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[Derrick01]

I have only experienced more autodialogue in the first hour or so. I honestly have no clue where people are getting this from. The conversations seem perfectly in line with ME1 and ME2 after you get the Normandy, visit the Citadel, etc.

"Investigate" options galore.

No there's definitely not investigate options "galore" 15 hours in. They're there in places don't get me wrong but the majority of dialogue in this game is either auto meaning situations like Zaeed where you just talk without going into that cinematic view, or you get 2 options 1 on the top right and 1 on the bottom right and sometimes that will have a third option on the left side of the wheel which is basically a brief "explain" or "clarify" topic. In the past games those would have been full investigate options but they were cut down to 1 brief topic.

 

[shinobi602]

No there's definitely not investigate options "galore" 15 hours in. They're there in places don't get me wrong but the majority of dialogue in this game is either auto meaning situations like Zaeed where you just talk without going into that cinematic view, or you get 2 options 1 on the top right and 1 on the bottom right and sometimes that will have a third option on the left side of the wheel which is basically a brief "explain" or "clarify" topic. In the past games those would have been full investigate options but they were cut down to 1 brief topic.

Ok.

I've been playing a little over 9 hours so far and I've gotten a ton of investigate options. On the Normandy, on the Citadel, on the main missions. Not sure what else to say, though I'm baffled how we're seeing things so differently. Bailey, Thane, Udina, Ashley, Liara, Garrus,

Spoiler

Javik

, EDI, Allers, Chakwas, Dr.Michel, etc etc. I've been through dozens of conversations that have a lot of options to go through.

 

[Derrick01]

Ok.

I've been playing a little over 9 hours so far and I've gotten a ton of investigate options. On the Normandy, on the Citadel, on the main missions. Not sure what else to say, though I'm baffled how we're seeing things so differently. Bailey, Thane, Udina, Ashley, Liara, Garrus,

Spoiler

Javik

, EDI, Allers, Chakwas, Dr.Michel, etc etc. I've been through dozens of conversations that have a lot of options to go through.

Like I said they make appearances but it's not nearly as much as the last games. During missions it's even more prevalent.

Allers for example. I had the 1 conversation with that person (which I believe is what made you reference that person), but since then the only dialogue I've heard from that person is each time I enter their room and he/she is talking to someone else. I personally have not been able to get him/her to have a real conversation with me since.

 

[thecouncil]

reviews of high profile games really brings neogaf to its knees, huh?

 

[Anarkin]

4Players.de - 75%

Lowest score yet?

 

[shinobi602]

Like I said they make appearances but it's not nearly as much as the last games. During missions it's even more prevalent.

Allers for example. I had the 1 conversation with that person (which I believe is what made you reference that person), but since then the only dialogue I've heard from that person is each time I enter their room and he/she is talking to someone else. I personally have not been able to get him/her to have a real conversation with me since.

Have you been doing missions in between and then talking to them? Because that's what I've been doing, and they have some new things to say each time, just like ME1 and ME2.

 

[Baconsammy]

OK OK. ME1 isn't for PS3?? Guess I'll just have to start with ME2.

I'd never play ME2 without playing ME1. I know that doesn't help you, but just my opinion. Every game in the series is an absolute gem (barring ME3 going to complete shit at the end). I can see now why some of the reviewers fell all over themselves to praise the game. This series is just that damn good.

 

[Apophenia Overload]

Not a review, but a South African review site covering the MetaCritic bombing and sounding somewhat thoughtful about the fan response. The author mentions in the comments-

However, when something like this happens to a big game, users are generally trying to send a message. It happened to Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops, and I can't call it entirely unfounded.

So while Mass Effect 3 is obviously not a 2 out of 10 or anything as drastic as many of the users make it out to be, it can be of importance to see what it is that users are actually complaining about with the game. No game should be free from criticism in my opinion, and it's important to actually take note of what is being said, and then go off to see for yourself how true or false it is

On eGamer, our review system doesn't use numbers, because it's a random, inconsistent and ineffective method of reviewing. We try to focus purely on evaluating game's quality, and determining whether it's worth buying or not. Let's face it, our entertainment is expensive.

I'm very curious to see how the site will review this game, especially if it doesn't use numbers.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I can't wait for this to win GOTY on GAF again.

 

[Derrick01]

I can't wait for this to win GOTY on GAF again.

I don't think this is going to be as controversial as ME2 was. I certainly like it and I'm one of the most vocal ME2 haters. It has more RPG elements (I'd like even more but I'm not going to nitpick) and it has an actual story and, so far at least, doesn't have an incredibly ridiculous and insulting part like the end of ME2.

Hell it's my GOTY so far since I've only played like 2 other 2012 games.

 

[2San]

I can't wait for this to win GOTY on GAF again.

Halo 4 please be good. >.<

What other games has a chance of beating it?

edit: Actually that's kinda mean of me hoping that ME3 won't get the GOTY, but the demo was so unimpressive. :x Either everything next to the combat and animation is amazing or this going to be a disappointing year at least in the blockbuster department.

 

[Anarkin]

What other games has a chance of beating it?

BioShock Infinite and Half-Life 3 of course.

 

[shinobi602]

BioShock Infinite and Half-Life 3 of course.

 

[2San]

BioShock Infinite and Half-Life 3 of course.

Forgot about Infinite, should be good.

 

[EatChildren]

Half-Life 3 is gaming nirvana. I dream and wonder what it's like, and long for it more than anything. It encompasses my entire reason and will to game.

 

[2San]

Half-Life 3 is gaming nirvana. I dream and wonder what it's like, and long for it more than anything. It encompasses my entire reason and will to game.

You are still looking forward to it? I already accepted that our gaming gods have abandoned us.

 

[EatChildren]

I look forward to Half-Life 3 in the same way a religious man worships God(s). It is the promise and hope of something more, something greater, that keeps me playing and enjoying all this filler.

 

[Apophenia Overload]

I think Diablo III is what you were thinking of.

 

[EatChildren]

Shit no.

 

[Apophenia Overload]

Sorry, I meant this post:

BioShock Infinite and Half-Life 3 of course.

Since D3 is actually coming out this year, whereas HL 3 isn't unless the Mayans were right about this December.

 

[codhand]

I look forward to Half-Life 3 in the same way a religious man worships God(s). It is the promise and hope of something more, something greater, that keeps me playing and enjoying all this filler.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

replace hope with 'lies'

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

I'd never play ME2 without playing ME1. I know that doesn't help you, but just my opinion. Every game in the series is an absolute gem (barring ME3 going to complete shit at the end). I can see now why some of the reviewers fell all over themselves to praise the game. This series is just that damn good.

I hear you but I really have no choice. I don’t have a 360, and my laptop at home certainly isn’t a gaming one (I only use it for email and surfing the web.) I guess I’ll just have to read a synopsis of ME1 and try to catch some Youtube videos.

 

[Lifejumper]

So Quick questions.. I posted this in the OT but I am scared for the spoilers

So I unlocked the Chakram launcher and the Reckoner-Knight armor from playing the Amalur demo with my main account. Will my sub account have access to the stuff unlocked from the demo without playing the actual demo? And how does it work with the From Ashes DLC?

Thanks

 

[Baconsammy]

I hear you but I really have no choice. I don&#8217;t have a 360, and my laptop at home certainly isn&#8217;t a gaming one (I only use it for email and surfing the web.) I guess I&#8217;ll just have to read a synopsis of ME1 and try to catch some Youtube videos.

Find one of those youtube Play videos where someone plays Mass Effect 1 then. You should really experience it in some way before playing part 2.

So Quick questions.. I posted this in the OT but I am scared for the spoilers

So I unlocked the Chakram launcher and the Reckoner-Knight armor from playing the Amalur demo with my main account. Will my sub account have access to the stuff unlocked from the demo without playing the actual demo? And how does it work with the From Ashes DLC?

Thanks

If by sub-account you mean another gamertag, no it won't get the chakram launcher etc unless EA is allowing you to associate two or more gamertags with an EA id. The DLC will play on any gamertag on the 360 it was downloaded on or any gamertag on a 360 in which the purchasing gamertag is logged into. If you're referring to the PC or PS3 versions, I can't give you an educated answer.

 

[Macstorm]

RPGamer Review

 

[mattiewheels]

Mass Effect 3 |OT2| So much more than a game

 

[Apophenia Overload]

Less than stellar reviews come out now from smaller outlets. Are they jumping to the more critical route because of fan reaction? Or could it be, just maybe, the previous early copy reviewers were simply less critical?

Atomic Maximum Power Computing: 86%

We also failed to import our Shep&#8217;s face into the game, and couldn&#8217;t quite get the reconstruction just right. It may sound odd, but this was hugely distracting for the first part of the game, and really disappointing.

Similarly, some of that dialogue seems a bit... flatter than in previous games. Possibly the voice talent were a bit rushed to work through all the eventualities of the previous games, but it&#8217;s definitely not on a par. And, as usual, the parred down suggestions of what each dialogue option entails are sometimes too vague for what you actually end up saying or doing. There&#8217;s nothing worse than accidentally shooting someone when all you wanted to do was get angry. Oh, okay, maybe there is &#8211; having your ending bugged so you miss out on the satisfying bits. Yeah.

... As to the ending, I won&#8217;t spoil, but it is oddly flat. It&#8217;s downbeat, I&#8217;ll say that, but also just... odd. I was expecting more closure, and I will admit that I feel a bit disappointed. Then again, it&#8217;s the ending that has really got me thinking about this game, more than just about anything else I&#8217;ve played in recent years, save perhaps Halo: Reach.

Gaming Blend: 4 of 5 stars

The game&#8217;s co-op is pretty similar to the Gears of War series&#8217; Horde mode. Four players must work together to fight off waves of enemies. You can&#8217;t just park in one corner the whole time, though. You&#8217;ll be given a series of generic, shallow objectives to full (kill targets, hack a terminal, and so forth). There are three different difficulty levels and six different maps but the basic experience doesn&#8217;t change much from one session to the next. It&#8217;s disappointing how little variety there is.

... The co-op amputates the strategy side of the game, putting you in charge of a lone character. While you could strategize awith other players over voice chat, this is something that won&#8217;t happen in the vast majority of public matches. The multiplayer ends up feeling like a so-so Gears of War clone. It&#8217;s entertaining, don&#8217;t get me wrong. If you&#8217;re in the mood for an online shooter, though, you probably own several better options.

... Still, the vast majority of enemies you encounter &#8211; standard ground troops with ranged attacks &#8211; can be steamrolled through with little thought. I just cast Singularity over and over and pick the enemies off like clay pigeons. The combat isn&#8217;t hugely cerebral but it&#8217;s also not testing your twitch shooter skills much, either.

I don't think any reviewer is going to really cry foul over story deficiencies except for Yahtzee and the YouTube video reviewers.

 

[dimb]

Less than stellar reviews come out now from smaller outlets. Are they jumping to the more critical route because of fan reaction? Or could it be, just maybe, the previous early copy reviewers were simply less critical?

Maybe it's just easier to offer a level headed analysis after the pre-launch fervor has gone down. Those still seem like very positive reviews overall though.

 

[Zeliard]

Similarly, some of that dialogue seems a bit... flatter than in previous games. Possibly the voice talent were a bit rushed to work through all the eventualities of the previous games, but it’s definitely not on a par.

Could not possibly disagree more with this. The dialogue is one of the major highlights. The banter is excellent. And the voice actors rushed, wtf? They're phenomenal! Cept for Jessica Chobot, who I don't hate at all and barely even know anything of, but she is not a great voice actress.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

having played 15 hours or so, i have to say the 9.5s are highly exaggerated. Not even talking about IGN here, which is lolworthy only because of the Chobot disgusting affair, but this definitely ain't no eternal masterpiece. It's fun, it's got a good story but yeah

 

[likedamaster]

Loving the game so far. Definitely the best experience out of the three.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Find one of those youtube Play videos where someone plays Mass Effect 1 then. You should really experience it in some way before playing part 2

I picked up ME2 on Friday. A-freaking-mazing. I can’t believe I never played this series or even cared about it before. I put in 12 hours in one sitting; I’ve never done that with a video game before. I am hooked, over 20 hours sunk into this game in the past two days and I feel like I’m just getting started; what a treat. What is the average play length for ME2? When I first purchased it I wanted to just go through it so I could play ME3, but now rushing through this gem seems like the highest folly.

 

[Apophenia Overload]

VentureBeat gives it 75/100 and a long, comprehensive review. I'm not going to praise the review just because it gives the game a lower score, but it's good that it's not like all of the other mainstream gaming review outlets looking at this AAA title uncritically, even worshipfully. I think game criticism could use Armand White's, we shouldn't be obsessed about perfect scores on MetaCritic. It's also very interesting that this review claims that it's less compelling that ME 2. I'd like to see what people think about his criticisms.

 

[hauton]

So, can someone bridge the massive gap between industry reviews and the overwhelming sense of disappointment I'm getting from most of the gaming communities I frequent?

Moneyhats? Irrational Bioware hate? A bit of both?

 

[AnathemicOne]

Halo 4 please be good. >.<

What other games has a chance of beating it?

edit: Actually that's kinda mean of me hoping that ME3 won't get the GOTY, but the demo was so unimpressive. :x Either everything next to the combat and animation is amazing or this going to be a disappointing year at least in the blockbuster department.

Halo 4
Diablo 3
Guild Wars 2

2012 isn't over yet man

 

[Apophenia Overload]

So, can someone bridge the massive gap between industry reviews and the overwhelming sense of disappointment I'm getting from most of the gaming communities I frequent?

Moneyhats? Irrational Bioware hate? A bit of both?

I think there's just groupthink that leads to automatic praise for AAA titles with high production values and a renowned studio. Gaming isn't mature enough for critics to deviate from popular opinion, even if its opinions only held by them and not fans. That and there's probably moneyhats indirectly from reviewers not wanting to piss off the companies that give them early review copies + E3 perks.

 

[shingonation]

So, can someone bridge the massive gap between industry reviews and the overwhelming sense of disappointment I'm getting from most of the gaming communities I frequent?

Moneyhats? Irrational Bioware hate? A bit of both?

It's a great game the 99% of the time, with one of the most disappointing endings ever.

Go to the Spoiler thread, this is the most common opinion.

 

[Lime]

So, can someone bridge the massive gap between industry reviews and the overwhelming sense of disappointment I'm getting from most of the gaming communities I frequent?

Moneyhats? Irrational Bioware hate? A bit of both?

Professional reviewers: Lack of critical thinking and contemplative engagement. If not, moneyhats.

Players: Severe bias, emotional investment in year-long franchise with recurring characters, subjective and tainted expectations of final wrap up.

However, I would like to say that the ending of ME3 is

Spoiler

inarguably bad and goes against everything established prior. Like it was outsourced to an external developer who hadn't played the Mass Effect games ever.

It's so bad that

Spoiler

some fans are trying to rationalize it as being a dream. No joke.

 

[Apophenia Overload]

I wonder if the VentureBeat guy is the latter. Dude makes some good points in addition to the ending critiques.

I remember Mass Effect being a solid spiritual successor to BioWare&#8217;s Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. Mass Effect 2, however, had the advantage of building off the first game&#8217;s strengths, while further expanding the overall universe and Shepard&#8217;s legend. The Seven Samurai approach to gathering a rag-tag team of characters and heading off towards a grand finale unreservedly referred to as the &#8220;suicide mission&#8221; was space drama at its best. The uneasy alliance with Cerberus and the Illusive Man added an extra layer of tension and intrigue to the story, all while the incalculable Reaper threat loomed ever closer.

In Mass Effect 3, all of that mystery is stripped out. Before you&#8217;ve even gained your bearings, the Reaper invasion of Earth is underway. There&#8217;s no build-up (unless you literally just finished Mass Effect 2 five minutes ago), and therefore the big moment rings somewhat hollow when it finally arrives. And then you&#8217;re off, on a mission to rally the different races of the galaxy together for a major push against the seemingly invincible Reaper forces.

At any point you could fly the Normandy through the plot holes in Mass Effect 3&#8217;s story. How can any race spare even a single ship when their homeworld is being systematically obliterated just as Earth is? Why does Commander Shepard still have to jump through hoops to get people to help save the galaxy? This is how every conversation should play out in Mass Effect 3: &#8220;I need your help to stop every organic life-form in the galaxy from becoming extinct. Grab your shit and let&#8217;s go.&#8221; And this is how conversations actually play out: &#8220;Sorry Shepard, but we have troubles of our own. If you go down to this remote planet and check on a single fucking scientist to make sure he&#8217;s okay, we may consider helping you with your thing.&#8221;

A huge part of what made Mass Effect 2 so great was all the different characters, and while they will make predictable cameos in the third game (assuming they didn&#8217;t die before), the playable cast was cut in half. On top of that, one of your characters spends the majority of the game in a hospital bed, and another slot is assigned to James Vega, a moronic meatbag voiced ineptly by Freddie Prinze, Jr. I&#8217;m not sure why BioWare games always need to stick you with the most vanilla character from the onset (Kaidan, Jacob, Vega, Alistar), or why they would waste another slot on such a boring character when there are far more captivating alien races to choose from&#8211;many of which have not and now never will be playable.

Unlike Gears of War 3, which was too cowardly to kill off anyone in its final moments, Mass Effect 3 plays out like an episode of Game of Thrones. I sadly found very little attachment to characters I held on to for dear life in Mass Effect 2. Knowing that this was the conclusion of the trilogy and their survival was ultimately meaningless (especially given the fruitless endings, and the fact they weren&#8217;t playable), the supporting cast easily became expendable.

Finally, as you may have heard from the thousands of angry Redditors, forumgoers, BioWare community members, and Metacritic user reviews, Mass Effect 3&#8217;s ending is a major letdown. Like in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, you&#8217;re given a &#8220;what&#8217;s behind door number X&#8221; multiple choice, but all three endings use the same cookie cutter template. All your actions as a Renegade or a Paragon, all your sacrifices, all of the story, thrown out the window in a matter of minutes. The fate of the Normandy and its crew is left vague, providing no closure whatsoever. Basically, this game is the Terminator 3 of the Mass Effect series.

Obviously you can disagree with some of his points like dismissing James as a meathead, but he's spitting some truths in a critical field of Mass Effect: Deception. He even points out technical issues besides Tali is a stock photo. He almost sounds like one of the unhappy fans posting in the forums. Funny how he's writing in a games section for a non-gamescentric publication, instead of for a major gaming outlet.

 

[Derrick01]

Obviously you can disagree with some of his points like dismissing James as a meathead,

I don't think anyone could dispute that. Guy is a fucking roided up douchebag meathead through and through and I would trade him for any of the ME2 characters in an instant even though I hated most of them too.

The reviewer didn't say anything really incorrect though. I asked myself several times "why are you fuckers fighting over petty bullshit that happened 300 years ago NOW? You're all going to die if you keep this up". It just didn't seem like something that intelligent beings would be doing faced with the threat of extinction.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Professional reviewers: Lack of critical thinking and contemplative engagement. If not, moneyhats.

Players: Severe bias, emotional investment in year-long franchise with recurring characters, subjective and tainted expectations of final wrap up.

However, I would like to say that the ending of ME3 is

Spoiler

inarguably bad and goes against everything established prior. Like it was outsourced to an external developer who hadn't played the Mass Effect games ever.

It's so bad that

Spoiler

some fans are trying to rationalize it as being a dream. No joke.

It's not that Professional reviewers lack that, it's just there are so very few of them still left. There were good qualified reviewers that knew their shit, but they dwindled to nothing.
Most people that get paid to make a review are hacks that are as qualified to review the games as a random racist squeaky voiced 11 year old on Xbox Live.

I didn't even bother reading any of the reviews because I know they won't mention jack shit other than token overviews of the game.
Did any review mention that the game had better enemy A.I. that makes you move out of cover moire or the game was severely shorter than the other games or it completely removed multiple towns. Or how the few sidequest that were in this game were just arena gantlet style survival modes.

I think Giantbomb was the only site to even mention the godawful ending.