This seems like a bigger game than KoTOR. If I remember correctly, there were 3 major planets in that one. Just play through the main story.
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This seems like a bigger game than KoTOR. If I remember correctly, there were 3 major planets in that one. Just play through the main story.
While I do agree that more cities would've been awesome, the lack of bullshit fluff in this game and sheer awesomeness of the writing and voice acting made sure that I wasn't bothered by that by the time I was done. Besides, KOTOR only had seven planets total and Jade Empire was short as hell (20 hours and under even when doing everything, IIRC). Neither was exactly teeming with so much activity that ME falls short, and the improvements they've made help the awesome stuff be much more awesome.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
That's not fair. Most RPG cities have five citizens that each have one line of dialogue and a shop with slightly better equipment than the previous city.Quote:
Or shit,almost every single other RPG ever.
Just play through the main game. There are quest hubs on each story-related planet, they're just not as obscenely massive as the Citadel. They're certainly KoTOR-sized, anyway.
What do you guys think about the balancing in this game? I dunno. A lot of the game seems like a cakewalk if ur the soldier class, but at the same time a lot of the areas and the fights seem geared more to soldiers. I'm playing through as a vanguard and doing ok, but I couldnt imagine playing through the game as an adept or tech (is that the other class?). So far, and maybe my biotics arent leveled up enough, but they seem sort of useless. I mean, they work alright, but it seems like my assault rifle is working better than any magic i have.
Get throw leveled all the way up and it will kill most enemies on the first blow. Then just equip stuff that will allow you to use powers more often and you are set.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seik
Assault Rifle is terrible. The Pistol is probably the best overall weapon in the game and the biotics are amazing.
I like the shotgun a whole lot. Especially with tons of damage boosting mods. Those mods tend to generate lots of heat so you have to choose your shots carefully. Fun stuff when you set autoaim to minimal.
The vibe I'm getting here is that the game is a great interactive movie, but kinda sucks in the actual gameplay elements. And yet since it's an awesome, badass looking, movie-like experience, it's totally no big deal that the game is as buggy and broken as it is.
Unless I'm reading the vibe here all wrong.
Yeah, I never used the shotgun my first playthrough but it is pretty ridiculous. However, I wasn't sure if a Vanguard could use one.
I like the gameplay just fine personally. I like it enough to overlook the minor bugs I've encountered and I certainly don't think it's broken.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero
That is the incorrect vibe. It's a much better battle system than KoTOR and Jade Empire. (And the earlier games, but that may be blasphemy to some.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero
The biggest problems with the game are technical. Like, texture level-of-detail trouble (think Halo 2) and somewhat excessive loading. For what I can tell, both problems are due to Bioware not bothering to optimize the game for a hard drive. I don't even think they account for it at all. Thanks, Core Bundle.
Also, the autosave system barely ever saves the game.Definitely. My character's a Vanguard.Quote:
Originally Posted by mannerbot
Whoops, go back a few pages and find the answers I was looking for. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Detour
Use lots of throw and lift coupled with the shotgun, there are few enemies that will be standing up long enough to deal any real damage to you. I honestly couldn't imagine not using the biotics anymore once I got used to them. Warp is pretty useless - at least in the face of throw and lift - and I haven't gotten a chance to use singularity yet which is supposedly quite powerful (as soon as I stop using the same character I'll be using a biotic/tech with an implanted weapon skill).Quote:
Originally Posted by Seik
The tougher you get the better it gets. The second playthrough was a lot more fun for me because I was strong enough to destroy boxes, fling people back and forth across a room with biotics, and snipe with a shotgun right from the get-go. Building up your skills takes long enough that I didn't really feel like I got to enjoy them until New Game+ kicked in, I actually played my vanguard just like a soldier during that first run.
Also, using just weapons isn't always an option on the harder difficulty levels. Korgan tend to have two lifebars on hardcore and can kill me in a single melee attack, so if I can't throw or lift them out of the way it's instant death if one (or two or three) of them decides to charge in. Just turn on the option for your teammates to use attack biotics in a battle and watch how things change, they fry Geth all the time for me.
I have two more levels to go before hitting 60, and it's time for me to start hitting side quests to get those ally achievements. (minor not-really-spoiler) I'm guessing you need around 60 missions total to get the 75% that I believe is the target needed. Right now it looks like the final tally for all missions in the game is about 80, though I'll have a better figure for that once I'm clear to explore before the final area.Whatever skills are listed in your character points screen are what you specialize in.Quote:
Originally Posted by mannerbot
[edit] Update on mission tally: It takes 47 missions for an ally achievement, that was counted using Kaiden from the very beginning and only removing him for the short section of one mission where you have to.
Quote:
GAMEINFORMER: Mass effect ends in a very interesting predicament. Will the next game pick up right from that point and will it utilize the player's save file from the first one? You've invested much time in building that character.
GREG: That's one of the tricky things about doing a trilogy. How do you make it fit together? I can be definitive in saying we are definitely going to use the save file that the original created. But beyond that we're still in the process of how we're going to start it. In terms of the story we're trying to tell, you have to have each installment fell like you've accomplished something significant. You can't feel like you're in the middle act and nothing's really resolved. You want each act to have you do something cool; it's got to start right and end right. The other thing to think about is that in between the installments we're doing some post-release content that will be interesting to folks.
That save transferring over stuff sounds awesome.
It's not that big man.Quote:
Originally Posted by epmode
I agree. You judge a game by what's there, not by what's to come. I like this game A LOT but it's not hard to see that a few more civilized worlds would have been extremely beneficial. I would like to see them do Earth next time. Make certain cities in the world playable (in small bits) like New York, Paris, etc. so you can see how the landscape "evolved" from now until then.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
Though I do like the to-the-point design of the game.
save transfering thats a neat feature, but last thing id want is to beat the crap out of this game, and the next installment with my overbuffed character is nothing but a breeze.
Unless it pulled an oblivion and enemies keep leveling up with you
The game already does that.Quote:
Originally Posted by B-Ri
It was big enough. As much as I wish it were otherwise, we're not going to see to see Baldur's Gate 2-scale RPGs from Bioware anymore. Cost-prohibitive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
They did save transfers before in the Baldur's Gate games.
Trust Bioware, they know what they're doing.
If you look at the difficulty levels it tells you what it does. Here are stats for the two hardest levels:Quote:
Originally Posted by B-Ri
Hardcore
Minion: 75% of Player Level +2
Elite: Player Level +2
Sub-boss: PLayer Level +6
Boss: PLayer Level +10
Insane
Minion: Player Level
Elite: Player Level +6
Sub-boss: Player Level +10
Boss: Player Level +15
Plus the immunities and bonuses they get.
Damn, Insane is nuts.
What are the chances of both sequels making it out on the 360. I would hate to have save transfers in one game but not in another. Of course it would depend if the Xbox 720 was 360 backwards compatable.
I'd be damned surprised if both of them made it out in the 360's lifespan.
i would be too.
Im weary of the next generation, BC is a BIG must for me.
also: seeing as it DOES have the oblivion difficulty system, right on, but it would how many more abilities would and can and would stay in the game to keep the gameplay fresh? hrm...
Just finished it.
wow.
Wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by mannerbot
I have an Assault Rifle that does 340 damage by default, has 80 shots before it overheats and then the accuracy is so high I overheat it without it loosing any accuracy. The best pistol I've seen (also from the same Spectre set) doesn't touch it in terms of power.
I hate oblivion difficulty. It ruined oblivion for me.
Mods fixed that shit on PC within weeks of release.
I don't have a pc that can run it, thankfully I didn't buy it for the 360. (Or at all piracy lol)
Modded 360s are for hosers until they can run unsigned code, imo.
Agreed.
Damn, I knew TNL was myopic about PC gaming but... wow.
I got it for pc.............. .............. and ran it on my bro's laptop.
Beat the game.
Awesome.
Another note about the mission tally: Finally got my second ally in that run to obtain his achievement and it took place during the 56th mission. That was Garrus whom I got almost as soon as you could, so if you're aiming for that achievement that should be close to your target number for most of the crew.
I just reached 59 after completing my second run. First off, insanity is not looking bright for my future as I foresee many, many deaths. Secondly, screw you, Bioware, for making 59 to 60 require 200,000xp. It takes 660,000 just to get to 59, meaning you need almost a third of the entire experience points pool previously acquired for that last level up.
What a short game, it only took me 15 hours. That's fucking stupid.
It was good, the story was awesome and yes I'll be playing through again to see what Renegade is like, but what the fuck at the short length? I thought this was supposed to be some big epic thing? It's like the shortest RPG I've ever played.
How many of the side missions did you do? I played through, doing a fair few missions (but nowhere near all of them), and clocked 28 hours, and level 44.
I did probably about 20 and hit level 42 I believe.
The games story should have been at least twenty hours. This shit is just completely unacceptable.
Since the last Bioware game you played, you mean. It is mildly humorous to see you go from enjoying one game while not caring about the length to whining about the clock on a much better game that took you the same amount of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
I took 5 hours to get off the citadel. The game is as long as you want it to be.
15 hours? Christ, it took me more than twice as long. It's like we didn't even play the same game. Did you do any sidequests?
Yeah, 15 hours seems very short to me. I have done 2 of the small planet missions, and 2 of the main missions (Feros & finding that doctor bitch) and I'm almost at 10 hours. Maybe I'm taking my sweet ass time, but it seems like you ran through the game.
It took me 15 my first play also. I did most of the side missions at the Citadel, but almost none after that.
15-20 hours is perfect game length for me. I'm SO over 50 hour RPGs. I'm not 12 anymore and I dont have summer/holiday breaks. Mass Effect doesn't need to be 50 hours long to be termed "epic."
I wanted it to be longer God dammit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chux
Fuck, I totally forgot how short JE was.Quote:
Originally Posted by MechDeus
Still, this was an amazing game and I'm already on another play through, but all the talk for the last two years on this was about how huge it was and then it takes 15 hours. I mean shit, if it's only going to be 15 hours just fucking tell me that from the beginning, don't tell me it's like the biggest fucking game ever when it isn't.
It sounds to me like you're now halfway through a 30 hour game. I'd much rather have a short game that I'm going to want to replay than a 60 hour chore, but maybe that's just me.
I spent 34 hours on my first time through, 20 on my second (though I skipped almost all the dialogue since it was just a difficulty and achievement run), have started my third, and have plans for up through a fifth. In my case the game clock for just beating it is definitely irrelevant.
I put the Insanity attempt on hold while I do a Charlie's Angels with an Adept (female character + Ashley + Liara) since I want to see Singularity in action, then I'll need to do one with an Engineer for all the synthetic skills. From what I've read the Engineer falls apart on the harder difficulty levels, but maybe we can get a balance patch at some point.
p.s. What's with the unlocked gamerpic for beating Hardcore being so much cooler than the one for Insanity?
I spent like 6 1/2 hours in The Citadel -- reading shit and talking to everyone thoroughly. I love that kind of shit.
I thought I loved it too, until I went to Feros and started shooting bitches in the god damn face.
What's the best way to use abilities? When shit hits the fan I feel like things get out of control faster than I can manage. I'll pick say, overload to use and then I can't seem to use it on the specific enemy I want to. I'm having troubling getting the feel for aiming an ability on who I want (I usually get pelted just by being out of cover a little bit) and never know when my selected ability is going to be used. It feels out of my control a lot of the time.
When it says hit X to mark an ability, what button is it sticking it to?
I started over and figured out what my problem was the first time. Which was, I wasn't an adept. It become obvious from the get go how much better they are than everyone else. They still have the best gun (the pistol) and powers that are actually useful.
Finally got my copy. I'm taking tomorrow of work so I can play the shit out of it.
Got through Eden Prime as a Vanguard and I'm liking it so far. Although this game cries for a hard drive. Fuck MS for making a package that didn't include one.
If you're having a lot of trouble just hold down the button, the game will remain paused and you can target whomever you want it to hit at your leisure. The biotics have a pretty big auto-lock so you generally only need to have enemies roughly near your targeting reticule for it to fire directly at them. I haven't used the techs yet so I can't say for sure about them, but the biotics let fly as soon as you tap the button or put away the ability screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
If you're an Engineer take a good look at the ability trees, as unlike biotics where each ability is self-contained in its leveling up all of the techs compliment each other and boost the strengths of the other abilities. I've read that the Engineers are a little tough to use at first because of the low level abilities not doing very much, but after a few levels they really start to shine because of the exponential increase.Right bumper, tap it for the mapped ability and hold it down for the menu. It also has selection memory, so you effectively have two powers mapped if you hold it down just long enough to tap A.Quote:
When it says hit X to mark an ability, what button is it sticking it to?
I don't know so much about that, I've been wrecking fools as a Soldier (on Hardcore). Sniper + shotgun = unstoppable. When you put stability mods on the shotgun and put damage mods based on what type of enemy you are fighting you can use the shotty from pistol range while doing far more damage. Plus any enemies outside of shotgun range can be easily taken out with a sniper rifle in a single shot (if they're not Korgons, or whatever their name is). I'm having a blast playing as a Soldier, though I'm really looking forward to my second play through using a hybrid class so I can use Biotics & guns.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rem
This game is truly fantastic. I have very rarely wanted to play through a game a second time and I am already looking forward to playing this one again. That says a lot about the quality of this game to me and I cannot recommend this one enough to anyone who is on the fence about it.
Shock Troopers and Commandos basically have immunity up all the time(80% damage reduction).
I let arjue borrow my copy and now I want to kill myself.
The game is glitching on me, when I go up to the galaxy map the press A thing goes away. And when I try to talk to anyone near the map it doesn't register. The press a thing just hangs on the screen no matter how many times I pess it. This is at least the third bug I've encountered, way to go bioware.
I don't think you're in the right place. You have to walk up to that raised platform area to access the map.
I know what you mean but it was different, even when it showed up it wouldn't register. I fixed the problem by just deleting the file and trying again, it worked. It's a great game but this kind of shit is annoying. It was pretty funny when I came out of a video and I was in the banister for the galaxy map, moving up and down just made the guy spin. I finally broke it when I talked to the guy next to the console.
lol, say goodbye to it FOREVERQuote:
Originally Posted by Detour
...Because i'm not going to give it back, its too fucking awesome. I haven't had a chance to really tuck into it, but I can already see this being probable GOTY.
I've experience the bridge crew no-talk glitch once before. it wasn't that big of a deal. I went ashore and when I came back aboard everything was back to normal. The navigator was the only douche I couldn't talk to anyway -- everyone else was fine.
Whoever thought the Mako was a good idea should be fired from Bioware.
It's too fucking floaty for being an assault vehicle.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
And the fact that it can't seem to aim at anything that's even the slightest bit below your level.
It aims just fine at that stuff if you hold the L-trigger.
The Mako is a bit floaty (which is explained in the in-game reference manual) but I liked using it.
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
It's a turret with a flat base and they stick to that, for better or worse. Personally I think it needed to be a bit higher on a ball mount because it makes assaulting certain bases (especially on harder difficulty levels) a lot more of a pain in the ass than it should be. I'll actually have the Mako driving sideways along cliffs with the top pointed at enemies just because it gives me a wider shooting angle, and that doesn't strike me as how I should be handling things.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
I do love driving around with a Geth Colossus stuck to the front of my vehicle, I swear they dip those things in rubber cement before sending them after you.
Good thing you can warp out at any time. Don't ask me how I managed to get stuck.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1196484623
This is what kicking a pack of Varrens to death looks like. I don't think either of my teammates made it through.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1196484623
Finally it's the fucking weekend so I can play the shit out of this game again.
Whenever I fired the rockets from the Mako (the explosive weapon) it would seemingly miss the target even when I had the rectacle firmly on the enemies. Like I'd fire and then magically the bomb would go off up the cliff off to the right a little bit. I don't mind the control so much -- I imagine that's what traveling in space would feel like in a controlled vehicle. But give me more to do than run up hills and destroy annoying worms.
While I'm not seeing you play and thus can't say for sure, the turret can't aim below a certain angle which is probably what's happening. Sometimes you just need to adjust the entire vehicle to get the shot as it has nothing to do with where your reticle is aiming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
Or maybe your copy of the game just hates you.
Well I wouldn't even have the turret angle upwards. So I'd be in a valley with the giant worm alien attacking and it kept happening. So I purposely put the turret down as far as I could and aimed for its body (instead of its face) and it would still happen.
It could have been that these particular cliffs were just slanted enough for the rocket to roll up them (like the rover would). I'm not sure what kind of usage the rockets have exactly, but it just seemed odd. I was zoomed in to the second zoom level and it still did it.
Just finished it, Renegade run through. My thoughts:
The story of the game was absolutely incredible. I'm looking forward to doing a Paragon runthrough to see the other side. I must say though, the Renegade game was less satisfying then the Dark Side games from before. Maybe it's the fact that you're saving the galaxy that doesn't let it go evil enough for my liking. Although I must say Forcing saren to kill himself was fucking awesome.
I wish the side quests weren't such complete shit most of the time though. The stories they involved were excellent, but the fact that driving around the planets in the mako got really fucking frustrating after a while, plus there only being 2-3 different dungeons for the sidequests (does everyone in the Galaxy use the same architech? WTF?). I really wish there had been better variety to them, because as I said the stories themselves were awesome.
The voice acting was absolutely perfect, Bioware knows what they're doing there. The graphics were good, but the pop in and the loooong loads were fucking annoying at times. If this game had a harddrive to run off of it would have been a lot better.
All in all a great game, but I don't think it's quite GOTY level. It's one of the best of the year, but not the top.
Mech asked me to detail what problems I feel Mass Effect shares with KOTOR in the game of the month thread, so I'll oblige him.
First off, KOTOR was an amazing game, with very few flaws, so what I point out might be more of a preference thing.
The big one is the vehicular combat, which Mech pointed out already. They both have some camera problems at times. Its more noticable in Mass because the game never stops unless you command it.
Then there is load times, both in textures and in level loading. I will be honest, I was thinking more of KOTOR 2 when I thought of the texture loading problems I experienced, but even the first one had problems at times.
The last one is the combat. The combat in KOTOR is built to let you use the lightsaber. Awesome. Mass Effects combat is very similar, only without the lightsaber, which I feel it misses. Yes the added in the cover system, and even the team mate command system, but the combat still feels very much like KOTOR before you got the lightsaber. So I guess that's not so much a problem with KOTOR but a problem with Bioware using too much of KOTORs combat system.
Again, I like this game. I just felt that there was a better game released this month.
TLDR. All you had to say is...
Heh. Well, only sometimes. Which is I think where Mech was coming from.
Fuck Star Wars up it's stupid ass.
Benezia monked me hard 4 times in a row before I realized I was being flanked from around the side. After that I killed her pretty easily. So far I'm still loving this game, but I just got owned by a huge boss fight against the Geth on that research planet. They all land and there's a cutscene, and then when I'm plopped in to battle my character is literally facing sideways AWAY from the Geth.
So I have about 3 seconds to react before I'm dead. I can barely even make it behind cover before getting wiped out. And I didn't bring Talia with me so using overload or any tech damaging effects is out of the question. Fuck.
Ban Please.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
http://www.impawards.com/1999/poster...enace_ver2.jpg
No, JKII was built to let you use the lightsaber, KOTOR was built on the D&D/Baldur's Gate d20 system. The two combat systems are nothing alike aside from being able to pause to use powers, which is still different because KOTORs works on invisible dice rolls based on initiative numbers at specific intervals whereas ME's is realtime. They visually appear to work the same but otherwise have few similarities.Quote:
Originally Posted by Error
You also forgot things like how KOTOR's bosses were pathetically underpowered and anti-climactic and how the actual story was weak and predictable, which ME fixed. There's also all the unlockable abilities for custom classes and importing characters which KOTOR doesn't have. So aside from a preference of turn-based versus realtime, the issues they share that you overlooked due to the license were the vehicle sections (which can be completely skipped in KOTOR) and loading, but all the things ME did better mean nothing to you?More what I was saying was that if you're docking a game because it's not an unrelated subject is stupid. Should Crysis be knocked because it isn't Far Cry 2?Quote:
Which is I think where Mech was coming from.
the prequel movies aren't star wars, they're george lucas's used condoms.
I can't believe I got killed last night by that ambush. I was just a dumb monkey who didn't take cover quick enough.
What was especially awesome was that she stretched further and further over the course of the next couple minutes, elongating across the entire platform. I couldn't pause out of it to reload or anything, so thankfully she grew big enough to move into the enemy's line of fire and finally die.
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...1&d=1196658418
My second favorite glitch was when I tried to talk to Tali and she fell over and died instead.
KILL IT WITH FIRE
Lol, that same Mr. Fantastic glitch happened to me during the fight with Benezia. I had to move my team into the line of fire and get them killed so that she'd come after me.
I will finally be able to get back to playing this game. I was able to play for a while during thanksgiving but I only did 2 of the missions after becoming a spectre. I spent most of my time doing sidequest.
I usually hate being sick, but this is a good time for me to really knock this game out.
And I did.
Fuck you Council, the humans are taking over
Loving this game so much. I don't think the mako is that bad, it feels like a space buggie should, and its gun is merely a minor annoyance which takes 5 minutes to get used to.
I just got to Virmire. Still loving it so far.
The gun thing is really starting to frustrate me on Hardcore difficulty. I started a new character on Hardcore for fun, and the problem is the Mako gets raped pretty quick on that level. I'd get out and kill shit, but I'm not at a high enough level yet that I can, since it seems 1 sniper shot is enough to take me out at the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by arjue
i just beat it on veteran, just did new game + on hardcore, gonna do an all renegade run.
I don't understand why this is such a big deal. When I played through, I just made sure that I was never attacking a target from above. If I was, I'd either use a nearby hill so that the Mako would be sloping downward enough to use the gun or I'd simply circle around to a better position.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
It's perfectly fine for all the storyline quests, and for most of the sides, but there's quite a few side quests where you have to take bases that are nestled in valleys or on small mountaintops, and that's where it get's frustrating.Quote:
Originally Posted by epmode
youre on the take out the 4 geth bases sidequest? that thing was a bitch even with buffs. Just be ready to ditch the damn thing just in case, cause i would take out the colossus and be barely alive and forget the drop ship comes with moreQuote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
Yep, I'm getting raped on that in hardcore mode right now. The problem is I can't really get out and fight. My guys are only around level 24 right now so their weapons and armor aren't enough yet. I may have to cut out and come back to it later.
proton rounds are your friend in such instances. Shield bypass FTW
This game was definetely good but it really lacked the depth the Kotor series had imo.
The characters were not developed, they just randomly after a mission admit something crazy/cool about their past.
Side missions felt more like chores than fun and the lack of towns really pissed me off.
Definetely worth the 60 bucks and i'm sure ME 2 will be much much better.
they were developed, you just had to go out of your way into the slow elevators and talk to them between missions and side quests. :/Quote:
Originally Posted by nocturne
Maybe I described my experience wrong.
In Kotor it seemed to me that the characters gradually became more trusting...like they would be about to tell you something about their past and then stop and say ''maybe another time'', this generated much more suspense and interest in the characters stories then Mass Effects does.
I'll admit I did not play very many of the side missions so maybe that is the reason I feel this way.
I am wishing there were even more missions than there has been in the citedel so far, favorite part of the game so far.
The same thing happens for nearly every character in Mass Effect. Just talk to them on the Normandy in between story missions.Quote:
Originally Posted by nocturne