It seems to me that there are far fewer missions acquired for talking to random people, I supposed this has been balanced with the planet scanning 'anomalies' missions but still, I liked the feeling of travelling the galaxy righting wrongs and solving problems
when i first started playing mass effect 1 it took me a while getting into it.
at first it just seemed too big a game..getting used to the game, the controls, all the places to go, the upgrading..all these weapons..yet it ended up being 1 of if not my favourite (sp) game of all time.
now i love the graphics of mass effect 2 but it just seems so much more restricted..dumbed down..consolized(is that even a word?).
i bring up a map yet i cant place a marker...so i walk and now when i try and bring up the same map i get an arrow pointing to tell me where to go instead.
i try and pull my gun out(prepare for combat) but now all of a sudden it isnt allowed until its spotted the enemies.
even though the places are more populated the places seem smaller and less rewards for exploration as its usually a straight(ish) route to your obj(slight exagg) and the rest is blocked off.
combat has changed...now instead of long fire fights and using your powers every once in a while to change the balance ....you seem to have to fight with your powers sometimes more than with your guns as YOU WILL run out of ammo with your preferred weapon....and talking of guns where have they all gone ?
upgrading from earned experience was great as it happened quite often with about 10 different areas and 12 levels...now i get 4 levels with just a few different areas ?
now im not very far into the game and it will probably get better but from first impressions its a quite a bit of a let down...maybe because i only just finished mass effect 1 a few days ago and it seems too different to me.
That's quite a fair observation to me, I agree with what you're saying, especially the placement of very obvious cover for the obviously impending fight, when you hit the checkpoint.
When I played ME1 my aim was to do everything (I can't help it in RPG game) I'm looking to do the same in ME2 but I don't feel like I'm achieving as much, maybe it's the lack of weapon and upgrade 'drops' or the lack of weapon loadout customisation, I can't place my finger on it.
Personally I liked the feel of exploration and freedom and discovery given by using the Mako on the planets, maybe having the shuttle taking you straight into the action is what has altered my perception of the game.
I think ME2 is a very good game, but they seem to have removed a couple of game elements, that I enjoyed, seemingly in the name of streamlining the game and not holding you back from running into the story.