Mass Effect 2 Thread

[maxy]

"This franchise is a personal favorite of mine," said EA CEO John Riccitiello of the BioWare-developed conclusion to the epic sci-fi trilogy.

"One of the things the team up at Edmonton has done is...essentially adjust some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features, which you'll see at E3, that can...essentially address a far larger market opportunity [than Mass Effect 1 or 2]."

According to EA's Frank Gibeau, the now-delayed game's E3 presence will reveal "some feature innovation and some new ways to play."

[pilonv1]

Stop ruining my games EA

[Great Rumbler]

"This franchise is a personal favorite of mine," said EA CEO John Riccitiello of the BioWare-developed conclusion to the epic sci-fi trilogy.

"One of the things the team up at Edmonton has done is...essentially adjust some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features, which you'll see at E3, that can...essentially address a far larger market opportunity [than Mass Effect 1 or 2]."

According to EA's Frank Gibeau, the now-delayed game's E3 presence will reveal "some feature innovation and some new ways to play."

"adjust some gameplay mechanics and some of the features" = take out skill points, dialog options, and exploration, game is now totally linear and features unlimited enemy spawns until you pass a certain point.

[archie4208]

"This franchise is a personal favorite of mine," said EA CEO John Riccitiello of the BioWare-developed conclusion to the epic sci-fi trilogy.

"One of the things the team up at Edmonton has done is...essentially adjust some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features, which you'll see at E3, that can...essentially address a far larger market opportunity [than Mass Effect 1 or 2]."

According to EA's Frank Gibeau, the now-delayed game's E3 presence will reveal "some feature innovation and some new ways to play."

"adjust some gameplay mechanics and some of the features" = take out skill points, dialog options, and exploration, game is now totally linear and features unlimited enemy spawns until you pass a certain point.

10/10.  GOTY.  Bioware creates another masterpiece.

[Positive Touch]

games gonna be great; quit crying when u dont even know details

[demi]

Yep... they single handedly improved Dragon Age and ME.

[Great Rumbler]

games gonna be great; quit crying when u dont even know details

Nobody's crying, just trolling. Well...maybe Borys is crying.

[Stoney Mason]

Mass Effect 2 re-invented the series in a lot of ways that made more sense. I don't think Dragon Age 2 did. Therefore I have a bit more confidence and faith in the Mass Effect team. Not to mention they've had more time.

[Great Rumbler]

Mass Effect 2 re-invented the series in a lot of ways that made more sense. I don't think Dragon Age 2 did. Therefore I have a bit more confidence and faith in the Mass Effect team. Not to mention they've had more time.

Yeah, I'm willing to give the ME team the benefit of a doubt here and believe that whatever changes their thinking about will ultimately make for a better, more-compelling game.

[naff]

I welcome the delay. I hope they take as long with it as possible.

Same here. I hadn't even seen it had been delayed till just now, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. 2011 is now the year of Skyrim

[Stoney Mason]

Stolen from a gaf thread. Some new scans from PC Gamer

http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/52482/t1646860-pc-gamer-scans-spoilers/

Also some ME 3 story spoilers

spoiler (click to show/hide)

-Tali is a confirmed squadmate
"Garrus, Liara, Kaidan, Ashley and (newly confirmed) Tali are all full
time members of your team if they survived the previous games."

-Wrex?
"I asked point blank about Wrex and got as close to a 'no' as I think Bioware will come at this early stage: exceutive producer Casey Hudson simply re-emphasised that such characters canplay a role and fight alongside you without necessarily being permanent squad members."

-No new Romance in ME3

-Biotics are more potent in combat
"Biotics can use their Pull ability to rip a shield out of someone's hands"

-Multi Layered combat areas
"The games combat spaces have graduated from the often-familiar open areas dotted with low walls. They're now multi layed encouraging you to seek high ground for a better vantage point...[the rest is about Cerberus rocket boot dudes using this to their advantage]

-class Specific Melee attacks
Engineer: Omni-tool fire lash attack
Adept: Melee (biotic) attack that knocks everyone near them away and stuns

-Powers Evolve more than once
"In ME3 this is just the start. A Vanguard player can customise their devastating Charge move first to slam people harder, then do more damage, then to reduce the cooldown.

-Powers combine
Example given with Soldier: "Soldier still has an arcing attack called Concussive Shot, but it now behaves differently depending on the ammo ugrade he/she is using. Cryo ammo lets you use that same trajectory to deliver a blast of ice that canfreeze every enemy in the area."

-Story is more like ME1 than ME2

-Places being visited (at least what the Magazine reports):
[...]mission takes you to the Salarian homeworld, the Quarian homeworld, the Asari homeworld, and the human homeworld - Earth. You'll even go to Mars [...]

-Every major character you have met will play a role in the last game

-Why is Cerberus after Shepard? They are working with the Reapers
"If your wondering why we were fighting Cerberus, having worked closely with this shadowy organisation in Mass Effect 2, the answer just raises further questions. They are wokring with the Reapers"

-Reaperized enemies include Asari, Krogan, Rachni
"In Mass Effect 3 we'll fight the Reapers other experiments, with other species.
One is a hideously bloated pregnant Asari, her gums stripped away and a robot skeleton showing through her rotting flesh"

"The Reapers take on the Rachni, who were already viscious insect monsters,are covered with bulging savs of lesser creatures. Rather than hitting their weak spot for massive damage, you want to avoid it like the plague: bursting any of these sacs before the creature is dead wit will unleash a swarm of horrible mini-rachni that crawl all over your body"

"The Reaperised Krogan wears heavy armor plates that can shear off with enough focused fire. Once you do the creature changes its behaviour to be more defensive clutching its lurid blue intestines to its stomach as its lumbers towards you"

"One Reaper creature draws life force from anything that dies near it.
The time-honoured strategy of taking out the easy enemies first ends up
being counter-productive: you make the creature stronger than it would
have been with its allies alive."

Casey Hudson summarizing ME3 (This is an article quote):
"Casey sums up Mass Effect 3 as being about victory through sacrifice, the scale of that sacrifice has been increasing with each new chapter" [Rest is authors speculation about saving(or not saving) Wrex and Rachni consequences]

Originally Posted by Nirolak:
Here are a few more quotes from the article about combat.

"To deal with the last few elites, Shepard [using the freezing concussion shot] freezes them solid to hold them still, then lines up sniper shots exactly through the eye-slits in their shields."

"Put a shield in front of an enemy, and suddenly the ability of the engineer class to place a combat drone behind someone and blow it up gains a new significance. Namely, knocking a guy on his face and shooting him in the head."

"Shepard commando-rolls out of the elite's way - a new move, by the way - and sneaks behind a partition running alongside the main corridor. Liara springs out of cover and pins the elite with a biotic singularity, while Garrus snipes him from cover. Neither kills the elite, but now Shepard is behind him. Rather than fire, he lashes out with his omni-tool, which emits a blade of flame that cuts through the elite's exposed back. He drops."

Originally Posted by Nirolak:
This preview mentions that 70% of people weren't faithful to their ME1 romance, and that this will come back to bite them.

[close]

[patrickula]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This preview mentions that 70% of people weren't faithful to their ME1 romance, and that this will come back to bite them.

Noooooooo... this had better just be hilarious and not total romance failure sadness :'( My Shepard also re-banged Liara in shadow broker, but she's pretty spooky now, and Tali was so eager 

[close]

[fistfulofmetal]

tali is going to be my wife in me3

[Herr Mafflard]

ROMANCE FEGGITS

[rodi]

More alien girl on girl action, or...

[Robo]

i would never dream of cheating on my waifu

[Joe Molotov]

More alien girl on girl action.

Fixed. There is no "or".

[Stoney Mason]

Apparently there was some more new info in OXM.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

OXM Info...


Quote:
- you can jump and roll, and blindfire has been introduced.

- As well as gaining civilisation's alliegance, you can lose them to the Reapers if you don't play right, similarly to losing squadmates in the suicide mission.

- Your weapons have three upgrade slots -scope barrel and grip, and you can change the colour and camoflage of weapons.

- Cerberus and husks will be main enemies, and cerberus is divided into three main types of troops - heavy bruisers, medium and light.

- You may be able to get an eyepiece, like Garrus's, that will allow non-sniper weapons to scope in further, which also hints at armour having more of an effect on gameplay.

- Bioware are going to announce something big at E3 - a lot of the gameplay features and more squadmates.

[close]

[Stoney Mason]

More ME 3 spoiler details from another magazine.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shepard vs Cerberus

According to Xbox World Magazine, the game will contain fewer squad mates this time around as the developers though that 12 was just too many.

“Twelve was a big number in Mass Effect 2 – almost too big”, said Casey Hudson. “We’re focused on a smaller squad with deeper relationships and more interesting interplay in Mass Effect 3. We’re not going to have twelve again but we are going to do more with the characters on your squad including Liara, and Kaidan or Ashley. And we’re bringing everyone back – every main character is in Mass Effect 3 somewhere.”

Characters in the game have had their appearance updated by the same team which created the original characters. Each player will mature a bit especially in the armor department and Garrus’ armor was used as one such example. Shepard has changed quite a a bit as well, especially compared to how his armor appeared in Mass Effect 1. Cerberus heavy troopers will be sporting massive armour, while Assassins will use the same Biotics as Shepard.

Things have changed with Cerberus as well, and it was noted that no matter how you finished Mass Effect 2, Cerberus are now your enemy. Shepard is unsure why at the beginning why Cerberus is sending commandos after him, but he will discover the reason later in the game when the Illusive Man returns.

“You were begrudgingly working for Cerberus in ME2,” said Hudson, “but they’ve gone a bit further and Shepard has returned to the Alliance so Cerberus troops are a major threat.”

“Cerberus Troopers can do everything that Shepard can do now,” added designer Corey Gaspur. “So your fighting a force that’s a lot more punishing.”

“We wanted to make it so that when the player’s fighting in the moment they feel like they have more options than aiming shooting and using powers,” added lead gameplay designer Christina Norman. “We really want to make mobility a factor that plays into combat. You’ll always ask yourself: “Am I in the right position on the battlefield? Where are my enemies? How am I going to get from point A to point B?’

“Players should never be walking into these safe places with great cover and stay there for the whole fight. It’s about how you’re going to move through the battlefield as the enemies through the battefield move through the battlefield and how they’re reacting to one another and to you.”

Location, location, location

While previous article on locations in the game have been talked about already, BioWare confirmed in Xbox World that the Turian homeworld of Palaven and the Quarian homeworld of Rannoch will be new destinations early on in Mass Effect 3.

Players will also be making a return to Tuchanka, and even go on mining missions on a Martian crater, but it will be the cities of Earth which will really standout as the game’s “showpiece locations.”

“The Seatle/Vancouver megacity on the west coast of North America is a truly gigantic space which Shepard will visit before and after the Reapers take it apart,” said level artist Don Arceta. “If you Google Map Vancouver, the layout is pretty much the exact same as our map. Geographically, it’s very true to the real world.

“You play a game like Gears or War and they just have sandbags everywhere, and we really don’t want to do that. We really want to get away from arbitrary things placed just for the people working there, and we’re just trying to really make sense of these spaces. We try to design the arhitecture first before we blow it up, like, really thinking about how did they actually design this building, and does it function well.”

Levels in the game are large, and need to be because players will be participating in a boss fight against a six hundred foot Reaper. The spaces also need to be large so that Shepard can pilot his fifty foot Cerberus Atlas mech later on in the game.

“I think Lair of the Shadow Broker is a good look at how we design levels now,” said Hudson. “It’s all about sudden shifts in the action. There’s a section on Earth where you’re running a narrow walkway and there’s a war going on all around you and a ship is in the distance. Suddenly its nuclear core blows up and its suchs a shockwave that it knocks you off the walkway and you end up sliding down the glass face of a knocked over high-rise and then you kind of roll and catch yourself and all that happens in a moment of gameplay.

“You have control thoughout and that’s when you’ll realise annything could happen at any time.”

According to the development team, the utter scale of Mass Effect 3, including every fight and every enemy, is bigger than anything ever rendered in the Mass Effect universe or by “the Unreal Engine before.”

For the fans

Players new to the Mass Effect universe and just starting out with ME3 can expect to be caught up rather quickly at the beginning of the game.

According to Hudson, the team will implement something similar to what PS3 users received with ME2, but it may not be the same “comic style,” of prequel.

“We’ll do something in the same style to recap the story”, said Hudson. “It’s essentially a really fancy save game generator. The challenge is to make the game better than ever before, to make it a great entry point for new players, and to make it the ending fans deserve. It’s about making sure it starts the way a great story should start versus just being a continuation.

“And thats tough because there is no canon except for what the player has chosen. In the end, its their game.”

[close]

[Beezy]

God, I want this game now.

[Great Rumbler]

Sounds like they're putting even more effort into the combat than in ME2. The only thing I have any concern about is whether or not the game becomes more linear, they haven't really talked about exploration and sidequests yet [although I guess they figure that combat is the aspect that people are more interested in at this point].

[The Sceneman]

God, I want this game now.

me too!

Can't wait for more Mass Effect. It's become one of my favourite franchises

[Himu]

God, I want this game now.

.

[Stoney Mason]

More alien girl on girl action, or...

Man on man action

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1168458p1.html

[Bildi]

I've had ME2 sitting on the shelf for months, finally have time to play it - god it's awesome.  I thought I'd try Insanity and although I die a bit, it's about right.  But am I going to hit any really major walls of difficulty? 

In ME1 there were a couple of parts I found really hard even on normal or hard difficulty (like fighting that brainwashed Asari).

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Garrus   He was probably my favourite character in ME1 besides Asari chick.  And Ashley remains dead, as it should be.

[close]

[MyNameIsMethodis]

some of the DLC will be stupid hard like the firewalker ones and the beggining of shadow broker

[Bildi]

Thanks dude.  I'll try some of the DLC early on to see what it's like.  I just didn't want to bother going for the insanity achievement if I'm going to hit a ridiculously difficult and not-fun wall somewhere in the main game.

[Bildi]

Are all four DLCs worth getting?  I've been reading the thread and they all sound plenty good enough to buy at 50% off (if that happens on XBL).

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Shadow Broker, Overlord and Kasumi are the best. Arrival is garbage.

[Bildi]

I mainly wasn't sure about Arrival, I might just look on youtube what happened in it once I've finished the game.  Thanks.

[Joe Molotov]

Arrival should have been a free update.