"

I bought this in preparation for the sequel to see if I might want to check it out, and its awesome, but ever time i have to shoot something i die a little inside. 
  
- The cover system is janky  
- It appears that 1 out of every 2 enemies can one shot you in some way 
- You can't select a series of actions for your teammates to perform, such as switch to pistol and move here, without bringing up multiple pause screens. 
-They give you 4 different weapons you have to scroll through, and all you ever really need to use is the assault rifle (Assuming you are a soldier)
-The squad AI is horrible, its like the alliance pulled these guys out of preschool and sent them into combat.  
-You seem to go from plenty of health to no health in the blink of an eye 
-and you cant steady the sniper rifle, but thats me being nitpicky. 
-The only thing enemy biotics actually can do is make you ragdoll for .4 seconds and piss you off. 
-I shot that Krogan down, why is it standing back up! It has its health back too, why is it charging at me!  Oh damn, im screwed, Wrex! Garrus! WHERE YOU AT! Damn it, they are dead to, AHHHHH!
 
So basically i turned combat difficulty to casual so i can just plow through everything. Anyone else not enjoy the combat in this game? 
I love the world and the quests, the dialogue is great, and the new game should have some much improved combat mechanics so im going to play it, but still.........

"

i really enjoyed the combat. a lot of your complaints seem to be about the way you played or leveled up your character.

" @ImperiousRix said:

"

The combat in Mass Effect left something to be desired, certainly.  It was playable (especially if you were going to be using a lot of biotic or tech skills), but if you wanted it to be a straight up shooter, yeah, it's pretty awful.

Take solace, however, that if you should play the second one, the shooting is supposed to be a lot better.

"

Here's where it's at, I think. Being proficient at Biotics really helped make the game fluent in all ways. That, of course, doesn't excuse the lackluster shooting, but it at least assuages the problem enough to coast through the game whilst attaining some semblance of enjoyment. "

It's been a long time since I've played, but I don't remember it being all that bad. It certainly wasn't built like most first person shooters, which it emulates so much more than a traditional RPG, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Still, having gone back to play it recently, myself, I also noticed quite a few things that make me realize this game has not aged well. Yes, the cover system is horrible. Vehicle combat is downright bad. I didn't play enough recently to get really deep into the squad Ai mechanics, and I didn't really have a problem with them. In fact, the Ai guys were taking things down better than I was (although that could be because they were armed with some of the best weapons in the game at the game's very beginning). And yes, early on if you've got little for shielding you can't take much damage before dying. That's when you've got to use the cover system, like it or not, and things should be just fine.
 
Besides dying a lot on some really difficult fights, though, I never had a problem with the overall difficulty. Another suggestion beyond simply turning down the difficulty is to play as a different class. I know that once you get a really great shotgun some abilities, the Vanguard is pretty much unstoppable so long as you can close the distance between you and your enemies, but I personally hate playing that way. I might change to an adept for Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 1 was more fun if you played a biotic class, but it wasn't all too great combat-wise. What bothered me more than the finicky cover system (I never use cover anyway) was the bad AI and the bugs (falling through the ground ftl). Supposedly, that's all fixed in Mass Effect 2. So (Schwarzenegger voice) stop whining!

I really enjoyedd the combat. I was a vanguard and my shotgun chewed through anything.

Its an RPG, you have to level up.  I think that your complaint of the assault rifle comes from you turning down the difficulty and also, if you are a soldier, I would assume that would be your go to weapon.  I however loved to use shotguns with chemical rounds.

Hmm, I found it a little bit better on PC.

" @Atramentous said:

" I didnt have any issues with the combat. "

This right here.  I finished as a Vanguard and a Soldier, now I am working an Adept.  I played on normal difficulty.  But, for the regular combat, I rarely instructed my team mates to do anything.  Sure, it starts a bit slow, but once you are off the Citadel and start racking up XP, things turn around quick.  Don't over think it, just play through.  This isn't KOTOR or Dargon Age: Origins where micro-management is a necessity.  I found that most of the time, my team acted reasonably well.  The only thing I needed to really check was are they using the type of gun they are proficient in.  Often, I'd catch Tali with an assault rifle when she's got a ton of points in pistols or shotguns.  I used Liara a lot on my first run, and after filling her points with warp and singularity, I just let her do her thing and never bothered to correct her.  Guys would be floating all over the place, then *boom*, the fight was over.   Now, if you want to complain about the MAKO, then I am with you a 100%.  I hate the damned RV and all missions where I need to travel and shoot with it.  Eventually, I figured out how to survive, but it wasn't fun.  It often involved shooting at the target then withdrawing while my sheilds recharged.  I could go make a sandwich while that happened.  Then I'd got back and widdle down the baddies so I could move on.  I hate the MAKO, but I hear it's different in the sequel.   Oh, and save after ever encounter if possible.  If you do something that you don't want to do again, save. "

"It was far from the best, and wasn't ME's strong point. But it was bearable enough for me to get some enjoyment out of it. Specially when using shotguns.   I hated the boss battle against Liara's mum though because of ME's combat issues. "