[360] Mass Effect

I hope the marketing division learns something. I can't help but feel that the people who bought ME thus far are just fans of BioWare or Knights of the Old Republic, and that Microsoft aren't really reaching new audiences. The "choices" commercial was not that great (by itself) when they could have focused on the cinematic aspect of the game. A shortened version of the E3 trailer would have been much better in my opinion, or at least they should have had more than one commercial to show off the diversity in the game.

Anecdote: my friend isn't a fan of RPGs (short attention span ), but I distinctly recall him saying that the E3 trailer made it seem interesting. When he saw the new TV commercial, it was *meh*.

And who knows, showing tid bits of the love story might attract some female gamers.


As for what I'm playing... I've got three characters created. The first one is a male infiltrator and on the good side, just reaching level 58/59 on the second play through. The second is a female soldier, also on the good side. I actually started the second one after I completed the first play through of the first character, and I've gotten about half-way with her, but then I got side tracked and went back to the first character to complete the second playthrough (for achievements).

I created the third character to look a little more menacing (a.k.a. facial hair ), and just to see something different. I can't remember which class of character I picked. I plan on making a fourth character (female), and with another class.

 

I don't think it would have been their choice not to, given the EA acquisition of Bioware just before the first was released.

This is one of those games that would benefit from a PC version though.

 

Completed my first playthrough yesterday night and I'm immensely satisfied with the game. Granted I could list dozens of little things that could make this an even better game, but the overall package is just awesome and the many things ME does right, it does almost perfectly (story, cinematic presentation and voice acting standing out in particular).

Took me a good 32+ hours to complete the game, I followed every sidequest I could find and visited almost every solar system. I haven't touched any other game since the day I got it, considering that means I ignored Halo 3 and Assissin's Creed, among others, I'd say that's quite the sign of just how engaging ME is.

My first character was a male vanguard. I played him as mostly paragorn but with a short temper. I've never really gotten as much satisfaction from trying to "play a role" before in a CRPG. Some have said the dialogue system is still "only" good and evil, which is true in a way, but the manner in which the dialogue is played out manages to really alter the way you percieve your own character, depending on your choices. I already started a second playthrough with a ruthless female soldier character and I'm really enjoying how different the dialogues play this time around.

Definitely my GOTY!

 

Totally agree! I haven't finished it yet (about 15 hours in) but I absolutely love this game. It's pushed Crysis, COD4 and Bioshock aside, and is currently the only game I want to play. Great stuff! My main complaint is the auto save system doesn't save anywhere near enough. Aside from that this game is fantastic.

 

Is this the real reason why games are getting delay?

 

D'oh Right now I'm crunching but I just can't stop playing Mass Effect. The lack of sleep is starting to get to me though. I'll just explore one planet tonight. Yeah that's it, just one planet, then I got to bed...

 

Just one planet, every bloody inch of it.........on foot!

 

Haha oh c'mon the side planet missions aren't that big or varied. But it's nice that you're enjoying the game so much.

 

Happy to see the sales figures for it! In celebration, I'll start up a new game tonight. Now announce Part 2 damnit!

 

How many of those who are really digging this are also fans of KOTOR? Just curious....

 

Never played a bioware game before this.

 

Well if you are big into ME, I'd definitely give KOTOR a shot. One of the main voice over actors is even the same. And if you are female in ME, the voice over actress is the same as another main KOTOR char. Carth and Bastila, for those who've played KOTOR.

The games are very similar, aside from the combat (realtime vs D&D turn based). Personally I found the turn-based combat somewhat better than the fairly buggy realtime style in ME. Both styles are certainly enjoyable though.

 

Me. I skipped it on Xbox because of the buggy mess it was, but loved the PC version. Tried the sequel but hated it - that was the very definition of an unfinished game released in beta form.

 

Yeah I've played KOTOR through 3 times, each a different kind of character with a different slant on evil or good (kind of like ME). KOTOR2 I've never been able to finish and am waiting for the reconstruction mod that is supposedly almost finished now after nearly 3 yrs of work. IMO KOTOR2 had signs of being better than the original, but yeah they were super rushed and dropped all sorts of content and plot.

Thanks go out to LucasArts for that. I'll never understand why they'd trash the series in such a way, but the company has been through enough management changes to make my head spin so who knows.... I believe KOTOR2 was made in something like 18 months or so, believe it or not. Obsidian did some decent work, considering.

 

KOTOR 2 is rushed and have more technical problems than KOTOR, but it is still a better game IMO. It offers a lot of replayability with the class system. The construction of items adds a lot to the game (making it super easy, even on hard, if you know what you are doing ). I think I've played every combination of guardian/consular/prestige class/good+evil, and a few times as sentinel as well for a total of 12-14 play throughs. It's a great way to spend a day if you have the flu.

Edit: To get the most out of the game you really need to chat up all your party members to gain influence, half the game/story is in those dialogues.

Cheers

 

I agree. I liked KOTOR 2 a lot more than the first one although it was certainly unfinished... I can only imagine the game that it could have been had Lucas Arts let Obsidian finish it.

 

Yeah I know what you guys mean by it being a better game. There was obviously more depth in the actual dialog and influence system than what Bioware did in KOTOR. I really enjoyed the dialog in KOTOR2; you felt as if you were actually having a conversation with people in that game and you could truly influence relationships and there were consequences that resulted.

Too bad it fell apart as you progressed in the game...

Check out the restoration mod:
http://www.team-gizka.org/

 

KOTOR2 felt lifeless and empty, I was going through the motions the entire game. It really captured none of the humour, and fun that KOTOR seemed to have.

 

I have to say that I think ME's biggest fault may just be its damn autosave system. It's so unpredictable. You can't rely on it because it's tough to figure out when it will actually save. You can punch through half a planet, perhaps hours of work, and die and heh it never saved!

KOTOR saved frequently. I wonder why they didn't stick to that.

 

Was kotor more linear? ME saves every time you land on a planet or reboard the normandy, it also saves every time you use the shuttle at the citidel. At times it certainly seems like it saves too often, other times it could do to throw in a save before a major encounter. Especially the ones where they have a cutscene before it starts.