Poll: Mass Effect: Your favorite Citadel

[thespyisdead]

i have been playing Mass Effect 3, as well as started a new play through of Mass Effect, and realized, that THAT Citadel felt more larger in scale, as if more detail and thought was put into it. Also, going from ME1 to ME2 the Citadel lost a lot of volume, while ME3 added some volume to the citadel, but it still does not feel as grand as the one from ME1

it could also be the fact that there were no loading screens in ME1, which, with hind sight, was a really stupid thing to whine about(i actually enjoyed the lack of them), and the lack of them added to the volume, and unrestriction of the Citadel, making ME1 Citadel, in my eyes, the more superior Citadel.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

ME1. I actually got to run around it, making it seem bigger. The one in ME3 was okay, but ME2's was a joke.

 

[Zhukov]

ME3's by a huge, huge margin.

It felt much more alive and, most importantly, it changed over time. The hospital started filling with casualties as the war went on. Refugees crowded onto the wards and lower docks. People came and went from the nightclub and market. There was damage after the Cerberus attack.
Best of all, there were tons of people talking and you could run across your crew members on shore leave.

ME3 did a good job of conveying the sense that you were seeing the end of times. The slow deterioration of the Citadel, the random NPC dialogue and the news reports really helped sell that whole doomsday atmosphere.

ME1's citadel was sterile, utterly static and kind of ugly. ME2 was prettier and more alive, but shrunk way down.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

ME3's by a huge, huge margin.


ME1's citadel was sterile, utterly static and kind of ugly. ME2 was prettier and more alive, but shrunk way down.

This. ↑

Plus it was confusing at first...


I really liked ME2's.

 

[Vault101]

ME3's by a huge, huge margin.

It felt much more alive and, most importantly, it changed over time. .

I can see what you mean, there was a galatic wide war on ....and you FELT it, you saw the effects, it would seem odd that the citadel remains compley free of any of the war

I still like the ME1 citadel for feeling larger..yeah it did feel sterile (that assari in the yellow dress..walking back and forth...back and fourth), but you also felt like a tourest..seeing the wonders of the galaxy

I guess ME2 citadel could have done with some changes each time you visited,

 

[Elamdri]

ME3's by a huge, huge margin.

It felt much more alive and, most importantly, it changed over time. The hospital started filling with casualties as the war went on. Refugees crowded onto the wards and lower docks. People came and went from the nightclub and market. There was damage after the Cerberus attack.
Best of all, there were tons of people talking and you could run across you crew members on shore leave.

The slow deterioration of the Citadel, the random NPC dialogue and the news reports really helped the whole doomsday atmosphere. ME3 did a good job of conveying the sense that you were seeing the end of times.

ME1's citadel was sterile, utterly static and kind of ugly. ME2 was prettier and more alive, but shrunk way down.

I agree with everything said here. I also have to say that despite being as large as it was, Mass Effect 1's Citadel was very...empty. I mean, there were so many parts where it was like "What is the point of this section of the Citadel other than to increase the amount of time it takes me to get to where I am going. There is nothing pretty to look at, no one to talk to, no shops, ect." Compare to Mass Effect 3, where no matter where you go on the Citadel you are usually 10 seconds away from something relevant.

Ranking them, I would say

ME3
ME1
ME2

However, if I had to grade each game for it's hub worlds overall, I actually think ME2 did the best job because overall the scale of Illium, The Citadel, Omega, and Tuchanka dwarfs ME3 and is far more interesting than ME1.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

ME3's by a huge, huge margin.

It felt much more alive and, most importantly, it changed over time. The hospital started filling with casualties as the war went on. Refugees crowded onto the wards and lower docks. People came and went from the nightclub and market. There was damage after the Cerberus attack.
Best of all, there were tons of people talking and you could run across you crew members on shore leave.

The slow deterioration of the Citadel, the random NPC dialogue and the news reports really helped the whole doomsday atmosphere. ME3 did a good job of conveying the sense that you were seeing the end of times.

ME1's citadel was sterile, utterly static and kind of ugly. ME2 was prettier and more alive, but shrunk way down.

This, although if there was one downside to ME3's Citadel, it would be the elevators. As long and repetitive the elevator rides were in ME1, I liked the news reports and the squad dialogue. In ME3, the loading times are way too long, and all you get to pass the time is some panning shots of the Presidium (which I've never found that pretty in any of the games tbh, far too clean looking). Also, that automated voice gets so fucking annoying.

ME1 Citadel, despite being the biggest and the most open, was the worst imo. This scale just becomes a disadvantage when there's very little to do most of the time. ME2 was way smaller by comparison, but it still had more in it.

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

This, although if there was one downside to ME3's Citadel, it would be the elevators. As long and repetitive the elevator rides were in ME1, I liked the news reports and the squad dialogue. In ME3, the loading times are way too long, and all you get to pass the time is some panning shots of the Presidium (which I've never found that pretty in any of the games tbh, far too clean looking).

Loading times? Really?

Huh.

I played on PC. 3 second load times. I barely even got to look at the pictures.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

[snip]

This, although if there was one downside to ME3's Citadel, it would be the elevators. As long and repetitive the elevator rides were in ME1, I liked the news reports and the squad dialogue. In ME3, the loading times are way too long, and all you get to pass the time is some panning shots of the Presidium (which I've never found that pretty in any of the games tbh, far too clean looking).

Loading times? Really?

Huh.

I played on PC. 3 second load times. I barely even got to look at the pictures.

Well, my 360 is now about 6 years old (I must be the only person left in the world with a 360 that's lasted that long without breaking) and is running out of hard drive space fast. I'm not an expert so I don't know if those things would affect it much.

Maybe I was just imagining them to be longer than they were because the pictures and the music were so dull.

 

[Tayh]

I could never find my way around the citadel in ME1, and the unnecessarily long elevator rides drove me nuts.
The map in ME1 was awful as well.
Voted for ME3.

 

[Fappy]

ME3's felt far too gated. ME1's seemed far more seamless.

 

[Unsilenced]

I am Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite citadel on th-BWAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 

[number2301]

I agree with everything said here. I also have to say that despite being as large as it was, Mass Effect 1's Citadel was very...empty. I mean, there were so many parts where it was like "What is the point of this section of the Citadel other than to increase the amount of time it takes me to get to where I am going. There is nothing pretty to look at, no one to talk to, no shops, ect."

That's precisely what I missed in ME2 and 3, the Citadel in the first game was more like a real place than something which exists solely for my benefit. It frustrates me no end when every location in a game is clearly very 'gamey' as opposed to being like a real place!

 

[Phlakes]

I actually liked 3's the best. 1's was a little confusing just starting out, and it felt sort of detached from the Citadel you saw out the windows, and the GODDAMN ELEVATORS FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

...But 3's felt a little more like they were part of a bigger thing. Much better designed. And with more art direction outside of the Presidium.

 

[winginson]

ME3s. As others have said it changed over time, and your squad actually get out of the ship to enjoy it too. Mainly at the bar it seems.

 

[Aerosteam]

I hated the Citadel. So it would make sense if I chose the smallest one; Mass Effect 2's.

I'm Aerosteam and this is my favourite Citadel in Mass Effect.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

I always got lost in ME1, and it felt kind of stale to me. And, you know, elevators.

ME2's was alright, but the lack of a proper presidium was pretty noticable. It also felt really small.

ME3 was the one that felt "real". It had a big presidium, and you could see the effects of the war. The big downside were the loading times I had to sit through everytime I wanted to visit another part of the Citadel. The price I pay for not being part of the PC master race I guess :S

So yeah, ME3's Citadel wins in my books.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Mass Effect 3, sure its not as big as the Citadel in Mass Effect 1, but a lot of ME1's Citadel just felt like filler areas, it wasnt that fun to explore

 

[Jynthor]

They all kind of felt like tedious quest hubs to me. At least in ME2 you have some big quests going on.

 

[Goofguy]

Sure, ME1 had the biggest explorable Citadel but it felt like most of my time in that version was spent running the long distance from point A to point B then to point C etc. Not to mention riding those elevators...

I wasn't upset about ME2's Citadel being much smaller, it just allowed the focus to be placed on new hubs like Illium and Omega. Plus, throughout ME2 I felt like Shepard was trying to keep a lower profile what with his involvement with Cerberus. It seemed justified that he/she wasn't bogged down with Citadel side quests.

Therefore, ME3 was my favourite. You could see and hear the toll the war was taking on the citizens in the Citadel. I particularly liked the contrast between the Commons and the Holding Area. The former had the well dressed citizens shopping and trying to pretend it's still business as usual, the latter had refugees of all races trying to find safety and the whereabouts of lost loved ones.