The Mass Effect Thread

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Asher
This makes no sense. The issues will be fixed on the 360 via patches if they're fixed on the PC port (which is probably at least a year a way, if at all, due to an exclusivity agreement).

Not necessarily. They could make some significant (though minor) change to the inventory system and see no reason to patch the consoles since it's not actually broken there, just suboptimal.

[Kuciwalker]

The sniper rifle is ridiculously good in this game. I'm going to have to deliberately avoid using it in my next playthrough... (too late to do that now, my character's skill set is pretty much build around it).

[DrSpike]

Next playthrough? I guess you are enjoying it then.

[flash9286]

It is a great game, once you get used to the combat. What class are you Kuci?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
The sniper rifle is ridiculously good in this game. I'm going to have to deliberately avoid using it in my next playthrough... (too late to do that now, my character's skill set is pretty much build around it).

There's an achievement for 150 kills with it, IIRC.

I think the game is fantastic. I'm ~8 hours into it and I'm enjoying it. I usually hate story in games (as I've posted here before), but the depth of the story in Mass Effect is there and it's genuinely very interesting. I love the ideas behind some of the races in this game.

I was expecting a buggy game due to some reviews mention bugginess, but it's been excellent for me so far. This game also features the best character models, by far, I've seen in any game. And I think that's a huge part of the experience, the graphical fidelity and immersiveness.

I quite enjoy the combat. It's very Gears of War-esque, which I like.

[Kuciwalker]

I stayed up until 7:30 this morning playing. I only stopped because my dad came downstairs and was very surprised I was still awake. This game is very immersive.

I have not seen any bugginess either. I have seen the texture pop-ins, but they aren't too bad. And the framerate has only ever gone bad during one cutscene.

Character models: yes, these are fantastic, even (especially?) the ones you can make yourself. Same for the voice acting, it's much better than in KOTOR (which wasn't bad, itself). There's none of the feeling of "oh, I talked to this guy already" because the voice sounds the same.

It is a great game, once you get used to the combat. What class are you Kuci?

Infiltrator. So far the "engineer" side of the class is underwhelming, since all its powers require you to be close to the enemy, which kind of conlficts with the whole sniper rifle approach.

[DrSpike]

Hmm, you guys are making me want to play this. I can pick up a copy for £35.........will probably cave soon.

[flash9286]

I just have one complaint about the combat. Why map 3 buttons for holster/unholster then map grenades to the back button. Grenades should be B or X. Then one button for holster/unholster.

[Felch]

Originally posted by flash9286
I just have one complaint about the combat. Why map 3 buttons for holster/unholster then map grenades to the back button. Grenades should be B or X. Then one button for holster/unholster.

I totally agree.

However, I haven't had much luck with the nades. They feel pretty underpowered. Even when a toss a couple into a small room full of mobs I still don't get the results I'd want - total destruction.

I'm going through this as a soldier since I didn't want to mess around with the active skills too much. I love exploring all the little planets and star systems. It kind of reminds me of those old exploration games, with much better combat.

I am happy with this trend of console RPGs finally breaking away from the tyranny of menu based combat. The shooting isn't all twitch, but it's enough to make you feel like you're not just watching a movie like some of the FFs do.

[Asher]

I love it. My only complaint so far is the controls of the Mako are a bit weak. It makes combat with it quite frustrating. Especially when trying to kill the sandworms.

The peak of my frustration was on a snowy planet with blizzard-like weather. The framerate suffered, the sandworms kill in one hit, and the hilly terrain did a number on the camera & aim for the Mako.

But I'm still having a great amount of fun. The game is pretty epic.

[vovan]

This game looks like fun. I think I'll give it a whirl after I am done with Assassin's Creed... From what I understand the story here might be a little better.

I have a question for y'all who have played it... How big of a role does combat play? Is it basically an action RPG? Or can you actually solve some quests by other means (sneaking around/diplomacy/whichever). I haven't played KOTOR, which I've seen people compare this to... Actually, come to think of it, I've never played any bioware games... So yeah... Comparisons to those probably won't help me much.

[Asher]

The combat part action RPGish. There's a cover system that's Gears of War-esque. But accuracy isn't totally required...you can turn on "aids" that do a lot of the aiming for you.

It's still an RPG at its core. The stats make a huge difference, as do skills you can use.

[vovan]

Cool. From the combat mechanics stand -- is there some sort of target "lock on" system, like in Crackdown/Assassin's Creed?

[Asher]

Haven't played either yet, but yes there is a "lock on" system. A red triangle fills in when you target an enemy.

[vovan]

Originally posted by Asher
Haven't played either yet, but yes there is a "lock on" system. A red triangle fills in when you target an enemy.

What I mean is: you can manually target someone, then you can hold some button, and your character will automatically keep aiming at that person without you having to fiddle with the analog sticks. That's more or less how it works in those games. Whereas, for example, in Darkness, you have to aim manually: the target reticle will automatically go to an enemy if you are "close enough", but if he moves out of that range, your character won't automatically adjust the view to follow him. Hence, no "lock on".