Gaming Mass Effect Series

I'm not sure how it could have been handled differently. I guess they could have bundled it with new copies of the game, but then everyone who bought it preowned would have been bitching about that. Personally, I think the blame lies more with whoever was behind the leak, as it was that leak that led to the changes that led to Javik being cut and pushed into being DLC. Some guy's obsession with spoilers ruined it for the rest of us.

 

He's not exactly that central to the plot though, it's cool to have a Prothean but he doesn't really do very much other than upset Liara and be an additional squad member with a serious Rasta accent. It's not like the entire outcome of the game rests on him being around, it's the history that matters with him. I don't see why he couldn't have remained regardless of whether people knew he was going to appear or not.

 

His line, "You ignored our warnings. Why did you not prepare for the Reapers, human?" sells me on the fact the galaxy is screwed, so I consider him pretty important.

He should've been new game only, rather than Day 1 DLC.

 

He was obsolete. Everything he did was done by what replaced him so there was no reason for him to be in it.

I agree with 07jonesj on this and that he should've been included in new copies of the game. A worse alternative could have been that he was cut altogether, never to see the light of day.

 

Figured I'd refloat this to page one and steer it away from the monthly running aground on "What Went Wrong With ME3 Shoal."

I've been slowly playing my new vanguard character through ME3, and I think I'm making more extensive use of the N7 Hurricane than I have in the past. Damned if that thing isn't a killer - even without a fully upgraded recoil mod it's inaccurate but manageable, and with explosive burst incendiary ammo and a heat sink mod it just plain eats things. I more or less melted the first Geth Prime I ran into on the dreadnought, and it's one of the few times (aside from when the N7 Typhoon/font of more dakka is employed) that I've managed to take both the Banshees at the end of the monastery mission out before they got to the stairs.

Also, saw an interesting tip on the BW forums regarding how Ashley's Marksman power is bugged since it was patched. Someone reported you can get around it by giving her the M-7 Lancer, since there's no clips to reload and it doesn't leaver her sitting in cover uselessly activating her omni-tool. I may have to try that out, although just skipping Marksman, jacking up her weapon damage, and giving her a Typhoon is probably just as effective.

 

So re-did the suicide mission...

As usual, Bioware manage to take something that should be truly and render it as something far less so, with only the cutscenes actually carrying it from point-to-point. The gameplay? Series of irritations:

First, the Oculus fights - one is over far too quick, the second - cover is pretty much screwed so no fun whatsoever.
Then, Legion in the vents - ugh, what prat signed off on that? You've a crap map and enemies and a time limit.
Seeker swarms: Oh, so much fun, so great, so bloody dumb.

Final fights? The route to the final platform, that was good. The take out the tubes part was actually pretty good, but too ammo restricted. The end fight? There was the matter of the Cain being a useless piece of crap with a giant robot bounding around the place, but just about managed to kill it with normal weapons.

Throughout though the whole thing feels like someone playing games and screwing around but not in a good way. In a lot of ways playing ME2 after ME1 really highlights the flaws of the stripping down that was applied to ME2. Like XP for killing, that gives incentive to kill Husks but you don't have that in ME2. Similarly the radar assist, relegated to a pop-up screen. It's a pity, if Bioware actually had the nerve to match level design and character abilities - why have melee enemies like Husks in a cover shooter when your melee attack is useless? - to the degree they do world-building and story-telling then it'd be awesome. Oh yeah and aim assist? Go where I'm aiming and not where you want to go - would have killed the final boss far easier without that stupidity.

On the plus side? Did manage to nab the No One Left Behind trophy!

 

I didn't mind the suicide mission, I just shotgunned the Husks or used a power that kept them away like shockwave. I also favoured a Mattock much of the time which had good accuracy even if it doesn't do as much damage. It allowed me to wear down the big Reaper and other enemies with repeated accurate shots to the weakpoints.

Took me at least 3 attempts to get through will everyone alive, a good feeling.

 

Now after the Shadow Broker - have gotten past that should-have=been-epic-but-wasn't chase sequence, followed by a boss modelled on Sonic the Hedgehog on crack, now on the good part....

On the Shadow Broker's ship in the middle of a lightning storm! Finally, something epic!

 

The Oculus fight is definitely a bear in the second portion. I find it works to bring two of your best armor-busting squaddies (I think last time I used Garrus with tungsten ammo and Mordin with heavy incinerate) and use powers to do most of the work while you evade. Generally you can get at least some reprieve by running around those ventilation fans on the floor.

The vents mission isn't too bad - my advice is to take your two best damage-dealers and go through hard and fast. Duck into cover, kill everything, advance until new enemies show up, repeat. For the seeker swarm portion I make sure I have two out of the three members of the team who have some kind of anti-husk power - shockwave, area throw, or flashbang grenade. Shockwave devastates husks. Then all you have to do is add some armor/barrier-busting abilities. Thane and Samara can do both.

As far as the final boss, you can generally take out the tubes in 2 rounds, killing two each time. It might be possible to get more if you're really good or have the soldier's adrenaline rush and are willing to unload a long assault rifle burst. I've never really had ammo issues on that section. For killing the mongo-Terminator itself, it's easier to hit him with the Cain on his second pass - don't ask me why, but i find it's easier to charge the gun and get in a clean hit to the head or chest weak points.

 

Might work for you DC but the Cain was a right piece of crap for me!

Meanwhile, taken out the Shadow Broker - still mostly like the traversing the hull part of the mission, some of the internal firefights were irritating due to the design.

Onto Arrival.

 

With the Cain you have to be patient - you have one shot, maybe two if you stocked up on all seven available HW upgrades (or six upgrades plus an armor component with 10% extra HW ammo). There's a four-second charge time; I believe if you have 200% HW ammo you can fire the second shot immediately afterwards with no delay. What seems to work for me is using conventional weapons on the first pass to chip down it's health a little, wait until it ducks back into the pit, draw the Cain, and aim at roughly where you expect it to pop up. Get ready when you hear the noise of it coming back, start charging when the arms come up and aim for roughly where you expect it to pop up. The other option is to wait until it starts charging its mouth cannon; it'll hold stock still and you likely have enough time to get a shot off without getting fried. It's better to soften it up with the Cain rather than finish it off; I believe the Human-Reaper's dodges are more rapid once it's taken 50% damage.

Do it right and you will put MAJOR hurt on the thing in one blow and possibly kill it in two. If it's not dead, it might be hurt to the point where you can cherry-tap it with a pistol. That was one of my most satisfying kills - 80 rounds of tungsten ammo from an M-76 Revenant, a Cain hit, and then two tungsten ammo Carnifex shots to the chest for the finisher.

 

I felt Leviathan was actually the most story-integral DLC of the lot. It ties/leads into the ending sequence, giving the ending less of a "from out of left field" feel. From Ashes would be of the next importance story-wise because it sheds more light on a lot of different topics IU. Citadel is Bioware's fan-service piece, so it's the best/most fun but doesn't address the main story. Omega doesn't offer that much, unless you're really into Aria's character/you read the comic series about her losing Omega to Cerberus. It offers weapons and "OOOh look, female Turians DO exist"

 

Leviathan did almost as much good for the ending as the Extended Cut IMO. It also has a very specific place that you must play it - straight after Thessia.

Jedi Ben Make sure you play Leviathan straight after Thessia. It'll let you play it at any time, but story-wise, it makes absolutely no sense if played before Thessia.

Likewise, Citadel should be played immediately prior to the final battle (you'll know when), or you miss content. Tonally, it fits most here too. Omega can be played at any point after it comes available, there's nothing that demands it have a place.

 

Thanks for the info, there's no way I'd find this out any other way!

Not yet done Arrival, which'll be a pain as I wasn't a fan of it 1st time around!

 

Actually, I usually do Leviathan right before Thessia - on the one hand it does make more sense to learn of "the intelligence" after meeting Vendetta; on the other I like the idea of Shepard being pissed off and going straight after his/her only lead on Kai Leng. If it wasn't for the issue of missing Miranda's parts in Citadel I'd put that pre-Thessia as well, just because Thessia-Horizon-Cronos-Earth works as a "hot pursuit" sequence.

Arrival is actually fun with all the indoctrinated guards featuring in a Mook Horror Show as Shepard tears through them single-handedly. Fighting through all five waves of the Object Rho battle felt like an achievement. My trick there is to break left at the start and bunker down behind a set of benches; aside from the occasional pyro and one or two guards who try to flank you at the start you're pretty safe until the YMIR comes out to play. At that point you pull out a heavy weapon (M-622 Avalanche is my preference) and shoot for your life.

 

Arrival = Turd incarnate.

But it's not just the DLC it's the entire sodding design - the whole only highlight things you can interact with at short distance, so I have to work out where the hell something is because it isn't on a map worth a damn, the aiming is beyond dumb - only in this game can you have a shotgun that isn't. No, here you have to be specific with your shotgun.

And the bit I'm pissed off - the whole "protect Henson while she hacks" - you've bugger all in terms of line of sight, the enemies are allowed to take numerous hits - even with Inferno ammo, which renders it pointless.

I was going to play through Arrival, finish off ME2 properly and then move onto ME3, but no. I cannot be bothered with this crappy, uninspired, lazy piece of crap nor do I now care about ME3, which'll also be full of oh-aren't-we-so-clever-type sections from idiot designers that'll be utter crap too.

 

NO! If we suffered thru Arrival and then ME3, then so must you! What are ya? Chicken? Huh? Huh?!

Seriously though, NIAWYC, Arrival was irrelevant garbage that truly failed to lead into a ME3 that then barely acknowledged it.

 

I've done it once, can't really care to do it again!

Likely will boot up ME3 in a few days, maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling hacked off.

 

So it's masochism then.

 

Not exactly - this is the 1 character I've started from ME1 and gone through with into ME2 - that said if it makes no discernible difference to the start of ME3, I might skip it.

 

Protecting Kenson can be tough, but my strategy there is to break from my usual habit - leave her behind and meet the individual waves head-on where you can catch them at close range in a choke point like the doorway or the lifts. Then you can use the clutter for cover and the Batarians are out in the open. Powers, automatic weapons, and/or shotguns will cut them to pieces in short order, and then you can run off to meet the next wave. If you're quick, you only have to handle three opponents at a time, and at worst only one will be an elite-type (i.e., one that has shields even on Normal).

 

I just finished my ME 2 Infiltrator run with Dominate as my bonus power and had lots of fun. I love using the Geth Shotgun since you can charge it, cloak, fire it, then get a second (though uncharged) shot off while the cloak is still after. Also, firing the Cain while cloaked keeps you protected for those few precious seconds before the weapon fires.

Only had 2 survivors, my worst run yet, though I was going for a full-team-kill. Still, it was close enough and fun. I might try another run with the Engineer using mostly powers and very-rarely weapons.

 

Yeah, I found in ME2 I could get my engineer through a lot of missions without firing a shot. In ME3 it's possible to turn the engineer into a buzzsaw of destruction, and there are plenty of lightweight guns that let you carry a decent amount of firepower.

Just finished the cloneShep battle in the Citadel DLC - not badly for a plan gone to hell. Typically I bunker the squad down near the elevator and try to whittle the clone and its minions down. However, since this was a vanguard playthrough, all bets were off. After I had EDI take Brooks down with an overload the clone charged right into my position and it was pretty much a toe-to-toe slugfest for the first portion, trading gunfire, charges, novas, and even melee attacks. Somehow managed not to take any health damage at all, although at one point the clone dropped Liara (bad idea, hurting Shep's girlfriend).

 

Returned and got through Arrival.

On the Kenson bit what irks is they go straight for her! Hello? I'M the bastard shooting you all!

The bit with the artifact was OK, until they decided to drop enemies behind me - scuzzfracks that they are.

Tearing through people on the way out was mostly fun, save for the artifice of certain sections like where a Project Elite is around a corner and does not move. Similarly, I'm shooting a Project Pyro or trying to and the game keeps fracking with the aim, result is enemy gets too damn close because it won't let me shoot who I want to shoot!

Taking out the YMIR at the end wasn't too bad, but I did have the Particle cannon equipped.

 

Started Mass Effect 3....

Done the Earth intro then Mars - sadly, as has been the way since the start, Bioware can't do combat worth a damn - you may be allowed to use one spot of cover, you may not be allowed to use another identical spot. Nor will you always be able to shoot in the way you would expect to once in cover. Oh and they overloaded the X button this time.

Oh and Cereberus troops... So bored of smoke grenades that aren't! Ever seen smoke behave the way this stuff does? Hangs around far too long and they have an infinite supply of the fragging things.

Then there's the infamous aim assist that's as much sabotage as help.

Nonetheless, did lay down some quite devastating ambushes on Mars. Got a load of new weapons afterwards so tried them out on Eden Prime. Absolute crap - all the whole frustrating experience has told me is the info you get on the weapons is of feck all use because it says nothing about how they fire! Vindicator - I'm looking at you, you piece of jerky tech-crap!

Then, at the end, it hits a zenith of stupidity - there's an ammo cache in the next building! Oh, where? Map's disabled remember? Too late, enemies have arrived, so why sodding mention it? Cue a truly irritating battle culminating in a big, bulky Cereberus assault trooper in full battle armour being able to hide completely behind a tiny, poncy table in a lounge! Oh and not to forget, turrets - irritation incarnate.

What makes up for this shambles? The usual - characters, really well-scripted conversations and interaction, world-building, design aesthetics, the clever nods to ME1 and 2, side quests, that the XP mechanism from ME1 has returned partly, the war asset idea, upgrades.... Combat's the only stinker of the game.