Mass Effect 3

[Reverend]

Well that was certainly fun. They certainly fixed the problem of the battlefields being too much like shooting galleries. Several time I had to actually *think* about where I was in relation to the enemy and really work at protecting my flanks. If this was the new "normal" difficulty then they've defiantly stepping things up notch or two. It felt more like ME2's "hardcore" and in a good way. The enemy and squad AI was noticeably better and the enemies themselves were much more varied.

The new power upgrades look cool too. I've only played as a soldier so far but already I can see the drastic improvements. Not least of all 'concussive shot' has all of a sudden become *useful* and even better, it looks like a fully upgraded one would be devastating!

The weapons fell and sound a *lot* better! At one point I shot an enemy with a shotgun, at point blank range, with the cryo ammo activated, during an adrenaline rush and he *exploded* in a hail of tiny frozen pieces. My jaw. It dropped.

Nice to see more in-mission character banter; the bit between a certain Krogan and a certain Turian on the shuttle was priceless.

I do have a few (minor) complaints though. Firstly, while I do like the increased mobility, pressing 'space' to try and get out of cover tends to result in Shepard doing a jump-roll across the room. I think it's just a matter of getting used to pressing back ('s') instead to detach myself from a wall, but all that twitch muscle memory from ME2 is still pretty ingrained.

Secondly, I wasn't very happy the look of the custom faces. Like John Clark I used a facecode to recreate one of my Shepards, but unlike JC mine just looked...off. Sure the skin and hair textures look better (*especially* the hair!) but there was something odd about the proportions that made the face look somehow smaller. Also, the eyes...they have this off-putting milky plastic look to them.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, I had to adjust my custom faces to make them look right. They must have done some serious tweaks to the engine if the custom faces look so off now.

 

[ATimson]

Well that was certainly fun. They certainly fixed the problem of the battlefields being too much like shooting galleries.

They did? Funny, they felt even more constrained and linear to me than ME2 does...

If this was the new "normal" difficulty then they've defiantly stepping things up notch or two. It felt more like ME2's "hardcore" and in a good way. The enemy and squad AI was noticeably better and the enemies themselves were much more varied.

Well... I noticed that the "Veteran" difficulty was missing. I suspect that "Causal" became "Narrative", "Normal" -> "Casual", and "Veteran" -> "Normal" (with "Hardcore" and "Insanity" the same as before).

I wonder if Hardcore/Insanity will be unlocked from the go in retail? I wonder if I'm dumb enough to try them? Though coming in with a level 30 character will probably help.

I think it's just a matter of getting used to pressing back ('s') instead to detach myself from a wall, but all that twitch muscle memory from ME2 is still pretty ingrained.

I'd just argue that you ingrained yourself wrong - I always used back.

Secondly, I wasn't very happy the look of the custom faces.

I'm not sure the face codes were ever intended for use cross-game like that (especially since the 360 version doesn't expose them). I guess we'll see whether they get mucked up on import or not.

Personally, I found the opening mission a bit trite and convenient.

Spoiler: intro

The Reapers just happen to ignore the Normandy and let Shepard escape? The Reapers really are... reaping... slow enough that the other Council races could actually help rescue Earth?

Honestly, with the Reapers invaded, I think the true best bet for survival would be an exodus a la Battlestar Galactica. Link up with the Quarians, they have experience.

 

[Skywalker]

Spoiler: intro

The Reapers just happen to ignore the Normandy and let Shepard escape? The Reapers really are... reaping... slow enough that the other Council races could actually help rescue Earth?

Honestly, with the Reapers invaded, I think the true best bet for survival would be an exodus a la Battlestar Galactica. Link up with the Quarians, they have experience.

Spoiler: Intro

In ME1, Vigil said it took the Reapers centuries to destroy the Protheans. Even if it is just one planet, there are over 11 billion people on Earth. It's going to take time to...process that many people.

On another note, I thought the music was excellent. I can't wait to hear the whole soundtrack. It's too bad Jack Wall couldn't be a part of this, but it sounds like Clint Mansell has done a great job in his place.

 

[ATimson]

Spoiler: Intro

In ME1, Vigil said it took the Reapers centuries to destroy the Protheans. Even if it is just one planet, there are over 11 billion people on Earth. It's going to take time to...process that many people.

Spoiler: Intro

That's true. Though my impression is that even if they didn't actually build the Citadel and mass relays, the Protheans still had a higher tech level than humanity.

I guess it depends on how much processing they do, and how much is simply them being the vanguard of our destruction. At the Citadel Sovereign seemed to be busy with killing, not assimilating.

On another note, I thought the music was excellent. I can't wait to hear the whole soundtrack. It's too bad Jack Wall couldn't be a part of this, but it sounds like Clint Mansell has done a great job in his place.

It was good music, but I wish we'd gotten more than the one statement of older themes (that I frankly think was recycled from ME2).

 

[BigFoot]

Well that was awesome. Is it March yet?

 

[Kadratis]

I only had one minor quibble (other than Mordin's VO actor not being Michael Beatie) was that the developers have canned the original beginning of the game where Shepard stands trial for his actions before the Admiralty Board. The fact that EA demands that it should be easy to pick up without having to backtrack is really annoying.

 

[John Clark]

Secondly, I wasn't very happy the look of the custom faces. Like John Clark I used a facecode to recreate one of my Shepards, but unlike JC mine just looked...off. Sure the skin and hair textures look better (*especially* the hair!) but there was something odd about the proportions that made the face look somehow smaller. Also, the eyes...they have this off-putting milky plastic look to them.

For mine, the eyebrow colour was off (grey instead of black) but it was a minor tweak.

Spoiler: spoilers

Looks like Claudia Black was back in the first level, but not as the same character from ME2. Whether that character is also back is another question.

For the second level, good to see Wrex back, but I'd have preferred to have him by my side as I was running through the level. It was also good to have Li and Garrus back.

On the subject of Femshep:-

 

[Reverend]

Yeah I think my femShep's eyebrows looked weird too. Actually, after playing through all the different classes, trying out several of my facecodes, I've somewhat softened my opinion on this. It seems as though the CC has an odd lighting setup that makes everything look a bit strange. In-game it's not nearly as bad. Still, did anyone else notice that the various buns and ponytail hairpieces make an enormous bulge at the back of the head? Very strange.

In other news, a couple of MP gameplay videos have show up on IGN. I was never terribly interested in the MP, but this still looks pretty interesting.

 

[John Clark]

I probably won't get a chance to try the multiplayer bit til the weekend and in general, I'm not used to playing multiplayer games. I'll give it a spin though.

I have to agree with you on the hair though.

 

[backstept]

how can there be spoilers if you're actually playing it?

 

[ATimson]

It seems as though the CC has an odd lighting setup that makes everything look a bit strange.

It's tradition at this point.

 

[Reverend]

Just noticed another media release. This time it's a teaser for a trailer (yes, apparently that's a thing now.) Fully pre-rendered, with none of that cheep in-game footage nonsense. Indeed, Bioware liked it so much, they released it twice. Apparently they're trying to snag anyone who 1) isn't already aware of Mass Effect and 2) likes hordes of undead on an Earth laid waste. A sound advertising strategy if ever I saw one...which begs the question; who are these people and what have they done with EA's marketing department?

At least now we know why the femShep trailer was all in game stuff. Personally I'd foolishly hoped that that'd be the flashy pre-rendered one. Mind you, if it's anything like ME2's "fight for the lost" trailers it'll have very little to do with the actual game.

 

[Trubinator]

I wasn't too happy with the demo. The game feels too much like a shooter and not enough of an RPG. Also, introducing the game midstream without a prologue to bridge the events of ME2 and ME3, the game feels jarring story-wise ... AGAIN. I hope I'm wrong, but I feel there's a strong chance the game will suck.

 

[Reverend]

^Mate, I don't know what you were expecting, but it's just a demo of an RPG game, not an RPG in and of itself. I'm GLAD it was focused on just the new combat mechanic with only skirting references to any actual story content. This thing is meant to attract *new* players who may not have played Mass Effect--or any RPG for that matter--before. Fans of the franchise already have an idea where things are so there's no need to go over old ground. As for connecting to the end of ME2; again, it's a demo. I'm sure what we have here is a cut down version of the final product's beginning.

Next thing you'll be complaining that film trailers are too short, don't tell a complete story and have "endings" where nothing is resolved...

 

[ATimson]

As for connecting to the end of ME2; again, it's a demo. I'm sure what we have here is a cut down version of the final product's beginning.

According to the devs, the only cuts are that there will be more dialogue choices - that is, the demo basically "preselected" some of Shepard's lines. It's not going to be any longer or more in-depth.

Next thing you'll be complaining that film trailers are too short, don't tell a complete story and have "endings" where nothing is resolved...

This wasn't so much a specially crafted trailer, as "watch the first 10 minutes of the sequel!" like is sometimes seen on DVD releases (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1). Significant changes shouldn't be expected.

 

[Trubinator]

^Mate, I don't know what you were expecting, but it's just a demo of an RPG game, not an RPG in and of itself. I'm GLAD it was focused on just the new combat mechanic with only skirting references to any actual story content. This thing is meant to attract *new* players who may not have played Mass Effect--or any RPG for that matter--before. Fans of the franchise already have an idea where things are so there's no need to go over old ground. As for connecting to the end of ME2; again, it's a demo. I'm sure what we have here is a cut down version of the final product's beginning.

Next thing you'll be complaining that film trailers are too short, don't tell a complete story and have "endings" where nothing is resolved...

I understand you're excited about the game. If you don't think there's anything to worry about, that's fine. But as a fan of the original Mass Effect, I have some concerns about ME3. As this is a forum, I feel compelled to express those concerns. If you don't like it, too bad. Deal with it. Your aversion to any sort of criticism doesn't make my impressions of the demo any less valid.

Quite frankly I'm tired of people on the Internet attacking people with negative opinions about things. We ought to be able to disagree and still be civil and constructive ...

 

[Reverend]

I don't have a problem mate (and honestly, I'm not really *excited* at all) I just question the assumption on which your complaint was based. As you say, this is a discussion forum, so if you have a problem with your opinions being challenged: deal with it.

You shouldn't expect to get a feel for the action/narrative balance of an rpg from a demo. All you should get is a feel for the tone, style and some hands-on with the core gameplay mechanics. Would it have been fair to base you entire opinion of ME2 from the Lazarus Station mission? No. That'd be crazy. Likewise, this is just the prologue. As for the later mission, you'd have to be blind and slightly concussed not to see they intentionally cut out any reference to the larger story and context.

 

[ATimson]

Would it have been fair to base you entire opinion of ME2 from the Lazarus Station mission? No. That'd be crazy.

I dunno, Lazarus Station set up pretty much everything I disliked about ME2 - working for Cerberus, much smaller health pools, ammo clips...

 

[Reverend]

Would it have been fair to base you entire opinion of ME2 from the Lazarus Station mission? No. That'd be crazy.

I dunno, Lazarus Station set up pretty much everything I disliked about ME2 - working for Cerberus, much smaller health pools, ammo clips...

Fair point. I wasn't crazy about those things either, but I suppose my point is that the rest of the game made up for it in spades.

Actually, wasn't there a ME2 demo? I'm sure I've seen one on Steam but I never bothered to play it. I'd be interested to know what part of the game they chose to use and how (if at all) it differed from the full game.

And hey, it's not like I'm perfectly happy with the ME3 demo either. The cover/jumpy-rolly system is driving me nuts! That plus it appears the heavy melee only work from cover if the enemy happens to be standing on the other side of said cover. At one point I had a trooper sneak up behind me and when I turned to face him and hit the melee button, nothing happened and I got shotgunned in the face because I was still "attached" to the bloody wall! So I hit space and Shepard dived across to a different wall (still in the line of fire) and got *another* hit. Thankfully at that point Liara saved me with a singularity and I was able to disentangle myself, but it rather soured the experience.