Mass Effect (PC).. first impressions; can't say I hate it

[WalterKinde]

Theres a skill to revive your companions? When its on ironman/insane mode they don't spring back up from the dead anymore after the battle??
And why did Bioware make it so difficult to get this mode?
I would think it would be available right at the start or when you beat the game.

 

[The Rambling Sage]

I have the 360 version.

Forget i said anything, then. I must have missed that part.

So you can unlock a difficulty with some points? Lame and consolized.

What's the deal with retard friendly difficulty, anyway? How dumb do you have to be to realize that people want challenge. Do they think that some reviewer will complain that he had to move his brain gears on a boss level? Do they really believe that this is going to affect sales?

There has been some backlash about this topic on Bio's forums, i believe. Outside the hack to activate Insane mode without having to first play Veteran and Hardcore there is no way to play in such a mode without the stupid "acomplishment" bonuses that give you extra XP, better shields, powers/weapons outside your chosen class, and some other crap - And with such bonus even Insane is moderate at best.

But then you have to consider that the main target for this game are guys who think the best way to play an Adept or Sentinel is to first go through with a Soldier to unlock the Assault Rifle accomplishment and then be able to use one when playing as an Adept or Sentinel because, hey, with only pistols the two PURE SUPPORT classes are not doing enough DPS as to win the game by itself.

Those guys do not want a challenge. They want some power fantasy of being a Though Guy (in space) and go around killing things, fucking ladies, and being heroes. There has even been some idiots defending Bioware from the guys saying it was a stupid choice to lock the hardest modes because Eden Prime is actually, you know, hard in insane with a support character and that could mean new players would lose interest in a game that's aparently about story (lol) and nice views (LOL) instead of combat (LOL!).

The amusing thing is that some parts of the game actually result in a nice, cheesy, action movie romp in 'hacked' insane mode with a support class as Main Character - The Rogue VI, for an example, turns to be so fucking hardcore lesser players consider it outright imposible in "normal" insane, let alone hacked one. Any kind of sniper or heavy weapons enemy can kill you in one clean shot, the Thorian zombies offer some heavy resistance and are at times able to overpower your team, the charging Krogans can both kill you in one charge and are damn fucking resilient, the Biotics zerg-rushing your team can anihilate your team if you get careless, etc.

Theres a skill to revive your companions? When its on ironman/insane mode they don't spring back up from the dead anymore after the battle??

If you put points into Spectre training, or choose Medic as a 'prestige class', you can revive them in the middle of the fight instead of waiting to kill all the bad guys. This becomes amusing when you consider they come back with some amount of health and shields based on how many points you have on the skill and you do not even need to 'touch' them as in games like GoW.

Then you can just stand outside a room, send an angry Wrex to dish some pain, revive him with almost full health and shields when they kill him (from the outside), have him dish more pain, revive him again when he dies again, etc. Some guys on Bio's forums actually have talked of this as a strategy to go through some hard battles instead of an obvious xploit/cheat.

 

[RK47]

Self created feeling of self worth from Achievements probably. I hardly call that a tactic lol. It's just an abuse of game rules. The concept of RPG achievements for console players are nothing but level up and stats.

 

[Chefe]

There's only one Xbox game with real achievements, and that is Metal Slug 3. Every other game just gives you them for figuring out how to turn on the console.

 

[fastpunk]

OK, I got Mass Effect last friday and despite time constraints I managed to clock about 13 hours so far. So here are some impressions:

The word that comes to mind when thinking of Mass Effect is "inconsistent". Sure, it has a lot of content but most of it is poor. The whole exploration of uncharted worlds gets really old really fast. Actually, these sequences feel more like some kind of vehicle mini-game. Most of these planets look very bland and the only thing you can do on them is run around in the Mako, find scraps of metal and sometimes even some 2-roomed buildings filled with a few enemies for the fuck of it. Thrilling!

Now on to the main quest. Actually, wait. Quests. They deserve some attention. In general, quests are very straightforward with usually zero choices. Sometimes you can handle a situation with a bit of mouth flapping... but those instances are few. This one time, I had the option to kill or save a rachni matriarch and since said rachni was among the last of its species, the choice was quite interesting. Kill her (and with her the entire race) or let her go (knowing full well that rachni are a potential threat), it was an interesting choice. But again, a very rare one.

The whole thing about quests is somewhat representative for the whole game. There are a lot of quests, but very few are interesting. Looking at the big picture, I feel like Bioware was going for quantity over quality. Back to the main quest: it isn't very compelling. The story is littered with bad cliches (ancient evils awakening, we've picked up a distress call from a colony near by, experiments gone wrong and of course, the base has been overrun by hostile aliens) and the pacing is horrible. The combat system is interesting but you get only short bursts of action. Just when you start to have a little fun, it's over. Time to go back to running around, talking, exploring the galaxy map and the galactic codex. The codex is interesting but the rest is poorly executed. That dialog wheel is utter crap. Most of the time it doesn't even manage to give you a correct idea of what your character is going to say. Not that it matters really, you talk just for the sake of getting yet another generic quest or find out about the fascinating life of your crew members (I must hand it to Bioware though, they made them more discreet, less annoying than some of the exemplars from previous games like BG, KotOR or JE). It's also ridiculous how serious this game takes itself. Most of the characters are really stiff, like they got a carrot up their ass.

One last thing: ME might be powered by state of the art technology but the level design is blaaaaaand. The Citadel looked nice, but the other places I've explored so far, like Noveria, Feros, Eden Prime or the uncharted planets, look bland.

ME has a good interface, nice combat, OK voice acting (if a bit stiff), well optimized engine and the galactic codex. I'll give it that. But the rest is just poor and the overall impression isn't too positive. It's just bland.

Anyone know when The Witcher Enhanced Edition is coming out?

 

[MetalCraze]

it was an interesting choice. But again, a very rare one.

except it has no consequences. of course if you will call the "zomg you let that big bug escape!" words (that won't ever be more that words) from council - a consequence - then it does have one.

 

[fastpunk]

it was an interesting choice. But again, a very rare one.

except it has no consequences. of course if you will call the "zomg you let that big bug escape!" words (that won't ever be more that words) from council - a consequence - then it does have one.

I've given up expecting real consequences in Bioware games. I'd be happy even with choices like the one mentioned above... but these seem to be getting rare too.

 

[Jaesun]

it was an interesting choice. But again, a very rare one.

except it has no consequences. of course if you will call the "zomg you let that big bug escape!" words (that won't ever be more that words) from council - a consequence - then it does have one.

I've given up expecting real consequences in Bioware games. I'd be happy even with choices like the one mentioned above... but these seem to be getting rare too.

As a planned trilogy, the choices you make in the first game will have an effect in the second and third installments of this game.

But it is unknown if these will pan out to be real consequences as you said. *shrug*

 

[Imbecile]

That makes no sense to me. How will a sequel know what decision I made?

Edit: unless you were being ironic. Didnt look that way though...

 

[Chefe]

^ See KOTOR2

 

[snowballdemon]

So I finished the game today and also have mixed feelings.

First of all, that game is not an RPG. It's a shooter with dialogues and stats for weapon proficiency. And as such, I enjoyed it.

The main quest kept me interested enough. Sure, it was cliche and the ending was kinda over the top, but again, I enjoyed it for what it was - somewhat like a no-brainer action movie with a lot of explosions, lazors and manly one-liners. There was no real depth, true, and choices were practically non-existent, but overall it was pretty cool. I even enjoyed driving the mako about - it reminded me of that old Atari game, Moon Rover or something. Also, the fleet vs. Sovereign series of cutscenes was fucking awesome, hands down.

Voice acting was pretty good too - I didn't get the feeling that the actors weren't taking the whole thing seriously. Good job on that. Especially Wrex gave a great performance.
Teh grafix are great on the technical side. At least the choice of Unreal engine gave Bioware the option to give characters more emotes than flailing their arms around their heads in despair.

What I didn't like were the planetary exploration/side quests. Repetitive, boring and simply badly designed. Visiting the same fucking interiors of the same fucking boxy buildings for the fiftieth time was a muhfuggen chore. Also, I got this weird bug when occasionally (and increasing in frequency as the game progressed) my weapons wouldn't cool down after overheating. Reloading a saved game did fix it most of the times.

Well, in the end I find this game shallow yet amusing.

 

[Xor]

Well, in the end I find this game shallow yet amusing.

That seems to be the general consensus. I was thinking about giving it a run-through, but it doesn't look like it'd be worth $50.

 

[Volourn]

"First of all, that game is not an RPG."

Yes, it is. Youc an consider it a bad RPG if you want; but it most assuredly is a RPG. It has everything a RPG should have. Does it do themw ell? To me it does. To otehrs, it doesn't. But, it is a RPG. Well, technically an Action RPG. *shrug*

It's more a RPG than every other BIO game other than NWN. It's more of a RPG than games like IWD, TOEE, or the GB games to be sure.

 

[Riso]

That makes no sense to me. How will a sequel know what decision I made?

Edit: unless you were being ironic. Didnt look that way though...

The successor will read the savegame of ME.

 

[MetalCraze]

I doubt that Bio will suddenly turn all good and provide real consequences rather than information in a form of simple statistic like it was in ME1. considering that ME2 also will be a game for consoles. because of their choices console kids won't get something? not with Bioware.
especially with the designer/writer like Drew Karpyshyn. seriously he sucks beyond belief. I didn't read his prequel or whatever that book was though, but according to people who did - it is even more nonsensical than ME itself. but even ME storyline tells much about him as a "writer".
(according to wiki he also wrote the storyline and all dialogues for KotOR and was one of the lead writers for Jade Empire - that explains much. why this guy wasn't fired yet?)
I also found the story of that "prequel" on wiki. here is a line from it:

"In 2149, an exploration team near the edge of the solar system discovered that Charon, Pluto's moon, was a mass relay, a dormant piece of ancient Prothean technology covered by sheets of ice."
some quality writing there. I wonder who covered the mass relay with ice and where did he find so much water to make it look like a planet to humans all this time?

 

[obediah]

There's only one Xbox game with real achievements, and that is Metal Slug 3. Every other game just gives you them for figuring out how to turn on the console.

Nah, some of the tough ones also make you tape down a button for a few days.

 

[RK47]

I think the choice of the VA for Shepard didn't really fit. He sounds too stiff for a Renegade. Needs Samuel L Jackson imo.

 

[Earth Nuggets]

Jennifer Hale on the other hand gives a very fitting performance for a female renegade Shepherd. Afterall, she also provided the voice of Xel'lototh from Eternal Darkness.

 

[MetalCraze]

Jennifer Hale is a talented VO actress - yes.
though Bioware always gives her 2dimensional roles *cough* aribeth bastila and now shepard*cough*

 

[RK47]

Mmmm might have to give her a try later. But the female models,...are there any 'badass' looking. My male shepard is basically Nick Fury minus the eye patch.

 

[fastpunk]

Mmmm might have to give her a try later. But the female models,...are there any 'badass' looking. My male shepard is basically Nick Fury minus the eye patch.

Pfff, my female Shepard is one sexy bitch with an attitude. Gotta go with female in this game, seriously. I didn't know Jennifer Hale was the VO until now, but she offers a good performance, sounds a lot better than the male Shepard. I actually started the game with a male and after half way through Eden Prime decided to start again with a female. Much better!

 

[Andyman Messiah]

The voice acting in this game sucked. I can only come up with four that I thought was okay: Seth Green, RENEGADE Jennifer Hale, Keith David, Lance Henriksen (though chances are you probably never even heard him if you never did the planetary sidequests) and the dude who did Wrex (can't say if that was a difficult job though). The rest just came off as boring and monotone. Saren sounded like he was going to fall asleep.

A real letdown considering they put Cam Clarke and Grey DeLisle, two of the most awesome voice actors ever - fuck you, no contest, in minor roles. What the fuck, Bioware?

 

[Jaime Lannister]

I just got this and so far it seems like KOTOR with better combat, a better setting, and more dialog.

Biggest complaint so far is the constant switching between serious sci-fi and B-movie cheese. Why can't they stick to one or the other?

As far as the plot, I'd say it's deeper than KOTOR 1 or NWN, but not as good as Fallout, PST, Arcanum, Bloodlines, MotB, and other Codex favorites.

I haven't gotten to the acclaimed "deep moral choices" yet though. More later.

 

[Lesifoere]

I haven't gotten to the acclaimed "deep moral choices" yet though. More later.

I don't recall there being any.

 

[Skankster]

The chick has the best voice. The guy has a real boring, drab, pussyish voice. I thought he would have a deep, rough, collar grabbing voice though now I agree it should have been Samual L Jackson. Damn that would be fun.

The game itself is mildly interesting, more of a time filler though I enjoyed it more than Jade Empire at least.