not really liking this anywhere near as much as i liked the first one.
How could you not like ME2 better than the first game? I don't get this.
I really don't understand how people think this is an improvement. The only real improvement is the shooting mechanic, and I wouldn't even say that makes combat better because of the inclusion of ammo. It may be because I'm an adept, but my current pistol only has 20 shots and I'm always running out of ammo (had to change from Insanity to Normal). The lack of items makes almost all the dialogue encounters insignificant. Normally when I come across a group of thieves or looters I will kill them instead of letting them go as this results in items and cash, but since enemies don't drop items or cash in this game it's stupid to get in a confrontation as all they will drop is an ammo clip (probably not enough to cover the ammo you used to kill them). Also, the planet scanning mechanism is one of the worst designs I have seen in recent memory, I upgraded it and it is still slow as shit, just really tedious. There also seems to be way less dialogue options with your crew mates, it's like they all suddenly took a vow of silence. No option to toggle helmet off and on during dialogue, seems like a stupid oversight as the first game had it. The game just seems like a step back in every way. It's a shooter with rpg elements like DMC and NG are action games with rpg elements, which is fine, I'm just tired of shooters. It looks nice and the cut-scenes are better produced but that only goes so far.
95% of the loot you got in ME1 was better off as onmigel and I only rarely ever bought anything in a store, so both loot and money were pretty much worthless. Nevermind that you could find better gear from random enemies and opening crates than as easily, if not more so, than anywhere else. ME2 actually forced you go get out there and explore to find the best stuff and you can actually find things in stores that aren't lying scattered all over the ground in every level.
Planet scanning is pretty simple and is usually quick too. I found a mineral rich planet and filled up my supplies after a minute or two of scanning. I can see people not liking it, but I don't think it's that big of a deal.
Some of the crew mates don't have anything to say, although sometimes you'll overheard conversation or they'll say something to you as you pass by, but there are people you can talk to like the doctor, the cook, the two people down in engineering, the yeoman, and Joker. You can also talk to the AI. All the other party characters have just as much dialogue options as in the first game.
The helmet thing is kind of weird, since the first game had it, but you CAN take off the helmet completely and just not use it. It's only a 5% health bonus, so it's not a real big loss in my opinion.
