[360] Mass Effect
- Thread starter Duck Dodgers
- Start date
1up yours touched a tad more on Mass Effect on this week's podcast. After saying they could not talk about it (NDA), John Davison who has completed the game was asked if it was "satisfying" to which he simply answered yes. He also stated he wants to play through the game again now in a different manner. So I guess, that speak well for replay value of course.
First review is from a magazine is out. A 98 from GI.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/masseffect
Excitement slowly rising.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/masseffect
Excitement slowly rising.
[gs]5236_en[/gs]
For an RPG the combat actually looks... fun. I am not an RPG fan at all, but this at least makes you feel like you are having some direct input on the battle through movement and firing. I will be interested to see how RPG fans respond to this.
For an RPG the combat actually looks... fun. I am not an RPG fan at all, but this at least makes you feel like you are having some direct input on the battle through movement and firing. I will be interested to see how RPG fans respond to this.
I've always wanted RPG character development strands to games but the traditional RPG combat is a major turn off for me.
As you say this looks fun and is the reason I want to play this: RPG with non RPG combat. I guess I see it as the best of both worlds.
As an aside, I'm not too worried about how the old-skool RPG fans receive ME's combat. Frankly I think it'll sell great (from what I've seen it deserves to) and will bring those RPG elements to non-RPG players. Players like me!
iceberg187
Regular
Che Chou of Turn 10 is playing it and he has impressions
CHE: You can definitely turn off both motion blur and the grainy filter, but I actually like the graininess. Makes the game look so damn cinematic.
Gaaaahhhhh....
---------------------------
CHE: oh my dear god, this game is amazing so far....wow.
I haven't really followed Mass Effect through the stages, except the occasional screenshot, but jesus christ the graphics in this game are ridiculously good... and WTF, Bioware basically created a 3rd person shooter a la GRAW, complete with cover system.
then underneath that is a deep RPG with an intriguing story and really good voice acting.
only a few hours in so far so take these impressions with a grain of salt. but whoooa, 30+ hours of this sort of bliss? who knows, maybe it'll suck in the 20th hour.
I can see myself leaving COD4 in its wrapper until I'm done with Mass Effect.
I'll post more detailed impressions once I get further into the game.
---------------------------
quote:
Other than being possibly the first successful combination of a real-time tactical shooter and deep RPG, built on a great dialog system. Other than that, nothing new at all...
Level design. How open is it?
CHE: I'm literally scratching the surface of the game. So far, it's fairly linear but I've only had a few encounters on the first intro planet. Tutorial dialogue boxes are literally still popping up.
Still, I've been really impressed with the gameplay so far. There's none of the faux action game bullshit here a la Jade Empire. This is basically a 3rd person shooter first and RPG second, with a ton of other stuff going on underneath the action, as well as the ability to pause the action and tell your party how to kick ass.
-------------------------
quote:
I'm so glad that this game is turning out great. I loved KOTOR so much and really want Mass Effect to exceed KOTOR's awesome.
CHE:
KOTOR doesn't hold a dying matchstick to Mass Effect so far, simply on the merit of gameplay alone.
And then there's the graphics... fucking ridiculous!
-------------------------
CHE: I had plans to do an elaborate post about this the whole time I've been playing.
I'm about 8.5 hours into the game now and it's just gotten better and better.
Too much to talk about really, so I guess I'll just answer RStein's question.
Combat is really fun. There are occasional problems with the AI, but it's really nothing 3rd/1st person shooter fans aren't already used to in teammates found in the genre (GRAW, RS: Vegas, etc). I set my squad to "active" which lets the AI use both defensive and offensive abilities on their own (without you having to pause the action, choose targets, and say "perform a neuro blast" or whatever). They definitely get the job done and I often find them stealing my kills. Thankfully, XP and loot goes to the party and it's up to you to divvy up items.
When I said earlier that this game is a shooter first and an RPG second, I was wrong. It's really a great balance of both genres. Mechanically speaking, this is an action game through and through. You dodge bullets, spring to cover, and do all the things required of you in games like Gears of War. You point your gun at something and fire and there is a 1-to-1 cause-and-effect reaction and shit takes damage and blow up, etc.
Stats act more like modifiers. For instance, if I do a full auto burst with my assault rifle, the reticle will gradually grow wider and bigger the longer you fire, representing the kick and recoil of the assault rifle. As a result, the spread of your shots will go from tight to practically useless through the duration of your burst. As you invest in your assault rifle skill, that behavior improves so your spread is tighter even if you fire longer. Of course, if you play the game like I do and just do controlled bursts, it really isn't too much of a problem.
This basically goes for all weapons (sniper rifle, shotguns, etc.) and I think it works great. In the end, combat is an action affair and really there's no other game like Mass Effect where it combines my favorite genre with a genre I no longer play. It's such a nice RPG homecoming.
The only aspect of the combat that can be clunky at times is trying to get under cover mode against an obstacle that's shorter, as it requires you to duck. Whereas Gears of War automatically makes you duck and puts you against lower cover, you have to do so manually here so there's the added click of the left stick -- and in the heat of combat, it can be frustrating... particularly because combat is really chaotic and crazy at times.
Anyway, I know it's too early to know what's GOTY at this point since I haven't played SMG, COD4, or Uncharted, but I know for a fact that Mass Effect is already an easy contender.
I'll take some phone pics and post 'em tonight. This game is RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous and 8 hours later, I am still slackjawed.
--------------------
CHE: Some crappy pics from my crappy phone camera. Seriously does not do Mass Effect justice.
Here's the character I made. What's amazing is that the face/character you create really becomes THE experience you have throughout the game. It just blows me away to think that all of you will have totally different main characters, acting out different behaviors.
Here's a little note on the space exploration -- it ROCKS. I was jumping around different systems and orbiting their planets in search of minerals, or habitable landing areas and I came upon this distress signal. So I decided to check it out...
Here we are right after landing. The person in the forefront is one of my soldiers. She specializes in sniper rifles. Good for wide open combat obviously.
Whoever thought the Unreal engine couldn't handle huge outdoor areas deserves a :lol
The lighting and atmosphere in this game is off the fucking hook. Every planet has its own look, and from what I've seen so far, there are a ton of planets. Not all will allow you to land (for instance, planets which are gas giants or nothing but oceans of sulfuric acid), but I've poked around 1 system and have already found 2 really big random worlds.
Vehicle controls are sweet, and the moon patrol buggy is crazy fun to drive. You can literally climb any mountain, and you have little thruster jets. Also, vehicular combat is pretty cool -- a cross between the Scorpion tank and the Warthog. You can also exit your vehicle any time you are on a relatively flat surface. Yeehaw!
That's it for now. Time to play more.
-------------------
quote:
I don't think planets are fully explorable (as in you can go anywhere on the the entire surface)
CHE: You can go anywhere. Seriously. Those mountains in the background, you can climb them.
In other words, it's ALL GEOMETRY.
Obviously, there are some building structures and such that will block your path, and overall, planets have an ultimate boundary (so it's basically a very large square sandbox) although it'll take you a long time to get from one end to the other.
The feeling of "discovery" is definitely here.
------------------
CHE: Wow, and just to make sure I wasn't talking out my ass, I just drove to those mountains in the background and actually found some more minerals. Sweet.
This game is like a modern day Starflight. Except infinitely better.
------------------
quote:
This game does have AA, right? It being UE3 and stuff.
CHE: Yeah, aliasing really isn't an issue in this game.
There are some indoor area backgrounds (like the occasional sign) that might catch your eye, but you will never see jaggies on stuff like character models/faces, vehicles, weapons, etc.
Again, UE3 is pretty much kicking my ass.
CHE: You can definitely turn off both motion blur and the grainy filter, but I actually like the graininess. Makes the game look so damn cinematic.
Gaaaahhhhh....
---------------------------
CHE: oh my dear god, this game is amazing so far....wow.
I haven't really followed Mass Effect through the stages, except the occasional screenshot, but jesus christ the graphics in this game are ridiculously good... and WTF, Bioware basically created a 3rd person shooter a la GRAW, complete with cover system.
then underneath that is a deep RPG with an intriguing story and really good voice acting.
only a few hours in so far so take these impressions with a grain of salt. but whoooa, 30+ hours of this sort of bliss? who knows, maybe it'll suck in the 20th hour.
I can see myself leaving COD4 in its wrapper until I'm done with Mass Effect.
I'll post more detailed impressions once I get further into the game.
---------------------------
quote:
Other than being possibly the first successful combination of a real-time tactical shooter and deep RPG, built on a great dialog system. Other than that, nothing new at all...
Level design. How open is it?
CHE: I'm literally scratching the surface of the game. So far, it's fairly linear but I've only had a few encounters on the first intro planet. Tutorial dialogue boxes are literally still popping up.
Still, I've been really impressed with the gameplay so far. There's none of the faux action game bullshit here a la Jade Empire. This is basically a 3rd person shooter first and RPG second, with a ton of other stuff going on underneath the action, as well as the ability to pause the action and tell your party how to kick ass.
-------------------------
quote:
I'm so glad that this game is turning out great. I loved KOTOR so much and really want Mass Effect to exceed KOTOR's awesome.
CHE:
KOTOR doesn't hold a dying matchstick to Mass Effect so far, simply on the merit of gameplay alone.
And then there's the graphics... fucking ridiculous!
-------------------------
CHE: I had plans to do an elaborate post about this the whole time I've been playing.
I'm about 8.5 hours into the game now and it's just gotten better and better.
Too much to talk about really, so I guess I'll just answer RStein's question.
Combat is really fun. There are occasional problems with the AI, but it's really nothing 3rd/1st person shooter fans aren't already used to in teammates found in the genre (GRAW, RS: Vegas, etc). I set my squad to "active" which lets the AI use both defensive and offensive abilities on their own (without you having to pause the action, choose targets, and say "perform a neuro blast" or whatever). They definitely get the job done and I often find them stealing my kills. Thankfully, XP and loot goes to the party and it's up to you to divvy up items.
When I said earlier that this game is a shooter first and an RPG second, I was wrong. It's really a great balance of both genres. Mechanically speaking, this is an action game through and through. You dodge bullets, spring to cover, and do all the things required of you in games like Gears of War. You point your gun at something and fire and there is a 1-to-1 cause-and-effect reaction and shit takes damage and blow up, etc.
Stats act more like modifiers. For instance, if I do a full auto burst with my assault rifle, the reticle will gradually grow wider and bigger the longer you fire, representing the kick and recoil of the assault rifle. As a result, the spread of your shots will go from tight to practically useless through the duration of your burst. As you invest in your assault rifle skill, that behavior improves so your spread is tighter even if you fire longer. Of course, if you play the game like I do and just do controlled bursts, it really isn't too much of a problem.
This basically goes for all weapons (sniper rifle, shotguns, etc.) and I think it works great. In the end, combat is an action affair and really there's no other game like Mass Effect where it combines my favorite genre with a genre I no longer play. It's such a nice RPG homecoming.
The only aspect of the combat that can be clunky at times is trying to get under cover mode against an obstacle that's shorter, as it requires you to duck. Whereas Gears of War automatically makes you duck and puts you against lower cover, you have to do so manually here so there's the added click of the left stick -- and in the heat of combat, it can be frustrating... particularly because combat is really chaotic and crazy at times.
Anyway, I know it's too early to know what's GOTY at this point since I haven't played SMG, COD4, or Uncharted, but I know for a fact that Mass Effect is already an easy contender.
I'll take some phone pics and post 'em tonight. This game is RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous and 8 hours later, I am still slackjawed.
--------------------
CHE: Some crappy pics from my crappy phone camera. Seriously does not do Mass Effect justice.
Here's the character I made. What's amazing is that the face/character you create really becomes THE experience you have throughout the game. It just blows me away to think that all of you will have totally different main characters, acting out different behaviors.
Here's a little note on the space exploration -- it ROCKS. I was jumping around different systems and orbiting their planets in search of minerals, or habitable landing areas and I came upon this distress signal. So I decided to check it out...
Here we are right after landing. The person in the forefront is one of my soldiers. She specializes in sniper rifles. Good for wide open combat obviously.
Whoever thought the Unreal engine couldn't handle huge outdoor areas deserves a :lol
The lighting and atmosphere in this game is off the fucking hook. Every planet has its own look, and from what I've seen so far, there are a ton of planets. Not all will allow you to land (for instance, planets which are gas giants or nothing but oceans of sulfuric acid), but I've poked around 1 system and have already found 2 really big random worlds.
Vehicle controls are sweet, and the moon patrol buggy is crazy fun to drive. You can literally climb any mountain, and you have little thruster jets. Also, vehicular combat is pretty cool -- a cross between the Scorpion tank and the Warthog. You can also exit your vehicle any time you are on a relatively flat surface. Yeehaw!
That's it for now. Time to play more.
-------------------
quote:
I don't think planets are fully explorable (as in you can go anywhere on the the entire surface)
CHE: You can go anywhere. Seriously. Those mountains in the background, you can climb them.
In other words, it's ALL GEOMETRY.
Obviously, there are some building structures and such that will block your path, and overall, planets have an ultimate boundary (so it's basically a very large square sandbox) although it'll take you a long time to get from one end to the other.
The feeling of "discovery" is definitely here.
------------------
CHE: Wow, and just to make sure I wasn't talking out my ass, I just drove to those mountains in the background and actually found some more minerals. Sweet.
This game is like a modern day Starflight. Except infinitely better.
------------------
quote:
This game does have AA, right? It being UE3 and stuff.
CHE: Yeah, aliasing really isn't an issue in this game.
There are some indoor area backgrounds (like the occasional sign) that might catch your eye, but you will never see jaggies on stuff like character models/faces, vehicles, weapons, etc.
Again, UE3 is pretty much kicking my ass.
No he just didn't... one of my fav games ever. Btw, this sounds like a paid MS viral advert
Like these companies let their PR staff randomly talk about big games before they are released... glorified preview written by MS confirmed!The official word is no, its a 360 exclusive. I've seen nothing suggesting there will be a PC version, but it wouldn't shock me if we hear about one coming at the end of next year.
Mintmaster
Veteran
Anyone getting a Star Control 2 vibe from this game in terms of exploration and story depth? That was one of the greatest games ever made.
Combine that with Gears + KOTOR gameplay, and we're probably talking about a true classic. I wasn't too hyped about this game at the beginning, but the last few previews have made my expectations skyrocket. This could be the highest rated game ever.
Oh yeah, and how much would you bet that if this game came out on PS3 that people would be saying it could only be done on BluRay?
Combine that with Gears + KOTOR gameplay, and we're probably talking about a true classic. I wasn't too hyped about this game at the beginning, but the last few previews have made my expectations skyrocket. This could be the highest rated game ever.
Oh yeah, and how much would you bet that if this game came out on PS3 that people would be saying it could only be done on BluRay?
scooby_dooby
Legend
I seem to recall an interview with the Lead Designer, citing SC2 as a major influence.
One month to go. I would be surprised to see this beat Bioshock for GOTY, but I wouldn't complain about another game of that calibre
Somewhat OT but I hate when games just make it in prior to the years end and suddenly pop up on the top of every game of the year list. Gears did this last year. What ever is most vivid in your mind is going to obviously overshadow other great titles. Personally i think there should be a cut off right about now to consider games rather than including the one you played just yesterday and experienced this "amazing section" so it MUST be in the list!
These guys seem to be counting their chickens before they've hatched, such as the MMO that i believe is unofficially confirmed as being in development based off the same universe, so i'd say a PC version is almost given since they seem to be planning quite literally for this to turn into a dominating franchise.
So you'd prefer that they punish the games that come out in November? No matter what you do someone is going to have that kind of advantage, but I don't think people really forget the better titles as they are constant topic of comparison whenever a new game comes along.
I'm not sure how the development of an MMO (at their texas studio I believe) really confirms anything. There's no doubt that they're planning more than 1 mass effect, and they've gone on record saying they want to get 3 on the 360. They'd be fools if they didn't try to capitalize on a popular franchise and there's probably no question they'd want to bring the titles to PC, the only sticking point would be their deal with MS, we don't know the language of that.
Compared to the ones that get released in January and Febuary and are largly forgotten by this late in the year? Absolutly. The ones that come out just before the Holidays arent only high profile but many of them are accompanied by big advertising bucks. Point being i think there should be a longer period of downtime for GOTY type deals rather than including the game that just came out last week, is all the buzz, and has a commercial that you see at least once every 15 minutes during your favorite shows.
If anything the fact that Microsoft is involved strengthens the possibility of it coming out for PC rather than reducing it.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
All hail the power of Star Control 2!
This seems to be the game that can deny Bioshock from getting the Goty title...
Star Control 2 and Kotor were the greatest! So if you put them together, the end result should be quite phenomenal, can't wait to get this.
-=P3tRaN=-
Regular
mass effect = game of the year.
