Mass Effect 3 Review
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
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By the Goddess, I am so so sorry. That sucks. 8(Daystar Clarion said:
I can say this, I'm only ten hours in, but I absolutely love it so far. It's true to the manner in which I enjoy the series, and that's more than enough for me.
Is it perfect? No. No game ever will be. But I absolutely think this takes the best RPG elements from ME1 and blends them perfectly with the suave combat of ME2. It's damn good, and it's keeping me enthralled so far.
The hate is absolutely business as usual on the internet. I love the guy who posted that every single ending of the game sucks. Seriously, if one day after release you've already seen every single ending, your opinion is irrelevant to me. It means you're lying, or you set the game to action and skipped past every resulting "cut scene" that was left.
Oh, and lastly, I played the "From Dusty Cigarette Butt Ashes" DLC last night, and I thought fondly of Zeel. Good ol' Zeel, I imagine him in a straight jacket right about now, frothing at the mouth while they put an ME3-playthrough on a tv for him... hahah.
That's good to hear.The.Bard said:
I too, shall be thinking of Zeel as I download
I think his suspension is up, isn't it?
Daystar Clarion said:
Hmmmm. It might be. I'm sure 'll regret saying this, but I'm really curious to get a spoiler-free impression from him of the game in general. Maybe I'll send him a message after I've beaten the game, just in case he throws spoilers in.
You'll be happy to know in addition to From Ashes, their other Day 1 DLC, the "EA Marketing Troll Contractual Device Implant," is actually a free download on the disc - literally. Using nanotechnology embedded into the edge of the cd itself, all you need to do is pick it up to become a "Biobot," or whatever the popular term is. Biodrone?
This is why the people who pirate the game still retain independent thought enough to see through the facade. Cuz they never touch the disc.
I feel bad about ME3, really bad
I LOVED ME1
It hit sweet spot between TPS and RPG
I loved every aspect of the game even those that a lot of people found bad/annoying
Setting, story, role system, gameplay, MAKO, inventory, EVERYTHING
It was RPG as much as it was TPS
And after Final battle there was ending song M4(partII) by Faunts. God, I love that song. I sat through credits, I was astonished, I was speechless, lines between game and reality blurred, that was best moment I ever experienced with any game.
After founding and listening to part1 of M4, I expected that it will be used for opening scene in ME2 (I simply knew there will be ME2)
Then I got my hands on ME2
And disappointments came one after another- role system was heavily cut, inventory was close to non-existing, way how thermoclips were done made no sense, even MAKO was gone.
ME2 wasn't RPG anymore, it was TPS with upgradable abilities and good non-linear story, but it was RPG as much as Fable. RPG-ultra-lite, RPG for dummies, babies first RPG, primitive, simplistic, dumb- all these things went through my head as I played ME2.
Rage, disappointment, anger, frustration, sadness and disappointment are only few of emotions I have when thinking about ME franchise. As I finished I promised myself that I won't buy ME3 unless there is improvement. Developers claimed that they know about criticism, and they will try to make role system and inventory closer to one from ME1. I hoped it will be true. But from what I have seen and read about ME3, again it is only more ME2 (Now with 100% more Origin)
So let me conclude that I won't play this game.
My Shepard is dead
What I saw in ME2 was only reanimated, soulless husk
His soul left with the original Normandy
I LOVED ME1
It hit sweet spot between TPS and RPG
I loved every aspect of the game even those that a lot of people found bad/annoying
Setting, story, role system, gameplay, MAKO, inventory, EVERYTHING
It was RPG as much as it was TPS
And after Final battle there was ending song M4(partII) by Faunts. God, I love that song. I sat through credits, I was astonished, I was speechless, lines between game and reality blurred, that was best moment I ever experienced with any game.
After founding and listening to part1 of M4, I expected that it will be used for opening scene in ME2 (I simply knew there will be ME2)
Then I got my hands on ME2
And disappointments came one after another- role system was heavily cut, inventory was close to non-existing, way how thermoclips were done made no sense, even MAKO was gone.
ME2 wasn't RPG anymore, it was TPS with upgradable abilities and good non-linear story, but it was RPG as much as Fable. RPG-ultra-lite, RPG for dummies, babies first RPG, primitive, simplistic, dumb- all these things went through my head as I played ME2.
Rage, disappointment, anger, frustration, sadness and disappointment are only few of emotions I have when thinking about ME franchise. As I finished I promised myself that I won't buy ME3 unless there is improvement. Developers claimed that they know about criticism, and they will try to make role system and inventory closer to one from ME1. I hoped it will be true. But from what I have seen and read about ME3, again it is only more ME2 (Now with 100% more Origin)
So let me conclude that I won't play this game.
My Shepard is dead
What I saw in ME2 was only reanimated, soulless husk
His soul left with the original Normandy
Or you watched them on youtube since they were up from about Thursday to about Sunday night when EA went around closing youtube vids. Or watched the walk throughs which have been up since about Sunday.The.Bard said:
Can't really deny that the hate isn't businesses as usual, but I will state that Bioware's PR reps mishandling of certain leaks and several statements being revealed as misleading did fan the flames in significant ways.
You raise a very valid point about the youtube vids. I can't deny it's a valid opinion, but if I was on the fence, I wouldn't even consider steering my decision around an opinion formed from youtube. The context, the feeling of being connected to the decisions, the gameplay... it's just not there.BaronIveagh said:
Case in point, I watched a "walkthrough" of Heavy Rain once, and I thought it stunk. Played at a friend's house, and it seemed much less ridiculous. Same premise applies to me here: being in & connected to the moment is different than watching a video of it.
The leaks are tough. 3 major ones, none of them Bioware's fault. They were in a tough position where they couldn't elaborate or defend themselves without dishing major spoilers. I'm finding it nearly impossible to talk about what I think of ME3 so far with my friend who is still only halfway through ME2. Other than talking about the guns, I can't say anything without ruining some portion of the experience for him.
Plus - if you'll allow me a small not-directed-at-you rant here - hating Bioware is the cool kid thing these days. I personally know more than a few people who have never played a Bioware game and will still say they hate their last few games w/ straight faces. It's very hard to hear people complaining so vehemently without assuming they are just blindly following the masses.
Heck, more than half of this thread are posts accusing the Escapist of lying about the review. So we can't have differing opinions anymore? Ok, guys, it's fine if you don't like ME3 or Bioware. Some of us do. But you think Susan must be lying because she - and most of the other people reviewing ME3, it appears - like the game a lot? Grow up, you closed-minded judgmental jimminy crickets.
You shut up! I hate the game. I hate the entire thing. You know why???ZeroMachine said:
BECAUSE I CAN'T MAGICALLY PLAY IT IN MY MIND WHILE I AM AT WORK!!!!!!
So thanks, Bioware. Thanks a frigging lot for giving me cocaine that I can't legally snort at my desk 8 hrs a day.
*sob*
I... I hate the world and everything in it. *sob*
Also, I need sleep when I go home tonight. And groceries. Do groceries raise my galactic readiness meter??
But... but what if I just skipped sleep and played ME3 all night instead??
I'm going to make a movie called "The Mass Effectist," and it's basically going to be "The Machinist," but replace every verb with "playing Mass Effect 3."
Here are my "life before ME3" & "life after ME3" shots:
God I was beginning to think I was the only one who actually approached Me3 from a realistic perspective...It's true no game is perfect and although Me3 admittely has it's faults, it still by far does enough things right to get a thumbs up in my book, and I honestly think that things like day 1 DLC and the like should not be factored into a game review.CrazyBlaze said:
It's funny to see you accuse Susan of lying and yet do it in your next post.SpiderJerusalem said:
Lair of the Shadow Broker was referenced several times including the Bossfight. It was almost impossible to miss.
And there is even a full mission for the rachni Oo
You do realise that the whole point of spyware is that the user doesn't notice its presence, that it just sits there quietly watching and recording and reporting? That you won't notice your privacy suddenly being ripped away because it's already happened, that your hardware stats, software usage habits and favourite internet sites are already sitting happily as part of a corporation's aggregated database, with your assumption that it doesn't matter as naive as the Jews who registered their faith with the German government.satsugaikaze said:
Just saying.
Interview me when I haven't been awake for 48 hours (since you should have noted that in various posts yesterday) and you get more consistent responses. And the DA2 thing was not what I was thinking of when I wrote that, but it's neither here nor there at this point.sindremaster said:
You do know that in the book, Pinocchio murders the cricket, twice, and sets up Gepetto as a child abuser, right?The.Bard said:
As far as 'blindly following the masses', I'd have to say that is an interesting take, and as I said before, my own opinion was tainted, so I can say that my own objectivity on the issue is also questionable, as Susan herself pointed out, as my own opinion is colored by my own experiences.
As far as Bioware's mishandling of it: actually there were four leaks, and one of their responses to one leak turned around and bit them hard with the Prothean DLC. It probably would have been better for them to have issued a very carefully worded release that they would consider additional ending dlcs based on fan demand. While this would have continued the DLC rage, it actually would have significantly reduced the over all level of rage directed at Bioware, and propped up their reputation for listening to fans. Even if they released no such DLC, it would have diffused the initial reaction long enough to ensure higher 1st month sales.
All I can comment on is this, as I always let the Rachni Queen live (and I agree that it's a bit lame that they "bred another one"), but you're just wrong on that, OR they fixed it really damn quick.SpiderJerusalem said:
While on the Sur'Kesh mission to save the Krogan female, a Yahg (a member of the alien race to which the former Shadow Broker belonged) broke through a wall, killing a Cerberus soldier. Garrus and Sheppard teased Liara, Sheppard saying "there goes the next Shadow Broker" and Garrus saying "I think I heard him saying 'Liara' that whole time." Liara responds with "Not funny!". This, among a multitude of other references to the specific mission details of the Shadow Broker (Liara's friend sends you an email, talking about the ship, the drone recognizing you) all prove that you're either wrong, lying, or they fixed it the second the game was released.
I thought I was going to hate James, but I came to be really, really fond of him. Probably because of his banter with Esteban.undeadsuitor said:
OK, all jokes aside, I REALLY didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm not sure how your Pinnocchio spoiler fits into my assertion of youtube videos being a bad way to review a game. Can you elucidate this for me?BaronIveagh said:
[Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minnit, I think I get it! I called the haters jimminy crickets, and THAT is where your reply comes from! AmIright?!? That seriously only took me 25 minutes to get. Oh yea. I'm bad to the bone.]
I'm deathly afraid of spoilers, so I have read next to nothing of this thread aside from names I trust, so I didn't see the exchange between you & Susan. I'd agree experience colors our perception, though. It's just a shame that - at least in mine - too many other people are making the judgment "[ME3] leads to [Bioware product] leads to [CRAP]" without the experience of actually playing it. Hate all you want, people, just hate it because YOU hate it in the little black prunes you call hearts, not someone else said you should. (And also, let us love it in peace.)
We'll never know for sure, but I don't think the fires were going to die down no matter what Bioware said. The raging Bioware lynch mobs were patrolling the internet in droves long before the first leak. But for what it's worth, I think they took the script leak, at least, like absolute champs. They could have tried to throw dirt over it, but they invited anyone reading to send in their thoughts and they would see if there were any improvements to be made. How much more fan-friendly can you get? I can't speak intelligently on the leaks beyond that, as I avoided reading anything about them, and in so doing, most of Bioware's responses. I'm guessing many others who were really into both ME1 & ME2 would have done a similar 'fingers-in-the-ears-whistling' approach.
