Mass Effect 3

[Totenkopf]

That video was fun and mostly spot on, even though I don't agree with everything he says. A more creative and entertaining way to present complaints than long rants on the Bioware forums, even though it likely will be as effective in bringing about change (i.e. not at all).

 

Pretty much agree.

 

 

 

The patch also overwrote the coalesced.bin file, forcing me to reapply all my tweaks and mods. Need to remember to back that file up before allowing the game to patch next time.

 

 

Good to know. Where is this patch found? Tried going to Bioware and even plugging in things like ME3 patch, etc.... but got nothing other than news related items.

[DarthParametric]

Just load up your friendly Origin malware. After a gentle probing of your system, it will sort you right out.

[Totenkopf]

Just load up your friendly Origin malware. After a gentle probing of your system, it will sort you right out.

 

Ahh... maybe I'll just pass then. Thanks anyway.

[DarthParametric]

While I was digging around in the bowels of the games, I decided to compare a couple of other head meshes. Here are Anderson and Ashley:

 

 

As with the player morphs, ME1 and 2 use identical meshes in both cases. Leaving aside textures, the ME3 Anderson head looks like it is the same mesh topology-wise (except for the change to the new mouth box), just with some vertex positions tweaked slightly (most notably the brow and neck line). It's the textures that make him look so different in ME3.

 

Ashley is a different story. It seems like her head is an all new mesh. Her ME3 face now has 2000 polys vs 1758 for the ME1/2 face. Leaving aside the chest extension, her ME3 neck/scalp mesh has about 1200 polys vs the 1026 of the ME1/2 mesh. I thought she looked radically different in-game in ME3 vs ME1/2, but looking at the bare meshes they are actually structurally very close. There are some tweaks to glam the ME3 mesh up, like more defined cheek bones, fuller lips, a slightly different brow line, but otherwise I don't really see a lot of difference - not as much as I was expecting anyway. Have a look at this comparison of the ME1/2 face mesh vs the ME3 face mesh each using the same textures:

 

 

(the UVs don't align perfectly, so there is a little bit of stretching/distortion there)

 

I think the thing that makes her look so jarringly different in-game is primarily the hair style, but the texture change doesn't help either.

[leXX]

lol never playing me3 multiplayer.

 

My friends that have played MP in ME3 love it, problem is that most of my friends (especially around here) don't play MP. I haven't touched it, don't do MP.... With one exception.

 

I decided to play MP right before the end of the game to get my Galaxy At War up to 100% (my EMS was 6323 going into the last fight), and I loved it. I levelled an Asari Vanguard to 20 and had alot of fun doing it.

[igyman]

Ran into something pretty cool and partially ME3 related:

 

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[Boba Rhett]

Saw this and thought it was funny. Kinda Spoilery! Don't read if you're still somehow unspoilt.

 

 

[Trex]

As one of those who weren't able to import their shepard until the patch was released last week, I have only just finished ME3 now.

 

So...

 

I feel that I might be in an odd camp when it came to my expectations to this. I heard about all the controvesy with the endings before I even started playing, so I'm a bit disappointed in the endings, but not in the way others might have been.

 

Given all the comment's I'd read about it (while avoiding spoilers), I was genuinely expecting something like 'the reapers win' and the final scene has all the main characters surrendering themselves for harvesting. So I'm kinda disappointed it wasn't anything that dark and extreme.

 

I think the ending was...OK, just badly explained, badly shown and doesn't make that much sense when you start to think about it. I think Boba Rhett's pic above sums up any problems I might have with it.

 

I only have one major problem with this game, and that's harbinger. I thought he was a really cool villain in ME2, and was intrigued to know more about him/it. So what do we have in ME3? A cameo and an offscreen death. I am irked by it, but I'll get over it.

 

So, my summary goes thusly:

 

Good things :

- The graphics. I think the landscapes and areas were better than they've ever looked.

- I like the majority of the plot and some of the character deaths.

 

Bad things :

- The graphics. The faces can look very deformed and sometimes it's just too dark and there's too much stuff everywhere. There's a few times where I just stand there getting shot with no clue where the enemies are.

- Too many cutscenes where Shepard just stands there like a plonker. (No don't bother shooting Kai Leng when he's fighting Thane. What could possibly go wro,- oh damn).

 

I may add more later, I just wanted to write something down while the game's still echoing in my head.

[Totenkopf]

Too many cutscenes where Shepard just stands there like a plonker. (No don't bother shooting Kai Leng when he's fighting Thane. What could possibly go wro,- oh damn).

 

Yeah, I thought something similiar when you encounter Eva Core on Mars at the extraction point.

[Darth Payne]

Just found this weapons and armor guide (for those that might be interested):

 

Link

[Astor]

Terribly late, I know, but I finally bought and started playing ME3 over the weekend.

 

After finally getting the game to install from the discs instead of downloading the whole thing (which I gather is still a problem for a lot of people), I'm enjoying it a lot, or at least I enjoyed it up to the part where the game keeps crashing on Tuchanka.

 

I've tried repairing install via Origin, but for some reason I'm unable to download any patches or updates once verifying the installation is ok.

 

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

[Taak Farst]

So, Mass Effect 3 is going to be a Wii U launch title. Can anyone give me a wat?

[Lynk Former]

wat.

 

Believe me, it's a huge wat for me. I've already debated this with uber fans of Nintendo who basically think anything released on a Nintendo product is the greatest thing ever. They can't seem to grasp the logic that they being played for fools if they buy ME3 on Wii U but you can't really convince them otherwise

 

It's so stupid. Plus, not just ME3 on Wii U but Arkham City as well, a game that's been out for quite some time now. Assassin's Creed 3 can get away with it, though it's still part of a series that most Nintendo only gamers haven't played, though so was Dead Space: Extraction (which included heavy spoilers relating to the first Dead Space game).

 

Yeah, it's stupid.

[DarthParametric]

What's stupid about it? From the consumer's perspective, if there are people that only buy Nintendo hardware then it gives them an opportunity to play games they otherwise wouldn't (I would probably try a number of the PS3 exclusives if they were ported to 360 or PC). From a business perspective, it's a cost effective way to cut your teeth on a new development platform and derive extra revenue from an existing product. I don't see what people are complaining about. This is really no different to what PC gamers have experienced for years (especially from Rockstar). Ports that turn up years after the originals launched.

[Lynk Former]

I guess you're right, whether you've played all the ME games or just ME3, it doesn't make **** all difference to the ending cause it'll still suck either way.

 

It's stupid because I know the Nintendo-only console gamer and they're a different kind of fanbase than what you'd find with the PS3, 360 and PC base. Basically very few people will buy ME3 because it's not a game that was "made for Nintendo"... there's a really strange reasoning that goes behind it, but basically if fans know that a game is made for a Nintendo console, they'll buy it like hotcakes, even if the game is really terrible like Red Steel. Ubisoft basically said "we're making a game just for you guys" and everyone bought it while all of the Call of Duty ports end up bombing and get thrown into the bargain bin cause no one plays them.

 

You're right, it is a smart idea in that BioWare is making a really cheap cash grab, but it's still stupid.

 

 

Arkham City I feel is a better fit but they tried to show it off as a game that would BRING people to Wii U, they were trying to demonstrate the game is better on Wii U and you should buy one. Where are they trying bring them from, platforms where they have already played the game?

 

Assassin's Creed 3 on the other hand is the best to represent multiplatform titles on Wii U... it hasn't been released yet and while it may be the latest in a pretty long series now, Ubisoft can easily release the previous AC games on Wii U for a budget price much like Capcom did with the entire Resident Evil series on the GameCube. Out of the three, Ubisoft is making the smartest move. Not only are they introducing Assassin's Creed to the Nintendo gamer with the ability of porting the previous games to Wii U if they choose, but they also have ZombiU in the works which is a "made for Nintendo" game... BioWare = stupid. Ubisoft = smart.

 

 

EDIT: oh, and let's face it, without all of the references to things that happened in the previous games and all that we experiences, ME3 is just ends up being a mindless action movie with a crappy ending... I mean even more so than it is to us, the people who have played the other games.

[DarthParametric]

Presumably they'll give them some sort of intro/back story to get them up to speed, the same as they did for PS3 players of ME2, coming into the series without having played ME1.

 

As for Bioware being stupid, well you'll get no argument from me there, but I suspect our reasoning differs. In terms of your comparison though, it would be fairer to say Ubisoft is smart and EA is stupid.

[Lynk Former]

True, I shouldn't blame BioWare for this when it's obviously an EA incentive to push this onto Wii U.

 

And I say again, EA is clearly making a good business decision because the overall cost will end up being paid off eventually and they'll probably make a little bit of profit from having ME3 on Wii U... but they clearly don't understand the user-base they're trying to sell this to in the first place which also makes them stupid. This is just a really short-sighted money grab and that's really all it is. Plain and simple.

[DarthParametric]

Of course. Were EA not the biggest producers of shovelware for the Wii?

[Lynk Former]

With such quality games as...

 

[Lynk Former]

Here we go...

 

FAQ: http://masseffect.bioware.com/about/extended_cut/

 

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[Red Hessian]

Please... the "extended cut" will be a mash-up of pictures and cutscenes at the end detailing the fate of various species and squad members in a sunshine-and-butterflies fanfic style to appease the hordes.

 

If there was actually any content worth while, they wouldn't give it away for free.

[Sabretooth]

No no, this "extended cut" will be exactly what I don't want it to be, because my awesome ideas and sense of content worth are so epically lofty, they cannot possibly be given away for free.

[Lynk Former]

@ Red Hessian: If BioWare tried to actually have people PAY for this "Extended Cut" then the amount of rage launched toward them for doing so would be 10 times as much as what they got for the ending itself...

 

No, this is the safer thing to do for them in terms of appeasing as many people as they can, and even without knowing the content of this "Extended Cut" I can bet that it'll most likely please people enough that it'll put BioWare back on their good side. It won't be everyone, but enough...

 

Either way, no one's forcing anyone to go back and play ME3 if they don't want to... or to even download the Extended Cut. This really is for the people who care enough to get it... now all we have to do is wait for it to come out, see what people think and if it enrages or calms them down...

[Totenkopf]

Wait and see w/low to no expectations, as it seems to be most prudent course. Still, seems kind of a pain to have to replay 2+ hours of endgame in order for it to kick in. Not a deal breaker, mind you, just a minor annoyance. Also, agree that selling it would merely compound the anger......especially if people thought it sucked.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Late to the party, but I finally installed and played ME3. Just finished it.

 

Wow. Bioware did a hell of a job crafting this game - it was fantastic. The combat was more varied, improved, and enjoyable, and I welcomed the reintroduction of RPG elements in the form of weapon customization. The whole game also felt much more polished than ME2. But the best thing about it, I thought, was the character depth and development - especially after coming off an RPG that had next to none of it (Skyrim). Made me remember why I loved Bioware's games. I like the design decision of trading main character quantity for individual depth, though I was a bit disappointed at the lack of inclusion of ME2's unique party members. I suppose ME2's 'live or die' dynamic proved too difficult/complex to develop further into ME3.

 

But dear Lord, the ending...

 

TBH the first time around, I was too awed by the cinematographic execution of the ending to realize what I just saw was flawed. It was only a while afterwards that a significant 'Wait, what?' reaction surfaced, and I proceeded to pick apart the ending to discover what was wrong with it. Despite the plot holes and deviance from established themes, my main gripe with it was the brutal lack of closure for an IP that I had heavily invested into emotionally (It almost had me on the verge of tears). I really hope the announced Extended Cut rectifies this well.

 

As for the plot holes, I don't know how Bioware is going to fix them without changing/retconning the original ending. But doing so would be admitting that they were wrong the first time around. Yet, if they don't address the issues sufficiently, they stand to gain a significant amount of damage to their reputation. A tricky pickle, for sure.

A related issue would be what could happen if a lot of gamers think they can change existing games by causing a big enough hooplah...

 

 

sunshine-and-butterflies fanfic style to appease the hordes.

 

I certainly hope not. I quite liked the bitterness of the current ending. I just would've hoped for something like an opportunity to contact your crew/the galaxy one last time to warn them of what you're about to do and/or say goodbye. Perhaps even the chance to give one last epic speech..

As I said: closure.

 

If there was actually any content worth while, they wouldn't give it away for free.

I don't know... Bioware's pretty much facing a lynch mob.. I think it's either deliver or die, at this point. Charging for it would most likely damage their reputation regardless of the DLC's quality, as fans are feeling quite entitled to it.