Origin giving Mass Effect 2 On the House
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I've grown quite a decent back catalogue of games from EA's On The House promotion.
For the princely sum of a throwaway email address, you get given free games. I can't see why people have an issue with using Origin in this case.
For the princely sum of a throwaway email address, you get given free games. I can't see why people have an issue with using Origin in this case.
Its just another software service that was not needed. Sure on the house games are nice, and I have gotten more then a few of them. But tellingly, I have not even installed one of those free games.
Really, what advantage does their service offer over steam? Besides of course a bigger cut for EA. I'd not resent it so much if they didn't screw me on ME:3 (both the lousy side quests and ending) and DAI (the lousy combat system and mmo style quests).
Really, what advantage does their service offer over steam? Besides of course a bigger cut for EA. I'd not resent it so much if they didn't screw me on ME:3 (both the lousy side quests and ending) and DAI (the lousy combat system and mmo style quests).
Few questions:Ezekiel said:
1) Have you played ME1 and imported your save?
2) Do you place a strong emphasis on story and characters?
A good deal of the appeal of Mass Effect as a franchise comes from attachment to the world and characters. If you do put a strong emphasis on these things, your enjoyment of ME2 will be diminished if you aren't familiar with ME1, and regardless the intro will drag a bit as Jacob and Miranda are among the least interesting crewmates that you'll get.
3) What class are you playing as?
The devs didn't really figure out the classes until ME3, but ME2 started to really differentiate them to the point of encouraging distinctive playstyles. Soldier never really has much going for it outside of a larger weapon selection, but Sentinel got its signature tech shield and became an adaptable tank, and Vanguard gained its signature biotic charge and started zipping around the battlefield[footnote]That said, it really didn't come into its own as a high-risk, high-reward class until ME3 gave them the complementary ability of Nova that let the player blast their enemies by sacrificing their shields[/footnote]. Infiltrators gained their signature cloaking ability, Adepts started to really control the battlefield with Singularity and Pull, and turning enemies into bombs via the revamped Warp. And Engineers gained a debuff focus and a minion in the form of the summonable tech drone.
Point there being that the class you've chosen might factor into your current experience.
Aside from the free games and a storefront that has some measure of quality control?mavkiel said:
For me it is that it exists. I will never understand how some gamers have become so beholden to Steam. I have friends who refuse to finish the Mass Effect Trilogy because they won't pay for it unless they can give their money to Valve instead of EA.
To be honest I don't think I've played most of them either. Then again I've never played most of the games I've bought in Steam sales and I paid for them.Ezekiel said:
For me the strength of Mass Effect 2 comes from its characters. The crew is the best of the trilogy and Tali's loyalty mission contains the best moment I've experienced in the franchise, to coin an internet term "the feels were amazing."
Combat wise I confess I'm one of the few who far prefers the combat in the first game, I find that it always has options available for all classes, whereas the latter two pushed the balance of combat far in the favour of the gun based ones.
Then play Mass Effect 3, beacuse Mass Effect 2 strengths lies on the NPC developemnt and long term pay-off over action gameplay. ME3 stepped up in the later, and applied the exclusive class abilities on the multiplayer.Ezekiel said:
Just for curiosity, what are those more interesting thing you have to do? Maybe I'll try one of those.
214 games in my Steam Library at the present time. Far more than Origin, UPlay, and GoG combined.mavkiel said:
I am not anti-Steam. I think it is a well designed piece of software and indeed I add non Steam games to it in order to make use of the screenshot functionality. I just find it odd that on such an open platform as the PC that people are willing to lock themselves into a Valve only eco-system.
Where do I draw the line on yet another piece of software being installed? When it can't justify its existence for me would be it. Steam is useful, Origin and UPlay have given away free games, and GoG Galaxy (the only optional client) because it's handy to be able to update all my GoG games in one place.
Of course it would be nice if all these companies could get along and use a single frontend, I just wouldn't want that to be a frontend for the purpose of making a single company money. Because let's face it that is what Steam is to Valve.
To be honest that's a more than fair shake to give the game. I've always said that if you don't like the game by the end of Eden Prime, then chances are you aren't going to like the game at all. That opening section is the game in microcosm, a lot of talking punctuated with hectic moments of action.Ezekiel said:
The main story in ME2 is bad and so far in the background that it may as well not exist. I find that it is only the well structured final Suicide mission that makes me give a damn about it at all.Ezekiel said:
The strength of ME2 for me is in the characters and their recruitment and loyalty missions. If they fail to grab you then there really isn't that much else to pull you into the game.
Even the best DLC of the game, Lair of the Shadow Broker, really does rely on how much interest you have in the character of Liara. If you don't like her then it becomes a selection of shooting galleries that swiftly outstay their welcome.
The problem with the combat in the second and third games, for me at any rate, is that Bioware tried to make it a third person shooter and did a pretty poor job of it compared to the Gears of War titles (both series used the Unreal Engine 3, Gears 4 and Andromeda moving to new engines.)Ezekiel said:
Another issue is that the Soldier is by far the most effective class, one that always had a counter for the situation you find yourself in, as well as the best health and shields. This is especially apparent at the higher difficulty levels where all the enemies have some form of shields or armour, as other classes you can find yourself reduced to spamming the same handful of moves over and over again.
Sorry, I could rant about the combat changes for the last two games in the trilogy all day and have to force myself to stop.
I empathize, believe me. All the same...Ezekiel said:
Mass Effect never really sold itself on combat mechanics. It sold itself on story, characters, and a sense of continuity between games. You can jump into any of the games cold turkey, but you aren't going to enjoy the experience as much as somebody who is using a foundation they built from the prior installment(s) and understanding of the setting. It's like...how you can watch the Empire Srikes Back before A New Hope, but you won't really get the cave scene where Luke is shown to be afraid of becoming like Vader. It makes a lot more sense when you know that Luke recognizes Vader as a symbol of the Empire he's fighting against and knows that he helped wipe out the Jedi, killed his mentor and - in that mentor's own words - "betrayed and murdered [Luke's] father".
That also being said, you really should consider rerolling, even if you don't carry over a new save. Soldier is by far the most boring class of the lot.
The problem is that in 2 and 3 the Solider class is by far the most effective, especially as I said before if you play on the higher difficulty.
My first run through ME2 was with my main Adept Shepard on Insanity. While Biotic explosions are fun for a while I grew to loathe hunkering behind chest high walls, spamming biotic explosions. By the time you got their shields/barrier/armour down to the point your powers could actually affect them...well it was quicker just to shoot them.
I really should not get started discussing the combat changes, I get far too involved.
My first run through ME2 was with my main Adept Shepard on Insanity. While Biotic explosions are fun for a while I grew to loathe hunkering behind chest high walls, spamming biotic explosions. By the time you got their shields/barrier/armour down to the point your powers could actually affect them...well it was quicker just to shoot them.
I really should not get started discussing the combat changes, I get far too involved.
i did personally enjoy ME2 and the physics on biotics made them more fun for me being able to curve the shots around cover
love it or hate it though its still nice of EA to give away older as well as relatively recent games for free which is something alot of companies dont do even though i know its a shrewd marketing move to get more people to use origin as well as the good PR
love it or hate it though its still nice of EA to give away older as well as relatively recent games for free which is something alot of companies dont do even though i know its a shrewd marketing move to get more people to use origin as well as the good PR
