Zero Punctuation: Mass Effect 3

[pandorum]

I'm shocked that there was no mention of how many times you had to switch the disks in ME3. If you're someone who likes side missions (and I am.), then it was hard to tell when you had to switch. They only made you switch the disks in ME2 3 times that I counted. In ME3, I've already counted 6 times, and I don't think I'm halfway through the game yet. This breaks game flow, and takes away from the game as a whole.

Overall, from what I've played, I like ME3. I like how that the gameplay seems to move faster, BUT I haven't seen this "ending" everyone is talking about, so I might want to hold back on my full opinion of the game until then... To me, the ending of a game is supposed to be the climax, and in most cases, it's what makes the most impact on someone, and what most people will remember from their gaming experience, so if the ending is truly bad enough, it can ruin the entire thing as a whole.

Switching disc's? That on Xbox? if it is LOL.

 

[sharada]

I've never played Mass Effect 1 and 2 but 3rd game did not impress me at all :S ... I thought that writing was plain god awful and cliched at times.
Dreadful ending to the side, the biggest "beef" I have with this game is that none of the aliens actually FEEL...you know...alien! They think and talk like any generic american with a latex mask on... it's like a really bad scifi fan convention.

I can't help but remember Dragon Age:Origins and the character of Sten. Whilst not being strictly "alien" his outlook on life was a stark difference compared to "conventional" outlook of all the other characters. He was masterfully written, and that is something I have truly missed in Mass Effect - I just did not feel as if aliens had any particularly unique culture to them. All the difference in "aliens" was nothing more then skin deep...which is sickening in it's ignorant political correctness -.-'

 

[DarkPheonix13]

Yep, that's on Xbox, but I'm not getting into PC vs. console, so I'll just say this. I like console systems... that's it.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

So his opinion pretty much came down to "meh".

That's the most unentertaining kind of review of him to watch, but the internet is full of reactions to this title, so I don't mind that much.
I thought the game was throwing him a lot of bones he didn't pick up tho. ME3 must've really really bored him.

 

[JonahNYC]

I posted my own article about what went wrong with Mass Effect 3:

http://www.gamestooge.com/2012/03/21/mass-effect-3-what-really-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it/

Let me know what you think, Mr. Croshaw and others.

 

[eljawa]

Return of the King was better than the second LOTR movie. But beyond that I cant really think of too many ends of trilogies that live up to the expectation.

 

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

If you still want to know, the game basically ends with choice A, B, C no matter what choices you make through out the last two games that's the three you get not to bad i suppose...... but each ending is exactly the same and no matter what the mass relays get destroyed stranding every race who came to help earth as it would take hundreds of years to get back, not to bad for the Asari but the others not so much and the majority do not eat human food as it could kill them. Bioware is calling it artistic but if every ending is exactly the same that's lazy, it boils down to which color of explosion you like most RED, BLUE or GREEN I love the game till the end so i play till the last second then save turn it off and imagine how the ending should of gone, not the garbage they gave, it seems to me they ran out of time on development and rushed the last bit not thinking they were identical.

Well, isn't this pretty much what happened with Deus Ex: HR? The relevance of your choices had no impact in the ending except for the last choice, it was really a downer, but we survived, so why is people still getting mad with ME3?

 

[Mahoshonen]

To be fair to Yahtzee, he did admit that he's always jaded. He never seemed to be 'in' to Mass Effect anyway (in his ME1 review, he romanced Ashley Williams of all people, and just got weirded out that she has the same name as Bruce Campbell's character from Evil Dead.) So while it would have been great to see him get his narc on about the ending, I can understand his indifference.

 

[Dr. Stupid]

Yahtzee, I'm guessing your girlfriend dumped you or something, because while there's always been a lot of fapping jokes on the reviews, it seems for a while now things have taken a more bitter (and less funny) tone towards all things sexual. It plays into the stereotype of gamers being alienated losers, and I know you don't want that to be your persona.

 

[stef1987]

to be honest, I never got what people liked about mass effect.
I only played the first, and only the first 30% or something,
but it was terrible imo, just way too boring.

 

[pandorum]

If you still want to know, the game basically ends with choice A, B, C no matter what choices you make through out the last two games that's the three you get not to bad i suppose...... but each ending is exactly the same and no matter what the mass relays get destroyed stranding every race who came to help earth as it would take hundreds of years to get back, not to bad for the Asari but the others not so much and the majority do not eat human food as it could kill them. Bioware is calling it artistic but if every ending is exactly the same that's lazy, it boils down to which color of explosion you like most RED, BLUE or GREEN I love the game till the end so i play till the last second then save turn it off and imagine how the ending should of gone, not the garbage they gave, it seems to me they ran out of time on development and rushed the last bit not thinking they were identical.

Well, isn't this pretty much what happened with Deus Ex: HR? The relevance of your choices had no impact in the ending except for the last choice, it was really a downer, but we survived, so why is people still getting mad with ME3?

Because of the major plot hole, destroying the Mass Relay in the Arrival DLC destroys that star system but in mass effect 3 it would of wiped out all life in every system. If it did not then everyone is stuck in their star system that they are in now, effectively plunging the entire galaxy in to the dark ages at least the three in HR were different to some degree no closer but still different. Look on you tube all three in mass are identical bar who comes out of the Normandy at the end, joker always comes out making him a deserter in war because he was on the front line ten min before fighting the Reapers.

 

[Shiro No Uma]

All of this seems strange to me. Everyone is talking about the ending and not the game. I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm loving it. Some of the things he mentions really felt like strengths to me. It's strange that Yahtzee sounded like he was upset there weren't new characters when the story is already saturated and really doesn't need to be cluttered with even more characters to end the story line. It even sounded like a negative that it was so well written. Also, don't you blast shit from space? Like a Reaper? And the little differences in game play, such as the aforementioned Reaper laser strike mission, was amazing. I felt like they showed off the locales in really cool ways, i.e. shooting at Husks running at the Quarian Admiral from a hovering shuttle. Even though some of these game mechanics were short, they made this game the best experience in the franchise for me. And the amazing detail on all of the locations, most of which we haven't seen in previous games. I even felt like I was being rewarded for exploring all that the area had to offer. While some people don't like the multi-player aspect, I think it's brilliant. You and your squad literally represent the team worked needed to save the galaxy with cooperation in the front lines of a war. Like most of you, I have played the first two games many times and have so much invested in the story and charters. I have imported my saved games to both sequels and I get reminded of my triumphs and mistakes. I don't feel cheated at all, and I know how it ends. I can't go to a website without it being brought up, and most of my db friends won't shut up about it. Sad to see such a bastion of great storytelling be subjugated to....what every this is. (With my friends it sounds and feels like crybaby syndrome)

 

[DolorousEdd]

You can count on Yatzeeh not taking notice of or even getting universal (unfanboy) criticism but otherwise pointing out obvious criticism that tends to be overlooked in the fuss... Among other things, this is a very typical Yatzeeh-phenomenon. Just don't expect straight-on criticism that one side can fully sympathise with. (Or some can, of course.)

 

[DolorousEdd]

"Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
?John Carmack

You know. That's John Carmack. The guy who made the graphics engine (!) for Doom (!).

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I think I'll wait for a "Game of the Year" version or a "Mass Effect Collection". That is, if that is ever gonna happen.

Yahtzee is a more valid authority on games than any cheeto-laden forum goer on this site. So if he says it could have been worse and maybe people are overreacting, I'm more inclined to believe that than some frothing man-child shouting "Aye wash lied two! DA nartive wash epic falez. Shivilishashun will nao collapse." He's not a bad journalist, he didn't overlook anything "all-important," and if you think you think you're disappointed because of his journalistic process which hasn't changed since 2009, it may just be possible that you're only upset he didn't take YOUR side. He took the middle ground, didn't address the controversy for more than a couple sentences. That's perfectly reasonable. This isn't in response to any comment in particular, more a pre-empt on all the ones sure to come. Don't hate on Yahtzee for this. Feel free to hate on me though, I'm really biased.

Just because Yahtzee has his own internet show doesn't mean that his opinion is worth more than anyone else's. As long as you can express your opinion in a civilised, well thought out manner, I don't really see what the problem is. I mean, isn't that exactly what Yahtzee has done? So what makes him so different from everyone else, except for the fact that he's famous.

Besides, there are good arguments on both sides of the debate and to simply dismiss every single one of them as "cheeto-laden man-children" is not only in poor taste, it's just simply untrue.

 

[Darkcerb]

All of this seems strange to me. Everyone is talking about the ending and not the game.

That's because the game is great, every reveiwer agrees.

Except yahtzee but we all know how biased against any sort of cover system he is, and we know he rushed through like he was being chased by a lion.

It's just the last ten minutes that fails miserably.

The rest of your post is so ironic it's not worth commenting on really. (In case it's not obvious enough that's because the rest of the game is so great, the story telling is above par for games...and then you get to the ending.)

 

[Invadergray]

Just because Yahtzee has his own internet show doesn't mean that his opinion is worth more than anyone else's. As long as you can express your opinion in a civilised, well thought out manner, I don't really see what the problem is. I mean, isn't that exactly what Yahtzee has done? So what makes him so different from everyone else, except for the fact that he's famous.

Besides, there are good arguments on both sides of the debate and to simply dismiss every single one of them as "cheeto-laden man-children" is not only in poor taste, it's just simply untrue.

I am not referring to everyone in disagreement, I'm referring to a specific type of person who can be found taking that position. Probably didn't make that distinction well enough. e.g. Someone like you with well-reasoned arguments and a respect for other people's opinion is not the type of person I would call a cheeto-laden man-child frothing at the mouth (you forgot that important last part).

As for your first point, Yahtzee's fame is not what gives him credibility. It's his past experience and exposure to games, the gaming industry, his status as an internet mogul (not his fame so much as his actual influence such as his ability to get developers to draw womanly pictures for him), as well as his connections in the gaming industry and the gaming community. It's called ethos and he has more of it than you or I do. His opinion IS more valid than ours because he knows more about what he's talking about.

Again, the comment was not about attacking one side of an argument, but more trying to mitigate undeserved ire on Yahtzee by people who had the wrong expectations, namely by redirecting it. Your response was not the one I was expecting and I wouldn't have felt the need to say what I said if everyone was as rational. If you still disagree I can respect that because you're doing it right. Now teach the rest of them

 

[Frankster]

Besides, there are good arguments on both sides of the debate and to simply dismiss every single one of them as "cheeto-laden man-children" is not only in poor taste, it's just simply untrue.

So what you're suggesting is that each side of this debate doesn't try to use strawmen arguments and portray the other side as entitled whiny manchildren/biodrones+corporate tools respectively?
And heck even try to understand each other's arguments?

And that we don't take the opinions of people with their own net shows and net articles as truths to be blindy followed?

You have dangerous ideas.

All of this seems strange to me. Everyone is talking about the ending and not the game. I haven't finished the game yet)

Maybe when you finish the game and reach the end all this won't seem so strange to you.

There's a hella lot of people thinking this way though "yeh i've only played the first half of the game and don't get why people say the game was awesome until the end", I honestly thought it was trolling at first but nope, way too many people are saying things like this.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

Bang, right in the fanboy vajayjay.

Bravo Yahtzee very right you are... no. 2 and 3 just killed all concept of being a planet surface exploring, biotic spamming, stat porn fulled, arse kicking bag of fun.

 

[Joccaren]

Wait, someone doing an Escapist article that doesn't paint the Mass Effect 3 protests as childish and stupid?
HOLY CRAP!

Er, didn't you hear him say "Are you sure not not upset about the ending because it IS an ending" (or word to that effect).

He has stated his opinion, and offered a counter argument (Which English Professionals have rebuffed already - it is an ending but not a conclusion). I will respect that. What I will not respect is when people go out of their way to make it sound stupid. I.E:
"but I still think the idea of demanding a new and "better" ending is ludicrous. I don't really have a stake in either side of this debate" http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116390-BioWare-Considering-Calls-for-New-Mass-Effect-3-Ending
"Congratulations, "Mass Effect" crybabies. You've officially set the entire medium back a DECADE as an art form" http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.355624-MovieBobs-thoughts-on-the-ME3-ending-controversy
"I want to point and laugh at the petition... Am I really going to have to throw a thumbs-up at something so patently ridiculous?... your demand for a Mass Effect 3 rewrite is beyond ludicrous" http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116315-Mass-Effect-3-Petition-Raises-Funds-For-Charity
and probably a couple more I could find if I looked. 'Ludicrous', 'Ridiculous', 'Crybabies', ect.
That I will not accept. Movie Bob's was on His Twitter I believe, so at least its not in an article here, but views such as this seem meant to offend those who legitimately oppose the Mass Effect 3 endings. Its not just saying 'I don't agree, and here's why/I'm not going to go into why', its saying 'I don't agree, and you guys are idiots for thinking this'. Its insulting and I personally expected better from here. The more recent articles from the Escapist don't have as much/any of this in them thankfully, however I have lost all respect for Movie Bob ATM. Unless he can come up with some damn good reasons to justify his position - and not just the 'its art' reason, as that is BS and rebutable in so many ways - I doubt I will actually listen to anything he says after this. He has gone out of his way to offend people, all because they don't share the same views as him. I can not respect that.