Hello all,
I have recently become smitten with Dragon Age:Origins, primarily because I enjoy a good RPG with good characters. I have heard Mass Effect 2 mentioned as being similar in that regard. Since both are made by Bioware, I am wondering if I am missing something by not trying it out. First, the questions:
1. If my machine can play DA:O, will it be able to play ME:2? If not, the rest of the questions become superflous. I have a non-gaming rig, which does, however, play DA:O fairly well (to me at least), but I am unfamiliar with shooters.
2. Like I said, I am unfamiliar with shooters; the only "shooter" I ever enjoyed was Deus Ex (the first) and Thief II (if you can call that a shooter). Deus Ex is amongst some of my favorite computer games of all time (the others include Baldurs Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment). But if ME:2 is a bit like Deus Ex (very narrative, very story-driven, great background, great sound) then I think I will like it. Is it? Is it more story or more shooter?
3. The Mass Effect website is rubbish. I don't see much info on it. Would you say it is as good as DA:O?
Thank you.
If you can play DA:O you should be able to play ME2, I think. At least I do and my computer has some time.
Dragon Age: Origins is a more old school roleplaying game (pausable continous turns and all that) while Mass Effect 2 would be a cinematic roleplaying game (action oriented in its first person shooter style). Unlike Dragon Age, you won't be able to speak with your team mates during the missions and it's more streamlined than DA in options (not huge inventory problems, for example). It has great background and I love the story (and it has Tali!!! ) and it must be good enough to have me enjoying it considering that I don't like shooters. Ok, I play it in casual, which helps me to advance in the story but I still have fun taking cover, issuing orders to my team mates, head shooting enemies with my sniper rifle...
About it being as good as Dragon Age... Uf, it's not so dark, that's for sure and they are different genres anyway. And executed in different styles too, which really makes a difference about what they can offer you. Despite the FPS style of Mass Effect, I loved that game. And I'm loving even more Mass Effect 2. Dragon Age was a game I wanted to replay. So far, I feel the same for Mass Effect 2.
Thanks, WS. Could you compare it to Deus Ex?
Unfortunately, I cannot compare it to Deus Ex as I haven't played it. Neither Thief II. Mass Effect was the first (and only, until Mass Effect 2) "shooter" I have played since MDK (around 1997?) .
Suppose I'll throw this in here..
It's been made quite clear if you die at the end of Mass Effect 2, that save can not be loaded into Mass Effect 3. That's fine, but does anyone know if you can take that character and begin another playthrough on a harder difficulty?
For Hybrid games Deus Ex in my opinion is still king (System Shock 2 and and Thief series are amazing too.)Now Mass Effect 2 is another bioware hit. Ya its a good buy. I would also pick up ME1 too (if your going to get ME2.) So you have a Character to bring with ya for the trilogy (ie all those choices adding up.)
It has good narrative, story-driven, lot of backround info you can read up, music and sound is great. The inventory isnt as big as Deus Ex (more so in ME2.) Combat wise ME series it isnt as open as Deus Ex, ie all stealth, shot everything up, and whatever the hell ya want to play as. Now its still freaking fun though. And yes Im going to replay it alot when i get time.
If you can play DA:O then you should be able to play ME2.
David- Yes you can. You can make a character new character, load character from ME1, and take a charcter from ME2 ie you finish a game and want to play again. When you start a new playthrough it asks what you want to do I believe.
Where do you get to play it in a FPS view? I'm always stuck in third person or over the shoulder third person.
Er... my mistake. No "first" view, sorry. I should have stayed with the "shooter" word but got distracted while writing. My apologies.
I knew that much, just wondering if your characters death at the end of a ME2 playthrough will prevent you doing it, not letting you playthrough ME2 again with the character in the same way it won't let you import to ME3.
Oh well it's no big deal. You kind of got my hopes up for a second. I would of like some parts of the game to allow FPS action.
I like Mass Effect 1 and 2 better than Dragon Age, but I generally favor scifi over fantasy. All the big differences between the two have been mentioned by above posters, but there is one thing I didn't notice mentioned, or at least not explained completely, which is my favorite part of Mass Effect.
In your standard RPG when it's your character's turn to talk, you have a set of options to choose from. These options are exactly what your character is saying and you never hear your character say it, because it would get old real quick to hear your character read off what you just selected.
Mass Effect doesn't do it this way. When it's your turn to talk you have some options that are just the gist, or general feel of what your character will say. Once you make a selection your character says whatever the creators have scripted to fit with the option you selected. Doing the dialogue this way makes the entire experience more cinematic and really sucks you into the story. This aspect alone puts these games at the top of my RPG list and I really wish more games would steal the idea.
I also didn't see the annoying time trap side of these games mentioned above. Mass Effect 1 is loaded with really awful side quests which provide much needed resources and almost no fun. Mass Effect 2 made this a little better by introducing resource scanning of planets, which is also not fun, but not as time consuming to get resources when you need them.
In the realm of gameplay it doesn't compare to Deus Ex, but nothing I've played ever really does. Now that I'm thinking about it, I want to get my hands on it again and give it another play through.
All of that said, both Mass Effect 1 and 2 are definitely worth playing.
David- if you die you can load your dead ME2 character up for another play through. This time hopefully things go better.
The box makes a big deal deal out of being able to go on with your char if you survivie, but you can just rezz and redo. And i gotta agree, the way dialouge is set up is great, plus the paragon/renegade interupts are sweet. Only thing that is bad about the game are the bullshit resource mini-games.
If this helps, the only really negative reviews I saw of ME2 seemed to be those of old-school-die-hard RPG fans who complained because it stripped away a lot of the core elements of the RPG (inventory, turn-based combat, etc.) So if you're looking for a traditional RPG just in a space setting, don't go with this one. IMO, definitely worth it, but definitely get ME1 as well and play through it first. It's an excellent game in its own right, and the continuity is really necessary to get the full experience.
However, to answer your first question, the only real element it shares with Dragon Age is the conversation system, and Mass Effect 2 ups the ante as the decisions you make shape the galaxy on a whole new, instead of just what happens to your party.
The only thing I dislike of Mass Effect 2 is the Bypass minigames. Only bearable with the tool that doubles the time to beat them. (I'm clumsy like that, sue me) The hacking minigames are fun though.
I can't speak for Mass Effect 2, but I'm playing through the first one again to prepare for getting the second one...
Mass Effect is more like dragon age than deus ex. Combat is brief and intense (with a tactical pause screen where you can command squadmates to move and use powers) and you spend most of the time talking and running around like in an rpg. As Hawawaa said, there's not as many options for fighting: no non-lethal option, no stealth, you fight with guns and "biotics"/techs (spells).
If you liked Deus Ex and Dragon Age, I'd recommend Mass Effect.
I'm playing ME to work up to ME2 as well. I'm really enjoying ME. I've never been interested in traditional RPG's because I don't really go for the fantasy theme. I really like the sci-fi theme of this one. It's just a great game, too bad Bioware had to go to EA to publish it.
For the elements you mentioned, of being story and character driven, I suppose it's similar to Deus Ex. But the gameplay doesn't really compare to those older first-person games. Deus Ex and especially the Thiefs focused a lot more on the environment, encouraging you to use it and giving you tools to do so. Stealth and even simply going around were generally real options. The Mass Effect games are much more straightforward in their gameplay; you're mostly shooting and talking, with some mini-games leading to sidequests or better equipment thrown in. Most of the time, they want you to feel confident where to walk next and how to get there, at least within a mission.
I haven't played Dragon Age, but I think Mass Effect compares more to it and other "western" RPGs. Just replace turn-based combat with realtime shooter combat (albeit pausable, it's not as hectic as some straight shooters).
Bottom line: If you mention Deus Ex because you liked the way it merged story and combat, I think you'd like Mass Effect. Just don't expect the same breadth of mechanics for accomplishing things.
I just finished my first run through of ME2 with my imported character from ME1. The final mission from start to finish is just fabulous. By the time you get to it, you really get connected to your team in a way I didn't in the first. I was in tears of joy at the end. Great, great story.
Big DA:O fan, but the two games are definitely not different skins of the same mechanics. I tend to prefer more of a classical RPG like DA:O, but the writing, cinematics, and uniqueness of ME2 carries it through for me quite well.
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