• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mass Effect 3 Demo Impressions [Online Open To All]

GSR

Member
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:

Sounds pretty much like I expected, then. I don't recall how long my ME1/ME2 runs were, but 40 hours with sidequests is plenty long.
 
ME1 you can beat in 6 hours on normal if you just do the story stuff, but that's not the point of these games IMO, suppose to go slow and soak up the atmosphere and story as well as play it well.
 
ME1 you can beat in 6 hours on normal if you just do the story stuff, but that's not the point of these games IMO, suppose to go slow and soak up the atmosphere and story as well as play it well.

I'm sorry, but there is no "right" way to play an RPG, or any game. This justification (especially when used to try to justify elitism) is lame.
 
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY
 
People, you have a review that says the story, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY

Because EA.
 

rozay

Banned
Some guy in the UK just sold 12 copies of the game on eBay, I'm jealous :<

People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY
I'm fine with them putting turret sequences in but my first thought was that it seems like another thing they're pulling from gears. Not to say that gears was the originator of turret combat.

I'd have preferred actual vehicle combat over shooting from an on rails vehicle, but both of Bioware's implementations of them have been shit.
 
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY
Because Neogaf hates Bioware and cant accept that anything they might produce isnt a complete disaster.
 
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY
To be fair, reviews are very subjective. What the reviewer considers to be "great gameplay", I might find terribly lacking. What he or she considers "a great story" I might find terribbly written.

I'm sure the game will be awesome and I'll love it, but accepting reviews as fact is a sure-fire way to get burned.
 

Robot Pants

Member
For me, and this is just for me, I almost can't like me3 simply because of what me2 did to the story. That was the main reason I loved mass effect and 2 ruined everything. The combat is way better in 3 and so are the graphics, but all of that is secondary to me. Curse you, Mac Walters.
 
For me, and this is just for me, I almost can't like me3 simply because of what me2 did to the story. That was the main reason I loved mass effect and 2 ruined everything. The combat is way better in 3 and so are the graphics, but all of that is secondary to me. Curse you, Mac Walters.
How could ME2 story ruin everything? It consisted of a lot of small stories which expanded on the universe.

I've read a load of spoilers of the story of ME3 and the things with the collectors and the baby reaper make sense in the context of the full explanation of why the Reapers do what they do.
 
This walkthrough looks good- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DINdtTcvO-4

Trying to find one without any talking.

Im up to part 9 of this walktrough and so far it seems to be better than ME2 and 3 (this is going by the demos so i guess that doesn't mean anything).

Am i going to be able to explore alot of different planets in ME2? I heard they tone that down?

Does the interactive comic in the PS3 version give you all the story details and decisions from ME1?

Finally, where would you die-hard fans put each game best to worst?
 
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY

Because the vocal Bioware haters have a vested interest in ME3 being bad. The possibility that it's actually good is an anathema to their "Bioware is shit" manifesto. They'll have to fall back on DA2 and nitpicking ME2 lollore.
 
Im up to part 9 of this walktrough and so far it seems to be better than ME2 and 3 (this is going by the demos so i guess that doesn't mean anything).

Am i going to be able to explore alot of different planets in ME2? I heard they tone that down?

Does the interactive comic in the PS3 version give you all the story details and decisions from ME1?

Finally, where would you die-hard fans put each game best to worst?

2 is by far the better game than 1. I still love ME1, but its such a chore to play after 2 and the multiplayer of 3.
 
Im up to part 9 of this walktrough and so far it seems to be better than ME2 and 3 (this is going by the demos so i guess that doesn't mean anything).

Am i going to be able to explore alot of different planets in ME2? I heard they tone that down?

Does the interactive comic in the PS3 version give you all the story details and decisions from ME1?

Finally, where would you die-hard fans put each game best to worst?

It's different. In ME1 you land, explore the surface with your Mako, and there's several points of interest spread across the map you can tackle in any order, or not at all. They're all very same-y: lifeless planets and copy-pasted bases filled with enemies.

In ME2 you scan planets. Occasionally you'll discover an anomaly, and sending a probe down will reveal the location of a certain point of interest. You then take the shuttle down and finish whatever's going on down there. There's a lot less exploration, but the locales look a lot better.

The interactive comic does not give you all the choices: I only think the biggest six or so are covered. The rest default to Renegade, I think.

For me, gameplay-wise ME2 is better than ME1. Story-wise it's the other way around.
 

Arjen

Member
Im up to part 9 of this walktrough and so far it seems to be better than ME2 and 3 (this is going by the demos so i guess that doesn't mean anything).

Am i going to be able to explore alot of different planets in ME2? I heard they tone that down?

Does the interactive comic in the PS3 version give you all the story details and decisions from ME1?

Finally, where would you die-hard fans put each game best to worst?

I like 2 more for the better gameplay and al the interesting stuff it added to the lore. Nothing can match the final hours of ME1 though.
 
To be fair, reviews are very subjective. What the reviewer considers to be "great gameplay", I might find terribly lacking. What he or she considers "a great story" I might find terribbly written.

I'm sure the game will be awesome and I'll love it, but accepting reviews as fact is a sure-fire way to get burned.

Pretty much. I just have a hard time taking any reviews that come out weeks before a game's release very seriously. You never ever see reviews from games from big developers come out early if they're lower than a 90 or high 80s.

Like Dragon Age 2's PC Gamer review which came out first, weeks before the game was released:
The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming’s best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better.

Or the Escapist's:
Bottom Line: A pinnacle of role-playing games with well-designed mechanics and excellent story-telling, Dragon Age II is what videogames are meant to be.

Recommendation: Buy it, steal it, beat up your little brother so you can play it.

Even Gamestar, the one that reviewed ME3 early here, still gave DA2 an 87.

The only way reviews are really useful is if you know who the reviewer is, what they've liked in the past and whether what they've liked in the past matches up with what you've liked.

Personally, I just really wish games reviews would get rid of numerical scores.
 

Tess3ract

Banned
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY
Turret Sequences are never a good thing. Lots of games are ruined by shitty sections (see every ending of every ASSCREED game ever)
 

rozay

Banned
masseffect3demo1.jpg

who's the dudebro now?
 

Achtius

Member

Walshicus

Member
Because the vocal Bioware haters have a vested interest in ME3 being bad. The possibility that it's actually good is an anathema to their "Bioware is shit" manifesto. They'll have to fall back on DA2 and nitpicking ME2 lollore.

Yup. I'll fully admit to being quite a critic of Bioware of late, but you have to be pretty damned blind to ignore the fact that ME3 seems to have got a lot of stuff right. We shouldn't be in denial when a company manages to turn its output around quality-wise. We should be ecstatic!
 

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
Time to leave this thread.

Seems about the right time to leave half the internet, lol, it doesn't help when EA are throwing copies into the sky and getting them stuck on trees two weeks before release.

I've got some games lined up to play to keep me away from ME topics and anywhere that something might be spoilt, definitely no reading comments on anything either as people sneak them in, Neogaf seems to be fairly safe though.
 
Seems about the right time to leave half the internet, lol, it doesn't help when EA are throwing copies into the sky and getting them stuck on trees two weeks before release.

I've got some games lined up to play to keep me away from ME topics and anywhere that something might be spoilt, definitely no reading comments on anything either as people sneak them in, Neogaf seems to be fairly safe though.

Oddly enough, spoilers don't bother me that much.

And I've been playing a bunch of ME, noticing some stuff that I hadn't before like:
how obvious it is that the Alliance and Cerberus are working together.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
Those time to leave the thread posts are a bit annoying. So far the whole script has leaked twice (one even in November) and people were careful in here not to spoil anything. I don't see why it would change now.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
People, you have a review that says the story, dialogue, characters and ending are fantastic, that the RPG mode feels like ME1, and "the game builds on the strenghts of ME2 and takes some notes from ME1 to create the most compelling experience in the franchise yet."

And you are concerned about some surely short turret sequences?

WHY

Early reviews are always glowing because they are paid for. Never forget what the reviews said about MGS4.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Can anyone explain this to me...

At the start of the demo, when you're with Anderson, your biotic charge cooldown is peanuts. You can basically spam it.

Then, in the 2nd part of the demo when you can dump points in your squad, your cooldown is loooooooong.

Fucking Global cooldowns... What's the difference between the first part and the second?
 
Can anyone explain this to me...

At the start of the demo, when you're with Anderson, your biotic charge cooldown is peanuts. You can basically spam it.

Then, in the 2nd part of the demo when you can dump points in your squad, your cooldown is loooooooong.

Fucking Global cooldowns... What's the difference between the first part and the second?
What weapons you have affect your cooldown time.
 

rozay

Banned
Can anyone explain this to me...

At the start of the demo, when you're with Anderson, your biotic charge cooldown is peanuts. You can basically spam it.

Then, in the 2nd part of the demo when you can dump points in your squad, your cooldown is loooooooong.

Fucking Global cooldowns... What's the difference between the first part and the second?
Guns have individual weights and the lower the total weight of your weapons, the faster your cooldowns are.
 

rozay

Banned
Oh I see. Hopefully I can mod the shotguns to not kill my cooldown timer because shotgun is what Vanguards are all about...
Play a vanguard in the multiplayer demo to get a feel for it, I can't even play ME2 anymore because the cooldown for charge is too damn long compared to how low it is running with only a shotgun and pistol in ME3.
 
Top Bottom