Mass Effect (2)

[Daft]

http://www.tothegame.com/res/game/4745/logo.jpg

http://masseffect.bioware.com/

Mass Effect, is an action role-playing game under development by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which will be the first installment of a planned trilogy. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard. The story revolves around an ancient alien prophecy stating that, every fifty thousand years, an alien race comes to the galaxy to harvest all organic life, and the time of their return is approaching. As the first human Spectre – sworn defenders of galactic peace – Shepard's mission is to halt the advancing armies of a legendary agent gone rogue. Shepard will lead an elite team across hostile alien worlds and discover that the true threat is far greater than anyone imagined.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/ce/Masseffect.jpg/426px-Masseffect.jpg

Here are some recently released screen shots and it looks nothing short of stunning!

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181871344.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181871413.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181871416.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181871414.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1176125234.jpg

I didn't see a Mass Effect thread so I thought I would start one and put in general updates. I've started reading the prequal book, not what I usually read but I heard good things and so far I've found its written in a really cheesey style but its entertaining nontheless!

Even though there isn't an official release date it can't be too far off!
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=74806

I was a huge fan of KOTOR and if this is anywhere near as good, I am a happy man!!

[kav82]

Yep, I'll be getting this... first I need a 360 though! Ha ha

[Hero-of-Time]

I wasnt the biggest fan of KOTOR, just couldnt get into, guess I love JRPGs too much. I am curious about Mass Effect though, I havent seen any videos since last years E3 I think but no doubt I will get drawn into the hype and end up buying it. Does look lovely though :bowdown:

[theguyfromspark]

This could go either way for me. I enjoyed KOTOR to a point but it didn't grab me too much for some reason. Looks pretty though, I just hope it doesn't take itself too seriously and is actually fun to play.

[Daft]

New Mass Effect info today! New Spieces - The Krogan

The krogan are a species of large reptilian bipeds native to the planet Tuchanka, a world known for its harsh environments, scarce resources, and overabundance of vicious predators. The krogan managed to not only survive on their unforgiving homeworld, but actually thrived in the extreme conditions. Unfortunately, as krogan society became more technologically advanced so did their weaponry.

Four thousand years ago, at the dawn of the krogan nuclear age, battles to claim the small pockets of territory capable of sustaining life escalated into full scale global war. Weapons of mass destruction were unleashed, transforming Tuchanka into a radioactive wasteland.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181930609.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181930608.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1181930607.jpg

Sounds good!

[The-Ironflame]

Let's hope my 360 survives this summer..
KOTOR was excellent much better than Oblivion although I found the battle system a bit weird.

[Marshmellow]

Haven't heard much about this game. But even my friend who hates RPG's and anything like an RPG he hates. But he seems really excited about this game. So great chance of getting this game! Release date anybody?

[KKOB]

Let's hope my 360 survives this summer..
KOTOR was excellent much better than Oblivion although I found the battle system a bit weird.

How can you compare KOTOR to Oblivion?

Oblivion is the best game on the 360 imo which i am quite surprised with.

[Noodleman]

Bioware are one of my favourite game devs. Having made the only 2 RPGS I have been able to play all the way through without being bored to tears (Baldurs Gate and KOTOR). Oblivion will be the 3rd when I start playing it again I am sure. As such I cant wait for this.

[KKOB]

Bioware are one of my favourite game devs. Having made the only 2 RPGS I have been able to play all the way through without being bored to tears (Baldurs Gate and KOTOR). Oblivion will be the 3rd when I start playing it again I am sure. As such I cant wait for this.

Can you actually finish Oblivion? lol

[The-Ironflame]

How can you compare KOTOR to Oblivion?

Oblivion is the best game on the 360 imo which i am quite surprised with.

It's not that oblivion is crap but what Bioware managed with KOTOR was amazing. It felt like a living, breathing Star Wars universe with a great storyline and good characters.

With Oblivion the NPC's feel like a bunch of Robots :laughing: The Main Storyline is a bit poor and there are no meaningful characters in this game.

[Daft]

Can you actually finish Oblivion? lol

Thats not necessarily a good thing. The ending to KOTOR was awesome!

I know BioWare didn't make it but what did everyone think of KOTOR 2??
I thought the beginning was awful, really slow, but then it got a lot better. The first is way better imo.

[Calza]

Yeah I hated the ship in KOTOR II it took so long I felt like giving up but after that it got so much better.

[Daft]

Here is some new blurb from BioWare...basically just an excuse for me to post more screenshots! :heh:

Urdnot Wrex is one of the last krogan Battle Masters: rare individuals that combine powerful biotic abilities with the devastating firepower of advanced weaponry. Born into clan Urdnot, he quickly gained fame for his prowess in battle. He became a leader of one of the smaller Urdnot tribes while still a youth: the youngest krogan to be granted the honor in 1000 years… until he was betrayed by his own people.

The betrayal opened Wrex’s eyes to the truth about the krogan: most would rather die in battle than try to rebuild their society through peaceful means. Realizing the warrior culture that once valued courage, strength and honor had been reduced to glorifying pointless violence Wrex turned his back on the rest of the krogan.

Over the past three centuries he has served no master but himself, working as a bodyguard, mercenary, soldier of fortune and bounty hunter; there is little in the galaxy that can still surprise him. He doesn’t speak often, but when he does his words are direct and often shockingly blunt - and people tend to listen.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/1183139222.jpg

And because the game looks so good, here are more pics...Its nice to see a realistic looking game that isn't brown and over run by the bloom effect.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1183139225.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1183139224.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1183139223.jpg

Does this game look good or what!

[That Guy]

It looks amazing....

[Chuck]

It does look amazing, coming on HL2 amazing. I think the gameplay is a bit MYST/Gears of War/Guild Wars (WoW) with the interactive talking and puzzles for MYST, the Camera and fighting style for Gears and the customability for WoW. I think Im looking forward to this more than Halo 3 or Half Life dare I say it

[Hero-of-Time]

Rumour has it that Rob/caboose/Chuck isnt allowed this game due to it being too violent, his mum has put her foot down!

[Chuck]

Rumour has it that Rob/caboose/Chuck isnt allowed this game due to it being too violent, his mum has put her foot down!

YOU DONT SLEEP. We finished @ 3, and your posting at 9am!

[BeerMonkey]

dunno about this really

i thought KOTOR was alright is this essentially simular to that?

havent heard much bout this game all ive seen is screenshots and been told its a rpg

[hobbzinio]

YOU DONT SLEEP. We finished @ 3, and your posting at 9am!

Of course he doesnt sleep, Hero Of Time is a games machine. Everytime there is a cut scene he gets 10 seconds sleep and vice versa. It builds up to a total of 1 hours sleep per day.

[Daft]

I know its a bit late but I'm on holiday! I saw there wasn't an update so here it is. Looks sexy, nuff said!

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1184139787.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1184139786.jpg

http://screenshots.teamxbox.com/screen-hires/62238/Mass-Effect/

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1184139688.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1184139687.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1184139685.jpg

[Fruitgun]

Does anyone know when this is coming out? In E3 I heard October, but that might be for America, and Play.com says December!

I can't wait that long!

[hobbzinio]

I Dont like 'Knights of the Old Republic', so its odds on I will not like this.

Wont be getting!

[The-Ironflame]

Does anyone know when this is coming out? In E3 I heard October, but that might be for America, and Play.com says December!

I can't wait that long!

They said November as far as I know in America.

[gaggle64]

This is my No. 1 anticipated game for the 360 by a long way. I currently spend my days playing the extended trailer over and over again while foaming at the mouth.

[Wesley]

I watched a trailer of this today and it looks amazing... so amazing it's another title that has swayed me to buy a Xbox 360.

[gaggle64]

There's a sexy new preview vid on 1up right now, showing off some mega hot character customisation features and flirtatious cross-species small talk. Oh hell yeah.

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/13855

[Chuck]

Watched the first 2 minutes, then it started to be gay. Plus Im watching Sunderland get beat.

Thanks for that, looks ace

[Chuck]

Just ordered the book, should come mid week

[Daft]

Just ordered the book, should come mid week

I read the book a couple months ago. Its actually a really awesome read!

[Fruitgun]

Read the book NOW! If you haven't... Or order it then read it.

In any case, READ IT! It's pretty good! And you get to learn some things about Mass Effect. And who doesn't want that?

[Kurtle Squad]

Hmmm...I might get this...Looks pretty cool; The name's rubbish though.

I watched a trailer of this today and it looks amazing... so amazing it's another title that has swayed me to buy a Xbox 360.

You really should get one.

[immy]

this was so awesome on the 1up show

[Daft]

Hmmm...I might get this...Looks pretty cool; The name's rubbish though.

The name Mass Effect comes from the "mass effect" engines/drives that all the races use in their ships...As to why they are called mass effect drives...I have no idea. :heh:

[Sooj]

Where can I order the book?

[Owen]

Is this still out November? or has it been delayed till 2008?

[immy]

Is this still out November? or has it been delayed till 2008?

still 2007 :)

[Daft]

Where can I order the book?

I got it of the Amazon marketplace: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mass-Effect-Revelation-Drew-Karpyshyn/dp/1841496758

I don't think it is actually out over here yet.

[Mr.X]

The name Mass Effect comes from the "mass effect" engines/drives that all the races use in their ships...As to why they are called mass effect drives...I have no idea. :heh:

Could it be that the engines behave like the main ship out of Futurama perhaps.

[The fish]

The name Mass Effect comes from the "mass effect" engines/drives that all the races use in their ships...As to why they are called mass effect drives...I have no idea. :heh:

Mass Effect is actually a medical term, concerning the effect caused by a growing mass, or more specifically, a tumor.

For example, cancer of the thyroid gland can lead to a narrowing of the windpipe, due to the presence of the tumor, along with other symptoms. These symptoms are the mass effect.

As for the game, according to Wikipedia: "Project Manager Casey Hudson explained the term "mass effect" as follows:

Inside the game universe, mass effect is a newly discovered (for humans anyway) physics phenomenon that has properties along the lines of other physics forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. It's what physicists in real life are currently calling "dark energy," as an explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe -- which has only recently been discovered and flies in the face of the previous notion that the universe's expansion should be slowing down because of gravity."

[Daft]

Mass Effect is actually a medical term, concerning the effect caused by a growing mass, or more specifically, a tumor.

For example, cancer of the thyroid gland can lead to a narrowing of the windpipe, due to the presence of the tumor, along with other symptoms. These symptoms are the mass effect.

As for the game, according to Wikipedia: "Project Manager Casey Hudson explained the term "mass effect" as follows:

Inside the game universe, mass effect is a newly discovered (for humans anyway) physics phenomenon that has properties along the lines of other physics forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. It's what physicists in real life are currently calling "dark energy," as an explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe -- which has only recently been discovered and flies in the face of the previous notion that the universe's expansion should be slowing down because of gravity."

Fine! Stupid lame memory...:heh:

Its not as cool as the improbability drive from HGTTG!

And just because Saren is a bad ass!!

http://masseffect.bioware.com/_commonext/images/me/screenshots/2007/masseffect_48_1280x760.jpg

[Gizmo]

Noooooooo! (http://www.mygen.com.au/article.php?page_id=47002309247142939&se_id=29&format=2)

[Daft]

Noooooooo! (http://www.mygen.com.au/article.php?page_id=47002309247142939&se_id=29&format=2)

Actually as long as it doesn't get delayed any more, thats perfect! :heh:


http://www.mygen.com.au/cms_files/mygen/images/xbox360/Xbox360_Screenshots/masseffect(1).jpg

[Chuck]

Not good, but not really bad.

Its only about 3 weeks. We'll be playing Half Life Orange, Assassins Creed and Halo 3 mean time

[theguyfromspark]

Noooooooo! (http://www.mygen.com.au/article.php?page_id=47002309247142939&se_id=29&format=2)

Check the link again, some big shot has said it will ship in November still. :smile:

[Gizmo]

:yay: :yay: :yay:

[Hero-of-Time]

It says that a release date will be set soon. Im guessing either at leipzig or X07 seeing as that is back on now.

[Gizmo]

Dated for November 20th in the US. I almost hope its a few weeks after for us. Assassins Creed and Mario Galaxy will just suck up my time for the rest of November.

[Bluejay]

23rd here according to NeoGaf.

November is going to be mental.

[Hero-of-Time]

November is going to be mental.

Agreed. Mario Galaxy, CoD4, Assasins Creed and Mass Effect and thats only the ones that I can think of at this time in the morning.

[Daft]

In the run up to the November release, key characters are going to be profiled:

Set 200 years in the future in an epic universe, “Mass Effect” places gamers in a vast galactic community in danger of being conquered by a legendary agent gone rogue. A spectacular new vision from legendary developers BioWare, “Mass Effect” challenges players to lead a squad of freedom fighters as they struggle against threatening armies to restore peace in the land. “Mass Effect” is the first in a trilogy of games with an overarching story, where the real conflict between organic beings and artificial intelligence comes to life in startling clarity.

As we’re nearing the Nov. 20 launch date for “Mass Effect,” we’d like to offer you a glimpse into the personalities of several key characters that you can enjoy until you can get your hands on the game. Check out a new video profiling key characters that players will encounter in “Mass Effect,” such as the powerful Krogan battle master Urdnot Wrex, Alliance military Captain David Anderson, the Quarian nomad Tali’zorah Nar Ray Ya and the mysterious Turian Spectre Nihlus. All footage in the video is taken directly from the game, and you’ll get to see a sampling of scenes for each character that showcase their personality.

You can watch the video below!!

High Quality Video (http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360-hires/5411/Mass-Effect-Character-Spotlight-Part-1-HD/)

Lower Quality Video (http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/5412/Mass-Effect-Character-Spotlight-Part-1/)

I can't wait to get my hands on this!

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1188502009.jpg

I also just noticed Seth Green does the voice of the pilot bloke at the beginning of the video!!

[Retro_Link]

In the run up to the November release, key characters are going to be profiled:

You can watch the video below!!

High Quality Video (http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360-hires/5411/Mass-Effect-Character-Spotlight-Part-1-HD/)

Lower Quality Video (http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/5412/Mass-Effect-Character-Spotlight-Part-1/)Cheers Daft!

It's looking awesome!

[martinist]

42 min Mass Effect Demonstration
part 1 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yb6Zf5KvO7Y)
part 2 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nafsNUi_U5w&watch_response)
part 3 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t3P0pQiI810&watch_response)
part 4 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4Z_utLLc8&watch_response)
part 5 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyup-NT6sz8&watch_response)

[Daft]

42 min Mass Effect Demonstration
part 1 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yb6Zf5KvO7Y)
part 2 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nafsNUi_U5w&watch_response)
part 3 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t3P0pQiI810&watch_response)
part 4 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4Z_utLLc8&watch_response)
part 5 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyup-NT6sz8&watch_response)

Awesome, cheers! Can't wait to check it out!

There is also a new preview up at Team XBox:

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1768/Mass-Effect/p1/

and some new screenshots!

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190014057.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190014056.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190014055.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190013994.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190014054.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190014053.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190013998.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190013997.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190013996.jpg

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1325/full-res/1190013995.jpg

All I can say is this is going to be a GOOOOOOOOD christmas!! :heh:

Just found Eurogamer also have a preview! http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=83475

[Chuck]

sexy alien boobies

[Gizmo]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24946.html

Eugh, combat is so slow. Doesn't seem very exciting at all.

[Dilli Gee]

That clip is dull, agreed. But I doubt it's always like that.

[McPhee]

Hang on, this is out in November? Is it just me or is November kind of packed?

Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Call Of Duty 4
UT3 (for those with PCs/PS3s)

In a single month? Some sources are saying Orange Box is November too, making it even more silly

[Jordan]

Orange Box is out late Oct for PC's.

But yeah, Mass Effect isn't my kinda game at all. But it looks and sounds fantastic.

[Bluejay]

Hang on, this is out in November? Is it just me or is November kind of packed?

Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Call Of Duty 4
UT3 (for those with PCs/PS3s)

In a single month? Some sources are saying Orange Box is November too, making it even more silly
It sure is. Add Mario Galaxy to that this too. Madness.

[Dante]

BBFC (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/recent/index.php?media=film): MASS EFFECT is a role playing game and shooter set in the future in space. The player controls either a male or female American soldier through a long and involved story line, making choices along the way. The game has been classified at '12' for moderate violence and one sex scene.

The violence is undetailed and takes place in a futuristic setting. The single sex scene is brief and undetailed, although there is breast nudity in one version of the scene. The sex scene is triggered by the player making a series of choices about becoming more than friends with a colleague. If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien. If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien.

The game also contains use of the word 'bastard' and at least one aggressive use of the word 'bitch'. Both of which are acceptable under BBFC Guidelines at '12'.

[Gizmo]

Hahaha yeah, saw that on GameFAQs.

Is it wrong I've now decided to make a Female character? :indeed:

[The fish]

Hang on, this is out in November? Is it just me or is November kind of packed?

Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Call Of Duty 4
UT3 (for those with PCs/PS3s)


There's also PGR4 on the same day as Assassin's Creed, apparently. :heh:

I know which day I'm going to be suddenly "ill"... :indeed:

Back on topic, this game looks better every time I see it! :yay:

Where the fuck am I going to get the money for all these great looking games?
Meh.

[Daft]

There's also PGR4 on the same day as Assassin's Creed, apparently. :heh:

I know which day I'm going to be suddenly "ill"... :indeed:

Back on topic, this game looks better every time I see it! :yay:

Where the fuck am I going to get the money for all these great looking games?
Meh.

PGR4 comes out on 12th of October.

[The fish]

PGR4 comes out on 12th of October.

Ah shit, that's even earlier...

Big, fat money issues, here, and I need a new year on Live. :(

[Fruitgun]

The sex scene is triggered by the player making a series of choices about becoming more than friends with a colleague. If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien. If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien.


Wait, what? Man that sucks, well for me, a girl, anyway :P How come the guys get THREE things to pick from? (If they play as a Female Character, you get the third one :P)
I wanted some Turian alien love :(

But anyway, hooray! This comes out on the 23rd November. I can't wait. But I must. GAAHHH
By the way, is anyone going to get the Collectors Limited Edition set? I've heard there's going to be an art book or a figure in it or something.

[gaggle64]

It is a little odd that female players/characters don't get the same choice. Somebody should write in and complain.

Also, like, a jillion new vids just hit Gamespot. Get em' while they're hot!

What appears to be the opening sequence:
http://uk.gamespot.com/video/930279/6178944/mass-effect-gameplay-movie-13

[McPhee]

Maybe the "humanoid female alien" is of a female-only race therefore forcing the gender choice?

[Mundi]

The sex scene is triggered by the player making a series of choices about becoming more than friends with a colleague. If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien. If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien.


What being gay in the game is not allowed but being lesbian is?
Spread the love man :heh:

[The Bard]

This game is looking like the best thing ever. I wonder what the music's like...

[theguyfromspark]

This game is looking like the best thing ever. I wonder what the music's like...

One thing's for sure, there isn't any Wham! Pet Shop Boys or Eurasure on the soundtrack, the dirty homophobes! :heh:

[martinist]

Is it just me or is November kind of packed?

PGR4 12/10/2007
Mass Effect 23/11/2007
Assassin's Creed 16/11/2007
Call Of Duty 4 09/11/2007
UT3 (for those with PCs/PS3s) 09/11/2007
Mario Galaxy 16/11/2007
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men 16/11/2007


sweetness 101011010101010

[Daft]

This game is looking like the best thing ever. I wonder what the music's like...

This is on Eurogamer:

There's an '80s overtone to the whole thing, created in large part by the brilliant music.

Zeschuk describes it as "classic '80s electronica" but it's specifically evocative of the kind of electronica featured in '80s sci-fi films, the properly frightening ones with the biodomes and the mad robots. There's a ponderous, ominous feel to it that works superbly.

Sounds promising.

[The Bard]

Yeah. I liked the music in the opening trailer. Atmospheric.

[gaggle64]

Bioware are saying they are aiming to complete the entire Mass Effect trilogy within this generation of hardware. That's a lofty goal. I just hope they don't stop after three.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/sweet/mass-effect-trilogy-completed-within-this-gen-301246.php

[Jordan]

Hot lesbian action and its only a 12+? Also... boobs? Christ.

I hope that gets on youtube :p

[Daft]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/sweet/mass-effect-trilogy-completed-within-this-gen-301246.php

A trilogy, all this generation, I'm sold.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1387/1406765823_d33dabf1b1_o.jpg

[gaggle64]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070919.jpg
I agree, Bioware haven't gone nearly far enough in my book.

[Daft]

New Mass Effect info....I need this game sooooo much!

Nihlus Kryik is one of the Citadel Council's most decorated Spectre agents. Born in a small mercenary outpost outside Hierarchy space, he learned the hard way to fight for what he wanted. His father died when he was 16, and his mother forced him to join the turian military. His outsider status made life difficult; though he was always at the top of his class, his superiors and peers never truly accepted him.

As a soldier, Nihlus' skills were unquestionable. His attitude, however, often got him in trouble. On several occasions, he disobeyed direct orders to do what he thought was best. Although his instincts were usually proven right, his notoriety grew. Even when he single-handedly routed an enemy patrol, and saved his squad from ambush, his commanding officers berated him for his recklessness. His military career seemed to stall before it even began.

"Cool under pressure, Nihlus has an uncanny ability to find an enemy's weakness and exploit it."
After being reassigned to a new squad for the third time, Nihlus was introduced to Saren Arterius, a fellow turian and a Spectre. Saren was impressed with the young soldier. He befriended Nihlus and offered to mentor him. Within a year of meeting Saren, Nihlus was asked to join the Spectres.

Free from the restrictions of military procedure, Nihlus excelled in his new role. He quickly stepped from his mentor's shadow and established himself as one of the Council's top agents. Since then, Nihlus has completed countless missions as a Spectre, each one more difficult and dangerous than the last.

Cool under pressure, Nihlus has an uncanny ability to find an enemy's weakness and exploit it. Though his methods aren't as brutal as Saren's, he will not hesitate to efficiently and thoroughly eradicate anything or anyone that stands in his way.

Also some damn fine new screens!!

http://masseffect.bioware.com/_commonext/images/me/screenshots/2007/masseffect_55_1280x760.jpg

http://masseffect.bioware.com/_commonext/images/me/screenshots/2007/masseffect_56_1280x760.jpg

http://masseffect.bioware.com/_commonext/images/me/screenshots/2007/masseffect_57_1280x760.jpg

[Dilli Gee]

It is a little odd that female players/characters don't get the same choice. Somebody should write in and complain.
There are only three main characters, which are 1 human male, 1 human female and 1 alien female.

If you play as the human male, that means you can only have sex with a female (either human or alien).

If you play as the human female, you can have sex with the human male or alien female.

[Tellyn]

Someone explain Mass Effect to me, aka what type of game it is, what the story is, etc.

Madness.

Sparta.

[Fruitgun]

Someone explain Mass Effect to me, aka what type of game it is, what the story is, etc.


Mass effect is a futuristic story set in 2148 and later. It's about a person you create called Shephard who must firstly become a Spectre, (Basically one of the Galaxy's secret agents) and then investigate a renegade Spectre named Saren. It is believed that Saren is controlling the Geth, (A race made by the alien species Quarians, and are basically Humanoid AI Robots) and he is using them for evil.

It's an RPG by Bioware, so you know it's good :P and it's also got a combat system that relies heavily on FPS elements and Tactical elements. There are also different powers, such as Biotics which are 'magical' moves such as 'Push' or 'Lift'. There is also 'Tech' abilities which can come in handy when you need healing or are taking out some form of machinery.

Its got a really deep conversation system, and check out the main website if you haven't already, it pretty much sums up everything, and there's awesome pictures! http://masseffect.bioware.com/

Also, does anyone know what is going to be in the Limited Edition yet? I've heard some things about Prima, and that it will include some form of art book and such, but is that only if you order it from them? Or is that just the contents of teh Strategy Guide? I ordered mine from shopto.net, and I'm worried I wont get some extras! And they'd better put some ultra-cool stuff in there!! D:

Here's the Prima thing: http://www.primagames.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780761556237

[Wesley]

Well...

http://kotaku.com/gaming/biowhat/mass-effect-limited-edition-details-emerge-306764.php

As reported by Team XBox.

[gaggle64]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/mass-effect-character-spotlight-pt-2-307872.php
2nd Mass Effect character rundown. Those two guys standing behind Captain Kirahee have some disconcertingly large cod pieces.

[Chuck]

http://www.oxm.co.uk/article.php?id=1556

The Collectors Edition contents exposed = books books and more books

[Shorty]

This game may look amazing and have boobs, but does anyone really know if it's going to be enjoyable to play?

[Caris]

It's made by the people who done KOTOR and it's the same style game so i imagine yes.

[gaggle64]

You could say the same thing about Mario Galaxy really. Bioware I think can be trusted to deliver the goods.

[Wesley]

So Bioware now owned by EA...

So I guess Mass Effect 2 comes out in 2008?

[Gizmo]

I'd say its highly likely this be ported to PS3 after its released, with the other two games of the triology being multiplatform from release.

[Noodleman]

Isn't Mass Effect being published by Microsoft. Cant see them letting it be ported to the PS3 tbh. Shame about Bioware being bought by EA.

[Jordan]

Mass Effect trillogy, as far as we know is exclusive to Microsoft platforms.

This is a good and bad thing for Bioware really, it means that their games get more promotion... but it also means that EA might end up milking their RPG's to shit.

[Gizmo]

Might wanna avoid Mass Effect threads from now on:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/street-date/mass-effect-street-date-broken-ten-days-early-321241.php

In such a story driven game I'd expect there will be plenty of morons who have nothing better to do but speed through the story and spoil it.

[Dilli Gee]

I'd say its highly likely this be ported to PS3 after its released, with the other two games of the triology being multiplatform from release.
It's a Microsoft Game Studios title, as in they're paying for BioWare to make it. We'll probably see it ported to Games for Windows, but other than that, nothing.

All the major reviews come out tmrw. I have a feeling this is going to be HUGE. Halo/GoW huge.

[Daft]

All the major reviews come out tmrw. I have a feeling this is going to be HUGE. Halo/GoW huge.

I've heard rumblings that it might not be as great as well all hope it will be....I hope thats wrong.

[gaggle64]

I've heard rumblings that it might not be as great as well all hope it will be....I hope thats wrong.

I hear that levels are slow to load due to Bioware having to build it with people without hard drives in mind, but the rest of it's more then good enough to negate any such quibbles.

[Wesley]

The lowest score I've seen it be given is 90/100 by a UK XBox mag. They said it wasn't amazing like they had hoped for, but it was just, very, very, very good.

[Mundi]

Lowest one i seen on gamerankings is 4 of 5 from magazine called " Hardcore gamer magazine".
Great name... or something.

[gaggle64]

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comics/20071119.jpg

[Hero-of-Time]

Eurogamer Review

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=87875&page=1

8/10

[Caris]

"Throw in some grumbles about the somewhat unoptimised state of the frame-rate, texture pop-in and v-syncing terrors, and it's a game that just falls short of our expectations."

I wish devs would fucking sort this out, most games have it.

Edit: GT Review up too. 9.6

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/27704.html

[Hero-of-Time]

Just 8?

...

lol.

Thing is I thought it would score 10 or even a 9 seeing as its in the running for GOTY. Still doubt I will pick this up as I wasnt a fan of KOTOR, to this day I still dont see what the fuss was about them games. Saying that I think a JRPG beats any other style of RPG.

[Jordan]

8/10? WTF?

Gametrailers gave it 9.6

As for Vsync?

No console hardware physically supports vsync, its something that software developers have to add to their engine. Something Unreal 3 hasn't got.

[Hero-of-Time]

IGN gave it a 9.4

[Daft]

I thought this might happen. I'm not really bothered though, I still think its going to be my favorite game of the year. Also Assassin's Creed got some pretty bad reviews and I'm loving it.

[Caris]

8/10? WTF?

Gametrailers gave it 9.6

As for Vsync?

No console hardware physically supports vsync, its something that software developers have to add to their engine. Something Unreal 3 hasn't got.

That i can live with, to be honest i can live with a few frame issues as well. It's the texture pop up that does my nut in.

[Jordan]

That i can live with, to be honest i can live with a few frame issues as well. It's the texture pop up that does my nut in.

Don't play M&M's Kart Racing...

[gaggle64]

From what I'm hearing, it's Achilles heel is only it's own vast scope and ambition.

[Nintenchris]

Ah crap i wasnt gonna get this but the gametrailers review has changed my mind..

great another game to play before i finnish off the many many games that are yet to be finnished

[Caris]

Ah crap i wasnt gonna get this but the gametrailers review has changed my mind..

great another game to play before i finnish off the many many games that are yet to be finnished

I knew you would get it.

[Fruitgun]

Mmm.. I need this!

Need

Let's hope that Shopto.net break the release date. :D

[gaggle64]

I'm very gratified by the reviews that I've been reading. Technical quibbles be damned, with the grand sci-fi opera in place as advertised, a few seconds of loading textures shall prove no barrier to my enjoyment of this product.

[Babooo]

Saw the Gametrailers review of this....damn I want a 360 sooooo bad!

[Daft]

I'll be getting this in about of month when Uni ends. I want to enjoy every little bit of this.

[Caris]

Mines been shipped!

[theguyfromspark]

Mine's been shipped from Game, which is weird as I don't remember ordering it!

[Mundi]

Gonna get mine tomorrow night, going to some midnight opening at my local video game store.

[gaggle64]

After all the postal strikes and government data being lost, I've decided to err on the side of caution and will pick this up in store on my way back from college Friday afternoon.

I know I'm going to play this at least twice, but what do you think I sould play as first?

A] A character based on myself, a sensible, cool headed techie and born survivor,

or

B] A sassy, red headed, lesbonic, extra-terrestisexual super soldier?

Ah, the agony of choice...

[McPhee]

Im now stuck on either getting this or GHIII. Probably gonna be GHIII though, im not all that hyped for this (even if it would save me £30+)

[gaggle64]

Depends on if you prefer Sci-fi or rock and roll, really.

[Stefkov]

Knowing me I'll probably pick this up with GH tommorow. Damn smell of the boxes when you open them.
wants smell..:(

[Chuck]

Gameplay got late stock in. But at least they have stock ready to ship tommorow

[Fruitgun]

Mine's been shipped too! One Limited Edition coming up.

Go Shopto.net!

[Daft]

Damn Uni, I really want to get this. Oh well, maybe I'll get it a bit cheaper in a couple weeks when my holiday starts...

[Nintenchris]

Gameplay got late stock in. But at least they have stock ready to ship tommorow

Rob Rob Rob when will you ever learn huh?!?

[theguyfromspark]

Anyone's arrived today? I want to know whether it's worth goinghome at lunchtime to check.

[Caris]

Fuck Royal Mail.

[Owen]

It's very absorbing, i really like it! Played it for about 2 and half hours before realising what the time was!

Graphically nice as well, not outstanding but very clean and clynical in places.

The story is great though and the combat is nice and easy to control as well.

Picking your facial features etc..was excellent.

Very impressed so far, hopefully it won't drag on much later though.

[Nintenchris]

Its good ... gonna take awhile to get used to allllll the menus

[Chuck]

Rob Rob Rob when will you ever learn huh?!?

Chris you dont understand. shopto.net was my first port of call until it said there were no more pre-orders on the limited edition. you know there importance to me

[McPhee]

I'd have cancelled the order an bought the game down town tomorrow. The web ain't much (if any) cheaper than Tesco/Sainsburys. I've picked up Halo 3, Assassin's Creed and Orange Box from Sainsburys for cheaper than any of you bought them off the web for (Halo 3 and Assassin's Creed were £34.99, Orange Box was £24.99, i got em cheaper than that due to 15% staff discount). Admittedly they don't do the Limited Editions, but surely Gamestation ain't that much more for them than the web?

[theguyfromspark]

It's all a bit solemn and slow at the moment, not much spectacle. Hopefully it's just building atmosphere.

[Owen]

It's all a bit solemn and slow at the moment, not much spectacle. Hopefully it's just building atmosphere.

I believe it is. Well i hope so....

[Wesley]

I'm stuuuuuck! Anyway, the game is awesome. I thought the menus would be really annoying but they're not. I'm confused about one or two things (like how sometimes a random purple shield will glow around me), but I'm sure a bit of play time will sort that out.

[S.C.G]

I've had this since yesterday, didn't play it yesterday though, played SMG and Mario & Sonic instead, started it today, first impressions are good and it's a game I'll probably play on and off inbetween other releases.

[Daft]

I gave in a bought this...naught me.

A couple things annoy me from 45 minutes of play.

Sometimes I have no idea how I lost health. (Does the controller even rumble?)
Textures not loading quick enough. (Kind of annoying, destroys the immersion a bit)
The shading on the faces is a bit crap sometimes. (No biggie)
The cover system isn't fluid enough. (i.e. I don't want to manually crouch to hide behind a low wall)
Most importantly, after playing Assassin's Creed, Commander Shepherd has the campest walk I have ever seen!! (Seriously, everyone should walk a bit like Altair)

I love the dialogue system and I'm already loving the story, especially after reading the novel!!

Sarin is just as nasty as I imagined!!

[Cube]

Most importantly, after playing Assassin's Creed, Commander Shepherd has the campest walk I have ever seen!!

I agree with all except this. Then again my Commander Sheperd is female.

[Tellyn]

I think I'll have to get this for Christmas.

[gaggle64]

I've just finished a seven hour or so play session. It's good. Very good.

The technical quibbles (loading textures, load hang ups and what not) are minor distractions at worst and much of the time are blink-and-you-miss-it-events. Some of the details of the story are a little hard to follow at first, but just go with the flow and you'll be right up to speed by the time you first leave port. The in-game codex of course is there if you want it, in all it's fully narrated glory.

The story so far is fun and involving with just the right amount of cheese on top and the characters involved are all genuinely and very effectively portrayed. The voice acting is simply superb (Marina Sirtis not withstanding) and even minor characters are fascinating to interact with.

Visually it's an absolute feast. From the pristine white corridors of the citadel to the blasted, lava choked wasteland of an alien planet, the sheer scope of it all is impressive. Planet exploration levels stretch for miles, and station bazaars and ports are teaming with a variety of colourful species and characters. I think it's a testament to the game that I spent at least five hours simply playing through the story and side quests on the citadel, exploring and interacting with other characters, and the only dull moment was when I forgot where the docking port was once I was done.

The combat is a bit of an oddity, being what feels like an unlikely marriage between the Ghost Recon and Final Fantasy combat systems. As soon as you understand it though, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Pick your party wisely, keep a cool head, remember to use the full range of your abilities, and you can easily overcome any given combat situation. I will say that the AI is a little off, sometimes blasting the same rock they shelter behind for example, but generally your party proves that it isn't just there to make up the numbers.

Summing up initial impressions, while Mass Effect isn't completely perfect, it's vast scope and ambition unfolding before me is a spectacle I simply haven't seen before on any medium or platform. The technical foibles may slightly annoy some, but those won't stop you even slightly from enjoying the full glory of this space epic. Blue boobies here I come!

[Cube]

Is it possible to go back to your ship after landing on a planet, or changing your party members?

[gaggle64]

Is it possible to go back to your ship after landing on a planet, or changing your party members?

To get back to your ship while on a planet, go to the map screen and hit the X button. You can redeploy with a different party line-up from there.

[Daft]

In the demo videos couldn't you pause the combat and tell your people where to go??

Can you still do that? If so how??

[Wesley]

I was wondering that, too...

[Daft]

I was wondering that, too...

Yeah, its driving me a bit mad cos the combat is a bit too hectic sometimes...

[gaggle64]

I know what you mean, I haven't found that system to exactly place your guys. The video that showed that is more then a year old, I can only assume they cut it. If you just tell them to take cover behind stuff in real time, they'll keep themselves pretty safe.

Just remember to keep hitting and holding RB - gives you thinking space as you activate your next round of abilities.

[Daft]

I keep losing health really quickly....and dying...Can someone give me some tips on health and armor and stuff?!

I'm a Vanguard if that helps.

Also how do I train myself to use a lancer??

Edit: The combat is awful. The auto save points are set in horrendous places.

I'm really hating the combat. Its alright when you are in a corridor but as soon as you are pinned down you are f*cked. I really wish they had kept that pause/team placement thing. I'm loving and hating this at the moment...

[Wesley]

Is Nilus supposed to die by the way? Lol. Or was I too slow and let him die? I can't see him not dying because the story after involves you trying to get evidence against Saren. But... Oh I dunno.

[gaggle64]

Is Nilus supposed to die by the way? Lol. Or was I too slow and let him die? I can't see him not dying because the story after involves you trying to get evidence against Saren. But... Oh I dunno.

Yes, there's nothing you can do to save him. Once you get the evidence you need and convince the council, you're promoted to Spectre to go after him.

I keep losing health really quickly....and dying...Can someone give me some tips on health and armor and stuff?!

I'm a Vanguard if that helps.

Also how do I train myself to use a lancer??

My advice is to hit cover straight away, then you can shoot over and around what you're sheltered behind, nipping out to take quick shots and returning before the enemy can target you.

As a general tip, remember that this still fundamentally an RPG you're playing. If you don't make sure that you and your team are equipped with the best skills, armour and weapons you have, things are going to get tough. Taking time out to pick the best possible upgrades and supplements for each piece of equipment could make the difference.

As a Vanguard, you can't train with Assault Rifles, just pistols and shotguns, alongside your biotic abilities. No matter what class you go, you'll have to utilise your full arsenal to survive many encounters.

[Wesley]

Yeah I got past your mild spoiler... I still just found it strange.

Anyway, I'm loving the game, I'm think I've got to grips with most things. Apart from the option to turn weapons into those gel things, what's with that? Also, on the equipment menu I didn't know I had the ability to put weapon and ammo upgrades on the weapons. I knew I would have the ability to do this, but it didn't say anything on the menu as to what button to press to I assumed it was something you unlocked/learned. I just stumbled on it basically...

[Cube]

Anyway, I'm loving the game, I'm think I've got to grips with most things.

It could have done with decent tutorial. I still haven't really used a lot of stuff, and have no idea to "train" myself for the machine gun and sniper rifle. So I'm stuck with just a shotgun and a pistol. And I've yet to properly use Bionics.

I found an odd glitch with the conversation thing.

There was a converations against some guards, the convo went well and they said "We'll ignore you if you'll ignore us" (someone had asked if you could not kill them). Then the people in my part shot them. I just found it really odd.

For some reason the best combat tactic so far is shooting from afar with a shotgun. Which is odd.

[Daft]

I'm finding my favorite part of the game is actually the dialogue and the main story. I've gotten to grips with the combat a bit more but I really think they made a mistake taking out the whole pause thing. I hate it when you are suddenly thrown into a fight and you are surrounded by enemies and you get killed by some bionic wave out of now where AND THEN the check point was before the conversation you had so you have to do all that again. I am really enjoying it but I really think it could have done with a bit more product/user friendly testing.

I genuinely had to think about whether I wanted to kill the queen and destroy an entire species. One of the best bits of the game so far I think. In the end I decided to let the queen go....hope that doesn't come back and bit me in the arse! :heh:

I love all the politics in the game and anything to do with the council. I also love the references to the book when you press the captain dude about him and Sarin.

[gaggle64]

What I love most is how different the ways you progress are depending on your choices. Recently I decided rather then doing all the dialogue/help me side quest kerfuffle, just to hack straight to my objective thorugh a secure area. Of course I should have known that this would just to turn everyone against me, and I had to just murder everyone on the station. I died shortly after which was mildly annoying, but it gave me the opportunity to play again and try something different, and it was completely different - this time I actually killed some bad guys, got a bit of extra story and helped a few dudes out, and I feel better for it.

It's just fantastic to know that your choices in a game actually make a difference for once. Now I know fully what the conversation with Cpt Anderson was trying to tell me: That choices actually have to be made now, and how you make them will define who you are.

Also, Liara really knows how to fuck people up. Right, and royally.

[Daft]

What is everyone's Mass Effect team?

I'm a Vanguard and at the moment I normally take Garrus and Ashley around with me and they both have full stats on the assault rifle.

Do you normally keep the same two members with you on your missions or do you chop and change?

I wish there was a bit more real time dialogue between your team because they seem a bit lifeless. i know the dialogue is already built in. because you have to press A to interact with them, but I reckon it should be said automatically when there is a quiet point. Also when they do talk I wish they spoke louder.

[gaggle64]

As a Techie, I usually bring lovely ladies Ashley and Liara, giving me a perfectly balanced team that can deal with most situations, but I do occasionally swap them around when the situation necessitates. If I come up against a lot of, say, robots, I'll generally swap Liara out for Garus or Tali. Sometimes Rex and Garrus will come along if I need a blunter but still varied force to properly hit home. Kaiden is a bit of a spare wheel, but he'll be useful support character when I replay as something like a soldier class.

[Fruitgun]

I love bringing Wrex and Garrus around with me, I mean what's cooler than having two huge alien allies?

[Cube]

I'm a Vanguard, and usually take Garrus and Ashley with me, unless something else is needed. Although I sometimes take someone relevant (plot-wise) to the level with me.

I think I'm getting towards the final stages of the main plot. You can do the side-quests once you've done that, right?

[martinist]

I'm a Vanguard. I'm usually bringing Tali and Ashley along with me, but i've recently switched Ashly for Liara. She handles the biotics side of things, i handle the gun play and some minor biotics combat and Tali does the hacking and electronics work. A nice little combination. If i'm facing a combat heavy mission i'll bring Ashley along. I've pretty much forgotten about Rex, Kaiden and the human guy with me at the start and they have all probebly racked up alot of tallent points due to my completion of alot of secondary missions.
I've hardly done any of the story, i think i'm about half way through the third chapter, trying to get in to the parking bay to get to peak 15.

[gaggle64]

I think I'm getting towards the final stages of the main plot. You can do the side-quests once you've done that, right?

Some of the characters keep suggesting something similar to me, though I suspect that something that looks vaguely like an ending will be suddenly and violently dumped on by a big final twist. Still, I'm taking time out from the main objectives to get some good ol' exploration in anyway.

[Daft]

Great my save is glitched and I'm stuck in a lift.....Thats fucking brilliant....

[martinist]

You should always keep a backup save file handy so if one screws up you've got the other

[Daft]

You should always keep a backup save file handy so if one screws up you've got the other

I had three, I now have six. Its ridiculous though that my manual save AND the auto save left me screwed!


Great quote! "Every idea must touch another mind to live"

[gaggle64]

I do get the impression that Bioware were forced to rush final development to meet Micro$soft's deadline demands, resulting in the rather uncharacteristic bugs in the game. The Halo 3 campaign also feels left hanging, levels and ideas dropped in the rush to release.

[Cube]

I do get the impression that Bioware were forced to rush final development to meet Micro$soft's deadline demands, resulting in the rather uncharacteristic bugs in the game. The Halo 3 campaign also feels left hanging, levels and ideas dropped in the rush to release.

Yea, Floating NPCs, people changing position in an elevator in a single frame (i.e. standing behind Sheperd then suddenly in front of him/her the next frame), probably a few more I've forgotten about, too.


I had three, I now have six. Its ridiculous though that my manual save AND the auto save left me screwed!

Saving overwrites the autosave/checkpoint position.

[Daft]

Saving overwrites the autosave/checkpoint position.

I saved just before it autosaved.

Is there any benefit to collecting the promethean data discs? Or is it just for completionists?

What is kind of annoying me is how my team sometimes end up standing in front of each other shooting each other in the back.

[gaggle64]

Looking over the Bioware forums, it appears that there are others suffering from the same elevator bug. Bioware say they're on it right now, hopefully it's something they can fix in an update.

[Daft]

Looking over the Bioware forums, it appears that there are others suffering from the same elevator bug. Bioware say they're on it right now, hopefully it's something they can fix in an update.

I'm a paranoid saver so I only had to go back about 2 minutes! :heh:

Does anyone know what sort of downloadable content is going to be released and when?

[Chuck]

Noveria is a bitch. Im around lv. 16 and found it challenging to get past all the troops that protect Benezia. I then get to her, talk, and fight. There is a block in the way of the stairs so I have to go all the way round, I get stormed by armoured troops before I can move

[Daft]

Noveria is a bitch. Im around lv. 16 and found it challenging to get past all the troops that protect Benezia. I then get to her, talk, and fight. There is a block in the way of the stairs so I have to go all the way round, I get stormed by armoured troops before I can move

Yeah, I got blocked off as well at that point. This is one of the bits where the combat and stupid cover system is really frustrating.

[martinist]

I'm passed level 20 and I can't seem to find the local cluster on the galaxy map, maybe i have to go through the story a bit more or somthing.

[gaggle64]

It's on there somewhere, round near the centre bottom of the galaxy map I believe. You can drive on the moon.

[Fruitgun]

Heya,
I just had to add in, I'm LOVING this game! I love how the decisions actually effect, almost everything!

But, I need some help regarding Garrus:

When I talk to him, he always says he wants to "Thank Me" and then goes on to say he wants to re-apply for the Spectres. Is there anyway I can help him to do this? Or just to make him talk about something else? As he's pretty much my favourite character, (with Joker of course, who doesn't like him?) and I just wish he'd talke to me! :heh:

Anywho, GET THIS GAME!
(If you haven't already..)

[Mundi]

I´m a Vanguard (Just turned Nemesis) my party is Wrex and Tali.
I love theyre small talk :Þ

[gaggle64]

Heya,
I just had to add in, I'm LOVING this game! I love how the decisions actually effect, almost everything!

But, I need some help regarding Garrus:

When I talk to him, he always says he wants to "Thank Me" and then goes on to say he wants to re-apply for the Spectres. Is there anyway I can help him to do this? Or just to make him talk about something else? As he's pretty much my favourite character, (with Joker of course, who doesn't like him?) and I just wish he'd talke to me! :heh:

Anywho, GET THIS GAME!
(If you haven't already..)

I don't know about reapplying for the Spectres, but...

If you haven't already, you can follow through a conversation with him about an evil doctor he used to track and eventually he'll ask you to help him track him down. Just as nice bit of backstory.

Anyway, just about to enter the final battle for the galaxy I think. It's going to kick ass.

Also, new shirt from Penny Arcade:
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-34640480252896_1977_1725944

[Chuck]

I figured how to beat that bit i was stuck on! turn down the difficulty! obviously the credentials for the 2 higher difficulties is not to switch them, but i was on normal anyway.

[Daft]

Massive spoiler

That stupid bitch killed Wrex!! What a f*cking cow!! But what goes around comes around. I sent her to her death and saved Kaiden instead...even though she was a much more useful team member! You should have been able to shout at her more, Sheperd lets her off WAY too lightly, like "Man, look what you've done. He's all dead and that...oh well." Oh well, shes dead now! MWAHAHAHA!!!!

EDIT: Just completed it. Its a mass letdown imo.I like the music in the credits though. I just really hope BioWare are allowed more time on the sequel because I can see that this game isn't really what they wanted to release.

[gaggle64]

I finished it a couple of days ago, I thought it was simply mesmerising. It's just been years since I played anything quite so utterly immersive. It's not perfect, but you don't have to look too far past the technical foibles to bask in the glory of Bioware's vision.

Also:
How come Ashley shoots Wrex? I calmed him down and then blitzed the facility along side him and Ashley.

[Chuck]

WTF I stopped Wrex from going ballistic over the cure for his kind, are you saying ashley kills him at that point? I sent Kaiden to go with the Salarians caus i Love Ashley. I was confronted after that mission to choose which one of the female members of the team i loved.... well you cant really like a blue alien can you?... espeicially when ashley is soooo hot

[Daft]

I finished it a couple of days ago, I thought it was simply mesmerising. It's just been years since I played anything quite so utterly immersive. It's not perfect, but you don't have to look too far past the technical foibles to bask in the glory of Bioware's vision.

Also:
How come Ashley shoots Wrex? I calmed him down and then blitzed the facility along side him and Ashley.

I was calming him down but the bitch shot him from behind!!

This is what I think about Mass Effect. http://www.magicalwasteland.com/2007/11/how_to_tell_a_hard_landing_wit.htm

How to Tell a Hard Landing, with Mass Effect

Anyone who’s worked in the game industry for some time has been on a project that came in under the wire– so much so, in fact, that this is unfortunately many people’s exclusive experience with shipping games. Aside from the obvious negative effect this has on our quality of life, and our desirability as an industry for the world’s best creative talent, the last-minute cuts and the seemingly heroic hacks show through in the shipping product as well. Here are some elements to look for in determining how a game’s production went, from smooth sailing (mythical as that may be) to the worst bare-knuckle stress and drama.

Before I begin, I’d like to note that Mass Effect is a great game that I thoroughly enjoyed. I use it as an example here because it’s fresh in my mind, and because I get the feeling that it was meant to be more– maybe much more– than what ended up on the gold disc. I don’t know anyone personally who works at BioWare Edmonton, so everything you’ll read here is just a guess on my part. I mean them no ill– Mass Effect is all the more a triumph, and the team all the more laudable, for overcoming the adversities I’m certain the project faced.

Undue or odd simplicity.

Simplicity isn’t a bad goal. But there’s a difference between elegantly simple and oddly, strangely simple. When a game’s design has elements that vary wildly in their level of detail, odds are good that it wasn’t meant to be that way: game designers, like other artists, like to see balance in their creations.

For example, the items of Mass Effect are limited to weapons, armor, upgrades, and medkits. No other items can be obtained or inspected (quest items just show up in your quest log). There is no loot other than finding more weapons, and these automatically get better (in a completely linear progression: Assault Rifle I, Assault Rifle II, and so on) as you advance. Because they’re the only thing you can find, you’ll soon have piles of pistols and shotguns, which you can sell for cash to buy– what? The only thing you can buy is more weapons.

As one of my colleagues at work put it, the lack of any other kind of item than these in the game really detracts from the realism of the world. Imagine driving through a desolate ice field on a distant planet, picking up some debris on your scan, making your way to it and finding an old crashed probe, and finally, opening it up to find... a sniper rifle, of all things. It just doesn’t work that well. I feel safe proposing that BioWare, one of the leaders of the RPG genre, did not originally intend it to be this way.

When you find a very simple system like this– one in a game that in other areas pulls out all the stops to create a richly detailed world– there’s a good chance it was implemented under great duress, as deadlines drew near and the parties involved realized what they originally wanted wouldn’t happen. Either there was just no time left, or the original design wasn’t working and nobody realized it until too late. At the risk of sounding dramatic, these moments are when dreams die. You can sometimes spot their remains in what ends up shipping.

cf. any of the actual open-world gameplay in the big publisher “open-world” superhero games like Spider-Man 3 or Superman Returns; the canned, timed button-press moments in Call of Duty 3; and Final Fantasy XII’s License Board (in an admission of its weakness, the License Board was later replaced with a more fleshed-out character advancement system in a Japanese re-release).

Significant differences between demos and the actual game.

Good game developers don’t set out to lie about their games, and so when they create a demonstration to show the public one year out from shipping, we should assume they are making their best-effort guess as to what the game is really going to be like when it’s done. Obviously, things don’t always go as planned. When the final game diverges significantly from what was shown in the demonstration, you can bet the project experienced sharp course corrections.

About a year ago, a promotional movie for Mass Effect showcased numerous features that were nowhere to be seen when the actual game shipped. The Galaxy Map featured beautifully smooth zooming between levels and planets in dramatic three-dimensional orbits. The combat engine allowed the player to direct the squad to specific individual locations with an interface that paused the on-screen action, and the player could even take control of each member at will. Certain conversation lines seemed interruptible by the player.

Unfortunately, none of these features can be seen in the final game. In BioWare’s defense, a hugely important part of the creative process is taking out things that don’t work. But, making these decisions with one year to go in the production schedule is already cutting it close, let alone when they may have actually been made, sometime between the demo and the release to manufacturing. And these decisions are costly, especially on the well-being of the team. Because these big games are comprised of complex, interrelated systems, anytime a mid-course correction is made in one feature, many more features and plans need to be evaluated in the light of the modification. Flexibility is a good thing, but too many changes, too late, brings exhaustion as the developers try to work out the cascading effect of change after change on the game’s overall design and experience.

In a worst-case scenario, the project is changing so much that not everyone is fully up to speed on what the game actually is anymore; people make guesses, work gets wasted or thrown out, and tempers flare. As I stated above, I don’t know that this was the case in particular during the development of Mass Effect. But I do know that the easiest, most enjoyable projects are the ones where clear definition is achieved early enough that everyone can plan accordingly. The larger the team, the more critically important this becomes.

cf. This is similar to Halo 2’s demonstration at E3 2003, which featured an entire level that never made it into the final game. Half Life 2’s press materials for the same E3 featured some elements, such as the strange blue tentacle, that disappeared before release.

Sudden narrative leaps and loose ends.

The player reaches one point during the main story of Mass Effect where it seems as though a major decision is about be made. It’s presented as though the choice will have far-reaching consequences on the fate of the galaxy. But after it is made, the effects of this decision are never felt; in fact, the event is never referred to again after that particular mission is over. There are discussions the player can have with certain characters that seem to be leading somewhere, but the dialogue tree suddenly runs out of options, and conversation comes to an abrupt halt. And instead of the player finally figuring who the real villain is and what it wants, the villain simply shows up about two-thirds of the way through and explains itself directly to you, for no benefit to itself and seemingly no reason.

I’ve seen my fair share of emergency story patchwork up close, and each of these moments telegraph that aura. Stories in video games face adversity from many different directions. Most designers and players don’t like overly long cutscenes, and cinematics are often the first to get cut in any case. Scripts need to be adjusted to accommodate what’s doable in-engine and what the artists have time to create and animate. Worst of all, if a mission or sequence designed to reveal something important is cut at the last second, the same plot development needs to be squeezed into a place it wasn’t originally intended to be: a quick conversation, a disembodied voice over the radio, a wall of text.

Carrying the knowledge of how much better something could have been, or how the story of one’s game does indeed make more sense than players think it does, can be a burden at times. But that, ironically, is one of the saving graces of sequels (as they will inevitably come for Mass Effect). A sequel offers developers the chance to make Game 2 what Game 1 was supposed to be, and in do things in Game 3 that they talked about doing in Game 2. Let’s not pretend that isn’t nice sometimes– a sequel can be the perfect venue to refine a specific type of craft.

cf. Indigo Prophecy’s confusing jumps two-thirds of the way through the story; Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords’ hurried, abrupt conclusion; and Xenogears’ baffling second disc, where the game gives up on towns or cutscenes and simply teleports the player from dungeon to dungeon– explaining what happened in the meantime with scrolling text.

Loading and streaming issues.

Loading, streaming and caching issues all come from a problem set that has ensnared a sizable number of projects in this console generation. Because art assets are more detailed than before, files are larger in size, and thus there is more to load; compounded with the rise and popularity of open-world gameplay, ostensibly any of those assets needs to be able to be loaded at any time. Finally, to add insult to this injury, the Xbox 360 is a step backwards from the original Xbox in this respect, which featured a guaranteed hard disc that could be used for caching frequently-used data. Xbox 360 developers need to account for players who have no hard disc, and must stream directly off the disc as much as possible.

As BioWare’s first game on the Xbox 360 platform, it’s reasonable to expect some technological teething problems. One of the first things noticeable in Mass Effect is the tremendous amount of texture-popping that goes on as the player enters new areas. Occasionally, even just running from place to place results in a loading message appearing while the disc spins wildly inside. It’s clear that the popping wasn’t something the artists knew in advance to work around, since there are often shots in cutscenes that don’t even last as long as it takes for the texture to pop in: by the time the texture has actually loaded, the camera isn’t even on the object any longer.

Good systems can be designed to minimize load times and texture popping. However, developers frequently underestimate the amount of work this takes. Ideally, a plan to address the issue would be in place from the very beginning, allowing the artists to construct objects and environments that work in lock-step with the technology. Unfortunately, too often this doesn’t happen, for any number of reasons– perhaps the technology just wasn’t in place at all at the time, or the artists and engineers didn’t communicate well, or there was just gross negligence on the part of everyone involved.

Past a certain point (much earlier than most people realize), it’s too late to go back and change your environments, because the designers have already designed everything around the spaces they have. So the engineers are left holding the bag attempting to optimize loading and streaming for these assets after the fact, when they may not have been built for good streaming in the first place.

cf. Many Unreal-engine based titles, not just Mass Effect, show noticeable texture popping (BioShock et. al.), I don’t know if this is due to the way the engine works or the way certain developers have made use of it. Halo 2’s infamous cinematic texture pops are a telltale sign of last-minute content creation.

Lots of bugs.

I saved the most obvious one for last– overly buggy games are a clear sign of a project slamming into its release date at a higher velocity than what an ideal situation would dictate. Reviewers sometimes take it upon themselves to berate the QA (Quality Assurance), or test, department for the bugginess, but these people should be given a break: just because a game is buggy doesn’t automatically mean it is the fault of the testers. When a consumer encounters a bug in a game he or she has bought off the store shelf, the chances are fairly good that a description of that exact problem lurks somewhere inside a database on a developer or publisher server– found, detailed, and reported by one of the game industry’s testing legion.

Fixing bugs as the release date creeps closer is a delicate balancing act. Sometimes the bug is just found too late, because the system that is being tested came in late itself (see above). Other times, to address a bug would mean changing how something important works, which could cause more problems than it solves. It’s difficult to predict all the ways one change could affect everything else in the game, and so sometimes the best thing to do, in the case of something minor, is to let it go.

Of course, bugs in a game can indeed be the fault of the test department, too. It’s possible the issue just wasn’t found by them. Or, if the person in charge of test on a title is a pushover, his objections to release on the grounds of big bugs lurking in the code may be easily overruled or ignored by a producer. Most of the time, the financial considerations of missing a ship date will trump all but the biggest quality issues.

Mass Effect, being the huge game that it is, presents a challenge from a testing perspective, so it’s no wonder that bugs are rather easy to find. Playing normally, I got stuck on geometry several times, with no way out but to reload an earlier save. I flipped my supposedly un-flippable Mako vehicle. A step that I had not yet taken was registered as completed in my quest log. None of these bugs severely impacted my ability to enjoy the game, but they do affect the “fit and finish” of the final product. I have never worked on a game where we didn’t dearly wish we had just a few more weeks to address some of our biggest pet peeve issues.

cf. Both The Elder Scrolls III and IV, Morrowind and Oblivion, for all kinds of miscellaneous problems that were discovered, detailed, and exploited by the fan community; BioWare’s own earlier Knights of the Old Republic for similar issues; and, to be fair, just about any big, ambitious game.

Update 11/28/07: Though I felt I went to some length to state that I really enjoyed Mass Effect and think of it as a great game, it seems some people feel the main idea of this piece is “Mass Effect sucks”. It isn’t; my point is more that the Mass Effect team probably went through a very difficult period finishing and shipping this game. So, if you feel motivated to defend the game in response to this article, I recommend using that energy instead to thank the people at BioWare (if they’re back from their vacations) for the hardships they endured for the sake of the game. They’ll appreciate it.

Sudden narrative leaps and loose ends are the biggest let down. KOTOR (On the PC, never played the Xbox version) blew this game out of the water.

[gaggle64]

Yeah, but how joyless does your life have to be to let any of it get in the way?

[Daft]

Yeah, but how joyless does your life have to be to let any of it get in the way?

How dull must your life have to be to find that standard of story telling good?

[The-Ironflame]

So far I love it but it's got some niggling flaws (e.g. The dumb A.I.) you can't help notice and the worlds aren't as interesting as in KOTOR. The storyline and dialogue are superb though.

[The-chosen-one]

i truly love this game its huge lots of planets to travel
and i like the Story ,also good voice acting when i play this game it almost feels like im playing my own movie haha

[McPhee]

Im not very far in, but so far im very disappointed! Wish i'd bought VF5 instead now :(

The whole game seems a bit dull, the combat is rubbish, the game looks crap, most of the environments are pretty much empty. I'll keep playing, but only to get the story. Might end up skipping the side-quests and just rush through the game instead

[Wesley]

I thought the exact same as you when I was about 6 hours into it... then suddenly everything got interesting and even the annoying things seemed to not bother me. I'm around 10/11 hours into the game now and I'm loving it.

Blasting into the main storyline is probably the best bet, it's what turned around my opinion of the game.

[Hero-of-Time]

Those who are still after the game its £29.99 on gameplay.com

[McPhee]

I've given up on the game, got killed in a fight against Benezia and it's taken me back 2 hours. So much for Autosave...

[Wesley]

Yeah the auto-save is completely rubbish.

Well... a shame you've given up on it, because it does turn out to be a real gem. Ah well.

[Dan Dare]

yeah, it's a beast once you get in to it. for me, that was pretty much at the title screen so i had a blast. finished the main quest last night and it's fucking quality stuff. EPIC finale ftw!

[Cube]

yeah, it's a beast once you get in to it. for me, that was pretty much at the title screen so i had a blast. finished the main quest last night and it's fucking quality stuff. EPIC finale ftw!

Definitely. Although I didn't think much of the ending cutscene.

[McPhee]

I started again from the start, gonna see how far i get this time before i get pissed off. So far i'm enjoying it more, made some better informed decisions (like which class to pick) so hopefully i stick at it.

EDIT: Past where i got fed up last time now, will probably complete it just for the sake of being able to call it complete

[Bluejay]

Got this for Christmas. Played about an hour, instantly captivated. Found it all very immersive so far.

I don't really understand the combat though. I can run around with the shotgun and do fine, but anything else I can seem to hit very well, at least from any range.

Like with the sniper, can I zoom as I can't really tell where I'm shooting? Does it lock on and do a dice roll or whatever to see if you hit? How exactly does it all work?

Also, despite being a total badass, my Shepard runs like a berk. He runs like a motorbike. Who sways like that when walking.

[The Bard]

How dull must your life have to be to find that standard of story telling good?

More than amusingly ironic coming from a LOTR fan, but what the hell, we all have our dubious moments.

Yeah, this looks absolutely amazing from what I've seen, definately looking to get it soon, especially since a friend said that "it's what MP3 would be like if it was an RPG." Just wondering if any of the bugs have been patched and whatnot...it's not debilitating buggy is it? Because that's the only real criticism I've come across so far...can't wait to get into this :)

[Cube]

I don't really understand the combat though. I can run around with the shotgun and do fine, but anything else I can seem to hit very well, at least from any range.

Are you a vanguard? Only a soldier can use the sniper and machine gun weapons properly. The other classes can use them but can't zoom. The game does a very poor job of describing it (all it says is "untrained" which makes you think you can get training to use them. Which isn't the case).

I'd suggest focusing on the biotics for a bit. I went through most the game without considering them - was quite a mistake as shotgunning every. single. thing. got a bit tiresome, and testing out biotics at that point was quite hopeless.

So, learn how to use them well before you get too far.

[Daft]

More than amusingly ironic coming from a LOTR fan, but what the hell, we all have our dubious moments.


Thats amusing coming from someone who makes sweeping generalizations based on people's tastes.

You should probably save any comments for when you have actually play this.

[The Bard]

Thats amusing coming from someone who makes sweeping generalizations based on people's tastes.

You should probably save any comments for when you have actually play this.

It was a joke. Must not have made that clear. My bad. What I meant was that it couldn't possibly be any worse...:heh:

[Daft]

It was a joke. Must not have made that clear. My bad. What I meant was that it couldn't possibly be any worse...:heh:

Ok, sorry...*feels dumb for hyper defensive response* : peace:

*Downgrades from Def Con 5* :heh:

[Bluejay]

Are you a vanguard? Only a soldier can use the sniper and machine gun weapons properly. The other classes can use them but can't zoom. The game does a very poor job of describing it (all it says is "untrained" which makes you think you can get training to use them. Which isn't the case).

I'd suggest focusing on the biotics for a bit. I went through most the game without considering them - was quite a mistake as shotgunning every. single. thing. got a bit tiresome, and testing out biotics at that point was quite hopeless.

So, learn how to use them well before you get too far.
I am a vanguard. And yes, the lack of any kind of tutorial is somewhat daunting, if refreshing.

Biotics hmm, I don't even know how to use them. Perhaps a manual read is in order.

[Daft]

One thing that really annoys me is that when you start over the game again you can't change background or what class of character you are which means you have to play it 3 times if you want most the achievements and try a different class out.

[khilafah]

£20 in gamestation.

[Gizmo]

Sorry if this has been discussed, don't wanna look through the thread in case of spoilers. But dear lord the save system is awful. It's supposed to autosave, but it rarely does. There are no check points. You have to remember to save every so often otherwise you get what I just got and lose an hour of the game.

It's just lucky the game is so fun, and the discussions can be streamlined :yay:

[khilafah]

save after every battle mate. Thats what I do.

[Solo]

£20 in gamestation.


!!

Do you know how long this deal is on for?!

[Gizmo]

save after every battle mate. Thats what I do.

Thats what I'm gonna do from now on, yup. But it's stupid. Why can't it do a passive save after every one, like Halo does?

Thats another thing actually. When the game does decide to autosave, it pauses the game for a few seconds. Can't it do that in the background like every other shooter I've played this gen?

[Cube]

Thats what I'm gonna do from now on, yup. But it's stupid. Why can't it do a passive save after every one, like Halo does?

Thats another thing actually. When the game does decide to autosave, it pauses the game for a few seconds. Can't it do that in the background like every other shooter I've played this gen?

Because this is a totally different kind of shooter. When it saves it writes a LOT more data than shooters like Halo. It's much more like Oblivion (Except that Oblivion autosaves a lot - too much - but only on loading screens).

There's too much data to save for doing a passive save like Halo does.

[khilafah]

!!

Do you know how long this deal is on for?!

no idea mate. walked into my local shop 24th december and it was £20. went in today with my mate and they were sold out of mass effect.

[Gizmo]

Because this is a totally different kind of shooter. When it saves it writes a LOT more data than shooters like Halo. It's much more like Oblivion (Except that Oblivion autosaves a lot - too much - but only on loading screens).

There's too much data to save for doing a passive save like Halo does.

Fair enough. I'd still rather it did it a little more often, but I've gotten into the routine of doing it regularly now so I should be ok.

[Hellfire]

Is this coming to PC? I hope so. For starters I dont have a 360 yet and KOTOR was much better on the PC.

[Gizmo]

What an ending. The build up battle in the Citadel and then the two fights with Saren where awesome.

But I can't help but feel disappointed at the length. I feel like there could have been a couple more planetary missions before the end. Maybe thats just because I missed most of the side missions, thinking "I'll do them later." The end realy snuck up on me for some reason. Just as I was really getting into the game it was over.

I also didn't encounter any of the "relationship" stuff. Maybe I just made the wrong choices, but there we go. Disappointed with that too. Something too read up on and ensure in a second playthrough in the future.

I wonder if for the sequel they will let you keep the same Shepherd? Or will you play as a totally different character, and only encounter Shepherd throughout the storyline as an NPC? It would be pretty cool if the game detected an existing save on the hard drive and used that same character, whether it was playable or not.

Also, if it wasn't for the fact that I have Metroid Prime 3 sitting here to be played through now, I'd be straight back in to play Mass Effect again. I seem to have missed alot of the game on this playthrough.

[Eddage]

Major Bumpage...

Just finished the game myself and absolutely loved it every second of it. Don't understand people complaining about the menus being complicated, they seem like the basic RPG menus to me! The ending was fantastic and really builds up to a sequel nicely (but in a good way - no crappy cliffhangers that you have to wait 2 years to be answered)

Gizmo, in your second play through (if you're still planning one) just talk to the female members of your crew after every major mission, if you select the top answers every time then this should develop the relationship scenario!

I would play through this again immediately but it's a Lovefilm rental and my free trial runs out in a couple of days!

In summation this game was simply epic, loved every second of it and its probably my favourite 360 game of all.

[gaggle64]

Timely bump, there's the first of a series of DLC hitting Monday 10th. An hour and half worth of content (About the size of one of the main missions I'd estimate) for 400 points. Looking forward to it.

[Gizmo]

Major Bumpage...

Just finished the game myself and absolutely loved it every second of it. Don't understand people complaining about the menus being complicated, they seem like the basic RPG menus to me! The ending was fantastic and really builds up to a sequel nicely (but in a good way - no crappy cliffhangers that you have to wait 2 years to be answered)

Gizmo, in your second play through (if you're still planning one) just talk to the female members of your crew after every major mission, if you select the top answers every time then this should develop the relationship scenario!

I would play through this again immediately but it's a Lovefilm rental and my free trial runs out in a couple of days!

In summation this game was simply epic, loved every second of it and its probably my favourite 360 game of all.


Already did my second play through the last couple of weeks, finished it last night actually. Renegade Soldier, and I got the scene with Liara :p

In the summer, I'm gonna do another one, as a Paragon and the class which is a mix of biotic and tech.

I just love this game, it's so awesome.

[Dyson]

Being Renegade is so fucking awesome :D

[gaggle64]

You feel quite horrible at the end of being a renegade. The Ambassador gives that whole speech about how actions speak louder then words when you try to deny that this was all just to let humanity take control.

[Solo]

I've just finished this game too, I was a bit disappointed with the length (13 hours) of the main story. I think I'll start with the bio/tech character as the soldier class started to get boring lol.

[S.C.G]

Is this coming to PC? I hope so. For starters I dont have a 360 yet and KOTOR was much better on the PC.

O.o I thought you bought a 360 arcade...

*back on topic*

I'm really starting to get back into this game now, I decided not to play it for a while as each time i did I would go off on sidequests that would turn out to be a waste of time due to not having enough charm / intimidate points, but now I'm just focusing on the main game (I've heard from many people that the majority of sidequests aren't that good anyway) but yeah now that I'm focusing on the main game I'm really enjoying it again. :smile:

[gaggle64]

You want to do the side missions in moderation. Some of them are actually quite good, with some interesting tidbits of story. They're one of those areas where you can tell Bioware were in a rush. Some have some have some nice cut scenes and conversations, while some are reduced to describing the story in text.

[Gizmo]

The most annoying thing about the side quests is that the buildings are all the same. There are three templates - a 1 storey building with two side rooms, a 2 storey building with one side room, and a mine with two side rooms. All the same layout, maybe with boxes moved around a bit.

Other than that they can be fun in moderation.

[Mike1988uk]

I can understand where your comin from there Gizmo, its also like when you explore other planets. Theres normally something to decode, some other collectable item such as a medallion and then a trace of metal or gas and thats pretty much it.

[Gizmo]

I can understand where your comin from there Gizmo, its also like when you explore other planets. Theres normally something to decode, some other collectable item such as a medallion and then a trace of metal or gas and thats pretty much it.

I liked the ones that they mixed up a little - the Geth ambushes and such. But mostly it was all the same, repetitive stuff.

[Shorty]

O.o I thought you bought a 360 arcade...He did, that post is 2 months old.

I still haven't gotten into this game - I went around some planets, got lost a bit, finally found one with some girl on, rescued her, she joined my team, stopped playing, have completely forgotten what the story is about...

I've been going through teh game basically being as harsh and mean as I possibly could, because it's funny.

[gaggle64]

On your galaxy map, all the main story locations are ear marked with a name tag. Just follow those.

[S.C.G]

He did, that post is 2 months old.

I still haven't gotten into this game - I went around some planets, got lost a bit, finally found one with some girl on, rescued her, she joined my team, stopped playing, have completely forgotten what the story is about...

I've been going through teh game basically being as harsh and mean as I possibly could, because it's funny.

Lol I didn't realise, guess this threads been semi-inactive for a while :heh:

I'm really starting to get back into this now, I just beat Feros, that bit at the end got kinda annoying and repetitive though, especially as I was at low health and had no medi-gels >>' but it was worth getting past as the game is starting to pick up again now. ^^

[The Bard]

Jesus, I love this game. Still, combat is...actually it's amazing for an RPG, but still gets infuriating at times. Along with the fact that I have to save manually! Bah.

Anyway, been playing the good guy, not been a dick to anybody (It's hard to resist sometimes...), but still not getting any tail. Might have unnecessarily killed a few people though. Ah well.

[gaggle64]

Just make sure you have a regular chat with Liara and/or Ashley (or Kaiden, if you're playing a lass) after each major mission/story section. Irregardless of what else you do, you're granted a quick frolic in the hay before the final mission.

[The Bard]

Giggedy goo. I do enjoy sweet polygonal love.

[Hero-of-Time]

Looks like more DLC is finally on the way.

Despite teasing us back in June with the promise that details surrounding the second bit of DLC for the original Mass Effect would be “coming soon” (yeah, that didn’t pan out…), BioWare has been very tight-lipped about the release date for the new content. Well, the game’s achievement list has been updated over at Xbox.com and reveals three new achievements (bringing to game’s total points to 1200) that indicate the location (Pinnacle Station) and the type of gameplay (combat heavy) you can expect.

Here’s the list of new achievements

UNDISPUTED - 50 ACHIEVEMENT POINTS
Complete Ahern’s survival mission

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN - 50 ACHIEVEMENT POINTS
Take first place in any combat scenario on Pinnacle Station

BEST OF THE BEST - 50 ACHIEVEMENT POINTS
Take first place in 12 combat scenarios on Pinnacle Station


Sweet!

[ViPeR]

So is anyone downloading the new DLC? It went live today. I'm not sure how worth it is if it's very combat heavy.

[Ganepark32]

Haven't downloaded it but at 400 points for 2 to 3 hours of extra gameplay, that's not bad. I personally think it's a great deal given that there are full retail priced games that span that same duration of time.

[Cube]

I'll be giving it a go, you can't argue for 400 points.

[Hero-of-Time]

Mass Effect goodies are available in the avatar store now aswell. :D

[Cube]

Mass Effect goodies are available in the avatar store now aswell. :D

I really, really hate how they take up so much space on Xbox.com.

[Shorty]

What a pleasant surprise to get home and find some new DLC I didn't even know was coming out. And I even had the points for it! Bonus.

[Cube]

It isn't great, and it's not very long. But it's only 400 Points. A few side-quests would have been nice, and being able to explore a bit more of the two locations.

[Gizmo]

That came alot quicker than I was expecting. Will give it a go somewhere down the line.

[Mike1988uk]

Never even realised this had come out!

I shall be downloading at some point then.

EDIT: After posting that i decided to buy it straight away!! Completed the new dlc, was abit short but i enjoyed what i played. Was nice to play on Mass effect again anyway.

[Daft]

Rumor: Mass Effect 2 Bound to PS3

With no confirmation whatsoever from Bioware, GAME, a major game retailer from Australia has a listing for Mass Effect 2 for the PlayStation 3. There’s been rumor that Mass Effect titles will be ported to the PlayStation 3 but up until now, no official confirmation. Whether or not this is true is truly up to Bioware if they ever decide to put it on the PlayStation 3. As of now, we will have this as a rumor. Mass Effect 2 is slated to come out early next year for the XBOX 360 and PC early next year. Stay tuned for more developing news on Mass Effect 2!

[UPDATE] Russian EA Official Website shows that Mass Effect 2 will be indeed coming to the PlayStation 3 as well. We will contact Bioware on Monday to get confirmation but we’re expecting denials until then.

http://www.justpushstart.com/2009/10/10/rumor-mass-effect-2-bound-to-ps3/

Interesting. I'm only going to pick up Mass Effect 2 if it comes to the PS3 so if this is true, good news.

[Cube]

But from what Bioware have said about the story/side quests, you'll be missing out on half the game if you don't have a few ME1 save files.

[Daft]

I can't remember what happened in Mass Effect 1 I played it so long ago so it doesn't really matter.

They could ask a few questions before the game starts to gauge roughly what you would have gone for. Kind of like MGS2.

There has been much speculation lately about whether Mass Effect, the hugely-popular and critically acclaimed RPG, currently exclusive to the Xbox 360, will be making it to the PS3. A recent listing on GAME’s website further fueled the fire. Bioware, the guys behind Mass Effect, have been pretty quiet about this issue…until now.

When questioned by a forum member on their forums, a representative for the company, Patrick Weekes, did not deny the rumor; but at the same time, did not confirm it.

“we don’t comment on rumors. :D ”

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/10/11/bioware-comments-on-mass-effect-2-for-ps3/