Mass Effect

[Pic0o]

Thanks to our belated Holiday in PA, I picked up Mass Effect. I put ~ 5 hours in so far and I am enjoying what I have seen so far. I did notice some of the slowdowns and texture draw delays mentioned by others, but these hardly dampen the experience for me thus far, and I don't see them becoming a game-breaker.

 

For clarity, this game is on the Xbox 360 and currently is an exclusive to the console. There is No Multiplayer that I am aware of.

 

Once I get the chance, I'll Snap a pic of my Shepard w/ my Capture Card. Feel Free to do the same, in any means able.

 

I can say that I am happy to see more non-FPS games hitting the 360, I do feel the console will stick around for much longer, as it embraces a diverse collection of genres to play. Speaking of playing this game, read the manual. It's that thick and in one language for a reason. :P

 

We will be out of town this weekend for the last leg of X-mas in Buffalo, so Mass Effect and I will have some alone time, until Sunday or so. Bwhahahaha. Playing this game gave me a reminiscent feeling of Vampire: Bloodlines, and that is some acclaim from me to put some solid playtime into Mass Effect.

 

Seriously though, this is a really fun game from what I have seen so far. Be warned that you will have some quests where you have to talk to people and obtain items, IE the RPG aspect of the game.

Edited April 2, 2008 by Pic0o
Added Shepard

[tOucan]

I hear good things about this game, But ill finish off oblivion first :P What amount of play time does it seem like you will get out of it? Im always paranoid with games not having multiplayer and me getting my monies worth.

[Pic0o]

I'm no where near done, but with the main content, and the replay value via other classes and different dialog options, I think you should be sure to get your loot out of it.

 

I picked up Oblivion for 360 last night, since my PC ran it kinda-ok, and I know it, with the 2 expansions has a small army of content.

[Xerxes]

I got completionist, which is the achievement for being "mostly" done the game at about 20 hours in...but I have only done like 4 parts or so to the main quest so I assume those will be alot larger then side quests.

[Pic0o]

I'm with you on the assumption about Side Q's being much shorter, as I just got done with Feros and it had mad Quests and such going on.

 

I'm rocking as a Level 18 or so Infiltrator, using some long range flavor, in addition to my pistol. I'll take a few to upload that pic of my Character, hopefully tonight.

 

I've got about 12 Hours in so far and I'll be plotting my next Destination tonight.

 

When you get the time, be sure to Register your Game on the Game Site you get a ton of handy and goofy tips, as well as the Artbook PDF.

[Xerxes]

Completed it yesterday ~25 hours, although I didnt finish all the side quests, I didnt know what I was doinbg would trigger the last end quest

[Pic0o]

At least you should have plenty to keep you entertained if you go for a 2nd playthru.

 

I have been playing some side quests for a few hours now, and I'd say each one on a remote planet takes approx 30 min or so each. On the Side Quests, you do exploring of a flat map for materials and objective points. When driving around, watch out for flat bodies of ground, as you might get snuffed by a 'Sand Worm'.

 

Of note as well, when you are driving in the Mako, you have 2 Zoom Levels. The 1st is by Left Trigger, and 2nd by Clicking Right Analog while having Left Trigger Clicked. This will help a ton when ridin dirty.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Pic0o

[Pic0o]

I spent a fat chunk of the weekend playing side quests, and I am 47/50 of my flagged Side Quests. Shepard and Crew are rocking Level 34 with some sweet perks and Weapon 0rbz! from the Side Quests.

 

While playing, I had Super Bowl 42 on to see the Giants take down NE, yay.

 

I may get started on the 3rd part of the main story, as the last 4 Side Quests I have are involving scanning planets and materials for contents.

 

FYI: Thanks to the Dell Ads during the Super Bowl, I learned that the Red Laptop officially makes you man-bait. WTF, mate.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Pic0o
Found 50th Side Q

[Pic0o]

Jolly Day, I finished up Mass Effect last night and I currently am waiting for my sinuses to open up from an infection I've had for over a week. This was a fun game, and I was level 46 when I got done with my first playthru, with maybe 3 flagged side quests open.

 

Of note, some of the side quests look to clear from your log once you complete them, so my previous number may be lacking to the amount I actually did.

 

As others have mentioned, you do see some slow downs when playing, but the only time I thought it was a problem, was driving the Mako on the Ice / Rain planets where they had the weather effect going. Falling rain or snow really stabbed the framerate in the face, but it was fine otherwise.

 

The 'sex' controversy: I played as male Shepard and dropped britches with Ashley. The scene showed Side-Ass, and I don't even recall hearing any strong moans or anything. Why the media grabbed this and ran with it, shows a desperation to justify all the farce they have been feeding it's viewers. Ahh yes, let's not forget the 'dancers' in the club. Humanoids moving back and forth in skin tight apparel, hmm, yeah, nothing I can't find on the Disney channel any day of the week.

 

For point of Reference, I played Phatasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh 2 weeks ago, and in the course of the game, I watched about 5 people get slasher-style murdered, and had sex with 2 different people, one showing some nips and shadow hopping, while the other one was some bathroom sex in a S&M Club.

 

All in all, it was a good game. I think they did well with the story as well. I also enjoyed the Dialog options, they were a nice dynamic touch that made the whole package of Mass Effect more then a Space shooter. I got 43+ Hours out of my 1st Playthru, that's pretty worthwhile to me. ;)

 

Oh hey, DLC was just announced for the game. 400 MS points for Bring Down the Sky. At least the price is moderate, we'll see how much it adds when it drops next month.

Edited February 6, 2008 by Pic0o
DLC Announced

[Xerxes]

The Fox storm was brewed b/c some retard wrote a piece on the internets stating you could do full sex and decide positions etc. A day after he retracted his article fox news decided to run with a story that was so very very wrong.

[Pic0o]

Awesome. I had no clue the origin was that retarded. Props to Fox for using blogs as a Reference :stab:

[SafeFire]

BumP!

 

Mass Effect just came out on pc over here, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely.

 

I got it yesterday, and I must say, it reminds me a whole lot of Knights of the Old Republic.

The way the levels are built, the hud, the art style, even the gameplay.

 

So far I've cleared Noveria and Feros, and rescued some geeky alien girl, who didn't see it inappropriate to make a move on me when the opportunity first saw her.

For a pc port of a console game, it works remarkably well, and the combat isn't at all slow or too easy. However, I sort of feel let down by the lack of inventory browser, and the shallowness of the skill/levelup mechanic.

 

But all that can be put aside, for the immersive quality of the game is amazing, let alone the story, so far.

 

I'm playing it through as a stock male soldier Shepherd, and I'm rocking some killer weaponry, namely a Tsunami V, which dishes out a lovely 228 dmg.

Coupled with some fancy tungsten rounds, it rocks my socks off, every time I fire it :o

 

What crew members do you guys have out, or had out, when you played it?

I've been running with with Ashley and that semi cyborgish Tali girl, makes a pretty good kill team.

 

Oh, and I can't help but love the Mako, ûber silly vehicle ftw.

Edited June 5, 2008 by SafeFire

[Pic0o]

I too was with mostly Ashley and Tali, as they kept me alive nice, and could do some ranged. I used Snipes and Shotty helped clear a spawn out. :)

 

I have yet to play the DLC portion, but I enjoyed Side-Questing and the main mission quite a bit. I want to load it up on my Fancy screen, but I think the disc is @ home, and I'm hittin the road after work. Yay long weekend. :)

[SafeFire]

Just wrapped up the main storyline five minutes ago. Damn, the ending part (Citadel and forward) caught me up like no game or movie has for longer than I can remember.

 

Oh, and I made Saren shoot himself, I feel totally manipulative now :o

[Pic0o]

Good Deal on the GG. I may level my crew a little more when I put a dent in my game backlog. :P

 

Anyone tinker w/ the DLC missions yet? That is another potential down the line, but I was happy with what I got for content from the retail game. That and I'm cheap, as every FPS Map DLC I got, I rarely play.