Mass Effect

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Figured the game deserved a thread of its own!

Mass Effect is KOTOR on performance-enhancing drugs. It's huge, intricately detailed, and beautiful, but it has a heap of standard BioWare flaws: the frame rate is inconsistent (fucking GET ON THIS already, BioWare! Every single one of your fuckin' games, Jesus!), texture draw-in is the worst I've seen in a UE3 game, and the menu system is bad in a lot of places that matter.

But the story is awesome, the universe they've created is amazing (and huuuge), the combat is great so far (seems pretty polarizing though), the characters are charming and the character customisation is typically great.

There's no in-game tutorial, which is brutal (see the most recent PA), but there is an amazing in-game codex which explains in depth every race and its known history, as well as every technology, weapon type, etc.—the game is deep.

Exploring the galaxy is fun! I thought there'd be a whole lot of filler nothin'-meaning star systems floating around, but even the planets you can't explore often harbour collectables, or just have interesting descriptions.

Driving the Mako around is also surprisingly fun. Its control system is a little strange, but its weapons feel powerful and have decent feedback, and it bounces around the terrain in a really satisfying way.

I'm enjoying it, anyway! And I'm sure you guys will too, once you eventually get it, mwahahahahaha

[bovine]

hate

[Tessian]

WHY does Amazon say my copy of Mass Effect will be delivered NEXT Monday?? I fucking pay for 2 day shipping I expect it here tomorrow or Wednesday (every other game I preordered from Amazon came the day of release).

If it doesn't ship by the morning I'm going to have to cancel and go to *shivers* Gamestop...

[Chris]

Only women who can't grow a full goatee play mass effect before release date.....

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Haha, you crybabies!

[SineSwiper]

Classic:

[SineSwiper]

Also, on that note, does anybody believe in RTFM anymore? It seems like all games REQUIRE that you have to have a in-game tutorial to play, because us Americans are fucking pussies, and we don't know how to read English.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Also, on that note, does anybody believe in RTFM anymore? It seems like all games REQUIRE that you have to have a in-game tutorial to play, because us Americans are fucking pussies, and we don't know how to read English.

You shouldn't need to read a manual to play a game. The game should show you how to play it.

[bovine]

You shouldn't need to read a manual to play a game. The game should show you how to play it.

and play itself. Games should just be movies or xenosaga..... either one will do.

[Lox]

You shouldn't need to read a manual to play a game. The game should show you how to play it.

and play itself. Games should just be movies or xenosaga..... either one will do.

And they should do real things outside of the game for you, like doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, taking the wife/gf out to dinner so that you have more time to game!!!

[Blotus]

It's about 11:30pm now and I just woke up from a nice nap. Leaving to go get it now, and will likely play through the night. w00t

[SineSwiper]

and play itself. Games should just be movies or xenosaga..... either one will do.

Hey, Xenosaga's gameplay engines were still enjoyable. I still regard XS2's battle system to be the best menu-driven battle system out there.

[Tessian]

Picked a copy up now from Gamestop... now I will be lucky to play it at all tonight.

[Chris]

I spent like a half hour fucking around to create my character. good system that is.

Battle is fun and engaging. sniper rifle has a lot of bounce at this poitnt but I'm still annihilationg everything with it. plot has me intrigued, dialogue is amazing.....

and the chicks name is Ashley Williams. that's just fucking awesome. I'm waiting for her to shoot someone in the face with....good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.

[Blotus]

..........................Jizz!

Andrew's right on about the frame rate and textures. I've come across moments when the textures on somebody's clothes/armor won't draw until five seconds late. It's a decent trade-off for loading, but the streaming load times makes my Xbox sound like it's going to explode (anybody remember how your Dreamcast sounded during Soul Calibur's character select screen? tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick)

I love it. I love it a lot. The galaxy map is cool as hell with great music. Can't comment too much on the rest of the game's music as I had to keep the volume really low during my session last night so my girl could sleep.


My Shepard is a female soldier. I dig her voice. It's nice to have a hero with personality but at the same time being able to define that personality through your choice of speech.

[Chris]

heh. for some reason I've turned ms. williams into a shotgun master....I guess anyone with that name needs a boomstick. I just found it hilarious because I so got the face and scar pattern as close to Ash on my main character as I possibly could.....

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I wish your facial features were editable past the start of the game. My dude is... sort of ugly.

[Chris]

I wish your facial features were editable past the start of the game. My dude is... sort of ugly.

heh. I made mine looking at the cover of army of darkness....ash is th shit

[Tessian]

I was pissed I couldn't change the last name of my character... I wanted to name him John Crichton

[Blotus]

So... I've had the game for about 27 hours now and I've put 15 or so hours into it. There are almost TOO many sidequests. I spent hours doing deeds for people and going on fetch quests. Tomorrow I get back on the main plot. Think I'll save some of the side quests for second playthrough.

So far I've just been letting the AI do it's thing. Where I'm playing the game more like a shooter (soldier), I can't be bothered to tell whoever to cast this on that. Wrex seems like the real shotgun hero here, since his Krogan Battlemaster skill adds retarded multipliers to his melee attack.

Sleep.

[Chris]

So... I've had the game for about 27 hours now and I've put 15 or so hours into it. There are almost TOO many sidequests. I spent hours doing deeds for people and going on fetch quests. Tomorrow I get back on the main plot. Think I'll save some of the side quests for second playthrough.

So far I've just been letting the AI do it's thing. Where I'm playing the game more like a shooter (soldier), I can't be bothered to tell whoever to cast this on that. Wrex seems like the real shotgun hero here, since his Krogan Battlemaster skill adds retarded multipliers to his melee attack.

Sleep.

I usally run around with him and now the asari chick.....no armor...semms like she'd be weak....but damn those adept can clear a room when you set em for use all powers and go apeshit mode. I'll send her and ashley into a room ash with a sniper rifle then go in 2 seconds laterand there are corpses just floating through the air everywhere. woooooo, I love this fucking game

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

I usally run around with him and now the asari chick.....no armor...semms like she'd be weak....but damn those adept can clear a room when you set em for use all powers and go apeshit mode. I'll send her and ashley into a room ash with a sniper rifle then go in 2 seconds laterand there are corpses just floating through the air everywhere. woooooo, I love this fucking game

I'm using Liara and Tali: Liara for her biotics (and alien hotness) and Tali for her hacking ability. I'm the shotgun hero: my dude has got heavy armour now and is a crack shot with the assault rifle.

I'm considering starting again, and dedicating a few hours to it: I've only played in dribs and drabs, in between Fea's gaming sessions and miscellaneous household chores, and that's not the way to play a game like Mass Effect. I think I'll be an Adept next time around.

[Chris]

I usally run around with him and now the asari chick.....no armor...semms like she'd be weak....but damn those adept can clear a room when you set em for use all powers and go apeshit mode. I'll send her and ashley into a room ash with a sniper rifle then go in 2 seconds laterand there are corpses just floating through the air everywhere. woooooo, I love this fucking game

I'm using Liara and Tali: Liara for her biotics (and alien hotness) and Tali for her hacking ability. I'm the shotgun hero: my dude has got heavy armour now and is a crack shot with the assault rifle.

I'm considering starting again, and dedicating a few hours to it: I've only played in dribs and drabs, in between Fea's gaming sessions and miscellaneous household chores, and that's not the way to play a game like Mass Effect. I think I'll be an Adept next time around.

I love liara.....I thought she was going to be iffy. but she is the only one that really works well in the ai.....she tears shit up it's hilarious....especially against the geth.

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Haha, good old Xbox game migration: everybody on my friend's list is currently playing Mass Effect.

[RentCavalier]

Hey, which of these women is the one you have the softcore sex with?

[Chris]

Hey, which of these women is the one you have the softcore sex with?

no idea. but since I'm playing through multiple times I'm sure I'll find out and fuck the shit out of her. but really....you get a tit....why can't I have a cock too. make both sides happy

[Blotus]

I never saw any tit in my sex scene. There was ass though.

Anyway, I'm finished and I already want to do it over again.

[Tessian]

I never saw any tit in my sex scene. There was ass though.

Anyway, I'm finished and I already want to do it over again.

Fuck man... you even bother to savor the game? I'm not even 6 hours in yet...

[Blotus]

I never saw any tit in my sex scene. There was ass though.

Anyway, I'm finished and I already want to do it over again.

Fuck man... you even bother to savor the game? I'm not even 6 hours in yet...

It took about 25 hours so yes, I did. I did many side missions, but probably still not even half of them.

[Chris]

I never saw any tit in my sex scene. There was ass though.

Anyway, I'm finished and I already want to do it over again.

Fuck man... you even bother to savor the game? I'm not even 6 hours in yet...

It took about 25 hours so yes, I did. I did many side missions, but probably still not even half of them.

heh. I'm doing fuckin all of em.....at least all the paragon ones. I've still only completed 3 story missions total....2 if you only could post spectre becoming ones.....

[Blotus]

You won't need to do them all to get full Paragon, just so you know.

[SineSwiper]

Played about 6 hours into it so far. First impressions:

1. The graphics look like it could have been done on a PS2 or Xbox. Everything seems to be grainy (upscaling?), and yes, I see that frame rate blur all the damn time. I think it's mostly a lighting problem. Maybe I'm just spoiled with the near perfect character lighting with Half-Life 2.

2. Like KOTOR, I get pissed at choosing something to say, and getting something completely different. It's like I choose something and none of the words that I selected even get said. It's annoying because I don't know if I'm trying to select something angry or what.

3. For the most part, the AI is dumb. It's like I have to baby them everywhere. If not, they just stand there in the line of fire and wait to get shot. When I tell them to go somewhere, I'd expect them to actually take cover near that spot, but most of the time, they don't. Even in active mode, they don't seem to use their skills much either (except maybe barrier).

4. On that note, damn, I die easily. Yeah, I'm a Sentinel with low armor, but it takes like one unshielded hit to get me from full health to 15%.

5. Yes, it's an inventory nightmare. Expect to spend a lot of time on your equipment screen. God forbid, you find something, and then have to see if it's better than your other one, and then see if anybody else needs the leftovers, and then turn the junk into gel. But, hey, this is a BioWare game. What did you expect?

6. I like the character development, but sometimes I wish that the selections mattered more in the game. I'm the sole survivor of a horrible attack, and some guy wants my autograph? That's like saying "Hey, John McCain. I heard you were tortured in an internment camp for 5 years. I so wanted to meet you! Can I have your autograph?!" Fucking creepy!

Not to say that it's a bad game. The story is really good so far, and the combat, while it has its faults, is still fun. But, I just want to cut through the hype of how totally fucking awesome it is, and sit back and realize that you are playing a BioWare game. Therefore, they are going to repeat the same fuckups they did the last game. At least the morally system doesn't seem to be a mess of balancing choices.

[Zeus]

Nowadays, everyone has to just get used to the fact that games are easy and dumbed down for the general public. Most games are really, really easy for gamers nowadays, that's just the reality we have to live with. Dumb AI, unfortunately, is one of the ways they do it. Mind it, it also allows the programmers to be lazy as well.

Lets see, 8 words saying something nice about the game, 1249 discussing the faults. I say you don't like it very much, Sine :-)

[Tessian]

Played about 6 hours into it so far. First impressions:

1. The graphics look like it could have been done on a PS2 or Xbox. Everything seems to be grainy (upscaling?), and yes, I see that frame rate blur all the damn time. I think it's mostly a lighting problem. Maybe I'm just spoiled with the near perfect character lighting with Half-Life 2.

Haha silly Sine... that's on purpose. Go into the Settings and turn off the Grainy filter (and the motion blur if you want). They wanted it to feel like an old Scifi movie that it's kinda based on... I'm surprised it's on by default too though. I turned it off right away. The graphics are amazing once everything draws in

[RentCavalier]

KOTOR 2 isn't a Bioware game...

They gave KOTOR to some other company so they could make their crazy kung-fu game.

[Zeus]

KOTOR 2 isn't a Bioware game...

They gave KOTOR to some other company so they could make their crazy kung-fu game.

It was made by Obsidian Entertainment, which was just then recently formed by a bunch of guys who left Bioware and it was their first game as Obsidian. Not even sure if they've done anything since.

Basically, it was made by the same people as the first.

[Tessian]

Anyone else get pissed at the controls for vehicles? Directional is based on camera and not the vehicle... so if I turn the camera to lock onto an enemy now all my directions are different. Getting annoying

[Chris]

Anyone else get pissed at the controls for vehicles? Directional is based on camera and not the vehicle... so if I turn the camera to lock onto an enemy now all my directions are different. Getting annoying

yeah it took a while for me to get used to. the first time I fought a thresher maw helped me learn to controll it though....fucker killed me like 20 times but now I'm able to drive the thing quite well. but yeah. the controll sceme on that is pretty shit. hopefully they will fix it with a patch

[Zeus]

Anyone else get pissed at the controls for vehicles? Directional is based on camera and not the vehicle... so if I turn the camera to lock onto an enemy now all my directions are different. Getting annoying

yeah it took a while for me to get used to. the first time I fought a thresher maw helped me learn to controll it though....fucker killed me like 20 times but now I'm able to drive the thing quite well. but yeah. the controll sceme on that is pretty shit. hopefully they will fix it with a patch

I got the 3RLOD so I won't be able to play mine for a while (nice fucking timing..stupid 360; at least I got PGR4 for free from them).

Enough of my bitching and on to the question I have is: are these controls the type where they just don't work as they should or are they Warthog-like controls which work fine but just are a pain in general and take some getting used to (I still don't like the Warthog controls, I'm just used to them)?

[Chris]

Anyone else get pissed at the controls for vehicles? Directional is based on camera and not the vehicle... so if I turn the camera to lock onto an enemy now all my directions are different. Getting annoying

yeah it took a while for me to get used to. the first time I fought a thresher maw helped me learn to controll it though....fucker killed me like 20 times but now I'm able to drive the thing quite well. but yeah. the controll sceme on that is pretty shit. hopefully they will fix it with a patch

I got the 3RLOD so I won't be able to play mine for a while (nice fucking timing..stupid 360; at least I got PGR4 for free from them).

Enough of my bitching and on to the question I have is: are these controls the type where they just don't work as they should or are they Warthog-like controls which work fine but just are a pain in general and take some getting used to (I still don't like the Warthog controls, I'm just used to them)?

I'd say warthogish. once you get used to it it's decent....actually still kinda shit. but it's managable once you figure out manuvers and that you can have a massive zoom for shooting distances which makes most battles in it obsolete.....you have to stay at a distance to shoot anythingthough

[Blotus]

You shouldn't need to push the left stick anywhere but forawrd and back when driving the mako. Like a warthog, you just move the camera around it to steer. I can definitely see what people are complaining about if you try to do your turning with the left stick.

[Chris]

after a while you get pretty good with it. or at least I got really good at continually moving forward while being able to swing the turret around fighting snakes. but yeah....it is almost retardedly inefficient

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

Basically, it was made by the same people as the first.

Not the case. Obsidian was formed out of a bunch of Black Isle, not Bioware, refugees. Black Isle are the guys that did the Fallout series, as well as Planescape: Torment and a few other titles.

[Blotus]

Anybody catch this?

When you're speaking to a Dr. Cohen in... that ice planet (not Virmire or Feros), he says something to the effect of "This BIOWAR could result in a PANDEMIC"

...I LOL'd.

[SineSwiper]

Haha silly Sine... that's on purpose. Go into the Settings and turn off the Grainy filter (and the motion blur if you want). They wanted it to feel like an old Scifi movie that it's kinda based on... I'm surprised it's on by default too though. I turned it off right away. The graphics are amazing once everything draws in :P

Wait...are you fucking serious? They actually have a grainy filter?

Or are you just fucking with me? I don't believe you.

EDIT: What? There REALLY IS a filter?! Who's dumb idea was this?

Also, didn't Half Life 2 have the same vehicle controls?

[Chris]

Haha silly Sine... that's on purpose. Go into the Settings and turn off the Grainy filter (and the motion blur if you want). They wanted it to feel like an old Scifi movie that it's kinda based on... I'm surprised it's on by default too though. I turned it off right away. The graphics are amazing once everything draws in

Wait...are you fucking serious? They actually have a grainy filter?

Or are you just fucking with me? I don't believe you.

EDIT: What? There REALLY IS a filter?! Who's dumb idea was this?

Also, didn't Half Life 2 have the same vehicle controls?

whose idea was it? Someone who loves 70's and 80's sci-fi movies. I actually kind of enjoy it with the grainy filter on.....could be that it actually looks pretty cool like that on my non-HD tv

[Blotus]

I was flicking it on and off throughout the game. Still not sure which way I prefer it.

[Tessian]

It is KIND OF Warthog... but Warthog controls let you turn the vehicle with the left stick... and pushing up ALWAYS makes the warthog go forward... on this it depends on where the camera is and that pisses me off.

I'm getting a little better at it... but it still sucks.

[Chris]

so I finally beat it today doing all the quests I could find it was 31 hours. and I did pretty much everything possible. I'm quite impressed as at no point was I ever bored which is a damn nice thing and the length is just about perfect to allow me multiple plays. I love the systems and it's also part of my next pplaythough is gonna max out charm and sweet talk my way to victory.....

[Tessian]

so I finally beat it today doing all the quests I could find it was 31 hours. and I did pretty much everything possible. I'm quite impressed as at no point was I ever bored which is a damn nice thing and the length is just about perfect to allow me multiple plays. I love the systems and it's also part of my next pplaythough is gonna max out charm and sweet talk my way to victory.....

I've been doing paragon / charm this round-- you did renegade / intimidate first play through?