Mass Effect

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Has anyone (other than me) played it yet? It did kinda sneak out there, but it's amazing. It's incredible watching how Bioware has gone from KOTOR to Jade Empire to this.

Amazing.

[Karl Valten]

The combat system is still in the annoying phase and I have gripes about the inventory/loot system. Other than that the game is stellar and the storyline excellent.

I'm running through as a Paragon Soldier the first time through

[Darth Phantom]

My sister bought it for me a few days ago. I love it. I do have some minor complaints, but the game is amazing. I have a Solider as well, though next time I'm thinking Vanguard or something along those lines.

[Darth Phantom]

Beat it last night, woot.

Great game.

[Karl Valten]

Ok, I like this game a ton now. I still only on Noveria and I still have to go to Feros. Hell, I'm going to do every freaking minor quest and go to every planet just to see what I can find. :p

P.S. Proton Rounds are the bomb.

[Darth Phantom]

Yeah they are. Feros is the easiest imo. I did all the side missions as well, with the exeption of finding all the insignias and that stuff.

[Karl Valten]

Interesting, if you play a female Commander Shepard you can still get a romantic relationship with Liara.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

The entire 'Asari only have one gender thing'.

[Darth Phantom]

Yeah, it doesn't matter what gender you are, you can still hook up with the Assari. Liara's mother mated with another female.

[Karl Valten]

Finally had some free time to finish the game and all is can say is just..............wow. Love the story, I could actually feel the emotion from the characters. Bioware really outdid itself

If they make a movie (or series) out of this they had better not screw it up.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

They are working on sequels. For the record...I called Bioware and thanked them personally for the game.

I made some Canuck secretary's day for that. ;)

[Karl Valten]

Heheheh, good for you.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

It was hilarious to hear her voice. She was all, "Well...thank you. I appreciate it. I'll tell them."

It was great.

[Jecht Tar]

I played the game, beat it with my Paragon Soldier, and then I couldn't bring myself to play it anymore. It was so incredibly fun the first time through, but now I don't find joy in it anymore. The fact that I didn't get the achievements for using Ashley and Gaurus just made me all the more pissed off at the game. I used them the whole bloody game, did every flipping side-quest I had except for the collection ones, and I didn't get the achievement. Yeah, I don't play for achievements typically, but when I don't get what I should, it pisses me off.

Also, why are there no Turian females? It explains the whole Asari gender confusion thingy, hints at the existence of Krogan females, but you never see a Turian female, or hear of them either. Same with the Solarians. Just feels like so many holes in the story.

A fun game, for sure. Nothing beats being able to take out Geth snipers at extreme range with my shotgun. Yes, I was shotgun sniping. That's just how I roll.

[Slayn Cloak]

SA already had a front page review of it. I think all game reviews should be writen by the front page members of SA. In fact, all articles everywhere.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

SA? What's 'SA'?

[Karl Valten]

Something Awful :p

[Slayn Cloak]

Yea, they called it out for what it is, a POS. I think that with the advnt of "next gen" consels, and the retardation of the mebers of pop society, game developers have basiclaly written off ever making anything that even losely resembles good.

*Edit* LawL @ Xboxes omg weaksauce.

[Morgan Evanar]

Yea, they called it out for what it is, a POS. I think that with the advnt of "next gen" consels, and the retardation of the mebers of pop society, game developers have basiclaly written off ever making anything that even losely resembles good.

*Edit* LawL @ Xboxes omg weaksauce.Halo 3 was good, and Portal was awesome. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[Naomi Lang]

Call of Duty 4 is phenominal as well, especially over xbox live

[Slayn Cloak]

to both of you, both those games ( not faglow though) are better on the pc. Also morg, you're the one on record as saying ( to me back when I was in the clo... consol )" you just can't play on a game pad, they're to slow". Have you seen either of those games on a pc? Makes the xbox look like a ps3.

EDIT** if you were tlakign about game development then I retrack my head from my *** and say can you name more than one?

Also, I want spor to come out.

[Morgan Evanar]

Halo 3 is only available on the 360 and the controls might be better on the PC with a mouse. However, the game is designed very well around the controller and I have no complaints about it. It's one of the best balanced FPSs I've ever played, the maps have great flow, and it's fun.

Bioshock was surprising platform neutral, but that was because two teams were basically sharing assets and an engine. It was great on both platforms, and I played the 360 Demo first.

Forza 2 is great, too. Ace Combat is fun, and there are a bunch of other titles I'm forgetting because I don't game as much as I used to.

[Slayn Cloak]

I didn't like bioshock, too campy for me. I feel the same way about COD 4... this may not be an actuall issue ( as in just in my head ) but some games just don't have the "look" I like. There's this relistic look that is really natural, and thenyou have the realistic look that just seems really CG and campy.

[Morgan Evanar]

Bioshock has some of the best art direction of any game ever.

[Slayn Cloak]

I think it looks sereotipically campy. Like wow, I play wow but I don't think it's good looking.

[Morgan Evanar]

I'm sorry that you don't like Art Deco. When you have fashion and industrial designers impressed by the visuals of a video game (something that is still struggling to find it's place as "art") I'd say it's stellar.

I'm not normally one to say this so bluntly: your opinion is wrong.

[Slayn Cloak]

Are we talking about the same game? http://img.hexus.net/v2/gaming/screenshots_xbox360/bioshock/bioshock1_large.jpg
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/793/793105/imgs_1.html

extreme camp... It has nothing to do with art deco, I lived in Miami as long as you. I just want my metal objects to look metal not plastic; I want materials to look as they do in the real world. I think the half-life games of recent years are some of the better looking games around. I like that kind of realism. It isn’t hard to make a background look good and I guess that’s what you’re talking about. I mean things like character models, the way weapons and items are rendered in the game… stuff like that cartoon revolver the guy is holding in that one SS.

Besides, you tell people they're wrong all the time. Remember in 8th grade when you almost punched that kid cause he didn't like Doppler radar?

[Kaast Dulli]

i don't man, bioshock, mass effect and the other games discussed in this thread are all pretty awesome.

cod4 on xbox live is awesome.
mass effect is a great story with some problems (side missions) but the over all game play is amazing.
and bioshock is less a game and more a work of art.
great games this season.

[Slayn Cloak]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2738-Zero-Punctuation-Mass-Effect

[Morgan Evanar]

It's not anywhere near as bad as the review says. And weapon mods were easy to install. Go to the inventory screen and press X.

I do agree, the game could do with less dialog, but since I turned on the subtitles, I just read through most of it.

The combat system, while not the most intuitive, also isn't as bad as stated.

I adore this game.

[Slayn Cloak]

If you love it so much then why don't you marry it? ( that was quoting GLaDOS from porta l)

[Morgan Evanar]

Adoration and love are not the same thing :)

But I am going to buy it next month when my coworker takes his copy back.

[Slayn Cloak]

It's like the good ole days.

[Alexander Bane]

Anyone read that article by Kevin McCullough where he tore apart Mass Effect with a lot of lies in his crusade against Video Games? I can't find the article anymore, but I could only sit there and shake my head. He stated in his article that Mass Effect allows the player to just rape any NPC they want, along with a whole lot of other crap that he likely just pulled out of the air and stuck to a piece of paper and called it writing. A video game ban? Psssh. Not going to happen.

Mass Effect is one of the greatest games ever made. Bugger off you politicians!

[Slayn Cloak]

Yeah I really hate that violent people who play games or whatever blame their violence on the game.

[Karl Valten]

I read the article and laughed. Don't know what the hell McCullough was talking about, sure wasn't mass effect.

[Alexander Bane]

It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. More ridiculous then those books for retarded children. At least those children books had a point. McCullough just pulled stuff out of his buttocks and slapped it down. Clearly he never played the game, or even consulted someone who had. It would be like be writing a paper of thermodynamics. I've heard of it, maybe got the jist of it, but for the most part I know nothing. So, instead, I'll just make up facts to make my paper interesting.

Penny Arcade did a wonderful Comic (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/01/15) on the subject. (Warning: contains strong language)

[Kyle Krogen]

I found the article, for those who have not read it before. It's almost good for a laugh, and then you break down and cry because this man is a politician deciding the fate of our country.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1952968/posts

For me it gives me the urge to move to Australia where stupid US politicians can't hurt me unless then accidentally finalize a nuclear strike against the land down under, which would be reward with the release of poisonous animals on US soil and this country would die.

Hail Australia!

[Yog]

While we are on the subject of censorship, here is what the muppets at FOX news had to say about Mass Effect:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/163925.html

That is some "fair and balanced" for you :lol

[Qourr Mhawat]

Well now..... isn't that rather interesting? (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/arts/television/26mass.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) Mwahahahaahah...

[Kyle Krogen]

My, god. That woman is so stupid. She's not even listening to a word Geoff Keighley said. I have a lot of respect for Geoff Keighley. He used to write grand articles for OXB (Official Xbox Magazine), but this woman is just too ignorant to listen. At least the article says she withdrew her statement. Which is more then Kevin McCullough can say.

Fact of life: people are stupid.

[Tri'ahna Zylary]

I erupted in gleeful cackling when I read that bit about what people had commented on her book on Amazon, and what it had done to it... hehehehehehe....

Freaked my colleague out a bit.

[Kyle Krogen]

No not underestimate the gamer community. We could take over the world if we weren't too busy trying to beating Medal of Honor 4 on Veteran.

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/874/874659p1.html

^ Hooray! PC version at last.

[Nuro Alston]

Since it took so long to come to PC I'll probably just play Fable if I play either.

[Morgan Evanar]

Fable is rather crappy compared to Mass Effect

[Khendon Sevon]

I get Mass Effect for free :)

I <3 working in games.

[Dasquian Belargic]

:shakefist damn yoooou

[Morgan Evanar]

Mass Effect PC is really nice and has only crashed once. After I played it for 4 hours.

Teehehe. I've already beaten it. I think I have about 34 hours into the game already... just on PC >_<

[Dasquian Belargic]

Thread neeeecrooooo

I don't want to invite too much spoilage but I have a question relating to party members in this game, since I'm playing my first run through. Do you always lose at least 2 party members? So far Alenko and Wrex have kicked the bucket and I was just wondering if I could have talked my way out of that, or if someone had to bite the bullet.

[Figrin D'an]

Thread neeeecrooooo

I don't want to invite too much spoilage but I have a question relating to party members in this game, since I'm playing my first run through. Do you always lose at least 2 party members? So far Alenko and Wrex have kicked the bucket and I was just wondering if I could have talked my way out of that, or if someone had to bite the bullet.

You will always lose either Ashley or Kaiden. Whichever one you chose to not help during the attack on Virmire will die, no matter what. You can only ever save one of them. You can avoid killing Wrex with the right combination of dialogue choices and if you have a high enough Paragon or Renegade score at that point in the game. Also note that whom you choose to save between Ashley and Kaiden, and whether or not you can talk down Wrex, will each have their own carry through effect in Mass Effect 2 if you import your completed game save from the first game.

[Crusader]

And don't forget how you treat the Shepard wannabe at the citadel is going to have an effect on his life as well.
Yup Wrex can be either convinced or threatened to stand down. I loved it when my Trica Shepard that is half his seize and pretty much a quarter of his weight frightens Wrex......I can't wait to see my bitchy redhead return for her last stand in ME3.
But I will have to finish ME2 with good standard Shepard first.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Which Shephard wannabe??

[Xavier Synik]

and because the thread has been revived just at the right time...

<div style="width: 480px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" id="gtembed" width="480" height="392"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=708362"/><param name="quality" value="high" /> <embed src="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=708362" swLiveConnect="true" name="gtembed" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="392"></embed> </object><div style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Verdana; text-align: center; width: 480px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; background-color: black; height: 32px;"><div><a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com" title="GameTrailers.com">Video Games</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/game/mass-effect-3/12960" title="Mass Effect 3">Mass Effect 3</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-mass-effect/708362" title="VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer">VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer</a></div><div style="padding-top: 3px;"><a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://xbox360.gametrailers.com/" title="XBox 360">XBox 360</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://ps3.gametrailers.com/" title="PS3">Playstation 3</a> | <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://wii.gametrailers.com/" title="Wii">Nintendo Wii</a></div></div></div>

[Dasquian Belargic]

Here's a Mass Effect 3 thread (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21574), just so I don't get spoiled by any plot related discussion :mneh

[Xavier Synik]

Fine fine... :p

[Dasquian Belargic]

Just finished my first run-through of this game. Fun stuff, though it felt kind of short. I suppose that's what I get for plowing through the story elements rather and skipping all the side-quests. I am intrigued by some of the conversation options that I was somehow never able to unlock, particularly where Saran is concerned.

[Crusader]

Which Shephard wannabe??

There is a guy called Conrad Verner that wants to be just like you. He is hanging out at the citadel on the way to the market district. The way you treat him is going to influence his appearence in mass effect 2.

BTW has anyone already figured out how Salarians reproduce? I hope among many other questions this one will be answered in ME3.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Which Shephard wannabe??

There is a guy called Conrad Verner that wants to be just like you. He is hanging out at the citadel on the way to the market district. The way you treat him is going to influence his appearence in mass effect 2.

BTW has anyone already figured out how Salarians reproduce? I hope among many other questions this one will be answered in ME3.

Where is in Mass Effect 2? I don't remember seeing him.

[Crusader]

You will meet him at the Bar with the Krogan-Asari Matriarch (The same planet where you meet Liara again). Since I treated him like a dick in ME1 he was still useless and annoying as hell.

I have not met Conrad as good Shepard yet and I am not sure if you will meet him if you have not finished his quest in ME1 which basicly involved talking to him each time after you completed a mission.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Ah okay I might not have talked to him enough.