Wait, why restart then? The series of events is only put into motion once you complete the Reaper IFF mission, not get it - only do it when everything else is done, but it doesn't matter at all how long it's been available. I don't think it's even possible to complete all the normal missions before it becomes available.

I'm looking forward to ME3 too. In fact I just got my female Sentinel to level 60 for ME2.

ME is the best game of all time in my view. One of the few games I still play. There are few other games with the same passion and life for me.

Because I now know how the final mission works, I have begun mixing it up using dice to select which suqd members will do missions.

I have a couple of characters with 100% survival. But I want to see what happens when not everyone survives. in one renegade playthroughonly four survived.

Using an non-loyal squad member can result in a different squad member dying. I used Samara for the biotic field mission, but because she wasn't loyal, Jack was killed even though she was loyal.

I should clarify when I say the IFF went off, I'm referring to the part where everyone gets in the shuttle to go nowhere in particular and the Collectors are alerted to the Normandy's location. Once that happens, you need to go through the Omega 4 relay IMMEDIATELY or the only survivor of the captured crew will be the doctor (I learned this from my first ME2 play-through back in the day).

Once the Omega 4 mission activates, if you haven't done everything, you've sort of faced with an impossible choice if you want everybody to get back alive.

Either some of your team won't make it back because you haven't done their loyalty missions or if you do those after your crew is captured, you see your crew get liquified instead of the colonists.




I make Kasumi go through the pipes to open up the doors because, I find Kasumi to be largely useless and I'd be much less upset to lose Kasumi than Tali.

Then they're not available afterward or in ME3.

Also, if NOBODY survives, then neither will Shepard and the game will end and not be importable to ME3.

Same thing happens if you use a biotic who isn't a loyal Samara or a loyal Jack for that mission. Miranda volunteers, but if you use her as your biotic, someone dies. Even if she's loyal.


So far as I know, here's how people die in ME2.

If you don't have upgraded shields, someone dies.
If you don't have upgraded armor, someone dies.
If you don't have upgraded weapons, someone dies.
If you use someone who isn't enough of a tech expert (meaning Kasumi or Tali) to go through the pipes, they die (I think).
If you don't use loyal Samara or loyal Jack as your biotic, someone dies.
If your second team leaders aren't loyal, they die.
If you don't have enough people holding the rear guard when you go kill the human reaper, I think they all die. I could be wrong about that. Helps if they're not loyal. Also it apparently helps if you don't send people who are trained soldiers like Garrus or Legion with the second team. I say that because on my first playthrough, everyone was loyal and everyone survived until the last part of the mission but for some reason Tali died there anyway. I still don't know why. I sent Tali back to the ship with the crew from then on.

I don't think you can send an escort with the crew. I've heard they'll survive even if they're not loyal, but I haven't tried it out.

Oh, and as I have mentioned before, you have to wait to go through the Omega 4 relay or the crew will survive.

If you do these steps correctly, the only living person on the busted up Normandy should be a very depressed Joker.

I actually quite like Kasumi.

I realise that if people die they wont be in ME3. I just want to see if the game experience changes, if at all, by not having everyone there. But I am not trying to necessarily survive with the minimum number of squad members, although I am sure others will try this.

Also, by using dice, I just like to make the outcome a bit more unpredictable. Although each Shepard will have certain squad members he/she will try to keep alive.

I have nothing against the character, but, well, one of her comments was about not much use for a thief on a starship. I found there wasn't much use for a thief anywhere else other than her own loyalty mission.

It's not like Zaeed where I don't like the character, I just find her to be relatively useless.

You make a good point about Kasumi. But in the end it is Cerberus who came up with the list. You either accept her or you don't. I quite like her and I find her fun to use in combat with her back-stab ability. In the end, we should all play the game in the way that is most fun for us.

Then main gripe I have about Kasumi is that you can't have a proper conversation with her like other squad members. That is DLC for you.

Zaeed is a different matter. Whether I like Zaeed or not depends on whether my Shep of the moment thinks ruthless killers are useful or not.

Yeah, I don't like Zaeed... Kasumi is good though. Really though, the only DLC I feel was worthwhile was the Shadow Broker one. Liara <3 :)

The Mass Effect 3 demo is out on Xbox live TODAY.

Mass Effect 3: Five Plots Worth Exploring (contains ME2 spoilers)
 

As much as i like to play the demo i will pass... Don't want spoliers :/

One thing I will say, not spoiling anything about the story. Throughout ME1 and ME2 I played the soldier class. Why? Because I decided the most effective way to deal with evil aliens bent on destroying all biological life in the galaxy..... was to shoot them repeatedly. Actually, I found incinerate in ME2 was awesome..... but that's why I brought Mordin along. But I can try out each class without having to use my ME1/ME 2 profile to do it.


One other thing I will also mention. I much preferred the grenades in ME1 and the power weapons in ME2 then the ME3 grenades. At least so far.

The multiplayer portion of the demo has been activated.

I wonder if the latest Day 1 DLC for ME3 is up for discussion here. Because it's retarded.

Day 1 DLC on a conceptual level is terrible.

Yes, yes it is. But have you heard what BiowEAr are doing?

No. Im kinda afraid to hear what it is in truth. :(