How so? (Gaming)

by SonofMacPhisto , Saturday, August 10, 2013, 05:53 (4123 days ago) @ Bones
edited by SonofMacPhisto, Saturday, August 10, 2013, 06:02

Hi, Bones! How's tricks?

One caveat to my statement is that it seemed more applicable for biotic based players (Vanguards, Adepts). My Soldier would just shoot mans until they fell down, regardless of difficulty.

(I also know you know some of what I'm about to say, I'm going back to the beginning for the benefit of others.)

On Hardcore (hard) and Insanity (really hard), every enemy had some kind of protection - either Armor, Barriers, or Shields - not just the tougher ones. The player (biotics especially) had to deal with these defenses first before they could unleash their most effective attacks.

Different strategies worked better, as certain ammos or powers were more effective against certains defenses. It also made the two squad members you took much more important, as their powers would supplement yours.

Squad members especially become more useful, and you as the player build this kind of relationship with them, which I think ends up supporting the narrative. I can't count the number of times I'd have Garrus hit a clump of mooks with Overload, stripping their shields, while I smacked them with a Singularity, and then Miranda following up with a Warp to blow them all to kingdom come. You really felt like a team during this, so when you got back to the Normandy, the conversation had this added depth to them.

You could also use these defenses against the enemy. Case in point: a shielded/barriered/armored enemy wouldn't get knocked off their feet by a Vanguard's biotic charge; this let you nail a nearly perfect point blank shotgun blast, staight up killing them most of the time. If that failed, a little elbow to the face usually did the trick.

To compare, I think Mass Effect 3 was less fun in this regard. Now it's more about damage per second and combining effects of different powers (and basically every power combines with every other power now) regardless of what defenses the enemy has. As a Vanguard, for instance, you're not fundamentally playing super easy any differently than super hard.

In the end it was more interesting to fight enemies on higher difficulties in Mass Effect 2 because they were different. I hope I explained it well.