Mass Effect

[Hula]

With the third instalment of the series on its way in March, it's safe to say I'm pretty excited about the Mass Effect franchise. Opinions have been generally mixed when I talk to people about it, though; anyone who has stuck with the first game long enough to clear it either falls into the 'love it' or 'loathe it' camp. True, there are aspects of the first game that brought it down from a perfect 10/10 to an 8—the Mako missions were tedious at times, for starters, and the combat system could be a bit simplistic—but I'm always surprised by the hate this series gets sometimes. It's just the right blend of shooter and RPG, in my opinion.

Here's some gameplay from the third game, aired at the Spike Video Game Awards:



Anybody else waiting with bated breath for the final part to the trilogy?

[Thiah]

I'm soo excited for the 3rd one! This is definitely one of my favorite videogame series of all time. I'm gonna be sad when it ends.

[Space Suicide]

I can't wait for the 3rd game, nor the multiplayer!

OR THE MULTIPLAYER BETA!

[Hula]

I'm intrigued by what they'll bring to the table with the multiplayer. I liked how they justified it—that the conflict with the Reapers affects people across space and they wanted to capture that with the gameplay. I normally shy away from multiplayer, but it has the potential to be interesting with a game like this.

[slave2thewage]

We have the first two games in the house, but I've only played the first one (blame Skyrim coming out a week after I picked up Mass Effect 2 and therefore it hasn't left the Xbox since). Is the second one bigger that the first?

[Hula]

I found it longer. The side quests revolve more around actual missions (delivering things to people across the universe, hunting people down etc) rather than collecting 5 of X and 10 of Y and 400 of Z, so that in itself adds weight to the game. It's still pretty easy to get 100% completion in the second game within a week, though.

[Wretchedest]

I loved the second game! I'm still playing through the first, round 2, with my angry Gothic lesbian character, Lezzy Shephard (as opposed to my goo0die-two shoes blonde black man, Pikachu Shephard). I've been kind of waiting to progress so I can lead right into no. 3. Here's hoping things go well.

Re: Multiplayer, I don't think multiplayer is going to add much to the game. What I don't like about mp in games like this or bioshock or dead space is that it takes the developer's attention away from the narrative, which is clearly the main point of the game. If it was call of duty or halo or something, I'd be saying the opposite. That said, it seems like they've integrated it in an interesting way. But it looks like the game doesn't support local, split screen multiplayer and that might prevent me from enjoying it for what it is.

Also, I noticed that a lot of series mainstays are only going to be included through a limited edition or preorder type deal, and like the Liara DLC, i think this dilutes the legitimacy of an otherwise perfect game. Main and consistent characters aren't something that should be left out of the main package.


Still realy really want to play this.

[Space Suicide]

The multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 is squad based missions similar in vain to the main campaign but only in play style only. Characters are customizable (to my knowledge) in the multiplayer but they are not in any way connected to Shepherd or main story. I hear ranking up and experience works well with the story as far as experience goes. Don't hold me to it, rumors people.

[Wretchedest]

I would just like tobplay with people in the same roon as me.

[xmd 5a]

Mass Effect 1 was a better RPG, but Mass Effect 2 felt like more of a classic. I love both games equally. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'd love to see a return of the miscellaneous planet exploration sidequests from ME1 (along with ME2's more fleshed out, varied sidequests of course).

I don't have much fear of 3's multiplayer detracting to much from the meat-and-bones game proper. BioShock 2 and Dead Space 2's tacked-on multi modes didn't seem to stop the actual games being satisfying single player experiences.

It's rare online multiplayer holds my interest. I just can't get immersed, and I NEED the immersion factor to truly enjoy a game.

[Hula]

The Mako missions were great in ME1, but it was a shame that the indoor locations were so repetitive. It felt like they did a better job of building playable locales in the second game.

[Piko]

The Mako missions were great in ME1, but it was a shame that the indoor locations were so repetitive. It felt like they did a better job of building playable locales in the second game.

I hated controlling that thing. Real pain in the ass to control.

[Space Suicide]

US Pre-order Bonuses Revealed

http://www.trueachievements.com/n694...nly-update.htm

I pre-ordered the Limited Edition of this. Extra 20 bucks for so much. Love it.

[Wretchedest]

Just got my gothic l;esbian through ME1... ugh, I forgot how awful that thing is. Really a terrible design. Surprised they got to the second one.

But ME2 makes all worth it.

[Hula]

My brother got me an N7 hoody for Christmas—got the stripe down the right arm and the N7 logo on the right breast. Fucking love it.

Mass Effect 3 marks the first game I've ever really been willing to splash exorbitant amounts to get bonus items. Anybody heard tell of a Collector's Edition for the UK/Europe?

[ltrandazzo]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I can't wait for this game!

[Space Suicide]

Demo soon guys!

I beat Mass Effect 2 last week. I'm so horrible at pacing and keeping up with games to beat them ASAP. I started Mass Effect 2 last July and just got aroun to beating it last week.

[dolemite]

I'm a HUGE fan of this series.

One of my favorite things is that Mass Effect 2 imports the save from Mass Effect and your decisions carry over. There are characters, both major and minor, that do or don't pop up in Mass Effect 2 depending on the decisions that you made in Mass Effect.

I like it that my decisions seem to have decently big effects on the game world across the game series.

[Hula]

Apparently Mass Effect 3 was a little easier to develop because they didn't have to worry about planning how actions would impact a hypothetical ME4. Word has been floating around that we should hang onto our ME3 saves, though; it'd be really, really cool if our choices in the main game series had an impact on any spin-offs or tie-ins BioWare might come out with.

[Space Suicide]

From Dust - Possible DLC?

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2012/02/...st-dlc-leaked/

Read and seen it last night but still no news about it on here nor in general from EA (ugh) or BioWare about it.

Also,

iPhone/iPod/iPad App to Sync with Console Game and a Standalone Game App

As for my early access code for the demo...it's non-existent. Be sure to download and play the demo guys, it allows you to get in game exclusive items if you have the save file on your console when you begin the actual game itself. Demo is out on Valentine's Day.

I did this (reluctantly) and you should too, more exclusive in game items can be gotten from this game on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/xbox?sk=app_316882578351614

This game is such a money pit and DLC whore it's ridiculous. I find it rather nauseating to annoyance levels everywhere.

Either way, stoked about my Collector's Edition on the 6th. That shit is sold the fuck out, glad I pre-ordered it. This is what pre-ordering is truly for.

[Deadpool]

Be sure to download and play the demo guys, it allows you to get in game exclusive items if you have the save file on your console when you begin the actual game itself. Demo is out on Valentine's Day.

I did this (reluctantly) and you should too, more exclusive in game items can be gotten from this game on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/xbox?sk=app_316882578351614

This game is such a money pit and DLC whore it's ridiculous. I find it rather nauseating to annoyance levels everywhere.

Either way, stoked about my Collector's Edition on the 6th. That shit is sold the fuck out, glad I pre-ordered it. This is what pre-ordering is truly for.

Ooh, thanks for the heads-up! Was definitely playing the demo, but that's a nice bonus!

Definitely kicking myself for not pre-ordering the Collector's Edition when it was still in stock. I remember pre-ordering the Collector's Edition for ME2 months in advance, almost by chance while I was getting another game, and thinking "Man, kinda silly I'm pre-ordering so far in advance... not like it'll sell out any time soon." Joke's on me this time! On the upside, I'm saving some loot, and the normal edition will actually look nice on the shelf with the other games. I figure any GREAT DLC will be made available to anyone and won't be 100% exclusive to the deluxe version. On top of that, now that there's the huge/amazing/much deserved "Art of the Mass Effect Universe" book, it kinda makes the art book that comes with the ME3 redundant. Still, I definitely underestimated the popularity of this game somehow.


Anyway, I'm pretty sure Mass Effect 3 will be the greatest game ever. All these new videos from Bioware have me ridiculously excited. Also, "fuck you" to anyone who said multiplayer was a bad idea (no one on this board) - the multiplayer looks AMAZING. I wanna fuck shit up as an Asari!! I'm going through Mass Effect 2 again as my bitchy raven-haired, Gina Gerson-look-alike Shepard on Hardcore and having a blast. Wish I started on Insanity though, as it's one of my 3-4 achievements I'm missing.


Also, I'm very, very happy Liara seems to have a major role in 3. She's definitely one of my favorite characters and the Shadow Broker story took her to new heights.

[Space Suicide]

Demo out tomorrow. Kinda makes me annoyed as I'll play the demo and:

1) Will want more.
2) End up playing a mission or two shortly before release and get stuck playing again shortly thereafter again. Meh.

I'm doing this solely for in-game items. With this so close to the actual release, I wasn't even going to bother to play the demo.

[Hula]

Speaking of doing things solely for in-game items, how's about that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo? I found it so tedious I almost couldn't be bothered to complete it—it only made matters worse when it said I had a whole 45 minutes (oh boy!) to explore the world.

The bonus items it unlocked better be good. That's an hour of my life I'll never get back :P

[Space Suicide]

Speaking of doing things solely for in-game items, how's about that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo? I found it so tedious I almost couldn't be bothered to complete it—it only made matters worse when it said I had a whole 45 minutes (oh boy!) to explore the world.

The bonus items it unlocked better be good. That's an hour of my life I'll never get back :P

Glitchy piece of shit isn't it? The game itself looks mediocre and generic as far as medieval themed RPGs go.

You unlocked a special set of armor and a launcher. Whoop-pee-ding. Such a junk of a demo and game. I didn't even bother.

[Space Suicide]

The demo on this is gorgeous. I'm playing it now. The file size is 1.7 GB.

The engine is so smooth (I never played the PS3 ME2 with it) and the sound is phenomenal. Good soundtrack too. I'll talk more about this later.

[Hula]

Only 93% left to download!

...sigh.

[darktemplar007]

The combat in this is amazing. It's so buttery smooth I just want to put it on my toast and eat it.

[Space Suicide]

Okay...

The single player missions were fun and just what I expected this game to be like. Amazing graphics, smoother gameplay and a good story (what I've experienced thus far in these two small missions) is going to be solid for a very good gaming experience. To me, this is by far the best and my favorite RPG series ever created. It's excellent.

The multiplayer is hard on the first go around! Difficult enemies and I sense there needs to be good communication between team mates to succeed. The farthest I've made it in multiplayer is Wave 4, with me and two others. I'm a Vanguard and always will be - single player and now multiplayer. Customization is a bit sparse but this is only a demo so any unlockables and options are probably greyed out for the time being. Either way it's fun! If there's any Xbox users that are getting this game (I assume most of you are?) then I'm down for multiplayer sessions with any to all of you. Let me know.

3 weeks.

[Hula]

My one complaint with the combat so far is that if you're moving at all and you tap the button to go into cover, Shepard rolls instead—I died during the demo all thanks to the fact that I couldn't get Shepard to go into cover while her health was low. Not the most intuitive, huh? This is why multi-function buttons are a bad idea.

[Space Suicide]

My one complaint with the combat so far is that if you're moving at all and you tap the button to go into cover, Shepard rolls instead—I died during the demo all thanks to the fact that I couldn't get Shepard to go into cover while her health was low. Not the most intuitive, huh? This is why multi-function buttons are a bad idea.

Hasn't happened to me but I can see what you mean. Only thing that messed me up was having my biotic power, Shockwave, get activated when in match and my Shepherd charged forward 20 miles away and ended up getting into fire and dying.