Mass Effect 2

[Naren]

Originally Posted by Chris

Did you do all of their gear upgrades as well? Eg: Omni tools for Mordin, etc?

I got all of Mordin's upgrades. I think there is one upgrade for Tali I didn't get, but for her to die just because she missed one upgrade is bullshit. I got all the possible upgrades for Zaeed, but he was just the wrong person to choose. I knew it was a suicide mission, though.

[Naren]

I think it's impossible to get through the suicide mission with everyone alive on my game. I went through and did every single side-mission (ones you get through "anomalies" on planets and the ones you get from people in cities) and that left me with 110,000 credits, which was only enough to buy one 90,000 credit upgrade (I had upgraded everything available on my ship and bought every upgrade in the game except for about 5 in Ilium). After that, I only had 20,000 credits left, but the cheapest upgrade left was 75,000 credits. And there is no possible way to get money to buy these upgrades.

After doing all that, I tried the mission with Mordin and he got shot in the head. I restarted and did with Tali again and she got shot in the head as well. Besides that, none of the upgrades I haven't bought look like they could possibly save her life (the ones I haven't bought are a skin weave for Shepard, some weapon upgrades, and one biotic upgrade). I'm pretty sure I've researched and purchased all of the tech upgrades and all of the Quarian upgrades.

Poor design? A bug?

[Josh]

Weird!

Loyal Tali or Loyal Legion are supposed to survive the vents. Loyal Miranda, Jacob, or Garrus are supposed to survive leadership roles, although I'm not sure if Miranda is tough enough to survive the second one as I haven't tried here there. Loyal Jack or Samara should do the biotics bit, and anyone loyal and unnecessary should return with the crew. Also, loyal characters will survive the final mission if they're part of your squad; this is important with Mordin as he tends to die (glitch?) if left at the holding action regardless of loyalty status. Either send him back or bring him all the way to guarantee his survival.

It does seem to be kind of random though. I did everything 'right' (without checking any guides or anything, I did that afterwards) and got everyone to survive. My friend chose Jacob for the vents and lost him, everyone else was perfectly 100% loyal and yet Jack failed at the biotic area and two others died in the holding action. I don't actually know how it works.

[Naren]

Yeah, all my characters are--of course--loyal. You can get Legion to do the vents? Maybe I should try him, then.

I always use Samara for the leader of the second team and she gets through perfectly with no casualties. The first time I went through, Mordin died at the end and I'm guessing that's because of the "glitch" you're talking about. First time: Tali, Zaeed, and Mordin died. I've tried several times since then, but every single person I've tried in the vents has died (but I haven't tried Legion. Maybe I should).

Edit:

I tried a bunch of different stuff and I was able to get through the mission without anyone dying. I checked a website online and it said that Mordin and Tali were two characters that died really easily, Mordin oftentimes dying at the end, even if he was loyal and had every upgrade possible. So, I sent him back with the rescued crew and I put all the weak members in my party so that they wouldn't die. Worked like a charm.

[Chris]

New DLC announced for April 6:

Mass Effect 2 DLC 'Kasumi's Stolen Memory' lands on Apr. 6 (don't forget!) -- Joystiq

Priced at $5, which is kind of suprising since I thought that was the whole idea behind paying for the Cerberus Network.

[Josh]

Huh. I guess the Cerberus Network only earns us some free DLC, not all of it.

Although we didn't have to pay any extra for it, just actually buy the game (not the used version) and create an EA account

[Vince]

The only flaw with ME2 is the load times. I just bought a bigger HD and now can install games, and even after installing both discs of ME2, load times are ridiculously epic.

Yeah the disc doesn't spin and the unit is a lot quieter, but is that really the only benefit?

[Ambrosius]

Just beat it. Holy hot damn that was awesome. I think I'm going to reload before the final mission and do the last decision differently. Having serious second thoughts about trusting something with someone.

One thing I'll give this game is there is a lot more gray area with the decisions than the first game. I played through the first one choosing what I'd choose if I were actually in Shepard's shoes and didn't feel bad or divided about anything (oddly enough ended up mostly renegade). Through the sequel I had to stop a few minutes and contemplate for a bit especially considering the implications of some of these decisions in ME3.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Vince

The only flaw with ME2 is the load times. I just bought a bigger HD and now can install games, and even after installing both discs of ME2, load times are ridiculously epic.

Yeah the disc doesn't spin and the unit is a lot quieter, but is that really the only benefit?

Hm, I never had an issue with load times at all, they were extremely quick.

[Chris]

..And oh shit, I completely forgot about the DLC that's out now!

* Chris knows what he's doing tomorrow