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Mass Effect 3 - SPOILERS!

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 05:28
by LogicSword
Because I just got a code for early access to the demo :D

If you don't want to know anything about the game, don't read on, although saying that any spoilers in this will be extremely minor and just the basic information about the missions in the demo.

First thing I notice, you can choose how to play the game. You can either have "Action", where the conversations are just cutscenes, "Role Playing", which is just normal Mass Effect and "Story", which seems to take away some of the difficult combat.

Not sure if that's in the main game or just the demo, but if it is then that might stop some people complaining about it being too much/too little of an RPG.

The demo consists of two missions (as well as the multiplayer, but that's not online yet), the starting one where Earth is invaded by Reapers and one where you need to transfer a female Krogan to your ship.

Combat is pretty much the same as in ME2, using heat clips, however while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment. The omni-tool is also now used as a powerful melee weapon.

The graphics are also a lot better, but at the same time they seem to have gone for a slightly darker colour scheme.

But yeah, fun little demo, the beginning did seem to be more for people who didn't play the first two though. Also, Ashley's hair has changed, which scared and confused me.

But yeah, anyone else played it yet? Or general opinions about the game?

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 05:38
by Geoff_B
LogicSword wrote:Combat is pretty much the same as in ME2, using heat clips, however while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment. The omni-tool is also now used as a powerful melee weapon.


So is medi-gel going to be put back more into its ME1 role?

I'm interested to see how the story will be wrapped up because all along we've been told that everything we've done in the past two games is a delaying tactic at best. So that will be fun.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 05:41
by LogicSword
Medi-gel is used as a mixture of its use in each game, it heals Shepard's health and revives anyone who's knocked out. Not sure if it requires multiple to revive multiple squad mates as I only used it to heal myself.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 07:34
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
I'm hoping because they split the game mode into 3 they'll make both story and combat much better, as they now have to make a game that will be enjoyable independent of the other element. It will also attract more players who prefer murder or prefer talking.
If they make either extremes boring then it's a massive shame.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 08:55
by MowDownJoe
NO STEAM NO BUY

Seriously, I'm not downloading yet another client just to play ME3. EA needs to stop crying over the fact that it can't price gouge people who buy their stuff from Steam. Does Steam need competition? Sure. But EA certainly doesn't look like it's stepping up to provide it.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 10:07
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
Same. Doesn't stop me taking an interest in the game.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 12:50
by Metcarfre
So will the 'action' storyline be considered 'canon'.

I think the three styles in an interesting solution for the game. However, the pessimist in me assumes that it will mean one or more of the threads will be lacking. Also, I prefer when developers don't listen to their fans and concede points like this that much.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 13:40
by Geoff_B
I'm deliberately avoiding playing the demo. I just want to play it as I find it. Which will probably involve lots of guns and blowing stuff up. And being nice to people in the meantime. Except the Turian councillor.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 19:47
by Kryntek
metcarfre wrote:So will the 'action' storyline be considered 'canon'.

I think the three styles in an interesting solution for the game. However, the pessimist in me assumes that it will mean one or more of the threads will be lacking. Also, I prefer when developers don't listen to their fans and concede points like this that much.


There is no difference in story between the modes

Action mode is normal difficulty with auto-selecting conversations.
Story mode is the easiest difficulty with normal conversations.
RPG mode is normal difficulty and normal conversations.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 22:05
by Duckay
Kryntek wrote:
metcarfre wrote:So will the 'action' storyline be considered 'canon'.

I think the three styles in an interesting solution for the game. However, the pessimist in me assumes that it will mean one or more of the threads will be lacking. Also, I prefer when developers don't listen to their fans and concede points like this that much.


There is no difference in story between the modes

Action mode is normal difficulty with auto-selecting conversations.
Story mode is the easiest difficulty with normal conversations.
RPG mode is normal difficulty and normal conversations.


I think what metcarfre is asking is whether the conversation options that are automatically selected in action mode can be considered the "canon" choices. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 12 Feb 2012, 22:18
by Jamfalcon
That's how I read his question too. The action storyline will not be the official canon:
Action mode, meanwhile, puts players on a "default path" that blends Paragon and Renegade actions, but Hudson was quick to clarify that "default" does not mean canon. "We have a rule in our franchise that there is no canon. You as a player decide what your story is,"

Source

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 03:29
by Geoff_B
So the implication is that the players who like shooting and blowing stuff up are incapable of holding their own in a conversation? :?

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 06:04
by LogicSword
I think the implication is that some people don't care about story, which is true. Shooting and blowing stuff up is also available in the other two modes.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 06:46
by Geoff_B
Yeah, those people.

If they don't care about story they've picked a great game then!

Sorry I just thing that for a game that relies so much on the story, playing it without regard to that story just seems wrong.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 11:07
by Metcarfre
It's not 'without regard'. Not making conversation choices =/= no story. Just means the story is written for you.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 13:47
by JackSlack
LogicSword wrote:while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment.


Wasn't that how Far Cry 2 worked? (If so, ha! I keep telling people that game mattered. ;) )

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 14:14
by Geoff_B
metcarfre wrote:It's not 'without regard'. Not making conversation choices =/= no story. Just means the story is written for you.


That's a fair point but it still seems to me that Halo or Gears of War would be a better fit for that type of gamer.

JackSlack wrote:
LogicSword wrote:while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment.


Wasn't that how Far Cry 2 worked? (If so, ha! I keep telling people that game mattered. ;) )


Sounds like the battery meter in Deus Ex Human Revolution :D

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 15:17
by LogicSword
JackSlack wrote:
LogicSword wrote:while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment.


Wasn't that how Far Cry 2 worked? (If so, ha! I keep telling people that game mattered. ;) )


Couldn't say, I haven't played it.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 15:29
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
Anyone knows if I have saved data for ME2 through Steam, if I can transfer it to ME3 on Origin?
I don't want my 'achievements' to be forgotten just because EA are a bunch of whiny noobs and don't want to share.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 15:56
by Geoff_B
I didn't think achievements carried over. I thought it was just story decisions.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 16:11
by Kryntek
Merrymaker_Mortalis wrote:Anyone knows if I have saved data for ME2 through Steam, if I can transfer it to ME3 on Origin?
I don't want my 'achievements' to be forgotten just because EA are a bunch of whiny noobs and don't want to share.

Yes you can. It is also theoretically possible to transfer from 360 to PC, and vice versa.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 17:54
by Merrymaker_Mortalis
/phew so EA aren't that big a douche bags.

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 13 Feb 2012, 22:20
by ANeMzero
JackSlack wrote:
LogicSword wrote:while shields fully regenerate, health is separated into five segments and you only regenerate up to the top of your current segment.


Wasn't that how Far Cry 2 worked? (If so, ha! I keep telling people that game mattered. ;) )


Actually, Chronicles of Riddick did it first. Movie games CAN be innovative!

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 15 Feb 2012, 09:17
by Geoff_B
On a lighter note:

Image

Image

Image

Re: Mass Effect 3

Posted: 15 Feb 2012, 13:14
by JackSlack
ANeMzero wrote:Actually, Chronicles of Riddick did it first. Movie games CAN be innovative!


Gah, I even played that game! I should have remembered that.

OK, demo impressions. I have no multiplayer code, so it's single player only for now. Spoilers ahoy!

Fuck me, this is awful writing, Bioware. What the hell? Do you seriously not expect us to know that "Luna" refers to the moon? And if so, why the fuck have an aide say 'Luna base' and then have Keith David get the forced, painful line "The moon?" in reply. Just have her say 'moonbase'. It's so easy to say even Canadian comedy troupes use it.

Can we please stop killing kids for cheap pathos? Seriously. I expect that kind of cheap shock shit from Call of Duty, but I expect more from you, Bioware. You did a great job there by opening with the child, letting us build empathy, and the scene in the ventilation duct is the best part of the demo, in a walk. But you'd have had more emotional impact by letting him live than die; the very image of a child in physical danger is the kind of primal thing that puts people on the edge of their seat. Actually killing him only makes it feel cheap. If you want to emphasize the sacrifice and cost, have one of the soldiers rush out to scoop up the child, throw him toward the flying car and be crushed, seconds after he got the child out from being killed in the same way. You'll have more power there than by killing the kid.

The Krogan princess seems a bit tidy for my liking, but I'm prepared to see this keep developing. I'm hoping she has some trademark krogan savagery going on though.

Ashley and Kaidan are both well characterized in their brief moment. "I used to," is a good line.

If this is the raw opening, with no cuts, then it's the most rushed opening I've ever seen. Wasn't I meant to start this thing on trial, with me defending myself? Because that sounded awesome. You could have a parallel story thing going on, with me defending myself against being tried for war crimes while elsewhere the military bases are noting the Reapers approach. That's cool. But this one just comes across as a rah rah Shepard's the hero spiel, and it's too quickly into the major threat. Needed a lot more buildup. Having two sequels doesn't excuse you of this: Every story needs a first act.

I do not buy for a fucking minute this idea that adding 'action mode' hasn't affected the main game. Here's why: Because action mode in ME1 or even ME2 would approach Hideo Kojima levels of cut-scenedom. The whole appeal of a Bioware RPG are lengthy discussions with NPCs that you need to negotiate through, with your strangely quiet main character getting in a sentence to every paragraph of your conversation partner. Not fun in an action game. And if this demo is anything to go by, they've solved that by dramatically limiting your conversation moments. That is: It's a shooter with a bolted on conversation system; not the other way around.

Also the shooting is OK but nothing special.

Look, this is a good demo. It does demo design right: Good sizzle sequence to whet your appetite, shows you how you'll get to progress, lets you play with all the powers. It's a better demo than Kingdoms of Amalur. But it's highlighting all the problems with the game, everything that (to pick one guy) Shamus Young had been railing on about ever since he finished Mass Effect 2 and where the franchise was going. That we'd already begun losing yet another game to the generic shooter mill. Everything I'd been fearing. It does nothing to alleviate those fears. It only exacerbates them.


I would, however, love to be wrong.