@brad The reason you're taking so much damage is because that shield meter is your "suit meter" or "armor". You gotta use the suit repair kits to keep it up so you can mitigate damage.
Personally, I think the characters, loyalty missions and side quests are, in general, fantastically written and engaging and I found myself feeling more of an attachment for my crew of the Tempest than I did on the Normandy. That stuff is the best its ever been. But the main story sucks. Its filled with continuous scifi cliches and boring antagonists. The handling of your "first contact" with both the Kett and the Angara was especially awful and carried zero weight in the story. Mostly there is a lot of missed potential and in that way, among other things, it feels a lot like Mass Effect 1. Its not a bad game, in fact I'm kind of loving a lot of what it offers, but it stumbles hard. The technical issues can be pretty bad, not even counting the dated animation. I don't think it should be excused for being released in the state its in, but it should be said that this is the most ambitious game Bioware has ever made. Its absolutely massive in scale and content and filled with over a thousand voiced characters - double the amount in Mass Effect 3. Nearing the end of my play-through, I'm absolutely enjoying my time with it, but hopeful for a more refined sequel, like we got with Mass Effect 2.
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