Review Mass Effect on the PC is perfect... or is it?

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: BioWare; Mass Effect

In typical "I really don't have any clue as to what I'm doing but they let me play games and talk about them and that's the most awesomest job in the world" review fashion, <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/pc/mass_effect/review.html">videogamer.com has reviewed the PC version of Mass Effect</a>. The result? 10/10. 5 stars. 100%:
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<blockquote>November last year I gave the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 10-out-of-10 on <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/mass_effect/review.html">this very website</a>. It blew me away, ticking all my sci-fi boxes in one giant cinematic assault on the senses. So good was Mass Effect that in my personal view it was 2007's best game, beating BioShock, Halo 3 and The Orange Box.
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It was not without its flaws of course. Soon after we tore through the game we published our <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/features/article/22-11-2007-196.html">Top 10: Things that will make Mass Effect 2 magic</a> feature, where we outlined our hot tips for BioWare's inevitable sequel. We called for an improvement on graphical glitches, quicker loading times, better Mako controls, better squad mate control and better equipment management, among other things. Well whaddya know? BioWare, along with Demiurge Studios, hasn't waited for the sequel to fix the annoyances of the original game. It's gone and sorted loads of them out for Mass Effect on PC. And PC owners will love them for it.</blockquote>
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Wait a minute... On the Xbox, <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/features/article/22-11-2007-196.html">with a complete list of flaws</a>, it was 10/10. And for the PC those flaws have been fixed. So shouldn't that mean at least 11/10? Or am I doing my math wrong?
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On the plus side, <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/pc/mass_effect/review.html">the review does actually explain</a> quite a number of differences between the Xbox and the PC versions of the game. So for the curious, it's actually worth a read. You should probably just ignore the score though.
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com">Brother None's Discount Warehouse</a>

 

[Texas Red]

We called for an improvement on graphical glitches, quicker loading times, better Mako controls, better squad mate control and better equipment management, among other things

.

*These* are his suggestions on improving an RPG?

 

[Kingston]

Sounds like they've put some effort into the port, which I like. Clearly no Ubisoft port (ever tried quitting Assasin's Creed? I'm pretty sure there's a youtube video of it.)

Mass Effect PC is unashamedly hardcore.

What? Small text and hotkeys constitute hardcore nowadays?

*These* are his suggestions on improving an RPG?

Perhaps the RPG-related issues fall under "among other things".

The decryption mini-game has been removed in favour of an odd 2D Frogger-style mini-game which sees you use the W,A,S,D keys to weave a small block in and out of other moving blocks and into the centre of a circle. Like the 360 version's face button mini-game, it's not exactly fun, and not in keeping with the seriousness of the rest of the game, but it's there nonetheless. PC owners will probably find their Mass Effect mini-game as much of an annoyance as 360 owners found theirs.

Well, at least we are being treated the same as the xboxers.

 

[nik2008ofs]

Now, now DU... Mass Effect for the Xbox360 was a 10/10 for its time. Almost a whole year later, <s>EA ads still pay well enough for</s> Mass Effect Pc is significantly improved to be a 10/10 now. I really shouldn't have to explain such obvious truths to you.

Edit: Ok, I give up. I can't make my sarcasm obvious without strikeout effects, and I know I've seen others on the forum use them. [strikethrough][/strikethrough] and [strikeout][/strikeout] don't work, what's next?

Edit the second: <s>Ok, gr8 </s>

 

[Kingston]

Yea, I've been trying to get strikethrough to work but no such luck. Is it some secret admin's only shit?

 

[JarlFrank]

Yea, I've been trying to get strikethrough to work but no such luck. Is it some secret admin's only shit?

<s>We don't have any strikethrough here.</s>

 

[Otingocni]

<s>Only those who are worthy receive the sacred knowledge.</s>

 

[nik2008ofs]

<s>Thanks guys, wouldn't have thought of it</s>

 

[Chefe]

You idiots. If you don't know how to use something, just <s>quote someone that did use it</s> give up on life.

<blockquote>So good was Mass Effect that in my personal view it was 2007's best game, beating BioShock, Halo 3 and The Orange Box.</blockquote>No wai!!! It beat out BioShock and Halo Three??? HOLY FUCKING SHIT BATMAN THIS IS MADNESS!!!

<blockquote>It was not without its flaws of course.</blockquote>So, essentially they're saying that they didn't really review the game, just the hype.

<blockquote>Item management has been vastly improved. Now equipping new weapons, and new mods to those weapons, is much less of a chore. The clunky equip system from the 360 game has been scrapped in favour of a much simpler interface where you can see everything available to you from the same part of the screen. Similar items are grouped together, so you'll be able to bulk convert duplicates picked up on your galactic travels into omni-gel. You'll be spending less time trying to work out what's the best pistol in your bulging bag of weapons and more time using it to send Saren packing, a change we welcome with open arms.</blockquote>Did they also fix the difficulty? Because I'm half-way through the game and I've opened the equipment screen maybe twice. Wrex, I believe, still has his starting equipment.

<blockquote>PC owners will probably find their Mass Effect mini-game as much of an annoyance as 360 owners found theirs.</blockquote>Annoyance? It was the simpliest mini game in the world. It's a fucking simon says button press, with simon severely slowed down, and it took all of three seconds to accomplish.

<blockquote>The long loading times are still in place. The game's much maligned lifts still take what seems like an age to get Shepard and the gang from A to B, especially in the Citadel.</blockquote>They should have really put a disclaimer on the review that says it's specifically targeted towards individuals with extreme ADD.

<blockquote>Couple this with the more precise movement and aiming of the mouse and keyboard interface and you've got a level of squad control the 360 version is simply incapable of.</blockquote>Who cares about squad control? Just let them die, get back up, shoot, die again, repeat. Nothing bad happens unless you yourself are killed.

<blockquote>All I can say to PC-owning Mass Effect virgins is: I'm jealous. I wish I could play it for the first time once again.</blockquote>Aww. Isn't that sweet?

<blockquote>Mass Effect PC is unashamedly hardcore.</blockquote>What the fuck does this even mean?

<blockquote>Mass Effect is one of the greatest RPGs ever made</blockquote>Best. Caption. Ever.


Anyways, I still like Mass Effect, but this is absurd.

 

[MetalCraze]

apart from the usual pr bullshit and noob reviewer - the "reviuh" basically says (and Bioware said it as well earlier) that they optimized the game. then why does it have system requirements which are two times higher than the requirements of UT3 (ME uses its engine), considering that the game looks visually worse than UT3 itself?

 

[Texas Red]

Wait a minute. ME has the Bioware trademark ridiculously easy combat? Shit bird, ME looks like a decent game but I'm not sure I can handle another KotOR or NWN with their dumb combat.

 

[WalterKinde]

apart from the usual pr bullshit and noob reviewer - the "reviuh" basically says (and Bioware said it as well earlier) that they optimized the game. then why does it have system requirements which are two times higher than the requirements of UT3 (ME uses its engine), considering that the game looks visually worse than UT3 itself?

I didn't know the system requirements for Mass Effect were that hefty, just read the two page review and can you say "hyped to the max" .
He talks about how great the game is without nary a comment on how hard or easy it was to install or even what type of rig was used to play the game on so you can at least gauge what you need to see all this crisp cinematic detail he continually raves about.
And Praise for The HUD interface etc seems a bit weak since with every Bio port to the PC they have always reconfigured the interface for PC play so why should ME be any different? ever since the days when KOTOR came to the pc Bioware has done this.

 

[Bradylama]

We called for an improvement on graphical glitches, quicker loading times, better Mako controls, better squad mate control and better equipment management, among other things

.

*These* are his suggestions on improving an RPG?

No, they're his suggestions for improving Mass Effect.

It blew me away, ticking all my sci-fi boxes in one giant cinematic assault on the senses.

I rolled my eyes in meatspace for this one.

 

[Nedrah]

Sounds nice enough for me, actually. Not expecting anything seriously rpg'ish, but might definitely be good for some shallow fun.

 

[The Feral Kid]

Isn't still going to be ""Do I be nice or nasty? Does it make much of a difference?"

Bio found a gameplay formula about a decade ago that proved to be novel and successful initially, but since then they haven't changed it a bit. Bio games are monolithic.

 

[MetalCraze]

you can't be nice or nasty in ME. you can only be Shepard.

 

[scypior]

Clearly no Ubisoft port (ever tried quitting Assasin's Creed? I'm pretty sure there's a youtube video of it.)

Yeah, you need to exit, then exit once again, and then choose profile in order to quit the program. Still don't know what profile has to do with quitting...

 

[thesheeep]

Sounds nice enough for me, actually. Not expecting anything seriously rpg'ish, but might definitely be good for some shallow fun.

Think so, too. But it's always a shame to see "professionals" and developers alike having no idea of what an RPG is and what not...

 

[Hamster]

Clearly no Ubisoft port (ever tried quitting Assasin's Creed? I'm pretty sure there's a youtube video of it.)

Yeah, you need to exit, then exit once again, and then choose profile in order to quit the program. Still don't know what profile has to do with quitting...

It is even more funny because on consoles there is a button on gamepad that exits the game with one push, or it can turn off entire system

Edit: fixed misleading wording.

 

[Volourn]

No game is perfect.

 

[WalterKinde]

They sure act like it is with those review high scores, only one site that had a review up even talked about what trouble you could run into with the drm on ME and that was added as an addendum to the original review.

 

[Disconnected]

It is even more funny because on consoles there is a button that exits the game and turns off the system with one push.

You can do the same on a PC, you just have to define the function+shortcut in the OS, rather than the game. If you do it though, don't use a single key-press shortcut. Captain fucking Obvious, I know, but I.. er.. have a friend who did that

 

[Hamster]

It is even more funny because on consoles there is a button that exits the game and turns off the system with one push.

You can do the same on a PC, you just have to define the function+shortcut in the OS, rather than the game.

Of course, you can do anything on PC, but it's somewhat more convinient on consoles - one button summons a menu with option to turn off either game or entire system without the need to configure anything.

 

[Mister Arkham]

The biggest change, however, is the HUD overhaul. The power wheel has been scrapped in favour of a much more efficient weapon select and special ability interface. This is triggered by pressing the space bar. By rotating the camera so it's pointing at the desired location or enemy you can order each ally to move to different, exact areas. The arrow keys are reserved for more general commands, like follow or stay put. As for Shepard, you can assign special powers to the number keys for instant use and the scroll wheel allows you to cycle through each of the four weapons quickly and easily. Couple this with the more precise movement and aiming of the mouse and keyboard interface and you've got a level of squad control the 360 version is simply incapable of.

I suppose this could be nit-picky, but... you have to select things by rotating the camera over them? What, is there only mouse control in the "Halo's Warthog-knockoff driving sequences?"

Also, it's a damned sad day to be a science-fiction nerd when people start accusing developers (or anyone for that matter) of ripping off Halo.

 

[Chefe]

No game is perfect.

Thank god you said this, because I was under the complete opposite impression.