So, now that the Mass Effect 3 Demo is out...

[Flight]

I'm wondering why the darkest skin tone is barely tan (I'm guessing they're still smoothing out the stuff regarding that, since the faces look somewhat off, too). Also, some of the hair looks a little... big. Other than some slight weirdness regarding how the modeling/animation in the demo look, I honestly don't have any complaints. I especially like how they re-did the leveling.

 

[mechanixis]

I'm very satisfied with the demo. The combat is fast and gratifying, the art direction is much more well-rounded and reminiscent of the first game, and the rpg elements are deeper (though they could stand to be more so.)

Also the multiplayer is genuinely excellent. Pleasant surprise.

The one thing that irks me and has been irking me since ME2 is the writing and plotting. Bioware seems to be obsessed with the idea of "opening with a bang", even when it hurts the story to do so. What the hell has Shepard been doing since ME2? What about all that business in Arrival where he blew up a planet of Batarians? Isn't there going to be some closure for that? But no, we have to have a massive set piece in the first three minutes, so Shepard is brought into a room with five admirals, told that we've just lost contact with the entire galaxy, and thirty seconds later London is full of Reapers. It's badly paced and it bugs me. Plus Shepard is constantly shouting idiot-hero lines like "WE FIGHT OR WE DIE, THAT'S THE PLAN" that to my ears just sounds like so much "SPEHSS MAHREENS, WE KNOW OUR DUTY AND WE WILL DO IT."

That said, it speaks to the quality of the set piece that I quickly forgave the game for being so ridiculous. The final scene on Earth was pretty moving. And like ME2, I know most of the game will take place outside the central plot on side missions like protecting the female Krogan, and those are always interesting and better handled.

And damn, do I wish I could recruit Kirrahe to my squad.

 

[machblast]

Things I liked about the demo:

The Reaper designs, I love those insect-inspired ideas.
Wrex trying to be chivalrous and getting shut down.
Garrus and Wrex interacting.
The design of a lot of the levels, and the organic feeling of certain things. Also, dropping off of ledges.

Things I didn't like about the demo:

Incredibly glitchy AI, squadmates constantly standing on odd spots and in circles.
"A child dies and it's supposed to be sad".
Anderson, when he's walking in front of you, starts walking at the EXACT SAME TIME you start walking, and when you look down your feet are just doing the jogging animation IN SLOW MOTION.
The guns don't feel very powerful and sound too 'future-y', I fired that assault rifle in ME2 and it felt like a powerful ballistic rifle, not a pew pew gun.
The fact that the mech at the end was dumb as rocks and I could just run circles around it using melee on the hardest available difficulty.
Dialogue was sometimes really stilted and unnatural.
Animations were sub-par - I have seen some FUCKING AWESOME animation in recent games with a fraction of the budget that makes me wonder what the hell Bioware is doing. Action games with third person shooting, too.
Generally I'm really worried but I'm going to play it anyway.

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

PLAYING THE PS3 DEMO VERSION.

I thought that the single player story looked to be exactly the same as the first two games (Reapers arrive, Shepherd gets caught up in the fight, no-one believes the Reaper threat and so massacres occur, then Shepherd flies the Normandy in to save the day). This may get a little tedious, I don't know - maybe the individual missions are more varied and exciting.

The little boy who dies clearly hints that they're going for all-out emotional warfare against the audience here. I wouldn't be surprised if several long-time crew members bite the dust during the course of ME3.

The action in the demo mission was possibly an improved version of the frantic cover, run, ability, gun play of ME2, and I am really looking forward to getting my old team back together with new and shiny equipment and abilities and blasting the hell out of the Reaper scum!

The options before play to alter emphasis between action, story and RPG elements (where each offers either more or less combat/dialogue/levelling/equipment etc.) seems like it will serve to appease to a much greater set of players, and a lot of the criticisms I found in people's reviews of ME1 and ME2 were that there was too much dialogue/combat/ability-trees. Hopefully, this will meant that average review scores go up - if they got the balance right, that is.

Multiplayer looks very interesting - not dissimilar to Call of Duty where experience means better equipment and customisation options. I particularly liked that the match could play on even if the other players drop out - going so far as to allow you to try missions and earn XP as a single player match. Whether it will have the lasting appeal of COD remains to be seen.

Overall, I am pretty darn excited about the whole thing - and hate that I have to wait until the 9th of March (UK) to get my hands on a copy!

 

[NinjaCatStudios]

The sprint button, context sensitive action button and cover button need to be different.

 

[ABLb0y]

Pros: It's absolutly brilliant, but if I had to pin something down, the characters seem less like wankers.

Cons: One graphical glitch with my femshep's hair.

 

[machblast]

The sprint button, context sensitive action button and cover button need to be different.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

 

[M-E-D The Poet]

What does everyone think? Does it bode well or ill for your expectations of ME3?

Personally I was very impressed by the demo. It really nailed my hopes for the new game.

Pros;
1 - The game seems to be a thematic blend of ME1 and ME2. Music borrows from both breeds of sound track and sound effects (such as when your gun runs out of ammo) are reminiscent of ME1's cyberpunk-y style.

2 - The leveling system for abilities. Yeah, it looks cool - Not TOO streamlined, could probably stand to have a bit more depth but I like it nonetheless. I also like how it seems every class has a grenade power.

3 - The icing on the cake - For example, my favorite class is easily Sentinel, and my favorite power is Tech Armour. I love the way the new Tech Armour looks like the type all the other NPCs use, and I like how you can detonate it.

4 - Weapons. So, now we can use whatever weapons we want, no matter what class we are. Sweet. I understand there are restrictions, since certain classes carry more weapons than others, but I liked being a Sentinel and carrying a shotgun and an assault rifle.

5 - Squad Banter. No one does this like Bioware, and it's getting extra focus in ME3, it seems. The exchange between Garrus and Wrex at the start of the demo's second mission is priceless. Squad-mates seem to be conversing more during missions as well.

6 - Captain Kirrahe. Just... Just Captain Kirrahe I was so glad to see him. I hope this indicates that the full game will draw from the mythos built up by the last two - There are tons of NPCs I'd really enjoy coming across again throughout the game. I expect another chance to upstage Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, maybe see what Thane's son Kolyat has made of himself, or hear what trouble Kal'reegar has gotten himself into lately.

Cons;

1 - Well, as soon as James Vega lumbered into the scene and Shep called him by his first name I realized this would be another forced attempt to make me like the token human characters. This guy just seems like Ashley with a Y chromosome, so if there's an equivalent Virmire for me to leave him burning on he'll be finding himself there soon enough.

2 - Some of the facial expressions and stuff were... Just a bit off? And all in all while there's some pretty scenes, the demo didn't show off it's visuals or textures very well. The first level was a series of grey corridors and the second was a series of... Well, beige corridors. Then again, I was playing it on an old SD TV, so benefit of the doubt I guess.

3 - I thought it felt a little action game-y. Especially the first part, where you're running around Earth and things are exploding and it stops every once in a while to show Shepard dive out of the way of an explosion and it just felt a bit jarring.

4 - No indication as to how Armour or Weapon crafting will work, whuuut? I really wanted to see that. Hrm.

5 - The Dialogue choices were, well, negligible. I had hoped for at least a cool Paragon/Renegade interrupt to get, say, new players excited about the whole choice-making mechanic? Then again, that's hardly their agenda when they give you the choice of ignoring the dialogue parts entirely at the start of the game...

All in all, GREAT demo. I loved it, despite the flaws. It actually rejuvenated my faith in ME3. And we haven't seen how Armour or Weapons will work yet, and the Weapon customizing looks cool. So I think ME3 has a lot of potential.

Number 5 of your cons

I don't know what happens if you choose differently at the start but I feel the game is profoundly making you choose by your emotion

It feels more like your personal preferred way of dealing with things is here reflecting what you become aragon or renegade

To me it didn't feel as a "tactical choice" rather than a compelling enigmatic way of drawing out what you really felt at that moment

Thus making the kid sequence that more dramatic because you chose how you felt, not what might have been the most tact way of putting it

 

[Thespian]

Number 5 of your cons

I don't know what happens if you choose differently at the start but I feel the game is profoundly making you choose by your emotion

It feels more like your personal preferred way of dealing with things is here reflecting what you become aragon or renegade

To me it didn't feel as a "tactical choice" rather than a compelling enigmatic way of drawing out what you really felt at that moment

Thus making the kid sequence that more dramatic because you chose how you felt, not what might have been the most tact way of putting it

Yeah, but I always choose how I feel in games, and you don't need to press a button to have an emotion about something. Choices should have consequence, which wasn't demonstrated in the demo.

 

[Frozengale]

OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.

This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.

Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.

 

[CaptOfSerenity]

OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.

This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.

Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.

Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.

I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.

 

[Frozengale]

I do get your point about how long it'll take to take Earth for the Reapers, however they have also said since ME1 that the process of the Reapers harvesting the galaxy can take decades and isn't a quick process, which implies the Reapers, although powerful, aren't so powerful they can just rip apart planets like nothing.

Let's not forget they "harvest" technology, there is probably precision and scavaging involved meaning the Reapers won't just mindlessly destroy everything.

That's my take on it anyways.

Yes harvesting technology. In other words we don't need nor want the species to be alive. And yes it may take them decades to do this but that would more likely be based on the fact that the Galaxy is a huge place. Around 50 billion planets. Even if you just take a few days to scavenge each of them it will take you a few centuries if not Millennia. And I would assume they would have to check each one, for survivors, for outposts, for anything, they would have to be efficient.

In the first Mass Effect, one Reaper was a huge threat, it wiped out entire fleets from all species, and took a huge tole on The Citadel. Suddenly a fleet of these things show up on Earth, and by admission we are not prepared for them, and Earth isn't going to be layed to waste in a matter of days? Did the Reapers become wimpier from one game to the next?
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay)
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu)
The big baddies that have had us scared the entire series are suddenly a threat that we can literally leave and get back to at a later point because, screw them they aren't going anywhere and they aren't really as big a threat as we thought apparently.

 

[Zydrate]

Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.

I do agree with this.
Still, I've invested too much time in this game not to see how it ends.

However, the whole universe is being attacked, and I think the story revolves around getting the aliens up in arms about it; because they seem fairly apathetic.

I don't think it's as Earth-centric as you're making it out to be.

Besides, this won't be the last game. Just the last one about Shephard, so some of those issues may be resolved down the road.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I do get your point about how long it'll take to take Earth for the Reapers, however they have also said since ME1 that the process of the Reapers harvesting the galaxy can take decades and isn't a quick process, which implies the Reapers, although powerful, aren't so powerful they can just rip apart planets like nothing.

Let's not forget they "harvest" technology, there is probably precision and scavaging involved meaning the Reapers won't just mindlessly destroy everything.

That's my take on it anyways.

Yes harvesting technology. In other words we don't need nor want the species to be alive. And yes it may take them decades to do this but that would more likely be based on the fact that the Galaxy is a huge place. Around 50 billion planets. Even if you just take a few days to scavenge each of them it will take you a few centuries if not Millennia. And I would assume they would have to check each one, for survivors, for outposts, for anything, they would have to be efficient.

In the first Mass Effect, one Reaper was a huge threat, it wiped out entire fleets from all species, and took a huge tole on The Citadel. Suddenly a fleet of these things show up on Earth, and by admission we are not prepared for them, and Earth isn't going to be layed to waste in a matter of days? Did the Reapers become wimpier from one game to the next?
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay)
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu)
The big baddies that have had us scared the entire series are suddenly a threat that we can literally leave and get back to at a later point because, screw them they aren't going anywhere and they aren't really as big a threat as we thought apparently.

The Reapers aren't only on Earth at this point, you know. Heck, not even Harbinger, the leader of the Reaper fleet, is on Earth at this point. The Reapers that invaded Earth probably only had a Sovereign-style Reaper or two with them at the point of landing on it's surface, so most of the Reapers that have invaded Earth are much like the one's you saw in the Reaper vs. Thresher Maw trailer - troop transports and asset capturing (the helicopters/special forces/foot soldiers). Not all of the Reapers have the destructive capabilities that Sovereign displayed, and can only take smaller targets or area's of land without too much difficulty. Maybe about half of Sovereign's size, at best.

You have to leave so you can find a way to actually defeat the Reapers on Earth, and the Reapers everywhere else. Earth was only targeted in the first place (not the first planet to be invaded) because of Shepard, and because the Reapers are cautious about humanity after Shepard has single-handedly bitchslapped each of their plans for their return in the last two games. They figure if the rest of humanity has that potential, even if Shepard is a special plot case, then humanity needs to be harvested and become one with the Reapers. Threat neutralization.

 

[Beryl77]

OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.

This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.

Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.

Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.

I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.

It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2.
Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.

 

[TheAmazingHobo]

I do agree with this.
Still, I've invested too much time in this game not to see how it ends.

However, the whole universe is being attacked, and I think the story revolves around getting the aliens up in arms about it; because they seem fairly apathetic.

I don't think it's as Earth-centric as you're making it out to be.

[ . . . ]

I sincerely hope that the Paragon approach is pretty much "We must stand united, because otherwise, we will all die." and not "I have to find a NICE way to persuade these aliens to sacrifice massive numbers of soldiers for US.".
I always hated the parts of the narrative that elevated humans above all else and always loved the parts that dealt with accepting both that humanity is part of a greater whole and the responsibilities that come with it. It's really what made Mass Effect special for me.

So I really, really hope that you are right with regards to ME3s Earth-centricity.

 

[freaper]

The download took a while, I suppose the Xbox servers aren't as fast as Steam's.
But the wait was well worth it just to see Anderson's bizarre sprinting animation!

Cover system felt a bit iffy - Tried ducking behind a wall, ended up rolling past it, got an arrow to the face.

Steam? I don't think so mate, we had to get it from Origin.

Some animations and facial expression were plain awkward, I mean, Anderson running just missed the theme from Benny Hill's show.
The combat seemed more fluid than in ME2 and the leveling system had slightly more variation than before, but still very streamlined. The addition of new skills is quite nice, even though some were a bit generic: mines, grenades,...
I have played the multiplayer portion A LOT and enjoyed it.

 

[Zydrate]

So I really, really hope that you are right with regards to ME3s Earth-centricity.

I hope I am too. But I'm gonna love the game anyway. After all, some reviewers said ME2 made the plot go sideways rather than forward, and I agree.
Didn't stop me from doing 20 playthroughs.

 

[CaptOfSerenity]

Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.

I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.

It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2.
Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.

That's exactly what a focus on earth would be: every other mission, helping the Krogan, the Salarians, etc, being done so that they will help humans. That means Earth is THE main focus.

 

[Beryl77]

Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.

I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.

It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2.
Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.

That's exactly what a focus on earth would be: every other mission, helping the Krogan, the Salarians, etc, being done so that they will help humans. That means Earth is THE main focus.

I guess you could see it that way but to me it seems like we're helping them to get them to help each other not only humans. It's made clear that the whole galaxy is being attacked by the Reapers. The batarians have already been attacked which explains the batarian husks at the beginning. So the Reapers aren't only focusing on the humans, we're just the next planet (both human and batarian colonize in the same region). that's why the humans act now. The others just aren't really affected by this yet.
Yes, we try to stop them from destroying earth but the overall mission is still to stop the reapers from destroying the whole galaxy. Like in Me2 we were trying to stop the collectors because they were attacking human colonies but the main focus was still to stop the reapers from entering the galaxy. Like I said, humans are acting now simply because we're next on their list and we have to make the others realise that the same will happen to them. We don't persuade them to help us, we persuade them to work together and help the whole galaxy. Shepards mission is to rescue the galaxy and if he's quick enough he can do it before earth will be destroyed. You can decide yourself what his/her motivation is but Bioware didn't make earth the main focus.