MASS EFFECT 2: THE SPOILER THREAD

[Abraham Smashington]

Yeah, I haven't even started my second go through yet. I like to give it a few months before I jump back in. Really can't wait for the DLC.

[gravedigger]

Aww man, Mordin died and I don't know how. I didn't assign him to any tasks and had him loyal/upgraded. Bummer.

[Captain Russ]

Are you sure you bought all the tech upgrades for him?

Cuz that fucked me when I went all frugal with my last attempt.

I think unless you hear him sing and allow him to come out of the medlab's nebulous closet, he'll die like Jude Law.

[gravedigger]

Hmm, I don't know. I gave him his omni tool and whenever I asked about more things he said "no, I'm good".

Although looking at achievement guides, I totally forgot he was a badass who defended his clinic by himself so I should have sent him back with Chakwas and crew instead of Grunt. I think I'm going to reload a save and see if that works.

[Captain Russ]

HURM

I always made Grunt a part of that jerb and never had anyone get capped off.

But maybe he'll work just as well. The last couple of times I've had Mord in the primary squad, so it might just be a shitty confluence of events or Mord's just pissing in your wind.

This is making me want to investigate on my own...on the Insanity level.

[BillyG]

I didn't give Mordin shit, and he lived for me.

[Mike]

I'll put this in the spoiler thread despite this being my first time playing the game (as I pretty much spoiled it anyways by reading through the giant thread at the other site)...

So after saving all that dough in ME1, I only get the 100000 credit "Hey you were a pretty rich dude!" bonus upon starting ME2 and not my original credit balance. BOOOOOOURNS!!

I like how the game so far is remembering/tailoring itself around my decisions. Even right in the intro, Miranda talks about me saving the council and the interrogation in the shuttle on our way to the first human colony was cool. I also liked it that I could ask Martin Sheen about Wrex and Garrus and all that, it was awesome!

Hating combat so far though. I can't use med-packs on myself? Only unity on other players? Also, where the fuck did all of the skills go? I have 3 I can pick from to start, then there looks to be a maximum of 6 in total?? IN ME1, I found the combat to be more immersive because you weren't relegated to ducking behind things every single time and you have more fine-tuned control of your squad. I am only just past the first mission though, so I could be prematurely bitching about this. Also, I didn't like that Space became the E key and Left-Shift became Space (I re-mapped those right away). I do however LOVE the "Move here you dimwit!" Q and E shortcuts. Very intuitive!

[Abraham Smashington]

Just wait regarding the powers man. Once you get into it you'll be cruising along. They just streamlined the fuck outta this game which was a bit jarring at first, but by about 3 hours in I wouldn't want it any other way.

[Mike]

Just wait regarding the powers man. Once you get into it you'll be cruising along. They just streamlined the fuck outta this game which was a bit jarring at first, but by about 3 hours in I wouldn't want it any other way.

Eh, I liked the more complex interface though, made me feel like I had more control over stuff. But it's not like I'm just going to quit. Bioware could create a game where all you do is talk with characters and see cut-scenes and it would be worth playing through till the end.

[gravedigger]

http://kotaku.com/5511913/the-though...-mass-effect-2

Objectification outrage! Personally, I would have asked why they felt the need to pump up Strahovski's stats because she's pretty much perfect in the first place.

Anyway, this game is great. I really liked how they dumbed down the RPG stuff even more for me.

[Mike]

So because I have an unusually high tolerance to grinding, I have collected over 90000 units in the three easier-to-find elements and I am barely into the game. I have Garrus and Mordin and Jack, and that's it! For Element Zero, I am only at about 20k, but I am realizing that any time you are over a planet whose description says "weird radiation" or "bermuda-triangle-like", it'll have Element Zero. It's not just the life-giving worlds that have it, although they tend to be easier to mine for it.

So far, I have upgraded everything that was open to me thus far (ship weapons, armor, lots of the weapon and personal armor upgrades), but not the medical bay. Do you really need to upgrade this given that the description says you really do it to get rid of Shepard's ANGER SCARZ ?

Still missing the combat complexity. I HATE that I can't self-heal or boost my shields on my own. Sitting there waiting to recover is irritating when in the first game I could just take a few moments, boost the fuck out of myself, and charge back into the fight. It's nice having Garrus back though. The doctor is hilarious during combat as well...

"Flammable Inflammable, no difference!"

[Abraham Smashington]

The scar thing doesn't matter for the most part, but all of the other upgrades do for the endgame.

[Mike]

So I finished this yesterday. I did everyone's loyalty missions, thought I had picked the proper people to lead the side-missions/be specialists, and Mordin STILL died! He was teh only one I lost, despite having 100% loyalty...

Here is what I did:

1st Part of End:

2nd Team Leader - Miranda
Specialist - Legion
My Squad - Jack and Grunt

2nd Part of End

(I chose to have a read guard)

Team Leader To Get Crew Back to Ship - Jacob
Specialist Biotic - Jack
My Squad - Legion and Grunt

I assumed everyone else would be the rear guard. At the end, they show a few Collectors walk beside Mordin's body. I am not sure what I did wrong. Maybe I could have took Mordin as a squad member? Indeed, in the playthrough I watched, Mordin actually has dialogue that supports the idea of keeping the Collector base intact to give to Cerberus. Legion did not have that dialogue.

When the end was over, I liked how I could continue playing. Every single crew member I spoke to (I managed to save 100% - including Sugartits Kelly) had PTSD about being abducted and thanked me for rescuing them. It was a nice touch. Every single squad member? Second-guessed my decision to hand the station over to Cerberus. I am thinking this won't play out very well in ME3. Mordin's position in the Tech Lab was empty and that made me sad. I saved the game right before the final battle so that I could go back and replay if I didn't like the ending.

So does anyone know why the doctor bit it? The only thing I could think of is that I let the doctor kill his research partner during his loyalty quest (I missed the Paragon quick-time event where I could have prevented him shooting that dude).

I also didn't get to have Kelly come up and dance for me. We did have dinner, but that was all. I loved that you were basically able to string along all three female love interests. I ended up hooking up with Jack (I dig teh crazee laieeez), but I had both Miranda and Tali asking me to break it off with Jack before they would go further.

Overall? Pretty fun, but I wasn't a fan of combat at all. Especially once you unlocked the ability to gain Advanced Training. I took Barrier for Shepard (played him as a Soldier), and that immediately put the game to easy mode. Barrier brought back my beloved Shield Recharge ability from the first game, but it was Shield Recharge +++. Too powerful.

[V]

I chose to have a read guard

Why does that not surprise me?

[Mike]

NO NAVY JOKES PLZ KK THX :P