Mass Effect 2

Started playing Mass Effect 2 today, and first impressions were sketchy at first. Wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on and so much had changed from the original. Combat is entirely different, new controls, and a greater emphasis on using your team mates. In the first I rarely used them and just stormed through it all myself, cause they seemed useless.

This time I chose the Insanity difficulty, wasn't avail in Mass Effect until after you beat it once.{beat it on Veteran} Its hard, must use cover in every fight and use crew skills and powers always to win and at least during the first boss fight I had to manually move them around a few times so they didn't die. Its pretty intense, but I kinda like it much more over just charging in and doing it all solo.

I "do-not" like the red veins that surround the corners of the screen as you get hurt. Its just annoying and kinda get in the way, but I suppose when you're that hurt, you should be behind cover until recovered, so I better get used to it...heh

I'm liking the changes thus far, not being in the alliance anymore or having to deal with the stupid Council, well I let them die at the end of the first, but still it feels better this time, more like a Renagade as I've been playing my character. Course I'm sure there is a great deal more yet to learn about Cerberus and many of reveals that could change my thoughts, but I'll worry about that later ~ please don't ruin anything for me!

I'm loving the new Normandy SR2, much larger, way better laid out with more decks, and areas for each team member and their functions. Spent over an hr exploring and listening to the AI and talking with the crew. And I'm sure it'll get even better once I get a full crew. I didn't do this much in the first cause it just didn't seem important, but it feels different this time and that I should to get the full story of whats going on.

Overall, its very different, looks incredibly better than the first, the combat once I get used to it, is superior in every way and more challenging. I like it, and I can tell this will be much longer mission.

Played time thus far: 2 hrs

Alrighty then, I'm about 12.5 hrs played now and I see now why this game got so much accolade and game of the year picks from most gaming sites. It really is as good as they've been saying, but I was not seeing it since I was holding a grudge against Bioware being owned by EA. That was silly...nothing I could do about it, and besides Dragon Age II being poorly made, this game is definitely from the Bioware I still loved from the past.

After a few missions in I was growing frustrated playing on the Insanity difficulty, and bumped it back down to the Veteran level, that I beat MEI on. Much better and while it can still be difficult in some areas, at least I'm not dying several times during every fight. I wanna have fun, but also have a decent challenge that not gonna piss me off...LOL

Anyway, all has been good now, been extensively searching the universe and scanning tons of planets, using nearly all 30 probes the Normandy can hold per world. At first when I saw the prices to upgrade the early stuff, and the little raw mats I was getting, I was like yeah that'll take forever. Scanning planets though has left me with such a huge stockpile, I wonder if I'll ever encounter upgrades that cost more than I have. Dunno if its a flaw in the design at this point, but I buy upgrades to everything even if I don't use that char or wep or piece of armor, and I've barely made a dent in my supply...heh


The story has been pretty good, still don't know if I should side with Cerberus or not, but I've very quickly decided that I don't like the alliance at all. I guess I made a mistake in letting the council die at the end of ME. I greatly prefer the alien races more than humanity and I don't like them all looking down on me for allowing humans to take over. I didn't realize it'd have this much of an impact on the game, but I think I'm too far at this point to wanna start over.

I may check a guide online and see how far I am and might consider restarting with a save from ME with the council alive. I'll let ya know what I do. Regardless of what I do though, its been great and I'm looking forward to more of this most excellent game!

Never mind then on restarting. Seems that choosing the council over humanity isn't that big of a change. Just a few aliens tend to dislike your decision, but you have so little contact with them its kinda pointless.

Back to the adventure then...

don't listen to those crazy human lovers.....i know there dark secret

Havn't updated in awhile it would seem. Last was at about 12.5hrs, and now I'm at 27.5 hrs played. Gonna keep this short though as to not ruin anything for those that havn't played yet but at least enough info to know where I am for those that have.


I've acquired every crew member possible now, and played through and defeated all their personal missions to make them loyal! Plus I've completed every possible side mission I've found or randomly encountered. And lastly I recently acquired the IFF chip so I can travel through the Omega 4 Relay, and saved shortly thereafter where I'll pickup from in my next gaming session.

Now its time for food...enjoy~!

If you haven't done the final part yet, be VERY careful who you chose for what.

And I just finished Mass Effect 2, right at about 30hrs. It was damned good, but I'll admit the ending wasn't nearly as great as in ME. At least in ME the whole of humanity and other races all fought together in one massive battle that everyone was witness too.

Dunno where we were in this ending, but nobody saw it but the crew of the Normandy, so it just didn't seem as impactfull. Lets hope that whatever is planned for ME3, it'll top everything prior and be much more awesome!