[Blue Ninja]

The DLC was officially announced today (and is on xbl right now) and the description tells exactly which race it is and the item's banner also has a picture of his head.

Seriously? Wow, either he'll be really unimportant... Or BioWare really doesn't give a crap about spoilers at all. Sucks for the people going dark.

[rozay]

Seriously? Wow, either he'll be really unimportant... Or BioWare really doesn't give a crap about spoilers at all. Sucks for the people going dark.

I am mistaken, the DLC was put up early on the live marketplace and as a result it seems Michael Gamble had to confirm it's existance-it's gone now and IGN is just a bitch as usual.

Honestly if he was important, I would assume they would have included him in the actual storyline and not as a piece of DLC. We'll just have to see...

[Blue Ninja]

I am mistaken, the DLC was put up early on the live marketplace and as a result it seems Michael Gamble had to confirm it's existance-it's gone now and IGN is just a bitch.

That's what I thought. Too bad the DLC wasn't put up for free... I still have all the ME2 preorder items from the time someone at Microsoft flipped the wrong switch. :lol

[thetrin]

Origin N7 Digital Deluxe Edition. You get every thing. Including all 7 DLC weapons and an armor set. Its kind of overkill.

No thanks. As dumb as it sounds, I like boxes.

You could always get the digital deluxe edition from Amazon. Then you could pre-load the game and start playing the moment it's released. But yeah, physical copies of the collector's edition are apparently in short supply. If you need to get a physical copy, it's still available at Gamestop, Sears (release date is scheduled for 2/28, wtf), and other online retailers.

I'll look into it. Thanks.

I avoid Gamestop when I can, and I haven't seen a Sears in years. It's all Amazon for me, now.

[rozay]

That's what I thought. Too bad the DLC wasn't put up for free... I still have all the ME2 preorder items from the time someone at Microsoft flipped the wrong switch. :lol

The only reason I'm still browsing this thread/reading about ME3 with 2 weeks to go is in case that happens again hahaha

Unfortunately, I did click the link when it was put up and it was 800 MSP. I'm worried that microsoft is going to be extra careful with the bonus items now that they've fucked up with both the demo in November and this DLC being released too early :'(

[Fourman]

I get really bad stuttering whenever I move my mouse in the demo on PC. It happens during a cut scene, in the menu, and even during combat. Anyone else having this problem or know of a fix? I just updated my Nvidia drivers to the latest build with the same results.

Specs:
1090T X6 AMD Phenom II
560Ti GPU
4GB Memory

EDIT - Wow, disabling in-game Origin overlay has totally fixed my issues.

[PsychoWARD23]

I am mistaken, the DLC was put up early on the live marketplace and as a result it seems Michael Gamble had to confirm it's existance-it's gone now and IGN is just a bitch as usual. Honestly if he was important, I would assume they would have included him in the actual storyline and not as a piece of DLC. We'll just have to see...

I've heard the character is pretty damn important, and has a ton of dialog too.


It just blows my mind not only is the character dlc, you get it for free for buying the CE, and not a new copy.

[rozay]

I've heard the character is pretty damn important, and has a ton of dialog too. It just blows my mind not only is the character dlc, you get it for free for buying the CE, and not a new copy.

The fuck is Bioware doing putting him as DLC then? It's been the case since last summer when pre-orders went up and the Origin collector's edition listed a DLC character and quest with the name of the star of From Dust, so it's not like it was a recent decision or anything...

I can't believe I'll be playing this in 2 weeks. Feels like forever since the VGA trailer released.

[CorrisD]

I've heard the character is pretty damn important, and has a ton of dialog too. It just blows my mind not only is the character dlc, you get it for free for buying the CE, and not a new copy.

Indeed, it would have been awesome if he was ME3s free DLC like Zaeed was, I don't know who decided he should be DLC and not one of the main characters, but I sure wouldn't give that person my last rolo or share my seat on the bus.

I think I saw someone mention on here that he was a main character and then they replaced him, what a joke if you ask me, I image he is a lot less important to the plot now than he was, though he could also be one of many of the same species and is just one guy you get to take with you.

Still an utter shame, all in the name of getting money out of those that dont' buy the collectors edition.

[i-Lo]

I wonder if it was Bioware's or EA's decision to do this... such a shame. It now went from giving people incentive to buy the game new (as all good games deserve) to try and force them to buy CE. These day 1 DLCs for price are just BS.

[Dany M]

I wonder if it was Bioware's or EA's decision to do this... such a shame. It now went from giving people incentive to buy the game new (as all good games deserve) to try and force them to buy CE. These day 1 DLCs for price are just BS.

You can't get the CE anymore, unless its on some shady website.

[Zen]

Do we know if every mode for online will be versus Waves of AI with extremely simple objectives thrown in? There are a lot more levels, and you can choose your enemy type, but if every level is just horde mode, with no other means of keep versus AI friesh, that's going to get very old very quickly.

[Tess3ract]

Seriously? Wow, either he'll be really unimportant... Or BioWare really doesn't give a crap about spoilers at all. Sucks for the people going dark.

It's not even that big of a deal. The fact he's a DLC character means he's on the same level as Zaeed or what's her face, the little asian girl who was a terrible character.

[PsychoWARD23]

the little asian girl who was a terrible character.

"The little asian girl who was a terrible character" was one of the best in the entire series.

[Tess3ract]

That's just like, your opinion mang.

Tali > Wrex > Garrus > Zaeed > The rest

[vaelic]

think now is a good time to pre-order ME3 or think there will be more specials?

[Vamphuntr]

Wait, some people outside of BSN really like Tali?

[DTKT]

I am mistaken, the DLC was put up early on the live marketplace and as a result it seems Michael Gamble had to confirm it's existance-it's gone now and IGN is just a bitch as usual. Honestly if he was important, I would assume they would have included him in the actual storyline and not as a piece of DLC. We'll just have to see...

He might just be another Zaeed.

[LumpOfCole]

Wait, some people outside of BSN really like Tali?

I play a Femshep and don't have any waifu inclinations toward Tali anyway, but I do like how she matures across Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 (though to a realistic extent and not a complete extent). She, along with Garrus and Liara, exhibit character growth in ways that aren't just positive but multi-dimensional. So I definitely see the appeal in Tali. That said, even in Mass Effect 2 her personality still seems a bit too young and just not matured enough for a heavy duty relationship, especially with someone like Shepard. Of course we're delving purely into personal opinion at this point.

[Skitso78]

Hi all, first post to Gaf.

Played demo on X360 and every time I aim (left trigger) the image gets a slight distrortion. Its really minor but when you see it, it can't be unseen. Its like one or two frames that jump horizontally in wrong place by maybe 2 pixels. Sometimes the scenery also flashes white real quickly. Not a biggie, but was wondering if others are experiencing the same.... annoying when you notice it. :/

[rozay]

Hi all, first post to Gaf. Played demo on X360 and every time I aim (left trigger) the image gets a slight distrortion. Its really minor but when you see it, it can't be unseen. Its like one or two frames that jump horizontally in wrong place by maybe 2 pixels. Sometimes the scenery also flashes white real quickly. Not a biggie, but was wondering if others are experiencing the same.... annoying when you notice it. :/

Like the entire screen jumps horizontally or only a portion of the image?

I can't say I've noticed it, does it happen in single and multiplayer for you?

[HarryHengst]

Tried to play multiplayer for the first time last night but people kept quitting out in the lobby because of my low level and bitching about shit on their mics. I mean, does it really matter that much? Some guy was like level 83 or something. I just want to try the damn multiplayer.

Make sure you dont join silver/gold matches (bottom of the four choices you can make). A level 1 or 5 is pretty much useless in silver/gold. Silver can be done from level 13-15, gold i dont know, but i guess somewhere around 22-25.

[Skitso78]

Like the entire screen jumps horizontally or only a portion of the image? I can't say I've noticed it, does it happen in single and multiplayer for you?

It happens only in singleplayer - multiplayer is fine. It happens in both single player levels and every time so the bug is completely repeatable.

It's about the center third of the picture and the distoriton comes every time the zoom level changes. The screen kinda jitters or warps quickly (only 1 or 2 frames) couple of pixels left and right every time I press the left trigger to aim or release it to regular view.

I'm sure it's hard to notice on smaller screens but atleast on my 50" it's annoying me cause it cannot be unseen when you first notice it. :(

[carfo]

Demo felt sluggish to me. Like it was running at 20fps or something. I tried it on Xbox and ps3, both felt the same.

[AB12]

While Multiplayer is kinda fun, it felt too claustrophobic for me.

[HarryHengst]

Demo felt sluggish to me. Like it was running at 20fps or something. I tried it on Xbox and ps3, both felt the same.

Join us. You know you want glorious 60 fps and higher resolution textures and all.

[Xanonano]

It happens only in singleplayer - multiplayer is fine. It happens in both single player levels and every time so the bug is completely repeatable. It's about the center third of the picture and the distoriton comes every time the zoom level changes. The screen kinda jitters or warps quickly (only 1 or 2 frames) couple of pixels left and right every time I press the left trigger to aim or release it to regular view. I'm sure it's hard to notice on smaller screens but atleast on my 50" it's annoying me cause it cannot be unseen when you first notice it. :(

Yeah, it happens on the PC version too. I think it's a deliberate blurring effect, and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn it off. :/

[Sotha Sil]

Played the PS3 demo again. I think I'll have to wait for impressions before I buy this... thing. It's simply horrible from start to finish. The weapons feel wrong, the animation feels wrong, the dialogue feels wrong. It's an all-around mess. It's been a long time since I've felt this disappointed. Cognitive dissonance is kicking in, and tells me a Mass Effect game just can't look and feel this bad, but well. Can't deny the obvious. A part of me hopes the final product will be greatly improved, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Sephiroth503]

Finally got to try PS3 demo last night. Didn't think it was as bad as the hyperbole in here made it out to be.

Did anyone find the sprinting to be a bit...off? I don't mean the silly animation I mean actually sprinting and controlling Shepard, feels like its gliding on ice sortof directing you to something. Think it was in the 2nd half where I was sprinting past a door and it tried to guide me towards it.

Also whats the point of bypassing now exactly?

[mrgone]

I'm having fun with the multiplayer, but it seems to completely desynchronize with lag. You just lose interactivity with everything. Halfway through the match I was just playing in it stopped registering me as an active participant in the game, so I could just run around ineffectually melee-ing all the enemies and shooting fizzling biotics around like the world's most expensive roman candle. I'm playing the PC version so it's probably matchmaking me with people on the other side of the planet at this time of the morning, but some kind of network connection information somewhere would help (like, you know, at the lobby).

[Kung Fu Grip]

When i played the Mass Effect 2 demo when it came out, i didn't like it. I couldn't get into it, it was boring, i didn't understand what you 360 owners liked about this series so much. I think i had my fanboy goggles on at the time too (how many years later did they decide to port this to PS3? Fuck off).

Fast forward to the ME3 demo; ok, this is pretty good. Good gameplay, graphics not to bad. Fast talking alien from ME2 demo is back. I like him, he's funny, game is good. Story pretty interesting.

Rewind back to the ME2 demo last night; oh shit, this game is good, like really good. Gameplay is better than last time, characters pretty interesting, fast talking alien is lovable (I really like him), now i want to keep playing.

I think it's $20 at bestbuy. Will pick up later today. Then get ME3 later on.

I know ME2 gives you the story of part 1, but i was thinking of watching some gameplay videos on youtube. Would that be better?

[Bisnic]

When i played the Mass Effect 2 demo when it came out, i didn't like it. I couldn't get into it, it was boring, i didn't understand what you 360 owners liked about this series so much. I think i had my fanboy goggles on at the time too (how many years later did they decide to port this to PS3? Fuck off). Fast forward to the ME3 demo; ok, this is pretty good. Good gameplay, graphics not to bad. Fast talking alien from ME2 demo is back. I like him, he's funny, game is good. Story pretty interesting. Rewind back to the ME2 demo last night; oh shit, this game is good, like really good. Gameplay is better than last time, characters pretty interesting, fast talking alien is lovable (I really like him), now i want to keep playing. I think it's $20 at bestbuy. Will pick up later today. Then get ME3 later on. I know ME2 gives you the story of part 1, but i was thinking of watching some gameplay videos on youtube. Would that be better?

Of course, because you get to hear the awesome soundtrack on top of it.

While ME2 soundtrack is good, its pretty forgettable outside of the last mission music. If there is one thing that ME1 did much better, its making memorable musics.

[EatChildren]

I know ME2 gives you the story of part 1, but i was thinking of watching some gameplay videos on youtube. Would that be better?

Ja. That or read the plot summary over on the Mass Effect wiki, as it does a pretty good job of covering everything, while the intro comic glosses over a few things.

When you paly the game make sure you go through the comic though, just for one final refresher and to make a few choices.

[Kung Fu Grip]

This walkthrough looks good- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DINdtTcvO-4

Trying to find one without any talking.

[Hoo-doo]

What is is Vega smuggling in his trapezius muscles? God-DAMN they are huge.

[Parn]

What is is Vega smuggling in his trapezius muscles? God-DAMN they are huge.

Water and nutrients. He's half-Krogan.

[HarryHengst]

This walkthrough looks good- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DINdtTcvO-4 Trying to find one without any talking.

Its a bad walkthrough because it uses the wrong Shepard.

[AEREC]

Framerate felt just as smooth as ME2 to me.

[Always-honest]

Wow i hated this demo... Way too long and many cutscenes with horrible framerate.
The running animations are laughable. Didn't like the writing & dialogues.

And was that an inception horn???

Still like the core gameplay.

[jediyoshi]

Wow i hated this demo... Way too long and many cutscenes with horrible framerate.

That's pretty much what everyone wants, a Bioware RPG with fewer and shorter cutscenes.

[rozay]

Reversible covers on the standard edition:

[lotrfan]

I finally played the demo and I like it so far though I hate the space bar being assigned 4 different functions. The way I play I had to assign it to a different key if I want to use the new roll function.

Observations:
- I hope they allow for skipping cut scenes (at least after the first play through). The scene with the alliance council is too long to have to see over and over.

- I will play and replay on RPG mode until I get almost if not all the different dialogs etc but I hope the action mode allows to choose more than just soldier Shepard, that way if I just want to play for the sake of it I don’t have to bother with hitting the space bar just to go through dialogs as fast as possible.

- I hope the demo is not representative of the real difficulty because I found it too easy. I am not typically good at hardcore mode even in the previous ME games (don’t relish the idea of the chore involved plus it takes some of the fun from using powers away) yet here I am almost breezing through in Hardcore mode.

- Really like the new powers and how now you get exp from looting (I didn’t imagine this right?)

- Finally I know it is a demo but if representative of that initial wow moment like in ME1 (becoming a Specter) and ME2 (dying and coming back to life) then I think it failed. I mean I really didn’t feel much for what was happening to Earth and its people. Hopefully this will change with the full game but I have a feeling that it won’t.

BTW While I liked Arrival enough I have to admit that it doesn’t make sense for Shepard to destroy a colony just for a couple of months of reprieve. I mean he knew no one was going to believe him anyway so a couple of months weren’t going to make much of a change IMO. The Batarian colony would have been screwed either way but at least their blood wasn’t in your hands. Wish there had been a choice.

[Moaradin]

Reversible covers on the standard edition:

That's actually really cool.

[SaberVulcan]

Are you fucking serious? God dammit. There's no CE for PC (as far as Amazon is concerned)!

I noticed they sold out of PC and XBox collector's edition weeks ago. Good thing I preordered mine in December :\

[rozay]

I finally played the demo and I like it so far though I hate the space bar being assigned 4 different functions. The way I play I had to assign it to a different key if I want to use the new roll function. Observations: - I hope they allow for skipping cut scenes (at least after the first play through). The scene with the alliance council is too long to have to see over and over. - I will play and replay on RPG mode until I get almost if not all the different dialogs etc but I hope the action mode allows to choose more than just soldier Shepard, that way if I just want to play for the sake of it I don’t have to bother with hitting the space bar just to go through dialogs as fast as possible. - I hope the demo is not representative of the real difficulty because I found it too easy. I am not typically good at hardcore mode even in the previous ME games (don’t relish the idea of the chore involved plus it takes some of the fun from using powers away) yet here I am almost breezing through in Hardcore mode. - Really like the new powers and how now you get exp from looting (I didn’t imagine this right?) - Finally I know it is a demo but if representative of that initial wow moment like in ME1 (becoming a Specter) and ME2 (dying and coming back to life) then I think it failed. I mean I really didn’t feel much for what was happening to Earth and its people. Hopefully this will change with the full game but I have a feeling that it won’t. BTW While I liked Arrival enough I have to admit that it doesn’t make sense for Shepard to destroy a colony just for a couple of months of reprieve. I mean he knew no one was going to believe him anyway so a couple of months weren’t going to make much of a change IMO. The Batarian colony would have been screwed either way but at least their blood wasn’t in your hands. Wish there had been a choice.

Action mode is there for the people who pressed A repeatedly to get through the character creator, so that's why it's locked to shepard the soldier.

[lotrfan]

Action mode is there for the people who pressed A repeatedly to get through the character creator, so that's why it's locked to shepard the soldier.

I really hope it is not. Though, in retrospect, the way it automatically also selects your abilities I may never use it as I want to manage that for sure.

[Big Baby Buddha]

Action mode is there for the people who pressed A repeatedly to get through the character creator, so that's why it's locked to shepard the soldier.

Yeah, I tried starting the demo in action mode and quit out when I still had to sit through that awful council chamber intro. Seems to defeat the point of 'action mode'

[rozay]

I really hope it is not. Though, in retrospect, the way it automatically also selects your abilities I may never use it as I want to manage that for sure.

That's the whole point, it's there for the people who wanted to play a TPS. Unless the gameplay in Story and RPG mode had to cater to making it work, bitching about it is pointless when it wasn't put in the game for you.

[monsterfracas]

I suppose I'll post my impression of the demo.

This game...just doesn't feel like Mass Effect anymore. That's not inherently bad, but it does lessen my interest in the final game by a large margin. The worst offender I could find was the incredibly simplistic dialogue. The only choices I had were black and white, and that really took me out of the whole "alien invasion, we need a leader" setting. The supposedly deep, profound moments if this is even a spoiler, the kid dying with the piano music at the end came off as incredibly forced.

However, the demo was not all bad. The combat was very, very great. Movement especially felt very fluid, and the animations were solid. Graphically, ME3 is impressive, at least on 360. The backdrops, especially in the 2nd part of the demo, were very nice.
Overall, I'm not really sure what to think. It's fun to play, but it's just not Mass Effect anymore.

(Note: I only played the SP portion of the demo.)

[HarryHengst]

I suppose I'll post my impression of the demo. This game...just doesn't feel like Mass Effect anymore. That's not inherently bad, but it does lessen my interest in the final game by a large margin. The worst offender I could find was the incredibly simplistic dialogue. The only choices I had were black and white, and that really took me out of the whole "alien invasion, we need a leader" setting. The supposedly deep, profound moments if this is even a spoiler, the kid dying with the piano music at the end came off as incredibly forced.

You must have played a different ME1 and 2 than I. ME has always been as black/white as possible, because thats how Bioware rolls. Paragon results in Shepard the Saint and renegade is Shepard acting like a space racist asshole.

Also, a chunk of dialogue has been cut from the demo.