Mass Effect 2 - Review

I find myself in the same situation as JemyM, where I am actually thinking of various roleplaying situations at night and how they all play out. It's definetly a memorable experience.

I also agree with JemyM regarding grey choices - they are not very rewarding, compared to Paragon/Renegade, where you get special cutscenes and what not.

In any case, I've completed the Soldier game now, and started a Vanguard. I can give my impression of the Soldier class.

Soldier
Surprisingly, I find this class the most versatile of the ones I've tried. The ability to whip out any weapon and use it in combination with Adrenaline Rush (slows time, similar to Infiltrator scopes) makes it easy to stroll through most fights. Generally, I tend to start out using Sniper's Rifle (Widowmaker) to take out rocket troops and similar. I then proceed with an Assault Rifle (Geth Pulse Rifle) to decimate the troops closing in. For once, I actually enjoyed playing a "pure" shooter.

However, this freedom does come with a penalty - no powers. Why would that matter? Because some foes are very volnurable to such powers, like Husks. Basically, taking out an army of Husks as a Soldier is a nightmare, and I strongly recommend complimenting the Soldier with someone capable of using strong powers (for example Jack, who has Shockwave).

It's an interesting approach to be honest, more interesting than in ME1 because weapon types didn't matter as much there.

Overall I feel that fighting classes like the Soldier and Infiltrator have been buffed quite a lot out since ME1, and are now easily as strong as the biotic users, who are considerably weaker than they were in ME1.

Edit: Maybe I should add a little preview/impressions of all the classes. I'll get to it later on.

Ended the game as vanguard and i gotta say it was awesome.

Even though i'm perfectly aware the game has terrible limitations RPG-Wise (inventory system? Loot system?), but the whole experience is very rewarding (story+characters+action+sound+graphics) and all in all i went to bed a couple of times at 6AM still thinking of stuff that hapened in the game, wich is VERY rare in a computer game for me, it actualy FEELS you were experiencing the game 1st hand, and not just "playing stuff for fun".

Can't quite explain why but this game actualy "touches your mind".


Regarding classes, vanguard is a VERY complete class:

- Weapon-wise you can use machine guns/shotguns in the start that makes for some variety of situations
- Charge is a heck of fun even though later in the game is not so useable anymore
- Shockwave is a very fun AOE
- Pull is fun, very short cooldown also
- Incendiary ammo is usefull, cryo ammo is not dependable but fun to use

Later in the game when you get companions' extra powers you can choose an ability that makes your playstyle completely reckless fun (won't spoil here).


PLaying now 2nd time as a infiltrator and its like playing a diferent game. Vanguard and infiltrator and so oposite that makes me think "damn, bioware sure knew how to make this classes unique).

Atm i'm a little disapointed at the low duration of cloak but i'm sure it'll be much better once upgraded and i get used to its duration, no longer being caught with my pants down in the middle of the way lol.

KnightPT said:

Atm i'm a little disapointed at the low duration of cloak but i'm sure it'll be much better once upgraded and i get used to its duration, no longer being caught with my pants down in the middle of the way lol.

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I highly recommend focusing on "Operative" as your first power. It helps you immensely and makes Cloak much better due to the slowdown.

I also like the Vanguard class a lot. Possibly my favourite so far (in terms of pure fun). However, they have serious problems defeating people far away, or defeating things that are exceptionally heavy (i.e Scions). I am considering the Sniper's Rifle later on instead of upgrading to a Krogan shotgun, but we'll see. I'll probably save the game before the choice and then do some reloads after trying various styles.

Generally I'm not a huge fan of Sniper's Rifle without being able to slow time down (Infiltrator/Soldier), so I might also end up with an Assault Rifle (on Hardcore/Insane settings, you get access to Geth Pulse Rifle, which is a great weapon).

As Sentinel I barely used weapons myself. Well protected from my armor I blasted shields, armor, knocked stuff over and then let my allies kill em off. Later in the game I did grabbed sniper rifle as my specialization though, which I only really used against scions and bosses.

I like playing supportive roles. In ME1 I played Sentinel as well but also maxed out the leadership abilities first. In D&D style games I almost always play a cleric type character.

That said, the game is very easy.

JemyM said:

As Sentinel ...... Later in the game I did grabbed sniper rifle as my specialization though, which I only really used against scions and bosses.

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A Sentinel can specialize in sniper rifles in ME2?

So I guess there's no class limitations for weapons like the first game?

JDR13 said:

A Sentinel can specialize in sniper rifles in ME2?
So I guess there's no class limitations for weapons like the first game?

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At a certain point in the game. I say you have to play about 50% of the game to get there. Prior to that you must use your class weapon, which for sentinel is a submachine gun that I almost never used. Sentinels are meant to be for close combat according to the trailer but that's not how i played it at all. In the first half of the game I stacked up headshots with my heavy sidearm instead, then my other powers got good enough to be used exclusively. I only begun using the sniper rifle towards the end of the game since WARP wasn't fast enough to take down armor alone.

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I appreciate the input on the Sentinel class, Jemy, thanks. It definitely sounds like my kind of class. The the tough armor, the mixture of biotics and tech (emphasizing the powers I'd like), but not sacrificing close combat effectiveness with guns. That is a nice, versatile mix that I think will appeal to me a lot.

And plus, it's the same class as my hero, Kaiden!

My problem with the Sentinel class, and why I prefer the Vanguard and Soldier over it, is because I ended up spending most of my time hidden behind a crate, waiting for Warp to get off cooldown. The silly system where one ability puts everything on cooldown limits the Sentinel quite a lot.

Also, on higher difficulties, the enemy will shoot through tech armor, barrier, etc in a few seconds no matter what, so sitting behind a crate is the only real option.

You can still use SMG and pistol, though; it's not like you have to wait for your powers to recharge before doing anything besides hiding behind a crate. That's part of what I like about the class actually: the versatility of it.

I'll be playing on Normal, so the enemy shouldn't be chewing through my layers of defense that quickly, as you described happens on higher difficulty levels (and if they're chewing through my armor, they're chewing through other classes' protection, too).

I've heard a lot of good things about the Sentinel, and it appeals to what I'd like to try in this game, so I'm going to stick with it.

Hmm, maybe I'll wait for it to go on sale...

These class names sound very much like similar class names from KOTOR, no ?

Alrik Fassbauer said:

These class names sound very much like similar class names from KOTOR, no ?

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There were some areas that looked copy & pasted out of KotOR as well ...

Alrik Fassbauer said:

These class names sound very much like similar class names from KOTOR, no ?

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Out of Sentinel, Guardian and Consular, only Sentinel appears in ME. Sentinel in the SW RPG is a sneaky style Jedi.

Yes, thanks, I knew things sounded somewhat similar …

By the way, did you know that the Wizards plan to not renew their license for the Star Wars RPG this year ?

Alrik Fassbauer said:

Yes, thanks, I knew things sounded somewhat similar …

By the way, did you know that the Wizards plan to not renew their license for the Star Wars RPG this year ?

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Yeah I had read that - there is a massive thread on the WotC Official Forum.

Anderson said:

You can still use SMG and pistol, though; it's not like you have to wait for your powers to recharge before doing anything besides hiding behind a crate. That's part of what I like about the class actually: the versatility of it.

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Well, yes, but every class has access to weapons. Sentinel, Adept and Engineer are at the bottom of the barrel in terms of firepower, but obviously they are still capable of shooting a weapon. Those weapons just happen to be the least effective ones.

Still, it is a versatile class, though I ended up using Warp far too much (got boring eventually).

Maylander said:

I also like the Vanguard class a lot. Possibly my favourite so far (in terms of pure fun).

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Good to hear that, I've decided that I'm definitely going to finish ME with a Vanguard, and carry my save to ME2. I have 4 different mid-game saves in ME, but I was having a hard time deciding which character to finish the game with.

Make sure you keep a few things in mind if you plan to play on higher than normal difficulty settings :

On "Hardcore" and "Insane" difficulty, most biotics are only useable once the shield or barrier of an enemy's down. Also the Vanguard's main ability, biotic charge, is reduced to nothing more than a finishing move. This is due having nearly 0 surviveablity outside of cover on these difficulty settings.

I just want to add something into this review thread that really bothered me towards the end. The Loading times. Especially on the Normandy. It was something that stopped me from going between the levels.

But now when i finished the game i must say i am impressed. I really got the urge to play Deadspace again! (I don't know why, i just do). ME 2 was clearly a better game then ME which i think was overrated. Some missions was really memorable this time around. A really really great game. And a much longer one than i thought it would be! Happy to have put some time and money into it. This time i am really waiting for number 3.