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Mass Effect |OT| Alien love in an elevator

Zeke

Member
I just picked Mass Effect up earlier this week good game so far. I really hate that the game hangs for second or two in some parts so annoying. I've also noticed quite a bit of screen tearing. I've been thinking of installing it on the HDD to see if it helps. Right now I'm at the part where you have to
kill Matriarch Benezia and its such a pain in the ass. The first part is a breeze but that second part is killing me. I have like no time to kill her AND defend myself from the commandos.
I wasted about an hour maybe a little more trying to get past this part and I'm still not past it. Having to go thro all that dialogue every time you die gets really old really fast. Also anyone have any strategies for getting credits? I think I have something like 18 or 19 thousand which still isn't enough to buy new weapons or armor.
 

golem

Member
Zeke said:
I just picked Mass Effect up earlier this week good game so far. I really hate that the game hangs for second or two in some parts so annoying. I've also noticed quite a bit of screen tearing. I've been thinking of installing it on the HDD to see if it helps. Right now I'm at the part where you have to
kill Matriarch Benezia and its such a pain in the ass. The first part is a breeze but that second part is killing me. I have like no time to kill her AND defend myself from the commandos.
I wasted about an hour maybe a little more trying to get past this part and I'm still not past it. Having to go thro all that dialogue every time you die gets really old really fast. Also anyone have any strategies for getting credits? I think I have something like 18 or 19 thousand which still isn't enough to buy new weapons or armor.
tackling that planet without too many levels is tough. just try running around and see if you can bottleneck the enemies and get out of her line of sight.
 

masterkajo

Member
There should be spot where she can't reach you with her biotic powers. It is right behind the glass with the big Alien Queen. Just try to stay there until you defeated almost all reinforcements and then you should take her on with every power recharged. Good powers to have would be Damping as it shortly deactivates biotic powers of the target as well as stuns it (if it is leveled up high enough). I also really like Neural Shock (from the medicine talent tree) which also helps against biotics, however it becomes fairly useless later on as it almost doesn't do any significant damage. But it stills knocks the target down for like 3-5 seconds which helps when she is trying to cast some biotics at you!

Also, you might consider using anti biotic armor upgrades so you won as easliy get knocked down or "stasised" for too long. Also, I'd say that this is one of the harder fights if you haven't leveled up enough. It is possible, but you might consider doing another main planet quest before this if it is not working out for you.
 

Chinner

Banned
Doodis said:
This game ruined my experience with 2008's game of the year. I just rented Fallout 3 and I honestly don't understand the fuss everyone has made over it. Mass Effect's combat, visuals, cinematics, etc. blow Fallout 3 out of the water (in my humble opinion).

I must be crazy for thinking this since everyone is gaga over Fallout 3, but I just could not get into it. Please bring on Mass Effect 2 this year!
What do you expect? Mass Effect is GOTG.
 

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
I'm pretty LTTP, but as far as I'm concerned, the party has only started :D

I jumped in to Mass Effect after all the non stop hype about it since it came out, and I have to say, it totally lived up to it. It satisfied my craving for a new KOTOR game despite not being KOTOR (although I would still like to see a next gen KOTOR that is not a MMORPG).

I beat Fallout 3 last month too, and it definitely is nowhere near as satisfying as Mass Effect, infact, after beating FO3 I had and still have no intention of replaying it, whereas I'm already ready to take a 2nd go at ME (after beating it in 2 days).

The only disappointing part about the game was that I couldn't sleep with both Ashley and Liara ;) (damn them for forcing me to choose)
 

Poolman

Banned
I actually just bought this off Steam last weekend.
So fucking awesome.

LTTP Spoilers:
I needlessly slaughtered every poor guard on the way in, but I just couldn't bring myself to dirty my hands with the Rachni's extinction. It was easy for me to blow up Megaton in Fallout 3, in fact I did it with a smile, but I just could not kill this big ugly bug who talks through near-death bodies.
 

Troidal

Member
You can't imagine how many times I've sacrificed lives in order to save the universe get the Renegade achievement! :lol

I have to say, with Adept as your main guy, with two allies being also an Adept or a Sentinel is just pure badass. Sure there are not much variety in weapons since you'd be restricted to pistols, but you rely on your Biotic abilities and 'pause' during battles a lot more often to strategize what to use, who to attack, etc. On normal difficulty, I'm a bit overpowered and leveled up much faster this time for some reason.

I only need to take care of the last two planets and that should complete my second playthrough :)
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Hey, so is the DLC for this game worth the money? Is it more than just a barren world with a couple settlements like the uncharted worlds? Is its plot at all interesting?

Tell me, tell me, I'm itching for some more Mass Effect.
 
I played through the game to completion on the 360 about a year ago and loved it and it was the first RPG I actually could stomach to completion. Playing it now on my PC and by God is it so much sweeter. Getting rid of the terrible pop in, tearing and framerate are massive bonueses on top of the much improved interface and make the game well worth an extra play through.

Anyone who has access to both versions, really owe to themselves to pick up the PC version, its like a complete new game almost.
 

otake

Doesn't know that "You" is used in both the singular and plural
So I purchased mass effect for PC from Steam. I have to say, this game does not look great. Doesn't even support my monitors native resolution. The inventory system is really confusing and the character customization is kind of meh. However; the combat, story and universe are very intriguing. I really don't want to leave. So the core things are great but they really should ditch UE3 for mass effect 2.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
otake said:
So I purchased mass effect for PC from Steam. I have to say, this game does not look great. Doesn't even support my monitors native resolution. The inventory system is really confusing and the character customization is kind of meh. However; the combat, story and universe are very intriguing. I really don't want to leave. So the core things are great but they really should ditch UE3 for mass effect 2.

What monitor do you have? Some 17" widescreen???
 

Troidal

Member
Finished the 2nd playthrough. Way overpowered, I think I should have played it on a harder difficulty. I am pretty sure I had over 75% renegade points by the end but it didn't give me the achievement. Oh well, fuck it.

I didn't like how even choosing the 'bad' dialogs still yielded almost similar outcomes in most cases. Even the dialog that follows after the choices were not that much different so it was kinda disappointing. I ended up pressing X button a lot to just skip the conversations pretty much and went straight to the action.

It was awesome the first time, and enjoyed screwing around with my second game but I think this is about it for me. Enjoyed it very much....now for Mass Effect 2!!!
 
nubbe said:
Mass Effect manages to top Fallout 3 on is character animation, combat abilities and story.
But Fallout 3 is just more fun to play thanks the the world you have to explore. Also, what you do have an effect on things... unlike in Mass Effect.
Well thats the price for better animations, story and other things. It really tops Fallout 3 in all those categories.

But, if BW manages to give me the ability to continue to play my story in ME2, including much better sidequests, this ME vs. FO3 discussion wont be necessary...ever again.

While the decisions havent had that much impact on the outcome, it could have on the sequel. Many questions stayed unanswered, even some "uninteresting" side quest stuff could get exploited further depending on how you played in the first.
 

Uncle

Member
Hellraizer said:
While the decisions havent had that much impact on the outcome, it could have on the sequel. Many questions stayed unanswered, even some "uninteresting" side quest stuff could get exploited further depending on how you played in the first.


I wonder if anyone has checked what kind of data the character saves have (or is that even possible?). That could give a hint as to what decisions, if any, will carry over to the next game. Some stuff would be easier to implement
like whether the rachni make an appearance
while others would need a lot more work to be meaningful
like the whole thing with the council
.
 
Uncle said:
I wonder if anyone has checked what kind of data the character saves have (or is that even possible?). That could give a hint as to what decisions, if any, will carry over to the next game. Some stuff would be easier to implement
like whether the rachni make an appearance
while others would need a lot more work to be meaningful
like the whole thing with the council
.
There is a special save file on your 360, besides your saved games. Its not accessible through the game. That save file saves protected "snapshots" so basically you can reuse any of your characters for 100 more playthroughs, and overwrite all your save games, the snapshots will always stay intact.

There is really no other use for the snapshots other than to use them for ME2...Looks like BW really wants to go for the continuitation of the individual story that everyone of us experienced, I am really curious in how that will turn out in the end.
 

Uncle

Member
Hellraizer said:
There is a special save file on your 360, besides your saved games. Its not accessible through the game. That save file saves protected "snapshots" so basically you can reuse any of your characters for 100 more playthroughs, and overwrite all your save games, the snapshots will always stay intact.


That's the one I meant. Isn't it possible to copy save files and such to a pc? I was just wondering if anyone had tried to peek inside the file.
 
Uncle said:
That's the one I meant. Isn't it possible to copy save files and such to a pc? I was just wondering if anyone had tried to peek inside the file.
Well you can see its contents (or at least the surface) when starting a new game+ and using a existing career. Then you pick those snapshots as a basis for a new playthrough. But the "careers" never get overwritten when playing through again.
 

Uncle

Member
Hellraizer said:
Well you can see its contents (or at least the surface) when starting a new game+ and using a existing career. Then you pick those snapshots as a basis for a new playthrough. But the "careers" never get overwritten when playing through again.


Yeah, but I meant more like
saved the rachni queen y/n, saved the council y/n, Andersson/Udina, gave info to Shadow Broker y/n, killed Wrex y/n etc...
.
 
I finally just beat this game and as the credits rolled I couldn't help but think - Who gives
a shit that there have been no stand out JRPG's and who cares about the next Final
Fantasy when there is a game like this.


I honestly cant remember a more engrossing rpg in my life save maybe chrono cross.

The combat, graphics, voice acting, character designs AND THE MUSIC!
I am just floored at the production values that went into this gem. My only complaint
was the tedious mineral searching and grand canyon planets and of course that it
was over so soon.

I also would never have believed a sex scene in a videogame could have been pulled
off with any emotional weight but I was pretty dang impressed. They did a excellent
job building it up and fit the context of the game perfectly.

Just a incredible ride cant wait for 2.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
uh, have a question guys ..

did i make a mistake by starting in the soldier class ? my shepard can't do jack shit with biotics and electronic and those decryption locks, have to tag that weak ass assassin chick along everywhere .. ..

i've heard that there's a new game plus, will i be able to change classes for it or am i stuck with my grunt ?
 

Uncle

Member
chandoog said:
uh, have a question guys ..

did i make a mistake by starting in the soldier class ? my shepard can't do jack shit with biotics and electronic and those decryption locks, have to tag that weak ass assassin chick along everywhere .. ..

i've heard that there's a new game plus, will i be able to change classes for it or am i stuck with my grunt ?


You can't change class, you'll have to start over. But I don't think soldier is that different from playing engineer or a biotic, if you set the AI to use only the defensive skills and handle all the others yourself. Although it might be a bit easy, since the dude gets nigh indestructible.
 
New Mass Effect PC patch coming

http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=666035&forum=125

Posted: Friday, 30 January 2009 08:09PM
Hello Mass Effect fans

We have been watching the different Mass Effect PC forum communities and gathering your feedback on issues encountered while playing Mass Effect PC. Thank you all for taking the time to provide feedback to help us make Mass Effect PC a better game.

BioWare is pleased to announce there will be a new patch for Mass Effect for the PC coming soon. This patch will be jointly developed by BioWare and Demiurge and will be available for all versions of Mass Effect PC (retail, Steam and other digital distribution sources). When we have more information on the content of the patch or when it will be available, we will let you know.

Please remember if you have any trouble with Mass Effect PC whether for the retail version or any digital distribution program (like Steam or Direct2Drive) Official Support for Mass Effect PC is through EA support. Here is the page with links to all areas for EA support: http://customersupport.ea.com/loginapp/login.do

Bring Down the Sky works with steam ... finally

http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=660745&forum=125

Click Here

This page has been updated with the link to the new-er-ish installer that will work with the Steam version of Mass Effect.

Our apologies for the delays in getting this update to you.

http://masseffect.bioware.com/galacticcodex/bringdownthesky_pc.html
 

scaffa

Member
Just started playing this game and I love it but I encountered a small problem or at least I think its a problem story wise.

After you leave the Citadel I just started to check out some planets and the first one I entered had the following, (only read if you finished the game),

It's that ice planet where Matriarch Benezia is and I already killed her and I'm really still in the beginning, this is the first thing I did in the game. Am I going to miss out on some of the story? It all seemed really odd to me that I found her so fast.. stupid me and my exploring urges. Because after this I got some dialogue and it didn't make a lot of sense to me..

After this I did that mission where you have to save that alien lady at the digging site and they still mentioned Benezia like nothing even happened to her.
 

Uncle

Member
Zotty said:
Just started playing this game and I love it but I encountered a small problem or at least I think its a problem story wise.

After you leave the Citadel I just started to check out some planets and the first one I entered had the following, (only read if you finished the game),

It's that ice planet where Matriarch Benezia is and I already killed her and I'm really still in the beginning, this is the first thing I did in the game. Am I going to miss out on some of the story? It all seemed really odd to me that I found her so fast.. stupid me and my exploring urges. Because after this I got some dialogue and it didn't make a lot of sense to me..

After this I did that mission where you have to save that alien lady at the digging site and they still mentioned Benezia like nothing even happened to her.


You didn't miss anything. Well the asari ally achievement, maybe. :p The first three story planets can be done in any order. You only get some additional dialogue if you
take Liara with you when you face Benezia, or if you save Liara last
.
 

A Human Becoming

More than a Member
Started playing Mass Effect and I'm disappointed for one reason. I started the game on normal and eventually hit snags where I would face enemies who could kill me or my partners in one hit. It would take several tries before I could beat them. It got frustrating so I switched the difficulty to casual. The difference between the two in is HUGE. I like what this game has to offer, but if I have to either play on a difficulty that is trial and error for me or one that is a complete cake walk, I'm not sure I want to continue.
 

nubbe

Member
ICallItFutile said:
Started playing Mass Effect and I'm disappointed for one reason. I started the game on normal and eventually hit snags where I would face enemies who could kill me or my partners in one hit. It would take several tries before I could beat them. It got frustrating so I switched the difficulty to casual. The difference between the two in is HUGE. I like what this game has to offer, but if I have to either play on a difficulty that is trial and error for me or one that is a complete cake walk, I'm not sure I want to continue.

Pro tip,
Don't try to beat the game on insane difficulty as an engineer. It is awesomely hard.
 

BobsRevenge

I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
I picked this game for $20 off steam.

To be honest I really like it a lot, but it can be soooo frustrating. Too many one-hit kills involved, and the AI can be dumb as fuck.
 

A Human Becoming

More than a Member
I wouldn't find playing on casual so much if it was actually fun. I went from having to carefully plan my strategy for each encounter, using the right skills and cover efficiently to being able to just stand in one spot, shooting at enemies without using skills and never seeing my health go down.

The gist is, I can't decide whether to keep playing because my two choices are to either play it easy and boring or satisfying but frustrating.
 

otake

Doesn't know that "You" is used in both the singular and plural
I fixed my resolution issue by updating gpu drivers. Loving the game now. Really opens up when you get your ship. :D

that said, I'm worried I specd my guy wrong. I picked the sniper class :(
 

Ventrue

Member
Uncle said:
You only get some additional dialogue if you
take Liara with you when you face Benezia, or if you save Liara last
.

Oh, the latter one was hilarious, when
Liara thinks she's hallucinating because she's been down there so long.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
otake said:
that said, I'm worried I specd my guy wrong. I picked the sniper class :(

Don’t worry. Sniper rifles might be far slower shooting, but with the right upgrades you’ll end up with a weapon that near 1-hit-kills everything (bar bosses) in the game.

Pistol + Sniper first play-through and by the end there was nothing I couldn’t take with ease.
 

yoopoo

Banned
On my 2nd play though...I'm at the part where you have to talk to Wrex on Virmire.

Any way to save him?

122149-1-1.jpg
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
yoopoo said:
On my 2nd play though...I'm at the part where you have to talk to Wrex on Virmire.

Any way to save him?

122149-1-1.jpg

Uh yeah. One of the best and most awesome parts of the game, too.
 

yoopoo

Banned
I did talk to him, had a long conversation about his species' history...ah well maybe I'll get it on the next play through.
 

AkuMifune

Banned
yoopoo said:
I did talk to him, had a long conversation about his species' history...ah well maybe I'll get it on the next play through.

My Shepard was a xenophobe that hated aliens, killed Wrex and stuck with Ashley. Humans FTW! :lol

I'll have to try and save his ass next playthrough though. IIRC you need to have a high enough charm or intimidation at that point to change the outcome.
 
Anyone who doesn't appreciate Wrex's awesomeness should be banned from playing the game. He's just badass.

Truth. Once I figured
out I could save him and didn't
I was actually devastated. Easily one of the best characters in the game.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
AkuMifune said:
My Shepard was a xenophobe that hated aliens, killed Wrex and stuck with Ashley. Humans FTW! :lol

I'll have to try and save his ass next playthrough though. IIRC you need to have a high enough charm or intimidation at that point to change the outcome.

You can do it without either of those two.

If you talk to Wrex enough, he'll give you a quest
To find his family armor
. With that, IIRC, you can talk him down.
 

blanky

Member
I bought Mass Effect this week after all the hype from Mass Effect 2 and I'm really loving it. However I think I borked my future with Liara
She told about their way of intercourse and then said due to saren 'we' should wait a while before doing anything rash ;p, so i thought sure ill wait ;p was that stupid?
I'm pretty happy so far and looking forward to ME2 so many things are done beautifully in this game I hope they'll perfect it in ME2.
 

Lime

Member
blanky said:
I bought Mass Effect this week after all the hype from Mass Effect 2 and I'm really loving it. However I think I borked my future with Liara
She told about their way of intercourse and then said due to saren 'we' should wait a while before doing anything rash ;p, so i thought sure ill wait ;p was that stupid?

All come to those who wait. Patience :D
 

Shoogoo

Member
masterkajo said:
Also, you might consider using anti biotic armor upgrades so you won as easliy get knocked down or "stasised" for too long. Also, I'd say that this is one of the harder fights if you haven't leveled up enough. It is possible, but you might consider doing another main planet quest before this if it is not working out for you.

Oh so the enemies don't adapt to your level? Cool. I had issues with that Benezia fight too.
 

Shoogoo

Member
How hard is Veteran, Hardcore and Insane? I feel like doing those achievements lately but I found the game to be tough on normal already. I guess I didn't really understand all the mechanics. Plus I was playing from time to time and it was like I had to rediscover the game every time.

I want to love this game!
 

Samara

Member
Veteran is tolerable, but won't get you any achievement (if that's what you're looking for). Insanity was (...) let's just say I died with every sniper rifle hit. Just do Hardcore instead of Veteran, it's much better.
Best to play those difficulties with a level 50-60 since Shepard of course, since the all the enemies have shields.
 
Insane is something to go for with New Game+, where you have leveled up enough, but if you are experienced enough, and have a high enough level, even Insane is not really that frightening.
 
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