Mass Effect

[swphreak]

This is made of win.

[Serpentine Cougar]

Here's an interesting question from someone who hasn't played the game yet, to all of you who have. How does this game's story compare with the original KotoR? I mean, if you take away all the gameplay, voice acting, graphics, etc. and just look at the story, characters, and plot itself.

[mimartin]

This is made of win.

LOL

 

Here's an interesting question from someone who hasn't played the game yet, to all of you who have. How does this game's story compare with the original KotoR? I mean, if you take away all the gameplay, voice acting, graphics, etc. and just look at the story, characters, and plot itself.

No huge twist like KOTOR and KOTOR already had the added benefit of being a galaxy we knew and loved. Mass Effect takes some time to get to know, however that is no problem since BioWare provides all the information you would ever want about the Mass Effect. I like that the player is not required to read it all. It is up to you how much or how little you learn about the Mass Effect universe.

 

The characters are great, I cared more for those in KOTOR, but KOTOR benefited from the Jedi being a known quality. These you have to get to know and are extremely diverse in both their history and their beliefs. Overall I would say they are just as good as the KOTOR NPC if you dismiss what you are already know about Star Wars.

 

The story is very good, more straight forward than KOTOR, you know who the bad guy is and you know what is at stake. What you decide is how you get the task done. In my personal opinion Mass Effect is a better story, but I would not argue with anyone that said KOTOR was better because they are both great games.

 

The last game I was truly stunned playing was KOTOR. I love Oblivion and it had moments that had me awestruck, it just did not blow me away like KOTOR. Mass Effect does, it has a few minor problems, but so did KOTOR, but overall it is my new favorite game of all time. I cannot wait two years for Mass Effect II.

[JoeDoe 2.0]

Mass Effect has some Star Wars and Star Trek mix into it, the ability to manipulate your surroundings (SW) and the space traveling and charting new worlds (ST). As said above, the NPC's are a little better, their history is WAY different and a little more interesting, they have unique inputs in every situation and some are kinda funny. The plot is to get the bad guy, save the galaxy and be a hero, but the story is enjoyable all the way through the end.

 

This is made of win.

 

It's the first wave of Mass Effect e-comics, I hope better ones are up ahead. 7/10

[Uilleand]

I just finished Mass Effect last night at about midnight...

 

My brain is a very thick river of sludgy ooze dripping from my ears.....

 

I'm still having heart palpitations here, people!!

 

Every time I thought I had reached an ending, a climax, a denoument, I was wrong.

 

It just got bigger. More epic.

More insane.

 

I have never played a game where, close to the end, my jaw seriously just dropped. Just fell on the goddamn floor.

 

(SPOILERISH NOTE: If anyone tells you maxing out your charm is a waste...they're LYING...or just plain WRONG)

 

*shakes head* Nope. Still not working. *shakes head again*

 

Added on to the most seriously delicious love scene ever appearing in a game, added on to the ...the...the....god DAMN.

 

Can't talk.

 

Brain. Assimilated.

 

No Sleep.

 

I'm in deep yogurt.

[stingerhs]

well, with one of my friends on a cruise this week, i now have 24 hour access to a 360 console. finally, i have a chance to get some serious progress in this game, and i've already put in 14 hours over the past 36 hours.

 

some people say that they don't like the exploration aspect of the game, but i think it makes sense in this game. i've found myself just systematically going from system to system trying to find everything in a methodical fashion. and the little sidequests that pop up while you're traveling are a nice addition as well. i haven't done much with the main story just yet, but i'll get there eventually.

[mimartin]

some people say that they don't like the exploration aspect of the game, but i think it makes sense in this game.

I agree, I enjoy exploring everywhere and even reading about the planets you cannot land on. I’m finding stuff on my third play through that I did not find on the first two. Some interesting places do not register at all on the scanner and you only visually find them. Also pay attention to asteroid belts, you never know.

 

Anyone find the shifty cow?

 

I have never played a game where, close to the end, my jaw seriously just dropped. Just fell on the goddamn floor.

(SPOILERISH NOTE: If anyone tells you maxing out your charm is a waste...they're LYING...or just plain WRONG)

I know just what you are talking about. First play through I mainly invested points in combat, second play through (with a new PC) I invested in charm and intimidate and was amazed at what that would allow me to get away with. On two of the last three stops I was just amazed the difference charm made. I’m sure intimidate would have had similar results, but I have yet to master the renegade approach. I may try a female renegade next time.

[stingerhs]

hey, has anybody noticed that on some of the worlds you land on, if you get up high enough and look down at a flat plane, there almost appears to be runes or the like in the landscape. i wish i could take screenshots because you could just about read it them on the one planet, but at the time i couldn't because the Mako was sliding down the side of a cliff. gotta appreciate the artists.

[True_Avery]

Beat it last week but forgot we had a thread on it.

 

Played as Rayne Shepard: a boyish cut, blonde haired soldier chick with a tough face and a scar on her cheek that was mostly "good" throughout the game. Played as a colonist/survivor/soldier and ended up with a relationship with the cute blue alien woman thing (Liara T'Soni) with the adorable/sexy love scene at the end.

 

10/10 all the way, and one of the extreme few games in a long time I've considered actually buying instead of renting. Currently my 1# favorite game ever played. Ever.

 

Everybody seems to hate the Mako parts of the game, but I found it to be one of me and my friends favorite parts of the game. The combat was fun and we all screamed "Oh ****" the second we saw the first telekinesis stuff happening. I think what really got me hook onto the game was the fact I could have a relationship with Liara as a female character, as that kind of emotional freedom in gameplay really gets me emotionally attached to a game on a level few have since Kotor.

 

I went into the videostore to rent this game a day after I first learned it existed, expecting nothing from it and getting a classic. I cannot really express the game in any other words but... perfect. Absolutely perfect by my standards.

 

Now, need to buy it and experiment with other ways to play...

[HerbieZ]

Finished my first playthrough yesterday. Never before have i played a game so professionally made with a movie like consistency all the way through it. Unquestionably epic. My favourite segment was driving the mako through the large corridors of pods on the planet surface. The creepiest and most atmospheric segment of the game in my opinion.

[mimartin]

Now, need to buy it and experiment with other ways to play...

I almost through with my third play through and I’m still amazed. I'm will probably play each class as both a male and female before I’m done. Also need to play through once with the same PC to get to level 60 and test the hardcore setting.This is a buy game that lived up to the hype IMO.

 

Finished my first playthrough yesterday...

Yea, yea who cares about all that, HerbieZ. What I want to know did you build a shelving unit with the alien or the human?

[mur'phon]

Yea, yea who cares about all that, HerbieZ. What I want to know did you build a shelving unit with the alien or the human?

 

Something tells me I should be happy to not know what you are talking about.................

[HerbieZ]

Alien. Oddly enough i was otherwise too enganged to realise that the choices i was making were leading to it until it happened. They were all choices and descisions that i would have made personally so i guess this confirms that i was indeed born 200 years too early.

 

Still, blue alien love deserves a place in my autobiography.

[Pavlos]

I liked the exploration of AI as a life-form and how to deal with racial tensions (admittedly, via proxy; i.e. alien races). But I didn't think it went far enough, especially when it's such a stock thing for the genre. They seemed to only touch on the idea of Geth being able to think and the exploration of racial tensions seemed a little shallow - though, there was some nice stuff, like the interview you can give, or like how you can talk to - basically - a bunch of BNP supporters and respect their political viewpoint on what humanity should do with themselves but disagree.

 

I liked all that, there are some great high-points (Feros is one of them... a well constructed planet) they just don't go high enough. It's not a case of NWN2 where there are some terrific highs - the trial, the siege of Crossroad Keep - and some abysmal lows - Old Frikin' Owl Well - it's a case of high quality... average stuff.

 

That statement seems understandably odd but I'll try to explain it: though I could appreciate the quality of the game, it just didn't captivate me, the narrative felt stale and unappealing and the party members largely uninteresting (which makes a crisis that happens about mid-way through the game far easier to deal with than it should be because I really didn't like either of the characters involved ).

 

A great and enjoyable romp, nonetheless. I would heartily recommend this game to people, I'd just ask them not to expect a Fallout or a Torment.

[mimartin]

Alien. Oddly enough i was otherwise too enganged to realise that the choices i was making were leading to it until it happened. They were all choices and descisions that i would have made personally so i guess this confirms that i was indeed born 200 years too early.

 

Still, blue alien love deserves a place in my autobiography.

 

Once you go blue you'll never go back. I got the same results my 1st two times through as a female and a male. Took three times to finally get a human interested.

Did not help that I’ve always blown up the human male. Reminds me too much of Carth.

 

 

A good game, not a classic, but I won't be talking about it in five years.

You never know, Mass Effect II and III are still on the horizon. I just hope it does get to three and I don't play it out of obligation like I did Halo III.

[Pavlos]

Speaking of romances, did anyone else find them rather arbitrary? It felt like they were thrown in to tick a box on the long list of things the BioBoards demanded from the poor developers on pain of death.

 

Though they weren't as bad as NWN2's "let's have sex, then" scenes, they felt a little... odd. They came out of the blue, really.

[HerbieZ]

They came out of the blue, really.

 

Oh how droll.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Finished it. Saturday, actually.

 

Though they weren't as bad as NWN2's "let's have sex, then" scenes, they felt a little... odd. They came out of the blue, really.

 

Yes. I felt the same. But I just ended the game once and I'm imagining if it wasn't done this way purposely. Just to look more realistic, instead of lines such as:

 

"Hi there! You're always so sweet! I wanna be closer to you. 'Captain, o my captain'. :naughty:"

 

Once you go blue you'll never go back. I got the same results my 1st two times through as a female and a male. Took three times to finally get a human interested.

Got the human love with the female partner.

 

"Is it all right to you? Because I believe on God."

 

Did not help that I’ve always blown up the human male. Reminds me too much of Carth.

How curious! Sbarge must have something to do with it.

 

Just out of curiosity, but does the alien love relationship looks like the human one? Ah, and it's a pity we can't have a case with Tali T'whateverhernameis. She looked hot.

[JoeDoe 2.0]

^^ Well, a little different

 

Trying to play on Hardcore now, got killed more than 757458454 times LOL

[mimartin]

"Is it all right to you? Because I believe on God."[/Quote] Yea, loved that line. Kept thinking how Achilles would handle that question.

 

Just out of curiosity, but does the alien love relationship look like the human one?

They look the same to me, but according to some reports, the Alien one is a little longer. I thought the Ashley one was a little funnier.

 

I missed something on my first three times through. You all may have gotten it, but I missed it completely. Anytime you hear one of the NPC say "huh" they have something to tell you so click on them. Bioware said they did this on purpose after getting complaints about the NPC interrupting the action in Jade Empire.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Yeah, the alien one looks a bit longer and thanks for the PM, mimartin.

 

I missed something on my first three times through. You all may have gotten it, but I missed it completely. Anytime you hear one of the NPC say "huh" they have something to tell you so click on them. Bioware said they did this on purpose after getting complaints about the NPC interrupting the action in Jade Empire.

 

I got that the first time I saw it. "Huh", "interesting", whatever, it's pretty intuitive if you think about it. Especially because a subtitle pops up.

[Uilleand]

Speaking of romances, did anyone else find them rather arbitrary? It felt like they were thrown in to tick a box on the long list of things the BioBoards demanded from the poor developers on pain of death.

 

Though they weren't as bad as NWN2's "let's have sex, then" scenes, they felt a little... odd. They came out of the blue, really.

 

 

Nooo...I didn't find them tacked on at all...but then, I have faith in BioWare, perhaps. My feeling is that they're still....incomplete...

 

 

Kaiden, for example, has a couple of lines..."This can't change anything..." and "I always leave myself a way out..." ...plus the inherent issue of dealing with military frat regs - which comes up constantly....I think he and my FemShep are going to have a LOT of issues to work through in the next two games.

 

 

That being said, I *know* this is a story that's going to stick with me for a good, long while.....at least...the way *my* story turned out will be...hehehehee

[Balderdash]

Some things were definitely a bit disappointing. One of the main things that all the trailers listed as a selling point was how every decision affected the outcome of the game and culminated in the galaxy's impression of humanity being drastically altered. In reality, I never saw much evidence of this happening. There's one big decision right at the end which determines the ending, plus the ending can sometimes change ever so slightly depending on your alignment. That's it. Maybe I set my expectations too high in this regard. That said, a lot of quests have several different outcomes. For instance, in one quest involving smuggling weapons through customs at the behest of a shopkeeper, I counted four possible outcomes. Which at the very least is a lot better than Oblivion's complete linearity.

 

The conversation wheel is flawed because you never know what your character is going to say. At the most, there is just "nice" option, "neutral" option and "rude/aggressive" option, but there is never much context to the descriptions on the conversation wheel itself and I found this restrictive. And then again, a lot of the time, no matter what option you choose the PC says the exact same thing, which is just a waste of everyone's time. They needn't have even bothered giving us options if they mean nothing. Towards the end of the game there were even a few scenes where I never even had a conversation wheel; Sheperd was just talking without me pressing anything. Just before landing on the last planet you visit, he says a bunch of stuff to the crew all by himself for no apparant reason.

 

The story was interesting and the storytelling was strong. Better than KotOR, for that matter. There's no cheesy "evil" Dark Lord to stop; just a fellow soldier who overestimated his ability to deny the will of a veritable force of nature. A flawed, damaged guy who got in too deep and paid the price for it. And the paradox surrounding Saren's betrayal, as well, is fascinating at this point and sets the sequels up nicely.

 

A good game, not a classic, but I won't be talking about it in five years.

A fair comment despite the fact that I've already completed the game four times (I'm an achievements junkie).

[Cygnus Q'ol]

... but there is never much context to the descriptions on the conversation wheel itself and I found this restrictive. And then again, a lot of the time, no matter what option you choose the PC says the exact same thing, which is just a waste of everyone's time. They needn't have even bothered giving us options if they mean nothing.

 

This and the fact that you were restricted on planet exploration are the two biggest let-downs of this absolutely marvelous game.

 

I tried not to get caught up in the pre-hype of this game, but, alas I couldn't help myself. My expectations were astronomical by release and when I realized I couldn't randomly explore planets, my enthusiasm took a hit.

 

It was quickly restored with stunning visuals, smooth cut scene transfer, very player-friendly combat and a story that takes off.

The Normandy is an awesome ship. I think I just found the Ebon Hawk's replacement for favorite ship and the Mako is truly awesome.

 

Although the weapons choices and upgrading system wasn't bad, it still irked me that I got no visual representation of the difference when upgrades were installed in my weapons, armor and tools other than the info listed on the upgrade itself.

In KotOR, you got to see your weapon developing and getting stronger, even if it was just numerical info.

 

I've only done one extraordinarily long and tediously exploratory playthrough. However, parallel to my Sheppard, my brother also played through. At one point, we were taking hours-long turns and watching the other's character develop.

 

I played as a buzz-cut, charm filled, Paragon Vanguard who concentrated on Spectre Training, Shock Trooper, Warp, Barrier, Armor, pistols and my beloved shottie.

Charm was the first one maxed, then Shock Troop, then Spectre Training.

Pistols, Armor and Shottie then followed.

 

Strangely enough, I only occasionally used offensive biotics. My biotic talents were honed for mostly defensive purposes and my pistol and shottie were my swords.

 

I absolutely love this game. I can see it does have real re-play value and is a keeper. (not the kind found in the Citadel)

[Pavlos]

Oh how droll.

 

It wasn't meant to be a pun... honest >_>.