Why I'm Not Playing Mass Effect 2

[Byers]

I don't really have much to add to this.

Except that a video game reviewer not playing Mass Effect 2 is like a music critic that's never listened to Zeppelin.

But at least you have a good reason. I mean, assuming you find the digital version of running on a hamster wheel a good reason.

Gee, I didn't know Led Zeppelin required 30+ hours of commitment to listen to. You have opened my eyes

And the hamster wheel / treadmill argument has always felt a bit fallacious to me - I think Shamus Young's analogy of an entire health club [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6110-The-Secret-of-WoW.2], rather than a treadmill, works much better. It just reeks of people who've never actually played the game and are bashing it - and the genre - based on preconceptions and hearsay.

A health club without the exercise, if so.

At any rate, I've played WoW for a few years. There's no question Blizzard knows how to shape gameplay into something addictive, but there's also no question they're dangling cheese (or crack cocaine, depending on your analogy) in front of your face in trying to get you to throw away as much of your life as possible that could be spent on more worthwhile pursuits. With having no ending in sight, going on for as long as people can muster the enthusiasm to play it, it's the gaming equivalent of a daytime soap that lasts 3+ hours a day.

 

[MercenaryCanary]

John

I haven't played ACTUAL games, for what, 8 months now, they LOOK overwhelming, I think it's gonna be great I'm just a tiny bit in all that's happening to the world but a lot of games that I played that made me think like that, actually were pretty disappointing... So now I decided not to play them at all.

... Huh?

And I really thought this article made a lot of sense. It explained how I felt about some games at times.

John said he won't play Mass Effect because it's overwhelming, big, epic, I say they are not, they look "overwhelming" but once you get them and play them you see they're not. Games have disappointed me so now I don't play them at all. (except Tetris that is) Better now?

Yes, a lot better actually.
It just didn't really seem worded clearly the first time, but you cleared that up, so you are a good poster.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

While I won't get into MEs supposed epicness and awesome storytelling (I found the first to be lacklustre and the second to be rather run of the mill) I have a few observations on playing time.

I've played every Bioware RPG so far save Jade Empire and Mass Effect 2 (should be in the mail tomorrow) and loved some and liked some. So I'm not new to RPGs and I bought Fallout 1+2 and BG 1+2 on their respective release days. So I've been in the game for a while by now.

Some times I have plenty of time and can go on extended play sessions and sometimes I cannot. I'm perhaps only able to play on Saturday for some hours. I don't feel that as a major problem though and I have no problem getting back into the story. I think that has to do with me and a group of friends meeting every Saturday when we were younger to play Warhammer Fantasy. Some of our campaigns would take a lot of Saturdays to finish. So I've in a way been used to playing in chunks and getting back in only once a week. In a way I feel a bit like it when I'm restrained to Saturdays except that it's less fun on the computer.

I'm not saying that John Funk is wrong to skip ME for lack of time and it's a perfectly valid point. Some of the other posters should be able to see that. It's also a point I subscribe to myself. I don't play MMOs of any kind as I feel they require too much of my time and give too little in return, often costing me on a monthly basis all the while.

My point is just, I think, that under the right circumstances it's not really a problem that you only play, say, once a week. Also, I still have not finished Dragon Age. Not due to the epicness and large scale but because it's pretty boring and the difficulty spikes are annoying as hell. But I'll get there in good time I'm sure. But I rather doubt it's a game I'll ever play again. Compare that to BG and BG2 and I'm confused.

 

[Rack]

When you're cash rich and time poor RPGs don't make a lot of sense. I certainly resented Dragon Age for throwing hundreds of enemies at me for no good reason other than to pad it out enough so they could put "50 hours" on the box. But I still love Bioware games enough to put up with it, even though I'm not sure it makes sense.

As for Mass Effect 2 I really can't justify buying a game that I know I won't be able to finish until 2012 because that's when the actual ending will come out, especially since Bioware announced their plans to 10 and 20 dollar anyone who buys the game now. I'll play it when it's done.

 

[Plurralbles]

hmm, i guess I'm the only one who can go from a game with a high story, to a game that doesn't, to a dozen games that don't, to a game that does a little, back to taht story, and completely continue from the time I left off?


Dont' play it, but I feel that if I had a 360/gaming pc, worked for a gaming culture magazine, and paid to play games, I could handle a lengthy game to play in my free time as that would probably be much more lengthy and valuable and worthy of my time than the mostly garbage I'm assigned.

But all in all, if you must skip games due to time restraints, it's perfectly reasonable. Hell, I'm skipping almost every game that's been released since '04 because of monetary issues which has led to an inability to buy a new console or anything better than my pathetic laptop.

 

[NoriYuki Sato]

now, in all honesty here, after reading this article, i must say that Mass Effect 1 can take as little as 8 hours to complete if you play just the main story. Mass Effect 2 will take a bit longer, yes, but in all, they aren't very long unless you choose to make them long. i can see how somebody would mistake a game like ME or DA:O for being forced to put that much time into the story, but that's only if you want all the little down to the bone details. with the bare minimum, you still understand everything perfectly, so long as you pay attention to whats going on. in 8 hours, you'll know the Mass Effect universe inside and out, just not have it perfected. Mass Effect 2, i'm gunna say 12+ hours before you know that one. it never hurts to try it out, and if you don't finish it, by the time you realize it, it'll be a few months down the road, and you just won't care about it anymore.

 

[Emenhil]

Well, I guess you don't really like (Bioware) RPGs then. When you really, really like/admire a developper, and when said developper releases 1 game a year (and that's on good years), you can't say "I don't have the time". You make the time

 

[Rayansaki]

I see it from another perspective. I've started playing Dragon age the day it came out, and I'm only about 20 hours in. Meanwhile I've played Darksiders and Bayonetta, I've catched up on AC2 first DLC, I've played some more saints row 2 because it keeps calling me in and I've sunk over 200 hours into League of Legends.
I don't see it as a big monster that lasts a long time but I have to finish fast, it's simply the game I go into when I'm bored with all the other games and want some more pieces of the story. It's like watching 24, you can watch one season in one go or you can watch it over the course of 30 weeks, while watching other series as well.

As for ME2, I don't count on ever playing it, the first game bored me 3 hours in, and I don't want to see it again. Also, I hate being called Shepard.

 

[Zydrate]

Those are all good points for not bothering, but ME1 can be beaten in 2-4 days depending how gametrigger happy you are. (And how much of a powerplayer). And quite frankly, I don't bother with most of the side quests. Their rewards aren't all that great.

Can't speak for ME2, I've yet to borrow it from my friend.

 

[Old Hobo]

well, long is a relative term
while i consider Mass effect 2(which is about 13h-16h,not 50h or 30h)a medium length game
you may consider it a long game.
so its really a matter of taste.
while you prefer to play L4D2 for an hour and get level ending.
i rather play mass effect 2 for 13hours and get a full rewarding ending.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I will say why i will never play ME1, ME2 or Dragon Age:

because they are all in 3rd person!

I cannot enjoy anything thats 'meant' to have a good storyline in 3rd person. I don't care about gameplay, I'm in it for the story. And for me the story is best told through a characters eyes, not a few feet above/behind them.

sadly, im complete opposite, i hate not having peripharel vision, especially in hack and slashers or shooters, and it doesn't take away from the immersion at all for me knowing im the one controlling it, and i like to look at my character especially if i can pick the armor and what not

just curious, if your in it for the story, how do you enjoy any movie? most of them revolve around one character, and if you aren't in their eyes, its the same thing, in general? they are both story driven.

p.s. i enjoy story games so much more, thats why i tend to stay away from games like oblivion and fallout 3

yeah first person shooters aren't well known for story telling, (except for half life) also first person view isn't very useful since your vision is hacked into a small square or rectangle. until they invent a form of peliferal vision that is with in reach for everyone and compatible with the every day game, then 3rd person will always be preferred for me. (Except for fallout 3) but you know, because there are people like you and there are people like me, i think that big budget titles like mass effect should allow you to switch between both 3rd person and 1st person views.

you are 100% correct, and i agree they should allow you to switch, as i dont think first person camera would be that hard to add..

thank you for being civilized about that, i was worried i would get spam flamed for not liking first person that much, i do agree however in fallout 3 first person is better

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

snip.

snip

I treat movies differently to games, I don't think the same rules apply to both. THere is a different feel to watching something and actually playing something.

I should admit there are exceptions like MOnster Hunter, Pokemon, Golden Sun and most hand-held games I enjoy in 3rd person (or whatever person they are in).

But large games like Mass Effect should at least be able to give you a first person option. YOu will probs never catch me playing a 3rd person on PC or console, I just can't stand them. Purely a personal tick.

I hate fallout 3 haha, but Oblivion is one of my favourite games.

pokemon i have no idea what you would call that..4th person? spectator? you were never 1st or third really, more of an airial kind of view?


fair enough, i do agree they could/should have a switch option, not that hard imo to add a first person camera

fps i've just had some bad experiences with, especially the jumping, in real life i can see exactly where im jumping and if im close to an edge, while in fps you just gotta guess which really bugged me in games like mirrors edge, where i never screwed up in games like PoP because it was in third person for good jump camera angles

i do think some games are best left for fps tho, as they are built around them, such as fallout, the tps camera is horribly angled and it makes your guy look really weird running around

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

Yeah, that's kind of a silly reason. There's no rule that says you have to sit down and play for six or seven hours at a stretch--you could just give it an hour or two a day. It'd take longer, sure, but you'd still finish eventually.

 

[Falseprophet]

I totally empathize, John. I haven't played a computer/console RPG in over 5 years (though I've RPed with people in the flesh), and I picked up Dragon Age for a good price, never having played a BioWare RPG before. I've been playing it for 3 weeks now and it's completely taken over my life. The the story and characters are just so well-written and acted I need to see it through to the end.

I think this is my last RPG for a long time. Now I remember why I was only playing fighting and shooting games for relaxation.

 

[Imperator Nick]

Although I understand your reasons, you are still missing out big time.

 

[Negatempest]

Just going to say that it was bad comparing WoW to ME1. Unlike other RPG's, with ME1 you can save anytime during a game unless you are in combat. So what if the story is lengthy, so are the stories from good books and that doesn't stop people from reading them when they have a good hour+ of time. I have a parent who has a full time job and somehow is able to dedicate the last 2 waking hours to reading books.

I have the reverse feeling for WoW. I do not have the time to play WoW because it requires a solid 3+ hours of continues play to get used to a dungeon. I just can't leave in the middle of a raid and say, "Oh, gotta go, gonna watch a movie with a friend." If you do leave like this you are a douche bag for taking everyone else time. Or you can choose to not go in the 1st place, but than you miss out on a large portion of the game.

Not saying you HAVE to play ME, just saying it's easier to handle than it would seem. There are NO save points, just save anytime you feel like it. Play for an hour or 2 and its fine. Up to you if you want to complete EVERY side quest of not, if you don't it's a fairly short game.

 

[Jezixo]

I totally get what you're saying and I agree with your reasoning 100%. Though, of course, I still very much encourage developers to make 100 hour RPG fests like Mass Effect and ME2, because, as RPGs, they're very impressive. You give solid reasons for not playing the games, and I personally am suffering from a similar situation, but there is nothing to be done about it. I don't think anyone wants BioWare to bring out a 20 hour RPG, but at the same time, I sympathise with you.

 

[John Funk]

ADD is hard.

It's not like there isn't a save function. I guess classic literature is also out the window for you too.

I love games that last long, they are able to keep my entertainment up for as long as possible. I can leave and go back to whenever time permits.

I don't like to be abusive but...this. Your actually criticising a game for telling an "epic story" that can't fit into a 4 hour period, yeah we all have jobs, but does it stop up enjoying a lengthy novel? I'm not sure of the point of this article, I've loved your others, but this seems like trolling. You want games to be more pick up an play?, fair enough, actually criticising games that promote gaming as an art from, that can be deeper than a one hour experience or a social network? MEH?!! I just find it disheartening that in the age where everyone rags on the Wii for being too 'Casual' the two games with the deepest story are dismissed for being 'too long'.

EDIT: I agree that the best thing about WOW (the social network comment may have been a bit bitter), is the people you play with, but STRONGLY disagree that no game should foster the single player, epic, story-driven experience.

Show me where I criticized any game. Show me where I said Mass Effect 2 was a bad game, or that it shouldn't have been made. Show me anything where I said that it didn't look like a fantastic game.

It's just not for me.