Mass Effect 3
I noticed BioWare have released a short cutscene video about Mass Effect 3. Unsurprisingly the Earth will be attacked in the last section of the trilogy. I then did a quick read on the Wikia. First I have to say I really, loved Mass Effect. It was a beautiful game with a great story. At the end it felt like I had watched a fantastic movie, and was almost moved to tears. I sat in my chair feeling kinda empty, yet overjoyed. Then came Mass Effect 2. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game in its own right, but it's not an RPG, and it's not a logical continuation of the great universe and story that ME created. In short it's a shooter, with some dialogue here and there. Basically only the last mission is related to the overall story, while the rest are sidetracks. It's a good game as a shooter, and I did enjoy it (finished it after all), but it was also a very frustrating experience given how great Mass Effect was. I felt they moved in the wrong direction. Emphasis wasn't on RPG elements, but shooting everything that moves, and crucial choices made in ME didn't really have any impact at all. For example, that my ME love interest treated me like any pleb left me disgusted. Besides Civilization 5, it must be one of the most overhyped games in history. And don't get me started on the DLC sham.So then back to ME3. I was naively (but not really honestly) hoping BioWare would get back to what I understand to be their RPG roots (I'm fairly new to RPG, so don't know their early history), but instead they seem to continue down the erroneous ME2 path with emphasis on combat and "commercialism". A trailer doesn't necessarily say a lot about the game, it's typically just a lot of fancy graphics (usually not using the game's engine) for advertising purposes. But I don't think I go out on a limb by assuming the starting point is basically that the Earth will get invaded, or perhaps have been invaded when we start the game - and our mission is to expel (or prevent) the invaders. Sadly they seem to be moving away from the mystery that was the Reapers, but maybe they'll bring them back here. Given this likely scenario, the game is sure to be yet another "shoot what moves" experience. I'm not looking forward to this one, and may not even buy it.Don't think I can go through reading what the fanboys are writing over at BioWare's forum, so wanted to get a discussion going here instead. How did you guys (and girls?) experience the Mass Effect games, and what are your expectations for ME3?I've been watching many of the videos of TW2 lately, the dev diaries and such, and dearly hope TW2 will be much in line with the story and 'heart' behind TW. So far I think that will happen, but we will see if the quest for more commercial success will mess up another start of a great universe and game series. Hopefully my bad experience with Mass Effect won't be reflected in TW2. I felt that BioWare (or EA?) ruined a great game. Yes, it sold a lot of copies, but as any sensible person will tell you, quantity does not equal quality. And you can sadly achieve a lot through marketing (lying, hyping).I do trust the RED guys a heap lot more than what has become the commercial monster of BioWare, and what I have seen so far of TW2 calms and intrigues me. Hopefully the replay value will still be very good, and the clear emphasis will be on RPG and not battle. Lifting the head a little further, I do find it interesting that some of the best games have come from fairly small developers. If these grow big, games tend to lose some of the great qualities their early games had. The "game" has become less about creating a great experience, and more about making money and selling units. This is the 'red thread' that runs through gaming companies these days, and it's pretty depressing. No wonder there is only a game a year or so that is actually worth buying.
I noticed BioWare have released a short cutscene video about Mass Effect 3. Unsurprisingly the Earth will be attacked in the last section of the trilogy. I then did a quick read on the Wikia. First I have to say I really, loved Mass Effect. It was a beautiful game with a great story. At the end it felt like I had watched a fantastic movie, and was almost moved to tears. I sat in my chair feeling kinda empty, yet overjoyed. Then came Mass Effect 2. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game in its own right, but it's not an RPG, and it's not a logical continuation of the great universe and story that ME created. In short it's a shooter, with some dialogue here and there. Basically only the last mission is related to the overall story, while the rest are sidetracks. It's a good game as a shooter, and I did enjoy it (finished it after all), but it was also a very frustrating experience given how great Mass Effect was. I felt they moved in the wrong direction. Emphasis wasn't on RPG elements, but shooting everything that moves, and crucial choices made in ME didn't really have any impact at all. For example, that my ME love interest treated me like any pleb left me disgusted. Besides Civilization 5, it must be one of the most overhyped games in history. And don't get me started on the DLC sham.So then back to ME3. I was naively (but not really honestly) hoping BioWare would get back to what I understand to be their RPG roots (I'm fairly new to RPG, so don't know their early history), but instead they seem to continue down the erroneous ME2 path with emphasis on combat and "commercialism". A trailer doesn't necessarily say a lot about the game, it's typically just a lot of fancy graphics (usually not using the game's engine) for advertising purposes. But I don't think I go out on a limb by assuming the starting point is basically that the Earth will get invaded, or perhaps have been invaded when we start the game - and our mission is to expel (or prevent) the invaders. Sadly they seem to be moving away from the mystery that was the Reapers, but maybe they'll bring them back here. Given this likely scenario, the game is sure to be yet another "shoot what moves" experience. I'm not looking forward to this one, and may not even buy it.Don't think I can go through reading what the fanboys are writing over at BioWare's forum, so wanted to get a discussion going here instead. How did you guys (and girls?) experience the Mass Effect games, and what are your expectations for ME3?I've been watching many of the videos of TW2 lately, the dev diaries and such, and dearly hope TW2 will be much in line with the story and 'heart' behind TW. So far I think that will happen, but we will see if the quest for more commercial success will mess up another start of a great universe and game series. Hopefully my bad experience with Mass Effect won't be reflected in TW2. I felt that BioWare (or EA?) ruined a great game. Yes, it sold a lot of copies, but as any sensible person will tell you, quantity does not equal quality. And you can sadly achieve a lot through marketing (lying, hyping).I do trust the RED guys a heap lot more than what has become the commercial monster of BioWare, and what I have seen so far of TW2 calms and intrigues me. Hopefully the replay value will still be very good, and the clear emphasis will be on RPG and not battle. Lifting the head a little further, I do find it interesting that some of the best games have come from fairly small developers. If these grow big, games tend to lose some of the great qualities their early games had. The "game" has become less about creating a great experience, and more about making money and selling units. This is the 'red thread' that runs through gaming companies these days, and it's pretty depressing. No wonder there is only a game a year or so that is actually worth buying.