Mass Effect

[Karimi]

Looking back at the game I still feel like its very bipolar, some really terrific parts and some horribly awful parts.

[DanJW]

I played a few hours of the game on Spaff's 360 before Christmas, up to the final seection of Novaria, and I had a great time. I can see the flaws though; the mako really is horrible, and the combat is a bit awkward. However I was still getting used to the fighting and it felt that it might take off once I got the hang of it. Maybe it doesn;t. That would be a shame.

I was playing as a soldier and I think the game is suited to that. Spaff played as an adept, and the magic system is pretty weak so he hated it. In fact I think the classes are very undefined. I guess since abandoning the D&D model things like classes will take Bioware a little while to figure out for themselves.

But the dialogue, oh man I fell in love with the dialogue. Best conversation system ever. I was playing pretty much rogue (with Frau Shepherd, the nazi goth bitch from outer space), and the intimidate were always fun. But then I'm a Bioware fanboy so mountains of good voice acting are something of a wet-dream for me rather than the slog it might be for other people.

All in all, I was hooked on the game, and since I don't have it I had to resort to replaying KotOR to get my space RPG fix. I look forward to playing the game for real.

[Nachimir]

I got used to the Mako really quickly, though I can see why Ben Croshaw described it as handling like a fat man on a unicycle. In addition to the horrible way it drives, he way the turret works is very like the vehicles from UT2004 - very annoying when you can point the crosshair at something but the turret shoots high because of the way the vehicle is oriented on the terrain. Weak.

I played through as an infiltrator because I knew that would suit me through and through - that said the class doesn't exactly involve much stealth, just evil weapons that can pop enemies quite easily. A magic user is great to have as a squadmate because of the way they'll take a strong enemy and neutralise them by pitching them into the air (Singularity is good fun too - it will turn a group of enemies into sitting ducks). Infiltrator with upgraded sniper rifle and pistol (skills and hardware + weapon upgrades) means you can dismantle pretty much anything at all ranges; worth getting sniper rifles skill full because it completely gets rid of the movement when you're using the scope.

Ashley and Liara seem to be the best squadmates, because respectively they have the highest ratings for gun combat and magic. There are a bunch of all rounders on offer, but they all seem a bit meh in comparison to pure specialists (i.e. Liara and Ashley would survive most confrontations and come out still fighting, but Garrus and Tali, for instance, would drop like flies at the merest whiff of combat, even at the end of the game).

[DanJW]

I was playing with Garrus and Wrex, which as well as having the most amusing characters seemed to flesh out my squad while still keeping a combat focus. But yes, Garrus did die too easily.

I think you might have picked right with infiltrator. If I wasn't playing soldier I'd go with that. But as I said before most of the classes don't seem to know what they are, and the support classes are a bit rubbish for the main character, since you can all the benefits from companions.

[n0wak]

I also went with Garrus and Wrex and as an Infiltrator. I liked the combination because I'd use the Sniper Rifles, Garrus would focus on Assault Rifles, and Wrex would decimate with the Shotgun. It was a nice mix of close/mid/long range attacks. Wrex was my favourite character. His Krogan Battlemaster class regenerates health pretty quickly, has some nice "magic" attacks, is strong and generally has good shields. Garrus did die too often early on but with the right armour and upgrades (focusing on health regen) I found him quite effective. Especially after getting "Unity".

Unfortunately since I used Liara for the one mission where I thought it would be important to use her, I never did get the achievement for having Garrus with me for most of the game

[Noyb]

This game is so conflicting. Basically, Nachmir echoed most of my thoughts. I love the story and dialog, find the combat acceptable, but absolutely hate the inventory UI.

The whole inventory system is absolutely terrible. It limits you to just 150 items total, including weapons, armor, and UPGRADES. You automatically pick up items from enemies you kill, so you reach that limit quickly and frequently in the game. Now, items harvested from enemies are in a sort of limbo before they go into your inventory, a menu you must navigate *before* you are able to do anything with your current items. If those limbo items push you over the tiny limit, then you must permanently destroy however many of the new, valuable items to drop you under the limit instead of being given the chance to dismantle your older, less valuable items.

The other way to get rid of items is to sell them in the shop, but the shop UI is even worse. You can only sort items in one way: price, ascending. So you don't have any sort of sense of how many, say, shotguns you have, or whether you already have a better version of that regeneration upgrade without scrolling through the entire list. And the scrolling is slow, because the game decided to dedicate a quarter of the screen space to a 3d model of the BOX the item comes in, which must be loaded for each item. And, hell, they don't even have a confirmation prompt for buying or selling items, forcing you to sell or rebuy mistakes at a loss. Terrible, terrible, absolutely terrible.

All said, though, I would still be interested in another game in that world.

[DanJW]

All said, though, I would still be interested in another game in that world.

Heh, you're in luck then, because it's first in a trilogy.

As for the inventory... yeah it's pretty bad. Another thing that Bioware are still working on I guess; an inventory system that works well on console. The typical drag-and-drop backpack just isn't feasible. Is there any console RPG that has had a decent inventory?

[eljay]

To be honest it doesn't seem like they've put any work into it so far.

It would be astoundingly easy to do the following: stackable items, various sorting options, the ability to sell them in bulk, etc, etc.

Bioware clearly just didn't try, and I think they are crazy for that as their inventory is mind bogglingly terrible.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yeah, while I do love the game, story and interface, the inventory/equip system is very poorly made. The action is pretty boring, too (prefer the turned based system from KOTOR) but it's not too bad. I've said it before, but it desperately needs some attention in terms of graphical touches... The "amazing" Citadel feels bare and half-finished in a lot of places, but again, I can live with it. (Can't wait for the inevitable "Lost Chapters/Special Edition" where they actually finish it, though!)

But in all, the worse part is the poorly designed inventory system. It's amazingly old fashioned and unfriendly, but also quite important for the gameplay.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, piss poor.

I ended up just equipping each squad member with the best equipment only for the things they were skilled at + an upgrade effective against geth, keeping some anti-organic ammo about too, then selling pretty much everything else.

The only saving grace is the red and green colour change on stat bars allowing easy comparisons - sometimes lower numbered weapons are much better than higher numbered variants of different models (IIRC there was an VIII pistol I found that was still better than most of the X ones, likewise with armour).

[DanJW]

Oh. My. God. I wasn't going to post this first article, because it's been reported in plenty of other places. So has the second article in fact. But I just can't not post the links here, in case some of you haven't seen them yet. And in case you need your life spoiled. Seriously, this has just scored a +10 crit against my hope for the human race, and most certainly for journalism.

First unbelievable article, from Cybercast.

Second unbelievable article, from Townhall.

[Kester]

Oh. My. God. I wasn't going to post this first article, because it's been reported in plenty of other places. So has the second article in fact. But I just can't not post the links here, in case some of you haven't seen them yet. And in case you need your life spoiled. Seriously, this has just scored a +10 crit against my hope for the human race, and most certainly for journalism.

First unbelievable article, from Cybercast.

Second unbelievable article, from Townhall.

Haha, that second guy clearly played Mass Effect: Zapp Brannigan Edition.

[twmac]

Bladestorm's inventory system is pretty simple, it breaks equipment down into sections for each type of armour and weapon and you can scroll through them using the bumpers.

It also has the stats for what you have equipped and how the item will change the character's performance if you decide to equip that instead (it also doens't allow you to sell stuff you have equipped). I don't know how complex Mass Effect's stats stuff is but that might work as I found the whole thing very intuitive.

As for the articles thanks Dan for the link for the first one I hadn't had a chance to laugh at that yet. I feel like I'm missing out now and should just buy the game to annoy the right wing plonkers who write stuff like that.

[Wrestlevania]

Desperate Political Writer: "I have an angle, I have an angle... and it's video games!"

[Nachimir]

I can pratically feel the first author's hot, wet, pulsing dignity struggling to get out of his trousers.

It's also an especially nice counterpoint that the second site has ads beside the article, which use busty blondes to sell tight t-shirts with conservative slogans on them

and I really like the part where he switches to the journo technique known as "outright making shit up":

And because of the digital chip age in which we live - "Mass Effect" can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however, the game player wishes.

With it's "over the net" capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away.

It's a kiss and a bare bum! Outside of marrage! Gay! Tape up your children's bottoms and barricade the door!

Here's hoping that as the next President will be forced to deal with this continual emerging reality - and enemy that has set its site to our destruction from within - that we will have elected a man of such character that he will have precision in the clarity of his response.

I guess that's a vote for Clinton then

[miffy495]

"Mass Effect" can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however, the game player wishes.

That's too good to not turn into a signature. Thanks for digging that one up.

[Wrestlevania]

Agreed; QotM update please, powers that be.

-~-~-~-

Update: A colleague finished the game yesterday and has very kindly lent me his copy this morning, insisting I at least give it a try. Hoping to like it, but not expecting the earth to move.

[DanJW]

Ahhg, the guy from the second article posted a follow-up, in the wake of all the email he has received. He has taken the kind of stance that makes it clear he is completely uninterested in re-examining his claims. He calls everyone "gamer-nerds" and says, basically, "I am right, you are all degenerate nerds, so nyer". Rather than write to him, I think I'm going to email a complaint to his employers.

In other news I played some more of the game on Spaff's 360 and I'm about 11 hours in. The fluff-combat has got easier, but dammit I still find the boss battles next to impossible. I think it's the more fast-moving enemies - enemies that stay behind cover I can deal with, but if they run around lots then I can't track them with my sights (oh for a mouse and keyboard!).

Basically, it's very harsh about mistakes. If I don't get in imprenetrable cover within 2 seconds of combat starting, I'm dead. If I get hit by any biotic power, I'm dead. there's no margin for error. Gah!

[Nachimir]

Enemy biotics are really annoying, and one of the reasons I found I needed one on my team. I had to repeat a few boss battles and rely heavily on abilities to get them right, and they were mostly made manageable by a team member using the throw and singularity powers to turn enemies into flying, helpless pistol targets.

I found early in the game it was also worth just carving through a few side missions to level up and do more damage, though I'm under the impression the bosses scale with the player.

[Noyb]

Basically, it's very harsh about mistakes. If I don't get in imprenetrable cover within 2 seconds of combat starting, I'm dead. If I get hit by any biotic power, I'm dead. there's no margin for error. Gah!

Yeah, if you know you're going to be fighting against a biotic, you really need to have someone on your team with the damping power. It disables the enemies biotic powers, which means no more being thrown to the floor at the beginning of the battle leaving you absolutely helpless while all the enemies proceed to aim directly for you.

[DanJW]

Yeah I know that, and I used Garrus to do that. In fights with multiple biotics I seem to be screwed though - which is what is happening in my fight with Benezia.

[eljay]

I think you might be misunderstanding what is happening in the fight with benezia, her biotics are absolutely killer but if you go to the opposite side of the room to her she can't hit you and you will have a much easier time of it (take out three waves of guards then beat the snot out of her).

I think you want to head right immediately to get to the location I'm talking about.

[DanJW]

yeah I eventually managed to beat the various waves, and had the mid-way conversation with her. Then the second part of the battle happened, with no save point, and I immediately died. By that point I was too tired to continue. I'll try again next time i get a chance to play it.

[eljay]

The conversation is a checkpoint....

and for that part you needn't be tactical just shoot her non stop in the face.

[DanJW]

well, it didn't check the point for me. I think I might have died because one of those explosive barrels wossnames was still intact right behind me. She warped me and set it off. Then when I hit continue it went back to the beginning, and Icouldn't face it again straight away.