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[SpacePirate Ridley]

I'm not done but I'll give my review now. 30 hours in; ME3 is much longer than ME2 in my opinion (beat it in 25).

+ Story is well done, incorporates new and old characters in an organic way. Some surprises and interesting character arcs.
+ I think the gunplay is as good and varied as Gears 3. The shooting feels fantastic and the combat scenarios are well done.
+ Citadel is much bigger; tons of side/fetch quests that you obtain just by walking by people. Weapon modding is nice touch.
+ Planet scanning is improved; not as repetitive as before. It's still not perfect but better than ME2.
+ Graphics are phenomenal. They really put a lot of time into environments. Loading is fast with both discs installed.
+ The game is just very addictive; has that overwhelming GOOD feeling of 'i have so much I want to do next'. (pro-tip: USE YOUR MAP)
+ Dialogue trees are STILL THERE. You can talk/investigate with crew members on your ship. Stop worrying.

- There aren't as many impactful choices or Paragon moments as ME2. There are still lots; just not as much as ME2.
- They got rid of the Mass Effect 1 music in your cabin; personally I feel like ME1's music is still better than 2 or 3.
- Some small bugs (characters dissapearing) and minor frame-rate slowdown on Citadel.
- Disc swapping; as I mentioned earlier, I've had to do it 4 times in my time with the game. It seems random but it is annoying.
+- Multiplayer is a nice bonus but personally, I didn't find it all that interesting (servers are already up).

Overall I'd give it a 9.5/10 and I'm not even finished with it yet (2 story missions to go). I have no doubt that this game is going to score VERY high later tonight.

Does that mean if you are totally paragon you are screwed and you nedd to use renagade options by force?

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Can someone clarify for me what about the MP influences the campaign? I tuned into that IGN stream for a minute and heard them talking about "galaxy preparedness" or some shit but they were really vague about it.

As far I can tell: there is a WAR ASSET % number. I BELIEVE that number always stays at 50% but playing multiplayer causes it to go up? I haven't read the manual so I'm not sure but I went from 50 to 54 by playing a bit of MP.

Thanks this is about 1/3rd farther than I am. How did you handle the powers bug with the aiming for special powers? Especially on the vertical environments? Its one of the main things making the game so hard at points for me.

I didn't notice this, man.

Also I am not sure I can agree with the new and old character being organic. So far I have had 5 characters who's stories intersect with a "hey jump on board" line of dialogue. I am assuming maybe the 15 hour mark is when this gets good? While Ashley's(so far) has been great.

Yeah keep playing, it gets better as you go.

I also feel the the music and its use through the game as a whole isn't as powerful as #1 and 2. Seems like lots of...uhm silent time?!? Agreed with the missing music in the cabin

I agree completely. They really should have some ambient music while you are walking around places. Bring back some of this for FFS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW-hJbzhSU&feature=related

Also disk swapping (seems) to be connected to how far you travel away from the citedal. There is overlapping data somewhere. So far in 10+ hours I have swamped maybe 15 times. But I have also flown north south many times for quests. That's good to know.

Yeah, I'm sure someone will come up with the order under which you should play to minimize disc swaps; to me, it wasn't that big of a deal.

Does that mean if you are totally paragon you are screwed and you nedd to use renagade options by force?

No why would it?

 

[Spookie]

I swear to god: Pull + Push is looks even more god like in ME3. Nice that when I imported my shep I got a metric shit tonne of skills to begin with.

 

[Karak]

- There aren't as many impactful choices or Paragon moments as ME2. There are still lots; just not as much as ME2.


goddamit

Seems like we have known this for some time now though in thread forum time So that's life. We have to get up and enjoy the other bits of the game!

 

[Kyoufu]

Disc swapping is the reason I migrated to PS3. Couldn't stand it in ME2.

 

[Blue Ninja]

So, uh, the husks are cannibals? WTF?

Well, those batarian husks are called 'cannibals', and that name probably came from somewhere.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

The lithograph is in .pdf format.

lol

 

[Karak]

powers bug?

wut

Powers are aimed via the powers menu. But the bug still exists where if your ducking or moving one of your NPC's will instead aim their power at your cursor resulting in...an explosion by your head! hahahaha. Its a known bug. I was expecting it but ME3 handles a good deal of vertical battle and I had problems in a Cerabus base especially if ducked behind cover. BAD problems Where I kept dying because they should shoot me but when putting powers on the enemy and locking them on once I came out of the menu the powers locked onto my cursor again. This left me with too many seconds of recharge being needed and getting swamped. Bioware knows already.

Nothing game breaking. Just wondering if he figured out a way by it that I and others hadn't. I am also playing on the hardest difficulty possible.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Also disk swapping (seems) to be connected to how far you travel away from the citedal. There is overlapping data somewhere. So far in 10+ hours I have swamped maybe 15 times. But I have also flown north south many times for quests. That's good to know.

The hell?

 

[Karak]

As far I can tell: there is a WAR ASSET % number. I BELIEVE that number always stays at 50% but playing multiplayer causes it to go up? I haven't read the manual so I'm not sure but I went from 50 to 54 by playing a bit of MP.


I didn't notice this, man.

All I have to say is you are a "lucky SOB:!" Its one of the main problems being reported. God damn it. I was hoping you would help me!

You are no help at all!

Kidding.

As for the missing music. One of my main complaints was that many of the first bits, as well as a couple cutscenes didn't even have ambient. I kept thinking I messed up the install or had a scratched disk. Really missed a couple great moments. Its funny. You NEVER notice music that much until its missing

The hell?

Like I said, lots of north south. Basically I was trying to complete a mission, or actually 2 missions. And I think it was because 1 was a planet the other a ship based one(landing on another ship). Going between them caused the issue. Don't expect to have the same problem if you don't do a lot of north south in the game map.

 

[Baconsammy]

Disc swapping is the reason I migrated to PS3. Couldn't stand it in ME2.

I got every achievement (DLC included) and I swapped discs twice during the 50 or 60 hours I played. Hardly worth switching to an inferior version of the game over.

 

[shadyspace]

Also disk swapping (seems) to be connected to how far you travel away from the citedal. There is overlapping data somewhere. So far in 10+ hours I have swamped maybe 15 times. But I have also flown north south many times for quests. That's good to know.

omg consoles omg

 

[Kyoufu]

Need more impressions on side-quests! Were they limited by time?

I got every achievement (DLC included) and I swapped discs twice during the 50 or 60 hours I played. Hardly worth switching to an inferior version of the game over.

Hmm I don't really know what's inferior about the PS3 version of ME2. I couldn't tell any differences aside from the jaggies.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Ok, and the art book is full of spoilers.

Wow.

Okay.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

The hell?

I missed his 15 swaps remark. Holy fuck. My girlfriend is playing also and is also around 30 hours and she's swapped 4 times as well. I dunno what to say.

 

[i-Lo]

That ME3 spoiler thread is JUST SO f*****g TEMPTING....ARGH....

Honestly, you guys should think about ppl with OCD.....

EDIT: So does anyone know how many N7 missions are enough to get the best ending without playing online?

 

[Snuggles]

omg consoles omg

Lol DVDs. What a stone age technology, I feel for you guys.

Might be time to invest in one of these:

 

[Black-Box]

Earth in 2186 doesn't look too advanced

that's a ghetto

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Lol DVDs. What a stone age technology, I feel for you guys.

I wasn't into Blu-Ray until I bought a BR player.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Like I said, lots of north south. Basically I was trying to complete a mission, or actually 2 missions. And I think it was because 1 was a planet the other a ship based one(landing on another ship). Going between them caused the issue. Don't expect to have the same problem if you don't do a lot of north south in the game map.

I missed his 15 swaps remark. Holy fuck. My girlfriend is playing also and is also around 30 hours and she's swapped 4 times as well. I dunno what to say.

That just seems like really bad design on their part if they're not explicitly telling the player that an area of the game is on disc 2. I'd rather they just split the game right down the middle with the first half being a set number of areas, and the second half being a set number of areas so the player can clear it out and move on without worrying about the game making you swap discs multiple times in 10 or 15 hours.

Stuff like this and the side mission timers are making me scratch my head.

 

[MasterShotgun]

How do I gain access to the other floors on the Citadel?

Spoiler

I can go around the Embassy, Hospital, and Docking Bay, but it won't let me go to other floors that Avina has talked about. Do I need to just progress further in the main story? I did some other missions, but I haven't started the mission the Turian counselor gave me.

 

[Grisby]

I was watching the news and somehow wished that they'd do a Reaper invasion deal.

Also, the twitter thing is pretty funny. "We have the alien weapon, gonna go fire it at a wall now, k?"

 

[Karak]

I missed his 15 swaps remark. Holy fuck. My girlfriend is playing also and is also around 30 hours and she's swapped 4 times as well. I dunno what to say.

EDIT: Changed the numbers below.

I just asked the only 2 others in IRC how many times they swamped so far.

9 they are 19 hours in
11 they are 17 hours in
SO I am only 2 above them.

But after some digging it IS the way the game is copied to 2 disks on the 360. Looks like they went for a combo of duplicate data as well as location specific and character specific data.

That just seems like really bad design on their part if they're not explicitly telling the player that an area of the game is on disc 2. I'd rather they just split the game right down the middle with the first half being a set number of areas, and the second half being a set number of areas so the player can clear it out and move on without worrying about the game making you swap discs multiple times in 10 or 15 hours.

Trust me. Worry not. About every 30 games I play I get really fucking unlucky simply because of my play-style which involves a good deal of back and forth and ignoring quest-lines while paying attention to others. From looking it seems like 10 should be around high-normal. It is just my luck at times. I frequently fuck up bioware games hahahahaha.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

I was watching the news and somehow wished that they'd do a Reaper invasion deal.

Also, the twitter thing is pretty funny. "We have the alien weapon, gonna go fire it at a wall now, k?"

It reads like a badly written fan fiction.

 

[subversus]

Can somebody explain this timed missions bullshit? I don't want to skim through the thread to remain completely spoiler free. Does it mean "fly there, Shepard, or they will die" or y"ou have 2 minutes to kill everybody, Shepard"?

 

[Grakl]

I was watching the news and somehow wished that they'd do a Reaper invasion deal.

Also, the twitter thing is pretty funny. "We have the alien weapon, gonna go fire it at a wall now, k?"

I love the messages full of decent grammar/spelling then suddenly asoaiosfioaoifo or Chinese characters. After that, hit the "tweet" button. Perfect!

 

[Cetra]

This disc swap news is making me lean towards the PS3 version, performance issues be damned. Nothing kills immersion like being told to swap discs all over the place. xD

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Can somebody explain this timed missions bullshit? I don't want to skim through the thread to remain completely spoiler free. Does it mean "fly there, Shepard, or they will die" or y"ou have 2 minutes to kill everybody, Shepard"?

it means that if some fetch/side missions dissapear forever if you don't do them before you progress in the story; oh and you have no warning that they will be gone. so do all current side stuff before you do story missions.

 

[Grisby]

It reads like a badly written fan fiction.

Which is awesome.

 

[bloodforge]

Does installing both discs on the HD remove the need to swap in disc 2 during play?

 

[subversus]

it means that if some fetch/side missions dissapear forever if you don't do them before you progress in the story; oh and you have no warning that they will be gone. so do all current side stuff before you do story missions.

I hate that shit, I just want the game to flow. Is there any logical clue at least so I would know?

 

[AgentOtaku]

Disc swapping is the reason I migrated to PS3. Couldn't stand it in ME2.

I'm forced to buy this on PS3 if I wanna check out the DLC (same situation with ME2). Bioware, even though it has an option for Armed Forces Europe, still doesn't recognize my credit card to purchase Bioware Points for PC version.

And forget the Origin Store ...thing is a POS

 

[Black-Box]

when did you order yours? mine says it wont ship till next week and I ordered it last year ><

 

[Karak]

How do I gain access to the other floors on the Citadel?

Spoiler

I can go around the Embassy, Hospital, and Docking Bay, but it won't let me go to other floors that Avina has talked about. Do I need to just progress further in the main story? I did some other missions, but I haven't started the mission the Turian counselor gave me.

Yes. I can't remember that far back. But did you meet the Ambassadors yet on their ship? Talk to Ashley?

Sorry I can't remember this particular part but I went from like 2-3 open locations, to 5 to around 6-8. I am not home to check

Oh speaking of that. The Citadel DOES open up a great deal more. So if you are a player like me who likes to explore it does indeed open more about the 7-10 hour mark. Which I enjoyed a great deal though don't like having to wait for Shepard still can't fucking dance. At all...

This disc swap news is making me lean towards the PS3 version, performance issues be damned. Nothing kills immersion like being told to swap discs all over the place. xD

Consider Arrested's as a really good experience, my own as the worst, and you will fall in the middle. If the game is say 25-30 hours long, being told to switch every 3-4 hours isn't that bad when you get the trade off of a better FPS(360 version) for the entire 3.9 hours in between disk swaps.

 

[MasterShotgun]

Yes. I can't remember that far back. But did you meet the Ambassadors yet on their ship?

Sorry I can't remember this particular part but I went from 2 open locations, to 5 to about 8.

Oh speaking of that. The Citadel DOES open up a great deal more. So if you are a player like me who likes to explore it does indeed open more about the 7-10 hour mark. Which I enjoyed a great deal!

That's all I need to know. I was worried my game was buggy. Thanks.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Does installing both discs on the HD remove the need to swap in disc 2 during play?

No.

I hate that shit, I just want the game flow. Is there any logical clue at least so I would know?

No.

 

[Grakl]

Read the ending. Whoops. Silly spoiler-free thread.

 

[Black-Box]

Boring nerdy Darth Vader slut who can't admit the Geth are completely the Quarians fault. I hear she just gets replaced by another Quarian, so I'm rooting for Kal'Reegar in his sexy red suit.

what in your mind made you compare her to Vader, when they are 2 totally different characters, have you've even played ME before?

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Read the ending. Whoops. Silly spoiler-free thread.

Yeeaaah I'll be just going now.

But on the subject of that Twitter feed, wouldn't a survival horror game set in the Reaper invasion of the Earth been kinda cool?

"what in your mind made you compare her to Vader, when they are 2 totally different characters, have you've even played ME before?"

Her suit instantly reminds me of DV. Of course I've played ME.

 

[Karak]

No.



No.

Question'

Spoiler

Does Jessica Chalbot do anything as the game progresses? I am thinking of tossing her but am not sure. Her very presence ANNOYS me. I know she adds to the universe readiness level but its like 100 points or something

 

[shinobi602]

when did you order yours? mine says it wont ship till next week and I ordered it last year ><

Ordered it Nov 17th last year.

 

[Pollux]

Am I the only one who didn't get the CE?

 

[Reave]

I'll take a few more framerate dips over constant disc swapping. PS3 version for me.

 

[Snuggles]

Am I the only one who didn't get the CE?

Nope. The only bonus item I give a shit about is the From Ashes DLC, but I had some extra Bioware points to cover that. It's not worth the extra money, EA and Bioware can suck it.

 

[Derrick01]

Am I the only one who didn't get the CE?

Nope I don't care for all that art book shit and the other useless crap that usually comes with them.

The DLC I just bought separately.

 

[Salvadora]

Considering cancelling my CE, The art book is cool but all I really care about is the DLC.

 

[Dany]

I don't know if I am going to do MP during or after the SP but add me on xbox 360!

GT: A Lost Hiro

 

[Bisnic]

Damn that Spoiler Thread is tempting to click...

 

[Dresden]

Am I the only one who didn't get the CE?

Didnt want to spend 80 bucks for a bunch of shit I didn't care about.

 

[- J - D -]

Is Uncharted Worlds in the game?!

It was favorite track from the first 2 games.