Mass Effect 2 Thread (Use Spoiler Tags)

[A Tasty Burgerr]

Boo, I don't think they should just throw away the characters after building them up so much.

 

[MvP]

Maybe one or more of the characters will turn against Shepard?!?

omfgsdfjklhjkfd

 

[Prodigal Son]

Boo, I don't think they should just throw away the characters after building them up so much.

The characters aren't being thrown away. I think they'll still have an effect on the game, just that you have no control over them anymore.

 

[Juggernaut]

Maybe it was only me, but i hated using ashley

I usually had the alien dude, not wrex, and the human guy tag along.

 

[CCBrink]

I mainly used Ashley as my soldier and Wrex. I switched Wrex out with the blue chick every now and then. Ashley was such a beast and handled most of the enemies. I was an engineer so all I had was the pistol and supported my team by disabling shields and stuff. I think it would be amazing if they made the game Co-Op.

I have a question though. Was Shepard supposed to die or something? When I beat it he was still alive. I let the other human dude die though towards the end.

 

[Juggernaut]

^
Bro b4 hoes

Plus i didnt need her, she filled the soldier part, which i happily all ready filled

Only thing she had on me was snipers i think, and i didnt need them really...

actually i dont think i ever used a sniper in the game, are they good?

lol i might need to bust it out and try if they are.

 

[killgod]

sniper is like one shot kill.

a couple shots on those big ass geth merc things you run into near the end. solid weapon

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

Maxed out shotgun = practically a sniper

 

[killgod]

http://blogs.ign.com/BW_MassEffect/2009/06/17/123208/

Q&A with Casey Hudson

Well we’re back from E3, and I’ve been checking out some of the feedback on our first live demonstrations of Mass Effect 2. We showed some pretty dramatic stuff, and the response has been incredibly positive. The demo also inspired some passionate debate about what it all meant.

There are some really good articles out there describing what we showed at E3, but I figured it might be useful if I clarified some points and answered a few questions people have asked here and on the BioWare forums since E3. I’ll won’t drop any real spoilers here - this is all just the basic premise of the game that we described for people at the show…

The Suicide Mission Concept
In Mass Effect 2, you (as Commander Shepard) are faced with what appears to be a suicide mission: taking a team into the heart of enemy territory where you shouldn’t have any chance of coming back alive. Your survival therefore is based on how well you’ve built a team – who you recruited, how well-equipped they are, and whether they’re loyal to you. Loyalty (and the things you’ll do to earn it) is a central part of the game, and it is critical to Shepard surviving the final mission.

Paragon / Renegade decisions affect a lot of things in the game - and will affect which how the game ends - but they are completely separate from your character’s readiness to survive the final mission.

When we say that Shepard can die in Mass Effect 2, it’s not something that happens at points in the middle of the game. Yes, you can “die” in gameplay as normal but that’s not what we’re talking about here. It’s not a “Game Over” screen. It’s not a gimmicky thing where you make a choice, “die”, and reload to continue to the “real” ending. When you get to the very end of the story in Mass Effect 2, you will get one of a wide variety of climactic and satisfying endings. Depending on how prepared you were, your ending may involve Shepard making the ultimate sacrifice to accomplish the mission.


If you do die in the ending of Mass Effect 2, it will not come as a surprise, nor will it be random. It will be pretty obvious that you headed into the final mission knowing that Shepard probably wouldn’t make it out alive. Throughout the middle of the game you are building up information, resources, a team, and a ship that will be able to do the job, and although you can jump straight to the final mission at a certain point, you’ll have a good feel for whether you’re likely to survive it.

Part of what makes the final mission dangerous in a more profound way is that each squad member could potentially die a real, story-based death during that mission as well. You might have an ending where Shepard’s entire team survives, or where the entire mission is a bloodbath and everyone (including Shepard) is killed, or anything in between. And for all characters, death in Mass Effect 2 means they won’t show up in Mass Effect 3.

One big reason you’ll want to be alive after the ending is that after the credits roll, you are returned to the game world - ready to head back out for more adventure. You can complete unfinished missions, explore the galaxy, and download new adventures to play. But Mass Effect is a trilogy about Commander Shepard’s journey - if your Shepard dies in the end of Mass Effect 2, that’s the end of him / her. In that case, you can play Mass Effect 3 as “a” Shepard – just not “your” Shepard. As in real life, not being able to keep living is really the main down-side of death. So if you care about playing the next game with your character, make sure you survive this one.

If you die in the end but in retrospect you really wish you had lived, you can of course go back to a savegame from before you attempted the final mission. From there you can make the improvements required to survive and continue your character into the next game.

Importing your Mass Effect Savegame
First, you do not need to have played Mass Effect to enjoy Mass Effect 2. The introduction is designed to introduce new players to the story and universe, and to recap the situation for previous players.

If you have completed Mass Effect and you still have your savegames, you can view each playthrough you’ve completed, and choose the one you want to continue from. The Mass Effect savegame doesn’t just contain a couple of your big choices. It contains countless decisions you’ve made, both large and small. These things could each potentially carry forward and affect your story in Mass Effect 2. This has never been done before on this scale, and it means you’re actually continuing your own story from exactly where you left off.


Some have asked “I built a level 60 character with lots of loot in Mass Effect – will it all carry over to Mass Effect 2?” We will definitely provide benefits for those who put time into developing their character in Mass Effect. But to support all the improvements made in combat and inventory, the skills and items are pretty much completely redone for Mass Effect 2. So if you import a character from Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 will adapt the key assets of your character into starting benefits that work in the new system.

Answers to Other Popular Questions
• “You demonstrated feature X, so does that mean you’ve forgotten about feature Y?” Some worry that by emphasizing certain things in the E3 demo, it means we’ve forgotten about other elements. Not so of course. When you take a game to E3, you really have to focus the message down to something razor-sharp, to cut through all the noise of the show. In our case, it was the key differences between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 that we wanted to emphasize – and we didn’t even have enough time in our slot to show them all! Examples of things we did not show but are definitely in the game are: a completely new and beautifully-handling vehicle, richer and more diverse Uncharted World locations, new space exploration interactivity, systems for character progression, new weapon and armor customization, other cool characters (some new and some you know from the first game), and a ton of content and features.

• “Will Ashley/Garrus/Wrex/etc return in ME2?” Pretty much all the main characters from Mass Effect appear in Mass Effect 2 in one form or another (if they survived your decision-making), and some can join your squad. In general you can expect to continue relationships with these characters across the trilogy, unless you get them killed.

• "Why can't every squadmember from Mass Effect join my squad in Mass Effect 2?" Part of the answer is that the story of Mass Effect 2 is really about the characters - how you go about building a team of interesting individuals - and we wanted to provide some new characters for you to learn about. But beyond that, we're creating a story full of thrilling twists and turns, and while it may be frustrating to not have all the answers right now, these surprises will make the actual playing part really enjoyable. As part of that story, you'll discover what each of your original team members is up to, and why they will or won't join you. You wouldn't want us to spell out exactly who you team up with before you have a chance to discover it on your own, right? Once you're playing Mass Effect 2 and you're immersed in the story, you'll be glad we saved lots of juicy surprises and revelations that can only be found inside the game.

• “Was that a reload animation I saw in the demo?” Like in the first game, most of the futuristic weapons in Mass Effect 2 do not require ammo but they do overheat. The difference now is that instead of waiting for your weapon to cool, you can hit a button to eject a small heat sink to immediately cool the weapon and get back into firing. So it’s a similar system but now you are in control of the cooldown.


• “Do I need fast reflexes to use the Interrupt system?” Interrupts are not meant to be “quick time events”. They are additional options that can appear throughout an NPC’s line that allow you to take a more physical action versus one of the verbal responses. You don’t need to fixate on a part of the screen – a flashing icon will catch your attention in your peripheral vision when it is available. A red icon on the left of the conversation wheel means you can pull the left trigger to fire a hostile interrupt. A blue one on the right side means you can pull the right trigger to do a heroic interrupt. This system allows you to really throw your weight around and get involved in more dynamic interactions with other characters.

• “Did you remove pausing in combat?” No. We’ve made a bunch of changes that add up to the ability to fight without pausing. But you can still hold the powers screen up to pause the action and plan your next moves. One of the biggest improvements was the option to fire your powers in realtime by mapping your favorite ones to buttons – this is a lot of fun and really unlocks the real potential of the combat system. The other big improvement was separate, context-based squad commands on the d-pad. So with a single press of the d-pad you can send a specific squad member to exactly where you want him / her, or to hit an enemy with a special power. This means you can run around with the best powers of your team right at your fingertips and enjoy realtime tactical mayhem – or you can pause with the powers screen to really think about what you want to do next.

• And the two most common questions: “Did you fix the slow elevators?” and “Will there be alien love scenes?” Yes and yes. We actually had our new level transition system on display in the demo, which replaces elevators and other transitions from the first game. The new system did its job perfectly in the demo– it was a natural part of the visual narrative and went by fast enough that no one noticed it even happened. As for whether there will be alien love in an elevator, you’ll have to play to find out.

Looks like that rumor was false, we may get to party up with the ME1 characters

 

[riley420]

This game is so far away. So very, very far away...and it makes me sad.

Do want.

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

I didn't see anything I didn't like, it all sounds good.

Sounds like fucking aliens will be a selling point for this one too lol

 

[Leftwich]

I need to finish my ME1 game as an asshole before this game comes out.

 

[killgod]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-reveal-mass-effect/52551

:jizz:

 

[Prodigal Son]

I'm hyped for this game. Although, the multiple endings and Shephards survival being in your hands kind of bothers me. Wonder if there will be a Mass Effect 3.

 

[killgod]

I'm hyped for this game. Although, the multiple endings and Shephards survival being in your hands kind of bothers me. Wonder if there will be a Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect 3 was technically announced already.

http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/142/14235014.html

NOTE: This game has been confirmed as a title in the works but it has not been announced for any specific game machine. Please check back for official info.

 

[Juggernaut]

This time they better have tons of people to recruit

I always got annoyed when i'd have 2 different races as my backups. That was the main reason i used the humans as the backups. Ashley dieing fucked shit up royally for me though, and i had to start using the turian.

Mass Effect 2 sounds like it'll be up there for Game of the Year

 

[Buzzman]

Thats why i let Kaiden die. Also Im almost positive the charactor that died in ME1 (the one you had to choose) will be in Mass Effect 2. They said someone who died in part 1 makes an intresting return.

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

*prays embedding works*
EDIT: to no avail

new character video:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/18/latest-mass-effect-2-squad-member-is-grunt-a-violent-and-unpr/

 

[A Tasty Burgerr]

New interview, this is probably going to end up being my most anticipated game ever

IGN: What's the significance of what we're seeing in this latest video?

Casey Hudson: In Mass Effect 2 we're introducing some pretty incredible new locations that will become major parts of the Mass Effect universe. A great example is Omega, an enormous mining station that has become a major crime center in the galaxy. It really is the opposite of the Citadel. Whereas the Citadel represents the height of civilization, on Omega you'll find the dregs of the galaxy. It's dark and dangerous, but with all the crime and heavy industry, a lot of money runs through Omega as well. In the video you'll see that while Omega is a gritty new environment, it has some spectacular and awe-inspiring locations.

The video also gives a first look at one of the new squad members that you can recruit. His name is Grunt, and he's a huge Krogan who makes an excellent bodyguard on a place like Omega. We show some scenes of Grunt in action, which make it pretty clear why he's a lot of fun to have in your team on a combat mission.

IGN: What can fans expect to learn about Mass Effect 2 at Gamescom this year?

Casey Hudson: It's going to be the first time fans can get their hands on the game and try out the new controls and combat for themselves. Players will be able to try out the new heavy weapon system, the real-time power use and the new squad command features. I suspect people will want to replay the demo mission a few times, because the new focus on physics chaos in combat really makes you want to master the new versions of biotic powers and weapons like the Missile Launcher. In the demo you can experiment with launching these powers and weapons in different ways to control how and where you throw enemies around, which gets particularly fun as you cross the bridge between two skyscrapers in the middle of a firefight. Once you realize the angle that Biotic Pull hits an enemy determines what direction they're pulled in, you immediately start having fun with throwing enemies exactly where you want them to go.

IGN: How far along in production is the game? Is it still on track for an early 2010 release?

Casey Hudson: We're at the end stages of production, completing all the content in the game and putting the final polish on new features. There's still a lot of work to do, but we're in great shape to release in early 2010.

IGN: If you had to pick three decisions from the first Mass Effect that most affect the story in the sequel, what would they be?

Casey Hudson: For those who haven't played Mass Effect, I should mention that (a) there are some spoilers ahead, and (b) you really should play Mass Effect. I'd say the top 3 decisions are probably the choice of who lives and dies in the nuclear explosion on Virmire, who you had a romance with (if any), and whether you allowed the Galactic Council to die during the final battle. These things naturally cause some of the longer-lasting effects on your story as Commander Shepard. Another interesting aspect is that the sum of your decisions – your renegade / paragon status – also has an immediate and profound effect that we can't explain without giving away some of the story.

IGN: Since the humans saved the day in Mass Effect, is there a newfound respect for our species across the galaxy?

Casey Hudson: It actually depends on your choices. The galaxy has changed because of what happened in the first game, but how it changed really is dependent on some of the key choices you made.

IGN: Will there be any Achievements in Mass Effect 2 that you can only earn if you made specific decisions in the first game?

Casey Hudson: No. You can accomplish the game's full achievements from within the game itself.

IGN: Will any upcoming Mass Effect 1 downloadable add-ons bridge the gap between the two stories?

Casey Hudson: No. Our upcoming PRC for the original Mass Effect will be a standalone story, and after that we'll be focusing strictly on Mass Effect 2 content. The novel Mass Effect: Ascension introduces some of the key people and places in Mass Effect 2, and there will be a Dark Horse comic that leads directly into the beginning of Mass Effect 2's storyline.

IGN: What changes, if any, are being made to the Mako? Will it get a performance upgrade?

Casey Hudson: We've created a new vehicle for Mass Effect 2 which is a major improvement over the Mako and is an absolute blast to play – especially when combined with our improved level design for uncharted world levels. Improving the vehicle has been a major goal, so we've been very cautious about getting it perfect before we reveal it. But, we'll be able to reveal it soon and I think players are going to really enjoy the way the new vehicle moves and fights.

IGN: Several hardcore RPG fans I've spoken to are worried that the streamlining of item management and skills will water down character customization too much for their liking. What would you say to them?

Casey Hudson: Not to worry - we're not really streamlining or simplifying. What we actually did was we rebuilt the entire inventory system so that it could do more, while being easier to use. The previous system tried to handle all the equipping, customizing, and managing of your entire squad's armor, weapons, and gear in a single screen. The main difference in ME2 is we've separated these functions into different activities, so that each one can offer deeper customization while being more fun and easy to use. An example is the armor personalization system which goes far beyond what players could do in the first game (and that's an understatement), but because it's on its own screen you can manage the deeper level of options more easily.

IGN: Do you think the motion controls and voice recognition offered with Natal will ever be incorporated successfully in games like Mass Effect?

Casey Hudson: There are some fun possibilities for Natal functionality in existing games, but to really make use of it you'd want to design a game from the ground up with Natal in mind. It will take a while to evaluate the technology and find robust ways to apply it, but we are looking at it to see what kinds of meaningful additions it might be able to make to the Mass Effect experience.

 

[riley420]

This game is going to be boobs.

Fucking BOOBS!