Coboney said:
Wow - this sounds great RK! Looking forward to it!
How many Awesome buttons are there?
Coboney, you have no fucking idea, man! I'm so excited about this update! Let's get it!
Oh, this preview copy only comes with the Soldier class, don't worry, Ray Muzyka assured biotics will be there, as well as Technician etc. But who cares, Commander Shepard is a soldier, amirite?
Just look at the clean interface, gone are the ugly HUD when you pick your quick skills to use. The energy clearly shown on bottom right (I assume it's for shield) and no visible health bar. That's right, wounds are merely indicated by how bloody your screen gets! Immersive!
Wow, they really stripped out all the unnecessary RPG stats. But I wonder if that's all there, to it. I felt a bit down, but Riccitelo sent me a mail to play further iin, there's a surprise waiting for me. I LOVE surprises!
Oh, look, a dead guy!
Awww.
Nice models. I like that they made the gun look more earth-like and realistic. I hate those thermal clip shit. Definitely an incline of extreme proportion with no glowy parts. Black matte finish is stealthy and cool. Always.
Oooh. Ooh. Time to experience Bioware's famous award winning game movie!
Huh, that's me, right? Or is that?
Oh, god..he sounds so familiar...
Could it be?!
Shepard?!
Wait, what?!
NO!
Shepard! OH GOD. I can't believe this! They imported Shepard from my previous game...and killed him off in the first 5 mins!? EXTREME! I can see why they brought David Gaider on board. He was really good at Dragon Age 2 tale of tragedies, the protagonist Hawke really went through a lot of shit in that game, and he really brought grim-darkness and daring twist to the story. That's right guys, Shepard is dead. You're now Alcatraz.
Fuck. Time for action!
Much like the usual elbow strike that Shepard used to get in ME2, we can melee as well with the V key.
Ah, a classic radio transmission communication. Bioware really knew how to tell a story. I've transcribed the radio chat for posterity.
Voice 1: Couple live ones too, I think.
V2: Right bring them up.
V1: Looks like...Marine Special Ops or something. Yeah, Force Recon flashes.
V2: Then they're in this. Get them stabilized and find out what they know. Lockhard wants this piece of shit bad.
Oh. I don't know what to make of it, who are these guys? Are they Cerberus? And the marines must be those guys in the subs. But Bioware clearly knew how to write a good story, and what better story is there than to answer the player's questions right after it's asked?
A nearby laptop records provide some background story.
Female: We're at fifth day now, and we've still made virtually no progress in halting the spread of infection in victims of the Manhattan virus. Anti-virals have some temporary effect, most notably Tramarovax and its generic rivals, but ultimately the process always resumes. In the end, we can do nothing but watch these people die. And our situation has not been helped by heavy-handed policing from...
Male: Akhila, I really don't think you want to get political right now -
Female: No, Jeff - they need to know. I want to go on record hero. The CELL martial law crackdown has been brutal and disastrous from its inception.
Male: Big surprise.
Female: These PMC goons have done nothing but spread panic and get in our way from day one. They clearly aren't up for the job and their brutality has only increased as the situation worsens. And now with the whole island now sealed off at Commander Lockhart's orders...
Male: Hey - you can't just - Akhila!
Female: What the hell you think you're doing -
Angry voice: Get out of the way, doc. This is for your own good.
Fuck these guys. They must be behind this Reaper invasion somehow!
The next transmission confirmed my worst fears.
They really killed Shepard?
No time for sorrows. Let's demonstrate the power jump! Remember last time when Shepard had to activate some drawbridges to get a gap like this?
No more! And that's not just it!
Fucking ledge climbing, man! We pushed a door to head outside.
Holy shit.
It's...beautiful.
Fucking A, I knew ME 2 Illium was something, but this is on another level altogether!
The suit overrides my commands, as the next batch of tutorial section come into play.
Looks like the visor mode is used to highlight targets of opportunities as well as resources plus objectives in the battlefield. Pretty neat concept. Hitting the F key while looking over a target will pin it on the mini-map and keeps it visible, allowing you to avoid patrols and dispatch them easily.
The visor mode will also highlight possible tactical options. A neat concept. You can ignore it altogether and go with guns blazing, but it's obvious Mass Effect 3 will be a thinking man's shooter RPG.
Looks like control is back to me! I make my way down to the ammo box and got spotted. Quickly, I switched the ammo clip on my pistol.
It's party time! I know a lot of people would hate the First Person perspective, but they need to realize this is what Mass Effect is meant to be. Accuracy, immersion is not sacrificed as Shep-err...Alcatraz battles in his powerful nanosuits on the streets.
Here's on of the example: move quickly, and motion blur will get in the way of aiming your shots. Marvelous concept that works well! Fluid and streamlined, yet completely visceral and satisfying.
Then I realized what happened to all those wonderful cover system that Mass Effect is so famous for? A wonderful feature which allows tactical engagements to unfold over a series of tense shield recharges and power cooldowns? Is it totally gone? Is Alcatraz limited to just crouching behind cover and then standing up?
No, sir. It's still in. Crouch behind a cover. Then you get this mouse command on trigger. WONDERFUL!
Hold Mouse Button 2 and pop out to take a shot. Fucking A. This is how ME series should've been done from the start. Nothing was lost. And the aiming down sights felt more lifelike than over the shoulder cams provide. But then I realized, there's something I could do in the intro to the last guy! I dashed up to the last man and hit the F key...
FUCK YES!
THIS. Is what made Mass Effect the best series ever! It consumes energy when you grab someone but fucking hell, collar grabbing and tossing them to the ocean felt good.
Remember missing out on that credit chit, thermal clip, or even a weapon upgrade cause you never bothered to check the corners in ME2? No more of tha! Activate visor mode here to scan the battlefield and take stock of possible loots and ammo you can salvage! Triple AAA feature right there.
This is our first rifle in the game. So excited.
Different handling, bigger clip size, with more damage than the pistol. Full auto. Awesome.
I'd update more, but I'm gonna take a short break here and hopefully you're looking forward to Mass Effect 3 as I am. Guaranteed the Target Game of the Year 2012!