So how bad are Mass Effect 1's driving segments?

[-Dragmire-]

I found it great fun, some people's horror stories have to do with not having the patience to find the road to their destination. Spikey mountains can be a pain but, in any case I can remember, they were avoidable.

I played it on PC using the keyboard/mouse.

Spoiler: I created a similar thread a while back if you want to read more people's opinions about it.

[a]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.297368-Opinion-on-ME1s-Mako[/a]

 

[CannibalCorpses]

They aren't bad at all. It's just a shame they didn't put any upgrades in the game for it like everything else.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I thought it was horrible. It bounced around at the slightest bump in the road, it felt slow and sluggish, and the turning was horrid.

 

[Meatspinner]

If you don't count the last mako mission where you have to do a jump into that teleport tingy and if you miss you have to redo the ENTIRE mission again, then it's pretty fun.
I found that if you look down while you are steering the Mako becomes a lot more manageable.

Also it beats scanning for minerals

 

[Tilted_Logic]

It's not so much the driving that's spiteful but the terrain; the mandatory vehicle sections needed to progress the story are rather smooth and uneventful. It's the side-quests on random planets that will drive (no pun intended) you up the wall.

The mako handled fine for me, but the terrain generated for planets with minor quests is usually extremely steep, jagged and full of areas that are nigh impassable unless you look for alternate routes - generally that means that a straight shot attempt at reaching an objective will take you more time than looking for more forgiving passages.

It's definitely something avoidable if you're not looking to see all the game has to offer, but generally after one playthrough of full questing you'll be satisfied enough never to return to those planets

 

[Arina Love]

i actually liked them it's fun to drive on surfaces of planets be it a tad tedious at times.

 

[Idsertian]

Can you drive a Halo 1 Warthog?

You can handle the Mako.

This.

I played it on the 360, had not one issue with it. Don't get why people hate on the Mako so much. Left stick to move, camera to steer. Also has relative "on the spot" controls on the left stick. In other words, push the stick in one direction, the Mako will do its best to go that way, using whichever end of itself is closest. All directions relative to the screen, so push left, it'll try to go to the left of the screen.

What's so difficult?

 

[creonto]

i absolutely loved the driving segments personally

 

[Soluncreed]

It's not really that bad. I had fun with it. the only issues I had were when I was stopped and needed to turn around. It's like the Mako decided to not do what I wanted. But Mass Effect is a great game and is only about $10 now.

Buy it.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

This is the first time I've heard that it's bad. I thought it was very good. Fun to navigate~

 

[linkzeldi]

Like trying to tame a rhino.

Luckily, unless you do a lot of sidequests they are comparatively small compared to the rest of the game.

 

[Burst6]

It wasnt really that bad. The problem is that the vehicle felt a bit too light. A small bump can send you flying and you can climb up 85 degree inclines.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

They're kinda frustrating, but you get used to it fairly quickly.

 

[Rad Party God]

It's not that bad, those sections are a bit slower than the rest of the game, but at least you get to explore uncharted planets or other interesting rocks, you may even find a couple of surprises in those.

At least they're better than the planetary scanning of Mass Effect 2.

 

[lucky_sharm]

Oh, it's just like using the Warthog in Halo 1? Well geez, I thought it would be a whole lot worse than what people were saying. I'm going to play on the PC so I guess I'll be having an easier time.

 

[Worgen]

the driving itself was actually kinda fun and had some neat exploration, the problem was that the worlds were entirely too mountainous, too many huge mountain ranges with 90 degree slopes

 

[LiliumSnow]

Yeah it's a bit of a nightmare to drive the Mako, especially when you're driving around really bumpy areas of the planet, but you do get used to it (eventually). You'll just have to accept that you might end up doing 360's in the air 5 times because you bumped into a piece of flint on the ground (seriously there should of been an achievement for how many times you spin in the air).

Or maybe that's what happens when I play it :'D

 

[Souplex]

It's awesome.
A very loud, very wrong minority complained, and so it got cut from 2.

 

[Ghengis John]

I'm thinking about giving Mass Effect a try and the only thing that worries me is all of those horror stories about how bad the driving is. Is it something that you do a lot of during the game?

The driving segments can be a little annoying, but not bad enough to skip mass effect for. People tend to whine and exaggerate don't they? I say, give it a go and decide for yourself.

 

[Kotaro]

I didn't think they were that bad. I didn't love them, but they weren't unbearable.
It just had some physics bugs, and aiming the gun can be frustrating. But again, it's not that bad.