X360 - New Mass effect Screenshots

[Zefah]

I'm loving this game, but it definitely has its faults.
I'm currently around 19 hours into it at lvl 33. I've only done two of the three planets that become available after the first trip to the citadel.

The coolest things about the game are its intriguing world and how your decisions really affect the flow of the story. I really like how the dialogue works and there have been some really tough choices that made me think for a few minutes.

The graphics are great in general, but texture loading problems and choppiness can hurt the game in some areas. I don't mind it in general, but it seems to get on some people's nerves big time. I like how the character models look, but the complete lack of variety in weapons and equipment is kind of lame as well (I'm getting "rank" VIII loot, but the "brands" of the items and weapons all stay the same).

I played a Vanguard and the combat in the game took me about 10 hours to get used to. It was really confusing and frustrating at first. It felt like the game was designed around giving the player complete control (such as dynamic switching of characters, the ability to pause the game and strategically give commands, etc...), but such abilities just didn't make it into the release build. I have since gotten used to the command system and I am enjoying it now, but it is still hard to get a grasp on how much damage certain attacks do and its really frustrating to get one-shot killed by a rocket.

I love doing the sidequests, but it feels like they copy+pasted a lot of the missions and just changed the story a bit. It seems like every mission that isn't part of the main story recycles the exact same facility and enemy placement. The surfaces of optional planets seem to be largely the same too with just a slightly different visual appearance.

The game is a ton of fun, but there are a lot of problems that keep it from being great. I'm having a blast playing it, and its already become one of my favorite western RPGs, but it seems like if Bioware had just another 6 months or so to work on the game it could have been something legendary. In its current state its just a really good game with some annoying problems that will probably turn a lot of people off.

I would look forward to the inevitable sequels, but with Bioware now being the property of EA, it is doubtful they will get the time they need to polish further installments of the series.

[Coren]

Originally Posted by Zefah

The game is a ton of fun, but there are a lot of problems that keep it from being great. I'm having a blast playing it, and its already become one of my favorite western RPGs, but it seems like if Bioware had just another 6 months or so to work on the game it could have been something legendary. In its current state its just a really good game with some annoying problems that will probably turn a lot of people off.

Not to try and hate on the 360, but my real feeling is pretty close to what Penny-Arcade wrote in one of their Mass Effect nitpit articles - I don't think it was so much Bioware being time constrained, as it was being constrainged by trying to cram so much into a single DVD, with having no standard hard drive to save info on/cache from.

And if that's the case, with what we're hearing about the sequal taking into account the decisions from the first game...I just don't know how they'd be able to work that out with the 360's limitations.

[Sean]

Imo trying to force a single DVD is a mistake. There is no reason for an RPG to shy away from multiple discs. I also really don't think this was an issue.

DVD was part of the problem, but it's not the size - it's the streaming they try to do with the engine they use. Really, it's time to put in the option to do HDD installs for X360 games. Mass Effect could have easily had that option and would have been a far better game for it. It can be coded to be optional - it doesn't have to be one way or the other.

[Zefah]

I definitely agree that Xbox 360 games really need to start supporting the hard drive. I am annoyed that Microsoft continues to sell a SKU without a hard drive too.

I read somewhere that Mass Effect doesn't even use the cache at all and that a lot of its problems stem from that. I agree that trying to force it onto a single DVD was pretty stupid as well. They could have just as easily split the game into two discs and it wouldn't be a problem.

[Zerai]

The problem with multiple disks in a game like this is the lack of linearity. What do you put on what worlds? Swapping disks fucking sucks. Period. Something like blue dragon you can do it because it's mostly linear. But Mass Effect? On my map is like 20 systems, what will be on disk 1 and what on disk 2? Having to swap every other minute because I wanted to go back to some other world because the first time I hit it my electronics wasn't high enough to get some stuff and so on would blow.

However supporting the HD I fully desire.

[Zefah]

Well certain planets become inaccessible after you complete them, and the game is linear (although open ended within its linearity) so they could split it up that way. I'm sure there are plenty of ways they could have split up the story portions without sacrificing the ability to participate in side quests at any time the player wants. The only reason Blue Dragon was multi-disc was because it had so many pre-rendered movies. You could go pretty much anywhere in the world including old areas once you were on disc 3 without having to swap discs again.

[Rezz]

Hrm, it's pretty easy, you simply have have one disk with all the optional content and citadel. Then you have another with Noveria, Virmire, Feros and what not. Yeah it'd be annoying, but it's a way around the non-linear issue.

That said, HDD option thx.

[Soriak]

I noticed that elevators take a lot longer than the shuttle-thing in the Citadel to zone. It also stops loading when you mess around in the menus - can't even read the journal and such during the ride

Still the best game I've ever played so far - only got it today and I'm still in the Citadel. Definitely going to have to play it again when I'm done. I have as many points in charm as I can get, but there are still some dialog options grayed out in the main story.

I do wonder if Vanguards are a little weak though, not impressed with my bionic powers at all. Probably should have picked a soldier =/

btw: surprised nobody mentioned that the strippers in the club show their nipples No outrage and no AO rating, I'm impressed!

[Blank]

Originally Posted by Soriak

Still the best game I've ever played so far - only got it today and I'm still in the Citadel. Definitely going to have to play it again when I'm done. I have as many points in charm as I can get, but there are still some dialog options grayed out in the main story.

Charm has more levels. You won't unlock them until a tad later though.

[The Noble Savage]

Absolutely love the game.

I do have some beefs though. And they're not the ones most people seem to dislike. Here:

* All Knowing AI: Once you initiate combat the AI knows where you are all the time plus they never miss. This creates some really stupid situations where you are so far away from an enemy that even zoomed in with a sniper rifle you can't see them, yet you're getting blasted by pistol fire?!

*Sniper Rifle: Most combat scenarios are pretty close quarters making the sniper rifle all but useless. It works in the large open map areas, but once you make that initial shot the all knowing AI just bombards your location with pistols and rockets. Would of been easier to go in with the rifle or shotgun.

* Teammate Controls: Why can't I tell individual team members to go to differnt locations? I got the pre-order and watched a trailer and the developer sent his squad mates to two separate locations, but if it's in the game I can't figure out how. I want to be able to tell just Wrex to charge, not Wrex + Liara.


That's pretty much my three only problems with it, which are insignificant. The textures didn't bother me at all. The game is superb. Combat is engrossing and fun. Voice acting superb, gorgeous graphics, great story etc. etc. Right now, my first play through, I'm playing on Veteran difficulty. I plan to play through at least 4 more times to unlock all the achievements i.e. renegade and all the skill use achievements.

[Soygen]

My complaints are pretty much identical, Noble. As an infiltrator, I definitely feel the total waste that the sniper rifle is with the small rooms and "all knowing AI". I'm loving the game, but as an avid gamer, I have to find the faults.

[Sean]

You're not very good at using the Sniper Rifle if you feel that it is a total waste.

12/12 in Sniper points and I'm certainly glad I took it.

[darksensei]

If you're thourough you get so many points that it is easy to level up 2 different weapon types. Great game, the biggest gripe is the textures. Really annoying near the end seeing low resolution textures in the movies.

[Zaniel]

Originally Posted by Soygen

My complaints are pretty much identical, Noble. As an infiltrator, I definitely feel the total waste that the sniper rifle is with the small rooms and "all knowing AI". I'm loving the game, but as an avid gamer, I have to find the faults.

Once you get a slightly better sniper weapon and some points in the skill and put on some stabilisation mods the sniper rifle becomes a seriously uber weapon. It doesn't kick around anywhere as much as at the start. You can kill Geth Armatures with it and one shot almost everything else if you're using the right ammo.

I played Infiltrator and I thought in the early parts that I had gimped myself due to the weapon choices but then I discovered maxxed out tech skills and all was well. I think all the classes are powerful, though pure biotics suffer from the problem of being shut down, they make up for it through mad destruction once they get going. Tech skills certainly helps with the money, being able to unlock every container from the start onwards.

[Blank]

I ended my first playthrough with 9,999,999 money as an engineer... I was maxed out by the 3rd planet IIRC.