Tag: Mass Effect

Mass Effect 3 (PC, PS3, XBOX 360)

Yes, I know it’s been 3 months since my last rant but in my defence I spent that time getting a new computer, doing exams and generally not giving a shit. Now though I’m bored so I’ve decided to finish off this rant which I started writing 2 months ago. So to christen the new hardware, the finale of Shepard’s tale of conquest and heroism. In 2157, humanity discovered that it was not alone in the universe. Thirty years later, they found a peaceful place among dozens of galactic species. But this idyllic future is overshadowed by a dark past: Reapers, a sentient race of machines responsible for cleansing the galaxy of all organic life every 50,000 years, are about to return.The leaders of the galaxy are paralysed by indecision, unable to accept the legend of the Reapers as fact. But one soldier has seen the legend come to life.

And now the fate of the galaxy depends on Shepard …

The story begins with our first visit to Earth. Shepard after being discharged from the Alliance Navy is asked for help as the Reapers come to the galaxy to kill off all organic life. Suddenly the Reapers show up on their doorstep and shit goes down. Shepard makes a hasty retreat to unite the galaxy against the machine overlords. You’d think with the eradication of life in the galaxy as a consequence of failure, people would be more eager to provide their support. I suppose it just shows the ignorance and stubbornness of other species, dam aliens.

The first thing I want to mention is that the game is Origin exclusive. It’s crap yes I know and not just because of the spyware, ban friendly admins and complete lack of legal liability (because that isn’t reason enough). It just isn’t as good as Steam, Valve have a good system going with their absolutely amazing sales, major support for indy developers and competitive prices. Origin as I’m aware doesn’t have sales, stocks EA exclusive games and the prices are a rip-off at best. Sadly though EA are a bunch of selfish robbing bastards so as long as we want to play EA games, we sadly have to keep getting cock slapped by them.

Anyway, now the game. The game-play is pretty much that of Mass Effect 2, there are a few new tidbits for example Shepard can do a heavy melee attack by holding down the melee attack button which comes in very handy. Another new feature of the game is the weapon system. There is a good number of weapons available all of which are split into 5 types of weapon Pistol, Sub Machine Gun, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun and Assault Rifle. Each has about 4-5 different weapons and can be upgraded as and when you see fit. The customisation of weapons is one of few areas where Mass Effect 3 surpasses it’s previous instalments. The new hardware also gave me a chance to play the game in 3D. 1 word, DON’T. Aiming is a bitch, shadows are flickery and some items aren’t even where they should be, for example a shinning light appears both to the left and right of where it should be. Out of interest I replayed the 2nd one in 3D to see how they compared. It turns out that Mass Effect 2 had none of these problems… Why!?

I noticed a fair number of inconsistencies and rough edges through the game. One that annoyed me the most was just how many times wire frames of one object will pass through another. Who ever was in charge of QC at Bioware for this game, I hope they were shot out of a canon into the sun, or at least got a stern telling off. Another inconsistency I noticed was with that of the whole romancing of characters. In the end I ended up having a relationship with a character that died earlier in the game. That is a big whoops if I ever saw one and no amount of bull shit is going to wash that down (e.g. “It was a memory of Shepard’s” or “She was revived through Lazarus Project 2.0”).The game can just feel rough at times, as if it could of spent a little longer in development just to sand it down to a smooth finish. Sadly though EA is not interested in quality, just numbers like $200million.

If you remember back to it’s original launch, Mass Effect 3 was getting a lot of bad press for it’s ending. A lot of harsh things were said about it. I personally wasn’t enraged by the ending like most people, I was just disappointed. The original endings did not explain what actually happens at the end. Although the extended cut adds a prologue to each ending, I feel it’s too little too late. When Bioware stated that Mass Effect 3 was going to have multiple endings I expected your choices throughout all 3 games to contribute to which ending you get. How wrong I was, turns out at the end Shepard is put into a room with 3 choices in front of him, each choice giving you a different ending. This means every decision you make throughout the game makes no difference to the ending. Talk about falling at the last hurdle.

Now for my final thought. Mass Effect 3 feels like a game that was made just to satisfy the fans. Many of the elements feel half arsed like no-one really cared whether the game was going to be good or not. As if Bioware just wanted to end the series and be done with it, thinking “Mass Effect 2 has been sitting above our heads for a while now and demands for the 3rd instalment have been increasing. Lets just get it over with, that way no-ones going to yell at us for not doing it”. Kind of like Metal Gear Solid 4… and what I’m doing now.

by Individuo

Mass Effect 2 (PC, PS3, XBOX 360)

With my new computer and copy of Mass Effect 3 still no where to be seen I continue my quest through the Mass Effect universe from start to finish. This week I find myself in the gooey middle of Shepard’s story to save the galaxy from the Reaper threat. One month after the devastating geth attack on the Citadel, the galactic community struggles to rebuild. Now the Council is forced to respond to evidence that the Reapers — enormous machines that eradicate all organic civilization every 50,000 years have returned. To quell the rumours, the Council has sent Commander Shepard and the Normandy to wipe out the last pockets of geth resistance. Officially, they blame the invasion on the geth and their leader, a rogue Spectre.
But for those who know the truth, the search for answers is just beginning…
Our story begins again aboard the Normandy, Commander Shepard is out looking for geth to kick in the teeth, but not before his ship is destroyed, Shepard is killed and his body ejected into space. Not the best way to kick start a game by killing off the lead character, but what the hell, I’ll go with it. Oh wait, it’s ok because the game is actually set 2 years later where you find yourself waking up on an operating table. It turns out you’ve been revived by a group called “Cerberus” (a group of nasty men and women who believe humanity are the master race and want to keep it that way, so basically the KKK on a galactic level). They want Shepard to gather up friends old and new and discover why human colonies have disappeared.
Gameplay has changed slightly in the new installant. Where the last game was an RPG with action elements, Mass Effect 2 is more of an Action game with RPG elements. It’s very much dumbed down compared to the original. For instants there is no where near as many skill traits to level up and the micro management of equipment is gone. Not that I miss the micro management but the scaling down of the skill traits makes Shepard seem that much more generic, like the rest of the armour clad space marine protagonists from every other game in existence. There was me thinking Shepard was different, *sigh*.
It’s not just the RPG elements that have had their corners cut, it seems when Cerberus decided to give Shepard a new ship, they refused to give him another buggy to scour planets with. I guess they were scared that Shepard was going to make fun of it again for it’s broken physics and the general ball ache it is to drive the dam thing. Normally something like that I would leave with neither a farewell or tip of the hat, but in this case removing the vehicle sections makes the game loose it’s epicness. Rather than explore a small section of terrain, you now send probes down to the planets surface to collect resources. Although boring it needs to be done if you want the best ending and weapon upgrades. Their may be more planets and systems to visit in Mass Effect 2 than the original, but you really don’t see the point of heading all the way over to the other end of the galaxy just to start probing planets you may have missed. Not only this but since Shepard’s move to Cerberus he has lost his use of the Alliance Military credit card, which Shepard must have used to pay for fuel in the last game. Cerberus, obviously has strict travel expenses rules (I guess even inter-galactic super corporations aren’t immune to the credit crunch).
With the loss of the vehicle sections and the mediocrity that is recourse probing, it means that the game-play is really only held up by that scourge of the over the shoulder action based epic which is cover based shooting. It wasn’t genre defining when Gears of War did it, so I don’t get why people are so obsessed by it. Anyway, back to the matter at hand before I tangent you all to death. The combat in Mass Effect 2 is alot easier than it’s counter part, I guess this is so Bioware can continue the feel of babies first Mass Effect, which is ironic since it’s the second instalment.
Much like everything Bioware has ever done the game is well written and presents itself well, and unlike a lot of modern games, comes out of the box with very few bugs, (Every time I mention bugs at release I have to mention my disgust for Fallout 3’s bug content so here it is) Unlike Fallout 3. Everything in Mass Effect 2 glistens to a shiny finish. It’s obvious alot of work has gone into making the game. Another move Bioware has made with Mass Effect 2 which I’ve not seen being done in a long time, is the ability to import a save from the original game into Mass Effect 2, in which the choices made in the first game can effect events of the second game. This is a very clever move by Bioware since it can force most fans of the series to own all 3 games if they want to live the whole experience. Although I can also see this being a reason for purchasing the PC or 360 version over the PS3, since the PS3 doesn’t own it’s own copy of Mass Effect, the loser.
Now for my final though, I don’t think I can decide which one of the 2 I prefer. It seems what Mass Effect got right, Mass Effect 2 got wrong and vice versa. Where as Mass Effect is more in-depth but high maintenance, Mass Effect 2 is faster paced and in your face but shallower than a toddlers paddling pool. So I guess overall I have to say they are both as good/bad as each other. Next week I will not be reviewing Mass Effect 3, even if I do eventually get my new computer I’ll still be away and not be able to play it. I might just take a couple of weeks off instead… Yeah, that seems like a good idea.
On a final note, this concludes my 20th blog review. YAY!!!
by Individuo

Mass Effect (PC, XBOX 360)

So, I’m still waiting on my computer to arrive. Meaning I’ve not got my copy of Mass Effect 3, meaning I haven’t played it, meaning I still cannot tell everyone how good it is. Although it does give me the opportunity to go back and give another look at the series humble beginnings. Commander Shepard’s rise to fame and stardom among the intergalactic elite. Let me take you back to the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time. They called it the greatest discovery in human history. The civilizations of the galaxy call it… MASS EFFECT.

In Mass Effect, to those unknown to modern computer games, you play as Commander [insert first name] Shepard, who’s gender is cause for debate, who must fight a sentient race of Artificial Intelligences so stop the rogue Spectre Saren from summoning The Reapers, a deadly race of machines designed to wipe all intelligent life from the galaxy. If you lost the plot at any point in that last sentence then this game is not for you. If that’s the case close this review, go back to playing Halo and never darken my doorstep again… Now that they are gone, the game feels like the kind of game Knights of the Old Republic would feel like if Lucas Arts weren’t there looking over Bioware’s shoulder asking “What ya doing?” every 5mins.

Speaking of the Old Republic, Mass Effect keeps up the traditions of KotoR by being very wordy. It’s great to see that the writers are doing their job properly but in places some cutting back here or there would have been preferable, to help the game flow a bit easier. Characters drivel out their life stories far too easily. In real like not even the worlds most trusting man would yap on about their life and other personal affairs as easily as most of the characters in the game. Not only that, you find a data pad or a computer screen and BOOM!!, another 6 pages of history has been added to the journal. True you don’t have to read it but it does mean some of the references made about key events outside the game can go over your head, such as the Rachni War or the Krogan Genophage. Also it means that the journal button in the Start menu keeps flashing which to any OCD suffers out their will be very annoying and will agitate you a treat. It’s not all bad mind, it just means that the history and the mythos of the Mass Effect universe is very well documented (much like the Star Wars mythos if we are still making references). It’s as if the writers created this whole universe of events and places but were too busy with the story to add it in as any kind of back story so dumped it into the game as a rule book that players can go back to when needed. This is not good story telling, making me stop every 30mins because I didn’t know of the outcome of the First Contact War. The story delivery itself may be long winded and drawn out but the story itself is very interesting and well written (and before people think I’m contradicting myself, imagine Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a very interesting piece which is well written, now imagine it being read by someone with a really bad stammer from memory, not so good story telling).

The game play of Mass Effect is where the comparisons end. Mass Effect lets you control things like shooting and aiming directly as opposed to KotoR which took the approach of click on something and wait until it dies. It submerges you into the game making you feel more like a Spectre and less like your playing a table-top game about a Spectre. That is until you go planet side and jump into the Mako, then you’re in for a treat. It’s like driving a shopping trolly where all 4 wheels are stuck in different directions… and it’s made of flubber. The smallest bump can cause you to veer in completely the wrong direction and barrel roll into the nearest crater. This really doesn’t help when the terrain of more or less represents the surface of a teenagers face, which can lead to some annoying (yet sometimes rather amusing) moments. For example, I was on the planet of Therum driving driving along, went over a slight bump which suddenly made the Mako steer violently to the left straight into a pool of Lava, Shepard dead, Critical Mission Failure, back to the ship. This wouldn’t annoy me as much if Auto Save did it’s job properly. It doesn’t save all the time. The likes of Skyrim and KotoR it saves after going through pretty much every door, Mass Effect really only auto saves when it feels like it, forcing me on many occasion to rage quit.

At first glance from the galaxy map, the game looks quite small, but when you travel to a star cluster and find that each cluster system has between 2-5 star systems and each star system has between 3-9 planets to check out, then to top it off you have moons, asteroids and the odd ship to explore, you realise that your earlier presumption to be slightly inaccurate. The game is very deep and full of content. Not only will the main story keep you entertained for a good 10+hrs but the sheer number of side-quests is mind-boggling. Even if most of them are set in the same layout buildings, just on different planets. Then on top of that there is the DLC content with additional side missions. So their is alot to keep the average gamer busy for quite a while.

Throughout the course of the games you will meet various different species and races, all of which seem to have their own personal traits and idiosyncrasies. For example the Elcor to most species seem very mono-tone and flat, this is because their emotions are displayed in slight body movements that “make a human smile seem as subtle as a fireworks display”. Because of this when talking to another species they usually define their emotive status as a prefix to what they’re saying. Another example is the Salarians, they are said to have short lifespans of about 40 or so years, this is shown by their rapid rate of speech and a kind of “rush-rush” attitude towards things. It’s these small details that make each species not just difference from human, but different from each other. Unlike many other space fairing computer games in which aliens just feel like humans in disguise.

Now for my final though, Mass Effect has become one of my favourite RPG’s to date. It sets itself aside from its western predecessors by trying to be more action based and remove the bore that usually comes with most Western RPG’s. The story and character development still feels in-depth and progresses well during the course of the game. I thoroughly recommend this game to anyone, although I do hear that the 360 version can be rather buggy at times, also the controls are more limited (you can only hot key one power in the 360 version, and you can not control your party members separately). Action gamers may get annoyed by the more RPG elements of the game and the RPG gamers may get annoyed by the more action elements of the game, but in the end it’s a game that I have jumped back to and enjoyed many times over since I first bought it. Also, once you’ve finished playing the game, keep a hold of your save. You’ll need it to continue Shepard’s story in Mass Effect 2. 

by Individuo