So.... anyone else pick this up (for) today?

I've just finished a lovely 14 hour session on it (oh the joys of skipping lectures ) after buying it on Steam (hence a roughly 1am start - activating it was a bit of a pain).

Overall i can see why it's had very highly scored reviews. The game as a whole is fantastic... probably the best cinematic game i've played. However in the process of tightening up the 3rd Person Shooter aspect, they ditched a lot of the RPG mechanics from the original.

In principle i understand that there were issues with the mechanics of the first game whereby you put points into certain fields which gave incremental increases per point, but on the whole it added up quite significantly. Thus, every time you levelled up you felt like you'd only improved incrementally as well. I think it was only till i got to about level 35ish that i actually realised how "strong" my character was after managing to singlehandedly take down a room of enemies which would have been hell to plan for at the beginning. The system now is more "rank" based in which you put points in to attain ranks of 1, 2, 3 and 4 (which coincide with the number of points required to achieve said rank). Each rank brings a more substantial boost in power but in the process of earning enough points to boost a rank you stay at the same level for a period of time. As i said, whilst in principle it works, Bioware instead of taking the system from the first game and applying the new rank system onto it have streamlined it further combining many of the powers and abilities which ultimately just seems to feel like a lack of variety now between powers.

Another thing that's had an overhaul is the equipment system. Whilst it makes things simpler and more streamlined, there's a certain loss when you no longer are able to find that lovely new assault rifle with remarkably better stats. I loved the equipment aspect of the first game, and i whilst in general i dislike the fact there were clearly "the best items in the game" that you ultimately always worked towards, it gave a target and a sense of accomplishment when you did manage to find/buy one. Also, with this they created a whole universe of various equipment manufactuers all of which had their own benefits which now seem to have been relegated to "oh this weapon you're using is made by this manufacturer, that's that" with the only variety coming in the form of upgrades you can buy/find for each weapon type.

Now, bitching aside, especially since i've been on a 5 day binge of the original game to level up a character, if the "loot" and character development rpg side of things have taken a step back, the character interactions and atmosphere of the whole game have been raised to another level. I would say that ME2 probably has one of the best living breathing worlds i've come across. Each place feels like it could actually exist in the future with various banter going on between NPCs (that doesn't even have to be related to the mission at hand) and each of the characters have their quirks so that they do "feel" like they could be real people. Another note about the characters, whilst i haven't recruited all of them yet, i have to say if they're all to the same quality then i really have to commend bioware for putting so much... character into them. In the first game, the characters showed personality but never expressed it that well or in any situation outside of when you engaged in conversation. Now they'll make jokes during cutscenes (i remember the original was criticised for not having any humour) and have various comments when either in a firefight or just exploring a new location (similar to KoTOR but it's not done as a dialogue scene, just hear them speaking).

Ultimately i really would recommend this game to any RPG or Shooter fan whether you've played the first game or not. In fact i think if you haven't then you'd probably enjoy it more seeing as you won't notice how badly they've nerfed the RPG system . So from an objective standpoint and not taking into account the first game (and how it differs), i can really see how it could get game of the year.

However i shall end on a slightly criticising note... whilst the game itself is amazingly polished, i find there are lots of small things that Bioware didn't address be it due to not being bothered, time constraints or lack of adequate testing/feedback. Things such as scroll wheels not working on the menu's, not being able to double click to select certain things in menu's (squad mates, planets etc.). Also i have to say that the controls really need getting used to since after a ME1 binge they decided to make them "tighter" in line with the shooter mechanics upgrade. It follows the Gears of War style Spacebar to Run (when held), get into cover and use; they also bound the "command menu" (pauses action to issue orders/abilities etc.) to shift which completely differs from the first game which had an auto cover system, shift to run and spacebar to access the command menu. It ultimately just means i end up leaving cover when i don't want to (trying to access the command menu), not going into cover when i expect to and not being able to open doors (initially - since in the first game it was bound it E... like every other game). However the best thing about all the aforementioned problems is that they seem like they can be fixed in a patch... and whilst some people will complain that it should have been fixed on release (i could probably be on of them), it's fairly easy to adapt to and the sheer quality of the other aspects of the game (bar the RPG mechanics ) make up for it in so many different ways.

Anyhow, i never actually set out to write so much text... i think i got to carried away with their bastardisation of the RPG system .

Either way, the game is easily recommended... probably the best game this year (if it weren't for Bayonetta - i joke... or do i? It'd be close ).

Had 4 hours playtime so far and I love it. I brought over my character from the first game (so I got a lovely level/cash bonus) with a bit of facial reconstruction. I cant review the game as I havent played it enough yet but so far its spot on. I just need more time to play it!

I'm looking forward to getting this in the next couple of weeks, just finished playing ME1 again so I'll bring my save game over.

I completed it yesterday morning... i think the statistic that my friend worked out was that i completed it in 40 hours of the 60 that it had been out lol.

My opinion on the game hasn't changed as a whole, overall it's still a fantastic game although i think that there aren't enough "story missions". Unfortunately half the game seems to be saddled with actually assembling your team before mounting your last mission so in that respect, it's rather short (compared to the first game at least). Don't get me wrong, it'll still probably take you around... 8-10 hours doing just the story missions which is half acceptable these days (and the scope obviously allows for so much more). It's just that each of the story missions aren't as long or as branching as the first and as a review pointed out, they're structured more like an fps/3ps level

I guess my whole qualm with this is that the only thing side missions do is make your life easier, not through what happens in the game but merely because you level up your character. It's because of this that I end up feeling it's more of a grind for the latter playthroughs although it feels nowhere near as tedious as the first game (apart from scanning planets... good luck console people , just watched my flatmate do it on the 360 and you're going to be sat there for ages ).

I still have issues with the RPG system although i think i've grown more accustomed to it, the same with the inventory/equipment where the focus is now more on finding upgrades for you weapons as opposed to a better weapon. I don't necessarily prefer this system since there seem to be a definitive amount of upgrades which can only be found on certain planets. I guess in that way it rewards you for playing/exploring, however i'd prefer it if there was the possibility of buying all the upgrades or finding all the upgrades thus giving you two different ways of achieving it since now there are some upgrades which *have* to be bought and some upgrades which can only be found.