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Mass Effect |OT| Alien love in an elevator

T

Thunderbear

Mawio Gawaxy iz da Wheeson hee pways games
Am I the only one who thinks humans are a bit assholey in this game jumping to conclusions left to right before gathering the proper proof, then accusing people when they don't just accept their assumptions.

Anyway, gorgeous game. The facial customization system is a bit weak and hair styles are horrible I have to say but I like the game's style. Usually I am all for some film grain effects but they were just a bit too strong so I'm enjoying playing the game more with them turned off.

Having fun so far!
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
dammitmattt said:
How far are you along in your 2nd playthrough???
Click to expand...

It takes 3 runs to get to 60; two fullish runs (doing most of the sidequests) and half a so-so one (you can stick mostly to storyline planets only). I'm about 2/5 through my third run. As of 4am EST, I'm 20k away from 60. Hooray!

Also, I'm playing on Insanity, and I had to make some adjustments, because the enemy weapons do pack more punch.

Note: My estimations on the number of runs is based on having a 15% XP bonus. If you don't get Completionist and Power Gamer in your first run, then it might take much longer.
 
L

Lostconfused

Member
Phthisis said:
After playing through a second time, some interesting story points that caught my ear on Noveria:

The rachni queen says that during the rachni wars, the rachni singing was silenced and they race was put under some sort of obedience to a single voice. Seems pretty obvious that this is a reference to Sovereign or another Reaper, which makes sense since the Reapers were locked out of the Citadel because of the Prothean alteration of the Keepers. So it would seem that Sovereign tried to wipe out organic life via the rachni when he realized that he couldn't open the relay to dark space.
Click to expand...


Well let me pat you on the back for a great find. Sounds extremely likely. Now with that being said, next game damn it, announce it bioware.
 
Z

Zen

Banned
Nice find indeed.

I know the sequel will be a ways away, so I'm fine with that, but has Bioware given us a timeframe on when the DLC will be out? The DLC better also let you just do 'after game' stuff, like actually use your character to complete missions you never got around to, and are unable to complete with that save file, having beaten the game.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
That IGN dancing video was pretty funny. Does anyone have any videos of just some of the dancing part of Mass Effect without any of the IGN skit stuff? If I google "mass effect dancing" or something like that I only get lap dancing videos. I want night club dancing videos. They're so ridiculous.
 
F

Francias Castiglione

Banned
Sallokin said:
Just got the art book and the strat guide. The art book is phenomenal. I yearn for more Mass Effect merch. I've already got the album and all the other limited stuff. Come on Bioware/EA rape my wallet.
Click to expand...

How about an Onyx armor N7 shirt?

product_me_tshirt_02_680x510.jpg


http://store.bioware.com/products/mass_effect/tshirt.html
 
S

Solo

Member
Ok, so I finally got the time to delve into Mass Effect last night for the first time. I am playing as a custom Shepard, and I am Earthborn, a Sole Survivor, and a Vanguard. I just reached the Citadel.

First impressions:
- holy moly, this game has the most incredible and detailed character models I've ever seen, and the animation is pretty swell as well. I am very impressed - this is one of the few games in which the final product matches the early, doctored screenshots.
- the locales and environments themselves are also eye-poppingly gorgeous. The way HDR and other effects are used is amazing. Aesthetically, it really is the real KotOR 2, in pretty much every way. Its basically what a next-gen KotOR would have looked like. Framerate hitches and tearing haven't even been noticeable, although texture pop-in is unmissable.
- jesus titty fucking christ awesome music. Most memorable score in a game in ages. Very Vangelis-like, as if Blade Runner had an alternate score that was never used.
- love the gameplay, which was the thing I was most worried about. I for one prefer how Mass Effect is like 10% RPG and 90% third person tactical shooter, as it worked out beautifully, and its actually a blast to play.
- incredibly improved direction of the cutscenes and dialogue scenes over previous games. Its like watching a big, cheesey, epic space saga, and I love it. Playing without subtitles is the only way to go. Some great VA talent in there too.
- really surprised and impressed at the depth of the menu systems, and the codex in particular, which was an unexpected treat.
- the only thing not blowing me away at this point is the story, in fact. Then again, Ive not progressed far, and Ive spent a lot of time simple drooling over the environments. Before shutting it off for the night, I spent several minutes just watching the planes zoom by overhead in the citadel :lol

So far, its better than the hype. Kudos, Bioware!
 
J

JayDubya

Banned
Done every side quest there is so far (haven't finished one: need two Prothean Discs), just picked up Liara. Alright, so Feros or Noveria first? Thinking since Mrs. Blue is on Noveria, Feros first.

Also, I was wanting that "uses a certain squad member a lot" achievement. There are 6 of these, obviously. Any clues on how this works? Is it just total time played with these folks, how many times you pick them when leaving Normandy, or how many story missions you bring them on (do side ones count)...? All that jazz.

The second question is relevant to the first one, because I'm trying to decide if I want to bring Lil' Miss Blue to see Mrs. Blue. Probably be more interesting plot and dialogue-wise, but I generally want to bring Ashley to these things so I can get the achievement.
 
M

Mark D

Member
JayDubya said:
Alright, so Feros or Noveria first? Thinking since Mrs. Blue is on Noveria, Feros first.

Also, I was wanting that "uses a certain squad member a lot" achievement. There are 6 of these, obviously. Any clues on how this works? Is it just total time played with these folks, how many times you pick them when leaving Normandy, or how many story missions you bring them on (do side ones count)...? All that jazz.

The second question is relevant to the first one, because I'm trying to decide if I want to bring Lil' Miss Blue to see Mrs. Blue.
Click to expand...

Definitely do Feros first.

As for that achievement, well, I wish you the best of luck sir. Apparently you need to complete 95% of the entire game with whatever squad members you want to get the achievement for. My friend has done every sidequest in the game with Liara and Garrus except for 6 of them and still hasn't gotten the achievements. It can be pretty maddening I hear.
 
J

JayDubya

Banned
Mark D said:
Definitely do Feros first.

As for that achievement, well, I wish you the best of luck sir. Apparently you need to complete 95% of the entire game with whatever squad members you want to get the achievement for. My friend has done every sidequest in the game with Liara and Garrus except for 6 of them and still hasn't gotten the achievements. It can be pretty maddening I hear.
Click to expand...

D'oh!

:(

Then it's impossible.

I never like to use any one squadmate that much. I rotate them around as needed. Also, I'll pick up the Ashley one on a different playthrough (when I'm not a Soldier myself); there's just no reason to bring her 95% of the time. Some of the time, yes, I'd rather have another combat specialist over a biotic, but I always bring Garrus, Tali, or Kaiden to unlock stuff. I was quite happy to have Tali and Ashley as my rescue team when going after Liara. Tali was invaluable, and Ashley is just damn survivable; Wrex can be nearly as good if you skip out on his biotics, which I didn't.

Well, something to note for future playthroughs, then. Perhaps I'll deliberately NOT pick up, say, Wrex. It looks like you can refuse Wrex, refuse Garrus, and maybe even Tali / Liara, but I doubt you can refuse them all.

* * *

Edit: It's 75%, the same number of side-quests for Completionist.

http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=598842&forum=124

In theory, it should be easiest to acquire for Kaiden and Ashley because you do all the subquests and story quests on Eden Prime with them present. Too late for me though, as I pretty much only had Ashley for a meager amount of time since the Citadel.

It should be hardest for Tali (end of Citadel) and Liara (end of 1 of 3 post-Citadel plot quests).

Well, you only get Garrus / Wrex JUST before you get Tali.

So really, one key is just to plow through the Citadel w/o touching the sidequests, until you have the party members you're trying to unlock "____ Ally" for.

* * *

I kind of hate this sort of Achievement because I like playing with just the right mix for each mission.

The most effective groupings I've found (playing as Soldier) have been:

Wrex & Garrus: Combat heavy but cover all the basics in biotics and tech.

Ashley & Garrus: Sniper team; no biotics, but biotics don't work at long range anyway.

Tali & Liara: Well-rounded group of specialists. All kinds of crazy explosions going off constantly and bad guys flying around. ^_^ This is kind of my ideal party, yeah. I fight and my squad mates handle the "magic," only pausing when I really need a specific skill used in a specific way at a specific time.

Ashley & Kaiden: Kaiden handles all the tech and biotic demands solo, combining Barrier and Electronics to be ridiculous in terms of shielding. Ashley has a lot of Defensive abilities, too, so this team lasts and lasts. The only way to get a team that is more survivable would be to substitute Kaiden for Wrex, but then you couldn't unlock things.
 
E

ElyrionX

Member
Sinatar said:
Pick one and stick with it. Raising both is a COMPLETE waste of points.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Maxing two is great for a true roleplayer because it really lets you respond the way you would want in all situations. For example, if I meet a really annoying character, I would prefer to use the Intimidate option instead of the Charm option and if I had only raised my Charm talent I wouldn't have that option. Now that I'm pretty high level and already have the Spectre weapons, I think I'm going to begin raising my Intimidate score.
 
D

Darkflight

Member
Is this list of achievement bonuses accurate?
http://forums.advancedmn.com/showthread.php?t=23554

If that's true you can make a true super Shepard. A heavy armor wearing, assault rifle wielding, adept engineer? The galaxy trembles.
Click to expand...

Yes, though apparently you can only choose one of the new skill unlocks on a new character, so you couldn't have an adept with electronics and sniper rifles, just one of the unlocks.

The XP bonuses/damage bonuses etc. should all stack.
 
F

Future PhaZe

Member
Mark D said:
Wow, the gaps between levels become enormous as you get higher. I'm a level 58 right now and it's about 100,000 experience to get to level 59. This is gonna take some time...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought I could just go ahead and do a NEW GAME + and get to level 60 pretty quickly with my lvl 48 Vanguard. Its looking like this might take longer than I thought :(
 
S

soco

Member
i found an interesting visual bug last night.
on the moon in the system that appears when you've cleared out the 4 geth outposts in that one area
the giant blue sun will disappear entirely if you try to run.
 
S

SeaOfMadness

Member
Uncle said:
Is this list of achievement bonuses accurate?
http://forums.advancedmn.com/showthread.php?t=23554

If that's true you can make a true super Shepard. A heavy armor wearing, assault rifle wielding, adept engineer? The galaxy trembles.
Click to expand...

can you get the talent achievments by using them with a squad mate? or does your character have to use them? my shepard doesn't have ai hacking for example, but tali (i think) does. if i use her talent 75 times, do i get the achievement?
 
D

Darkflight

Member
SeaOfMadness said:
can you get the talent achievments by using them with a squad mate? or does your character have to use them? my shepard doesn't have ai hacking for example, but tali (i think) does. if i use her talent 75 times, do i get the achievement?
Click to expand...

There was a dev post confirming the power has to hit, I.E you can't use it 75 times on a wall, but I don't know if you can use a team-mates power, I'd assume not.
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
I'm hoping Bioware patches the majority achievements soon. It should be something like 75% or better yet 51% imo.

I've gotten a few of the biotic achievements by just using them on objects like boxes and stuff.
 
M

Mrbob

Member
SeaOfMadness said:
can you get the talent achievments by using them with a squad mate? or does your character have to use them? my shepard doesn't have ai hacking for example, but tali (i think) does. if i use her talent 75 times, do i get the achievement?
Click to expand...

I do not believe so.

You have to have the talent yourself.

Like Crackdown, I wish there was a menu screen which tracked all this data.

There was a dev post confirming the power has to hit, I.E you can't use it 75 times on a wall, but I don't know if you can use a team-mates power, I'd assume not.
Click to expand...

So you can with the AI teammate? Would be nice to get an official word.

I'll give it a shot though. I'm running with Kaiden on my second playthrough, love seeing him with his maxxed out lift command throwing people around like ragdolls!
 
D

Darkflight

Member
Here we go:

From one of the designers:

A power has to be cast by Sheppard (not henchmen) and has to be "successful" to count towards the achievement. This was an attempt to prevent spamming, but in practice it only worked properly on some powers.

If the power is a direct attack (Throw, Singularity, Warp, Neural Shock, or AI Hacking) then you have to hit SOMETHING with it for it to count towards the achievement. It doesn't work on friendly targets or dead bodies. For the physics powers mobile objects like crates will count, but for Neural Shock or AI Hacking you've got to hit an organic/machine enemy.

Since Barrier "hits" you, spamming it does work. First Aid also hits you, but there is a system in place that disables First Aid when nobody in the party is wounded or toxic (although that was added separately to prevent wasted Omni-gel)

The tech mine powers (Overload, Sabotage, Damping) can also be spammed, since they'll successfully spawn a mine each time they're cast, even if there's no enemy nearby to trigger the mine.
Click to expand...
 
Z

zombi

Member
Well I beat it last night, pretty cool ending, but after reading some other endings Im playing through it again trying to get different ones. Took me about 16 hours or so, I didnt feel like I was rushing it at all, seemed like I was leisurely making my way through a ton of side quests and everything, I dont know how some of you guys are putting in 40 hour games. Anyway Im making it through on my second playthrough and I was so glad I still had all my gear.
 
A

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
zombi said:
Well I beat it last night, pretty cool ending, but after reading some other endings Im playing through it again trying to get different ones. Took me about 16 hours or so, I didnt feel like I was rushing it at all, seemed like I was leisurely making my way through a ton of side quests and everything, I dont know how some of you guys are putting in 40 hour games. Anyway Im making it through on my second playthrough and I was so glad I still had all my gear.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that there were different endings. Kickass!
 
T

Truelize

Steroid Distributor
Just a quick question regarding how some of the side quests work.

I'm early in the game. I just completed Feros. During my time there I recall someone mentioning a shipment of food going to another planet and it was suggested I go check that out. Now that I am done this sidequest is no longer visible in my journal. I didn't check the journal earlier though, so I'm unsure that is was an actual quest. Did I miss out on a sidequest? Should I have stopped what I was doing and left the planet to go find this shipment? I just want to know for future quests.


Thanks.
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
Yay! Got to level 60 with my character. Man, that took awhile. I'm going to see how fast a brandnew character levels now. I imagine I can get to around level 15 before leaving the first planet. :lol

Also, the Ally achievements are really, really broken. I tried to do them with Garrus and Kaidan, and it's impossible to do it with two characters when one of them is one of the starting squadmates (Kaidan or Ashley). Once you hit the 75% mark, the game only seems to check at that one point who has met the requirements for the Ally achievements. And so, since you've had Kaidan and Ashley since the first planet, they will always have a headstart above the others. I literally skipped every sidequest in the citadel and picked up Garrus first, so he is only behind Kaidan by one quest or so. However, I just got the Kaidan ally achievement, but the Garrus one is nowhere to be found. =/

Edit: Also, I can vouch that 50 is the magical number of quests that needs to be completed.
 
T

Truelize

Steroid Distributor
So I have to play the entire game with the same teammates to get those achievements? Dang I love switching guys up.


Maybe I'll just play with Kaiden and then switch up the other spot.
 
C

cluto

Member
I got the Soldier Ally and the Quarian Ally achievements on my first playthrough. I don't really know how I did it since everyone seems to be talking about how impossible it is, but I know that I got the Soldier Ally achievement after the second or third story planet, and I got the Quarian Ally achievement after I completed the entire game. Perhaps I got both because I did literally every side quest with both of them, minus the
Wrex and Garrus
side quests, so I switched Ashley out for either of them. I think I might have had Garrus as one of my squadmates for a little while before I switched him out for Tali. Guess I just got lucky or something.
 
M

MaizeRage25

Member
I've been using Wrex ever since I got him so I'm hoping I'll get the Krogan achievement. Other than that, I'm not too worried about getting them.

They just threw those achievements in there to get gamers to play through the game multiple times (along with the level 60 achievement, although people would probably try to get that anyway as it's the level cap).
 
P

PepsimanVsJoe

Member
I don't mind playing through this game multiple times(already did so three times, working on my fourth and fifth right now) as the length is perfect for it. Beating the main game takes maybe 5 or 6 hours at the most and even with covering most if not all of the quests I'd say about 30ish.

If all RPGs were this long I'd probably be playing more of them. *shrug*
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
MaizeRage25 said:
They just threw those achievements in there to get gamers to play through the game multiple times (along with the level 60 achievement, although people would probably try to get that anyway as it's the level cap).
Click to expand...

There are in-game benefits to doing them, though. I wouldn't bother if it wasn't for that.
 
E

Edag Plata

Banned
I WANT to love this game. I'm trying SO hard to love this game, and I do to a point, but the technical flaws, glitches, and such with the game are so frustrating. It just rips you right out of the experience. This game soooo should have been delayed.

Also, after Uncharted, the gunplay is just really weak. But it really is the technical problems that are frustrating, buttons not working, hiccups and freezing which throws you off so bad you end up killed and having to load and watch a cutscene for the 14th time.

I really hope I'm not the only one who is having a really hard time dealing with all these problems.
 
B

Belgorim

Member
Edag Plata said:
But it really is the technical problems that are frustrating, buttons not working, hiccups and freezing which throws you off so bad you end up killed and having to load and watch a cutscene for the 14th time.
Click to expand...
I didnt encounter any of these problems during actual gameplay... my technical issues was pretty much all during cut-scences. No hiccups, broken buttons or freezing during any combat.
 
I

Imperial Hot

Banned
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW

What an amazing ending! This game is definitely my GOTY. Not one game this year has matched this games scale, story, graphics, or gameplay ever! I know that is saying a lot, but too me this game was just fucking amazing.

GOTY CONFIRMED!
 
M

MirageDwarf

Member
Finally finished ME last night. WOW! What an ending! Simply AWESOME. Man, art direction of
Ilos
is simply terrific. That the the best looking level as compared to others.

I really walked away satisfied for all the answers I was given at the end. I wish Halo 3 had answered all questions like ME does.

One problem is that game just ended when I finished main storyline. What the hell? I was not doing any sidequests which I was planning to do after main quest. If game supports non-linear quests it must not end like this.

Interactive cut-scenes and main story are my most favorite things in ME.

ME would have been really smooth experience if 360 had hard disk or any high-def optical drive as default. I think we will see more problems like this in future. Lack of guaranteed hdd will definitely limit future epic games on 360.
 
U

Uncle

Member
Man, I almost shat my pants in one of those derelict freighters. Playing in a dark apartment at night with headphones on. First nothing and then
BOOM husks shireking and exploding everywhere
. Very Aliens.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
For the Ally achievement, I can confirm that you have to finish about 3 of the planets and do a majority of the available sidequests. I picked up Sentinel before Krogan for obvious reasons, but eventually both unlocked.

At this point, I've done every side quest except Geth Incursion and I haven't been to Virmire yet.

Also, too bad about some of the "use" achievements. You're going to have to replay the same section of the game over and over again, unless you end up using the same character more than once.
 
C

chase

Member
Just started but this is an amazing game. Easily GOTY so far though I haven't yet played Mario. Lots of polishing issues and I'd like more of the powers to be passive; the menus and squadplay needs some work (see GRAW series or even Full Spectrum Warrior) but besides those things the game is a brilliant experience. I even like driving over the "empty" planets.

I really hope the game is much, much longer than PepsimanvsJoe has indicated a few posts before this one. If it's 30 hours while doing all the sidequests then I'm about halfway through even though I feel like I just started. I've only done one "main quest" mission (on Feros) so the idea that I might be, at 12 hours, nearly halfway through is very disheartening and difficult to believe. Say it ain't so, GAF!
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Well, if you're an achievement person, you need to play the game like 6 times to get them all... so, 6x20 = 120 hours... yeah...
 
F

Feint331

Member
firehawk12 said:
20-30 hours if you do all the quests, including the random exploration/collection quests on each planet.
Click to expand...

you don't need to do the collecting quests. theres only like 4-5 of them and there are about 55-60 sidequests. collecting quests are just mind numbing boring, just do every side quest(except collecting ones) and you should hit the ally achievement after virmire. i got wrex/garrus at the same time and i did a few side quests but did about 50-60 quests with them total.
 
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