Yes, you can change control settings.
I just started ME2 last night (after finishing my L50 Paragon run of ME1), and I'm going to call it an impressive disappointment so far. The game suffers from acute consoleitis, and I'm not really sure why, given how ME1 and ME2 were 360 games originally. Heck, ME2 got a simultaneous PC release- ME1 feels more PC-like than 2 does, and it was a delayed port (which is usually a Bad Thing).
The skill system has been simplified to 3-7 options, each with 4 (technically 5) ranks possible. I like that there are options for the 5th rank, but really? Why does the 'bigger and better' sequel have half the options the original did, each with half the progression involved? Bad move.
Interface is marginally worse, as well. As was said, the power buttons are too small. Your health gauge is smaller and less instantly readable, and forget about checking on your teammates in the heat of battle. The interact popup is much smaller as well, making it hard to tell you've even looked at something you can interact with. Also, whose bright idea was it to make my 'map' button temporarily bring up the radar, and make me go through a freakin' menu to find my map? There's no hotkey for the ME1-style map, which makes exploration far less fun. That's okay, though: because the levels are more linear, we don't need to explore. Brilliant!
Battle is... mixed. How did every gun in the galaxy get switched over to an entirely different form of ammo management in only two years? I would think that the guns would use clips to essentially clear overheat status- let you (like ME1 did) fire as much as you wanted unless you overheated, which would require you to eject the clip and reload. But no, ME2 chopped out one of the unique aspects of ME1. I do like how they streamlined the ammo mod system, but special ammo should be a feature of the combat system, and not half the freakin' skill tree! The shield/armor/health setup is brilliant, as is the modular damage, and replacing grenades with heavy weapons earns the game points in my book.
Inventory management? What inventory management? You don't have an inventory- you have guns. There aren't 11DB of them anymore, either, and you can't switch them anywhere. I suppose this makes more sense, but it's a frustrating change when you're coming off ME1's 'carry 100 guns around without an issue' system. The focus is on customization over replacement, and I haven't played enough to get into that system yet. Time will tell whether that's good or not.
Graphics are better than the first ME in every conceivable way- better textures, better shadows, more polygons- everything. The graphics are truly impressive. Sound is great, too- the music is just as good as the original game had, which is impressive enough in my book. I love the hacking minigames, and I'm excited to see about research, mining, and gun/ship customization. They did a great job tying ME2 to ME1, at least in the time I've spent with it, though I worry that they put all the links between the games in the first few hours to wow returning players. I haven't seen much of the plot yet, though I'm familiar with much more of it. What I've seen has been incredibly well executed, especially everything connected to the Normandy. Losing the old one was actually painful, after 40 hours of flying it around the galaxy. Getting the new one (to an arrangement of the 'Spectre Induction' song from the first game, no less!) was awe-inspiring.
I'm very impressed with a lot of the game, but disappointed that it lost so much of what made ME1 great- and not just great, but unique.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
I just started ME2 last night (after finishing my L50 Paragon run of ME1), and I'm going to call it an impressive disappointment so far. The game suffers from acute consoleitis, and I'm not really sure why, given how ME1 and ME2 were 360 games originally. Heck, ME2 got a simultaneous PC release- ME1 feels more PC-like than 2 does, and it was a delayed port (which is usually a Bad Thing).
The skill system has been simplified to 3-7 options, each with 4 (technically 5) ranks possible. I like that there are options for the 5th rank, but really? Why does the 'bigger and better' sequel have half the options the original did, each with half the progression involved? Bad move.
Interface is marginally worse, as well. As was said, the power buttons are too small. Your health gauge is smaller and less instantly readable, and forget about checking on your teammates in the heat of battle. The interact popup is much smaller as well, making it hard to tell you've even looked at something you can interact with. Also, whose bright idea was it to make my 'map' button temporarily bring up the radar, and make me go through a freakin' menu to find my map? There's no hotkey for the ME1-style map, which makes exploration far less fun. That's okay, though: because the levels are more linear, we don't need to explore. Brilliant!
Battle is... mixed. How did every gun in the galaxy get switched over to an entirely different form of ammo management in only two years? I would think that the guns would use clips to essentially clear overheat status- let you (like ME1 did) fire as much as you wanted unless you overheated, which would require you to eject the clip and reload. But no, ME2 chopped out one of the unique aspects of ME1. I do like how they streamlined the ammo mod system, but special ammo should be a feature of the combat system, and not half the freakin' skill tree! The shield/armor/health setup is brilliant, as is the modular damage, and replacing grenades with heavy weapons earns the game points in my book.
Inventory management? What inventory management? You don't have an inventory- you have guns. There aren't 11DB of them anymore, either, and you can't switch them anywhere. I suppose this makes more sense, but it's a frustrating change when you're coming off ME1's 'carry 100 guns around without an issue' system. The focus is on customization over replacement, and I haven't played enough to get into that system yet. Time will tell whether that's good or not.
Graphics are better than the first ME in every conceivable way- better textures, better shadows, more polygons- everything. The graphics are truly impressive. Sound is great, too- the music is just as good as the original game had, which is impressive enough in my book. I love the hacking minigames, and I'm excited to see about research, mining, and gun/ship customization. They did a great job tying ME2 to ME1, at least in the time I've spent with it, though I worry that they put all the links between the games in the first few hours to wow returning players. I haven't seen much of the plot yet, though I'm familiar with much more of it. What I've seen has been incredibly well executed, especially everything connected to the Normandy. Losing the old one was actually painful, after 40 hours of flying it around the galaxy. Getting the new one (to an arrangement of the 'Spectre Induction' song from the first game, no less!) was awe-inspiring.
I'm very impressed with a lot of the game, but disappointed that it lost so much of what made ME1 great- and not just great, but unique.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.