Mass Effect

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OMG how good is it?! I'm really impressed so far. I've been looking for a good new single-player RPG game. I think it's quite linear, but still makes you feel as if you've got freedom to do what you like. If you want to wander off and investigate an area, even when you have an important mission, do it. Good story so far as well, and good voice acting. I particularly like the Codex section as well which populates to more you explore, very 'PSTish'.

 

So far I'm loving it. Haven't devoted much time with it lately since I'm finally getting to enjoy the exquisite Bioshock, as now I finally have the hardware to enjoy it.

 

I finished Mass Effect a while ago. A very good game, one of the best newer RPG's. I think they hit the nail with their blend of FPS and RPG, never once did I feel my skills were unimportant.

The characters are very deep and diverse, but the romance plots were too arbitrary for me. It was as if they remembered at the last minute all popular RPG's have "romances" in it, so they quickly threw something in.

My biggest gripe of the game is that it was too short!

Anyway, all in all a very good game.

BTW, Death Rabbit, I bought Bioshock yesterday, after all that time. Very atmospheric and cool. I sense a strong Fallout-esque enviroment, which I like!

 

It is a bit too short. Basically, there's the main plot which is good but quite short. Then there's the other half of the game which is basically just going to generic planets, driving that annoying dune buggie (anyone remember the old arcade game Moon Patrol? It's like Moon Patrol 2008), and raiding buildings that all had the same layout and massive amounts of random loot.

 

Are you guys playing this on a PC? How's the installation and the rabid DRM authentication? I finally installed Bioshock a few days ago and it was a struggle - to say the least. I got it working eventually, but there was a moment there I was seriously considering pirating the bloody thing - despite the fact I had a legally bought game. If Mass Effect is in any way similar, I will abstain...

 

I had no problems installing Bioshock. It only prompted for the CD key after I installed, got online for verification and that was it.

Mass Effect... I'll spare you the details...

 

Please don't. I'm also thinking about buying the game, but considering the headaches that Steam gave me and that it didn't even work in the end (I didn't even bother with Bioshock after this) I really want to know how fussy Mass Effect is about its activation, because I sure as hell am not buying the game if it's not going to let me activate it (and if I'm not buying it then I'm not getting it)

 

There's nothing complicated or hard about it. At the end of the day, if people didn't pirate copy games there'd be no need for it, they're just trying to protect their interests. Even so, it isn't exactly hard to sort out....

 

Yeah, I'm usually a fan of games that let me wander off to complete everything without pushing me to get particular missions accomplished, so I liked that aspect.

I'm not usually a shooter fan at all, I tolerated HALO for maybe a minute. I far prefer melee, and found it agonising at first that this reminded me so much of KOTOR but there were only ranged weapons. But once I got used to it I really enjoyed it, and got into the swing of hiding behind crates and things instead of running blindly forward screaming in a panic...

My one real disappointment- besides the rushed romances- was the lack of agonising over which planet to visit, in what order. A lot of the promo posters/ads made it seem like you'd have to choose between planets to visit/missions to complete at various times, and your choices would have effects- so, for example, there could be a couple of SOS's from different planets, and by choosing one you decrease your risk of being able to help whoever sent the others, as if there was a time factor incorporated.

I was definitely somehow under the impression that something like that was going to be in the game- I remember worrying about the number of save files I'd have to keep so that I could go back and try out different options- and, though slightly relieved, lol, was ultimately disappointed at just how linear it all was.

 

On the other hand; if companies didn't make it easier to install and play a downloaded version then maybe more would pay for the game.

I did, and it is, IMO, GOTY2008 so far.

 

Never had any problems whit installing any game. Even on my Vista pc, no problem what so ever.

So if you have many nice and handy third party programs running on your pc don't complain.

On the bioware board someone had a lot of problems whit securom. He had a program that can be used to do all kind of illegal stuff, so securom reacted. He claimed that he used his legal copy of that program for those few homemade things. Draw your own conclusions.

 

Then again, I couldn't get Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood to work on Vista 64 bit, and Starforce nearly killed my comp, so eventually I had to install a crack. Having to use cracks to get past copy protection, to even play a legally bought game seems sort of counter-productive to me.


On topic, I thought Mass Effect was great. I got it for the 360 back in december, and my wife just got it for the PC. Definately a worthy RPG, with a very believable universe. (Do I need to add that I loved the Codex?)


EDIT: Oh, and about Bioshock. Great game, and it does have a sort of Fallout-like vibe running through it. (Incidentally, Bioshock and Mass Effect use the same copy-protection with limited installs. Whoever came up with that brain fart should be run out of the business)

 

Finally finished this game. It took about 42 hours and I explored everything that I found. Overall, the game was good entertainment, but I was nevertheless somewhat dissappointed. That was probably because of the high expectations for this game.

The planet exploring quickly got very dull. There were not enough places to visit and explore, other than driving around dead planets, space stations and the like. A bit less of the tunnel levels and dead spots would have been great too. Overall the negative things are probably mostly because of the console background. That is, typical console RPG features and design limited by console restrictions.

But those aside, the game was good. I had my doubts about the FPS combat, but it worked nicely. I never had to give any orders to my team though, as they usually knew where to stay. The combat was quite easy too. This is how combat should have been done in Fallout 3. The main storyline was also solid, albeit a bit too short. The codex entries were a nice touch. So, in the end, an enjoyable RPG with some problems.

 

Playing right now. Am impressed with some things, not overly sucked in by some others. The game has great potential but it feels rather short. It has the Morrowind factor with all those planets you can land on. The standard bases can be explained away - after all, such things might well be uniform designs since they're imported small metal structures on alien worlds. This is undermined by mines and caves that don't have any particular reason to be identical to one another, given that you mine where the resources are, not the resources are where you mine them. Still, lots of nice landscapes to behold (they're truly art) and fun things to do. Wish it were livelier, though. Definitely worth the time playing, the money and all other investments. Looking forward to future parts of the trilogy.

By the way... it would be a great platform for a Dune game, wouldn't it? Some of those sandy words. And the Thresher Maw... Don't tell me it's not Sandworm. And the Quarians are so similar to the Fremen in certain ways. Tali is a bit like Chani on her own merits, too. And don't tell me Benezia isn't a Reverend Mother.

 

A dune rpg and not a dune rts would be nice. I think Irulan is underrated.

Back to Mass effect. i like the choices you had to make at a few keypoints. For the rest, a lot os sidequest should have been deleted and replaced whit an other main quest planet. It was to short. Nut that is my complaint whit Jade Empire as well.

 

Agreed.

Well, they could be more varied, the side quests. And the main quest could be a bit longer.

 

Problem with Mass Effect is that it's too easy. Even on highest difficulty mode this game is a walk in the park. This is due to unlimited ammo of course. Who ever made that up should probably hang himself somewhere. Good game alround though, it could have done with a little more banter from people you're around a lot. Some people NEVER change their dialogue. They keep saying the same thing over and over again all through the game even though many events should have stirred them up.

 

The ammo seems to be bullets, doesn't it? Unlimited bullets aren't very realistic. Might as well have proper laser guns.

And some fights aren't very easy, depending on your party and style. I've found that shield-skipping attacks are a pain and melee swarm attacks are also a problem. Shotgun doesn't always save the day. In most instances, I'll prefer to switch Master Marksman on and fall back shooting all the time until every single attacker is dead. There just doesn't seem to be a stopping power for a husk assault or a couple of krogans charging you or especially close-distance robotics as in some missions. I don't mind difficult, but I mind ridiculously-overpowered-that-you-are-lucky-if-you-kill-before-the-20th-reload.

 

Well once you get into the higher levels skill hardly matters. Given that when you start insane mode on level 1 it can be quite a challenge. Evnetually though you'll develop special skills you can nearly call upon endlessly to either make yourself immune 24/7 or attack enemies with hails of bullets.
Playing with a sniperrifle with unlimited ammo, a fully upgraded sniperrifle and the skills to match it makes everything a one hit kill. Except for maybe the bigger enemies, they might take 2 shots. I mean, it's like playing Resident Evil 4 with the typewriter.

And the ammo isn't really bullets. There is some info in the game that explains how ammo works. It's basically some sort of cartridge that will eventually empty itself, but not in the game.

 

Yeah... I only used pistols during the whole game, it was easy. But, the guns heat up at least, although that does not matter later on because of skills and upgrades. Overall though, the combat was a lot better than I expected.