Yeah, Mass effect is a great game trilogy, fantastic universe, incredible characters and all that. Reasonable shooter ? not great, but reasonable. Some RPG elements sprinkled here and there. The result? One of the best gaming experiences ever. But this last game just left a sour aftertaste in my mouth
Here is why:
1. EA too eager to get my money: Day1 DLC, multiplayer packages, DLC propaganda everywhere (including in the game itself, totally breaking any immersion you could have); Keep your pants on EA ? the game will be a success, you don?t have to milk us dry. Better strategy is to kiss a little to ensure similar sales in the future; this one is already in the basket. Jeez.
Gameplay Day one DLC is like launching the special edition DVD in the same day the movie is launched on the theaters. It is possible, you have the right to do it and people with money to spare will love it because they have more content right away. But the truly reason behind it is to get more money, faster.
2. EA and Bioware bad an amateurish PR. I know, handling a rabid fanbase is difficult (go ask George Lucas), but EA approach the problems from all the wrong angles with vague, contradictory, misleading, arrogant and even some aggressive statements all over the board. Some comments from the publishers and developers were incredibly condescending and marketing-oriented when a straight honest answer was called for.
Casey Hudson recently said that people are starting to see reason regarding day 1 DLC ? this is either PR bullshit or the guy is delusional. The subject just died on the internet because it is in the past, but I have not seen any post anywhere with someone saying: yeah, now I think the whole day 1 DLC is ok. On the contrary, I?ve seen some people joining the dark side after knowing that some content was already on the disc.
Stop man, just stop. Regardless of who?s right or wrong, this kind of statement will only push people further away. God, your PR department sucks.
3. Photoshoped Tali. C?mon. Cutting corners is sometimes necessary, but you do not cut corners with one of the most beloved character of your series unless you do not respect your fans. This is lazy as hell.
4. Speaking about Lazy, Kai Lang. Man, what Nightwing is doing in my mass effect? Nothing in this guy design says science fiction ? this dude is super-hero and anime all over. It might seem a minor thing, but every time Kai Lang appeared I died a little.
5. The romances and sex scenes: you guys have the balls to put a gay dude in the game (props for that) but cannot include some nipples or side boobs? I?m talking again about immersion here: it is ok if you are in the bed and are on the hurry, horny and stuff and do not lose the bra. But the chick taking a bath on her underwear was just ridiculous.
6. Multiplayer. It was OK and all, but you just f***d the main story because of that. Reaching the best ending without multiplayer is something so difficult that I truly do not have the patience to attempt, but with multiplayer it is simply too easy and you can just skip a ton of sidequests. Great way to reward the guys that invested on the main campaign!!
7. The ending: Ok, let?s go direct to the point here:
. the ending is badly written. A synthetic race that kills us so we cannot create a synthetic race that kills us is one of the most horrible things I have seen ? even if the whole thing was an hallucination.
. the ending does not deliver. It can be 2 things:
1. a pretentious shit that was terribly executed.
2. a indoctrination sequence that will be explained later (or, worse, never explained at all).
In both cases, the promise of answering all questions is broken. In both cases it lacks intensity, in both cases it is mechanically uninteresting (choose door A, B or C) and in both cases it is not rewarding.
Mass Effect 2 had one of the best endings in all videogame history. Seriously. It was so good that people have forgiven the fact that the game has no story, abandoned its RPG roots and we even forgave the giant nonsensical human reaper. It was intense, it showed the role of everyone you?ve recruited (and let you chose that role), it was rewarding, showing a consequence for every decision you?ve made during the game.
Casey Hudson recently said that he was expecting this reaction. That he wanted people talking about the end. I don?t know ? most of the things that I hear are bad and the speculation about it feels more like hopeful thinking than anything else. It is not like that people are discussing the end of 2001 or even Planet of the Apes. It sure looks like the discussions about the ending of The Revenge of the Sith, with its inconsistencies and Darth Vader corny scream.
But I guess we will see how things evolve, right? Sure, a great DLC might even redeem the series, but it will not redeem this game. I can?t erase my sentiment that the end sequence was really terrible.
In any case, the mass effect series is a great accomplishment. I had fun with this third installment (Mordin mission was great), but it is already uninstalled from my computer as I see no reason whatsoever to replay it. In Mass Effect 2 it was fun to see what happened if I did this or that. In this game ? not so much.
Edit: I won't even mention Jessica Chobot to avoid become depressed.
Here is why:
1. EA too eager to get my money: Day1 DLC, multiplayer packages, DLC propaganda everywhere (including in the game itself, totally breaking any immersion you could have); Keep your pants on EA ? the game will be a success, you don?t have to milk us dry. Better strategy is to kiss a little to ensure similar sales in the future; this one is already in the basket. Jeez.
Gameplay Day one DLC is like launching the special edition DVD in the same day the movie is launched on the theaters. It is possible, you have the right to do it and people with money to spare will love it because they have more content right away. But the truly reason behind it is to get more money, faster.
2. EA and Bioware bad an amateurish PR. I know, handling a rabid fanbase is difficult (go ask George Lucas), but EA approach the problems from all the wrong angles with vague, contradictory, misleading, arrogant and even some aggressive statements all over the board. Some comments from the publishers and developers were incredibly condescending and marketing-oriented when a straight honest answer was called for.
Casey Hudson recently said that people are starting to see reason regarding day 1 DLC ? this is either PR bullshit or the guy is delusional. The subject just died on the internet because it is in the past, but I have not seen any post anywhere with someone saying: yeah, now I think the whole day 1 DLC is ok. On the contrary, I?ve seen some people joining the dark side after knowing that some content was already on the disc.
Stop man, just stop. Regardless of who?s right or wrong, this kind of statement will only push people further away. God, your PR department sucks.
3. Photoshoped Tali. C?mon. Cutting corners is sometimes necessary, but you do not cut corners with one of the most beloved character of your series unless you do not respect your fans. This is lazy as hell.
4. Speaking about Lazy, Kai Lang. Man, what Nightwing is doing in my mass effect? Nothing in this guy design says science fiction ? this dude is super-hero and anime all over. It might seem a minor thing, but every time Kai Lang appeared I died a little.
5. The romances and sex scenes: you guys have the balls to put a gay dude in the game (props for that) but cannot include some nipples or side boobs? I?m talking again about immersion here: it is ok if you are in the bed and are on the hurry, horny and stuff and do not lose the bra. But the chick taking a bath on her underwear was just ridiculous.
6. Multiplayer. It was OK and all, but you just f***d the main story because of that. Reaching the best ending without multiplayer is something so difficult that I truly do not have the patience to attempt, but with multiplayer it is simply too easy and you can just skip a ton of sidequests. Great way to reward the guys that invested on the main campaign!!
7. The ending: Ok, let?s go direct to the point here:
. the ending is badly written. A synthetic race that kills us so we cannot create a synthetic race that kills us is one of the most horrible things I have seen ? even if the whole thing was an hallucination.
. the ending does not deliver. It can be 2 things:
1. a pretentious shit that was terribly executed.
2. a indoctrination sequence that will be explained later (or, worse, never explained at all).
In both cases, the promise of answering all questions is broken. In both cases it lacks intensity, in both cases it is mechanically uninteresting (choose door A, B or C) and in both cases it is not rewarding.
Mass Effect 2 had one of the best endings in all videogame history. Seriously. It was so good that people have forgiven the fact that the game has no story, abandoned its RPG roots and we even forgave the giant nonsensical human reaper. It was intense, it showed the role of everyone you?ve recruited (and let you chose that role), it was rewarding, showing a consequence for every decision you?ve made during the game.
Casey Hudson recently said that he was expecting this reaction. That he wanted people talking about the end. I don?t know ? most of the things that I hear are bad and the speculation about it feels more like hopeful thinking than anything else. It is not like that people are discussing the end of 2001 or even Planet of the Apes. It sure looks like the discussions about the ending of The Revenge of the Sith, with its inconsistencies and Darth Vader corny scream.
But I guess we will see how things evolve, right? Sure, a great DLC might even redeem the series, but it will not redeem this game. I can?t erase my sentiment that the end sequence was really terrible.
In any case, the mass effect series is a great accomplishment. I had fun with this third installment (Mordin mission was great), but it is already uninstalled from my computer as I see no reason whatsoever to replay it. In Mass Effect 2 it was fun to see what happened if I did this or that. In this game ? not so much.
Edit: I won't even mention Jessica Chobot to avoid become depressed.