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

[Solaris]

ME is like Oblivion....an action/adventure game with 'some' rpg elements and some very superficial/fake C&C. Hated Oblivion but ME is not so bad, I'm a sucker for interesting storylines, even though that is all it has going for it.

I find it ironic that BioWare say something like Baldur's Gate could never be made these days because of the extreme costs, hence why games like ME won't have as much depth. Well, with ME it seems all the budget went on movie style cutscenes and fluff....cut that and there is plenty of room for depth. But wait, oh noes the mainstream wouldn't be able to cope with that!

 

[MetalCraze]

movie style cutscenes? where?
all I see is when Shepard talks to someone - that someone's shoulder covers half of the screen. very cinematic.

 

[Solaris]

Huh? Cutscenes everywhere. Pseudo/wannabe movie-style then....that better?

Have you even played the game through? It's like being in an interactive movie rather than a game. I don't mind heavy story oriented games (The Witcher being a good example) but when there is no real depth to the 'rpg' side of it, it gets old fast. BoiWare have clearly gone down the Bethesda route, which is quite sad, but inevitable if they want 'big mainstream buck$'.

 

[Texas Red]

Huh? Cutscenes everywhere. Pseudo/wannabe movie-style then....that better?

Have you even played the game through? It's like being in an interactive movie rather than a game. I don't mind heavy story oriented games (The Witcher being a good example) but when there is no real depth to the 'rpg' side of it, it gets old fast. BoiWare have clearly gone down the Bethesda route, which is quite sad, but inevitable if they want 'big mainstream buck$'.

Though the bucks earned on the PC were bigger. Earned on what appears to be a nonprofitable, dated gerne.

 

[MetalCraze]

BG2 was a failure because it sold only 2 mln copies - more than any other non-hack'n'slash/dc rpg. that definitely made Bioware go bankrupt and make cheap 3d games with 1 dimensional characters just to have at least something to eat.

 

[Starwars]

Played some more today, did the mission where you find the blue chick.

The Mako stuff is fucking terrible, godawful stuff. I can't even begin to comprehend how they could design something so utterly boring and shitty. The mission itself was also rather boring.

Spoke some more with the party members, and I must admit that they did grow on me a bit. They really feel a bit more subdued than Biowares usual characters which I usually find way over the top. Perhaps a bit to subdued though.
Still, I don't flat out dislike any of them which have to be considered some kind of achievement, the first time as of yet in a Bioware game. I kinda like Ashley like someone pointed out earlier, feels kinda like a softer version of Aliens Vasquez.

It's enjoyable as a pulpy kind of title. But man I wish they hadn't included the Mako stuff, it sucks so much. Also, the way the story gets started is really jerky... You're on a mission, and after a bit of talking with the council etc after that, suddenly Saren is the big baddie out to destroy everything. It didn't feel like the story set it up good enough, the whole mission you're on feels a bit empty as of yet.

 

[DefJam101]

ME is like Oblivion....an action/adventure game with 'some' rpg elements and some very superficial/fake C&C. Hated Oblivion but ME is not so bad, I'm a sucker for interesting storylines, even though that is all it has going for it.

I'd say Mass Effect is much better than Oblivion, to be honest. Although I would not call the storyline 'interesting' either.

movie style cutscenes? where?
all I see is when Shepard talks to someone - that someone's shoulder covers half of the screen. very cinematic.

Look skyway enough with the bloody straw mans all the time. Stop looking for things to attack, the game has a large amount of valid flaws you could be picking on. The camera pans and zooms, characters move behind each other's backs and so on, that's 'movie style cutscenes'.

 

[Volourn]

ME > KOTOR

Anyone who think KOTOR does anythingw orthwhile better than ME is drunk. KOTOR is a wannabe ME depsite the fact it was made first. L0L

Anything KOTOR does. ME does better.

Dialogue? Check.

Role-playing? check.

Characters? Check.

Combat? Triple check.

Story? Ok, this one is a draw...

C&C? ME.

Character System? Check.

Down with KOTOR! Up with ME!

Absolutely NO contest.

 

[Crichton]

Volourn, Marius, Keldorn.

Bioware Defense Force.

PH3AR THEM

On topic, I'm enjoy Mass Effect myself. The gameplay is obviously leaps and bounds better than the KotOR games, but the setting/artwork are kind of painful. I'm currently playing Lito Shepard, psychic warrior with a space-shotgun strapped firmly to his ass.

 

[Volourn]

Defence Force? Illogical. I'm claiming ME is greater than KOTOR which, btw, happens to be a BIO game... so, 'cause I prefer 1 BIo game over another, I'm defense Force?

While the accusation may be true overall, it's illogical in this thread to use it.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Defence Force? Illogical. I'm claiming ME is greater than KOTOR which, btw, happens to be a BIO game... so, 'cause I prefer 1 BIo game over another, I'm defense Force?

While the accusation may be true overall, it's illogical in this thread to use it.

He could be implying that you are saying Bioware is getting better with every game they make. That would be defending.

I won't put words in his mouth, though.

 

[MetalCraze]

.

Dialogue? Check.

the worst dialogue among all bioware games - now I understand that we were getting this "the exact same response" trick in previous bioware games - but when literally ALL dialogue choices lead to the exact same response - many times - that's too much.

Role-playing? check.

what role-playing? you don't roleplay anyone but jack bauer in space.

Characters? Check.

KotOR had both annoying characters and pretty ok ones - ME has only extremely bland characters. they feel just like fillers there. they have no personalities, they have no opinions - in KotOR they at least -said- that they don't like something you did to this or that guy - here they just stand silent while you punch random guy/woman in the face.

Combat? Triple check.

combat? oh yes sure. at first it feels oh so good. but then you understand that you will hide-behind-crate-shoot-enemy always. too repetitive. and when you get some badass weapons right before Vyrmir (or whatever it is called in your version) - the combat becomes ridiculously easy. Shepard clears whole buildings by himself rarely hiding behind anything as it takes only a second to put an average enemy down.
I can't say if KotOR combat is better or worse. they are both boring.

Story? Ok, this one is a draw...

yep - both stories are one big cliche.

C&C? ME.

what consequences in ME? the 95% of all consequences are nothing more than a report on the citadel radio. that does not affect anything.

Character System? Check.

yeah right - KotOR - many stats, many abilities
ME - punch power, weapon damage, health, charm, intimidate. nothing else. that's all.

EDIT: sorry hit enter by accident.

 

[Fat Dragon]

Bioware stated that this Bringing Down the Sky thing would be 10 hours but reviews said it was more like 1.

Got a link to where they said that? The IGN article I read a while back had Bioware stating it would be around 90 minutes long.

 

[Volourn]

"He could be implying that you are saying Bioware is getting better with every game they make. That would be defending."

That would mean, I think JE is better than BG2, right? Sadly, that isn't the case.



"the worst dialogue among all bioware games"

You are dumb.


"what role-playing? you don't roleplay anyone but jack bauer in space."

You are wrong.


"combat? oh yes sure. at first it feels oh so good. but then you understand that you will hide-behind-crate-shoot-enemy always. too repetitive. I can't say if KotOR combat is better or worse. they are both boring."

You are unreal.

In essence, you once again prove you are a joke, and don't know what youa re talking about. The fact you think you only play Jack Bauer in Space shows you haven't played ME or played it in pure igorance. *shrug*

And, anyone who think that ME and KOTOR are equal in terms of combat is plain old fasion retarded. This isn't even debateable 'cause it's just embarassing.

 

[DefJam101]

Get out of my thread, both of you. You're fucking aggravating. If you don't want to talk about the game then go away.

 

[Volourn]

Make us. And, yo dumbass, we are talking about the game. Can you read?

Of course, your post there had nothing to do with ME. Hypocrite much? LMAO

 

[DefJam101]

edit: R00fles!

 

[Texas Red]

Bioware stated that this Bringing Down the Sky thing would be 10 hours but reviews said it was more like 1.

Got a link to where they said that? The IGN article I read a while back had Bioware stating it would be around 90 minutes long.

Don't got a link but Bioware definitely lies about the length. There even was a scandal where Bioware misinformed the public on the length of ME and publishers had to step in and tell the truth. Haven't followed the hype for their games since the last time I read that NWN takes 140 hours to complete(in a Gamespot interview).

 

[Mareus]

Ok I have been playing ME quite alot so I can tell you a few things VOLO.

Anything KOTOR does. ME does better. -> WRONG

Dialogue? Check. -> Nope, because in ME your dialog options are dumbed down and very often you expect one answer and get something completely different.

Role-playing? check. -> Nope. I would say that both games offer similar RP, but Kotor at least isn't unpredictable when it comes to dialogs and is at least a bit more immersive due to better characters and better dialog options.

Characters? Check. -> Nope. Characters in ME are nothing special (bland in other words) and I wouldn't say they are in any way better than the ones in Kotor. If anything Kotor does it better.

Combat? Triple check. -> Nope. I have to say combat is one of the weaker sides of ME. Telling your people what to do in the heat of battle may result in something completely different than what you wanted to do, resulting in the death of you and your comrades.

Story? Ok, this one is a draw... -> Nope. This one is actually better in ME than in Kotor. At least for me.

C&C? ME. -> I don't know about that.

Character System? Check. -> if you mean character creation and development I would say they are pretty much the same, except that in Kotor I know exactlly what I will get for spending my skill points into some skills while in ME I have a feeling like nothing much has changed. The only thing that ME does better in character creation is that you can change pretty much everything on your face appearence. Just a nice touch, nothing more.

Down with KOTOR! Up with ME! -> Why?? They are basicly the same in quality. Typical Bioware quality.

Absolutely NO contest. -> 100% agree.

 

[Mareus]

Volourn, Marius, Keldorn.

Bioware Defense Force.

It's Mareus, dimbwit. And I am not protecting Bioware. I was just saying that they are not that bad if you look at their games. Sure, there are better games, but Bioware is pretty much consistent and you won't have briliant -> total crap feeling when playing their titles. Sure BG was by far the best thing they made. NWN1 was crapy when compared with BG, but still an ok game. Kotor and ME are also good games, and while I haven't played JE, I believe it will be pretty much ok too for me. How do you see this as defending, I do not understand.

 

[Jasede]

dimbwit

 

[Wyrmlord]

Ehhh, there's something which really bothered me. I was looking at a gameplay footage of Mass Effect in dialogue, and I felt that the fact, that you see your own character speaking, works against it

What I mean is that when the player is thinking about what to say, Sheperd stands dumb in the screen as if he did not understand what the other person said or is incapable of communication. Those lapses in communication feel really awkward. It wasn't a big deal in NWN2 and the KotOR games because the player character never spoke anyway, but here it just seemed strange to me.

I don't want to knock a game before playing it, but I have a slight feeling that this may be a detriment.

 

[Mareus]

Ehhh, there's something which really bothered me. I was looking at a gameplay footage of Mass Effect in dialogue, and I felt that the fact, that you see your own character speaking, works against it

What I mean is that when the player is thinking about what to say, Sheperd stands dumb in the screen as if he did not understand what the other person said or is incapable of communication. Those lapses in communication feel really awkward. It wasn't a big deal in NWN2 and the KotOR games because the player character never spoke anyway, but here it just seemed strange to me.

I don't want to knock a game before playing it, but I have a slight feeling that this may be a detriment.

Not really a big deal if you ask me. You could say the same for The Witcher you know? The withcer also reads the dialoge, but the diference is that in ME it goes a lot faster, because the dialog options have been dumbed down so you don't even have to read. I guess reading would be too much for the console players. Although I think Bioware did it to increase the cinematic experience of the player.

 

[MetalCraze]

@Wyrmlord:
what's even worse - sometimes you choose a dialogue option and hope shepard to follow that line about what you're thinking - but then shepard speaks something totally different or adds unrelated thing. the design choice of giving player only 3 words to understand about what shepard will talk and then make shepard speak something else is really bad.
translation also doesn't help.

like f.e. when they have a discussion about what to do next after you saved Liara and she hints Shepard on something - Ashley says something like - so now you're not commander anymore and will take orders from her (she wasn't giving him orders) - Shepard has a dialogue option like "no I'm the commander here!". now if you understand in that context it should mean Shepard telling Ashley to chill out as she was talking to him. instead it goes like (not precisely but with the same context):
Shepard turns to Liara: "I'm the commander here you blue alien bitch! I give my orders and you must follow them! now shut up!"
unexpected.

 

[DefJam101]

Just in case some of you haven't figured it out yet, the intent of the system is to create a more 'flowing' dialog. Presumably to be even more 'cinematic'. When you're talking to someone, they will say a "key point" in the conversation which allows you to respond. If you click after they say this key point the dialog wheel will show up even if they are still talking, allowing you to choose your response. If you choose the response while they are still talking Sheperd will respond almost instantaneously after they finish talking, allowing the dialog to flow like normal speech.