Suggestions for Mass Effect 3

[Killjoi]

Before I get into this, I just want to make it clear - I loved Mass Effect and I love it's sequel even more. They got so many things right in Mass Effect 2 but there is still a lot of room for improvement. In a way, this speaks for the grand scope of the game and what it's trying to accomplish. So lets nitpick what BioWare needs to do to make Mass Effect 3 the most awesome it could be:

Level design - Not this corridor again
Mass Effect 2's cover based mechanic is right up there with Gears of War but it still lacks the varied level design that makes Gears a better shooter. The combat in ME2 is fun thanks to all the biotic and tech powers. However I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the set pieces were essentially the same level with a different decor. Maybe that's a problem with the genre in general but I think this is the easiest and probably the first thing they should look into. Shepard is visiting so many planets with vastly different geographies but s/he is invariably staring down the same corridor when the guns start firing. I think the premise in itself provides BioWare the inspiration they need here and give us just a little bit more variety.

Mini-Game - Launching Przzzzzz.....
I'm probably part of the minority that (somewhat) enjoyed the planet scanning but I still think it was a questionable design decision. I can understand that it's way to throttle the economy and player progression but it really needs to be something more fun than randomly browsing my mouse over a sphere. If they don't want to scrap the whole thing, here are a couple of changes that can make the existing game more bearable:

* Less hot-spots: Honestly, this will fix most of the problems people have. No one wants to spend 5 mins on a lifeless planet
* Visual & Audio cues: Make the minerals work the same way as the anomaly - helps us find them. Or just widen the area for scanner readings

Hell, you know what ? These changes would make for a pretty good DLC *wink wink*

Story - The Two Towers Effect
I adore every new character in ME2, yet somehow the story is less endearing to me than ME1. It's like you're introduced to this amazing cast of actors but the curtain falls before you can see them in action. I just want to see more of these guys when they aren't being used as cannon fodder.Shepard assembled such a huge, impressive crew this time and I think it's only fair that we get to play with the surviving members from the get go next time around (instead of going on another recruitment drive). In some ways, ME2 is like Two Towers - a better piece than the first in every way but you still walk out with the mixed feeling that there are better things in store next time. In order to make ME3 the ROTK of the series, they need to continue the journey with these characters.

Show some emotion Shepard!
Does anyone else find it weird that every character in Mass Effect 2 looks great and emotes well - except the one that matters the most! The default male Shepard always has that pissed off look on his face and the female Shepard makes me cringe every time she smiles. It's especially weird because Jennifer Hale does such an outstanding job voicing Shepard (still not liking Mark Meer btw).Probably the technology doesn't exist yet that will allow BioWare to combine customization and facial animation the way we want them to but I'm just throwing out ideas here.

Experience Points - Making the combat more rewarding
Removing Xp from mob kills was obviously a conscious decision on the developer's part to streamline the RPG mechanics but why remove the one thing that other genres are adopting ? My suggestion would be to bring it back - make it minimal if you want to control progression through quest lines but make it meaningful in some way. The two games from 2009 that did this perfectly were Batman and inFAMOUS - in both those games you get special bonus xp for killing anyone with style. The achievements for things like headshots or killing people will biotic/tech powers shows that they're already being tracked. Now just give the players in-game bonuses for doing these things and encourage them to try out different fighting techniques. The existing mechanics already allow a great flourish in combat, just make the process more rewarding.

I hope I didn't give an overtly negative view of the game here because I couldn't be more excited for Mass Effect 3. But I just felt like airing my concerns/suggestions in some form. Anyway, that's all for now.

 

[Irridium]

I want more armor and weapons.

Its cool that they got rid of the inventory, but a bit more weapons and armor would have been great.

And any new armors they release through DLC, please allow me to toggle the helmet.

 

[Armored Prayer]

Haven't played it yet. I'll think off something when I finally play it.

 

[Shurikens and Lightning]

Nice suggestions, but use search bar. Mass effect 3 suggestions have been done.

I want more weapons this time, it was too streamlined.

But there is a reason I am not a developer.

 

[Neverseen6]

I will post this in any ME3 suggestion thread I see
KEEP
TALI
Seriously
I don't care who you kill, scrap, do away with, whatever
just KEEP. TALI.

Garrus would be cool too.

 

[Killjoi]

Yes, you couldn't have posted this on the three other Mass Effect 3 suggestion threads that have been made in the last 2 days with the exact same name?

Of course not.


OP: I haven't played it yet, I shall wait until then to pass judgment on it.

Am I missing something ? I used the search bar and didn't find any suggestion thread. Would you mind linking the thread you are talking about? The only article I found was BioWare announcing that they are working on the game.

 

[Neverseen6]

Yes, you couldn't have posted this on the three other Mass Effect 3 suggestion threads that have been made in the last 2 days with the exact same name?

Of course not.


OP: I haven't played it yet, I shall wait until then to pass judgment on it.

Am I missing something ? I used the search bar and didn't find any suggestion thread. Would you mind linking the thread you are talking ? The only article I found was BioWare announcing that they are working on the game.

Hell, they even talk about ME3 in the game using the advice mid-loading screen.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Make it a cross platform, and make the pistols less fugly.

 

[Killjoi]

Am I missing something ? I used the search bar and didn't find any suggestion thread. Would you mind linking the thread you are talking about? The only article I found was BioWare announcing that they are working on the game.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.172210-Too-early-for-a-Mass-Effect-3-wishlist-thread-Inconceivable

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.166614-What-Id-kind-of-like-to-see-in-Mass-Effect-3

These both come up on the first page when you search this thread title. Apologies, I couldn't seem to find the third one.

Weird. Neither of them showed up when I typed "Mass Effect 3" in the search bar. This [http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1629/capturezx.jpg] is what my search results look like. Though it's not a valid excuse, I'll go for the newbie defense and say I don't know how to use the search bar yet.

It goes without saying that I'm sorry for bringing up an old topic now - any tips on how to use the search properly and avoid this in the future ?

 

[Heathrow]

Show some emotion Shepard!
Does anyone else find it weird that every character in Mass Effect 2 looks great and emotes well - except the one that matters the most! The default male Shepard always has that pissed off look on his face and the female Shepard makes me cringe every time she smiles. It's especially weird because Jennifer Hale does such an outstanding job voicing Shepard (still not liking Mark Meer btw).Probably the technology doesn't exist yet that will allow BioWare to combine customization and facial animation we want it to but I'm just throwing out ideas here.

The Tech does exist, it's called FACS [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_Action_Coding_System]. Half Life 2 used it way back in 2004 and it seems like no one else has used it in a game since then.

I don't see any good reason why Bioware couldn't have implemented this as long ago as the original Mass Effect much less why they left it out of DA:O and Mass Effect 2.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

snip

Some very good points there. I just want to add a few things.

W/r/t the facial expressions, it is kind of telling how you note that they are actually not that bad for most of the characters except for Shepard. What that suggests to me is that because you are allowed to create Shepard's face yourself, the developers are limited in the ways that they can animate his/her face. In the cases of the NPCs, as their faces never change, Bioware can customize the animations to a higher level of perfection. It's an ongoing challenge I guess, I doubt its an issue they're overlooking.

As to level design, I didn't note so much of a problem with repetitive combat areas really... In fact, I would have to strain hard to think of any two areas that seemed like copies of each other. Maybe if you gave two as an example it might click for me. That said, I was upset with a different aspect of level design - namely the separation between wide-open non-combat hubs and linear combat mission levels. What I would love to see more of in ME3 would be larger hubs with many more side quests (like on the Citadel in ME1 but times 4 or 5, somewhat like the hubs in Dragon Age Origins) and a more organic transition between combat and non-combat areas, sort of like how in ME1 parts of the citadel became the scene of short firefights when certain side-quests required it.

Regarding the story, I think you're right, it wasn't as satisfying because there was too much emphasis on collecting and earning the loyalty of the crew. Don't get me wrong, those missions were freakin' brilliant all around, but they shouldn't have made up the body of the game. After collecting the crew, I was hoping for at least a fistful of main-quest missions and a cornucopia of side-quests to open up, but it just didn't happen. That was kind of disappointing for me.

The planet scanning mini-game does really have to be cleaned up. I was thinking of an alternative: how about you scan by clicking a button once which sends something looking like a single sonar ping around the planet and which reveals hotspots for a few seconds. Then you have to memorize those spots and drop probes as quickly as possible before the hotspots fade. Each ping costs you a number of credits, but the probes don't, therefore you don't have to travel back and forth buying probes. The mini-game should be designed to challenge you to choose between spending more money and finding all the hotspots or just pinging once or twice and claiming the big nodes. It also would mean you wouldn't have to hold a button and feel up the planet on all sides.

There's one area you didn't mention and which I want to add in which is the distribution of items in combat levels and the constant need in ME2 to search every goddamn corner of every room twice in order to make sure you didn't miss any critical upgrades that you only have one shot at acquiring. While I love the new upgrade system, the need to do this in levels really breaks the flow of the combat. Instead, I think they should have multiple copies of each upgrade, some in hard to find places, some in plain sight, and some in stores only. In addition, once you've found one copy of the upgrade, all other copies of that same upgrade would be marked so you don't get two copies of it. That way, you don't have to worry about missing something critical and can just get along with playing the damn game. The reward for searching thoroughly is that you get upgraded earlier and cheaper, but it's not a big deal if you miss a few items.

Related to that is the heat clips system in ME2. While I love how the heat clips make you think tactically, use all your weapons, and conserve ammo, I hate having to search around the room after every firefight looking for more clips. Why don't they put in regenerating ammo, kind of like how mana and health regenerate between battles for Bioware's fantasy games. That way, you still have to spend heat clips wisely, but don't have to worry about finding more. To clarify, I never once ran out of ammo, but the constant pressure of keeping a full load of it led me to meticulously search for more when I wasn't full up. That's just not fun - it adds more busywork that the game really doesn't need.

 

[CommyGingerbreadMan]

1. More upgrade. I miss Chemical rounds. I love that now upgrades are global. Now I don't need to feel like I can only have 2 squad members at a time because it's easiest to keep them up-to-snuff. Now if I feel like taking Jack and Thane out, I can, instead of about how much better Mordin and Garrus were.

2. ME1 did the story arc great. You get your team, then do a multitude of missions with them before it ends. I got the last guy at the IFF and used him for the loyalty mission and that was it, then I was off to finish the game.

3. Better portrayal of how much your choices mattered from the previous, I'm sorry but about half of them you get one scene and suddenly BLAM never again.

4.Alright Jack I get, shes a powerful Biotic so maybe she engrosses herself in a biotic barrier the entire time, But Miranda, Thane, Justicar (forget her name), Mordin, and Tali all looked like they were wearing something you bring to a nerf gun fight. These are lasers being shot at us, and all Miranda can wear is her skin tight leather suit. Maybe the Armor bin customizes more then just yourself. Or have multiple armors unlocked via their loyalty mission, I mean yea Miranda looked better in black, but it was still not very laser repellent.

5.The scanning, was, dreadful until the upgrade which made it tolerable. Maybe less probes, but a sonar that shows hotspots that maybe needs to be recharged before it's use again. No one wants to play airport security for hours even if it means vital upgrades.

 

[Raven's Nest]

I have a suggestion...

For story, I can only think of one thing epic enough to work...

The Terminus Systems, led by Cerberus, have united and declared war on Citadel Space. As part of a small team of spectre's you have to prevent this war from happening and ultimately unite them in order to stop the inevitable reaper invasion...

After Wrex is betrayed and murdered, The New Krogan Army has risen and has launched an assault on the Salarian homeworld. This conflict must be stopped, but this is only possible if you convince the Rachni queen and her brood to help you...

Meanwhile the Quarian Fleet has declared war on the Geth which you are also forced into mediating.

The bottom line is this... You will unite... Or you will all be exterminated...


You heard it here first...

(Oh and find a main character for Sir Patrick Stewart to voice...)

 

[Killjoi]

Best thing to do, if you're in any doubt is to use Google. The search bar isn't the best, so sometimes it's the better option to simply type in 'Escapist magazine (whatever you want to search)" in google and see what comes up.

Thanks. I'll be more thorough next time.

As to level design, I didn't note so much of a problem with repetitive combat areas really... In fact, I would have to strain hard to think of any two areas that seemed like copies of each other. Maybe if you gave two as an example it might click for me.

I was being nitpicky about that because I tend to play a lot of shooters and a lot of ME feels like something I've encountered before.For a RPG, the shooting action is totally unmatched but that's like making an excuse for the game.As for an example within the game itself:

Spoiler

How about a straight corridor with 2 elevated lanes running parallel to it like the section where you rescue Tali ? That pattern is repeated quite a bit - Jack's prison facility, Afterlife Vents,etc. Not an issue but as I said, terribly nitpicky - I'm very conscious about level design if they repeat any pattern

distribution of items in combat levels

As yes, definitely something they should work on. I missed a SMG upgrade as a sentinel and I felt cheated because it was inside a hidden container that was completely out of the way.

heat clips

I never had any problem with this. I thought ammo management added more challenge to the combat and worked well as an incentive to keep pushing forward. Speaking of ammo, I'm glad I don't have to press a button to pick it up every time - I hate games that don't have auto-pickup (it should be a crime or something).

 

[Internet Kraken]

I've decided that BioWare really needs to work on the Paragon Renegade system.

It really prevents you from playing the character you want to play. How so? Well certain situations can only be resolved if you have a high enough Paragon or Renegade score. So if you play the character the way you like, maybe getting a mixture of Paragon and Renegade, you will be effectively prevented from resolving dire situations later in the game. And for what reason? Why does me doing something pointlessly evil at one point in the game prevent me from doing something later on? My character not being a saint or an asshole should not affect their ability to resolve conflicts. That should be something separate. I'm not saying BioWare should ditch the Paragon/Renegade system completley, but they should design the game so that people can role-play without being locked out of decisions later on.

Though complaining about this without suggesting a solution feels ridiculous. I'll try and think of one, though it will probably won't be good.