Review On the 2nd day of Christmas, I got Mass Effect

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Mass Effect

Rock Paper Shotgun (which incidentally begs the question, which one beats the Shotgun?) have gotten into the Christmas spirit and are doing that whole twelve days of Christmas stuff. <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/12/04/the-12-games-of-christmas-day-2/">Day 2 is Mass Effect</a>:
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<blockquote>The combat was an interesting departure for Bioware, almost getting into a third-person action place, which of course gave me cause to worry it wouldn’t be delivering what I want from their RPGs: big old conversations with my companions, and on-the-spot ethical dilemmas. But of course they were there in force. (And often as daft as usual). And I came to quite enjoy the fights, and most of all, bouncing around planets in that spacecar.
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So while you were always pursuing rogue Spectre, Saren Arterius, and attempting to fathom the mystery of the Geth, the real story was one that had happened in the past. An elaborate recent history of the colonisation of space, and the Human’s latter involvement, as well as a far greater story that’s only hinted at throughout, about the very nature of conscious existence in the galaxies. These levels of magnification mean that Shepherd’s story, while of course vital the continued survival of almost every species, seems almost quite minor. But it’s still your story, and I think the role you play only feels more meaningful for its being set within the larger framework.</blockquote>
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Personally, I did intend to get Mass Effect at some point during this year. Might as well get it next year now. Maybe for Easter.
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Also Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPGWatch</a>

 

[hiver]

I have no idea where did they manage to find that history of human colonization or any kind of larger framework or especially "dilemma about very nature of consciousness in the galaxy"

Thats a lie, there isnt any if that in a game. that guy just has a vivid imagination and he invented what isnt in the game at all.

The nature of the consciousness in the galaxy is that AIs just hate organics and organics hate AIs and think of them as some big scary monsters. Both sides just destroy each other and that's it!. There is nothing more there!


Its also a lie that you bounce with your car over the "universe" or "space". You just get to "same map" in different color and you can visit a few spot on it with always the same thing to to. Shoot some geth or shoot some humans.
Its shit.

You have four worlds to visit to "unlock" the end. And the rest of the universe a copy of the same thing without any meaning or variation. Drive the mako, shoot geth, collect stupid medals or some guns.

These levels of magnification mean that Shepherd’s story, while of course vital the continued survival of almost every species, seems almost quite minor.

This is a pure fucking lie.
Complete invention out of the thin air.
There is nothing to do or investigate besides Shepperd story.
And that can be shortened into one sentence: AIs are EVIL lets kill them!

I wouldnt buy this game even if somebody would give me money for it.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

It's okay to imagine things but in that case it should also be okay for me to hit the fucker with a stick with Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay (resurrected because of the special occasion) playing in the background.

So anyway; when is MY poorly written, overly negative, The Clash referencing review gonna be posted? Not that I'm in a hurry or anything, I just came to think about it just now.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Get Mass Effect.

 

[Trash]

Get FO3. It's way better.

 

[Konjad]

Get FO3. It's way better.

Nice joke.

 

[doctor_kaz]

FO3 is indeed, better, from what little I have played of it. That isn't saying much though as Mass Effect's combat is basically broken. Both games are guilty of excessive use of procedural content generation and copy-and-paste so that's kind of a wash.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Now that I think about it, though; don't get any of them. Seriously. I will find you and beat you to death with a hammer.

 

[made]

Incidently, I finally decided to give the game a try the other day. It didn't disgust me with infantile dialogue right from the start so that's a good sign at least.

 

[MetalCraze]

Should I get Mass Effect or FO3?

None. They are both shit. Hopefully you don't need explanations. Save money for something useful instead.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Should I get Mass Effect or FO3?

Mass effect. if you're going to get an action rpg with guns you might as well get one that hasn't completely half-assed its combat.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Should I get Mass Effect or FO3?

Mass effect. if you're going to get an action rpg with guns you might as well get one that hasn't completely half-assed its combat.

This. Mass Effect actually has mildly enjoyable combat, which is good, seeing as it's what you do most of the time. Fallout 3 has shit combat, and you're swamped in it. Just resist any OCD you might have to do everything, and Mass Effect will be pretty enjoyable.

 

[hiver]

Yeah, combat at least its somewhat enjoyable unlike F3.

 

[fastpunk]

Indeed, ME's combat is quite enjoyable. It's certainly not broken. The gameworld is quite alright, despite the cliches. There's a lot of lore which you can access via the galactic codex. Plus, dialogs in ME seem to be miles better than FO3, both in terms of presentation and of writing quality; you need only look at screenshots and read some impressions to see how retarded FO3 is from this point of view. I'd say get Mass Effect. Just don't get caught up in the side-quests because they really water down the experience. Stick to the main quest and you'll be fine.

 

[ricolikesrice]

both games are rather different, so no clue whats up with the retarded comparisions.

what they have in common is that they re both not great but enjoyable games, that would deserve ratings around 7/10 not the 9/10 the mainstream is throwing around or the under 5/10 s the "i want to fit in at rpgcodex" crowd is giving.

and yeah, mass effect and drakensang are the only (mainstream) cRPGs released in the last 5 years that had remotely good (though not great) combat instead of the shit you have to face in witcher, FO3, NWN2 & co.

FO3 is pretty much morrowind with guns, whether thats good or bad depends on whether you liked morrowind or not. i think for an exploration focused RPG its quite good and while the combat sucks.... being able to tackle many of the quests in different ways and having a halfway acceptable stealth system imho made up for it. the main strenght just like morrowind is some really good art design and plenty of interesting locations. sure, there s is some generic copypasta stuff, but its nowhere near as bad as in Oblivion, SoZ or MEs galaxy map sidequest locations.

 

[doctor_kaz]

I don't see how people can say that Mass Effect's combat is even remotely decent. It's fucking terrible. It's 3rd person and cover-based, but there's no cover button. It's squad-based but the squadmate AI is not even remotely functional. The only thing cool about it is the biotic powers.

 

[hiver]

I said its barely enjoyable.

And the biotic powers were just meh.

 

[shihonage]

Mass Effect isn't monochrome, and it is generally technologically superior to FO3.

Plus, it doesn't have the image of the Vault Boy riding a goat.

 

[poocolator]

...FO3 is pretty much morrowind with guns...

It's worse-- it's Oblivion with guns.
IMO if it were Morrowind with guns it would be far, far more entertaining, but still not fallout

 

[Vibalist]

and yeah, mass effect and drakensang are the only (mainstream) cRPGs released in the last 5 years that had remotely good (though not great) combat instead of the shit you have to face in witcher, FO3, NWN2 & co.

Why the Witcher? What's wrong with its combat?

 

[doctor_kaz]

Mass Effect isn't monochrome, and it is generally technologically superior to FO3.

It's only better in a few ways. Fallout 3's environments are bigger, much better realized, and far less empty. And the huge open spaces that actually have stuff in them are a big plus. No matter how crappy Bethesda's writing is or how guilty they are of shortcuts and copy-and-paste, the MFers know how to make a technologically impressive game. Oblivion was a masterpiece in this regard.

 

[Volourn]

ME is awesome. FO3 is shitty.

 

[DefJam101]

They both have terrible combat. It's just that Mass Effect's world is enjoyable (if you're into the whole b movie action spoof thing) where as FO3's world is frustrating. I'd say ME is worth 20 bucks, definitely not 50. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game. It's just not a very dense game.

 

[DefJam101]

No matter how crappy Bethesda's writing is or how guilty they are of shortcuts and copy-and-paste, the MFers know how to make a technologically impressive game. Oblivion was a masterpiece in this regard.

Oblivion had some of the worst character animations in 3D history. The texture quality was absolutely pathetic, the randomly generated content (see: everything) was half-assed at best. The way they handled water was nothing short of embarrassing. The game was pitifully optimized and they used the 'highly advanced garfix' as an excuse, as if that means shit. The game wasn't advanced at all, more impressive shaders, textures, and environments had already been seen in games and ran at a much better clip than Oblivion did. Bottom line, the game engine is poorly designed and the content is equally uninspired. Everything feels like a wax doll approximation of how an actual next-gen game ought to appear.

Oblivion is not technically advanced nor did it have effective art design to compensate.

 

[Volourn]

"The whole pre-generated character thing is a put off though."

No more pregenerated than most RPGs. You choose the gender, first name, class, skills, power, HISTORY/BACKGROUND, etc.

Only things 'forced' on you is that you 'arein the army', you are human, and your last name. *shruG*

 

[Melcar]

No. You get to chose most of the usual shit. Like in all make pretend RPGs. Not that it matters though. Very little replay value.