Mass Effect 2! (no spoilers please)

[LewisLegion]

This paragon of happy goodness finally arrived on my doorstep yesterday at 3. I got to play for about six hours before I had to go to bed to be up uber-early for work (bleh).

My first impressions:

The first ten-fifteen mins of the game were so cool I had to restart it JUST to see it over again. The graphics are definitely better, there’s none (or very little of) that load-layering on the textures. I LOVE the customizable armor options (dislike the fact that I can’t remove the helmet on my Dragon Age armor though).

The expressions and motions of the people seem more realistic. Combat is better though I don’t know how fond I am of that whole ‘pop out your heat sink’ feature. The voice acting so far is excellent and the story is superb.

Very very minor complaint I have is that I imported my canon male and female Sheps and due to the nature of the start game, their scars are gone. My FemShep had a scar diagonally across her face, and my MaleShep had an ugly one across his cheek that looked like a shark had taken a bite out of his face…completely gone now. While I understand WHY they are gone they were little characteristics that helped define my Sheps.

Anyone else got to play yet? Gravekeeper, I’m lookin’ at you Anything you liked/loved/hated so far?

[ArcticChicken]

I've only gotten to play a couple hours so far, but it is very very pretty.

I love that when you talk to someone you're not just standing there facing them anymore, it's much more dynamic.

My only problem with the graphics is that some of the characters approach the uncanny valley, at least for me. That, and the Illusive Man looks just enough like his voice actor that it annoys me that he doesn't.

[RayvenQ]

Gah, it's not even out here yet till the 29th, makes me a sad bunny.

[LewisLegion]

I love that when you talk to someone you're not just standing there facing them anymore, it's much more dynamic.

Definately! I love that Shepard now leans on things, shifts position, walks around. It's a lot more natural and interesting to watch.

[Nurian]

Definitely worth the wait so far. Combat is more intense, it seems (IMO). I love the new story. And the interrupts add a whole new element to your character. Awesome!

Haven't encountered many bugs....yet. (knocks on wood)

[LewisLegion]

I encountered one bug so far. In a fight, one of the enemy kept dying, then getting up and just standing there. He wouldn't fire, wouldn't move, but every time you killed him he'd just get up again and stand there.

It was quite amusing.

[Nurian]

No sooner than I say that and suddenly my xbox 360 goes into Stupid Mode(tm). Won't read the disk. This really really sucks........

[Gravekeeper]

I'm 21 hours in now <cough>

Love it to death. Though the first 15 minutes were particularly heart wrenching ( curse you, Bioware. ). The characters are fantastically written. Even characters I didn't think I'd like ( Jack or Miranda ) turned out to have incredible depth to them. Realistic depth. Hell, Jack almost snagged me. It's like adopting a feral cat from the SPCA. It lives in the basement for the first 6 months and I'm trying to lure it out with cans of tuna.

But there's no way I can't go with a Tali romance on the first play through. Right click to hug Tali. <3 ( Seriously. It's good to be Paragon. ;p ) We'll get to Jack later. Not much interest in Miranda. I'm not boinking my secretary either, though the cliche of it being there is amusing.

I'm impressed how practically every decision, big or small, from ME1 has carried over. Though wow the reunion with Ash was....yeah. All the reunions have been rather interesting. Good and bad. -.-

Plus, working for Martin Sheen. <3

Definately! I love that Shepard now leans on things, shifts position, walks around. It's a lot more natural and interesting to watch.

Yes, all of the character interactions are very nature. Impressively so. The only exception is male shep's pose when talking to Jacob. It's unsettlingly flirty. >.>

[RayvenQ]

Aside from me only getting it tommorow at the earliest, what's most annoying is that I can't find my ME2 Disc or manual, though the box is just sat there staring at me. Damnit

[Nurian]

I'm not boinking my secretary either, though the cliche of it being there is amusing.

Well, when I could play my damned game, I was starting the "Boink your Secretary" quest, but as my Xbox stopped reading games, I sold it and am waiting for Rent-A-Center to open so I may have one in the mean time before I get an Elite, I can't exactly do that now....

[Sarlon]

Haven't played it yet, though I picked it up yesterday. I promised myself no playing till I take my preemployment test today....however since we're expecting a winter storm watch this weekend its the PERFECT excuse to lock myself in the house and do nothing but play the game.

[LewisLegion]

*ROFL*

I'm not as far into it as you are GK (shakes a fist at work). I can't play again until Sunday because if I start it up I won't go to bed. But this three day weekend is devoted to nothing other than ME goodness

But the first convo my FemShep had with Jacob on the ship I kept choosing what I thought were neutral options and then screaming at my Shep 'you're not flirting with him!' when her response turned out to be unusually coy.

I do have a FemShep on hold for Jacob but my first Fem is all about the Liara

And yes, Kelly surprised me with her...umm...obviously forward demeanor *ROFL*

[ArcticChicken]

I kept choosing what I thought were neutral options and then screaming at my Shep 'you're not flirting with him!' when her response turned out to be unusually coy.

That would be the one thing that's bugged me since ME1. Sometimes what I think I'm going to say, and what I actually say turn out to be two entirely different things, and not at all how I was intending to play the character.


Well, that and since the xbox lives in my cousins room, I don't get as much of a chance to play as I'd like 'cause he's a ups box monkey and works nights. I really hope driver sign up sheets go up soon, so he can get that driver job and I can use the xbox during normal people hours.

[Nurian]

normal people hours.

The thought of hours dedicated to being normal frightens me.....

[Geek King]

((NOTE: I write this having gathered the first set of team members and had my reunion with Ashley. Maybe 10-15 hours with significant time exploring))

While I do like the story so far, they seem to have taken some of the annoying things from the first game out, only to replace them with different annoying things. I hate scanning planets and having to run off to buy more probes every couple of planets scanned. They could have just charged me $20 per probe and saved the dullness off running back and forth to fuel depos.

I also dislike the fact they've taken away 60-70% of the customization options with weapons, armour, and skills. Hell, Borderlands did the shooter/RPG thing very well, why not something like that here? Just because the bullets actually go where you point the gun doesn't mean you can't have guns that are significantly different from each other.

In another facet, the levels seem much more linear in this game. I like to explore in my games. I enjoy poking my nose into places to see what I might find. In ME2, even the Citidel felt tight and confining, where the first one had all sorts of nooks and cranies. Very few places I've been so far have much more than a couple of side rooms to look into. The vast majority so far only have one path from point A to point B.

Now, there is some good here. The story already has me hooked, so I'm definately going to the end with this one. I give them kudos on limiting the guns available to the different characters--not everyone is carrying the same loadout of weapons. It is also nice to see how my previous ME1 run through affects even small encounters in this game. However, I doubt I'll play through this one as much as I did the original. So far at least, there's not much to come back for, except maybe to run through as a renegade.

Long story short, some of the best writing out of Bioware yet, but I'm not thrilled with the gameplay.