The oft-complained about lifts in Mass Effect will be replaced by loading screens for Mass Effect 2, in a move that will undoubtedly lead to even more moaning.
The original Mass Effect had long lift sequences to disguise loading and couldn't be avoided. Even when installed to the hard drive, the lift sequences stayed exactly the same length because they had been hard-coded in. It lead to a lot of moaning by players and jokes about how long it took to get anywhere.
Mass Effect 2
Official trailer
1:10Tali video
Mass Effect 2
Official trailer
1:10Tali video
Age Restricted Content Please enter your date of birth below in order to verify your age before watching this video
You must be at least 15 years of age.
Play Again? Missed something? Just watch it again..
Watch More Videos Browse related videos and see what's new & popular
Share This Video Email this video, or embed it into your own web page
BioWare heard the moaning and promised to change things - now when you walk into a lift you'll get loading screens with "interesting visuals and information" instead. Which is... worse?
Those who complained about the lifts in Mass Effect will now almost certainly complain about the loading screens in Mass Effect 2, with the added bonus of moaning about "breaking immersion." We'll have to wait and see.
You could do absolutely anything with loading screens - a quick game of tetris, asteroids....anything! I don't know why devs don't put something like that in. Obviously what you play would need to be carefully considered so as to not ruin the mood of the game, but there are options.
I did keep thinking that it would be a good idea to do some sort of card game on the Fable 2 loading screens to earn you a bit more in-game gold. Something quick on the same lines as blackjack.
The lifts aren't the end of the world. Why couldn't they just change em so they only last as long as it takes to load the next section, i.e. they'd be shorter if you have the game installed... dynamically timed lift journeys? No? Oh well.
i liked the lift sections. It was a clever way of not breaking the your suspension of disbelief. LIke the rerendering of the city sections on assassins creed or the doors in resi. We all know they're loading screens really but they're more interesting than just a progress bar and maybe a picture.
I personally think especially in RPGS and open world games in general we need fewer apparent loading screens and more interesting ways for them to be hidden.
I liked the lifts, it always gave you a wee bit of Galactic News over the tannoy.
Yeah, i didn't mind them either. I liked it when you did a side mission or something like that and the tannoy would give the news about what you have just done....
"In other news, a renegade biotic commune has been destroyed....."....that kind of thing.
The only lift that was a pain in the rear was the one on the ship itself.....takes a whole minute to go down one level!
Loading screens are always going to be a bit of a pain, there's no real way of getting around the fact that they're stopping the game. I don't really care what the ME2 loading screens look like, it's still going to be a wicked game.
I have to agree - the lifts weren't too bad. I liked that you might hear about something you did a couple of missions back or get a little bit of background info. It all adds to the immersion.
I guess it depends how long the loading screens are. I don't want to be sitting looking at a single page for a couple of mins, but wouldn't mind if it's only a few seconds.
I didn't mind the lifts, as people have said, you got a nice bit of background info, though it did get a bit annoying when you just wanted to change floors on the Normandy.
U didn hav the use them...(except the dockbay 1) u could jus use the quicky car thing (sorry the name eludes me at te mo ) plus u had a bitta bant between ur 2 squad members ...didn mind at all.........NOW THE TEXTURE POP UP>>>>A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY
I didn't mind the lifts too much for the most part; they allowed for interesting inter-party conversations to be triggered. That said, it did get a bit old at times when you just used an elevator only to realise you actually needed to stay where you were in order to accomplish something, etc.
The new approach of interesting images and info about the in-game universe sounds good to me.
You could do absolutely anything with loading screens - a quick game of tetris, asteroids....anything! I don't know why devs don't put something like that in. Obviously what you play would need to be carefully considered so as to not ruin the mood of the game, but there are options.
I did keep thinking that it would be a good idea to do some sort of card game on the Fable 2 loading screens to earn you a bit more in-game gold. Something quick on the same lines as blackjack.
That might be useful at the beginning stages where money isn't exactly overflowing, providing you could continue playing the card game (or whatever,) after the loading is complete. From "ME" money was hardly an issue later on in the game - actually finding meaningful things to spend your saved millions on became the issue instead. An issue BioWare rectified in "Dragon Age" by going from feast to famine (which annoys me a bit). In that game you can not buy all the best equipment for your entire party. The best you can hope for is to buy a few pieces. Apparently this forces you to think about your purchases and choose carefully. Thanks BioWare; when I want a dose of reality I'll step away from my computer and rejoin Earth.
One would think that a middle ground could be reached between being too rich and being too poor to buy cool equipment. Alternatively, an equipment system generating random high quality gear could be in place and there could be more to buy (or invest in a la real estate property in "Oblivion".The random generation already existed to an extent in "ME" when you purchased different vendor licenses.
They were so infrequent they didn't bother me in the least in the first one. It was no Resi 1, with that 'opening door sequence' every two minutes, now that was bloody annoying!!.
I liked the lifts, it always gave you a wee bit of Galactic News over the tannoy.
Especially after you gave that reporter bird a good slap. hilarious.
Didn't mind the lifts overall, found they were a bit tedious when you were in the citadel and havng to go backwards and forwards (sorry, up and down) a lot. But that only happened a couple of times. Loading screens will be the same, just irritating in a different way. What ever, even if its 'only' as good as the first one then ME2 will rock.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
I hated the lift bits, in an otherwise brilliant game.
) plus u had a bitta bant between ur 2 squad members ...didn mind at all.........NOW THE TEXTURE POP UP>>>>A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY 
.The random generation already existed to an extent in "ME" when you purchased different vendor licenses.
