Told you I was behind...

[Demo24]

I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to play it again here real soon so that I can get through ME2 with the story how I want it. It's kinda nice to have multiple variations of the story and they all alter how ME2 plays out as well.

Dunno why anyone complains about the sniper. Pop and headshot and boom, target down. Otherwise its usually 2 hits like in most every other game. Although some enemies are stronger and require far more to knock them down.

 

[fatpat268]

10! (With some caveats...)

If it's your first time playing the game, it probably won't hook you right away. The beginning of ME1 is rather slow and you then get dumped into the Citadel which is a large city-like structure that is hard to navigate at first. After you get past this hurdle, the game really opens up and has a stellar story.

Also, ME1 has some quirky shooting mechanics. It's definitely more of an RPG than a shooter (ME2 is the opposite...more a shooter than an RPG), and your stats are going to play a huge role in the damage you do. And that's fine, but it's a little clunky at times, and your AI partners aren't always the smartest.

Those are the two main caveats of Mass Effect. ME1 really has an excellent story and a great background if you decide to read all the codex entries (I highly recommend this). Its universe is still fresh and being fleshed out, and there's surely more games, books, and possibly movies coming for ME. So I highly recommend starting at ME1.

 

[ModeEngage]

Mass Effect one is a good game. Not amazing, but certainly very good on the first playthrough. Mass Effect two, however, when used with an imported character from ME1, is one of gaming's best experiences.

IMHO.

If you play ME2 on a PC, you can import your old ME1 PC save.

You can't, however, import an XBox save on a PC or vice-versa.

 

[Mike Gayner]

I've talked about this before.

Bioware games rarely have good plots, and Mass Effect has one of the worse plots Bioware has come up with.

ME's plot has nothing innovative, refreshing, or intriguing. It is run-of-the-mill science fiction. I knew all the "plot twists" from a mile away. Game's like Mass Effect is why video games get such a bad reputation for having shitty stories.

Nor did they take the time to properly develop the world of Mass Effect, as well as they alien races. There was no real though put into the designs of the creatures, or the history, or the lore.

The best part of ME, and all bioware games, is allowing the character interaction so that the player can take an active role in the development of his own character and other characters - something a book could never do effectively.

wut?

 

[Rifter]

I loved it, and the second is so much better. Played the first one at least 5 times all the way through.

8/10

with ME 2 rated 9.5/10 IMO

 

[Bateluer]

It was strange going from no ammo to "ammo" clips in the 2nd game though, bad decision to revert that choice. Also they really gimped biotic users in the 2nd game in terms of power variety. In the first you actually felt pretty powerful to have all these abilities at your disposal as a biotic user, and then in the 2nd game you find every single character has some form of biotic-like ability.

All the classes had their abilities 'simplified' in ME2, which was much more of a FPS than ME1. I much preferred the more innovative overheat system of ME1, as well as the expanded abilities. Also, the character interactions in both games were both pretty light, though well done. I hope this gets beefed up in ME3, before EA drags Bioware completely into the sewer.

 

[Dumac]

wut?

wat

 

[Soccerman06]

wat

What do you constitute as a good story game? Lego MMO?

 

[Zenoth]

I've talked about this before.

Bioware games rarely have good plots, and Mass Effect has one of the worse plots Bioware has come up with.

ME's plot has nothing innovative, refreshing, or intriguing. It is run-of-the-mill science fiction. I knew all the "plot twists" from a mile away. Game's like Mass Effect is why video games get such a bad reputation for having shitty stories.

Nor did they take the time to properly develop the world of Mass Effect, as well as they alien races. There was no real though put into the designs of the creatures, or the history, or the lore.

The best part of ME, and all bioware games, is allowing the character interaction so that the player can take an active role in the development of his own character and other characters - something a book could never do effectively.

I disagree.

But, yeah, to each their own.

I thought ME1's story was one of the best one I've had the pleasure to experience in years from a video game. I thought it was innovative (for a video game), refreshing and intriguing, and there's a good number of plot twists I never saw coming, especially the very last one regarding the Conduit.

Additionally, ME2 is an excellent game, and the story is also good, although not as good as the original (especially in the way it unfolds), but with the latest DLCs (Kasumi, Overlord, Shadow Broker) its story has been improved, there's more connections and better continuity on some subjects that had to be covered before the final installment plays its role and ends Shepard's story-arc.

 

[Udgnim]

I liked ME1 more than ME2. ME1 had plenty of gameplay flaws that Bioware tried to fix / streamline in ME2, but I had a more enjoyable experience on my first play through with ME1.

both are good games and well worth the money. I also agree with Dumac. people overrate the story in ME1 & 2. the best thing Bioware really does is develop the characters and character relationships.

 

[dpodblood]

I liked ME1 more than ME2. ME1 had plenty of gameplay flaws that Bioware tried to fix / streamline in ME2, but I had a more enjoyable experience on my first play through with ME1.

both are good games and well worth the money. I also agree with Dumac. people overrate the story in ME1 & 2. the best thing Bioware really does is develop the characters and character relationships.

Isn't character development a rather important part of story telling? I would say even more so that the plotline itself.

 

[NoSoup4You]

For me it's the cinematic storytelling, the way characters interact during dialogue scenes totally blew me away the first time I played it. It's extremely well done and I haven't seen another non-Bioware game come close to matching it even so many years later. The story did feel extremely generic at first to me though, almost embarrassingly so. But it pulled through and I enjoyed the heck out of it and by the time I got to the planet Ilos I was all-in on the story.

The gameplay is extremely fun even if the cover mechanic is a little dodgy at times. And yet the quirks make it all the more fun. And Sniper Rifles are awesome, but you can't use them for every engagement. The other three weapons you can, the Shotgun in particular has insane range.

Yet it's the Biotic powers that really seperates the game for me, I can't play it anymore unless I'm one of the three Biotic classes, with Vanguard (plus Singularity) being my favorite. Biotics might be nothing more than derivitive "Force Powers" but whatever... they're a blast to play with and I doubt I could have replayed the game multiple times if all you had were the Soldier talents. Biotics = fun.

Overall, the game is banana awesome.

 

[Dumac]

What do you constitute as a good story game? Lego MMO?

Don't get all in a fit because I don't like the same things you like

I liked the presentation of Shadow of the Colossus.

The plot of System Shock 2/Bioshock was interesting, and the atmosphere of both was great.

I thought the Witcher had a great plot that varied wonderfully depending on how you handled situations, with astounding moral choices that blew those of other WRPGs out of the water.

There are a lot of Japanese games with excellent stories that tackle some really mature issues for the video game media, but usually they lack in the gameplay department.

Bioware has the best character development/interaction I've seen in video games, and I agree that it is an important part of storytelling. That is why is split the generic "story" into plot/character development. I've bought and will buy pretty much every Bioware game made. It is the plot I criticize, as well as the universes they create. They simply lack depth and creativity compared to other virtual worlds.

 

[Dumac]

Additionally, ME2 is an excellent game, and the story is also good, although not as good as the original (especially in the way it unfolds), but with the latest DLCs (Kasumi, Overlord, Shadow Broker) its story has been improved, there's more connections and better continuity on some subjects that had to be covered before the final installment plays its role and ends Shepard's story-arc.

See, when I played ME2 at launch, I thought the story felt incomplete for those reasons. Especially since ME hinges on characters, I was wondering why the sideplots of the characters felt so incomplete.

Then, when they released the DLC, I found out why. It kind of upsets me, because on one hand I want to experience it, but on the other my hatred for all DLC and the fact that they shipped the game without these integral parts kind of killed it for me.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Me1 - 8
me2 - 7

 

[zinfamous]

Don't get all in a fit because I don't like the same things you like

I liked the presentation of Shadow of the Colossus.

The plot of System Shock 2/Bioshock was interesting, and the atmosphere of both was great.

I thought the Witcher had a great plot that varied wonderfully depending on how you handled situations, with astounding moral choices that blew those of other WRPGs out of the water.

There are a lot of Japanese games with excellent stories that tackle some really mature issues for the video game media, but usually they lack in the gameplay department.

Bioware has the best character development/interaction I've seen in video games, and I agree that it is an important part of storytelling. That is why is split the generic "story" into plot/character development. I've bought and will buy pretty much every Bioware game made. It is the plot I criticize, as well as the universes they create. They simply lack depth and creativity compared to other virtual worlds.

I don't know. for me, the words "Japan" and "maturity" never seem to coincide.

:\

I'm referring to the majority of things coming out of that culture, entertainment-related, in the past 30 years or so.

 

[Terzo]

So far I'm not that impressed. Granted, I haven't progressed that far (have only really completed one mission, rescuing that alien daughter biotic) so hopefully I'll find myself more vested in it given more time.
One thing that really bothering me is the inability to skip some cut-scenes. I find it incredibly frustrating to be killed and then sit through a minute long cut-scene again. I find this completely inexcusable.

 

[zinfamous]

One thing that really bothering me is the inability to skip some cut-scenes. I find it incredibly frustrating to be killed and then sit through a minute long cut-scene again. I find this completely inexcusable.

I know I was able to do that...

:hmm:

have you tried esc?
space? left click?

 

[Terzo]

I know I was able to do that...

:hmm:

have you tried esc?
space? left click?

It was on Therum (I think) after getting out of the buggy to go through a little path that blocked off the buggy. I dealt with some snipers and ground troops, then got to a "ruins" area where a cut scene occurred (some thing climbing on the roof, then some bad guys fall from the sky). Nothing allowed me to skip that; I tried escape, space, left and right click, and just mashing the keyboard. No dice. It didn't help that there were those laser things that seemed to be one hit kills.