, and that the next game will be able to read your first game's save files. And of course it will be new gamer friendly.

What should happen in the second game? Who should go, who should come back? New teammates? Old teammates? Where should we go, who should we see? What do you want to see BioWare do in the next sure-to-be great game in the Mass Effect trilogy?

[The Zapper]

Tali and Wrex I want back. I refuse to use Kaiden now, so I obviously don't want him back. I'd like the main quest to be at least 2 stops longer. Maybe a cure for the Krogen disease making them the main villains. More rockets to the face like Feros guy.

[StreetFighterRyu]

If anything, I like to see a mimic version of KOTOR 2. With better story and finished of course.

Though it would depend if Shepard was a renegade or not. And decide if Shepard was a man or a woman. I'm not saying to make it exactly like KOTOR 2. Just make it similar.

[Jared_Humpherys]

Pretty sure Liara is going to die in the next game. She kept having spells of light-headedness in the first(with BS reasons why), and Chakwas never directly mentions looking her over.

Though if you made her your paramour, she might bear a child before dieing.

As for things I'd like to see:

1) Upgradeable Mako(a must, in my view).

2) The conversation options that were originally promised(interrupting people, etc).

3) an option or patch allowing the game to download to the hard drive to reduce loading times(please!!!).

4) seeing the results of choices made in the first game.

[EmeraldOutlaw]

Yeah, I think it'd be really cool for them to pick up on the story/choices/developments that they created in the first game. I would also like to see them make the party smaller and have deeper relationships with those people.

And I know they were pushing the content of the dvds with the first one, but I'd rather see quality over quantity with regard to explorable planets. It was cool that there were so many to explore, but after a while the "get the mineral deposit/medal/insignia/writing, the crashed probe, and kill the story people" schtick gets a little boring. Plantes with a little more depth would be cool with a bunch of different quests and such.

Space combat with the Normandy would be cool too.

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

And I know they were pushing the content of the dvds with the first one, but I'd rather see quality over quantity with regard to explorable planets. It was cool that there were so many to explore, but after a while the "get the mineral deposit/medal/insignia/writing, the crashed probe, and kill the story people" schtick gets a little boring. Plantes with a little more depth would be cool with a bunch of different quests and such.



Yeah, this I'll definitely agree with, and I've only had the game for a few days.

I suppose I was expecting those dozens of planets to be fully-realized KOTOR deals.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game (constantly playing it, Persona 3 and Growlanser Generations), but the planets can kinda be empty.

[Chiasm]

Agreed on quality vs quantity argument with planets. I'm a completionist so I'm doing every side plot but I'm really getting tired of going to the next planet only to find the building layout is the exact same as the last five I went to. The main plot planets are awesome in their variety and I wish Bioware had taken a little more time to give some of that variety to the sidequests. Really what the sidequests feel like to me are a user made mod. If you ever played some of the fan mods for the Baldurs Gate / Icewind Dale ( Bioware / Black Isle) games you know what I mean. The fan mods would hijack preexisting dungeons and insert new characters into them. Just like Bioware did countless times in Mass Effect.

I'd also like to see some NPC interactions between one another. One of the greatest things about Baldur's Gate II was this very thing as some NPC's did not get along while others got along perhaps too well. In fact if you played some of them together too much (you had five NPC's in your party here) they would fight and try to kill each other. At other times the NPC's would viciously mock one another with gut wrenching hilarity. The comedic value of various reactions to Edwin's spell which gives him an accidental sex change were priceless.

[Hiromi]

Still waiting on my PC version

[Lester C.]

How did part one sell? Due to the fact that I've bought great games that ended on cliffhangers before I refuse to buy this until they officially announce the sequel.

Still waiting on my PC version

Might be a long wait as it took years before Jade Empire made it to the PC.

[DaeJi]

How did part one sell? Due to the fact that I've bought great games that ended on cliffhangers before I refuse to buy this until they officially announce the sequel.


Last I checked, Mass Effect went Gold before it's release, so the next part is likely to come. This is a planned trilogy after all. Also, Mass Effect didn't end with a cliffhanger.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I suspect that the baddies of the next game will include indoctrinated version of your crew from the first game. So, whomever you chose as your romantic interest, be it Liara, Kaiden or Ash, will be the Matriach Benessia in the next game.

Tali & Garrus will obviously be back with C-Sec and the Quarrian Fleet but I don't know how they're going to work around Wrex dying or not dying. He's too popular a character for them not to include in the sequel. Perhaps Wrex has a brother named Twrex?

As far as the dangling plot threads I'd most like to see explored in the sequel: I'd like to visit Tali's fleet. That sounds like a cool environment and culture to explore. And, of course, I'd like to see the Krogan homeworld and see the Shadow Broker and Cerebus take center stage.

Definitely agree about the side quests. More quality and diversity, even if that means less quantity of the exact same mine or bunker or spaceship layout repeated over and over and over again.

[Ramiel]

More quests, customizable Mako, go to Tali's neck of the woods, maybe show some of the home planets or home galaxies of the alien races and an Elecor party member

[Lester C.]

Two questions I have before I buy a 360 just to play this game.

1. Can you level up and gain new abilities despite the fact that this is a shooter?

2. How long is the game if you do all the sidequests which I will?

Update: After seeing a Mass Effect video review I decided that I HAVE to play it. My only problem is the Xbox ring of death issue but Best Buy has a two year extended warranty for an extra 60 bucks so that solves that problem. Which is good because gamestop and eb games don't even offer an extended warranty option which quite honestly has me worried.

[Alex]

Space combat with the Normandy would be cool too.

that, i want that.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Two questions I have before I buy a 360 just to play this game.

1. Can you level up and gain new abilities despite the fact that this is a shooter?

2. How long is the game if you do all the sidequests which I will?

Update: After seeing a Mass Effect video review I decided that I HAVE to play it. My only problem is the Xbox ring of death issue but Best Buy has a two year extended warranty for an extra 60 bucks so that solves that problem. Which is good because gamestop and eb games don't even offer an extended warranty option which quite honestly has me worried.

Microsoft has already offered a THREE year warranty for any 3 Rings of Death related hardware problems for no extra cost.

1. It's an RPG with shooter elements. Leveling up and gaining new abilities is a fundamental part of the game.

2. With all the sidequests, the game is probably 30 or more hours, more if you replay the game as a different character. If you play as two different classes, one Paragon and one Renegade and level them both up to Level 60--that's easily 80 hours.

[Chiasm]

1. Can you level up and gain new abilities despite the fact that this is a shooter?

2. How long is the game if you do all the sidequests which I will?


I'm currently at 39 hrs at some point during my 2nd playthrough which is the total time of the 1st playthrough and 2nd combined as the time doesn't reset - odds are I'll finish the 2nd playthrough in just under 50 hrs total. If you play the same character again you get to keep all your loot and equipment and get to take your character to new unlocked levels. Its worth doing for the challenge, doing a different romance, and playing your character as the opposite morality as the first time. You just ramp of the difficulty to make up for how powerful your character is.

As the last poster said the game isn't really a shooter. Its an RPG that has shooter like combat. Its basically Knights of the Old Republic without the lightsabers.

[DaeJi]

Here some things I want to see in the next one:

-A new council. Even if you choose to let them die in the first one, it should work out where the other races actually don't want to follow humanity's lead the the council is reinstated with humans as a member. However, if you choose to save them at the end, only the turian and salarian member should be new.

-New squadmates. The only squadmate I want to return is the love interest from the last game. Other than that, new guys.

-Batarians.

-A trip to the floatilla. And a trip to Earth. And a trip to some non-human colonies and worlds.

[Jmacq1]

Well integrated savegame reading, not just dialogue-driven rehashes ala KotOR II.

More main quest worlds, less cookie-cutter sidequest worlds. In fact the "exploration" portion of the game could probably be ditched altogether or seriously revamped. It's OK the first play-through but after that gets really tedious. If you must keep the exploration aspect, make it more varied/interesting. Have more MAKO-level threats than just Thresher Maws, Turrets, and Geth Colossi.

Bring back Wrex and Tali, plus the romantic interest from the saved game (if any). Pretty much everyone else can be new. But bring back the other surviving members in other ways (cameo roles, quest-givers, etc...). Bring back some of the other NPCs as well (Dr. Chakwas, Lt. Pressly, Joker, Chief Adams, etc...). Give folks promotions to reflect the experiences in the last game (Captain Shepherd, Lt. Commander Pressly, Lt. Joker).

Give the option of pursuing a new romantic interest or continuing/staying faithful to the previous one (good opportunity for Paragon/Renegade points in the long run there). Don't go the cheap route and kill off the love interest just to make room for the new one(s).

More interaction between party NPCs. Even if it's just in the form of some of those "sidebar conversations" you hear throughout the game. Let the characters move around the ship some. Let's hear Tali and the Chief Engineer talking shop. Let's hear Wrex and Ashley arguing over which manufacturer/race makes a better shotgun. Let's have Alenko and Garrus bantering while they tinker with the MAKO in the Hangar. Little touches that make the party seem more alive, and more like they have relationships with each other as well as with Shepherd.

Female Turians and Salarians. ;)

Batarians, or just more enemy variety in general.

Some kind of tangible bonuses for prior character advancement. Even if it's just a few bonus skill points at the beginning of the game, let all that hard work they put into their level 60 character count for something. Obviously they'll have to "start over" to make the game new-player friendly and preserve the game mechanics, but Shepherd shouldn't automatically become a complete "newbie" for no good (or worse yet a horribly contrived and silly) reason.

More variety with the weapons and armor.

Of course some new skills/abilities/powers and such.

Space Combat with the Normandy? Might be OK, but as a small cruiser, the Normandy isn't really built to be a stand-up warship. It's perfect for what they had it doing in the game, but when it comes to ship-to-ship combat it's more designed for working in concert with other ships. Still, some degree of ability to control the Normandy would be pretty neat, I think.

Upgrading the MAKO and possibly even the Normandy itself would be fun.

And as noted above, more conversation options (interruptions, etc...) would be great, even though the conversation system is pretty great already.

And finally: BETTER SQUAD CONTROL.

[DaeJi]

Some kind of tangible bonuses for prior character advancement. Even if it's just a few bonus skill points at the beginning of the game, let all that hard work they put into their level 60 character count for something. Obviously they'll have to "start over" to make the game new-player friendly and preserve the game mechanics, but Shepherd shouldn't automatically become a complete "newbie" for no good (or worse yet a horribly contrived and silly) reason.

Actually, the new skills and abilities and what-not are just a game mechanic. Story-wise, Shepard starts out the top of the pile and doesn't really get any better. I think they should just restart at level 1.

[Jmacq1]

Actually, the new skills and abilities and what-not are just a game mechanic. Story-wise, Shepard starts out the top of the pile and doesn't really get any better. I think they should just restart at level 1.

Yeah, I understand game mechanics, thank you. But it's still idiotic that a character in a sequel can't do the things he could do at the end of the previous game without some reason for it. Sadly the reasons that are usually given (amnesia, injury, whatever) usually suck. It's easier to pull off when a character's abilities are derived from items or magic or whatever, but in a game like ME where thinks outside of Biotics are pretty much purely based on inherent skill, the plot devices required to "reboot" someone get more far-fetched.

Game mechanics or not, it's poor storytelling and it detracts (IMHO) from the overall story, to boot. But since I don't expect Mass Effect 2 and 3 to do "Epic Levels" and the like, I'm looking for a compromise that's less dumb than "Your character starts as a pathetic newbie as far as gameplay is concerned for no good reason other than we have to give you a reason to gain levels all over again." Storyline-wise Shepherd may be experienced, but on Eden Prime at the beginning of the game he can barely shoot the broadside of a barn with that assault rifle (or whatever). Some "elite soldier" that is.

But I have little doubt that starting over at level 1 is exactly what they'll do.

This is probably the reason they didn't use Revan in KotOR II. They couldn't justify him "starting over" for a second time from a storytelling perspective. So I'll be interested to see how they handle it in the sequel where they've already confirmed Shepherd will be back. I'd just prefer that those that did put in their time with the first game get some props for it in the second. I'm not talking about maxing folks out at level 1. Just a few bonus points here and there. Maybe only in skills that were "maxed" at the end of the game. Anything's better than "back to first base for no reason."

[DaeJi]

Yeah, I understand game mechanics, thank you. But it's still idiotic that a character in a sequel can't do the things he could do at the end of the previous game without some reason for it. Sadly the reasons that are usually given (amnesia, injury, whatever) usually suck. It's easier to pull off when a character's abilities are derived from items or magic or whatever, but in a game like ME where thinks outside of Biotics are pretty much purely based on inherent skill, the plot devices required to "reboot" someone get more far-fetched.

Game mechanics or not, it's poor storytelling and it detracts (IMHO) from the overall story, to boot. But since I don't expect Mass Effect 2 and 3 to do "Epic Levels" and the like, I'm looking for a compromise that's less dumb than "Your character starts as a pathetic newbie as far as gameplay is concerned for no good reason other than we have to give you a reason to gain levels all over again." Storyline-wise Shepherd may be experienced, but on Eden Prime at the beginning of the game he can barely shoot the broadside of a barn with that assault rifle (or whatever). Some "elite soldier" that is.

But I have little doubt that starting over at level 1 is exactly what they'll do.

This is probably the reason they didn't use Revan in KotOR II. They couldn't justify him "starting over" for a second time from a storytelling perspective. So I'll be interested to see how they handle it in the sequel where they've already confirmed Shepherd will be back. I'd just prefer that those that did put in their time with the first game get some props for it in the second. I'm not talking about maxing folks out at level 1. Just a few bonus points here and there. Maybe only in skills that were "maxed" at the end of the game. Anything's better than "back to first base for no reason."

I'm not talking down to you. Story is pretty much what makes a BioWare game a BioWare game. Yeah, in the beginning of the game Shepard was a poor shot due to gameplay mechanics. But as far as story goes, he/she was the best of the best before Eden Prime, and stayed at that level. What I would like to see is maybe getting a kick back to returning players, like starting the game with some extra powers or skill points. Other than that, I think it's just easier to go back to level one.

[Jmacq1]

I'm not talking down to you. Story is pretty much what makes a BioWare game a BioWare game. Yeah, in the beginning of the game Shepard was a poor shot due to gameplay mechanics. But as far as story goes, he/she was the best of the best before Eden Prime, and stayed at that level. What I would like to see is maybe getting a kick back to returning players, like starting the game with some extra powers or skill points. Other than that, I think it's just easier to go back to level one.

But...that's exactly what I was suggesting in the first place! ;)

[Chiasm]

The characters would be too powerful if you play the next game with the same ones. I think likely Bioware will advance the story about ten to fifteen years. Your character from the first game will be in a position of power by this time, maybe head of the Spectres, and your new rookie character will get to interact with that character. But it will be your rookie character you play throughout the game. Sort of like the Jedi Knight games on the PC. You play as Kyle Katarn through many of them but eventually he becomes a Jedi instructor and in the next game you play a pupil under his command.

[Jmacq1]

The characters would be too powerful if you play the next game with the same ones. I think likely Bioware will advance the story about ten to fifteen years. Your character from the first game will be in a position of power by this time, maybe head of the Spectres, and your new rookie character will get to interact with that character. But it will be your rookie character you play throughout the game. Sort of like the Jedi Knight games on the PC. You play as Kyle Katarn through many of them but eventually he becomes a Jedi instructor and in the next game you play a pupil under his command.

Bioware has supposedly already confirmed that Commander Shepherd is the "main character" for all three games.

They caught a fair amount of flak from some players for not allowing Revan to be played (or even appearing) in KotOR II. I'm thinking they may well have learned their lesson about player's attachment to the characters.

Not to mention that the way Shepherd was marketed seems to indicate that he's going to be around for the long haul. Bioware wants their own Master Chief, Mario, or Solid Snake. In the KotOR and Jade Empire marketing, it was always the secondary characters or villains that were front-and-center.

[StoneGold]

They caught a fair amount of flak from some players for not allowing Revan to be played (or even appearing) in KotOR II.

I don't think they did. What with Bioware not making that game and all. Obsidian took crap for it.

[Jmacq1]

I don't think they did. What with Bioware not making that game and all. Obsidian took crap for it.

Ah...true. My mistake. Even so, I'm sure Bioware took note.