Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360 patch offers 'optimized' planet scanning

by Griffin McElroy on May 17th 2010 2:29PM

A BioWare representative announced on the developer's forums (login required) that one of the most ambiguous, open-to-interpretation game updates we've ever encountered launched this morning for the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2. Sure, a few of the changes included in the patch are straightforward, such as a fix for a game-crashing error that would occur due to DLC incompatibility and the removal of another glitch that would allow the game's more sinister players to get infinite skill points using a simple menu exploit.

However, some changes are far more enigmatic -- particularly the suggestion that "scanning for minerals has been optimized." What does that even mean? Is the mining minigame now faster? Do you get more minerals with each probe? Can we now listen to phat beats while performing this otherwise mind-numbing task? We'll just have to download the patch to find out.

Check out the full list of (frequently perplexing) changes after the jump.
Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360 patch changelog:

Scanning for minerals has been optimized
Fixed an issue with marking all entries as viewed in the Journal
Fixed an issue relating to text and the menu screen
Fixed an issue relating to players starting a new game and loading a save
Fixed multiple issues when loading a save containing DLC when DLC isn't present
Fixed an issue with ammo flashing when it can't be picked up
Fixed an issue with crosshairs
Fixed an issue with Grunt's Fortification power
Fixed an issue with enemies and cover
Fixed an issue where players could receive additional talent points
Fixed an issue where squad members would overwrite ammo powers the player had assigned them

Source

Tags: bioware, mass-effect-2, Microsoft, mineral-scanning, patch, update, Xbox-360, xbox-live

Reader Comments (79)

I wish this patch was up for my first two playthroughs, but I'll take it now too.

The scanning is why I stopped my second play through. I guess I'll finish it up now and begin my third.

I don't blame you. Mineral mining has got to be one of the most boring things Bioware has ever put in one of their games.

Maybe EDI has funnier responses when you probe Uranus

I don't know, I kind of like the infinite talent points. Guess you can always clear your cache, do the glitch and then download the patch again.

You have the funniest response when I probe uranus.

My second playthough, I somehow wound up with 100% of all elements before I scanned my first planet. Which was...well, kinda nice. No idea how it happened though.

interesting...

Just to be an ass, you can listen to phat beats while playing ANY game, at ANY time on the 360, #1 reason why I get the 360 version of sport, racing, and Sandbox games.

One of my favourite aspects of xbox360 OS. MASSIVELY underrated. No need to keep music local.

Yes, but you don't get a rap about those.

No kidding, I'd go nuts if I couldn't stream podcasts from my PC during those Forza endurance races.

Yeah, that's the biggest downfall of my PS3. I really miss custom soundtracks when I'm playing games with dull music, like recruiting in NCAA Football.

I swear, "Those Minerals" makes the process of scanning infinitely more bearable.

Imo, scanning was worst than driving the Mako.

Agreed!

+1

Yeah the scanning was pretty relaxing, it just sucked when you had to do it for extended periods of time going from planet to planet.

I definitely would not put it in the same crappy category as driving the Mako around!

Mako had a steep learning curve, but I thought it was great once I got the handle of it.

Scanning planet was a nice addition but, I'm glad to read they are "streamlining" it. It was real chore to mine for minerals at such a sloooooow rate.

Both were tedious, but you actually felt like you were doing something driving the Mako around.

1st Play through I didn't mind it. Second Play through started to get rough. 3rd Play through... reminded me of how much time I've mis-utilized.

Oh I just scanned a few times on each planet so that I didn't get too bored. Also, to find anomalies.

The Mako was only bad because no matter what planet you were on it always felt like there was no gravity. I mean, one little bump in the road and suddenly I was almost upside down! Going over a bridge with debris was a nightmare.

Also, the handling/controls were really bad too. At one point I was on a bridge headed to that research place that was testing the colonists, but when going over the bridge I tried to avoid some fallen debris. I ended up turned around, and when I tried to turn around again I reversed but popped over a broken part of the road and went flying off the highway (and died).

i dunno, i actually liked the Mako. bunny-hopping over missiles in the Mako was the shit.

@sonic

that's why the mako had those crazy "physics" that kept you from flipping. also, if you had trouble steering, my guess is that you were trying to steer too much using the left joystick, instead of just holding the left joystick forward and steering with the right joystick (much easier to make smaller corrections that way).

Not at all. I hated doing the squad achievements because that meant that I had to do most of those side missions and drive all over the place barely doing anything. Ugh.

argh, too late, the damage is already done, I have a permanent claw grip

No way in hell. Mako was driving around and doing nothing. Atleast with this, you can multitask and watch a video on your PC or MP3 player or eat dinner or ANYTHING to take away from it.

I loved the mako because it didnt babysit you through your quests.

You land on the planet, you trek to the destinations. Added some much more open world feeling parts to the game.

I dig ME2 as well.. it's just quite different. It's the action game to ME1's RPG

@maveric101

I played the PC version of both games. Trust me, that thing was a monster. It was perfectly fine in the wide open areas of the non-essential planets, but when it came to the mission-critical planets that usually had a closed off narrow path, it was just terrible.

But yes, bunny hopping over missiles was kinda fun.

i didn't mind the scanning until half way through my first campaign; then i started dreading my already planned second/etc. campaigns.

My problem with the Mako was that the uncharted worlds were completely uninteresting and bland. It felt like they had just used some terrain generator, altered the height of the land at various points, and then added in points of interest. I wouldn't have minded if some of the planets were like this, but literally all of them were completely dull.

Anyone remember Nodacrux?

Fixed an issue with Miranda keeping her top on.

"One less."

When are they gonna fix it so your character takes his/her helmet off during communication scenes like in ME1.
sigh i can dream i guess.

Good call. That's the reason I went helmet-less.

don't forget the fact you can magically drink through your mask/helmet too.

I wore the headband/visor thing with the targeting screen that went over one eye. That way I got some benefit from a helmet, but could still see my head/face in conversations.

Sounds like the Kuwashii Visor, Courtney. I use it for the same reason. I don't really care about +10% headshot damage, but I like getting some bonuses while still being able to see my face for conversation. In ME1 I would Toggle Helmet off for conversations and On for combat. One of my biggest disappointments about ME2 is the lack of Toggle Helmet. There's no way in hell I'll ever be wearing the Death Mask, Recon Hood, Umbra Visor, Archon Visor, or Capacitor Helmet because they all cover my eyes or mouth or both. ME2 had an art team whose sole job was animating the eyes, so why are even the eyes-only visors so opaque? A little transparency would be nice so I could see my eyes through these visors.

It really was a disheartening moment when I found out there was no helmet toggle in ME2.

You spend so much time customizing Shepard's face in the beginning of the game (especially if the character your playing was imported from ME1) that you really get attached to said face. Even when it becomes rather beneficial to put a helmet over your face, it's reasonable not to want to because it takes the "you" (the player created material) element out of immediate sight and becomes more like Bioware's version of Commander Shepard.

If you chose to have a relationship with liara in the first game, the first time you meet her in ME2, she actually kisses you with your damn helmet still on.
That was just stupid. mmmmmmmmm plastic

If you can get the sentry interface from the Dr Pepper promo, it's pretty cool too. Looks cooler and gives a better bonus than the other visor IMO.

A "toggle helmet" option wouldn't be unappreciated, though.

Just tried it out. Looks like it just made the scanning reticule larger.

Does it help at all? Mining is the #1 reason I haven't touched ME2 since my first playthrough. I'd love to go through the story again with a different Shepard, but not if I have to mine again.

It makes it faster, not sure by how much. But it's still boring, so you'll just be bored for less time than before this update.

You should play again anyway man.

you get a lot of starting minerals after you beat the game once for a 2nd playthrough.

So the patch is only for the 360 version, or is the PC version getting a patch too? A few of those fixes could apply to PC too.

Scanning the planets was more like a chore then a game I didn't like that part.

One advantage of the PC version: being able to manually edit scanning speed.

As much as I hated the Mako, the scanning speed was atrocious

I was playing this morning and definitely noticed that scanning planets is way faster and easier. Not sure if there's more minerals involved but it definitely takes less time to find them.

Is "Preying Mouth" really the name of a planet in ME2? How the hell did I miss that, and what's the description of it?

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Preying_Mouth

*gasp* It is!

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Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360 patch offers 'optimized' planet scanning

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