Mass Effect 3

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by PsychoPere, Dec 10, 2010.

  1. Saquist

    Saquist Commodore

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    From what I recently read in the Splash Cover Game Informer for ME the are going to keep the current system with tweeks. They said that the destruction of the Normandy and Shepard were a reason to make those changes and they don't want to go with a complete overall ut they did say they will be modifying this system to responds to the lack of role playing aspects that were the major criticism of ME2. Sounds like good news.

    The say they are also modifying the mineral scanning
    And not to expect the Mako hammerhead to make a full time comeback as it was in ME1.


    If you ask me Mineral scanning should be pretty darn perilous with Reaper running around.
     
  2. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Mass Effect 2 was all about role playing. What the game did not have, however, was the kind of tedious inventory micro-management that old-school CRPG fans claim they like.
     
  3. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    ^Absolutely agree, however, from what I've read they're going to be addressing the absence of what others call "role-playing elements" by adding customization options for the weapons and not a return to the tedious inventory management. As for the mineral scanning, that was only supposed to be a way of getting players to explore uncharted planets in the absence of the Mako. For ME3 they haven't locked in on how they're going to replace those mechanics, but it probably either going to be a combination of the two or something new.
     
  4. Saquist

    Saquist Commodore

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    I'm not familar with what is and isn't RPG but that would seem to fit the definition. I have to say I thought it was tedious at first but for some reason it made the game alot more replayable (along with other aspects) than ME2's upgrade system.

    I think there is something about slowly progressing, advancing your skills incrementally and seeing the effect in game play, or getting more armor choices that made it more fun. I didn't have a desire to change outfit it ME2 because there was often no need to. That's not so in ME1. I learned very quickly that the right suit could keep you alive for just long enough to win. As a result I enjoyed the different styles they had while strictly avoiding anything that said Phoenix on the box.
     
  5. Herkimer Jitty

    Herkimer Jitty Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Of course, weapons in ME1 are a completley different matter altogether. All assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and SRs act exactly the same as each other, with the main difference being in overheat capacity and stopping power. There is no CHOICE except to upgrade to a better looted weapon, or buy a rifle that's essentially the same as the current one, except with more numbers. There's no real difference in performance and behaviour.

    All you have to do to get a guaranteed win in combat is to sell the truckloads of crappy guns and armor you aren't going to use anyways to make enough money to buy Spectre gear, then equip with double Frictionless Materials.

    ME1's weapon system provides only false choices.

    ME2's weapons on the other hand, perform differently from one another - every weapon has its own rate of fire, accuracy, and unique quirks - the Avenger, Vindicator, Geth Pulse Rifle, Mattock, and Revenant are not just another assault rifle, for example. It's a narrower system with fewer numbers and items, but it provides a hell of a lot more choices for the player. What they're doing with weapons in ME3 is only going to strengthen that level of choice.

    That being said, a lot of the armor types in ME1 had much more variable stats. The ME2 armor pieces didn't do a whole ton of good for me - the most noticable equipment effects were from the Kuwashii Visor, the Off-Hand Ammo Pack and the Ordinance Pack. Then again, my main build is a soldier, and I play cautiously enough that I barely get hurt badly enough to test the limits of the N7 armor system.
     
  6. bullethead

    bullethead Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Well, the whole goal of the armor system in ME2 was to give the player the ability to build a set of armor that looked good to them, so they couldn't really have the armor pieces do too much, otherwise people would've gone for the set that has the most stat boosts.
     
  7. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    ^Indeed. Plus as I previously stated, in a shooter stats shouldn't really mean that much. There's few things as tedious as throwing about 5000 rounds downrange, but because the stats say you're character (a highly trained and seasoned combat veteran) isn't skilled enough and you might as well be shooting spit-balls for all the effect you're having. At most, even the best armour should only give you a few extra seconds of shields or health while under fire. Even in ME1 (which had a lot more under-the-hood dice rolling going on) they only really made much of a difference on the higher difficulty settings. I managed to play through the whole thing, sticking with the default N7 armour.

    ME2 got the balance just right. Enough customisation to give it your own stamp and some either/or choices for stats boosts. Only when playing on 'Insane' did I feel the need to minmax.
     
  8. T.Geiger

    T.Geiger Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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  9. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    ^I'm pretty sure the Game Informer article had Bioware saying they were very specifically not going to rely on the convenient chest high wall thing.

    Not that it bothered me much because it beat the hell out of the nearly useless cover mechanics in ME1...but I suppose that had more to do with the AI as the cover itself.

    IIRC there was also talk of diving over cover and climbing ladders in the middle of a gunfight to bring a little more strategic variety.
     
  10. 6079SmithW

    6079SmithW Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "Normal in ME 3 will be the equivalent of Veteran in ME 2."

    I don't know if this is a good thing. I get by butt kicked on normal sometimes. I hope it's not too hard. I'd like to enjoy the game.
     
  11. T.Geiger

    T.Geiger Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I was offput by the difficulty blurb also. Its not that I'll have problems on "Veteran" so much as that was always the difficulty I played on after the Insanity runthrough. So I won't be able to bump it up a notch, and Insanity will also be that much more difficult.

    It also reminds me of the awful Dragon Age, where normal difficulty was just a hair under Insanity to start with. Unless, apparently, you were playing a mage.
     
  12. Jax

    Jax Admiral Admiral

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    The real problem was the almost lock on ability of the A.I so the combat needs to be streamlined not increased. Also they should just keep the difficulty settings as they were in ME 2 and cater to a broad base it just seems odd. I have to admit Bioware seems to be changing a lot for the sake of it and maybe they should focus on what actually needs addressing.
     
  13. HotRod

    HotRod Commodore Commodore

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    I can't really say I'm too worried. By this point, atleast when it comes to Mass Effect, I have complete faith in Bioware not to screw up their perfect hat trick. This is not something I've ever been able to say about any other game studio, but god help me, I'm 100% sure Mass Effect 3 will be a game of epic proportions and likely take GOTY.
     
  14. -Brett-

    -Brett- Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I certainly hope this makes more sense in the game than it does in the article.
     
  15. T.Geiger

    T.Geiger Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Great, now we know who to blame when it sucks because YOU JUST JINXED IT!

    Maybe its a legendary rare spawn Thresher Maw that's half the size of a planet! Or maybe HotRod jinxed it so hard that the jinx traveled back in time to create Mecha-Thresher Mawzilla!
     
  16. Herkimer Jitty

    Herkimer Jitty Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Eh, you're still gonna buy it.
     
  17. HotRod

    HotRod Commodore Commodore

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    Well I'll tell ya what I'll do. If by some strange twist of fate Mass Effect 3 bombs, I will go to Edmonton and sacrifice myself to the Video Game Gods in front of the Bioware HQ. May I forever be a reminder to never jinx a game before its release date.
     
  18. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  19. HotRod

    HotRod Commodore Commodore

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    Very Nice!
     
  20. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    I think there's going to be some difference in the size of certain reapers. If you've played Arrival and let the clock tick down you get a flash of images from what looks like an early build of ME3, one of which looks like a small (and yet still colossal) reaper smashing and slicing it's way through the presidium. So that'd be about on par with a thresher maw.

    Or, on the other hand, there's this.

    All I want to know is; will they let me wander around the cargo bay this time!? I know it's seriously petty but it honestly bugged me that there was a part of the ship I could see but not explore.

    Well I wouldn't go that far, but I agree, the odds of this being crap are decidedly slim. The only thing that concerns me is what feels like a relatively short development cycle and I worry that this is something imposed by EA to cash in on the success and acclaim of ME2 while people still remember it...you know, like how Dragon Age 2 was released only three quarters done and even that with some major short-cuts.

    On the other hand, assuming they've been working on ME3 for at least a year and have as rumoured been using the DLC to prototype and test certain things they wanted to include in ME3 than perhaps it's not quite as bad as it seems.