[Vemsie]

Just got to Illium. Great stuff, love Thane's recruitment mission and the character itself. Some beautiful vistas, cool random conversations and nice little side-quests as well.

And Donnely is fantastic, I hope they keep him for ME3.

[Ford]

I'm on Illium too, Thane has also struck me as something a bit special. I've been playing this since Saturday and am really caught up in it. The missions have been superb, its choc full of well written, well voice acted characters and stunning and engaging destinations. As an aside i'm proper Loving the Bladerunner vibe running through the game, i keep looking through dusty windows at the impossibly tall skyscrapers and flying cars streaming by. Great atmosphere, great game.

[Frosty]

Over 25 hours in and I've just discovered the Captain's Cabin has a flushable toilet.

Truly this is the game that keeps on giving.

[Mr. Do!]

Frosty, on Feb 5 2010, 01:23 AM, said:

Over 25 hours in and I've just discovered the Captain's Cabin has a flushable toilet.

Truly this is the game that keeps on giving.

I didn't find that either, until a good few hours into the game :)

[Exidor]

Frosty, on Feb 5 2010, 01:23 AM, said:

Over 25 hours in and I've just discovered the Captain's Cabin has a flushable toilet.

After about 100 hours in the Mass Effect universe, I just realised the geth look like metal quarians. :)

[Chadruharazzeb]

Did Thane's recruitment mission last night which, as has already been said, is awesome. Also did the

Spoiler

Collector's ship after it (it forced me to). Had to deal with the first assault pretty much alone as my squad constantly died... took Mordin and Grunt with me.

I do sometimes find the combat annoying though, how Shepard frequently decides for himself to just stand in the open and get blasted.

As for the romance, well now I'm successfully managed to get Kelly to

Spoiler

come up for a meal but instead of showing me - or letting me play through - the date it just skipped to the next day back on the bridge with her saying "Gosh that was nice". Was it? You'll have to tell me about it. Then she offered to feed my fish which I didn't even know I'd got.

Romance question:

Spoiler

trying to get off with Miranda now but she's told me I need to drop someone else first. As I'd been leading Jack on I thought it was her but there's no new dialogue options. Went to Kelly, same there. Made the journey to Illium in case it happened to be Liara but no. Not her either. Buh? Is there someone else I'm romantically involved with that I don't know about?

[lilman]

Just have to say the quality of ME2 is unquestionable, even moreso off the back of the original, which i've just finished. I really REALLY enjoyed another play through ME1, but going straight into the sequel you can see the leap in quality, its massive. The main things for me are the combat being so much more refined and the quality of the audio. I've been wandering around Omega for the last hour on my female Shep and some of the dialogue, music and effetcs are superb, helps playing through headphones I guess.

Part of me misses the upgrading from ME1, I think a balance of the old and new would have been perfect. I really liked putting different upgrades into my armour and a few tweaks for my weapons, but it was completely overdone and inventory management was so so poor. That being said, ME2's streamlined method is great, and leaves you to concentrate on the action which is leagues ahead of the originals.

So... what are we expecting to see with the new Hammerhead DLC exactly?

[themomentbefore]

Uzi, on Feb 4 2010, 05:51 PM, said:

She looks like posh spice

:) I am going to have to start again now.

[lilman]

Chadruharazzeb, on Feb 5 2010, 08:36 AM, said:

Romance question:

Spoiler

trying to get off with Miranda now but she's told me I need to drop someone else first. As I'd been leading Jack on I thought it was her but there's no new dialogue options. Went to Kelly, same there. Made the journey to Illium in case it happened to be Liara but no. Not her either. Buh? Is there someone else I'm romantically involved with that I don't know about?

Probably the same as most other people,

Spoiler

trying to play big brother/sister to Tali and accidentally getting romantically involved.

[Uzi]

Mr. Do!, on Feb 4 2010, 11:42 PM, said:

Just found one:

Spoiler

in the Zelene system

:OMG:

Plus:

Spoiler

Lusarn system

Thank you :)

[Chadruharazzeb]

lilman, on Feb 5 2010, 08:41 AM, said:

Probably the same as most other people,

Spoiler

trying to play big brother/sister to Tali and accidentally getting romantically involved.

I haven't met her yet! :)

[lilman]

Chadruharazzeb, on Feb 5 2010, 08:47 AM, said:

I haven't met her yet! :)

Well you have, you mean she's not in your crew?

There are several you can romance, in some cases unintentionally.

[themomentbefore]

Uzi, on Feb 4 2010, 08:35 PM, said:

Some of the helmets give nice bonuses :)

Just remembered I have the Blood Dragon Armour. I'll know she's underneath though :OMG:

[kloid]

Surely it's Kelly? I don't think you can jump from one to another in a single playthrough can you? Or are you talking about different Shepards?

[Mallet]

I would swear I read somewhere that romancing Kelly doesn't conflict as it's technically not classed as such, no achievement etc.

[lilman]

Joyrex-J9, on Feb 21 2009, 12:06 PM, said:

Fix the menus
Fix the inventory and party system
Fix the loading times (Fallout 3 shows how it can be done)
Add some proper content other than the main story line

And this might be half way decent

I think they nailed it :)

[Uzi]

themomentbefore, on Feb 5 2010, 09:04 AM, said:

Just remembered I have the Blood Dragon Armour. I'll know she's underneath though :)

Feel lucky, David has no armour to hide her under :OMG:

[Cosmic_Guru]

Completed the game last night and oh boy....................FUCK is the only word for it. No idea how I ended up in this sorry state of affairs (see spoiler below). The final big decision was really difficult but ultimately influenced by what had happened before.

Spoiler

.Ok, to set the scene I had got all the ship upgrades and all team members loyal except for Thane. I got the IFF and the only thing I did after that before the final session was the Legion loyalty mission - another tricky decision there all right.

I chose the first option - find an alternate route.
I sent Legion through the tunnels but he got hit at the final minute before the doors closed.
I chose Zaeed to lead the second team rather than either Miranda or Jack
I discovered that half the crew had already been liquidised and fed to the Reaver because I had been too slow in arriving (wtf?).
I sent Jacob back with the surviving crew - he was fine - seems everyone selected for this is
I lost my lover, Garrus, in the section where Miranda was providing biotic cover, just as we were getting towards the end - devastating this one.
I had left Zaeed to hold the gates and he died (not sure I saw how).
Thane stuck his head above cover in the same section to radio in and popped it, stupid boy.

Then the moment of reckoning. Part of me wanted to preserve the site and use the technology for the beneft of future mankind in our ongoing struggle but how could I knowing that the place was now a mausoleum and had incorporated the blood and tissue of my colleagues, friends and lover? Impossible to do so. The subsequent reaction of the Illusive man confirmed I was right to do so.

The final team of me, Tali and the Samara coped fine with the boss fight and did it reasonably quickly. We all survived.

So 4 coffins in the end (although Garrus seemed to just vapourise so I don't know what was in his).

A Paragon walkthrough in which I have left 4 comrades to die. And other than Thane, I have no reason why - I certainly don't understand the reference to wasting time. Maybe Zaeed wasn't leadership material but Mirands said something like "at least he knows what he is doing". And Garrus?????

Lots to ponder there but an awesome and gut wrenching section.

Its certainly nicely set up for the concluding chapter - could well be something like the Dragon Age Origins approach which was suggested earlier. Also, expect the Shadow Broker to show his hand at last.

So, what do do? Start a new game, that's what with my renegade male Shep - the vague John Locke a like from ME. Pleasantly surprised at the number of bonuses you get for this - 25% more exp and oodles of cash and minerals (bonus for being rich in the first game - wasn't everyone?). Chosen infiltrator on Veteran difficulty and so far looking good - put on cloak and snap out of cover for the instant snipe kill, or incinerate as a ranged attack.

More general reflections will follow.

[Chadruharazzeb]

lilman, on Feb 5 2010, 09:00 AM, said:

Well you have, you mean she's not in your crew?

There are several you can romance, in some cases unintentionally.

What, that brief, accidental meeting with her on a mission is stopping my Shepard from nailing Miranda? Seriously? Just.... :)

[lilman]

I think knowing the reasons why

Spoiler

certain squad members die in the end sequence potentially ruins the second play through, but making it random would also seem unfair.