Gaming Mass Effect

[Boo]

[center][img]http://static.clanbase.com/CB/images/news/2009/MassEffect_Banner.jpg[/img][/center]

So, with so many of us Mass Effect people on here, I figured I'd make a new thread about it. The main reason was actually that since Shinmaru is playing, and I just found out that ME3 will have a co-op mode that [i]will[/i] influence the game story experience, I'm seeing a bright future ahead of us.

Also, I'm doing a third perfect run through the game. My current character is a female infiltrator, whereas my last two Shepards were a male Sentinel and Warrior respectively. I'm trying to find the last bits of Mass Effect 1 to finish before ME2, but I find it really hard to choose all [i]the other[/i] options. All I know is Kaiden will never be my lover, [spoiler]and he will always die in all my runthroughs[/spoiler]. Which would make Liara my lover [i]again[/i] because for some reason ME thinks that as soon as you speak to Liara, she will have sex with you even if you've talked through all the dialogues perfectly with Ashley. %!I&*$A!@.

SO. For those of you who haven't played Mass Effect, here's a quick summary:

[img]http://bashers.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/WREX.png[/img]
[img]http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmo0iyasKr1qatcfzo1_500.gif[/img]

[img]http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6834/2011072100001a.jpg[/img]

[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac216/combinations/Random/a51ecbba.jpg?t=1266804111[/IMG]

[CaNz]

That summery is pretty much it, especially the last pic since every cut-scene needed a close up like that one.

I am pretty excited for ME3 because this series seems to have limitless potential. ME has so much background information that you could probably make hundreds of games, but following Shepard seems like the most fun. The concept of having a decision making game where the choices you make impact the rest of the world in more than one game just sounds cool, and they did it.

I have played a lot of ME, two playthroughs for my three characters. My perfect playthrough is sentinel, and a Paragon. I am also a pretty girl Shepard. I find that a few scenes are just better when you play as a girl, such as [spoiler] headbutting a krogan.[/spoiler] I have really only played ME2 twice, but I still like it.

[Boo]

[spoilerblock='Maira Shepard log #1.244.411']I had Kaiden die. No way will any Shepard ever let Ashley die instead of this wet towel. Also, I once again did not have the guts in Wrex's case to kill him or have him killed by my homegirl. It was a day of good deeds. Now I'm grounded for my good deeds, however. Quite literally. Udina has to die. Quite badly. XO Shepard out.[/spoilerblock]

[quote name='CaNz' timestamp='1318889737' post='709968']
every cut-scene needed a close up like that one.
[/quote]
[spoiler]I think the last scene should have been [i]Miranda[/i] jumping into the Normandy with her lower body still hanging out and the camera zooming in on it. With a side of Jack pulling a Scar on her when Miranda's all "Baldy, help me out!"[/spoiler]

Post of spoiler tags.

[Shinmaru]

Female Paragon biotic here!

As our foreign friend mentioned, I am a recent convert to the world of [b]Mass Effect[/b]. I'm a good ways into the second game right now: I've recruited everyone except Kasumi Goto (and I recently grabbed that bit of DLC, so I'll have her soon), and Legion. I'm at the point of the game where [spoiler]the Illusive Man wants you to examine the Collector ship[/spoiler]. After I take care of that business, I'll continue with loyalty missions and all that fun stuff. So far I've done the loyalty missions for Grunt and Garrus. Grunt's is OK, but Garrus' is pretty fun.

Definitely liking the second game more than the first, outside of a couple of things: It seems like you get your XP after the mission rather than during it, so you don't get to level up during a mission. Not really a huge deal, but it's something that bugs me. Also, I know the story requires mostly limited contact with the Collectors (and I'll be banging on their doors soon enough), but I wish there were just a bit more exposure to them. I've killed like 10 billion mercs already, haha. I bring this up only because the geth are such a strong presence in the first game.

Again, though, just minor grievances. Really loving everything else about the game so far -- the story is solid, even though you're mostly picking up folks, and there isn't quite the same driving force as in the first game. It's made up for, however, with the sheer variety of teammates. I enjoy everyone save bland ol' Jacob, and even he's a vast improvement over freakin' Kaidan in the first game. And I do enjoy how the loyalty missions give everyone at least one chance to shine. I decided on my team of Wrex and Garrus pretty early on in the original game, and never really used anyone else, so even though they had their parts in the story, I didn't really feel like I was actively involved with them. And the decisions you're making with the characters feel much more far-reaching than most of the choices made in the first game, too.

And of course the combat is awesome. Executing combos with my biotic powers is fun when I have the wherewithal to actually pull them off, and because of the defensive layers enemies have, I'm actually getting use out of Warp, where I didn't really use it much in the first game. I'm actually using my teammates powers much more, too, which works to make combat much more engaging. I've even died a few times!

Totally hyped for [b]Mass Effect 3[/b] in March. I'm eager to see the end results of the choices I've made throughout the series!

---

I'm sure more than a few of you have been keeping up with [b]Mass Effect 3[/b] news. What do you all think about the multiplayer mode?

I'm definitely interested in it and actually excited about it, because I've got very little use out of my Xbox Live account so far. Just not much of an online multiplayer guy (which probably makes that a stupid purchase, but details lol); however, the [b]Mass Effect 3[/b] multiplayer could be pretty damn awesome. Taking on missions, storming waves of enemies, and, most importantly, playing as something other than a human! Been hoping that one day I'd be able to play as one of the alien races, and here's my opportunity. I almost don't know which I will play as first. (Probably a turian, though, if only so that I can pretend I'm Garrus.)

One thing I'm wondering about is how the match of class and race will work ... BioWare says that class will be what determines abilities, and not race, but throughout the series certain classes and races have been matched together, both with enemies and allies. For example, when you fight biotics, it's almost always an asari, and if not them, then likely a human, or [i]maybe[/i] a mid-boss krogan. When you fight an engineer, it's almost always a salarian or a human. And so on. I wonder if all races will be as naturally adept (pardon the pun) at each class as the other, or if certain races will do better as certain classes? I don't doubt that throughout their history that there have been some badass salarians who could rip apart anyone on the field of battle as well as any human solider, or whatever, but it would be kind of weird to play as a salarian soldier in the context of the series, right? Not that it's such a big deal in the grand scheme of things -- just something to think about.

I've seen some complaining about the multiplayer mode, and honestly, it seems silly to me at this point in time. From what BioWare has said, multiplayer is optional and not required to achieve the best ending or any of that other fun stuff. Shouldn't that end the bitching right there? If you don't like it, then pretend it doesn't exist. Plus, nobody can even play it yet! If the game comes out, and the multiplayer sucks, then sure, complain away. But right now? Internet in action, as always.

[CaNz]

I am looking forward to the multiplayer option, since it does seem to have a lot of potential. I don't know if you could really be very competitive, but certainly a horde mode that makes people rally together could be great. It would seem a bit too complex to allow every race to be every class, so I am not sure if they are really gonna do that. (I would really have a hard time believing in a Quarian biotic anyway)

I dunno how many more games this will sell, because I am definitely getting it for Shepard's campaign. I have heard rumors of a few modes that may make this game stand out. I heard that solo mode may have three separate versions: Story, RPG, and Action. This info comes from the leaked Beta yesterday. I have read about it and it seems like these aren't gonna effect the gameplay much. Action mode seems to pick the dialogue for you, Story is easy mode, where the combat and game mechancs are simple. RPG makes you play with all the combat settings, as well as choose all the dialogue. Action mode may be nice for the people who don't want to read... but I doubt anyone will buy Mass Effect just for the story... you are gonna want to feel like you are winning the war against the Reapers, not a bunch of paraplegic Husks.

[Shinmaru]

Quarians aren't playable, unfortunately. I'm guessing it's because they're technically not one of the Citadel races (at least, that seems to be the rationale behind which races are playable). You can play as an asari, turian, krogan, salarian, drell or human. I wonder how many people will actually play as humans? Don't know why anyone would want to since you play as a human in the main game all the time, anyway, haha.

[Boo]

[quote name='CaNz' timestamp='1320775348' post='710159']
I dunno how many more games this will sell, because I am definitely getting it for Shepard's campaign. I have heard rumors of a few modes that may make this game stand out. I heard that solo mode may have three separate versions: Story, RPG, and Action. This info comes from the leaked Beta yesterday. I have read about it and it seems like these aren't gonna effect the gameplay much. Action mode seems to pick the dialogue for you, Story is easy mode, where the combat and game mechancs are simple. RPG makes you play with all the combat settings, as well as choose all the dialogue. Action mode may be nice for the people who don't want to read... but I doubt anyone will buy Mass Effect just for the story... you are gonna want to feel like you are winning the war against the Reapers, not a bunch of paraplegic Husks.
[/quote]
Yeah I had this explained to me some weeks ago by an EA lass. I'm pretty sure she told me the difference was all in the combat mode. Speaking of combat mode, the gameplay demo they gave me had some seriously bollocks AI going on where the player just walked up to enemies in hiding and stab them with the new awesome tool.

Another thing they showed was an awesome new weapon modification system, where you can really personalize your weaponry. I can imagine this means you don't need separate weapons anymore, but instead build on one constantly. It'll be a lot cooler for Multiplayer too, as it really makes your weapon [i]your weapon[/i].

Multiplayer I'm totally stoked for. My brother and me have been playing ME while calling each others discussing choices to make, like we used to do with Pokémon. So now we can really do this old school Pokémon style together all the way through! :^D It should actually impact the story line as well in some ways. Also, I'd play a Salarian whenever possible so I can do the awesome speeches.

[quote]Before ME3, there was ME2. Before ME2, there was ME1!
OUR INFLUENCE STOPPED THE COLLECTORS, BUT BEFORE THAT WE HELD THE LINE.
OUR INFLUENCE STOPPED THE GETH, BUT BEFORE THAT WE HELD THE LINE.
OUR INFLUENCE STOPPED SAREN, BUT BEFORE THAT WE HELD THE LINE.
OUR INFLUENCE WILL STOP THE REAPERS;
IN THE BATTLE TODAY, WE WILL HOLD THE LINE![/quote] Edited November 8, 2011 by Lady Katana

[Shinmaru]

[img]http://i41.tinypic.com/2rp4a40.jpg[/img]

Yes.

[Magus]

So I just finished up my 3rd run of Mass Effect (and still haven't really dove into ME2 yet), and decided to start a 4th run, this time as fem Shep. I'm mainly doing it to see how Jennifer Hale sounds, and so far I'm liking her more than whoever's voicing male Shep. Ruthless, Warhero, Vanguard is what I chose for her. I think I chose Space, Soldier and I forgot the other for male Shep.

Anyway, after this run with fem Shep, I'll start up ME2.

[Boo]

[url="http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut/"]BioWare announces Extended Cut and to have no plans at all for different endings.[/url]

So, I'm fine with this. My main problem of the absolute end was a lack of closure. Now we should get more of that.

[Shinmaru]

I feel bad that it had to come to this, but it's probably the best scenario to result from this mess. The fact that Microsoft isn't forcing EA/BioWare to charge for this DLC -- and they've been [i]really[/i] hardline about that -- speaks to what a crazy situation this is.

[Boo]

While we're posting... [url="http://blog.bioware.com/2012/04/06/mass-effect-3-resurgence-pack/"]FREE DLC NEXT TUESDAY[/url]! Multi-player stuff. 6 new characters (2 Geth, 2 Batarians, Asari Justicar and Krogan Battlemaster), new weapons, new consumables, 2 new maps annnnd... that's it I guess. But it's free! They're on a roll with free stuff now, and they keep having weekly weekend extras. I wonder how long they'll keep this up.

[Shinmaru]

Maybe I should actually play multiplayer now ...

[Silver Mech]

I can play with you if you want. That is, if you have a PS3.

[Shinmaru]

I play it on Xbox 360, unfortunately. :( Seems like very few people I know share my console of choice for [b]Mass Effect[/b] ...

[Silver Mech]

Odd. Most of the people I know play on the 360. They even set up gaming nights. Here's a link to the forum were we hang out, if you're interested.

http://forums.pixelator.net/forum.php

[Boo]

Or just get it for PC like the Cool Kids[b]â?¢[/b].

Actually, don't. Origin and stuff is not working as you'd like it to be. Edited April 7, 2012 by Boo

[James]

[quote name='Boo' timestamp='1333788969' post='711323']
Or just get it for PC like the Cool Kids[b]â?¢[/b].

Actually, don't. Origin and stuff is not working as you'd like it to be.
[/quote]

[font=palatino linotype]Even if I had it for PC, I'd still need to play it with a controller. I can't imagine playing Mass Effect with a mouse and keyboard (the mouse would be great, but they keyboard... not so much).

I am seriously thinking about playing the entire trilogy again with different choices and character settings. I did start it again with female Shepard, but that was just Mass Effect 2. I'm just wondering if I can be bothered starting with the first game again...[/font]

[Gavin]

[font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]It does feel quite a bit less intuitive by comparison I've found, but as the old saying goes when you haven't horses you must plough with asses. I was more so annoyed that you have the play the multiplayer in order to access the "best ending" via "galactic readiness", which was a pain for those of us who aren't into that horde mode style multiplayer.

Not so enthused by BioWare's "extended cut" DLC, even free which it had to be, I seriously doubt without quite a bit of new content it'll make up for the mess that was the original ending or truly satisfy players the way it should have first time around.[/font]

[Boo]

Basically, you could just play the game twice for a perfect ending. I thought this was pretty cool because it made sense in what goes on in the Single Player mode as well. You take over stuff from Cerberus, they try to get it back, Shepard can't come so they send in spec ops squads to take care of it. Makes the battle bigger than just Shepard, sort of, except the maps aren't at all epic, and the teams are too tiny to take really serious.

The idea is nice, I think. I would've probably enjoyed the original idea of a FPS multi-player, like Crysis + Battlefield, more than this though.

[Silver Mech]

Fighting the reapers in multiplayers is a *****, though. Second Banshee in, and my entire team gets wiped out.

[Boo]

That says more about your team than about the Reapers. Ha.

But seriously now. Banshees are horrifying, but you basically just have to make sure you're on the other side of the map from them until you can single them out. They're not as tough as Primes or Atlases 1-on-1 if you keep moving. Also, if you have two people (i.e. Adept + Sentinel) with Warps amped up til level 6 "extra damage versus armor and barriers" they get reasonable. Just make sure you don't get Ravaged while taking care of the Banshee. And Cobra them when two are close together. :^D

[Silver Mech]

Thanks for the tips. Now I just need some consistent team mates so I dont get raped by those screaming terrors.

[Boo]

New maps are a lot more chaotic than the old ones would ever get. Sort of a good thing. Really seems more like a nearly hopeless Spec Ops operation. Haven't seen or obtained any Geth/Batarians/Justicar/Battlemaster yet.

[James]

[quote name='Gavin' timestamp='1333827700' post='711341']
[font=tahoma,geneva,sans-serif]It does feel quite a bit less intuitive by comparison I've found, but as the old saying goes when you haven't horses you must plough with asses. I was more so annoyed that you have the play the multiplayer in order to access the "best ending" via "galactic readiness", which was a pain for those of us who aren't into that horde mode style multiplayer.

Not so enthused by BioWare's "extended cut" DLC, even free which it had to be, I seriously doubt without quite a bit of new content it'll make up for the mess that was the original ending or truly satisfy players the way it should have first time around.[/font]
[/quote]

[font=palatino linotype]The need to play multiplayer truly sucks, but then again, I'll probably still have a go at the multiplayer at some stage when I play through it a second time. I do want to try the "third ending", because it's what I'd naturally choose anyway.

In terms of the extended cut DLC, I'm really not bothered by it. My understanding is that it basically just adds a bit of exposition which helps to clarify the existing ending(s). I think that's fair enough, given that the existing endings were relatively confusing to some degree.

Although I didn't really have huge issues with the way the game ended as such, except for a couple of inconsistencies (but I still think that these are present throughout the plot anyway, so they came as little surprise at the end in a sense).

What I'm really wondering now is where they will go in future. They have said that there will be more Mass Effect games, but that those games will be set during or prior to the events of ME3. Personally, I want to see a new set of games that deal with specific historical scenarios - for example, the human/turian conflict or the origins of the genophage. That sort of thing would justify multiple games with potentially more interesting plots than what exists in the original trilogy.[/font]