Tomorrow marks the two-week anniversary of Mass Effect 2 and you may be thinking, “who the hell cares?’ Well, I only bring this up because by now, assuming you’re a gamer and a fan of Mass Effect or BioWare’s high quality RPGs, you must have at least given this game a shot.
Several of us here at Game Rant have already beaten the game, some more than once, so we want to start a discussion about the characters of Mass Effect 2. In a spoiler-filled manner, tell us what characters you liked to use, which characters you didn’t and perhaps, who didn’t make it till the end.
[Warning: this discussion is filled with spoilers and is meant for players who've beaten Mass Effect 2]
Characters I didn’t Use
For me, I switched it up quite a bit but there were definitely some characters I practically never used. Those included the tank-bred Krogan, Tali (who I didn’t use in the first game either) and Jacob.
Grunt the Krogran didn’t have any cool powers and therefore relied on his shotgun. In my mind, why use him when you can grab another character who can use more effective weapons and who may also have powers. As for Jacob, I played a soldier and never had need for another gunner, especially since his Biotic abilities didn’t match up to other characters you can recruit throughout the game.
Although Miranda is cool, the other lady Biotics were more powerful so I used them.
Characters I Dug
I’m a Garrus fan myself and used him for most of the first Mass Effect. In the sequel however, I used him a lot of time up until I met the Drell assassin, Thane Krios. From that point on I never used Garrus again. Thane was a sniper like Garrus, except he had the cool biotic abilities of ‘Throw’ and ‘Pull.’ I felt that Garrus was inferior from that point on. Oh, did I mention that Thane also has his own special ammo type? Garrus’ overload ability was good for mechs but that wasn’t enough. Now that I think about it, Thane may be my favorite character except for his crazy memory lapses where the screen goes light. His story was incomplete however because once you learn of his sickness, you not only can’t do anything about it, but you can’t even talk about it with the doctor of the ship or the genius scientist, Mordin. That’s a bit of a fail and this may be addressed in ME3.
So, who else did I use in addition to Thane? Doctor Mordin, the Sherlock Holmes of the group. Funny fast-talking aside, Mordin’s Incinerate ability was liquid death. I bring up the power wheel, click a regular bad guy, select his Incinerate ability and it’s game over for his target. That’s basically the only thing I used him for. Moving on…
But what about the biotics? Well, I also used Samara and Jack on occasion. I don’t know if it was programmed into the character’s AI to match her personality, but Jack would always run ahead for me and die which was annoying. Samara was cool but you can’t romance her which may disappoint fans who were all over Liara T’Soni in the first Mass Effect.
The End Game
Depending on how much of the game you’ve completed and what choices you make, you may lose one or more characters when you pass through the Omega-4 relay to face the collectors in their home base. By completing all of their loyalty missions and purchasing upgrades for the Normandy SR-2 from each character, you can avoid some of that and have a chance of coming home with your full team intact.
When on the Collector base in the final showdown, you are asked to make a few decisions which may jeopardize the lives of some of your companions. If you know anything about BioWare and their RPGs, you realize this right when it happens and that may effect your choices.
For me, it definitely did so I intentionally chose characters who I believed were expendable and who wouldn’t have much an impact, if any at all, in Mass Effect 3. Yes, your actions and consequences will play a factor in Mass Effect 3, so if you’re not planning on playing ME2 two times through, be careful!
Getting back the the game’s final act, I chose Legion (or “Gobot” as I call him) for the first character selection decision to be the one to go through the ventilation shafts. I honestly didn’t care if this Geth prick died so I threw him into the heat (literally). This part’s pretty easy and so long as you hit the 8 panels in time, whoever you send in for this is okay.
Your next decisions involving picking who will lead the other team while you do your thing so I chose Miranda for the obvious reasons that she’s the Cerberus rep and basically your second-in-command of the whole operation. No issues there, but for the next part you have to make two decisions and this is where I got screwed over by the DLC.
Once you get deep into the Collector base, the most horribly designed and counter-intuitive space station ever conceived, you save the crew of the Normandy (or some depending on how you’ve played) and have to send someone to escort them back. Wait a sec, how were the characters breathing while walking out of the ship crash-landed on the exterior of an alien space base? Anyway, the first time playing the end of the game I sent Tali and there was no issue. However, you must choose another character to hold the position to buy time while you and your 3-man squad goes out to do more heroics. For some reason, I chose the downloadable character Zaeed the bounty hunter for this “hold the line” task. I guess I figured he’s a war vet and crazy resourceful at this sort of thing. I was wrong.
Even though I did Zaeed’s loyalty mission, he died in a cutscene when I returned and it’s because there’s no option to buy a Normandy upgrade for him in the game. Had I chosen any other character, everyone would have survived for me and I would’ve got the ‘No One Left Behind’ Achievement on the Xbox 360.
Needless to say, I had to re-do the ending and the second time around, I had Jacob escort the Normandy crew back to the ship and I chose my man Garrus to defend. He took the bullet as well but it didn’t phase him, which just goes to show how weak Zaeed and his mercenary friends are!
Now that I’ve shared my experiences with you, who did you have fight beside Commander Shepard and what choices did you make?
For more on the topic, check out my Mass Effect 2 review and our discussion on who should play Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect movie.
Mass Effect 2 character wallpaper from deviantART
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I was lucky enough to make it out with my full team the first time! I had all the upgrades and all the characters were loyal except for miranda because i sided with jack in their little fight. My team was Jack and Grunt, I chose Legion for the shaft mission, I chose Garrus to lead the other team both times it askes. And even tho i was doing the paragon thing I chose not to send an escort with the surviving crew, they of coarse died but they dont count against you for the acheivment. And I chose Samara for the keeping up the shield job. Worked out pretty well.
I used Miranda and Thane for the majority of my playthrough. I like the combination of powers and gunning skills that both of them had.
Grunt was my workhorse! He rarely fell and was my most dependable ally. I didn't use Tali in the first game and, the two times I used her in this one, she was trash in this one. Jack, after she got over me choosing Miranda as my boo, was very dependable as well. Everybody else had their moments (especially Samara at the end). R.I.P. Thane and the Normandy crew. (There were so many choices. I was bound the mess up somewhere)
I used Miranda and a combination of Jacob and Garrus until I recruited Tali. From there on it was Tali and Miranda. I chose Legion to do the vent because I could careless if a Geth died. I had Grunt take the crew back and Garrus led the first time and Miranda the second time it ask. Garrus held the line.
My second time through I have decided to take Garrus and Tali on almost all missions because I want the only 3 ME1 characters united.
I didn't really favour any team members in particular, when choosing my squad I generally chose them at random. Although towards the end I pretty much stuck with the 2 M's – Miranda and Mordin. This was purely so I could try and warp as many barriers and incinerate as much armour as I could for the achievements. But alas I didn't reach either goal.
My entire team survived the suicide mission, which I put down to my excellent decision making a leadership skills. I sent Legion through the vents cause of his tech skills. Garrus lead the other team because he had experience with C-Sec and his band of vigilantes. Jacob went back with the survivors and Samara held up the biotic field for me – and my, what a lovely job she did too.
Also, who could have guessed The Collectors were building a huge Terminator!?
I chose all the same things as you Tom in the finale and came though with all hands alive.
Garrus and Thane were my main 2 team mates. I basically had both of them sniping while my soldier Shepperd, with the shield skill from grunt fully upgraded, was a walking bullet absorbing tank with a fully upgraded assault rifle. The combination pretty much ran over everything I came across.
I'm playing though ME1 again now which a character that will make all the opposite decisions I made with my first ME1 Character. Although I was going to romance Ashley instead of Liara this time around, but at the same time I let the biotic dude die with my first character, and I will this time around as well cause well, he'll one of the most uninteresting characters ever.
Did anyone have a Kilanko (whatever his name is) survives ME2 play though? what happened to him?
i use jack because keira knightly is hotness
the final boss was retarded stupid story piece. giant human reaper? wtf for?
why the f is joke shooting from the ship at the end
what about the rest of team who are actually soldiers
I used Mordin and Thanke mostly with my character playing as an adept. Taking down shields was never too hard and I loved having the multiple pull and warp plus the incinerate in the group to take down the tougher armor. Sent Tali into the vent, had Jacob lead the other team, and Samara do the shield. Zaeed escorted the people back to the Normandy and I didn't lose anyone. Going renegade though next time and plan on being pretty heartless.
Alright 2nd ending story: This time I made all the right choices. Miranda was all-time team leader and Jacob took the crew back. Like the first time, Legion went in first and Samara held up the shield. I had my M-920 Cain at 175% ready for the Big Bad. Just one problem…I got greedy. I tried to aim the Cain right for the weak point…and MISSED my 1 shot! So the rest of my time was a high stress situation and we had to take it down while worrying about the other enemies. Whew! That was an ordeal. Luckily I got it with my VERY LAST sniper bullet! EPIC…again!
The only people I never used were Grunt and Zaeed, not because I didn't like them but because I was a soldier myself. Beyond them, I used everyone just depending on my mood. I found both Jack and Samara to be pretty damn powerful, and I loved Legion when I finally got him. From a character standpoint, I liked every party member, but Mordin was by far my favorite. He was just fun to talk to, and I believe he had the absolute best-written loyalty mission. I also sexed up Tali, because her character and dialogue were written so well that I couldn't help feeling a connection. Her voice actress did a phenomenal job conveying emotion.
In the final mission, I chose Legion to go through the vents because he was a tech badass. I choose Garrus to lead the 2nd party both times, and I choose Jack to run my biotic umbrella. Everyone lived and we fucking took it to the Collectors.
Mission accomplished, mind blown.
I used Garrus and Tali for almost everything, just like in the first game. It felt good to have the “old team” and I justified it by saying that Shepard wouldn't want anyone else watching his back when things heat up. I saved everyone, no casualties. Other characters I really liked were Legion, Samara, and Grunt.