[360] Mass Effect

[RobertR1]

Spoiler

What happens to the Ashly chick everyone keeps talking about? Is she the one who dies? Someone said Wrex dies, too.

A nice rundown of the story would be cool for us non-360 owners

Spoiler

At a point you have to pick between saving Ashley and another male crew member. I picked Ashley which lead to the romance plot. I finally nailed her and in the end she's still alive. Yes, Wrex had to die. If I had enough points in my charm/intimidate, I would have talked him out of going rogue and kept him alive but it's no big loss. I didn't use him anyway. The story itself is quite complicated and it varies depending on the choices you make. In short, the Galactic council picks you as a spectre (elite commando) to go after Saren, a spectre gone rouge. You chase him from planet to planet and learn the story through the travels. You'll need to get a 360 and play for yourself for the details

 

[scooby_dooby]

Spoiler

What happens to the Ashly chick everyone keeps talking about? Is she the one who dies? Someone said Wrex dies, too.

A nice rundown of the story would be cool for us non-360 owners

Ashley:

Spoiler

Ashley is one of the romance sub-plots, but she's plays hard to get the whole
game, and then when you finally think you're about to do the deed, you get cock-blocked again by your crew, so it's pretty rewarding when you finally score, plus a gratuitous naked butt shot is always nice!

Entire story spoiler:

Spoiler

The story is pretty awesome. Essentially there's a race of machines, called "reapers", that prefers order to the chaos of organic life, thus they eradicate all organic life in the universe every 50,000 years or so to maintain a predictable stable 'order'.

In the 50,000 years in between eradications, they go to dark space and essentially hibernate the entire time. So they basically sleep, until it's time to kill everyone, spend a few decades whiping everyone out, and then they go back to sleep...kinda funny.

The citadel is the center of government in the universe. But it's actually a massive space station that was built by the reapers millions of years ago and is intended to lure civilizations into using it as their center of government.

In reality the Citadel is actually a giant Mass Effect relay, which the reapers use to return from deep space. It's essentially their back door into the universe. Because it is always used as the center of government, this allows the reapers to pour through the backdoor, whiping out governments and siezing all information, disrupting communications across the galaxy, and then systematically wipeout all organic life.

Now the twist... the last civilization that was wiped out, the Protheans, were able to keep a small handful of scientists alive, and sent on a one-way mission into the citadel, to disable the mechanism's that the reapers use to activate the space station. So the reapers are now essentially trapped in darkspace until they can find a way to open the citadel.

One reaper however is left behind every 50,000, to act as a contingency plan and to peridically wake and scan the universe, waiting until civiliation is reaching it's peak, before signaling the attack.

This reaper takes the form of a massive space ship, names 'sovereign', and in an effort to open the citadel, it has taken control of Garus, a powerful spectre agent. Garus is a victim of sovereigns mind control abilities, known as 'indoctrination'

The end of the story involves Garus and Sovereign ship attacking the citadel. The intention is to turn control of the citadel over to the reaper, so it can then open the gateway to deep space.

Shepard travels back and confronts garus, defeating him, and after an intense battle the alliance fleet finally manages to destroy sovereign.

So the threat is held back...for now.

At the end of the game you can make a number of decisions as well, you can decide whether to allow the galactic council to die, replacing them with an all-human council. And you can also decide which human will be placed on the council, your Captain the army guy, or the sleazebag politician. Bioware will blow my mind if these choices are carried through in the sequels...

There's so much more I could say, and many more really cool details, but that's as brief as I could make it!

 

[Hazuki Ryu]

Dude, oblivion isn't exactly a good measure of an RPG. Not in terms of dept anyway.

In fact, due to the unlinearity of Mass Effect and the linearity of Oblivion, id say MAss Effect is ten times the RPG oblivion is. In Oblivion, sure you can free-roam in a game world, but all the quests are only solveable in 1 way, and there is only 3-4 different types of quests (kill,pickup\delivery,protect,talk)

Agreed 100% though i really like oblivion mass effect is way beyond.

 

[Daozang]

I can't believe some of you have finished the game so quickly! I haven't even scratched the surface with the subquests, and I'm already hours into the game!
Just a question, if it's not a spoiler. Is there a planet as big as the space station in terms of game world? With many subquests to explore? And I don't mean the uncharted planets...

 

[RobertR1]

I can't believe some of you have finished the game so quickly! I haven't even scratched the surface with the subquests, and I'm already hours into the game!
Just a question, if it's not a spoiler. Is there a planet as big as the space station in terms of game world? With many subquests to explore? And I don't mean the uncharted planets...

Some of us put over 8hours a day over the holidays It's that addiciting of a game, atleast for me.

The citadel is the largest in terms of free roaming but the all the other quest based planets are much more adventure filled. If you buy into the scifi world that Bioware has put forth in Mass Effect, the 2nd half of the main story line will have a few parts that'll have you standing up.

If you have a good audio system, crank it up! The music in this game goes a long way for immersion.

 

[Daozang]

Some of us put over 8hours a day over the holidays It's that addiciting of a game, atleast for me.

The citadel is the largest in terms of free roaming but the all the other quest based planets are much more adventure filled. If you buy into the scifi world that Bioware has put forth in Mass Effect, the 2nd half of the main story line will have a few parts that'll have you standing up.

If you have a good audio system, crank it up! The music in this game goes a long way for immersion.

If only I could do that... I'd kill for 8 hours a day on ME!!!!!
By the way, the music is really great! Reminds me of Bladerunner a bit, and the sound is very good!
I said that the grapphics didn't impress me but I was wrong. There are places that are absolutely amazing in the game. And the lighting can be very good.

Anyway, I was expecting something similar to KOTOR, were every planet had its subquests... I hope the main quest isn't short, although the subquests are plenty.

 

[Gradthrawn]

• Don't stress about doing "everything" the first time through - this game is built for multiple play-throughs.

Nice tips. I just got it Saturday afternoon (ordered the Special Edition online from BB) and I'm 20 hours into it already. Quick question, on subsequent playthroughs, can I carry my powers over or is it a complete fresh start?

Item management system took some getting used to. Understand it better now, but its still, IMO, quite crappy. Additional sort-by options, especially when selling, would make a world of difference.

At times, I can't shake the feeling of KOTOR, in a different universe. That's not a bad thing, though.

Hate the load times. Curses to lack of HDD usage. Core owners be damned!

 

[NRP]

I just finished Eden Prime and am now roaming around the Citadel. It's a pretty fun game and I am liking it so far. I chose the default soldier class and am beefing up my weapon stats. The shooting isn't bad, but I do wish the assault rifle was more accurate. I've got like 6 or 7 points invested in it and the dispersion is still pretty high. You really have to burst fire it. One thing I like about the shooting is that the game does reward headshots, so you can take enemies down very quickly if your aim is good. When I get my sniper built up enemies are gonna be crying! Only problem is I can't seem to open any locked rooms or crates (I guess I don't have that ability). Can I make one of my team members open those things?

The thing I don't like is all the little side tasks that I feel like I have to complete for people. It seems like everyone I talk to wants me to do something for them, and then I can't remember exactly where they are so it is hard to find them after I complete the task. I'm looking for Ms. Wong (the reporter lady) right now. I've got her info, but I don't remember where she is, so I am running around haphazardly trying to find her. I wish the game gave me a few hints.

Good game so far. I've put more hours into it in one sitting than I thought I would. I am looking forward to going to some uncharted worlds and beating the crap out of some pirates/geth/whoever else is there.

 

[KnicksRIP]

At times, I can't shake the feeling of KOTOR, in a different universe. That's not a bad thing, though.

Agreed and agreed.

 

[scooby_dooby]

NRP - The assault rifles found earlier in teh game all have an accuracy of 1/100, so they're pretty poor. But later you'll get stuff that's like 50 or 60 for accuracy, and it's supposedly much better.

The sidequests can be found in your journal, and if you click the quest it will usualyl tell you exactly where to go.

The reporter one is tricky though, it's one of the few that really gives you no indication of where to go. I think she's in the citadel tower after you find the OSD...

 

[bkilian]

Spoiler

At a point you have to pick between saving Ashley and another male crew member. I picked Ashley which lead to the romance plot. I finally nailed her and in the end she's still alive. Yes, Wrex had to die. If I had enough points in my charm/intimidate, I would have talked him out of going rogue and kept him alive but it's no big loss. I didn't use him anyway. The story itself is quite complicated and it varies depending on the choices you make. In short, the Galactic council picks you as a spectre (elite commando) to go after Saren, a spectre gone rouge. You chase him from planet to planet and learn the story through the travels. You'll need to get a 360 and play for yourself for the details

Spoiler

I played a female protagonist, who gets the choice of romance with the male dude (who I happily killed off at the choice section, he's a huge whiner), and Liara. Interspecies lesbian sex for the win. I also saved wrex, using charm. You get an achievement for that, for resolving an "impossible situation" using charm or intimidate.

One of the things that I find cool about this game is that some of the achievements actually give you more than just gamerscore, like bonuses to your abilities and unlocking skills for future characters that wouldn't normally have those skills, which is cool. I used a female sentinel character, and then kept Ashley and Liara with me for the whole game, for an all girl squad.
I'm probably an hour or so from finishing the game right now, but I wasted a lot of time by finishing almost all the sidequests. I think I preferred Jade Empire's storyline, on the whole, but this one is still amazingly good. The facial animation is absolutely incredible, especially for the Asari characters. It's always 90% in the eyes for me, and they got the little eye movements and other facial movements just right.

What would be really cool would be if it could create a gamer picture for you from the face of the character you create.

 

[RobertR1]

The Spectre Elite rifle = spray and pray

Best way to make money and keep the inventory clean.

Equip your team with the best equipment. Then goto the rec officer and sell everything else. Once you level up enough, get the Spectre Elite equipment and dump the rest.

 

[RobertR1]

Spoiler

I played a female protagonist, who gets the choice of romance with the male dude (who I happily killed off at the choice section, he's a huge whiner), and Liara. Interspecies lesbian sex for the win. I also saved wrex, using charm. You get an achievement for that, for resolving an "impossible situation" using charm or intimidate.

One of the things that I find cool about this game is that some of the achievements actually give you more than just gamerscore, like bonuses to your abilities and unlocking skills for future characters that wouldn't normally have those skills, which is cool. I used a female sentinel character, and then kept Ashley and Liara with me for the whole game, for an all girl squad.
I'm probably an hour or so from finishing the game right now, but I wasted a lot of time by finishing almost all the sidequests. I think I preferred Jade Empire's storyline, on the whole, but this one is still amazingly good. The facial animation is absolutely incredible, especially for the Asari characters. It's always 90% in the eyes for me, and they got the little eye movements and other facial movements just right.

What would be really cool would be if it could create a gamer picture for you from the face of the character you create.

Spoiler

Yeah, I should've got some lesbo action going! You know how to nail Liara when you're male shepard? She didn't give me any signs so I just ended up nailing Ashley.

Just walk down the hall and make the request for the gamer picture

 

[bkilian]

Spoiler

Yeah, I should've got some lesbo action going! You know how to nail Liara when you're male shepard? She didn't give me any signs so I just ended up nailing Ashley.

Just walk down the hall and make the request for the gamer picture

I haven't tried with a male character yet, I assume it's similar, you have to play "sensitive new age guy" and be patient and understanding. I'm sad that they've reduced the options from Jade Empire. In Jade Empire you could get male-male, female-female, male-female and male-female-female.

And while we published the game (which meant I could get it from the company store for a significant discount ) we didn't develop it.

 

[dobwal]

If you're after a shooter, you should go elsewhere. I think the major detractors of this game went into it thinking it's a shooter, when it's really a by-the-numbers RPG. Sure, the combat is shooter-like, however it's just their version of RPG combat.

I whole heartly disagree. The combat mechanics is definitely a shooter unless you intentionly choose a biotic or tech based class and heavily rely on those skills.

The combat mechanics aren't the best since your squadmates' AIs are lacking. They tend to shoot directly at cover and have no wherewithall to create space at rushing enemies, especially those limited to melee attacks. This seems to alleviated itself somewhat as you and your squad becomes more skilled and attains heavier fire power.

However, I think one of the main reason for the weakness of the combat mechanics is the result of Bioware's first run at a real shooter. There are some balancing issues within the game which tends to highlight the limited AI of your squadmates.

If you are a shooter junkie, you are way more likely to like Mass Effect more than any other RPG. Hopefully, you will be able to forgive Bioware not so great attempt with the real time combat mechanics which is easy given that Mass Effect is far beyond any normal shooter in terms of story telling ability and with added rpg elements of combat.

 

[JacksBleedingEyes]

I haven't tried with a male character yet, I assume it's similar, you have to play "sensitive new age guy" and be patient and understanding. I'm sad that they've reduced the options from Jade Empire. In Jade Empire you could get male-male, female-female, male-female and male-female-female.

And while we published the game (which meant I could get it from the company store for a significant discount ) we didn't develop it.

Sensitive new age guy my ass. I've gone renegade baby, and its a good feeling. Anyone else shot the monkeys in that mission?

 

[robofunk]

However, I think one of the main reason for the weakness of the combat mechanics is the result of Bioware's first run at a real shooter. There are some balancing issues within the game which tends to highlight the limited AI of your squadmates.

Bioware did MDK2, which was a very good shooter IMO.

 

[JacksBleedingEyes]

Bioware did MDK2, which was a very good shooter IMO.

Really, I think both ME and MDK2 shooting mechanic suffers from the same issue. When you shoot an enemy it doesn't feel like there is any weight behind your gun.

Where is the meaty sound and impact when I shoot off my carbine gas powered semi automatic.

It's absent. It feels like I'm feathering the enemies and their health bar goes down instead of the full force one would expect. (I'm over exagerating a little here, it's really not that bad in ME, but still it feels just slightly fake)

Everything else aside, they really did flesh out a very immersing experience. The graphics all bugs aside make it one of the most beautiful games I've played to date. Top notch animations, top notch facial expressions and I really like the shadowing system (which doesn't always work correctly). Some of the characters do look like plastic at times, but every once in a while you look at them and you can really see how much progress we've made towards the digital actor.

A truly excellent game. I remember watching the trailers and I was very skeptical about how the game would turn out. Yes it looked pretty, but I always assumed like with most titles that the graphics would be toned down. Or that the worlds would be small and claustrophobic. That the scope would be narrow and that it would be more of an interactive movie than anything else. To my surprise the game came out being a lot larger than I expected. They sacrificed frame rate for detail and I commend them. It is an RPG after all, I can live with whatever it gives me. The game is flawed but it tries and it delivers an experience which others barely even scratch.

Congratulation Bioware, lets hope you continue to make great games for generations to come and inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

 

[PARANOiA]

I whole heartly disagree. The combat mechanics is definitely a shooter unless you intentionly choose a biotic or tech based class and heavily rely on those skills.

You're correct - I rolled an adept, and haven't tried one of the soldier-based classes yet. You cannot avoid shooting combat, however, and the "shooting" aspect IMO is not what I'd recommend for someone looking for a shooter based on my experience. I'll have to verify on my second play through and see if I change my mind :smile:

Can anyone who has completed answer the question about what happens on your second play through? Do you keep your same character, or do you start from scratch and everything resets as if it was your first play through?

 

[Zaphod]

Can anyone who has completed answer the question about what happens on your second play through? Do you keep your same character, or do you start from scratch and everything resets as if it was your first play through?

Both. Bioware said prior to release that thay had deliberatly added things to encourage multiple playthroughs in different ways.

Completing the game would raise the level cap and unlock tougher difficulty settings for subsequent playthroughs with the same character as well as (depending on achievements or whatnot) unlock some new options for fresh characters.