(no subject)
Played more Mass Effect 2. I'm going to jot down some thoughts on it below.
First, a couple of simple, game-mechanic type things. The new combat system, while it took a bit of getting used to, I'm actually rather enjoying. Probably in part because the mapping of powers to the controller is a lot easier and it makes it easier to throw a million biotic attacks at an enemy without having to keep pausing combat. The feel of combat is way different from the first game, and it's definitely more of a FPS feel. However, I'm in love with how certain types of attacks might temporarily deafen Shepard, and how the heartbeat/dulled sound occurs when she's close to death.
Also, the squad AI is much better. No more having to yell at characters for shooting things that aren't the enemy! Like trees! And walls! And the Mako!...which is good, not only because it makes them far more helpful in a fight, but also because it means I don't have to stick them into the Dumbass armor for stupidity, and since there's no Dumbass armor in this game...
The dialogue system is lovely, as always. And everyone is way more expressive this time around, which makes me incredibly happy. The digital acting is fantastic.
Now, to more spoilery, plot/character items.
Horizon - The Collectors are creepy. Very creepy. But their battle cries are a tad repetitive when you've been in combat for twenty-ish minutes (it was probably less time than that, but still), and some of them sort of sounded like they kind of wanted to get into Shepard's pants. At least, that's what I kept thinking.
The giant husk thing that floated around was a bitch to take out. Mostly because it shot LASERS from its eyes...a fact which I laughed about for a couple minutes, before having to make Shepard run for her life and hide behind crates for awhile.
Also, running into Ashley Williams after the attack was...well, it was very nice to see that she was still alive, but the encounter was like a punch to the gut. Which meant that it was very well done, but still. At least Garrus was there to back Shepard up.
...I can only imagine that the scene is about a billion times worse when Ash/Kaidan was the character Shepard romanced in the first game.
On another note: GARRUS.
He was my favorite character in the first game, and I'm so happy he's back for this one. It would have been very odd running around the universe without him to watch my Shepard's back. My second play through of ME I didn't use him at all so I could get the quarian and krogan ally achievements. And I missed his comments so much that he's never left the squad in all the rest of my playthroughs.
He's definitely grown up a lot since the first game. And he's a lotmore badass. Although, I couldn't help but laugh when I found out he'd managed to piss off all the major gangs on Omega.
...and then he got pretty much exploded, and now I just want to hug him every time he shows up on screen, because his face is all scarred and messed up, and he's still in the armor that's all charred and beat up.
Will do his mission as soon as I can.
Speaking of the character specific missions, I just finished Jacob's. And I have to say that, 1) I really, really like Jacob, and 2) I really enjoyed his mission, even if it made my stomach squirm and made me want to hug him afterward.
It's really great that, so far, the game is well written enough and the digital/voice acting is good enough to make me feel for the characters. And I still have four more characters to pick up and ten more character missions.
As a final note, Jennifer Hale's voice acting for Shepard is even better than in the first one, and there really is a definite difference in how the character acts on duty and off duty. I really noticed it when she met up with Garrus again and she dropped her guard for the first time in the game (well, third. The first two were with Tali and Joker, but it was far more evident with Garrus. At least, it was to me).
...and Joker's snark with the ship's virtual intelligence cracks me up every time.
First, a couple of simple, game-mechanic type things. The new combat system, while it took a bit of getting used to, I'm actually rather enjoying. Probably in part because the mapping of powers to the controller is a lot easier and it makes it easier to throw a million biotic attacks at an enemy without having to keep pausing combat. The feel of combat is way different from the first game, and it's definitely more of a FPS feel. However, I'm in love with how certain types of attacks might temporarily deafen Shepard, and how the heartbeat/dulled sound occurs when she's close to death.
Also, the squad AI is much better. No more having to yell at characters for shooting things that aren't the enemy! Like trees! And walls! And the Mako!...which is good, not only because it makes them far more helpful in a fight, but also because it means I don't have to stick them into the Dumbass armor for stupidity, and since there's no Dumbass armor in this game...
The dialogue system is lovely, as always. And everyone is way more expressive this time around, which makes me incredibly happy. The digital acting is fantastic.
Now, to more spoilery, plot/character items.
Horizon - The Collectors are creepy. Very creepy. But their battle cries are a tad repetitive when you've been in combat for twenty-ish minutes (it was probably less time than that, but still), and some of them sort of sounded like they kind of wanted to get into Shepard's pants. At least, that's what I kept thinking.
The giant husk thing that floated around was a bitch to take out. Mostly because it shot LASERS from its eyes...a fact which I laughed about for a couple minutes, before having to make Shepard run for her life and hide behind crates for awhile.
Also, running into Ashley Williams after the attack was...well, it was very nice to see that she was still alive, but the encounter was like a punch to the gut. Which meant that it was very well done, but still. At least Garrus was there to back Shepard up.
...I can only imagine that the scene is about a billion times worse when Ash/Kaidan was the character Shepard romanced in the first game.
On another note: GARRUS.
He was my favorite character in the first game, and I'm so happy he's back for this one. It would have been very odd running around the universe without him to watch my Shepard's back. My second play through of ME I didn't use him at all so I could get the quarian and krogan ally achievements. And I missed his comments so much that he's never left the squad in all the rest of my playthroughs.
He's definitely grown up a lot since the first game. And he's a lotmore badass. Although, I couldn't help but laugh when I found out he'd managed to piss off all the major gangs on Omega.
...and then he got pretty much exploded, and now I just want to hug him every time he shows up on screen, because his face is all scarred and messed up, and he's still in the armor that's all charred and beat up.
Will do his mission as soon as I can.
Speaking of the character specific missions, I just finished Jacob's. And I have to say that, 1) I really, really like Jacob, and 2) I really enjoyed his mission, even if it made my stomach squirm and made me want to hug him afterward.
It's really great that, so far, the game is well written enough and the digital/voice acting is good enough to make me feel for the characters. And I still have four more characters to pick up and ten more character missions.
As a final note, Jennifer Hale's voice acting for Shepard is even better than in the first one, and there really is a definite difference in how the character acts on duty and off duty. I really noticed it when she met up with Garrus again and she dropped her guard for the first time in the game (well, third. The first two were with Tali and Joker, but it was far more evident with Garrus. At least, it was to me).
...and Joker's snark with the ship's virtual intelligence cracks me up every time.