Alright, just finished the demo (Thank you Microsoft ExpertZone!). Feel free to ask anything I don't answer.
First off, the demo contains the introduction (Escape from Earth) and part of Sur'Kesh, which we've all seen in the demos. I played the demo as generic soldier Shepard, and chose that both Kaiden and Wrex survived, as well as being a Spacer Sole Survivor. The former has relevance in the demo, the latter not so much.
GENERAL:
- The game looks pretty good overall. Body textures are still somewhat low resolution, but human faces in particular seem to have seen a massive overhaul.
- Animation work is still a little shaky. Some areas look fantastic, while others look stiff. Facial animations seem to have suffered a bit of a quality loss, much to my dismay.
- The music...oh god the music. It's a blend between Mass Effect 1's synethetic and Mass Effect 2's orchestral (leaning towards the latter), but it's fantastic, and the callbacks to old tracks (like Normandy, from ME1), is wonderful.
- The game sounds great too, with weapons sounding like sci-fi should, and explosions sound pleasantly heavy.
- Voice acting has improved across the board, with Mark Meer showing dramatic improvement. Haven't tested FemShep yet, so I can't gauge that.
GAMEPLAY:
- Bioware weren't bullshitting when they said they upped the difficulty. "Normal" kicked my ass more than once.
- The omni-blade, surprisingly, didn't get old.
- Squadmates can be revived by running up to them, a la Gears of War
- Cerberus has enemy combat engineers that can deploy turrets on the battlefield. They are a pain in the ass.
- Several glimpses of the new level-up system were shown, and it appears to be a friendly combination of the prior two games, with more of ME2's "Choose this upgrade OR this upgrade."
- Frag grenades and sticky mines are fun.
STORY/CHARACTERS:
- Wrex is still bro of the galaxy all galaxies.
- The Earth intro sequence plays out almost exactly like we saw in the E3 and leaked demos, but with several substantial improvements to acting (particularly by Meer), and visuals.
- The Reapers are not personified at all, but goddamn if they don't look and sound intimidating.
- Combat/gameplay banter has been MASSIVELY improved, with squadmates having new lines of dialogue in pretty much every room you enter, as well as being extremely talkative in combat.
Now for the bad.
- As I said above, the animation seems to be downgraded in areas. Facial animations are occasionally very stiff, and the same goes for bodies.
- Some of the texture work is downright abysmal (take a look at the water in Vancouver. Dear christ).
- Vega is in the demo for a grand total of 30 seconds, and he still manages to look DERP the entire time.
- The human council is clearly mentally deficient (or badly written).
- Wrex's voice acting appears to be a little inconsistent.
- The demo is short; an hour at absolute most. Though, it does encourage multiple playthroughs with all classes, so maybe that helps.
- An Origin account is required for multiplayer/online activities, regardless of platform.
- Mordin and James Vega's voice acting both appear to be placeholder still. Mordin sounds a lot like Michael Beattie, but there's something...off.
- The demo is heavily stripped down. No weapon/armor customization, no codex, no journal.
- Conversation system is incredibly streamlined (for the demo, I'd imagine). Shepard says most of the stuff for you, and the six or so times you're actually allowed to choose what you want to say, there are only two options (slightly paragon or slightly renegade). Very disappointing.
That's about all I can think of right now; I'll post more as I think of it. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Overall the demo was decent, but my criticisms boil down to one very specific thing: The demo barely feels like Mass Effect. It feels closer to Gears of War in the Mass Effect universe. Much of this is likely limited to the demo, but it's disconcerting nonetheless.
First off, the demo contains the introduction (Escape from Earth) and part of Sur'Kesh, which we've all seen in the demos. I played the demo as generic soldier Shepard, and chose that both Kaiden and Wrex survived, as well as being a Spacer Sole Survivor. The former has relevance in the demo, the latter not so much.
GENERAL:
- The game looks pretty good overall. Body textures are still somewhat low resolution, but human faces in particular seem to have seen a massive overhaul.
- Animation work is still a little shaky. Some areas look fantastic, while others look stiff. Facial animations seem to have suffered a bit of a quality loss, much to my dismay.
- The music...oh god the music. It's a blend between Mass Effect 1's synethetic and Mass Effect 2's orchestral (leaning towards the latter), but it's fantastic, and the callbacks to old tracks (like Normandy, from ME1), is wonderful.
- The game sounds great too, with weapons sounding like sci-fi should, and explosions sound pleasantly heavy.
- Voice acting has improved across the board, with Mark Meer showing dramatic improvement. Haven't tested FemShep yet, so I can't gauge that.
GAMEPLAY:
- Bioware weren't bullshitting when they said they upped the difficulty. "Normal" kicked my ass more than once.
- The omni-blade, surprisingly, didn't get old.
- Squadmates can be revived by running up to them, a la Gears of War
- Cerberus has enemy combat engineers that can deploy turrets on the battlefield. They are a pain in the ass.
- Several glimpses of the new level-up system were shown, and it appears to be a friendly combination of the prior two games, with more of ME2's "Choose this upgrade OR this upgrade."
- Frag grenades and sticky mines are fun.
STORY/CHARACTERS:
- Wrex is still bro of the galaxy all galaxies.
- The line about Cerberus soldiers being indoctrinated has been removed, much to my delight.
- Kirahee makes a return, albeit brief, and an awesome one at that.
- Kirahee makes a return, albeit brief, and an awesome one at that.
- The Earth intro sequence plays out almost exactly like we saw in the E3 and leaked demos, but with several substantial improvements to acting (particularly by Meer), and visuals.
- The Reapers are not personified at all, but goddamn if they don't look and sound intimidating.
- Combat/gameplay banter has been MASSIVELY improved, with squadmates having new lines of dialogue in pretty much every room you enter, as well as being extremely talkative in combat.
Now for the bad.
- As I said above, the animation seems to be downgraded in areas. Facial animations are occasionally very stiff, and the same goes for bodies.
- Some of the texture work is downright abysmal (take a look at the water in Vancouver. Dear christ).
- Vega is in the demo for a grand total of 30 seconds, and he still manages to look DERP the entire time.
- The human council is clearly mentally deficient (or badly written).
- Wrex's voice acting appears to be a little inconsistent.
- The demo is short; an hour at absolute most. Though, it does encourage multiple playthroughs with all classes, so maybe that helps.
- An Origin account is required for multiplayer/online activities, regardless of platform.
- Mordin and James Vega's voice acting both appear to be placeholder still. Mordin sounds a lot like Michael Beattie, but there's something...off.
- The demo is heavily stripped down. No weapon/armor customization, no codex, no journal.
- Conversation system is incredibly streamlined (for the demo, I'd imagine). Shepard says most of the stuff for you, and the six or so times you're actually allowed to choose what you want to say, there are only two options (slightly paragon or slightly renegade). Very disappointing.
That's about all I can think of right now; I'll post more as I think of it. Any questions, feel free to ask.
Overall the demo was decent, but my criticisms boil down to one very specific thing: The demo barely feels like Mass Effect. It feels closer to Gears of War in the Mass Effect universe. Much of this is likely limited to the demo, but it's disconcerting nonetheless.
