So, now that the Mass Effect 3 Demo is out...

[TastySurvivor]

Didnt really need to play the demo to make up my mind. I was iffy on the multi-player however. But it is awesome. Great mechanics, good level up system. Going to have a lot of fun with that. Just play with friends you can mic with, or you will be destroyed.

 

[LordFisheh]

Absolutely agree with the Reapers as villains. I still think the game will be great, especially after the demo, but they're basically the tripods from War of the Worlds now. I preferred Sovereign.

 

[Frozengale]

Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.

It's weird, because all those things you listed



are going to be in ME3



all of them.



all of them.


Just because the demo's [first mission] is set on earth, doesn't mean it's the entire plot of the game.

What... you mean... they are actually going to have stuff in the game that they've had and have alluded to in the last two? I am quite shocked that they would do such a thing. Of course they are going to have those things. You seem to miss the point. The point is that those are the things we care about because they have been the center of the games and they are what we know. But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth.

Earth and Humans have been underdeveloped in the past two games, so we have no real reason to care about them aside from the fact that they are supposed to be relatable. Like I said, it makes no sense to make this the revolving plot point of our story, since Earth and Humanity have been so much background noise in the past two games. If the game wants to have a mission or two on Earth that is fine. But the Demo pretty much said that the whole point of you going throughout the galaxy is to SAVE EARTH! Not save the Galaxy, Earth! That's also why we are going to play this silly little game of "Reapers aren't THAT big of a threat anymore." Because obviously we will have to go back to Earth when it's on the brink of destruction and save it. Despite the fact that we have been gone for weeks, despite the fact that the Reapers are supposedly the most powerful thing in the Universe. In other words it's going to feel silly.

There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.

Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?

 

[Phlakes]

But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth...There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.

...That's not a bad way to do it, it's the best way to do it. That's where hitting close to home comes from.

 

[guitarsniper]

I really enjoyed the singleplayer, with the understanding that even the events it depicts are not yet in their full version. That being said, I really wanted to play a krogan in the multiplayer and have so far been unsuccessful.

 

[Zydrate]

A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.

Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?

Speculation tends to be a side-hobby of gamers.
Let it happen.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.

Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?

But we have played the game. A demo at least. And before you shout "it's a demo, it isn't indicative of the final product." realize that Dragon Age 2's Demo played out exactly the same as the full game did. Also realize that if a demo puts someone off the full game, the argument that the retail edition will be better is rather flimsy.

If you liked the demo and want to buy the full game, that's fine. It should also be fine then to be unimpressed with the demo, and decide that if the player doesn't like their hook, he has every right to explain what he felt didn't work, and why he won't buy the full game.

 

[Frozengale]

But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth...There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.

...That's not a bad way to do it, it's the best way to do it. That's where hitting close to home comes from.

That's not home. Not as we know it. For all intents and purposes it only shares the same name as the planet we live on. It might as well be called Garblaxian Zeta for all we care. If I show you a movie clip of your home getting destroyed, your actual house, that would be hitting close to home. If I showed you a movie clip of a house that is built on the same location as yours is 200 years from now you would not call it your "home". It occupies the same location, and you can probably recognize where it is, but it's not your house, not your home, not where you keep your belongings or where your loved ones live. It's just a house that occupies the same place as where your house once was. That is why I say it is trite. It's them saying, "Okay here is Earth and here are some Humans. We want you to feel sorry now that they are being destroyed."

Well okay I might feel bad on some level. But it isn't any Earth I know, they aren't people I care about. Shame that they are dying, but not my problem. They are telling us we should relate to them because they look like us and they live on a planet that is like ours. That's not how relating to something works. So yeah, it's trite and annoying. It's basically the Uncanny Valley of trying to get me to care.

 

[MordinSolus]

The sprinting animation was a bit weird, but other than that I thought it was cool enough to make me want to pre order it.

But my favorite part was at the end when the female Krogan snatched Wrex's shotgun and owned those Cerberus guys. Lady power!

 

[The_Waspman]

I'll be honest, I only really played the demo to get the omniblade daggers for KoA (which were useless because I'd levelled waaaay past them by that point).

Ok, total lie, I played it because its Mass Effect. And I loved it. Felt a lot smoother than 2, looked a lot grittier (and I'm not talking about the textures here - although some of the characters still look far too uncanny vally for my taste) and the combat felt a lot more... well, more. I felt like the AI had improved substantially.

That line Anderson had about Shapard getting soft round the edges - while realising that this is an excuse for Shep to need to level all the way up again - should have had a renegade option to, I dunno, snap his neck or something. 'You calling me fat!?' Guess it'd be a really short game then though...

Vega..? Uh, no. Aside from the madatory mission where you'll have to use him, he'll be relegated to ab crunch duty, like Jacob in 2.

Still, 19 days to go!

 

[tendaji]

Yeah I'm holding off most of my technical complaints until I get the full version of the game, mainly because I think that they might have had a sacrifice textures and animations to try and fit that 2.1 gig demo size. I mean if you look at how much game is actually in that demo, it's very impressive, seeing as you have Earth, and the Salarian homeworld, as well as 2 multiplayer maps with everything for it being capable of being unlocked.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.

Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?

But we have played the game. A demo at least. And before you shout "it's a demo, it isn't indicative of the final product." realize that Dragon Age 2's Demo played out exactly the same as the full game did. Also realize that if a demo puts someone off the full game, the argument that the retail edition will be better is rather flimsy.

If you liked the demo and want to buy the full game, that's fine. It should also be fine then to be unimpressed with the demo, and decide that if the player doesn't like their hook, he has every right to explain what he felt didn't work, and why he won't buy the full game.

How is Dragon Age 2 relevant? Different dev team for a start.

The Kingdoms of Amalur demo was buggy as hell, while I have yet to find any in the full game. Using that as an example is about as relevant as using DA2.

Now in terms of story etc, yes, that isn't going to change, but performance wise, there's always the chance that the demo is subpar to the full product.

 

[chiefohara]

Only played the first level of the demo, seemed a bit cheese action, but i enjoyed it. Graphics are a bit clunky but im assuming its because of the demo. Really reminded me of Mass Effect 2 more than 1. Wish i could holster the damn weapon though, seeing shepard run with it constantly aimed like that kinda kills the realism of it for me a little, hope to god we can holster the damn thing.

Turned the demo off at the second mission because i hate spoilers and more importantly because i love the story, and i don't want to guess/anticipate/spoil what happens further on based on whats shown in the demo, but yeah... im psyched for this game Already have my collector pre-order set in. Just gotta count the days now until march.

Funny thing is i was playing dragon age 2 today, just starting to get into it, then i hear about the demo for mass effect.... heh.... bye bye DA2..... im kinda itching to play mass effect 1 and 2 again so i run into this game fresh and ready

 

[Shavon513]

The demo is very fun to play. I think ME3 will be even more awesome than expected

 

[Korolev]

Eh, it was alright, I guess. Because the demo is based on an earlier build of the game, I'll dismiss the rather shoddy facial animations (and the fact that the lip synching wasn't done right), and the mediocre graphics - I'm sure the actual finished build of the game has been far more polished - demos are almost always based on Beta builds after all.

But the writing has taken a dip in quality. There's a lot more "BRO-DUDE!" Chest pumping Gruff Military "We Fight.... or we DIE!" OOOOOOOOH, how deep! What a magnificent display of wit and complexity! "I'm not a soldier anymore!" "The fight's here!" "I'm making you an honorary Krogan!" "ANYA! IT'S A GIANT WORM" - sorry, wrong game.

When did all the character turn into cheesy 80's action gruff guys? I feel like half the lines were written by the original writing team, and the other half were written by Michael Bay.

The gameplay is fine - it's like Mass Effect 2's gameplay but it's quite a bit smoother and moves faster, which is great. I also like the menu interfaces and the ability to level up and pick pathways for powers. And the multiplayer is actually fun! I wasn't expecting that!

On a technical level, the game looks stellar - apart from a few wonky animations and facial movements, which I'm sure they'll iron out before release. But the writing seems quite a bit worse. Maybe they picked the action-yiest scenes for the purposes of the demo, and maybe there are better scenes with much better writing in the game, but a lot of the writing seemed really, REALLY lazy. Especially the exchanges between Wrex and the rest of the team - they made me groan. Would Wrex really say "there's no one I'd rather have along for the ride!"? Really? When did he turn from a gruff warrior into a 70's buddy-action cop partner? What's next, he's gonna scream "SHEPARD! YOU CRAZY MAN?!" as they drive a Mako off a cliff?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

**snip**

Now that I've had a chance to play it (and the multiplayer)...

Really good demo. I enjoyed it very much. Ashley's new design makes me cringe, but I never used her anyway. Makes me wish I'd killed her instead of Kaiden though....

My one beef (with the demo only, not the potential game) is that the game didn't give me a Sniper Rifle.

I was playing an Infiltrator. Without a sniper rifle. WTF?

I understand that the first part I was using whatever I could find on the ground, but in the second part the game gave me a shotgun, an SMG, and a new assault rifle - but no sniper rifle. Suck.

Fortunately, the multiplayer gave my Infiltrator a sniper rifle from the get-go.

As to that - I am impressed with how fun the multiplayer actually is. I may actually play it now and then. Also, I like the way we go about unlocking stuff. Neat.

Now, here's hoping that those items STAY unlocked when I get the full game.

 

[Phlakes]

le snip

And if that's the way you feel about fictional Earth, focusing on something even more fictional would be even worse.

 

[Caligulove]

I was debating whether I wanted to play it for the longest time. One side wanted me to wait for the game proper to come out- the other part of me wanted some kind of taste to whet my appetite. I found some middle ground by downloading the demo and playing it only ONCE before deleting it from my 360. Just so I can keep some things fresh and not get old/repetitive when I do get the game.

I liked it. Particularly the new sound effects for all the weapons. Nice middle ground of the super-sci fi sound from the first ME and the more modern gun sounds from ME2. Liked the voice work as always. Remembered half way through that James was Freddie Prinze Jr- and realized that I would never had known if people had made an issue of it. Like the differences in the engine. Adds a lot of the great lighting detail that seemed to have been lost over from ME to ME2. Wrex and other krogan are good examples of the differences.

Good impression, looking forward to the full game