Zero Punctuation: Mass Effect 2

[JeanLuc761]

am i the only one shocked he dident say anything about the QTE dialog interupts?

If I remember correctly, Yahtzee once said that he doesn't mind quicktime events IF they're a core part of gameplay instead of randomly tossing them in when the player isn't ready. Mass Effect 2 has one of the better implementations of QTE's in that they can be very useful if you want but you won't be punished if you miss them.

 

[Brad Shepard]

am i the only one shocked he dident say anything about the QTE dialog interupts?

If I remember correctly, Yahtzee once said that he doesn't mind quicktime events IF they're a core part of gameplay instead of randomly tossing them in when the player isn't ready. Mass Effect 2 has one of the better implementations of QTE's in that they can be very useful if you want but you won't be punished if you miss them.

ok, thats a good point, in fact, they reward you half the time, like with the airship with the archangel mission

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Great review yet again.

I hope they won't go with planet exploration again in ME3,although I didn't mind it in ME1.The only annoying thing in ME1 for me at least was the inventory.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Wow, people really refuse to give resource mining a break, don't they? Not that I'm surprised Yahtzee would spend 80% of the review complaining about something you can just skip altogether. The game must've been pretty awesome if that's the best he's got!

In all seriousness, solid video as always. A little disappointed he didn't like it more, but obviously I can't say I'm surprised. I do like how he tried to make the fact that BioWare are known for good writing sound like a negative (and failed miserably).

So I'm taking it your a ME2 fan, then? The reason he has to say those things is because of his FANTASTIC Psychonauts review, which half the site apparently hated because he stated his honest to god opinion about it.

So don't make a remark about him which is UNJUSTIFIED.

 

[Zodiac_A17]

The "HammerHead" is supposed to come out on the Cerberus Network so you can do planetary exploration again.

 

[HK_01]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

Maybe there's no characterisation of Reapers because you don't meet any?!? Plus, it's a trilogy and this was the second part. I assume "plot holes" were intended.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Professional troll.

Oh I get it now, since I have a different opinion from yours I must be a troll.

Well no, I'm not trolling Bioware games are not well written (at least none of the ones I've have been), they're badly written especially when compared to other RPGs.

Nah, I just think you'd look snappy in a suit.

Having seen more of your posts, I don't think you're ENTIRELY trollish, but you do seem to delight in going right for the sarcastic undercutting castrating counterpoint. You apply a good amount of reducto ad absurdum to many of the 'arguments' made around here but to many that can come across as trolling.

Anyway, clarification of communication aside, I'm curious as to which current RPG has writing and character development that exceeds that of this game or Dragon Age Origins. Yes, some of BioWare's constructs tend to be a bit on the formulaic side, but if a formula works you don't necessarily need to reinvent it every time you head into your design meeting.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

[skicreature]

Sounds like he actually liked this one. lol

 

[Suskie]

Wow, people really refuse to give resource mining a break, don't they? Not that I'm surprised Yahtzee would spend 80% of the review complaining about something you can just skip altogether. The game must've been pretty awesome if that's the best he's got!

In all seriousness, solid video as always. A little disappointed he didn't like it more, but obviously I can't say I'm surprised. I do like how he tried to make the fact that BioWare are known for good writing sound like a negative (and failed miserably).

So I'm taking it your a ME2 fan, then? The reason he has to say those things is because of his FANTASTIC Psychonauts review, which half the site apparently hated because he stated his honest to god opinion about it.

So don't make a remark about him which is UNJUSTIFIED.

Christ, man, I'm not. But like I said to someone else, he's nitpicked like this before and then gone on to acknowledge that he really enjoyed the game in question (again, check his CoD4 and Infamous reviews). And if he really didn't like the game that much, he didn't make a strong case for it.

 

[rogueybear]

brilliant spot on review, i love hearing you insult every game i own. that jet pack idea is pretty good. i feel the same about the adventuring just being small linear hallways where you shoot either blue suns, eclipse or blood pack mercenaries then go back to talking to your whinny crew

 

[Citrus]

Yahtzee sort of touched on one of the things I don't like about role-playing in ME2. If you actually play the game making all the decisions and saying all the things you would in real life (as you expect would be the point of games like this), you get punished at the end of the game by being somewhat gimped in conversations and your options to affect the story. It's almost as if the game is designed to be played either completely Paragon or completely Renegade, with little real incentive for people to play as themselves.

For example, it isn't, "Hmm, I'm going to spare this guy because he didn't do anything wrong"; it's, "Hmm, I'm going to kill this guy because I need more Renegade points to convince Miranda to get over that stupid argument she had with Jack."

It's supposedly "an option" to be neutral, but Paragon and Renegade are really the only big options there are (there is no colorful Neutral dialogue to choose from, for instance), so it again comes down to being either a hippy wonderboy or a racist prick with a sweltering ego.

By the way, anybody else think Commander Shepard immediately became creepy whenever he started hitting on people? The combination of the slight uncanny valley and the strange seductive lines made me feel a little ashamed to be playing him.

"Come on, Tali. You know you want this."

 

[frozenfox]

Ahh Mass Effect. I read an article over on Gamasutra about how they were making it "critic proof", which was pretty hilarious.

It's almost as if the writing staff and the design staff didn't really communicate at all, which is probably fairly close to the mark.

 

[Vagabond_Samurai]

This review was pretty interesting; I hadn't played the first Mass Effect outside of a friend's house once, and it wasn't really my cup of tea.

In other news, who is the random face that Yahtzee uses in most/all of his reviews? I've been wondering about that for quite a while~

 

[Dott]

I see Gobblecoque returned.

 

[Doug]

"Ban the human reproductive system!"
"Scourge my evil ball sack"

Classics!

 

[Lonan]

I LOVED the vehicle sections, I always did. They were EASILY my favourite non-plot parts of the game. I don't mind that they were removed in favour of the shuttle though.

I like how Yahtzee considered the whole point of the game banging Miranda, it was pretty much the same for me.

 

[jthm]

Good writing? So did you miss the humongous plot holes and failed characterization of the Reapers?

How do you characterize the Reapers? They're just a rip from Cthulu anyway. Advanced and ancient to the point of unknowabillity sort of rules out characterization.

 

[Mattteus]

wolves with lasers!! THAT'S what the movie Frozen was missing!

 

[GameOverGoblin]

It was pretty funny, but I really want to see Yahtzee rip apart Dante's Inferno!