As players travel around the different planets across the galaxy in Mass Effect 2, they will come across wall safes, computers, and datapads containing loot and credits. Mass Effect 2 takes place in the distant future, and players once again take the role of Shepard, a human Commanding officer in the Alliance military. During exploration, players can find credits via wall safes, medical stations, and various pieces of technology. Credits will be used at various vendors to purchase new gear for themselves and their team. In the first Mass Effect game, players could choose to use Omni-Gel to unlock safes and hack computers, or they could play a quick, Frogger-style mini-game to decrypt and unlock these items. In Mass Effect 2, safes, computers, and datapads come with separate mini-games to complete. If players fail at any point in the mini-game, they will no longer be able to access the credits or other loot unless they reload a previous save. To hack into computers and datapads, players will have three chances to match lines of colorful code, but the rules for this mini-game are not immediately clear.
When players start a hack on a datapad or computer, they will three columns containing bits of code. These lines scroll, though not rapidly, and players will need to find the piece of code in one of the columns that correspond to an image at the top of the screen. As they search, they need to be careful to move their selection cursor away from any lines of "bad" code, which contain an X through them, or they will receive a penalty and lose part of their progress. Here's how to successfully hack computers and datapads every time in Mass Effect 2.
How to Hack Datapads & Computers in Mass Effect 2
In this mini-game, when the player presses Start Hack, blocks of code generate on the screen. At the top of the interface, players will see the piece of code they need to find and match. As code scrolls up the screen, they will need to move the cursor to different blocks of code using the same controls they use to move Commander Shepard in-game. On PC, this means players must use the WASD keys, not the mouse, to toggle between blocks of code and press Space when they find the matching one. Players get three chances to match the code before they are locked out of the computer or datapad.
The code is tiny, which can make it difficult to tell which piece matches. The most effective strategy is to follow the color pattern or the line length pattern to find the right code. Often, a block will have a distinct look, like starting with a single green line or traveling diagonally from the top left to the bottom right across the block. Some blocks can be very close in appearance, so players should look carefully to make sure they have the right one before locking their answer in. They will need to match 3 to complete the mini-game and receive the credits.
There will also be pieces of bad code that scroll with the good code. These blocks are marked with a big, red X in the center. If players land on these pieces of code with their cursor, even if they don't select it, an error will occur, and the last match they made will be removed. This can increase the time it takes to complete the hack or cause a player to lose all the available credits.
Players should make sure to save before starting any hack in case they make a mistake. This way, they can reload and try again without losing the loot in the computer or datapad. It is also important to note that the longer it takes a player to complete this mini-game, the fewer credits they will receive. As the code blocks appear to generate mostly at random, it is possible the matching piece of code may not appear until near the end of the time limit. It may be necessary to reload and try again to receive the maximum possible number of credits. If players want more time to complete the hack without losing the maximum number of credits, they can pick up a Hack Module from one of the shop kiosks on Omega.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition releases spring of 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.