Mass Effect

[MRU]

Well although I've had it about a week I only started playing today and I've racked up about 7 hours.

This game has really impressed me so far. Graphically the game looks lovely at 1080p and the only stutter I see is the occasional loading issue, but nothing to distract from the impressive atmosphere.

I loved the character creation feature, I managed to generate a main character that bared a scary similarity to myself, and it has made the game more immersive for me because of it.

I spent just over 5 hours in the citadel alone, carrying out all the side quests and exploring, and enjoyed every moment of it.

Just spent the last two exploring space, the level of choice is impressive, and whilst there is a lot of conversation in this game, to me its never gets to the point of 'oh shut up and get on with it' territory.

There are not many games that grip me these days but this has me by the balls at the moment. Just the right amount of exploration to action for my liking. Unlike Uncharted which I loved the exploration and adventure, but grew quickly tired of the action sequences which felt ARTIFICIALLY dragged on beyond what was necessary.

How is everyone else finding the game so far ?

It's certainly on my list as 'game of the year' but will reserve judgment further until I have completed more of it, but so far....... a definite thumbs up, and certainly the best Sci-Fi RPG game in a long long time.

 

[Much Ado]

This game has really impressed me so far. Graphically the game looks lovely at 1080p...

XBOX does 1080p now? I'm so out of touch...

Since KOTOR i've been desperate for another epic space-RPG to rival it. This sounds like it might just be the one.

How is the combat system?

 

[0098386]

All'st I know about it is that I can no longer play my bro's 360 since he's always on this game.

 

[2nyRiggz]

I wished I could feel the same about this game but its very boring to me. The game has a lot of things going for it but its just not doing it for me...seems very generic TO ME.


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[Spanky Deluxe]

I just watched the trailer for this, wow that does look cool. In 1080p too? I'm a snob when it comes to resolutions in games, I don't consider 720p to be "HD gaming" in the slightest - one of my dislikes of the PS3 and 360 marketing stuff.

Have they made it any easier for players to play games like this with a mouse and keyboard? I know that UT3 for the PS3 was meant to offer this but it would sure make me reconsider consoles for this type of game if they always supported mouse and keyboard.

 

[adrianblaine]

I've had it since the day it came out but I've been so busy that I have only played about 10 hours of it. I like it a lot as well, and I can't see it ending so badly that I'll hate it or anything. I wish it took place in a universe that I already knew. I think that is why I enjoyed KOTOR so much. Maybe it's just that I'm getting older and I'm having a hard time wanting to learn about new aliens, new weapons, new tech... Speaking of which, the whole biotics thing is kind of weird. I never felt like it was explained very well at the beginning, and now it just feels like a Star Wars Force wannabe.

The combat is ok. Sometimes it makes me wish that it was either more of an RPG (KOTOR) or a first person shooter (Ghost Recon). It has its moments though.

All in all I'm really enjoying it. I just wish I had more time to sit down and play a big chunk of it at once.

 

[sikkinixx]

I am about 8 hours in and was starting to get bored before I left for vacation. The load times are abit annoying, tons of pop-in and some fps drops (frequently) detract for the experience but not enough to ruin the brillant atmosphere the game creates.

The menu system is a mess and truthfully, a few more little tutorials would have been great. The game misses having hotkeys in the worse way. It sucks because you can't use a spell a few times in a row like KOTOR, you have to wait 30 seconds for it to charge up again so in a given battle you need to be in the menu screen a lot to use the powers. The squad AI is kinda.... crappy as well. Finally, the most annoying thing has to been that damn charm/intimidate thing. I spent about 45 minutes doing some sidequest only to find out I can't finish it because my charm was too low. So I need to A) leave, level up, then journey alllll the way back or B) kill the people and leave. Lame-o! I remember KOTOR being similar but it's a tad annoying that I can SEE the option I need to pick but can't pick it!! ARGH!

Anyway, despite all that I don't hate the game, it's kinda cool but KOTOR was so much better in most everyway aside from presentation/graphics and I honestly know I will never beat the game (just like KOTOR!)

edit: Oh! And what the hell is with my character having ti equip weapons she can't use? wtf? I dont want a stupid shotgun and all that crap! I can only use a pistol!

 

[Mackilroy]

I'm on my second play-through of the game. I quite enjoy it, even with the occasional problem.

 

[NAG]

I've beat it a few times. There is variation in the story so it doesn't get boring (not to mention different classes play differently).

There are some pretty serious graphics problems with Mass Effect. If that puts you off then don't get the game. Graphics pop in a lot not to mention other fun occasional glitches (the glitches happen far less frequently, I've had about 2).

The AI is stupid for the most part. Bad guys and your party members frequently shoot at walls because their target is behind them. You also have the occasional party member pathing problem (especially when exiting the Mako). The AI also just doesn't kick in sometimes. I've seen AI humping walls or just standing there staring at you.

Secondary missions are pretty generic for locations (there are a couple buildings and only a few types of bad guys). They do a good job coming up with good scenarios.

The inventory system blows. It takes for ever to manage your gear due to a slow moving scroll and everything basically being in one big list (at least in the sell screen). They really need to fix this. It detracts more from the game than the AI problems.

Now, these complaints may seem damning. The truth is they probably are for some people. I personally love the game (why else would I play through it completely a few times). Still, it isn't for everyone.

It isn't a tactical game (although there are some dumbed down squad controls). It isn't a straight up shooter (although you could get away with it as a soldier on the easier settings). And while it isn't linear (you don't have to be a jedi) you can't do whatever you want. You are going to save the universe (unless you don't beat the game). So no going all nutso evil.

Oh, and it takes a while to learn the game since they didn't put in a very good tutorial. I honestly didn't figure out the Mako has a zoom on it's gun (I knew about the first person perspective but didn't know about the extra zoom). I suggest reading the manual if you do get the game. Also read/find codex entries and talk to your crew if you want to learn about the history of the world. It's there, you just have to look around.

PS: The thing about needing to increase your charm or intimidate points, you can finish the quest. You just have more limited options without the points in charm/intimidate. It is impossible to play through this game "perfectly." It seriously requires more than one play through. You can play through the game with the same character though if you want (same level and everything).

 

[yellow]

I am about 2/3s through my 2nd play-through, though not with my original character. I bullt a soldier one try 1, this time a Vanguard.

I like the game, but it feels incomplete to me. There's like 2/3rds of the galaxy that one never visits because there's nothing there. That seems odd to me. I am sure it's a consequence of all their troubles getting to market.

I quite like the innovative plot immersion and the voice work is excellent.

As has been mentioned, the AI is dumb as hell.

The inventory system is crappy. And you make money you can never spend.

I thought the story and the plot was quite good.

Some of the game is damned repetative. I got REALLY tired of driving around Bryce planets in the Mako. All the layouts of the "dungeons" are exactly the same.

My biggest complaint is that my Xbox ends up giving me a disc read error. I don't know if it's my disc or my disc drive.

Overall, I give it an 8/10.

 

[iEdd]

I just watched the trailer for this, wow that does look cool. In 1080p too? I'm a snob when it comes to resolutions in games, I don't consider 720p to be "HD gaming" in the slightest - one of my dislikes of the PS3 and 360 marketing stuff.

Just remember that it depends on screen size too. A 32" LCD in 720p has about the same ppi as a 50" plasma in 1080p. Also, how close do you sit to the screen?

 

[NAG]

Since my post was negative I'm now going to post (mostly) positive replies to someone else's post.

I am about 2/3s through my 2nd play-through, though not with my original character. I bullt a soldier one try 1, this time a Vanguard.

Yeah I've done engineer, adept, soldier (basically the 3 pure classes).

I like the game, but it feels incomplete to me. There's like 2/3rds of the galaxy that one never visits because there's nothing there. That seems odd to me. I am sure it's a consequence of all their troubles getting to market.

Mass Effect is actually a trilogy. They're also putting in downloadable content between sequels. So while there is a lot of empty space on the map now, they're going to fill it up (maybe not completely, I mean the galaxy is huge after all).

I quite like the innovative plot immersion and the voice work is excellent.

Yup, have to agree. The whispers of the Protheans (you have to turn your sound up for this) is great too.

And you make money you can never spend.

Yeah, I was confused by how money was hard in the beginning and then gets all super inflated (well if you do side quests). You end up hitting the cap pretty easy and being limited as to what you can buy due to your level/how many main quests you have completed. My first play through I didn't even know there was a sell function and was just gelling my extra stuff. I still had more than enough money to buy everything I wanted.

My biggest complaint is that my Xbox ends up giving me a disc read error. I don't know if it's my disc or my disc drive.

Yeah, Halo does that to me too. I have to eject and insert it back in before I play it otherwise I'll get a read error after a while. Really stupid and I blame the xbox for it.

 

[yellow]

Mass Effect is actually a trilogy. They're also putting in downloadable content between sequels. So while there is a lot of empty space on the map now, they're going to fill it up (maybe not completely, I mean the galaxy is huge after all).

Yeah I read a little about that in this month's EGM.

I think I was mostly hoping for more playing time. I did every quest and hit every planet and found everything and it still only lasted ~32 hours the first time thru.

I look forward to the sequals.

I think one other complaint that I agree with is the lack of real information.. there are a lot of equpment stats that I just don't get and aren't explained anywhere.

 

[MRU]

Yeah there is a lot of tutorials that seemed to have been skipped. No one explained upgrades and weapon upgrades, so I think I've learned that now.

I haven't experienced any pop up yet. I've had a few texture load in as it streams a cut scene, but no actual pop up. Same thing happens in Uncharted.

I also don't feel it's generic at all, and really do feel like the worlds are well thought out, however this could change as I am not that far in.

I hated the motion effect, so that was turned off. The I decided I quite liked the film grain and left that on. I think it's great they allowed you to decide those things yourself.

Maybe the slower pace and the interaction is actually what I'm enjoying the most from this game. To me the balance of action - communication & exploration is dead on.





Like we all know, what game does it for person A, may not be the same for person B.

I've suddenly developed an RPG bent this year on the 360, MassEffect, Eternal Sonata, BlueDragon have all kept my 360 busy, whilst other titles I have bought have barely been touched. Halo 3, about 2 hours in only. COD4 first main mission after the boat only. Assassins Creed, the first main mission only..... So for me to put hours into a game, it has to keep me hooked, and so far ME has done that, I just hope it continues to the end, because the amount of games I play to the end is sadly quite pitiful.

 

[yellow]

Part of my frustration might be with how many times the game was delayed.

It's original release date? March 2007. Then June. Then September. Then November. I had my cash plunked down in Feb on a pre-order!

In my mind, I think I built the game up further than it was actually going to go.

 

[sikkinixx]

It seems like the game needed more time. Just to polish it all up and such. And from the rumblings, it sounds like it should have been on 2 discs as well since Bioware said they had to cut a lot of content.

 

[MRU]

^ Why do that, i mean give us 2 discs worth, when they will just release a few expansions for the game over marketplace for 1200 points each, and they will probably generate more revenue and profit by doing so that they would for including the content in the game from the outset.

I mean we still get 30 hours of gameplay as it is, so it's not too bad.

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The only thing I've found so far which is an obvious bug is when I used LIFT on an object and it got stuck in a door way and I couldn't move it afterwards. So it blocked my passage and I had to reload to undo it.

The other was again using LIFT on a staircase against an enemy. The attack succeeded but I somehow got stuck (clipped) in the architecture and just couldn't move at all.

 

[yellow]

^ Why do that, i mean give us 2 discs worth, when they will just release a few expansions for the game over marketplace for 1200 points each, and they will probably generate more revenue and profit by doing so that they would for including the content in the game from the outset.

Well.. I understand that I am in the minority.. but I am stuck in an area with NO broadband. Nothing at all. So content via download kinda pisses me off. That being said, I know I will haul the 360 into work to do content downloads when the time comes. Though I can't really imagine what content they would offer since whatever it was wouldn't really add to the plot of the game. Mini-quests? More useless gear? I mean.. can I PLEASE stop getting cryo rounds as drops?

 

[Markleshark]

I, er, don't like it at all.

Infact, it's going back the first chance I get.

 

[Mackilroy]

I, er, don't like it at all.

Infact, it's going back the first chance I get.

That's a pity, but 'tis your choice.

 

[sikkinixx]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3A110a Safari/419.3)

^ Why do that, ihen they will just release a few expansions for the game over marketplace for 1200 points each, and they will probably generate more revenue and profit by doing so that they would for including the content in the game from the outset.



I mean we still get 30 hours of gameplay as it is, so it's not too bad.



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The only thing I've found so far which is an obvious bug is when I used LIFT on an object and it got stuck in a door way and I couldn't move it afterwards. So it blocked my passage and I had to reload to undo it.



The other was again using LIFT on a staircase against an enemy. The attack succeeded but I somehow got stuck (clipped) in the architecture and just couldn't move at all.

well that does seem like the new way of doing things... I mean the stupid dlc and such. I think it just sucks that the content was in good shape but them they hold it back because they wanna push it out the door or just rape me later for more money ( Whch they won't since I refuse to buy most dlc )

 

[Curren~Sea]

I, er, don't like it at all.

Infact, it's going back the first chance I get.

Same. I dumped my copy as soon as I could. Very disappointed because I was a huge fan of KotOR and Jade Empire. However, I am not dissuaded from buying future products from Bioware if they come in the PS3 flavor.

 

[NAG]

The repetition in the game is only noticable in the uncharted worlds/side quests. Such as the prefab underground base, prefab above ground base, and mines. You also get the prefab trailers scattered around the world that was designed by a computer or something which results in some really wonky landscapes on occasion. This isn't repetition in terms of the quests though. They do a pretty good job of giving you a reason to do the stuff rather than just telling you to do the same thing over and over again because a different NPC told you to (actually you get most of this stuff from one NPC).

All the quest hubs and main ports have unique designs though (well they reuse some elements but they only have so much room on the disk). I honestly don't have a problem with the reuse thing. All games have this problem just due to the nature of the medium. (Oh look, crates!) I'm only really annoyed at how some of the planets are extremely hard to navigate around. I know why they are there (reduce load times) but they turn into impassible obstacles on occasion (only happened to me on one world which was basically designed like screwed up egg carton).

About the DLC thing. The game isn't horribly short. If the game only lasted 10 hours or something and offered little replay value I'd complain. But that isn't the case. If they want to add even more stuff on later I'm fine with that. Complaining about the price of unreleased content is silly. They're still reading feedback as to what people would like to see in the extra content (as far as I know).

Personally, I wonder if the delay was at all caused by the whole EPIC using the money to make Gears and leaving everyone out to dry as Silicon Knights claims.

 

[Markleshark]

That's a pity, but 'tis your choice.

I know, I'm disappointed because I really wanted to like it.

The cut scenes look great, but the graphics in game IMO are below par, the buttons to me are laid out a bit funny and you cant tell if your hitting what you shoot or if its hitting you (Until your just about dead)

Basically, I've played for about 45mins and aint got into it. I'm not putting anymore of a my (Admittedly limited) time into getting into it. I like [need] a game to grab me, I don't mind a slow start as long as I'm playing to just get to the next bits, if you see what I mean.

 

[2nyRiggz]

^ Why do that, i mean give us 2 discs worth, when they will just release a few expansions for the game over marketplace for 1200 points each, and they will probably generate more revenue and profit by doing so that they would for including the content in the game from the outset.

Give me the two disc....milking me dry I call it but the game does have a lot of content so expansions are not really needed to understand the game(Directors cut & expansion pack would be cool)

This was a title I really wanted to like but it fell flat. The combat was so "bleh" in the game I couldn't stand it...you can see that combat is second to interaction between characters which is not a bad thing but sometimes I want to break loose and have a good time blasting...it just wasn't there for me.


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