After some deep thought lately I've decided to jump into Mass Effect. Basically I don't have a 360 and never thought to play it on PC. After reading some of the coverage of ME3 I thought I'd jump in now they are all out and do it one after the after.
So I'm just going to stream it, and basically log my account and opinions here.
I live in Australia so the stream will be up at some funky times if you live in Europe or North America. I've got time off work so it'll be at all hours.
As the ordeal progresses obviously this will be laden with spoilers, so beware!
LOL, I'm playing 1 & 2 because of 3! There had been so much smack talk about ME3, I have to see for myself. And I can't develop an opinion without an understanding of the whole.
Please aside from 3 having a shitty ending it was a great game although the story was a bit lame in how they made previous game choices insignificant still great universe and would love to see games come back to it.
I'm about to play through the series for the first time as well (i'm currently installing ME1). The demo for ME2 is my only previous experience with it.
Ignore the peanut gallery telling you to skip some of the games. Do not go into the games with expectations. Do not listen to the hype or anti-hype for certain games in the series. Obviously, my opinion is 100% correct, but you should still have a chance to play and enjoy them without sullying it.
Is there any DLC I should get or avoid? I would have no idea since there is quite a lot, and really don't want to buy 150 dollars worth of DLC that isn't that good.
Take your time, talk to characters, read the Codex and enjoy the atmosphere. The combat becomes a lot more enjoyable and polished in the sequels, but the different alien races and their dynamics hooked me the second I could explore the Citadel.
Is there any DLC I should get or avoid? I would have no idea since there is quite a lot, and really don't want to buy 150 dollars worth of DLC that isn't that good.
I would recommend at least considering Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2 DLC) and From Ashes (Mass Effect 3 DLC). It's difficult to say why those are interesting, though, without alluding to story details.
You know, playing all three in a row gives you a really good chance of loving the entire series because you didn't have three and two year gaps to let your hype build up to the point that nothing would be able to satisfy you.
Nah, the second is far better to play. Looks nicer to boot. Haven't played the third, but I'm willing to bet the concensus opinion on GAF is making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Is there any DLC I should get or avoid? I would have no idea since there is quite a lot, and really don't want to buy 150 dollars worth of DLC that isn't that good.
Lair of the Shadow Broker for ME2 is definitely a good buy, and Leviathan for Mass Effect 3 (play it before the ending) is almost essential. Everything else is up to preference.
Is there any DLC I should get or avoid? I would have no idea since there is quite a lot, and really don't want to buy 150 dollars worth of DLC that isn't that good.
Definitely get Lair of the Shadow Broker (ME2) cause it's awesome, and I recommend Arrival (ME2) ONLY to tie it directly into ME3, because otherwise it's pretty forgettable. Leviathan (ME3) is also pretty cool, and adds additional dialogue to the ending.
Overlord (ME2) and Bring Down the Sky (ME1) have cool but otherwise throw-away tie-ins in Mass Effect 3. Overlord is actually good DLC, though, but BDtS is pretty crap.
I haven't played Omega (ME3) yet. I heard it was middling.
Because I assumed anyone reading would understand that I meant the best out of the two when I said "series," since I explain that I have yet to play the 3rd installment.
ME1 has the best story and world building elements of the three. ME2 has the best characters and missions, but the story is just okay. ME3 has the best combat and nothing else.
Definitely get Lair of the Shadow Broker (ME2) cause it's awesome, and I recommend Arrival (ME2) ONLY to tie it directly into ME3, because otherwise it's pretty forgettable. Leviathan (ME3) is also pretty cool, and adds additional dialogue to the ending.
Overlord (ME2) and Bring Down the Sky (ME1) have cool but otherwise throw-away tie-ins in Mass Effect 3. Overlord is actually good DLC, though, but BDtS is pretty crap.
I haven't played Omega (ME3) yet. I heard it was middling.
Mass effect 1 is one of my favourite games of all times
Mass effect 2 is also an excellent game but doesn't quite get to the amazing quality of the original.
I do not speak about Mass Effect 3.
The set of games are a nice summation of the trends of this generation: Unreal Engine 3, third person over the shoulder, cover-based mechanics, presence of player choice (regardless of your stance on how it executed on it), substantive DLC, new-game purchase incentive programs, celebrity VO, needless multiplayer, level up systems in multi, microtransactions, and the inclusion of at least one dudebro.
Is there any DLC I should get or avoid? I would have no idea since there is quite a lot, and really don't want to buy 150 dollars worth of DLC that isn't that good.
For ME1, get Bring Down The Sky if anything, but feel free to skip totally.
For ME2, get Shadowbroker, Overlord and Kasumi (ignore Arrival unless you have cash to burn). I listed them in descending order of awesome, so skip out on Kasumi if you can only get two of them.
For ME3, Leviathan could be worth it depending on if you want to see more.
Well, in terms of story, I'd say it goes in this order of importance:
Arrival
Leviathan
Lair of the Shadow Broker (but seriously, do not skip this)
Overlord
Bring Down the Sky
Omega
Oh, and I forgot Kasumi. She's an additional squadmate. She's alright.
EDIT: Just to toss in my opinion one more time, I recommend getting the top 4 on this list. It'll set you back about $45, assuming the prices haven't changed since I bought them.
Well, in terms of story, I'd say it goes in this order of importance:
Arrival
Leviathan
Lair of the Shadow Broker (but seriously, do not skip this)
Overlord
Bring Down the Sky
Omega
Oh, and I forgot Kasumi. She's an additional squadmate. She's alright.
EDIT: Just to toss in my opinion one more time, I recommend getting the top 4 on this list. It'll set you back about $45, assuming the prices haven't changed since I bought them.
Whoa, I was way off on my estimate. Most of the ME2 DLC was $7, not $10. Those 3 + Kasumi will be $34.
EDIT: HOLY CRAP. I FORGOT 'FROM ASHES'. I bought the ME3 LE, so I forgot that it's separate DLC for regular owners. Absolutely get that one, it's a squadmate for ME3 that you can't afford to miss. So much content from him.
I loved her voice actress, her design, and her dialogues. The fact that she has unique and useful abilities is great too. All this makes up for the somehow lackluter story involved... Still worth it though imo.
The games are allright, but nowhere near what they're hyped up to be. Don't blow up your expectations too high and you should be able to enjoy them. Just try to ignore the ridiculously stupid 'boxes everywhere' level design of the games.
EDIT: HOLY CRAP. I FORGOT 'FROM ASHES'. I bought the ME3 LE, so I forgot that it's separate DLC for regular owners. Absolutely get that one, it's a squadmate for ME3 that you can't afford to miss. So much content from him.
I'll echo a lot of the sentiment in here and say that ME1 is the best of the trilogy. The story is a very well done classic space opera and the gameplay, while flawed all around, really captures the feel of a Star Trek style space adventure.
ME2 does a much better job with the characters and combat, but cuts out almost all non-combat, non-dialog sections and has one of the WORST main plots in a major game franchise. It's like they wrote it for the iPhone spinoff game, but decided to shoehorn Shepard in and make it into a mainline game. In fact, if you plan to just play through the main plotline without doing any side content, then you could just skip straight from ME1 to ME3, since the only things of any real importance that happen in ME2's main plot is
Shepard dying and being brought back by Human-supremacy group Cerberus, Garrus getting half his face blown off, and the reveal that Reapers are apparently made of melted Humans
.
ME3 probably has the best combat of the 3 games, but it's level design, by comparison, is probably the worst. The story is pretty well done in comparison to ME2's, and it really does work the war theme well, but, as you are probably well aware, the ending pretty much ruins it all. Anyone who says that it wasn't that bad or that the fans were being babies about it all either never played the game, was payed off by EA or is blinded by their BioWare fanboyism.
In terms of DLC, I would recommend just getting them all for the hell of it. As far as I'm concerned, you should do everything you can in your first playthrough or two.
I don't know if the glitch is in the PC version but DO NOT SAVE IN AN ELEVATOR!
I ran into a glitch mid to late game that trapped me in an elevator.
I might be in the minority here, but I hate the first Mass Effect with a burning passion. The second one was alright I though. Didn't play the third one... probably won't.
