LOL! Like there's time to do that before Tuesday!

Do a speed run

Hey guys I never played ME 1...do I need to play that first or can I just jump in to this one? thanks

Given that you continue with the same character from the first one and it's part of a big story arc, I would say it would be a far better experience if you played the first one. Since the first game is only $20, you should definitely give it a shot first. Although some people found it boring.

Don't forget about actions regarding

In my Mass Effect playthrough I

Looking forward to seeing how it affects me. I finished the game at level 50.

I think I was pretty close to that



I'll probably stick with soldier again or try Vanguard. I didn't use biotics much when I played. I usually had a combat heavy team with Shepard, Ashley, and either Garrus or Wrex. I don't think I ever took Tali or the Asari chick out on a mission.

All the reviews say that as well.

in fact IGN looks like it lowered its score a small bit because the game has so much tied to the first game.....

My most recent playthrough (3rd time with same character):



I really hope all of the major problems with ME1 on the PC were ironed out for 2. It was irritating to play for 3 hours, only to have quite a bit erased when my machine crashed.

A look back at Penny Arcade and their Mass Effect strips:


http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/9/19/


http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/14/


http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/16/


http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/19/

The elevator one is great, that was my only gripe with the first game.

I remember the elevator one. The only one of those that I found amusing... although 1 out of 4 is pretty decent for Penny Arcade comics

Again, I will point out that the elevators are used to cover up load screens. Now, maybe you could argue that the game could be designed so that it doesn't need load screens, but assuming you have them ... staring at Shepard standing in an elevator vs. staring at some load screen message? It makes no difference.

They did the same bitching about the elevators in Mirror's Edge and they served the same purpose. Of course Mirror's Edge's graphics at least justified the long elevator rides. Can't say the same about Mass Effect's xbox level graphics.

I'm currently replaying Mass Effect and I think the graphics are high quality -- definitely better than previous generation quality. Now, Dragon Age on the other hand ... I enjoyed thayt game, but the graphics were definitely not the selling point ...

Yeah, I thought Mass Effect looks pretty good (i'm playing it through right now). Just look at the textures on the Krogan and Turian characters and they're absolutely fantastic.

Aw, poo - you don't get to keep the way your customized Shepard looked in the last game.

They give you pretty much just one face (very different than the last one), and you get to pick different colors and stuff.

I liked how mine looked much better than this new style - for the female Shep, anyways...:

Female Shepard looks ugly

I think there was a Tali mission but not sure if there was an Asari chick mission. I didn't use Biotics either. Just all the guns.

I thought the Gel one was great, but yeah same old Penny Arcade

The elevators didn't bother me at all. It took what 15 extra seconds? Even the slow ass Normandy one wasn't bad.

Have you ever played KotOR? That was Xbox-level graphics. Mass Effect's graphics are way beyond that level.




Dragon Age on maxed out settings on a high-end PC are significantly better than either of the console versions. The problem with Dragon Age is that it actually started development way back in 2004 right around the time Jade Empire came out. It was originally meant to be a PC-only game. When EA got their grubby hands on Bioware in 2008, that was when it was changed to be released on the consoles as well. So the console versions had much shorter development times and consequently weren't as optimized as the PC version. There is a huge world of difference, both graphically and gameplay-wise, between the PC version and the console versions. It is very blatantly obvious that the console versions were made as an afterthought.

Below are some in-game shots of female Shepard, and while she looks okay on a technical level, she just looks wrong for Shepard - my female Shepard from the first game didn't look as good technically, but looked a lot more appropriate for the character.

I'm in the same boat as Fu Man Stan to I didn't play the first game either. And it seems like Halo has a solid storyline that if you didn't play the first one then you may be somewhat lost. Kinda of like watching Lord of the rings 2nd movie without watching the first.

About how long playthru is this (ME-1)? And is this something that all the missions have to be completed in order exactlly or what?