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[CorrisD]

I figured you would be able to use the custom Shepard code into the demo, seeing as I use a custom FemShep and normal Male version I wanted to see how it looked.

But I assume they screwed around with what is assigned to what because my FemShep now looks half done, wrong hair, hair colour, makeup, eye colour as they don't seem to be assigned to the right numbers in ME3.
Hope it doesn't screw up when importing in the full game, that would be pretty disappointing.

Lack of that slight filmgrain makes everything a little more shoddy too.

 

[Yo Gotti]

I just got around to playing this last night and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who felt this demo was pretty bad.

Bland combat
Terrible sound design
Blurry textures
Choppy framerate during cutscenes
Really bad particle effects
Voice acting was okay, really emotionless and overall it was unconvincing

The whole scene was just trying way too hard to feel like a Hollywood blockbuster, without the technical prowess to really deliver anything impressive visually. This is about the worst performing UE3 game that I've seen since Enslaved.

Before this I've only played a bit of Mass Effect 1, but I could swear this is not the Mass Effect that I remember at all.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Before this I've only played a bit of Mass Effect 1, but I could swear this is not the Mass Effect that I remember at all.

Not exactly the best authority on what makes a ME game then really, are ya?

 

[jakonovski]

I love me some Mass Effect, but this is a no-buy killer if they don't fix it by release: the sound is absolutely horrible. The reaper invasion sounds like a quiet day in the park with a few honks and toots every now and then from the skyscraper sized reapers. It's like half of all the environmental sounds are plain missing.

 

[Yo Gotti]

Not exactly the best authority on what makes a ME game then really, are ya?

Miss the point much? Who cares what makes an ME game?

If this demo is representative, then this just comes off as a bad game, period.

 

[Emitan]

I love me some Mass Effect, but this is a no-buy killer if they don't fix it by release: the sound is absolutely horrible. The reaper invasion sounds like a quiet day in the park with a few honks and toots every now and then from the skyscraper sized reapers. It's like half of all the environmental sounds are plain missing.

Really? My subwoofer wouldn't stop vibrating.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Not exactly the best authority on what makes a ME game then really, are ya?

While true, he is right. To me this looks to move more toward ME2 (which was a move away from ME itself). Not a convincing demo. I can already foresee the mundane task of going

Spoiler

to do an errand for each race

to get my aid.

 

[DarkChronic]

Eh, I guess I'm in the minority here. I really enjoyed it.

I played the demo on action but skipped all the dialogue parts (that were skippable), so I can't really comment on the writing (I skipped them because I didn't want to spoiled), but again, I enjoyed it. The game played just like ME2 and, well, I absolutely loved ME2.

Graphics were good enough, the environment was pretty cool (seeing huge Reapers off in the background wrecking havoc was pretty awesome, no?), and it just played tightly overall.

I'll be honest, I got the chills at the end of the first segment when they fly away and the music kicks in. Sounds great.

I'm really, really looking forward to this game. I guess I can sort of understand where the negativity is coming from, but I have to admit I'm surprised there is so much of it, and that some people are even saying they might not even buy the game.

EDIT:

Regarding the kid:

Pretty sure that possibility was debunked.

It's gotta be. I played through the demo twice, once as male Shep, the other as female, and it's a boy both times.

 

[jakonovski]

Really? My subwoofer wouldn't stop vibrating.

What did you play it on? Might be bug in the PC demo. I used headphones and it sounded like an alpha.

 

[Anteater]

That female Shepard running animation is hilarious. What were they thinking?

I must be the only one who didn't think it was that bad :lol, was the one in ME2 better? I can't really remember, the Anderson running was hilarious though, made me laugh the moment I had control of my character and started sprinting

 

[jakonovski]

Apart from being hilarious, this also showcases the horrible environmental sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye0Rl16elKo

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

WOW just played the demo & surprised at all the hate it's getting here.
I mean it's the exact same E3 build demo from last year! All the technical hitches from then are probably fixed in the current version.

About the linearity, it's a demo. They're not going to give you an hour+ mission to play in.

Combat also seems fine, better than ME2.

 

[Owzers]

I played ME and ME 2 on 360. I bought ME 2 GOTY edition for the dlc , but i haven't played it ye, so i don't know how it ran on PS3 really.

Tried the PS3 demo of ME 3 and i hate it. The animation/framerate/graphics make me not enjoy playing the game, doesn't help that the picture looks slightly washed out. Final game better have a lot of improvements, i was planning on buying the PS3 version for PSN multiplayer but i might just rent the 360 version instead.

 

[Lifejumper]

Another comparison from this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJu-u3zFMyk
Excuse my bad print screen skillz.

Demo

Newest video

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

It's gotta be. I played through the demo twice, once as male Shep, the other as female, and it's a boy both times.

And having the boy be Shepard makes no sense.

"When I was four years, I ran into a Reaper. This is just like that."
"Shepard, it is time to face your fears."

 

[DXV]

BSN is going to have a romance support thread for whoever the hell this is, bank on it.

 

[rozay]

Another comparison from this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJu-u3zFMyk
Excuse my bad print screen skillz.

Demo

Newest video

The hair texture and old-style conversation wheel actually make me think this build is older than the demo.

Also notice in the previous 2 pictures you posted, there's no alliance logo decal on the ground. Wish the contrast was still at that level in the demo, it's way too fucking high.

 

[watership]

Demo is obviously not the final game build guys.. sheesh.

 

[THRILLH0]

I don't know why people keep saying this. Mass Effect 1's tone and scope was totally different than 2, and the gameplay was at a slower pace. I've put hundreds of hours into this series. If you like ME1 and ME2 equally, or like ME2 more, whatever, that's fine. But a lot of people see a big difference between 1 and 2 and we're really fucking tired of people telling us two games we find very different are actually exactly the same.

Yep, so different it was voted gaf's very own game of the year!

I love the revisionist history that Mass Effect 2 evokes on gaf.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Yep, so different it was voted gaf's very own game of the year!

I love the revisionist history that Mass Effect 2 evokes on gaf.

But the ones that voted it GOTY were SheepGAF!

 

[Lifejumper]

Sorry guys last time, but I think this comparison is the best:

Demo:

Newest video:

 

[GodfatherX]

loved the demo, surprised to see any hate, it looked great, played great.

 

[ironcreed]

It felt great to finally get a sense of that climax that I have been waiting for since 2007. Not missing it for the world, myself.

 

[hateradio]

Thoughts:

I'm not as distressed as some of you in regards with anything to do with this game. It feels very much like ME2, which everyone already knew was going to happen.

The only things that bothered me were A) I got a bug similar to that in ME2 where speech was muffled and characters didn't move their lips when they spoke, B) the textures literally look like vomit.

I still wish that they would increase the color saturation. UE3 doesn't have to look this dull.

 

[mercenar1e]

tbh the multiplayer is pretty bad.. but im not disappointed because i kind of had a feeling it would suck

 

[Anteater]

B) the textures literally look like vomit.

eww

 

[Imp the Dimp]

ME3's running animation

 

[wutwutwut]

I loved Mass Effect 1 and liked 2. I played the PC demo for this and was left utterly unconvinced. Will pick up for $5 maybe.

 

[Replicant]

From the demo

From the newest video

Lightning looks completely different, makes me wonder how old the demo build is..

Please be true. The lighting in the demo is pretty bad.

 

[dreamer3kx]

I loved Mass Effect 1 and liked 2. I played the PC demo for this and was left utterly unconvinced. Will pick up for $5 maybe.

Come on man, come on.

 

[RedSwirl]

Think I'm gonna wait until I finish my next ME2 run to start the ME3 demo. How different is it?

 

[Emitan]

Yep, so different it was voted gaf's very own game of the year!

I love the revisionist history that Mass Effect 2 evokes on gaf.

Yeah because the people who didn't like it loved it until 2011, right?

 

[RoboFu]

Please be true. The lighting in the demo is pretty bad.

huh the lighting in the demo shots is way better.

 

[leng jai]

The audio is horrible. Sigh.

 

[ComputerMKII]

This character looks like a bad version of Eva Green.

 

[rozay]

The audio is horrible. Sigh.

Are you playing on PC?

 

[Abylim]

Havent read the whole thread, sorry if this has been asked/answered: Can we unlock the Kingdoms of Amalur stuff with this demo? If so, how? I played the entire thing, and didnt get any message. It asked me to login with my origin/ea account thingy, playing on the same system I played the Reckoning demo on, too.

 

[wutwutwut]

Come on man, come on.

What's there to "come on" about? The combat was really boring and consisted of spamming warp, throw and overload, the universal cooldown sucked, the cutscenes were ham-fisted, the animations were janky, the voice acting seemed much more detached and less convincing than in the first two games, and the game requires Origin.

edit: of course, it's possible that my standards have been raised by Portal 2 and the like. I played Mass Effect 2 much before Portal 2 and haven't replayed it since.

 

[thetrin]

Yeah because the people who didn't like it loved it until 2011, right?

I didn't like ME2 the week I started playing it, and people called me overly critical. Now everyone agrees with me. It's very confusing.

 

[Salz01]

Played the demo on Ps3, and just like that my anticipation for the game shattered. I'm not sure what's going on with that company, but the word 'Improvement' seems to be missing from their design docs when they start making a new game. Why would I pay for this. This is rent material.

 

[ironcreed]

The writing may not be Shakespearean tier material, but it most certainly is still Mass Effect and it is finally coming to the conclusion of what was started in the first one. That alone is going to make me love it more than ME 2. As for the visuals, animations and gameplay? Well, it is still Mass Effect as well, only the gameplay feels more fluid and less tank-like and the visuals seem a bit more crisp. Could not realistically expect much more, to be honest. Just happy that we are finally getting to play the conclusion of what was started.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Watch these while listening to this.

 

[Meicyn]

What did you play it on? Might be bug in the PC demo. I used headphones and it sounded like an alpha.

I played it on 360, and my subwoofer was rumbling quite a lot for the first half of the demo. No issues with the sound.

 

[leng jai]

Are you playing on PC?

Yes.

 

[CharmingCharlie]

Lightning looks completely different, makes me wonder how old the demo build is..

Over at the fountain of knowledge (ie Bioware Social which is certainly a fountain of something) it has been said the demo is from a build as old as July. I will see if I can find who said it.

 

[Atruvius]

Havent read the whole thread, sorry if this has been asked/answered: Can we unlock the Kingdoms of Amalur stuff with this demo? If so, how? I played the entire thing, and didnt get any message. It asked me to login with my origin/ea account thingy, playing on the same system I played the Reckoning demo on, too.

Yes. You get omni-blade daggers. You get quest to pick them from Gorhart.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Over at the fountain of knowledge (ie Bioware Social which is certainly a fountain of something)

I like the cut of your jib.

 

[Replicant]

huh the lighting in the demo shots is way better.

WAT? NO! Have you played the demo? People's faces look flat. I like the darkness level but the lighting on people's face are just too flat.

 

[Hedja]

Running looks worse the Dragon's Dogma.

 

[Enduin]

Over at the fountain of knowledge (ie Bioware Social which is certainly a fountain of something) it has been said the demo is from a build as old as July. I will see if I can find who said it.

If thats true thats quite a long ways away from now, but then again the game was original slated to be released 3 months ago so its not terribly surprising they had started a separate demo build some time ago.

But even so I wouldnt hold out for major differences between the demo and the main game. Maybe some better textures here or there, improved FPS, and slightly better lighting, if we are lucky some better lip syncing, but I would be amazed if things were drastically different. If they are, BioWare are morons and should at the very least have put up major disclaimers throughout the demo clearly stating this was not at all representative of the final game.