BioWare: Mass Effect 3 Is the Best Game We've Ever Made

[Bebus]

I have high hopes.

I really hope the DA2 reception gave Bioware a huge kick up the arse; the fact that they have delayed the release date gives me confidence that they are not going to release another rush job.

But to be honest, Mass Effect has a wonderful pedigree. The first game had an amazing story, the second had amazing everything else. Make 3 an amazing, overblown Space Opera with dramatic music and emotional reunions with old characters, keep most of the gameplay from 2 and they really can't go far wrong.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Though I must ask, with no insult intended, that if there is confusion with the "I dont like it/its bad" group, is it so impossible for there to be "I love it/its good" conrfusion?

Absolutely, it happens all the time. That's why I say 'I like it', not a dogmatic 'It's good so there'.

In my opinion it has big flaws, but does too many things right and well to be considered a 'bad' game.

 

[Yureina]

Surpass Baldur's Gate 2? Seriously?

Good luck Bioware... I mean it.

 

[Clonekiller]

The hype is killing me. Still, if it is as good as it appears it might be, it will probably be one of the best BioWare games ever.

 

[otakon17]

Regardless of hype, I want this game so much I may just maintain the fetal position until it comes out.

Not sure if it can be their best ever game, but we'll see, we'll see

Seriously, what they said.

 

[Zeraki]

I couldn't care less about the hype, I'm getting the game regardless. Both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are a couple of my all time favorite games, and what little I've let myself see of Mass Effect 3 it looks like it'll be just as good. I do wish the BioWare marketing guys would shut up though, let the game speak for itself.

And wouldn't their 'best game ever' be entirely subjective depending on the person playing it? The Mass Effect games may be my favorite BioWare games, but I'm not going to go around claiming that they're the best because that is only my personal preference.

 

[Slidell]

"Mass Effect 3 was the best game that the developer has ever made at its Edmonton office." Except when it comes to running and combat animations right?

 

[Katana314]

NEWS FLASH: Game developer thinks their game is pretty swell!

And I lose a bit more faith in the Escapist's news team.

 

[radioactive lemur]

They should just eliminate the whole classes and upgrading system altogether. All you really need is the Soldier class, as it's the only one that isn't horribly gimped at higher difficulty levels than casual. Options for male and female need to stay though, as well as the impressive story elements. They should be focusing on that rather than making more completely useless RPG number games and biotic powers for classes of Shepard that no one plays.

 

[bootz]

"We've done a lot of research about what people liked about Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and other games too," said Silverman. "What they like about Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Halo, Call of Duty and lots of RPG games, too ... We've looked at all these games to see what's resonating and what's not."


What make those games great is that they have there own niche.
They didn't copy other games. They are difffernt and good.

Making me3 into halo would be tragic. It would lose what made me good in the first place.

 

[Machocruz]

Only with the D&D rule set, or some other tried and tested pen and paper system, will these guys ever make anything as good as BG2, or even Hordes of the Underdark, again. Their homegrown rpg mechanics are paper thin.

 

[Omnific One]

I trust the ME team on this call; the DA team, not so much. Too bad they don't just pull a Bethesda and only do full scale production on one title at a time. Then DA2 could have been amazing.

 

[ImprovizoR]

If this were any other developer, I wouldn't believe this.

What if Valve said it?

They said it about Portal 2, which if you've played Portal 1, is hard to believe.

Honestly, Portal isn't all that great anyway. The only reason people here like it is because Yahtzee likes it. But it's a very simple and quite easy puzzle game. The only thing that makes it somewhat special is the humor. Sure it's an innovative game, but when I played it I felt like there was something missing from the game. And then it hit me - it's missing the challenge. It's way too easy and short.

 

[similar.squirrel]

If this were any other developer, I wouldn't believe this.

What if Valve said it?

They did, about Portal 2.

 

[Josh123914]

"Mass Effect 3 was the best game that the developer has ever made at its Edmonton office." Except when it comes to running and combat animations right?

Yeah, also only fighting aliens that can fit onto a human skeleton Wrex was meant to be like 12 ft tall but then they just made him look like the Krogan equivalent of the HunchBack of Notre Damn most likely to avoid making more animations to get off work early, and Garrus was meant to be taller too but what did they do, the only logical thing - Make his body bigger but keeping his head in the same position, it's like his collar's grown out of control and is about to cave in on him, Not to mention the lack of non humanoids I mean we only talk to what? 2 Elcor in the entire 2nd game and I didn't communicate with a single Hanar throughout the game.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

"The latest installment of the Mass Effect series has taken inspiration from some of the best games of recent years."
So this means even more watered down than before?

 

[bushwhacker2k]

"The Best Game We've Ever Made"

Wow, quite a statement, I'm getting a strong feeling I'm going to end up enjoying it less than other games they've made.

 

[sleekie]

"Marketing Guy Claims his Company's Product is Really Good!"

Do tell. I remember when they didn't need to do this because everything they made stood on its own merits.

 

[The.Bard]

But Bioware "studied" the game and it plays just like gears for me.

Wait wait wait. I cut out the rest of the gobbledygook you two were slapping each other in the face about. You think Gears of War & Mass Effect play the same?

Really? Like... seriously? You're not just... you know, making a bad joke? Besides controlling a bipedal humanoid and having a cover system, could you go into this a bit? I'm genuinely curious, because I don't see it.

Yep. Biotics are useless against armour/shields and most of the game was spend behind a chest high wall popping out and shooting the enemy. Played the same to me.

I'm certainly one for each person having their own opinion, so I will not be so bold as to say "you are wrong," but I will admit that it is impossible for me to disagree with your assessment more strongly than I currently do.

Less than 50% of Mass Effect involves combat. The strength of Mass Effect is in the dialogue, the decision-making, the exploration of grand space vistas, and turning Shepard into whoever you want him/her to be. Do you skip the dialogues, use default Shepard, and beat the game in 8 hrs by skipping everything but combat? That is the only world in which I can see ME2 & Gears having anything in common.

I mean, you might as well say that every FPS ever made is a Doom Clone because it "uses guns." Certainly, the walls in ME2 could have been a tad more organic, but I just fail to see how the use of a cover system (which they were working on for still-in-development-at-the-time ME1 before GoW was released, may I add) turns this into "Gears of War" clone.

As for the combat, I suppose if you play the game in real time the whole way through it could feel like Gears in the sense that you are shooting guns and not strategizing. I won't say it's wrong, but I would say it is completely avoiding everything about Mass Effect's combat that makes it unique. But hey, to each their own. If you just want another Halo shooter, go for it, I guess.

I'm not sure what your claim about Biotics being useless against armour/shields has to do with Gears, though, could you elaborate? That system is more similar to the rock/paper/scissors they used in Jade Empire, and Gears doesn't use anything like it... But if you're trying to say that being a biotic meant you had to shoot a gun because biotics never work, thus forcing you to do the cover-shoot-thing, then I would say you built your character up innefectively somewhere along the line. My adept made it through Insanity mode, and it was purely on the strength of my biotics. As long as you pick the right tools for the right scenarios, the gun is more of a decoration than anything else. For me it was a last ditch weapon for dire moments.

In summary, I think it's only as close to Gears as you play it. If you follow the story and get into the RPG elements of the game, I'm not sure how you could place ME2 & Gears in the same room, let alone the same universe. But that's just me.