[Blue Ninja]

I retract my bitching about there not being any voice commands for Belgian/possibly other region accounts. The latest dashboard update fixed that, although we still don't have any dashboard voice commands.

I had in-game voice commands here (Belgium) since the first day I played the demo, which was February 11th or something.

[Nils]

I had in-game voice commands here (Belgium) since the first day I played the demo, which was February 11th or something.

I swear it didn't work here before then. Switched to my US account, everything was fine. Switched back, zero voice commands.

[Blue Ninja]

I swear it didn't work here before then. Switched to my US account, everything was fine. Switched back, zero voice commands.

Sure you had 'em turned on in the menu?

[20yearoldnerd]

My thoughts:

+ Epic feeling. It made me feel like the world really was going to shit. It's scope was very impressive.

+ Improved voice acting. Female shepard sounds fantastic.

+ Touches to the combat were great.

+ Visuals seemed to be slightly better (animations in particular).

--

- Holy crap at the child's voice acting. Hopefully they improve it by the end.

- Holy crap at the first part of the demo. The writing was quite disappointing. Some of the one liners shepered spew out of his mouth we're puzzling to me. Bioware doesn't normally write that awful, but I'll be damned. Thought I was watching a B movie action flick. "We fight for survival!"...

[Nils]

Sure you had 'em turned on in the menu?

Absolutely. Those should be global console settings so the different account should have nothing to with it. I think Belgian accounts are maybe still weirdly segmented by the French/Dutch language barrier. There were lots of problems with that in the early Xbox years. In any case the topic about the latest dashboard update stated it fixed some voice command issues for non-English speaking countries.

Today the team released an Xbox 360 system update to quickly fix some voice recognition issues affecting our non-English speaking members

[Vire]

IGN put up a "Review In Progress" for Mass Effect 3:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219...source=twitter

I dunno if it deserves it's own thread or whatever.

Also a new video of Mars combat:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/24...mission-combat

[Lifejumper]

IGN put up a "Review In Progress" for Mass Effect 3: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219...source=twitter I dunno if it deserves it's own thread or whatever. Also a new video of Mars combat: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/24...mission-combat

Looks great! No sound though?

[Vire]

Looks great! No sound though?

Hmm, I got sound...

I'll be on the look out for the Youtube upload though.

Second video:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/24...ing-the-galaxy

I made a thread about it since it seems like enough new stuff:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=464460

[MikeE21286]

Just got around to playing this today.

Holy shit, does Sheppard run weird lol

Like awkward as hell.

[Fimbulvetr]

I don't really agree with that explanation, but at least it's an explanation, so thanks for that. It's kind of funny, but I can't help feeling the take-away is that the music is apparently too good.

I don’t think they’re saying the music was too good, but that the game’s writing didn’t do enough to earn the music.

I still thought that the particular scene we're discussing worked fine; It's still unclear what else about that particular moment could or should have been executed differently, how else would it have happened except for suddenly?

It’s less the scene itself and more the build up to that scene.

Specifically, the other scene with the kid in the vent; It screams trying-too-hard from the get-go. The kid is all “you can’t save me” and then Anderson almost immediately starts a conversation about how much it sucks that you can’t save everyone in the proceeding scene.

They make it too obvious from the start that the kid exists only to die. So when his time comes it isn’t sudden or surprising, it’s “oh, so I guess that’s how they decided to off him *shrug*”. It just feels artificial.

[Mxrz]

One thing has always bothered me. It is the future. Why doesn't Shepard have jump boots? Did Nike go out of business?

[PsychoWARD23]

One thing has always bothered me. It is the future. Why doesn't Shepard have jump boots? Did Nike go out of business?

Cerberus agents have rocket boots.


I'd certainly prefer those sections to fucking on-rails turret sequences.

[ColonelColon]

I just realized why I've had some difficulty adapting to combat in Mass Effect 3. The crosshairs are much smaller than in Mass Effect 2.



Maybe Bioware wanted a less cluttered HUD, but personally I think there are drawbacks. Being accurate isn't easy when your targeting reticle is barely visible. Aiming from the hip felt pretty awkward for me in the demo.

[Lakitu]

First Mass Effect 3 review... yeah I know, reviews are bullshit blah blah. But it's a chance to moan some more, so why not?

It's from PC magazine Gamerstar. They gave it a 90 (by comparison, they gave ME 2 an 88 and ME 1 an 85).

Credit goes to Hagren from BSN. Summary:

-15-20 hour-long main quest -Around 40 hours playtime in total- side missions are vital to amass enough opposition to the Reaper threat -90 minutes of cutscenes -No loose ends or cliffhangers, the game is truly an appropriate end to the trilogy with a very intense and touching finale -More than 100 scenes, conversations and/or events change depending on our choices- from something small like someone thanking us for completing a mission to bigger repercussions which would be to spoilerous to write down- you are definitely going to feel the consequences, and not always like them -SPOILER: In order to rally allies, we search for a cure for the Genophage, build a Prothean weapon, disarm a Cerberus bomb before it destroys half of a moon, and are even inserted virtually in a computer program -If and how many of these quests we complete influences how the game ends, and who- individually and globally- survives -While the game can be enjoyable for newcomers as well, because the game is strong on its own mechanically and story-wise, it is recommended to play the first two entries to make more sense out of the wealth of information that the game builds on -There's an interesting sequence after the end credits -The „Role-Play“ mode of the game (In contrast to „Action“ and „Story“) feels very much like ME1 -The game gives you more opportunity to customize your Shepard. Each class has 8 talents with 6 levels each, and up from Level 4 there are two branches to choose from to level up each individual talent differently. Weapon customization is also a factor and noticeable, but the effects (which have both pros and cons) are only marginal -Balancing isn't optimal -The game is noticeably more difficult up from „Medium“, which makes using the correct weapon mods and talents integral to survive. Shepard also shoots more accurately in cover. -The AI, on the other hand, is still not very advanced -SPOILER: You are going to visit Krogan ruins, a Geth ship and the Turian moon Palaven, among others -There are multiple turret sections which aren't very well directed -Despite the shortcomings in level design, which are similar to ME2, the game is constantly thrilling, spectacular and dramatic- largely thanks to the well-presented story and dialogue- and there are lot of small and large choices again to ponder on -Scanning isn't nearly as repetitive as before, because it works a lot quicker now and incorporates a new mini-game where you have to navigate your ship away from Reaper threat -The new melee option is fun, but a little overpowered -Graphically, the low polycount, lack of detail and low texture resolution disappoints- the characters are well animated and modeled however, and the overall look, despite its age, is quite moody -Great dynamic soundtrack and sound-effects -Our progress in the war effort is constantly trackable on a terminal on the Normandy In summary, the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet.

[Salvadora]

Ugh. Multiple turret sections.

[Lime]

-Graphically, the low polycount, lack of detail and low texture resolution disappoints- the characters are well animated and modeled however, and the overall look, despite its age, is quite moody

Damnit

[Calisto Glory]

Damnit

Glad that pc version gets a hd textures patch! ^^

https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/st...06103521595392

[Lime]

Glad that pc version gets a hd textures patch! ^^ https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/st...06103521595392

Again, as already been discussed, it's the marketing team and they are not specific on how they understand "hi-res textures". We haven't gotten any confirmation from the devs and with the above quote from a PC magazine, as well as Bioware's inability to port games, I think it's safe to assume there's no difference in assets between PC, PS3 and 360.

[Minion101]

This vid may have ruined me on the demo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gayz4...eature=related

[Dax01]

First Mass Effect 3 review... yeah I know, reviews are bullshit blah blah. But it's a chance to moan some more, so why not? It's from PC magazine Gamerstar. They gave it a 90 (by comparison, they gave ME 2 an 88 and ME 1 an 85). Credit goes to Hagren from BSN. Summary:

Seems...encouraging. Hopefully most other reviews come out saying the same thing.

[Blue Ninja]

Absolutely. Those should be global console settings so the different account should have nothing to with it. I think Belgian accounts are maybe still weirdly segmented by the French/Dutch language barrier. There were lots of problems with that in the early Xbox years. In any case the topic about the latest dashboard update stated it fixed some voice command issues for non-English speaking countries.

Strange. I had no trouble with the voice commands here in Flanders, at least.

[Calisto Glory]

This vid may have ruined me on the demo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gayz4...eature=related

HAHAHAAH so good! ^^

[Cartman86]

This vid may have ruined me on the demo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gayz4...eature=related

I say movement in general on Sheppard has always looked weird. Like he's just gliding along.

[Dreamer RD]

I have a question about save importing from ME2 to ME3. Will it work with different region saves? Cleared EU version of ME2, but have to buy US version of ME3 from PSN.

[Weemanply109]

I loved the demo, can't wait for the full thing. The Multi-player is surprisingly good.

[Nils]

Strange. I had no trouble with the voice commands here in Flanders, at least.

Did you ever have French communications on your dashboard instead of English? I was one of the many that had that problem until they "almost" fixed it some years ago, but I believe our accounts are still partially segmented based on that. I say almost because billing information is still French for me. I believe Switzerland had similar problems with their accounts due to the multitude of official languages there as well.

[evanft]

Anyone on the PC have sound issues? Everything was really quiet and seemed to be mixed funny when I played the demo.

[Blue Ninja]

Did you ever have French communications on your dashboard instead of English? I was one of the many that had that problem until they "almost" fixed it some years ago, but I believe our accounts are still partially segmented based on that. I say almost because billing information is still French for me. I believe Switzerland had similar problems with their accounts due to the multitude of official languages there as well.

My dashboard's always been in english, and I don't really recall any French ads or anything, either.

Billing and such is still in French, though.

[Nils]

My dashboard's always been in english, and I don't really recall any French ads or anything, either. Billing and such is still in French, though.

It used to be a big problem.

http://www.powerplay.be/nieuws/xbox-...-zijn-opgelost

[Bisnic]

Damnit

I still have a hard time to believe that ME3 in its final build could look worse than ME2 on PC. Despite some low res textures on clothes and armor in ME2, that game was pretty to look at mostly. <3 Omega.

[Blue Ninja]

It used to be a big problem. http://www.powerplay.be/nieuws/xbox-...-zijn-opgelost

I still remember that. I never had any real problems with it, though.

[shingonation]

-No loose ends or cliffhangers, the game is truly an appropriate end to the trilogy with a very intense and touching finale -The „Role-Play“ mode of the game (In contrast to „Action“ and „Story“) feels very much like ME1 In summary, the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet.

This is all I need. My body is ready.

[whatevermort]

I have a question about save importing from ME2 to ME3. Will it work with different region saves? Cleared EU version of ME2, but have to buy US version of ME3 from PSN.

I'd assume almost definitely not. Given that you can't use an EU save of a game with a US game (for example) I would think the same would hold true with this.

[DTKT]

Urgh.

Turret sequence. WHY

[shingonation]

Again, as already been discussed, it's the marketing team and they are not specific on how they understand "hi-res textures". We haven't gotten any confirmation from the devs and with the above quote from a PC magazine, as well as Bioware's inability to port games, I think it's safe to assume there's no difference in assets between PC, PS3 and 360.

They reviewed the PS3 version, they are expecting the PC version for a final score.

[PsychoWARD23]

great, so multiple turret sequences that aren't good, bad textures, and only a 15-20 hour main quest.

bleh

Once again, I'm gonna be spending more than half the game on fucking scanning and sidemissions.

[Nils]

only a 15-20 hour main quest.

So about the same as last games?

[EatChildren]

Anyone on the PC have sound issues? Everything was really quiet and seemed to be mixed funny when I played the demo.

Constantly. Mixing was pretty awful, so I changed the sound range to low. Despite having a good sound card and an excellent pair of headphones, high range sounds way, way too quiet.

Even on low the game's audio mixing is weirdly quiet. ME2 was pretty boned in that regard as well.

Again, as already been discussed, it's the marketing team and they are not specific on how they understand "hi-res textures". We haven't gotten any confirmation from the devs and with the above quote from a PC magazine, as well as Bioware's inability to port games, I think it's safe to assume there's no difference in assets between PC, PS3 and 360.

Yeah, as Lime has said, this quote came from a marketing person who, in all likelihood, had no idea what they were talking about. All they said was that high-res textures ship with the game. Apparently Hudson or whoever had said something similar when the question was posed about Mass Effect 2, and we know how that turned out.

Long story short, a marketing person saying that high-res textures ship with the game is their way of saying "the textures are pretty in the game!". That's basically where it begins and end.

The BioWare forums have been littered with numerous threads requesting confirmation (I made one myself) or a statement from BioWare to clear up the PR quote and they haven't said anything. For all the shit they get BioWare is usually pretty on the ball with their community when posed serious concerns they can answer. They haven't confirmed a high-res texture pack because, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't exist. They know the thread is there and honestly, if they could confirm it, why wouldn't they? They'd shut up a whole lot of PC players making threads to complain and generate good PR.

Ignoring it lets people speculate and believe the PR statement, which is also good for them.

[PsychoWARD23]

So about the same as last games?

I'd actually say longer, ME1's main quest was around 8-10 hours if you knew what you were doing.

I was just hoping 3 would be longer, oh well.

[Petrichor]

I'd actually say longer, ME1's main quest was around 8-10 hours if you knew what you were doing. I was just hoping 3 would be longer, oh well.

Finished ME1 in 6 on my first playthrough.

[Tess3ract]

IGN put up a "Review In Progress" for Mass Effect 3:

He likes me a lot, his opinion is skewed

Ugh. Multiple turret sections.

TOLD YOU GUYS

[Gestahl]

Even with only skipping past the boring expository dialogue you can 100% ME1 in a smidge over 20 hours.

[Amazon Video Gamer]

Hey there,

Full Disclosure, I'm the Marketing Manager for Amazon's Game Downloads Group

I wanted to drop by and drop a note about Mass Effect 3's Pre-Order offer, as the "From Ashes" DLC seems to be a topic of discussion for fans of the series.

I know the internet has been abuzz with commentary on "From Ashes" DLC for Mass Effect 3. Just wanted you guys to know that you'll get this DLC for free with the Digital Deluxe version, and we're also giving you a $10 credit to buy more video games (physical or digital) when you purchase.

I posted a link to the game on the Amazon Deal thread Link I didn't want to link directly to Amazon's Page from this thread but wanted to make sure anyone thinking about the PC version knew about this particular offer.

If you're interested in ME3 on the PC this is the best deal I've seen for it yet. Let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them via PM.

Cheers,
Tony

[Dreamer RD]

I'd assume almost definitely not. Given that you can't use an EU save of a game with a US game (for example) I would think the same would hold true with this.

Too bad. Yeah it's pretty obvious. The reason why I asked is because saw a thread on Bioware forum where korean guy asked the same question and another guy replied that previous ME games were region-free, and saves would be compatible.
Anyway, is it very important to import ME2 save? Heard about some scenario differences and level 30 character at the start along with all Normandy upgrades.

[KorrZ]

Urgh. Turret sequence. WHY

BioWare: "COD has lots of turret sequences...must be why it's so popular!"
*Adds it to ME3*

[HarryHengst]

So about the same as last games?

Yeah, 15-20 hours is long enough. with all possible side missions, some of which you'll probably miss the first time round due to gameplay mechanics, i fully expect to spend like 80-100 hours total on it over multiple runs.

[Dr Zhivago]

BioWare: "COD has lots of turret sequences...must be why it's so popular!" *Adds it to ME3*

KOTOR had turrets.

[TheExodu5]

I enjoyed the multiplayer. I really like what they've done with balancing weapon loadout vs. power recharge time. The game looks pretty good on PC, and is one of the few games that controls beautifully with little input lag with vsync on.

Definitely excited for this one.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Yeah, 15-20 hours is long enough. with all possible side missions, some of which you'll probably miss the first time round due to gameplay mechanics, i fully expect to spend like 80-100 hours total on it over multiple runs.

I honestly don't know how people are getting 100+ hours on these games. Dragon Age was, at most, a 40 hour game (which is certainly uncommon and rare), and yet, people were getting 172 hours in single runs.

[SykoTech]

Wat

Well if the story was truly great, I think it would have grabbed me regardless of whether I've played the first games or not.

That music was some of the most beautiful I've heard

My condolences.