Some things about Mass Effect I felt like mentioning...

[Twitchy Racoon]

I finished Mass Effect 2 awhile ago and came out extremely impressed. Bioware somehow shaved off all the shit from the first one and fixed pretty much everything else. That being said there are some things I'd to mention concerning this wonderful frachise.

- I'd like to thank the people at Bioware for giving me a good reason to do that extra 40% (9gaggers will understand) in school so I could pass everything and not have to do the last 2 weeks of school in order to keep playing mass effect 2.

- That being said, I finished mass effect 2 in 30 hours in only a week. The game isn't short in any way, I just need to get out more often.

- I recently saw a video that showed some new mass effect 3 footage and they showed the vanguard's new ability: punching the floor. How did the vanguard go from teleport/charging into your enemies, to punching the fucking floor?!? The vanguards entire gameplay style is about not giving a fuck, thats what made charging so perfect and awesome, there wasn't any need to cover or ask for your teammates help, all you had to do was charge into the mo-fo and shoot them in the face with a shotgun, but now with this new retarded power you'll have to go up to the guy who has a gun and is shooting you just to make this power effective! There are so many other options for a new ability for the vanguard. For example: Why not give them a biotic field that returns bullets and sends anyone standing too close flying into the walls and roof and the vanguard has to be sprinting while doing this, how much more awesome would that be!?

- I enjoyed driving the MAKO in mass effect, I may not have enjoyed the missions attached to it or the shooting but I enjoyed the challenge offered when having to drive over a mountain.

- I've always thought that Bioware made incendiary ammo available to almost everyone as an easy way to make corpses disappear without using that awkward fading effect most other games use.

- Getting the Collector laser early on in mass effect 2 made the rest of the game WAY too easy. I lost count of how many moments that should've been challenging became a walk in the park thanks to it's ridiculous damage dispensing.

- Resource collecting felt rather stupid though I enjoyed the sense of being independent of any sort of government or leadership that it attempted to create. You're on your own in me2, no alliance to give you stuff, only martin sheen smoking a lot and giving you the occasional intel.

What are your guy's thoughts on the franchise?

 

[Fappy]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements. Mass Effect 2 had better gameplay/presentation. Let's hope ME3 is a healthy combination of the two.

 

[AwkwardTurtle]

snip

It's nice that you started out on a somwhat positive note. I liked that. It's a nice juxtaposition to the many internet folks going "RADADADA COMPLAINT HERE AND THERE BECAUSE I AM NOT WILLING TO SETTLE FOR HAPPINESS. I DEMAND EUPHORIA."

I never played a vanguard (and never really plan to), so I can't really make a comment about that.

Indeed I actually quite liked being able to land on a planet and drive around encountering enemies and fighting off whatever it is that is on the planet. The controls were just a bit weird.

Oh, I never even noticed what happens to dead bodies in Mass Effect 1 or 2. o-o'

*Sigh* I pretty much never used my heavy weapons because of "What if I need it later" syndrome. x3 I used it once, the nuclear bomb in a gun weapon on one of the robot boss thing that self-repairs when you meet up with Tali in Mass Effect 2. That's about it though.

I really didn't like the resource collecting mini-game. In particular I thought that element zero seemed to be ridiculously rare and out of the way when most of the other elements seemed fairly common. So not cool. x3

My thoughts on Mass Effect 3 remain the same as they have been before. I am tentatively hopeful it will be a fun game. The Co-Op seems like it could be a nice addition, but I'm still feeling unsure about it. I don't know why, but I can't help but get a feeling that Mass Effect 3 (based on previews I've seen and such) seems to be giving me a weird Gears of War-sy (lol I had to look up whether it was War or Wars, to know where to put the hyphen xP) vibe. Maybe it's the addition of Co-Op or the seemingly overly extravagant set pieces or maybe even that weird blade thing that seems to have come out of nowhere.

At the end of the day all I can do is hope that the game will be fun.

P.S Yay for having a default Female Shepard. From my vague recollection of ME2 I think I honestly prefer her voice acting, but that's just a personal preference. :3

 

[Erttheking]

That's the thing isn't it? Even your most favorite games have issues. Personally I found that while ME2 had less things to do than ME1, I felt like I was faffing about less. How come no one in ME1 ever said "Uh commander, Saren could open the conduit at any time, why are we on a random planet looking for a scroll?", at least when you walked away from the main story in ME2 I actually felt like I was doing something worth while. Still, from what I've heard ME3 promises to have a nice balance, lots of side quests that are actually important and significant to the plot. I can't wait.

P.S. You know now that I think about it, I never pay attention to things once they die...unless it's in Halo multiplayer...but that's a tale for another time.

 

[Ninjat_126]

- Vanguards are awesome, but I really missed Warp.
- Biotics don't work on enemies with armour, barriers or shields? Well done, half the classes are useless on any difficulty above Brain Dead Amoeba.
- While Bipolar!Shep is funny, being able to go from having a civilised conversation with some dude to punching him out a window and giggling is not good for characterisation.
- I barely noticed my companions, except when I was getting them to use their powers for me.

 

[Twitchy Racoon]

- Vanguards are awesome, but I really missed Warp.
- Biotics don't work on enemies with armour, barriers or shields? Well done, half the classes are useless on any difficulty above Brain Dead Amoeba.
- While Bipolar!Shep is funny, being able to go from having a civilised conversation with some dude to punching him out a window and giggling is not good for characterisation.
- I barely noticed my companions, except when I was getting them to use their powers for me.

I agree with your opinion on the companions... at least in the first mass effect. The second got me alot more interested in them, mainly due to the loyalty missions. I felt some actual sympathy for Mordin as he explained how he agreed with the decision of creating the genophage while at the same time feeling the pressure of ruining in entire civilization for waht may or may not have been the greater good. The only really stupid thing about it all was that their 'loyalty' was directly connected to completing the loyalty missions 'the right way' and even after that I still lost Miranda because she got mad at me for defending Jack. Did she let herself get killed because of that?!?

 

[aprildog18]

For ME2 I didn't really like the new cooldown system. Then again, the lass boss in Mass Effect was a complete joke when you just do stasis, push, something, and repeat (with the special perk where you can damage enemies in stasis).
Farming was boring in ME2 so I followed some guide to give me minerals at a press of a button (did the same thing to get max paragon/renegade).
I still thought it was fun, and I'm pretty sure ME3 will be efun as well.

 

[Sharp Blue]

I liked not noticing my companions, In Mass Effect they kept either dieing or not shooting,
I liked that i didn't have to hold their hands. Also shoving that guy off the tower, yeah he had it coming. I kept right clicking to see what would happen, my shepard is actually a pretty nice guy.

 

[Saegrim]

The Vanguard is still going to have that ability, don't worry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzCuX8AeIac
Go to 2:56, and you'll see them showcasing it.
The new Vanguard ability appears to be an addition to the Vanguard's arsenal, not intended to replace the vanguard charge ability.
As for ME2, it's my favorite game at this very moment, knocking Super Metroid out of the top spot finally. I can't help but have massive expectations for ME3, and if it turns out to be bad, I will be starting a one-man riot.

 

[scorptatious]

The Mass Effect games are a part of my favorite games list. They have great stories, great characters, lots of different ways to play, a great setting, plenty of lore, and so much more.

I highly look forward to Mass Effect 3. While a part of me is a little wary of hyping up the game too much, I still believe Bioware will produce a good game.

As for which is better? Well as most people say, Mass Effect 1 did a better job at story telling and had a better antagonist in my opinion. Meanwhile, Mass Effect 2 had better gameplay. Still though, both games are good and had me play through them multiple times.

 

[Ninjat_126]

I agree with your opinion on the companions... at least in the first mass effect. The second got me alot more interested in them, mainly due to the loyalty missions. I felt some actual sympathy for Mordin as he explained how he agreed with the decision of creating the genophage while at the same time feeling the pressure of ruining in entire civilization for waht may or may not have been the greater good. The only really stupid thing about it all was that their 'loyalty' was directly connected to completing the loyalty missions 'the right way' and even after that I still lost Miranda because she got mad at me for defending Jack. Did she let herself get killed because of that?!?

Oh, I meant in gameplay. I loved them as characters, but in game I just picked whatever abilities went with what we were fighting.

I can't help but have massive expectations for ME3, and if it turns out to be bad, I will be starting a one-man riot.

I'll join. Honestly, there should be no way it can be bad. They've got the experience+skill to make a game, and enough fan feedback to trim away the crap and just improve on what's good.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Dont worry, every class will have all their abilities from the last game, Bioware just gave them additional abilities

 

[Hydra Fun]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements. Mass Effect 2 had better gameplay/presentation. Let's hope ME3 is a healthy combination of the two.

Well said. Though if it was up to me I'd say they should focus on what they did right in Mass Effect 2 and just make a more solid ending. It seemed like they got to the end in Mass Effect 2 and just threw in all the player consequences at you in rapid succession and by my second play through I stopped giving a shit about the storyline in general.

 

[Freyar]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements. Mass Effect 2 had better gameplay/presentation. Let's hope ME3 is a healthy combination of the two.

I'd really like my RPG back in my RPG title again.

 

[DustyDrB]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements.

Mass Effect had a inventory...but it was just a lot of junk mostly. There is actually more meaningful choice concerning your weapons and armor in ME2. Why? It was always clear which armor and weapon was the best in the first game, and the guns were all just palette changes that all fired in the exact same way. In Mass Effect 2, the different armor pieces can be mixed and matched to fit your playstyle (do you want more health, more shields, more power damage, more ammo, etc). Same for the weapons. Some are better at taking down shields, others do better against armor and barriers.

The only complaint I have about Mass Effect 2's inventory is the inability to change squad armor. Other than that, I prefer its approach over the first game and think it actually offers more choice. So though there's a lot to sort through in ME1, there's really not much actually choice to it.

You have a better argument in terms of the leveling system, though. This is another example of two systems on the extreme ends. Mass Effect's leveling: way too incremental. Mass Effect 2's: not incremental enough (or not enough options per character). I would still give Mass Effect the edge here over its sequel. What's looking cool about Mass Effect 3 is that Shepard won't be starting over again. Your leveling will carry on from Mass Effect 2, and the new level cap is 60 (which is what the first game's was too, I think). They say there will be more branching powers, and that they won't be using the "Mission Complete" approach again. Link to where I get this info. [http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass-Effect-3/Mass-Effect-3-General-Discussion/ME3-Known-Features-Updated-16th-June-2011-Several-new-information-added-7649262-1.html]

So overall, I think people are overrating the RPG elements of the first game. They weren't that good. Instead of saying, "I want it back to how it was", we should just ask for something different altogether.

 

[vrbtny]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements. Mass Effect 2 had better gameplay/presentation. Let's hope ME3 is a healthy combination of the two.

Naw, Mass Effect let's you choose between them...... but you're not allowed to use all three at once. Neva!!!

 

[weker]

Put simply? Mass Effect had a better story/RPG elements. Mass Effect 2 had somewhat better gameplay/presentation. Let's hope ME3 is a healthier combination of the two.

That what I would say but you did it almost right for me. I found that Mass Effect 2 while more refined left behind too many RPG elements and also the inclusion of ammo clips was just a pain in the arse. I recall being told that the third, the ammo for your gun is the same meaning you reload, but you don't need to look for ammo, which is soo much better if it's true, tho I would still like the heat sink system as I felt it added depth

 

[Battleaxx90]

Y'know, this has got me thinking... when it's finally possible to pre-order ME3 off Steam, do you think there'll be a pre-order bonus item for TF2?

Wait, hold that thought...

So anyway, if they do that, what'll you think it'll be? I've had a few ideas....

* An Omni-tool for either the Spy or Engineer; for the spy, it'll be an invisibilty watch, and for the Engie, it'll be like the Pip-Boy; it'll come up when he activates his PDA items and change the colors.

* A Claymore Shotgun for the Heavy (increased damage, one bullet per clip)

* Widow Sniper Rifle for the Sniper (identical to either the stock SR or the Machina)

* N7 Crest for the Soldier

* Either the Kuwashii Visor or Garrus's visor for the Sniper

Any other ideas?

Edit: This is my 100th post!

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well they didn't somuch improve as they just chopped off all the parts they couldn't figure out, which is quite strange since their big daddy was the top quality RPG maker, you couldn't just ask how the RPG parts are done then?

While I wish they sit down and figure out the proper RPG mechanics I do understand that the big success of ME2 is because of it's casual nature, so it doesn't make financial sense to appeal to the demanding niche crowd.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Well they didn't somuch improve as they just chopped off all the parts they couldn't figure out, which is quite strange since their big daddy was the top quality RPG maker, you couldn't just ask how the RPG parts are done then?

While I wish they sit down and figure out the proper RPG mechanics I do understand that the big success of ME2 is because of it's casual nature, so it doesn't make financial sense to appeal to the demanding niche crowd.

More like, they chopped off anything that could have given the gameplay some (confusing) depth or had taken the focus off the intense action. A part of me also wished that they had taken the time to figure it out rather than to just axe it all. Especially the equipment/inventory system could have greatly added to the experience if they had put some more effort into it.