E3: Mass Effect 3

[Distorted Stu]

From the trailer alone i can tell its very action oriented so far.

Hopfully we'll get a different trailer showing the deeper stuff we all love ME for.

Also, Omni-blade?

The hell

 

[K_Dub]

I'm just glad to hear that Bioware isn't forgetting the RPG elements. That was one of the main things I was worried about for this game.

 

[Random Argument Man]

So the plot is to bring every races to a gigantic showdown with the big bad baddies..

Where have I seen this before?

Note* Doesn't matter... It was a good game.

 

[The.Bard]

ok... I am going to sound like a hater again... but I mean not to be mean... it's just that when I looked at the trailer, I felt like this is going to change the direction of the game, and I can't help to think that this game is going "mainstream" on us, going for the "popular" choices, even to the point to make the main plot blended with most of the shooter games out there...here are my reactions...

[several completely irrelevant quotes]

Looks as good as any action shooters, but not so much more than that, unlike the ME2 trailer, full of story, and mysteries, I actually feel less excited for this one... if i want guns and blazing to alien invaders, there are plenty other games to choose from, why is ME3 doing this?

Why? Because from Day 1 when ME1 was announced, this was the end game: Full scale war with the Reapers. This is called the natural evolution of that original plot. Did you expect Shepard to spend the majority of this game exploring the galaxy in peace, chasing down thieving space monkeys and shooting space cows in the face?

Take a well made movie plot. Any movie. Let's go with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, since it's in 3, just like ME. You start slow. Everything is idyllic. Meet Frodo Baggins and his perverted uncle Bilbo. They live in happy furry midget land. Unfurl what makes them tick, make us feel comfortable being around them, and as the movies go on, the plot begins to unfurl and antagonists appear.

Do you know what happens in Act III? That's right. The @#*&$ hits the fan. Outside of the 12 endings, what do the last 30-60 minutes of Return of the King look like? Combat, death, explosions, more death, war.

This is what we were promised. The whole game isn't going to be a shooter, they are clearly hiding most of the spoilerish story elements. But the setting of this game is very much summed up in ONE word: LARGE SCALE MOTHER #$(*#($* BLOODY WAR!!!! And if you don't see the glory in the released media, you may go cry in the corner when it's been released while I make love to my copy of Mass Effect 3. Wait, did I just say that? I meant "make out with". I'm saving myself until marriage, after all.

 

[Saviordd1]

I have to laugh at the people who say "show me gameplay and blank or blank then ill believe it" Look for the 30 minute demo, it shows the dialogue, leveling up, combat, and upgrade system all at once, don't ***** until you actually take the HORRIBLE amount of time to go on Google and look it up.

 

[shadowmagus]

I believe this calls for a "Shut up and take my money now"

 

[9of9]

The first gameplay section was already shown at EA's E3 press conference. In it, Shepard is attempting to take down a Reaper base. Cerberus forces try to stop him from making his way to a Reaper silo of sorts, but the plebes don't have the gusto.

This part confuses me. Yes, Cerberus is mad at Shepard for whatever reason, and they want to kill him. But come on Cerberus, time and place. Why are you trying to stop Shepard from taking down a Reaper when the reason you brought him back at the start of ME2 was because you knew how important he was in stopping the Reapers?

Oh well. Hopefully there will be a reasonable explanation in the full game. But right now it seems a bit silly.

There's actually an answer to this in one of the extended gameplay sections - you hear them discuss the Cerberus while they're running around.

Spoiler

The guys they fight are indoctrinated.

 

[Foxblade618]

The first gameplay section was already shown at EA's E3 press conference. In it, Shepard is attempting to take down a Reaper base. Cerberus forces try to stop him from making his way to a Reaper silo of sorts, but the plebes don't have the gusto.

This part confuses me. Yes, Cerberus is mad at Shepard for whatever reason, and they want to kill him. But come on Cerberus, time and place. Why are you trying to stop Shepard from taking down a Reaper when the reason you brought him back at the start of ME2 was because you knew how important he was in stopping the Reapers?

Oh well. Hopefully there will be a reasonable explanation in the full game. But right now it seems a bit silly.

I'm sure they are indoctrinated to high hell for messing around with Reaper tech. Or they are just jerks led by a crazy, possibly cyborg, nutjob and that the reason.

OT: ME3, will, I'm sure, be one of the best games ever. Of course there needs to be a big showdown, the whole series is a big lead up to bringing pain to the Reapers. How one can kill a whole army of virtually invincible super robots...I guess we shall see

 

[bobmus]

Looks like they might've taken some tips from Vanquish in what Space Age fighting can be like. Approve of this, and the omni-blade. Holograms that kill people are cool.

 

[4173]

I'm disappointed that the Reapers' big plan for mass extinction seems to be so direct, combat orientated, messy and above all inelegant.

 

[teebeeohh]

well we already know why Bioware thinks this is the best ME game, they have already sold us the other ones and still have to sell us this one.

for some reason this looks like vanquish to me. pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease be a little like vanquish, i loved that game, despite the fact that i shoot for crap with sticks.

also: do i get a biotic blade for my adapt Shepard?

 

[Worr Monger]

Can't wait for this...

OT: I'm glad they're trying to combine all the elements that worked in both games... but I can't help but worry about this "trying to please everyone" scenario.

I thought ME1 & ME2 were fantastic in their own aspects. The drawbacks of both games weren't big enough for me to dislike them.

There will be a lot of people complaining no matter what they do.

 

[Nimcha]

I'm disappointed that the Reapers' big plan for mass extinction seems to be so direct, combat orientated, messy and above all inelegant.

I think this is more meant as a sort of insult to Shepard and humanity who've been thwarting the Reaper's plans for two games.

I think it's pretty clear by now the Reapers aren't the cold soulless, calculating invincible machines they are trying to make you believe.

 

[loc978]

Well, this did a little to ease my fears... but I still have one huge problem with the trailer.
Jennifer Hale is commander Shepard, and I'll hear no comments to the contrary.

I do like the omni-knife... but they could have made it look just a little less like the Halo energy-sword-thing.

 

[lobster1077]

Ah, doesn't give much away, much like the other mass effect trailers, although that omni-knife looks interesting. Pairing that knife with a vanguard charge could be fun.

 

[Savber]

Still streamlined but still a vast improvement.


ALSO NOTE THAT EACH POWER WILL BRANCH OFF. I don't have the screenshots of the branching power but it's there.

 

[4173]

I'm disappointed that the Reapers' big plan for mass extinction seems to be so direct, combat orientated, messy and above all inelegant.

I think this is more meant as a sort of insult to Shepard and humanity who've been thwarting the Reaper's plans for two games.

I think it's pretty clear by now the Reapers aren't the cold soulless, calculating invincible machines they are trying to make you believe.

I find that disappointing too. I liked the idea of facing unfathomable foes that weren't actual gods or explicitly supernatural.

 

[Nimcha]

I'm disappointed that the Reapers' big plan for mass extinction seems to be so direct, combat orientated, messy and above all inelegant.

I think this is more meant as a sort of insult to Shepard and humanity who've been thwarting the Reaper's plans for two games.

I think it's pretty clear by now the Reapers aren't the cold soulless, calculating invincible machines they are trying to make you believe.

I find that disappointing too. I liked the idea of facing unfathomable foes that weren't actual gods or explicitly supernatural.

But how would you see them defeated then?

 

[Frozengale]

ok... I am going to sound like a hater again... but I mean not to be mean... it's just that when I looked at the trailer, I felt like this is going to change the direction of the game, and I can't help to think that this game is going "mainstream" on us, going for the "popular" choices, even to the point to make the main plot blended with most of the shooter games out there...here are my reactions...

[several completely irrelevant quotes]

Looks as good as any action shooters, but not so much more than that, unlike the ME2 trailer, full of story, and mysteries, I actually feel less excited for this one... if i want guns and blazing to alien invaders, there are plenty other games to choose from, why is ME3 doing this?

Why? Because from Day 1 when ME1 was announced, this was the end game: Full scale war with the Reapers. This is called the natural evolution of that original plot. Did you expect Shepard to spend the majority of this game exploring the galaxy in peace, chasing down thieving space monkeys and shooting space cows in the face?

Take a well made movie plot. Any movie. Let's go with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, since it's in 3, just like ME. You start slow. Everything is idyllic. Meet Frodo Baggins and his perverted uncle Bilbo. They live in happy furry midget land. Unfurl what makes them tick, make us feel comfortable being around them, and as the movies go on, the plot begins to unfurl and antagonists appear.

Do you know what happens in Act III? That's right. The @#*&$ hits the fan. Outside of the 12 endings, what do the last 30-60 minutes of Return of the King look like? Combat, death, explosions, more death, war.

This is what we were promised. The whole game isn't going to be a shooter, they are clearly hiding most of the spoilerish story elements. But the setting of this game is very much summed up in ONE word: LARGE SCALE MOTHER #$(*#($* BLOODY WAR!!!! And if you don't see the glory in the released media, you may go cry in the corner when it's been released while I make love to my copy of Mass Effect 3. Wait, did I just say that? I meant "make out with". I'm saving myself until marriage, after all.

For one the whole plot was hinted more at Shepherd attempting to stop the Reapers before they get here. That's what the whole plot of ME2 was. Also while your analogy to Lord of the Rings does fit to an extent you have to remember that those big battles were more or less a distraction. The real important stuff was happening on a Mountain while a slightly pudgy hobbit carried another hobbit up to the top. That's right all those major battles weren't the climax because the climax is a bromance and a malnourished creeper falling into lava. The plot that ME3 looks like it is leading up to is more like something copy pasted from half the shooters from the past 4-5 years. It always annoys me when people think a huge epic battle should be the be all end all of stories. Epic battles are usually fairly forgettable. I haven't watched any Lord of the Rings movies in probably 6 years and all the battle sort of blur together. The parts that stand out are things like Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom. Boromir confronting Frodo in the woods. Smeagol and Gollum arguing with each other.

I'm not saying epic battles aren't good, but they are forgettable. And just cause we are playing an interactive medium doesn't mean we have to end the game on the same note as every other game and every other summer blockbuster of the past 5 years. It kind of reminds me of the 1800's early 1900's where Authors would write one story. They would write several books with the same plot, switching characters and settings. They made money off this. These books are also considered crap by todays standards and probably by standards back then as well.

Also, why Earth. Earth is barely talked about throughout the first 2 games. The closest you ever get to Earth is going to the Moon on a side-quest. Why do we give a frack about Earth? It's barely been relevant in the past few games, so why would the Reapers even care. And don't give me, "Well Shepherd beat a Reaper so now the Reapers fear Earth DERP!" Yeah well Shepherd beat the Reaper with help from Krogans, Asari, Drell, Salarian, Turians, Quarians, and Geth. By proxy all of those races should be equally feared. When you have an outlier (Shepherd) and the outlier is not good for you. You don't assume the outlier is the same as everyone from where the data point was pulled from. Logically just because Shepherd is human has no bearing what so ever on the fact that he/she defeated a Reaper.

 

[Ian Caronia]

EDIT: and the omni tool blade is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Looks like BioWare have finally abandoned even the pretence of 'hard' sci-fi.

I'm sure an explanation will be all there in the manual. I mean, they already have holographic haptic interfaces. Why do you think they couldn't get a blade out of that? Also, for all that they've shown their work, Element Zero is dodgy at best, and biotics, frankly, points at Element Zero and then says, "Magic!"

Okay, maybe you have a point that the pretense is even thinner... but, if you knew where to look, it was pretty thin already. I don't think it's that much thinner, though.

Tali's immune system. Don't forget Tali's immune system.
Oh, and the best dumbass science moment in Mass Effect to date is:

"The center of the galaxy? Why, that's full of blackholes!"
BWAAAHAHAHAHA!! You morons didn't even look up what's at the center of the galaxy for your SciFi game. Magnificent.
-Just for reference, what's at the center of the galaxy, any galaxy, is a Supermassive Blackhole. Some galaxies are believed to house two of these big boys, but no where does it say that the center of the galaxy is "full of blackholes". And, even if it did:
THEY HAVE YOU FLYING IN THE SAME SPACE AS THEM!!

No, Mass Effect (titled after it's Deus Ex Machina) is not "hard" scifi. It's barely even SciFi. More Science Fantasy ala Star Wars, really. Don't let the numerous Star Trek references and the fact it stole its premise from a hard science fiction novel series throw you off. Bioware only knows characters and nothing else, though the folks at Biowaare at least know characters really friggin well!
...Oh, and the infamous "Bioware formula" for every game they make. They know that well too.