Yes this is true, but I still wouldn't want to see any timers in Mass Effect.

Oh please, everything I've seen, and everything the developers have said have all pointed to Mass Effect 2 being more of an action game.  The RPG elements have reportedly been streamlined, and they have added a lot of elements that action gamers wanted.

I'm a HUGE fan of Deus Ex.  It is an FPS/RPG hybrid.  And I will also be the first to admit that the game was a horrible FPS.

I can't believe how many people are trying to make excuses by hiding behind the fact that it's a hybrid that does one part well, and one part maybe not so well.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/jan/17/microsoft-games

"What we have done is focus on the shooter aspects more. We wanted to make it more visceral. We did this because we wanted to open up the audience to gamers who like Gears of War or Modern Warfare and introduce them to a genre that they may normally ignore. The upshot of this is they may notice the great things about Bioware games such as believable characters and great stories. If you can convince them that this is a fantastic shooter but then they will discover that there is so much more to Mass Effect 2 than that."

It's a pretty heavy shooter game but you also have to realize that concessions have to be made for the RPG crowd. The auto-aim and generally, relaxed feel of parts of the game were surely created to appease those who don't drink 14 gallons of Mountain Dew a day and can press an LT-A-B button combo while strafing in .000002 seconds.

The game isn't perfect, I'll admit that. But I can see why they eased off on the extreme shooter elements earlier in the game. Not only does it let less experienced players get into the game (some of us have to remember just how many video games each of us have played over the years) but then it allows the action to get REALLY intense near the end because they haven't used up that gameplay trick by throwing it at the player 140 times before that point.

Remember that some tricks are best used for the climax of the game and if the developer uses it too much before that point, it will become stale to the player and the intensity of the game's ending could be lost.

CGI-Quality said: I think some of you are being too harsh with his opinion. He didn't say it was a bad game, he said the 'action' part of the game could use some work, in his opinion. Now, I DO think the controls have been vastly improved for this sequel, but I can also understand the gripes with some of it. It isn't completely flawless, but it isn't terrible either. Either way disolitude, at least you gave it a chance. I remember when you weren't even going to do that

Oh and Im glad I did. It is really good. Like I love mining for resources...and people say thats the boring part.

My gf thinks I'm nuts when I just stand there and ponder on choice decisions...lol.

This is probably the most level headed response to the OP yet.

Which is simply an expanded version of why I said it's not an action game. Sure, there are action elements but BioWare has to make the game accessible to everyone, not just the gaming freaks who can beat Halo on Legendary in four hours.

I see, so this is where we differ.  To me, Mass Effect 1, and from what I've seen and read, Mass Effect 2 are TPS/RPG hybrids.  I guess you just see it as a straight up RPG.

EDIT:  Let me clarify.  If a game is trying to incorporate two different genres together, obviously concessions are going to be made.  And obviously some elements are likely to suffer.  The key is to accept the game as a whole.  But I think it's also valid to criticize certain elements of the game that maybe aren't up to par with other games that are focused solely on one aspect of the gameplay.  Mass Effect 2 is undoubtedly great as a whole, but I think it's entirely reasonable to criticize Mass Effect 2 for failing in some areas as a shooter.

EDIT 2:  And for further clarification, it seems like being a hybrid gives Mass Effect 2 an excuse for not being an excellent shooter.  When you said that it wasn't an action game, you were giving an excuse.  When you detailed why the shooter elements might not have been great, you gave a REASON.

It's primarily an RPG. Almost every game is some kind of hybrid nowadays. At some point in the development cycle, every developer has to make a decision on what their focus for the game is going to be and in ME2's case, I think it's clearly the RPG genre. With that comes the need for concessions to other genres and their style of play.

Sure, WE might like a game like that but for the 98% of gamers who don't aggressively play 30+ games a year and have thousands of hours logged into both shooters and action games, the game would probably become absurdly difficult to play and almost impossible to control. I had casual gaming friends who had problems with the original ME on the normal difficulty setting. Developers have to keep those people in mind when they drop $20m or more on making a game.

What about the exploding floating Island?  I mean... waiting for shadow is TENSE.

It's fair to criticize anything but my point is that the "weaknesses" of the game need to be put into context. No game can be everything to everyone and that's my problem with the OP's post. In a fantasy world, ME2 would be Gears of War on Insane mixed with Deus Ex mixed with the best elements of Fallout.

Reality has different restrictions. No way can a developer make that game, which kind of invalidates complaining about what is generally a strong TPS/action experience melded into an extraordinary RPG game.