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created Mass Effect 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker = Fantastic
on 09-08-2010 12:10 AM
Honestly, I never expected so much from a DLC. It came out (after alot of fuss) yesterday and having jsut finished it, I gotta say that it was one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long time. Better than any other mission in Mass Effect 2 itself even.
I already posted my thoughts on another forum, so I'll just paste - DO NOT READ THE SPOILERS. If you havn't finished it, do yourself a favor and don't ruin anything - this is a fantastic pack and it deserves to be played properly.
Some things that bugged me was the lack of any input from your crewmates - I get they can't just pull in everyone to do hours of voice work, but it really irked me that when the spectre is escaping, you see your companions (Garrus and Kasumi for me) run up to the ledge and just watch. No one draws a weapon. Garrus is a fucking sniper and he does shit all. Bioware could have at least have them take some pot shots for effect. I have no clue why that bugged me so much. It really isn't important.
I hated the end fight. The shadow broker was chilling as a smug omniscient puppetmaster, and the drama of facing him was ruined by a shitty 'hit his weakspot three times then destroy him with the environment' generic bossfight. If this where zelda you could put him in the second dungeon. Very disappointing. The fight also took place in the dullest environment in the whole DLC. Speaking of which, all the environments where jaw droppingly stunning, and as a wannabe environment artist, crazy inspirational.
I found the dialouge in this DLC very cathartic. I never romanced Liara in this save, and their relationship as close friends was handled well. I Really really enjoyed dialogue options after the mission. After a thinking about it, I chose frustrated when Liara asks how I'm doing. Goddamn did that pin down my thoughts EXACTLY. I hate having to deal with Cerberus' bullshit, I hate having former old friends shit on me after I was dead and I hate how the council and alliance are ignoring whats going on. Shep just voiced all of my quarrels with the plot and it was fantastic.
At the end of it all the last shot of shepard...  he genuinely looked like a man with the weight of the universe on his shoulders.
'I'm commander Shepard and this is my favorite DLC on the market!'
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, dedicated polycounter,
1,606 Posts,
Join Date Oct 2008,
Location UK
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Yeah I played it through yesterday, really awesome stuff, it really impressed me and I really think it's worth the money. The game is darker that's for sure, but I like that, really makes my hyped about the third game, you just know it'll be amazing.
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, dedicated polycounter,
1,644 Posts,
Join Date Sep 2009,
Location Sweden/Malmö
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You can color me disappointed.
It doesn't work on PC yet.
Cheese.
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, null,
16 Posts,
Join Date Aug 2010,
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ha, yeah that was pretty funny. But, I played it on PC. It works fine now.
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, dedicated polycounter,
1,606 Posts,
Join Date Oct 2008,
Location UK
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As soon as I up my MS points and finish my project, I'm in for some ME:2 add-ons.
Lamont G.- Environment Artist - UbiSoft Osaka
CGBYLG.com
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, card carrying polycounter,
2,275 Posts,
Join Date Dec 2008,
Location Japan
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I need all the ME2 DLC at some point. Same for Dragon Age, but I haven't had time lately to play games at all. 
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, triangle,
459 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2010,
Location Natick, MA
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ME2 makes we wanna puke... literally.
Whoever decided to use such low FOV should burn in hell. I liked ME2 (as opposed to its predecessor) but never got around to finishing it.
Does anyone know if Bioware will release any patches along with this DLC? I've been hoping for a customizable FOV for a long time.
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, polycounter,
1,218 Posts,
Join Date Aug 2009,
Location Nottingham, UK
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I myself have not played either of the Mass Effect games, so I cannot say I am an expert. Just last week I was at a friend's apartment while he was playing it, and might I just say that the lip sync animation was atrocious. It drove me up the wall, I couldn't even stand watching it.
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, spline,
157 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2009,
Location Bellevue, WA
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Games like oblivion, fallout, and mass effect where there are probably 50 hours or more voice over, studios end up having to use automated lip-sync systems, with each of these games you see a lot of bad syncing. It really is something people need to just look past, like clipping its almost unavoidable, and that probably never stopped you from playing a game.
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, dedicated polycounter,
1,686 Posts,
Join Date Sep 2009,
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I understand that to an extent. But when a character is yelling and his/her mouth is moving as if they're mumbling, that really aught to be fixed. If the character was talking normally it didn't bother me as much, but when it's not just a normal conversation, the animations should be tweaked so they don't look so blatantly bad.
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, spline,
157 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2009,
Location Bellevue, WA
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all 3 DLC to me were awesome, but as said before, this specific one is above anything else, maybe even most of the main game missions.
the part on the hull of the broker's ship wtf man that was so awesome, and really reminiscent of the ending of ME1
I'm a bit sad though because I still have 14 exp points left to get to level 30  I have that mission where I have to ask about sushis in the citadel but no idea how to find this, ah well
can't wait for ME3, I really enjoyed this one, even though it is clearly a transition between 2 huge story events
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This is one of the last things i worked on before i left EA, Bioware is a fantastic studio and is doing awesome things if you liked this wait until you see what they have cooking 
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, dedicated polycounter,
1,787 Posts,
Join Date Oct 2008,
Location Vancouver, BC
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I must be losing my mind.. cant find it on steam...
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, card carrying polycounter,
2,160 Posts,
Join Date Oct 2004,
Location In a Jungle
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Perfect timing as I just finished Mafia 2. Yay me! Cant wait to see what they are cooking cause Im really Bioware hungry over here.
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, polygon,
585 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2008,
Location Tarsier Studios, Sweden
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I just finnished this and it was great! Even better than most of the ME2 missions. It was great to have Liara back on the team.
So is this the game that ties in with ME3 or is it Overlord? Perhaps it's a yet to be released DLC? Does anybody know?
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, polycounter,
1,128 Posts,
Join Date Apr 2010,
Location Sweden
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MegaMoogle
I understand that to an extent. But when a character is yelling and his/her mouth is moving as if they're mumbling, that really aught to be fixed. If the character was talking normally it didn't bother me as much, but when it's not just a normal conversation, the animations should be tweaked so they don't look so blatantly bad.
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A lot of the times, the compression on the animations just kill it.
I remember watching an animator try to animate someone puffing on a cigar, just to watch the cigar keep clipping through his already closed mouth. No matter what he did, he just couldn't fix it without having the mouth open so wide you could see his tonsils when he quietly talks or leave the final keyframe someone open... both looking atrocious.
Video games are a bad medium for animating believable lip sync.
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, card carrying polycounter,
2,264 Posts,
Join Date Aug 2006,
Location Montreal QC, Canada
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JacqueChoi
A lot of the times, the compression on the animations just kill it.
I remember watching an animator try to animate someone puffing on a cigar, just to watch the cigar keep clipping through his already closed mouth. No matter what he did, he just couldn't fix it without having the mouth open so wide you could see his tonsils when he quietly talks or leave the final keyframe someone open... both looking atrocious.
Video games are a bad medium for animating believable lip sync.
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That's interesting. Do you know what system they were using? Morph targets?
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, polycounter,
1,128 Posts,
Join Date Apr 2010,
Location Sweden
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Glad people are enjoying it. I made the car chase level. Haven't actually played through it yet apart from my level. Still waiting for my access code. :/
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, triangle,
266 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2008,
Location Edmonton, Alberta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irreal
Glad people are enjoying it. I made the car chase level. Haven't actually played through it yet apart from my level. Still waiting for my access code. :/
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The car chase level was in my opinion one of the best levels. It was nice to do something other than running around shooting bad guys. I guess you used attack of the clones as reference? ;)
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, polycounter,
1,128 Posts,
Join Date Apr 2010,
Location Sweden
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Yeah Attack of the Clones and Blade Runner mainly. I avoided skydiving apprentice Jedis though :/
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, triangle,
266 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2008,
Location Edmonton, Alberta
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Will I see more of this?

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, dedicated polycounter,
1,358 Posts,
Join Date Nov 2009,
Location Niagara Falls, Ontario
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My lips are sealed. Unlike Shepards. That grin haunts my dreams.
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, triangle,
266 Posts,
Join Date Feb 2008,
Location Edmonton, Alberta
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