38 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

Thank you for the pointers! Weird, why would I work for Cerberus, if I'm the good guy? Okay, okay, I guess the answer would contain too much spoilers for me, I'll have to find out myself. But three romances! Plus one more from the ME1! Pluse a quasi-romance! That's so cool, why would they only give us two romances in DA:O? Five is much better! Imagine: romancing Orsino, Jowan, Cullen, Teagan, Loghain... (Sigh).

You find out the spoiler about a minute into the game, but I'll put it in spoilers anyhow:

Spoiler

Shepard dies before the title screen, and Cerberus resurrects him/her. Cerberus is also willing to do something about some ugly things going on in the dark places of the galaxy while the Alliance (human government) and Citadel (UN in space) refuse to act.

Hope you don't have a problem with romancing aliens, though - in particular, Garrus is a humanoid velociraptor with a metallic exoskeleton that protects him from radiation. He's also alien Batman with a sniper rifle.

(I don't like Battlestar:Galactica much, so I guess... Picard? Don't like Star Trek: Next Generation much, either, come to think of it, but Picard is okay. But Londo Mollari rules all).

I meant those as code for how cynical or idealistic you are. Paragon Shepard plays it like Star Trek TNG, where the galaxy is a fundamentally good place. Yes, there are bad things and bad people in it, but pure Paragon Shep not only genuinely believes the galaxy can be made a better place, he/she makes some very real progress in making it so. Renegade Shep lives in a more cynical, BSG-style universe where life tends to suck, people tend to suck, and idealism is just naive nonsense. He/she doesn't waste time with diplomacy and believes that might ultimately makes right - and has a strong racist edge to boot.

[the bigg]

Thank you for the pointers! Weird, why would I work for Cerberus, if I'm the good guy? Okay, okay, I guess the answer would contain too much spoilers for me, I'll have to find out myself. But three romances! Plus one more from the ME1! Pluse a quasi-romance! That's so cool, why would they only give us two romances in DA:O? Five is much better! Imagine: romancing Orsino, Jowan, Cullen, Teagan, Loghain... (Sigh).

DA:O had four romances. Unless you're talking about the options available to heterosexual women, which means that you get neither Kelly nor Liara (OK, Liara's species is asexual, but they still look like blue women).

Tempest forgot to mention that Garrus has reach while you have flexibility, is in the middle of some calibrations, and likes to savor the last shot before popping the clip heat sink.

You work for Cerberus because (spoilers for the initial hour of ME2):

Spoiler

in the intro cutscene to ME2, you got spaced and died after an attack on the original Normandy; Cerberus rescued your corpse and spent billions of credits to resurrect you and give you an even better Normandy to chase the Galactic Threat (basically wiping away all consequences of your death except for some throwaway dialogues). Aside from gratitude, you are forced to work with them because the Council and the Alliance handle the Galactic Threat this way. All the really bad thing being done by Cerberus in ME1 and ME2 are explained as runaway splinter groups.

The meat of the game is better than this.

(I don't like Battlestar:Galactica much, so I guess... Picard? Don't like Star Trek: Next Generation much, either, come to think of it, but Picard is okay. But Londo Mollari rules all).

Generally speaking, Paragon = be sympathetic, try to save lives, and aid the galactic whole. Renegade = be an unempathetic, get the job done by any means necessary, and aid humanity over the other races.

EDIT: ninja'd.

Edited by the bigg, 06 April 2011 - 06:23 AM.

[Darziak]

Here's a suggestion for those who already have ME2.

Simply give the code to a friend or family.

[the bigg]

Isn't it tied to your EA/Bioware account?

[Darziak]

Isn't it tied to your EA/Bioware account?

Well you use your DA2 game code to get the ME2 code which I presume you can use on any EA account.

[Archmage Silver]

(I don't like Battlestar:Galactica much, so I guess... Picard? Don't like Star Trek: Next Generation much, either, come to think of it, but Picard is okay. But Londo Mollari rules all).

+1

[Luridel]

I wish I'd gotten ME2 for free this way. I paid full price not long after its release. Now it's like they're giving me the game again and I'm sure what to do with the code.

[Kulyok]

Yay, finally downloaded it and installed it via that EA Downloader stuff. (It installed with Russian subtitles as default, but thankfully editing the ini file helped and I got my English subtitles). However, I just found out that my DLCs were incomplete, so I went to get the missing ones. Then I decided "what the hell, why don't I get ME1 with its two DLC, as well?" So, um, I guess I'm probably installing ME1 tonight.

[the bigg]

If you're acquiring ME1 legally, 'Bring Down the Sky' is free for PC users as long as you register your key on ME1's site, whereas the other DLC (Pinnacle Station) isn't worth a flying shit (everybody agreed it sucks, and its outcome isn't even transferred to ME2). As for ME2, legally acquiring all DLC costs 60$ - if you wish to go for the legal route, you're better off gifting your copy and waiting for the Ultimate Edition.

[Kulyok]

With ME1, it's extremely easy here: Gold Edition already has the Sky DLC, and the other DLC isn't available in Russian(=meaning in Russia) anyway. With ME2, it's more complicated, as I balk at the thought of paying for hero's extra equipment. Okay, I'd pay for new quests, I'd pay for new NPCs, I've even paid for an extra shop with a Mabari thrown in, but paying actual money for virtual guns? In Sergey Lukyanenko's novel "False Mirrors", twelve years ago, it was a huge anecdote, a writer's mad fantasy; I still can't believe it's become reality.

(A fun fact: ME1 and ME2 aren't available on "fast" Russian torrents, though DLC packs are - the publisher apparently doesn't care).

I guess I'll install ME1 Gold first, as I have it already, and see what it offers. Again, a big thank you for the pointers, I didn't know Pinnacle Station sucked.

[the bigg]

Skipping on the paid equipment and outfit DLC could save you 10$, depending on how many Bioware Points you have; I wouldn't pay for the armors (they don't offer more than +5% over what you can achieve by using stuff available in the default game), but the weapons in Firepower Pack are somewhat innovative (for ex. a semi-auto assault rifle or a chargeable long range shotgun).

If you have points to spare in your Bioware Account, I suggest downloading Appearance Pack 2, since it dresses Miranda in armor rather than skin-tight catsuit (she's your second in command, ergo you'll see her a lot during cutscenes, and she's also one of the most powerful squad members, ergo you'll see her a lot in combat; covering her up reduces her Mary Sue factor, and annoyance level, by about 5%). Appearance Pack 1 dresses Jack up, but she's not as prevalent (and her 'loyal' outfit is passable enough).

[Tempest]

Word of warning, Kulyok: some of the ME/2 characters can be very hit or miss. Miranda in the second game, for example, is a deconstruction of a Mary Sue, while Ashley in the first game, well... to call the fanbase divided on her would be an understatement.

As for ME2 DLC: The Price of Revenge, Stealing Memory, and Lair of the Shadow Broker are all ones I would call must-haves. The rest tend to be nice but nothing great (Overlord, Arrival) or simply cosmetic.

[berelinde]

FWIW, you do get the Cerebrus Network for free with your game. And Blood Dragon Armor, if you had it in DA:O.

Edit: Unless you really, really love sci-fi, don't do it. It sucks. In the worst possible way. After seeing ME2 controls, I will never complain about DA2 sucky controls again. Talk about utter and complete console port! Navigation with a mouse is impossible. Instead, you're left rotating the camera with the mouse and using the W key to move around. Combined with some other arcane key combinations to fight, etc. If you've got a console, maybe it isn't that bad, but if you're a PC gamer, nothing could be worse. And talk about ugly! They were talking about ME2 face codes, but don't bother. They're all hideous. I thought character creation in DA2 was bad! Clearly, I did not know the meaning of the word. Yuck.

Edited by berelinde, 22 April 2011 - 09:37 PM.

[the bigg]

I can't comment on you liking the faces (do note that male faces will always look like a generic marine and that you will be able to heal your scars during the game), but you're completely wrong about the controls - ME2's control schema is pretty standard for a FPS (even if it might look alien to RPG gamers). Sure, there's consolitis in there (tons of DLC, some of the console reminders aren't consistent with the actual controls), but it's pretty tolerable for this day and age (except for the fact that they had to enforce an order for recruiting characters because the game was too large to fit a single disc on the X360).

Edited by the bigg, 22 April 2011 - 11:49 PM.

[Kulyok]

I started with ME1 for now. Movement is horrible(you can't point and click with the mouse, you have to use these WASD controls, and I can't get used to them - hopefully ME2 will have something more DAO-ish), but my problem is my Jane's face and her voice in ME1. When did I turn into Jaheira with a rock-cliff face? The horror!

Edited by Kulyok, 23 April 2011 - 10:17 AM.

[Gomb]

The ME series is meant to be a shooter/rpg hybrid, so the controls stay the same in the sequel. That said, it is understandable that people who do not play shooters would find the controls to be "bad" compared to rpgs at first glance, (I had similar reactions, as I also play more rpgs than anything else) but after you get familiar with the game you'll realise the controls are actually quite simple and user-friendly.

Edited by Gomb, 23 April 2011 - 01:04 PM.

[Tempest]

Yeah, ME uses a standard shooter control scheme (with some exceptions - in true shooters the number keys are used to select different weapons), and it works pretty well once you get used to it.

As for FemShep, well... especially in ME2, her voice acting is significantly metter than MShep's.

[Galsic]

Though I don't regret buying ME2 when I did, I'm certainly a little jealous of those who are get'n it for free. It's a fun game.

And, unless you're completely intent on hating the whole shooter and/or the sci-fi aspects of the series, I'm with the others in saying you shouldn't let the control style discourage you (or simply dismiss it). I, too, was mostly used to the BG/DA way of doing things before playing ME, but after a couple of days, ME's controls grew on me.

[Bardess]

Meh, they should sell ME2 and give DA2 for free.