Mass Effect 2 was NOT "dumbed-down"

[kuyo]

ME2 stripped out the team building from the first game making it so it didn't matter who you brought on any mission. All the skills were put on a universal cooldown, which shifted battles from using the class skills for their intended purpose to hiding behind cover like any other game. This made class choice completely meaningless. Rather than allowing players to use any gun and put points into a few to get better with them, ME2 just takes away the guns you're not good with and just makes your weapon skill max from the start. A lot of the stupid in ME2 comes from the story(see:http://www.youtube.com/user/smudboy#p/u/6/w4VztjhG5JA).

 

[Eldarion]

I thought it was dumbed down.

I played an infiltrator. The sniping in mass effect 1 was fun, you had to compensate for rifle sway and recoil against foes that would either take cover or run right at you. Felt great landing that perfect headshot.

In mass effect 2, the rifle sway is gone, the recoil is gone. On top of that, using the scope slows down time, oh you also got a cloak that made all the enemies stop targeting you...that took all the skill and fun out of playing the sniper.

Sorry man, thats pretty dumbed down.

I honestly want someone who played the infiltrator to try and tell me that the mass effect 2 version wasn't dumbed down into something a child could play. Granted it was still a fun game, played it a lot. But its like they thought that the fact that it took timing and skill to play the sniper was a bad thing.

I actually never noticed a difference in the sniping from ME1 to ME2(I played ME2 on a computer and ME1 on Xbox. That might have something to do with it). Although you do realize you only got those things to set the infiltrator class apart from the others, right? I always played an adept and I actually found battles to be a lot harder since I had to choose when to throw what power.

The time dilation was silly and unnecessary. I didn't like it.

I never played an adept in Mass Effect 2, as an infiltrator I found I could just spam that fireball thing every time it came off cooldown. :/

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

It sounds like you're a very intelligent person, so I imagine that for you the choices to be made in videogames do seem trivial. But the rest of us mortals do find some of them challenging! Certainly not the "choices" in ME1 (at least not for me) but there are some games that have made me think. Sometimes a very easy decision can be made difficult by giving the player almost no time to make it - in this way, some tactical shooters can offer a challenge that is almost entirely cerebral once you've mastered the controls. And some strategy games can have me deliberating for quite some time.

 

[uc.asc]

The time dilation was silly and unnecessary. I didn't like it.

It seemed to me that ME2 enemies moved differently and in a less predictably manner. I think without time dilation I would have had to aim for the center of mass or wait for them to be stationary, though I haven't tested this.

 

[pixiejedi]

Another FPS fan who dislikes RPG's ranting about how gutting all the customization and depth from Mass Effect 2 was a good thing.

Nothing new to see here.

I hope thats sarcasm, otherwise thanks troll!

OT: I liked both, and it really was streamlined. RPG's now are such a broad genre that it feels like just about everyone has some elements in them. It is a pain in the ass to deal with the gear customization in ME1 but ME2 swung too far the other way. ME3 seems to be finding middle ground, which is nice.

Edit: Oh yeah I do miss dressing Wrex like a rainbow ranger, but thats really besides the point I guess...

Ultimately I don't think it was dumbed down. ME1 didn't take any more skill then ME2 in the RPG department. You put points in different spots and as long as you pay attention to what you do there really is no way to go wrong in either. There are combat places where skill counts in both games, like sniping in 1 and skill usage in 2. Ultimately I don't think any RPG I've ever played requires much skill beyond curiosity and exploration.

 

[Eldarion]

The time dilation was silly and unnecessary. I didn't like it.

It seemed to me that ME2 enemies moved differently and in a less predictably manner. I think without time dilation I would have had to aim for the center of mass or wait for them to be stationary, though I haven't tested this.

Either would have required a little more forethought than slow-mo-vision. If anything the more mobile enemies could have added to the challenge.

Not that I'm saying Mass Effect 1 sniping was the deepest most challenging thing ever but it was harder then ME2.

 

[Zhukov]

[sarcastic rant snipped to save space]

Murrrrr makes me cry

I'm pretty sure most of this is facetious, but you remember in ME1 that planet with the spectacular binary star system, with a blue dwarf and a red giant?

No, I'm afraid I don't. All the planets just blurred together in my mind.

When I think of ME1 I think of characters, dialogue and some of the battles. I remember Wrex and Liara. I remember talking to the Rachni queen. I remember fighting my way up the outside of the council tower under the shadow of an immense sentient construct.

I definitely don't think of the long parade of mountainous palette swaps with no defining features.

 

[KafkaOffTheBeach]

How is planet scanning not dumbed down compared to the mako? You had to fight in the mako, dodge rockets, shoot bad guys. Planet scanning needed no thought at all, you just scanned till it told you to stop.

I can spot one slight flaw with this point - that flaw being that the Mako was a pile of shit that desperately needed to be aborted.
Removing a stupid, broken gameplay mechanic isn't 'dumbing something down', hell, if anything it could be described as a kind of chemotherapy - yes it leaves a space which is hard to fill naturally, but at least it isn't killing the rest of the game anymore. At least planet scanning was merely boring.

 

[Eldarion]

How is planet scanning not dumbed down compared to the mako? You had to fight in the mako, dodge rockets, shoot bad guys. Planet scanning needed no thought at all, you just scanned till it told you to stop.

I can spot one slight flaw with this point - that flaw being that the Mako was a pile of shit that desperately needed to be aborted.
Removing a stupid, broken gameplay mechanic isn't 'dumbing something down', hell, if anything it could be described as a kind of chemotherapy - yes it leaves a space which is hard to fill naturally, but at least it isn't killing the rest of the game anymore. At least planet scanning was merely boring.

Oh, someone else who was bad at the Mako. I could control that thing with zero problems. No idea why people had issues with it.

 

[MrGalactus]

No it was just "rub-bish"

 

[Nicolairigel]

I started with mass effect 2 and because I was in love with the kotor series, both 1 and 2, I loved mass effect 2 to death. I choose a vanguard and loved the class but was incredibly pissed-off that I couldn't use the assault rifle till halfway through the game, and since I got a new computer and lost the save data from my first mass effect 2 play through, I moved some stuff around in the Mass effect 2 folder and made it so I could use the assault rifle on the class at the beginning of the game. Anyways, my point is that I did wish that in ME2 there were a few more guns to use, and since in ME3 they are making so you can choose which guns you can use that problem got wiped out. Afterward I got ME1 off of steam and played it through, and loved almost as much as ME2, if not just as much. Both are different, ME1 is more RPG like and ME2 is more gritty shooter but they are both amazing games. I wouldn't say is was dumbed-downed, it was just simplified for a different experience, one I happened to like a bit more.

Also, I don't get why people say ME2 had worst writing and a flimsy plot. It really REALLY didn't. The writing was more serious and the plot was just as solid and interesting. But as I said, I loved both games to death, and even though I liked ME2 better I like fps's and RPG's equally, so don't whine that I'm a stupid fps fanboy.
So basically, love the games, ME3 is going to be awesome, yaddy yadda

Alright, that's my sense on the issue.

(This was my first major forum rant so it may not be perfect )

 

[Worgen]

ok it wasnt dumbed down, it was just hit in the head with rocks

 

[uc.asc]

The time dilation was silly and unnecessary. I didn't like it.

It seemed to me that ME2 enemies moved differently and in a less predictably manner. I think without time dilation I would have had to aim for the center of mass or wait for them to be stationary, though I haven't tested this.

Either would have required a little more forethought than slow-mo-vision. If anything the more mobile enemies could have added to the challenge.

Not that I'm saying Mass Effect 1 sniping was the deepest most challenging thing ever but it was harder then ME2.

Yes. More challenge would have been nice.

 

[madwarper]

I can't be the only one who thought the rifle sway was the most annoying thing on the planet (or in the galaxy, whatever). ME2 sniping was great because I actually felt like a sniper and not someone who was waiting for another swing to come around so that I could try the same shot for the hundredth time.

Have you ever shot a rifle?

Talking as a sharpshooter, rifle sway is a real thing that you have to compensate for. Mostly, by timing your shots to when the rifle swayed over the target.

as an infiltrator I found I could just spam that fireball thing every time it came off cooldown. :/

This.

As far as ME2's rifles go, you have the choice of having moderate damage with only being able to hold 10 bullets, or shit damage with 50 bullets. So, it's no wonder the neutered Infiltrator would spend most of his time simply throwing fireballs.

 

[Bobbity]

It was slightly. Streamlined would perhaps be a better word for it; a lot of extraneous crap was removed, but a bit of important stuff as well.

You remember the shops in ME2? Those basically say it all.

The streamlining wasn't nearly as bad as people like to think, but it was still a tad depressing.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

This thread is nothing but a bunch of people who equate customization with tediousness. Clearly true fans of the RPG genre.

What do you mean by "customization"?

For some people that means dressing up the character. I don't really care about that (Barbie was never really my thing) but I agree that it certainly was missing from ME2. I just don't see how the lack of dressing-up can be described as "dumbing down".

For other people, customization means shaping your character's gameplay. If this is what you're referring to then I'd ask that you formulate a logical argument rather than spouting throw-away sarcasm.