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[Mindlog]

There is no way Earth could "hold out" for any extended period of time. Especially if the Reapers were taking scorched Earth (lol) policy.

Not a single dreadnaught was destroyed. Every Turian (at least)ship now has a reaper killing plot-cannon. Earth is being harvested. Otherwise it would have been blown up from orbit (Vigil covers this.)


People are picking at a lot of plot holes that don't really exist. Mass Effect isn't the greatest story, but it deserves some credit where credit is due.

The biggest and most glaringly obvious plot hole is, 'Why are they fighting?'

reapers have magic-bird freeze-ray technology

It seems like something that would be pretty useful to keep around.

potatoes

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

So how long until Bioware announces that they've abandoned the squad mechanic for ME3 in favour of 2-player co-op with AI filling in during singleplayer a la RE5?

I love ragging on what ME2 did wrong as much as anybody. But that's fucking insane, dude.

 

[Red]

Good list.

The extent to which people romanticize ME1 in light of some of the shit ME2 pulled has always annoyed me.

For the most part, ME2 is the better game. I simply dislike the direction that they decided to take the game.

I'd be happy with a game of ME2's quality with a bit more management with special abilities and stats. That (besides mining, obviously) was my biggest qualm with ME2: too little customization. The level cap needs to be raised, and there needs to be more options for making Shepherd "your own." Maybe not ME1 style (thought many of ME1's menus were quite sloppy), but something more in depth than what we got in 2.

 

[RedSwirl]

First of all, that 45 seconds of CG footage actually tells us almost nothing other than "there are reapers on Earth." We don't know what's happening throughout the rest of the galaxy. Possibly more importantly, we don't know how much time has passed since ME2.

I haven't read the whole thread since it's growing so fast, but the actual extent of the reapers' capabilities still is't fully understood.

Originally, it actually took the reapers centuries to completely wipe out or "harvest" the Protheans, and that was AFTER a successful sneak opener that completely disabled their main means of transportation and communication. I think the one factor people are underestimating here is the vast distances that need to be traveled from dark space and throughout the galaxy, especially with the relays disabled.

The reason the reapers probably needed Sovereign was to 1) make the sneak attack possible and 2) drastically shorten the amount of time needed to actually get into the galaxy. From this I would assume that the reapers themselves don't possess on-board relay-level transportation. For all we know it could have taken them a few years after the end of ME2 to actually reach Earth.

I'm not saying I have all the answers to defend the game here, I'm just saying we should take a full look at the what we know about the universe canon regarding the reapers, which actually isn't much at all.

I do want to go into some possible things that Shepard could explore throughout space in ME3 though - possible weapons or aces in the whole Shepard could use.

In Mass Effect 1 there's an obscure planet that you can only observe, but its description mentions possibly the oldest technology ever mentioned in any of the games. I can't remember what the planet is called, but allegedly the Batarians discovered the remains of a giant living space ship estimated to be half a billion years old, then denied anything of the sort. My current theory is that it could be another derelict reaper or some other piece of old-ass technology. Something similar was already explored in the first two games.

Also in the first game there's a planet called Klendagon that has a "Great Rift Valley" that was apparently caused by a glancing blow from some massive superweapon. In ME2 you discover that the aforementioned superweapon singlehandedly killed a reaper 37 million years ago.

Just sayin'.

 

[EatChildren]

Old, but topical. Here were the goals Christina Norman outlined for Mass Effect 3;

 

[Jerk]

I'd be happy with a game of ME2's quality with a bit more management with special abilities and stats. That (besides mining, obviously) was my biggest qualm with ME2: too little customization. The level cap needs to be raised, and there needs to be more options for making Shepherd "your own." Maybe not ME1 style (thought many of ME1's menus were quite sloppy), but something more in depth than what we got in 2.

I will go further and ask that we get something deeper than we received in ME1 (which was a pretty damn shallow RPG in its own right).

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Old, but topical. Here were the goals Christina Norman outlined for Mass Effect 3;

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/03/whatgoalsme3bio.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
"Polish everything" :lol

 

[EmCeeGramr]

"Polish everything" :lol

Well it makes sense. Everything was so bright and clean and then it all became dirty and grimy. Space maids forgot to polish.

 

[longdi]

My biggest qualm with ME2 is levels are too small and linear. I hope Bioware drop the character stories with ME3 and start straight from your ME2 surviving party and explore more about the galaxies in the game.

ME3 will probably end up with typical Bioware searching and collecting the Reapers weakness items, reuniting the various species conflicts in ME1 and 2 and then the whole galaxy come together to save Earth in the final battle....snores.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Too many conclusions being jumped to based on this trailer. Suddenly you think ME3 will be a COD like coop shooter based on that?

 

[Mindlog]

Old, but topical. Here were the goals Christina Norman outlined for Mass Effect 3;

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/03/whatgoalsme3bio.jpg

I really hope they keep the same team. We don't need to spend any more time developing new characters.

If your import has dead characters they are dead.
If you start a new game you are paired with certain characters plus a random or two.
Beating the game unlocks more characters for your next playthrough.

vIt could be, but I can't really see how that could have been an issue.

 

[firehawk12]

I wonder what "combat-narrative flow" meant at the time. If you play through ME2 again - especially if you have the DLC - the missions all get very samey and repetitive after a while. There are only two non-combat NPC related missions in the game, I think.

I really hope they keep the same team. We don't need to spend any more time developing new characters.

If your import has dead characters they are dead.
If you start a new game certain characters are given to you (based on class + a random or two.)
Beating the game unlocks more characters for your next playthrough.

I presume she meant same development team?

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

The Council thought that Saren would just be hopping around the galaxy with his geth buddies. they didn't think he would launch an attack against the Citadel. I'm sure that if they did, they would have permitted Shepherd to go Ilos. It was a surprise attack, plain and simple.

Citadel fleet is waiting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKIbuNajk6U

And we have already established that "the greater part of the Citadel Fleet is destroyed in the attack on the Citadel" (ME: Ascension). Shepherd wanted to chase Saren to Ilos because he knew about Sovereign and the conduit. The council declined because of the risk of war with the Terminus Systems and the fact they had already placed ships at all relays linking back from the Terminus. They had ships ready to defend the Citadel (apparently the majority of the Citadel fleet). They knew Saren wanted to attack th Citadel--the Salarian council member says that Shep was being distracted as Saren planned for his real attack on the Citadel in the cinematic leading to your escape to Ilos.

 

[Advance_Alarm]

I got back from work and watched this and am hyped. I hope there is a middle ground on ME1 and ME2 character customization and Tali needs to have a full frontal shot.

 

[Zomba13]

*awaits stupid explanation to why the Reapers aren't just glassing the planet*

*awaits second stupid explanation about why Sheperd has time to galavant across the galaxy gathering a brand new ragtag team of misfits*

*still excited about the game*

This. There will probably be some incredibly contrived reasons but even so, I can't fucking wait. I really think Mass Effect is games equivalent to Star Wars (as in an epic sci-fi trilogy with a huge, rich universe ripe for expanded universe stuff).

 

[hamchan]

Should have set ME3 50 years after ME2, then we can play as old man Shephard.

 

[itxaka]

I'm going to chalk the bold up to visual error on Bioware's behalf. Sovereign appears to be the exact same size as the Reapers in the teaser when he's shown at Eden Prime. They just have a problem scaling their ship sizes.

Otherwise, who the fuck knows why they aren't just glassing the planet. I figured that would be the best route for them to follow, too. Maybe we're watching their orbital (er, sub-orbital) bombardment before sending in ground forces to collector/wipe out survivors?

I want to think that also but...I can smell a retcon on their size so we can fight with them with our guns.

I mean look at this quote:

Sovereign brought Saren and an army of geth to the colony to retrieve the beacon. Eden Prime was devastated in the assault, not only from Sovereign's weapons but its engines, which burned crops for miles around.

Reapers were supposed to be huge going by the first game, no idea if they will change their size so we can have an "epic" final.

The characters in ME1 were all paper thin. Yes, even Wrex. ME2's characters have much more development.

The game is just about the characters so it will be really bad if it was worst than 1

ME1 had an absolutely awful inventory system that was a pain in the ass to manage. ME2 got rid of it and made switching ammo types much easier.

Instead of customization we prefer nothing at all? I rather have they fix the inventory which seems a more logical thing to do, unless you are bioware

ME1 had many terrible vehicle segments. They are gone in ME2. Scanning planets sucks, but isn't as bad.

No. It made you felt small on the uncharted planets. Exploration and such. The obligatory vehicle sections were like 10 minutes all together. All lost for a stupid, boring mini game which probably will be missing in ME3.

ME1 probably has the least diverse level design of any game in recent memory. There are literally 3 layouts that get used over and over for planetary installations. Although ME2 suffers a bit from the "oh look, a pile of cover" problem, the more diverse layouts more than make up for it.

Agreed

Weapons are more balanced in ME2, and ammo limitations actually force you to try different weapons rather than always relying on assault rifle or pistol. Special weapons were also a nice addition.

They are shit. Again, customization versus nothing at all. Overheat management was ok and mod selection was great to choose how you wanted to play your game. Especialization by class meant you were restricted in which weapons you used, like on other RPGs

Combat is smoother all around in ME2, and squad members are easier to manage.

Agreed

There are more city locations giving you a broader view of different types of civilization in the galaxy (I really don't know why people feel like ME1 had broader scope).

Kind of agreed but I don't think that is a point again ME1. It had a set of locations and ME2 had others. Also, the moon was awesome.

Larger number of enemy types in ME2. Still not great, but better than ME1.

As usual with sequels? Make more places and more enemies? Or did you expect them to use all the enemies on the first one?



Conclusion: As a shooter and Sims clone is better 2. As Sci-Fi RPG is better 1.

 

[EatChildren]

Citadel fleet is waiting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKIbuNajk6U

In hindsight, Sovereign did sweet fuck all and it was mostly the Geth ships doing the damage.

 

[Red]

I will go further and ask that we get something deeper than we received in ME1 (which was a pretty damn shallow RPG in its own right).

Maybe, but I don't know how they can add more options and still keep the game accessible. I know "accessible" is a bit of a bad word around these parts, but I don't think it necessarily means a game has to be dumbed down. I liked what was done in ME2 to consolidate similar stats from the first game, I simply want more options. I don't mind the streamlined leveling system, definitely not during my first playthrough. But it's certainly less satisfying than being able to continually level, adding points here and there, and having the real possibility of not "maxing" your level before the end game. ME2 was too straightforward in that regard. Too easy to reach the top, with too little to differentiate high level characters.

I love crunching numbers and micromanaging as much as the next guy, but that's not specifically what I'm looking for in Mass Effect. I'm looking for a system that's quick and easy to use, but which allows for a wide breadth of particular approaches that set each player apart. It's a game about making choices, and ME2 felt limiting in its scope when it came right down to being Shepherd.

Also more enemy and weapon types, a few more biotics here and there, and please for the love of god give us more armor and equipment to play with. PLEASE.

 

[Patriotsbball5460]

Think it will be PS3/360 on release date? Or timed exclusive again?

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

Not a single dreadnaught was destroyed. Every Turian (at least)ship now has a reaper killing plot-cannon. Earth is being harvested. Otherwise it would have been blown up from orbit (Vigil covers this.)


People are picking at a lot of plot holes that don't really exist. Mass Effect isn't the greatest story, but it deserves some credit where credit is due.

If the selling point of our victory at the Battle of the Citadel is that a singular Reaper dreadnought only destroyed the majority of the Citadel fleet and left our dreadnought class ships in tact, we have serious problems going forward. I do agree that the new Turian armament's and weapons systems should make a difference, but how much? And if the Reapers are at Earth, and have apparently overwhelmed our defenses, we already know that it didn't change the tide much. We're not talking about outright victory at Earth anymore, but how long we can hold a resistance. Which should not be long.

I don't think there are many plotholes yet. I think Bioware has to be very careful with how they portray the Reapers in terms of strength when we finally see their full fleet in action. They have already established Sovereign as a fucking nightmare.

 

[Felix Lighter]

In hindsight, Sovereign did sweet fuck all and it was mostly the Geth ships doing the damage.

Also, if the Citadel was closed, which they would have done if they were truly prepared, he may have failed straight out of the gates.

 

[Jerk]

I just hope we can brush the end of ME2 under the rug as quickly as possible.

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

In hindsight, Sovereign did sweet fuck all and it was mostly the Geth ships doing the damage.

Dude bulled straight through the majority of the Citadel fleet and tore their ships in half without taking damage. He held off the combined firepower of the remaining Citadel fleet + Arcturus fleet for a significant amount of time, to the point where at least one Systems Alliance ship captain wanted to retreat (it took badass Admiral Hackett laying down the law to keep everyone on point, we need the return of Hackett in ME3). I'd say that's pretty impressive.

 

[EatChildren]

Dude bulled straight through the majority of the Citadel fleet and tore their ships in half without taking damage. He held off the combined firepower of the remaining Citadel fleet + Arcturus fleet for a significant amount of time, to the point where at least one Systems Alliance ship captain wanted to retreat (it took badass Admiral Hackett laying down the law to keep everyone on point, we need the return of Hackett in ME3). I'd say that's pretty impressive.

Sure, but he also zipped into the closed Citadel and left his Geth army to take all the damage, and once his shields were down they ripped him apart.

Not saying he isn't cool dudebro, but the Reapers are not a nigh unstoppable force.

 

[Red]

Sure, but he also zipped into the closed Citadel and left his Geth army to take all the damage, and once his shields were down they ripped him apart.

Not saying he isn't cool dudebro, but the Reapers are not a nigh unstoppable force.

Probably didn't help that they revealed their entire plan to the only person in the galaxy who was even attempting to threaten them.

 

[Zen]

This seems to be crux of peoples meltdown but it makes absolutely no sense. All powerful reapers based on what? Because Sovereign told Shepard they were? Of course he is going to say that. Also if they are really all that powerful why are the only two reapers we meet in BOTH games sneaking around in hiding. On top of that the whole plot of ME1 was that they sent out the lone scout to take over the Citadel so they could implement their surprise coordianated attack keeping the races of all the galaxies from rallying against their attacks using the element of surprise. They have NEVER been truly portrayed as all powerful, just extremely well planned and utilizing the elements of stealth, surprise and no knowledge of their existence or weak points.

No one here really knows exactly the extent of their powers or weaknesses or even how powerful Sovreign was compared to all the other reapers. And when the fleet coordinated they were able to take him down pretty easy after that. Some of you need to replay ME1.

They really weren't damaging Sovereign before that though, as is made clear by the dialogue during that section, or the fact that it flew right through Turrian warships. Now could the entire combined forces of the Citadel (had the relays not been cut off) have stopped it (after all Sovereign had the Geth there fora reason), sure, but there were a sizable amount of ships at the Citadel when the attack happened. The fact that the Alliance Navy were basically pounding on it to no effect and were getting obliterated speaks volumes. They weren't doing any significant damage to Sovereign at all, that's made very clear.

 

[Felix Lighter]

All this ME talk is making me want to do an entire playthrough again. I do have the last 2 weeks of the year off, but I have a lot of games to catch up on. Thanks for posting that video Pickles. ME's ending gets me every time.

Probably didn't help that they revealed their entire plan to the only person in the galaxy who was even attempting to threaten them.

Yeah, the game could have done without that scene, or at least revealed the truth in a better way.

 

[heliosRAzi]

Citadel fleet is waiting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKIbuNajk6U

And we have already established that "the greater part of the Citadel Fleet is destroyed in the attack on the Citadel" (ME: Ascension). Shepherd wanted to chase Saren to Ilos because he knew about Sovereign and the conduit. The council declined because of the risk of war with the Terminus Systems and the fact they had already placed ships at all relays linking back from the Terminus. They had ships ready to defend the Citadel (apparently the majority of the Citadel fleet). They knew Saren wanted to attack th Citadel--the Salarian council member says that Shep was being distracted as Saren planned for his real attack on the Citadel in the cinematic leading to your escape to Ilos.

The second url you gave is not working, but this one is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_6niSr6Zms&feature=BF&list=PLF71766EE062C0918&index=12

Yeah, you're right.

 

[Mindlog]

If the selling point of our victory at the Battle of the Citadel is that a singular Reaper dreadnought only destroyed the majority of the Citadel fleet and left our dreadnought class ships in tact, we have serious problems going forward. I do agree that the new Turian armament's and weapons systems should make a difference, but how much? And if the Reapers are at Earth, and have apparently overwhelmed our defenses, we already know that it didn't change the tide much. We're not talking about outright victory at Earth anymore, but how long we can hold a resistance. Which should not be long.

I don't think there are many plotholes yet. I think Bioware has to be very careful with how they portray the Reapers in terms of strength when we finally see their full fleet in action. They have already established Sovereign as a fucking nightmare.

You have to be reading. http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Citadel_Fleet
The only way to reconcile the book and the game is to believe most species don't commit a lot to the Citadel Fleet that was spread out to hell and back.

We have no idea what the timeline of the trailer is.

Mass Effect 3 ending spoilers.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I love ragging on what ME2 did wrong as much as anybody. But that's fucking insane, dude.

Well they were hiring developers for Mass Effect with multiplayer experience earlier this year, and no spin-off has been announced yet. Just imagine cruising around London as Shepherd with one of your bros controlling the nameless crew-cut in the trailer, totally wrecking shit. It'll be rad.

In a world gone mad only the crazy man is truly sane.

 

[itxaka]

All this ME talk is making me want to do an entire playthrough again. I do have the last 2 weeks of the year off, but I have a lot of games to catch up on. Thanks for posting that video Pickles. ME's ending gets me every time.



Yeah, the game could have done without that scene, or at least revealed the truth in a better way.

Me either. I think I'm gonna start a ME1&ME2 run on PC as my new years resolution

 

[Snuggles]

any word on server lists, or will it just use matchmaking?

 

[jim-jam bongs]

any word on server lists, or will it just use matchmaking?

Matchmaking for sure. You just press a button and something awesome happens.

 

[firehawk12]

Well they were hiring developers for Mass Effect with multiplayer experience earlier this year, and no spin-off has been announced yet. Just imagine cruising around London as Shepherd with one of your bros controlling the nameless crew-cut in the trailer, totally wrecking shit. It'll be rad.

In a world gone mad only the crazy man is truly sane.

Maybe it could be like Fable 3 and you can have FemSheps hooking up with Male Shepards.

 

[Mindlog]

any word on server lists, or will it just use matchmaking?

e-mail

 

[The Technomancer]

I don’t know if this was worth the effort. :lol

80s shoutout to anyone who gets the reference

:lol Thanks

*sigh* Mass Effect, for all of its cliches and unoriginal storytelling, was at least somewhat interesting and presented well. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. And based on what I've heard I have no interest in ME2, and this trailer just confirms my apathy towards ME3. Man, why can't I get just one fantastically written epic sci-fi RPG?

 

[Jerk]

Man, why can't I get just one fantastically written epic sci-fi RPG?

Because neither Obsidian nor Matsuno is currently interested in making epic Sci-fi RPGs.

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

All this ME talk is making me want to do an entire playthrough again. I do have the last 2 weeks of the year off, but I have a lot of games to catch up on. Thanks for posting that video Pickles. ME's ending gets me every time.

Word. I think I'm going to try and fit in one more ME1 + 2 play through before the 2011 crush of games hits. I'll have my final-final-final-final-final character ready for ME3 then!

e-mail

I actually heard it's going to be a MUD. If you have Kinect you'll be able to utilize speech to text.

Spoiler

Move owners are fucked

 

[alerus]

For all those that think the Sovereign was able to just wipe out the Citadel force through sheer brute force:


http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Storyline

Vigil also explains that if Sovereign assaults the Citadel alone, the combined power of the Citadel Fleet would be enough to defeat the single Reaper. However, if Sovereign is able to direct an agent to go through the Conduit as a back door and transfer control of the Citadel back to Sovereign, it will be able to manually activate the Citadel Relay and bring in the reaper reinforcements. Sovereign had possibly planned this for centuries after discovering the Protheans' sabotage plan.

Sovereign was a tough SOB for sure, but not as powerful as some of you seem to be implying. It was ultimately a mix of strategy and force that got him so close to victory.

 

[.GqueB.]

I'm sure it will have awesome shooting and tons of great characters, but I hate how this really cool story of a galactic civilization full of interesting species with their own unique cultures will boil down to "special chosen one saves humanity from alien invasion."

Shall I reconfigure my Shep to look like Will Smith?

I dont know... seems like the right thing to do.

 

[Pickles the Firecat]

For all those that think the Sovereign was able to just wipe out the Citadel force through sheer brute force:


http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Storyline



Sovereign was a tough SOB for sure, but not as powerful as some of you seem to be implying. It was ultimately a mix of strategy and force that got him so close to victory.

I mean, doesn't that just strengthen the argument we're making about how strong the Reapers are? When we're talking about needing the combined strength of the entire Citadel Fleet to stop one Reaper and his Geth cronies, what's the plan for 20 of them? 200? 2,000? Vigil's plan was to prevent the Reapers from ever making it back to our galaxy. That seems to have gone to shit.

The right mix of technological advancement from Sovereign leftovers could help, but that's still asking a lot. I'm really interested in seeing how Bioware handles this.

 

[Mindlog]

All this Mass Effect talk is making me want to play, Freespace 2.

*I went to the wiki and was reminded of something I had completely forgotten.

FreeSpace 2 is a 1999 space combat simulation computer game developed by Volition, Inc. as the sequel to Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. It was completed ahead of schedule in less than a year, and released to great critical acclaim.

 

[Pikelet]

I think that a better way to improve the rpg aspects is to have you not choose a class at the beginning of a game but instead allow you to pick skills and weapons as you go along. More customization, more choice and far, far more interesting than what was in there previously.

Not a big fan of the trailer though, looked more like Halo than Star Trek or Mass Effect.

 

[alerus]

I mean, doesn't that just strengthen the argument we're making about how strong the Reapers are? When we're talking about needing the combined strength of the entire Citadel Fleet to stop one Reaper and his Geth cronies, what's the plan for 20 of them? 200? 2,000?

The right mix of technological advancement from Sovereign leftovers could help, but that's still asking a lot. I'm really interested in seeing how Bioware handles this.

Not really. The best you get is that Sovereign pushes through the front line and into the citadel and is able to take out a few ships on his own. Continue reading the Wiki link that I provided. In short order Sovereign is shelled inside the citadel away from the the fleet. He isn't fighting them and they aren't fighting him. Instead, the citadel fleet is contending with the Geth invasion force. Once Shepard gains back control, he opens the Mass Relay for the Alliance at which point you can direct the alliance ships to save the council ship from what is mostly the attack of the large geth fleet. The vast majority of combat comes from the Geth. Sovereign just b-lines for the citadel.


EDIT:
And just to hammer it down more, you can watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKIbuNajk6U&feature=related

Sovereign doesn't fight at all besides ramming through a single ship up until the very end. He just goes into the protective shell of the citadel to call the Reapers for reinforcements (which Shepard stops him from doing). When the Alliance comes, it is most definitely the Geth from whom they save the council. After that they all wale on Sovereign and take him down while Shep beats his Saren take over that makes one last effort to gain control of the citadel.

 

[Pinzer]

EARTH is under attack! But before you save it, you might want to get your friends to like you some more...plus the time you spend elsewhere won't affect how much Earth is destroyed, so take your time and make sure you have mined every planet in the universe, upgraded your ship to infinity and listened to all of the Illusive man's vague statements before you go.

Oh and I wonder what excuse they will have this time for the fact that your ship and teammates are completely new.

 

[Proelite]

Oh and I wonder what excuse they will have this time for the fact that your ship and teammates are completely new.

As for your ship being new:

You posse can start out in a human dreadnought, etc while the Normandy is going upgrades / repairs.

You get to play in the second of the game in an upgraded Normandy that has more floors and sections.

 

[mokeyjoe]

I am a bit concerned about the story revolving around earth.... hopefully its just the last hour of the game and non involved before. The best thing about mass effect is exploring the galaxy/worlds. If the story occurs on earth it will feel like many other shooters that take place on earth.

Well, quite clearly even from the short teaser you can tell that Shepard isn't on Earth but flying around trying to build support from the alien races half which would like nothing better than to see Earth eradicated.

Given that you'll need a big, inter-species army to defeat the Reapers I imagine several things may prove to be important. Firstly, what decision you made regarding the Krogans - the vat grown Krogans and the genophage cure. And also the Geth, whether they are at peace or war with the Quarians and in the mood to help in the fight against their former allies. Because that's two potentially galaxy saving armies right there. Hm, the Rachni might come into it too, they're up to something based on the cameo in ME2.

Oh, and this weird idea that some people have that ME1 was some sort of epic space RPG is hilarious. It's just as much an adventure game as the sequel, only with fewer locations, technical problems and the worst inventory system ever devised.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

What a phenomenal trailer that was. Best RPG series this gen easily.

 

[Zen]

Not really. The best you get is that Sovereign pushes through the front line and into the citadel and is able to take out a few ships on his own. Continue reading the Wiki link that I provided. In short order Sovereign is shelled inside the citadel away from the the fleet. He isn't fighting them and they aren't fighting him. Instead, the citadel fleet is contending with the Geth invasion force. Once Shepard gains back control, he opens the Mass Relay for the Alliance at which point you can direct the alliance ships to save the council ship from what is mostly the attack of the large geth fleet. The vast majority of combat comes from the Geth. Sovereign just b-lines for the citadel.

I think you're massively misreading the context of the Citadel battle, relative to the strength of Sovereign. As is said in the wiki, the combined power of the Citadel fleet that was assembled could defeat one reaper.

Even if you choose not to divert a good portion of the alliance fleet to save the council, it makes no difference to the effectiveness against Sovereign. The Alliance Navy is openly calling for a retreat.

Keep in mind this was the entire Fifth Fleet, the ones guarding the center of the Alliance Navy; if you choose the renegade option, they Engage Sovereign directly and ignore the ongoing conflict with the Geth fleet. As Admiral hackket says "All forces engage Sovereign, nothing else matters".

Regardless of your choice, the Alliance fleet ends up focusing exclusively on Sovereign, they do not bother with the rest of the engagement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjternPJnIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYX_klixxIo&feature=related

If fact it's inferred that the Alliance fleet mops up the remainder of the Geth forces prior to attacking Sovereign, if you choose to save the Council.

Obviously Sovereign 'dying' (when you kill Saren/Sovereign's consciousness) drops the shields (and who knows what other counter measures and systems that are protecting/repairing it, or whatnot) and allows the Alliance to obliterate what's left.