Should I play Mass Effect before diving into its sequel?

[Dobie]

I took advantage of the Kmart sale on Mass Effect 2 yesterday, snagging a copy for $20. I've heard really good things about it, and I'm really interested in playing it. However, I also understand that the first one is not very good compared to the sequel. But that you can cross over your characters and it changes the story in ME2 if you have played the original.

So... do I need to get the first one and play it? Or can I dive into ME2 right away and "get" the story and everything? How long would a playthrough of ME1 take?

[exit]

Yes. Some events you trigger and choices you make in the first game carry over to the second via save file. It took me around 18 hours to beat the first one and it really didn't feel like that long, since I was completely drawn into it's world.

I myself plan on heading to K-Mart to pick ME2 up, since I've yet to play it and $20 is a hard bargain to pass up.

[Trumpman]

Yes, definitely. Pretty much everything you do in Mass Effect 1 carries over into the second. While most of it is just minor detail, a few major plot twists have a big impact on your experience in the second game. I'm not sure how the second game brings you in if you haven't played the first, but you will understand the plot much better by playing the first game. If you skip the admittedly pretty boring sidequests, you can finish Mass Effect 1 pretty quickly, probably in under 20 hours. On top of all that, it is still, in my opinion, one of the best games available for the 360. The dialogue system in both games is simply unmatched; other Western RPGs like Fallout 3 pale in comparison. In addition, I actually prefer some of the first game's RPG elements to those of Mass Effect 2, which was streamlined almost too close to a third person shooter for my liking.

tl; dr: Yeah, you should pick it up.

[Dobie]

I have to admit, the fact that the 2nd sounded more like a 3rd person shooter vs. an RPG is what interested me. Combined w/ the price. I'm more of a shooter than an RPG fan. I'll see if I can pick up the first one then, and give it a try. The story and universe look really cool.

[chicnstu]

I also recommend playing through the first before playing ME2, but only because your decisions carry over. Mass Effect has a whole lot of gameplay problems like it was rushed to release a year or two early, but it's worth playing through for the story. It's a bad game, but it's a wonderful story.

[ubersaurus]

Heh, I loved the first Mass Effect, but the 2nd one was just better in practically every regard. The story carry-over is part of what makes the sequel so excellent, however, and it is definitely harder to go back to the first game once you've played the 2nd. So I would suggest playing ME1 before 2.

[retroman]

yep.....no brainer

[heybtbm]

I have to admit, the fact that the 2nd sounded more like a 3rd person shooter vs. an RPG is what interested me. Combined w/ the price. I'm more of a shooter than an RPG fan. I'll see if I can pick up the first one then, and give it a try. The story and universe look really cool.

There's plenty of shooting in the 1st game. You won't be disappointed in that regard.

On the story side of things...you have to play the first one just to know what's going on in part 2. The main plot you could read on Wikipedia, but that's not what makes the Mass Effect universe so fascinating. It's the little things. The hours upon hours of history, lore, locations, alien races...the whole thing is so well thought out and most of all: interesting.

Only playing ME2 and skipping ME1 is pointless IMO. If shooting is all your after, there's tons of better shooters out there. Mass Effect = story. That is its main draw.

[heybtbm]

Mass Effect...It's a bad game


You are in a distinct minority with that opinion. To each their own, but still.

[The 1 2 P]

I took advantage of the Kmart sale on Mass Effect 2 yesterday, snagging a copy for $20.

I looked both on their website and in this week's Kmart ad and there was no mention of Mass Effect 2 for $20. Show us a link.

EDIT: I just saw it listed at the bottom of their game page but it showed an error when I tried to click on it. But atleast it featured that price. I'm going to pick it up this week.

[SkiDragon]

Ok, I actually think that the original Mass Effect is a much better game, so absolutely. Mass Effect 2 did not do much to advance the plot. It was just a bunch of character collection/loyalty missions, and to "grind" you have to move a cursor around a bunch of barren planets until you find "minerals" of some sort.

[Dobie]

I looked both on their website and in this week's Kmart ad and there was no mention of Mass Effect 2 for $20. Show us a link.

EDIT: I just saw it listed at the bottom of their game page but it showed an error when I tried to click on it. But atleast it featured that price. I'm going to pick it up this week.

FWIW, its been all over the internet. Cheapassgamer, blogs, etc. Here's where I saw it first. Dunno if you can get it online or not. I got it in store, they had it listed on the shelves at $40, but it rang up at $20 on Sunday.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/11/kmart-instore-deals-next-week-include-mass-effect-2-bfbc2-heav/

Grabbed ME1 used at GS yesterday. I'll pop it in this weekend. Looking forward to it!

[chicnstu]

You are in a distinct minority with that opinion. To each their own, but still.

Yeah, I probably am :) I've been trying since the day it released to understand why it is loved so much. I went to Walmart on release day, spent my hard earned $60 on the game because of the great reviews, loved the beginning, but was eventually extremely disappointed with every aspect of the game except the story. I feel like it was well received only because it has BioWare's name on it. I mean, it seems so logical to me that, compared to other games, the gameplay is absolutely terrible. The shooting, the cover system, the AI, the inventory system, the length of the game for it to be partly called an RPG, the design of the side-quest environments, the framerate, scene glitches, etc. The story is well written, that's the only positive I can think of for the game and I've completed Mass Effect twice (Because your decisions carry over to ME2 and I read that the sequel improves on everything). The graphics look great, but why does that matter when the framerate is often only ~18 FPS?

[maxlords]

I ditto this. I found Mass Effect 2 to be an absolutely horrible disappointment. The first one is in my top ten of all time.


Ok, I actually think that the original Mass Effect is a much better game, so absolutely. Mass Effect 2 did not do much to advance the plot. It was just a bunch of character collection/loyalty missions, and to "grind" you have to move a cursor around a bunch of barren planets until you find "minerals" of some sort.

[ianoid]

I've been putting off ME2 to finish ME, but I'm not that compelled by the gameplay. I guess 18 hours is not hard for me, that will take me like a month or a few weeks since I should be about 5 or 8 hours in. I was looking forward to ME2 because I'm a little bogged down by the RPG elements, and I suck at the battle controls. Perhaps it's because I only play it now and again. And I never play games on 'easy', when that's probably more appropriate.

I will probably like ME2 better. And this thread is certainly inspiration to press onward with ME.

[Gentlegamer]

I haven't played Mass Effect 2, but Mass Effect is one of my favorite games of this generation. Fantastic game, the only bad parts are the inventory management and the Moon Patrol parts in the Mako, which are mostly optional (finding minerals). None of those are a deal breaker, though.