Mass Effect

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-28 09:28pm

You know the psyker camp? The first time I went there I was apparently blind and didn't see the entryway, so I jumped the Mako up on top of the big brown building you're supposed to use the door on. Got out, walked around, tried to get in the skylight, the whole shazam. Turns out psykers don't open the door for prowlers. Also, you can get stuck in terrain pretty easily in these normally inaccessable areas and have to beam back up to the ship.

Sylas, I don't remember if other 'goop' attacks bypassed shields. I thought only melee bypassed shields?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2007-11-28 11:25pm

Rachni or and Threser Maw attacks bypass shields and directly attack the hull.

However all the Mako sections were absurdly easy for me once I discovered the best method in car combat. That being to sit still in one location, using the left trigger to zoom in and use your jets to dodge the giant energy balls and rockets that come your way. If you do it right you only have to dodge every other volley since they target your while floating in the air, and that quickly lets you mow down any number of enemies, Geth, Thresher or otherwise.

I've beat the game, some of my top moments
Spoilers to high hell
1. Making Saren blow his own brains out through the power of blue responses. I was totally not expecting him to go that far Good stuff
2. Just before you fight Sovereign, Sheppard sends Wrex down to check to see Saren is dead, Wrex "checks" by shooting Saren multiple times
3. Having the option to save or kill the ruling party of galaxy. Good stuff I can't wait to kill them on the go through.
4. Murder a colony full of people or save it? Sure thing, hope

What I hated

1. Not being able to steal the genophage cure. Come the fuck on, having that cure=massive bonus points for humanity leverage ability.
2. Want to make the damn game longer Bioware? How about not giving me exactly three @#$@$ options. I'm tired of that, Kotor I and II, what happen to multi-staged games?
3. @#$ Useless side planets. How hard would it have been to bring in five people to do nothing but flesh those planets out, come up with a few side characters. Something along the lines of the Cerberus plot line but for each side planet!
4. All the option content is the same damn level loadout gaah!

Question now, what the hell happened with the Specter thing? It's such a big deal, go anywhere do anything. Bound by no rules, the whole bit. The match of a damn Soviet Commisar, yet people are being openly rude to me.

Don't I have the legal authority to "deal" with any "enemies of the galactic people?" No legal recourse if I come in there and blow your obstructionist brains out? So when I say Specter why don't I get any dang respect?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2007-11-29 02:05am

The game was fun and had the feel of what Bioware wanted to do more with the KoTOR games.

Yes, I can list more then a few complaints, but people have already covered the large ones such as planets...and short(yes, I want a fucking game that I don't beat in a week and wonder where the fucdk did $60+ go to).

As is, I did like what could do with Saren(ah, dumbfuck...but hey he did do it), and some of the side character's dialogue made me chuckle. Which is more then I can say for a lot of the games over the past couple years.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-29 02:11am

Bean, I found moving horizontally a better dodge move. You can do it indefinately (rather than jets that get you very limited jump) and rockets often come in heavy barrages that a single jet-jump won't be able to lift you over. I find giving them a broadside shot and just driving a fit forward and a bit back means you never, ever get hit. Jumping is 100% defence against an armature or two, though, given their totally useless main gun thing. Like I said, the Maw only got me because I dozed off.

It's not just Maw and Racnai: it's melee in general. This is why the Maw shot passing through is silly.

Then again, towards the end of my planet trawl I started getting out and doing the fights on foot, just to make it hard. I mean, five guys outside a building and you're in a tank? What a waste of time.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-11-29 04:20am

Ghost Rider wrote: Yes, I can list more then a few complaints, but people have already covered the large ones such as planets...and short(yes, I want a fucking game that I don't beat in a week and wonder where the fucdk did $60+ go to).

This game was made for replayablity.

Be an asshole, be a saint, be yourself. Shoot guns, hack robots, or use the Forc- I mean biotics.

You can't do it all in one go.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2007-11-29 09:35am

Mr Bean wrote: Question now, what the hell happened with the Specter thing? It's such a big deal, go anywhere do anything. Bound by no rules, the whole bit. The match of a damn Soviet Commisar, yet people are being openly rude to me.

The level of respect you get tends to vary depending on who you talk to, sometimes depending on how good a chance they feel they have of taking you in a firefight. Some of the people you run into are big on your spectrehood, some tend to take the 'I have more guns than you' attitude.

And Spectre's don't have a lot of oversight but they do have some.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-11-29 04:04pm

The "Hardcore" setting is a lot more fun if you start over from scratch after the first play through instead of continuing on with your original character. I hope "Insanity" is just that.

Side question... Is there some sort of resistance or reluctance, in either the development or gaming community, to make a multiple disc game. This game, along with games like KOTOR and such, would seem the perfect fit for something like that.

Why not make a 3 disc game with all the discs containing the same amount of content... say like a disc for Noveria and it's side missions, one for Feros, etc.

I mean, if we have to wait a little longer for a good game that is fine, and I wouldn't personally mind paying more for something of that scale and magnitude.

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2007-11-29 04:14pm

havokeff wrote:The "Hardcore" setting is a lot more fun if you start over from scratch after the first play through instead of continuing on with your original character. I hope "Insanity" is just that.

Side question... Is there some sort of resistance or reluctance, in either the development or gaming community, to make a multiple disc game. This game, along with games like KOTOR and such, would seem the perfect fit for something like that.

Why not make a 3 disc game with all the discs containing the same amount of content... say like a disc for Noveria and it's side missions, one for Feros, etc.

I mean, if we have to wait a little longer for a good game that is fine, and I wouldn't personally mind paying more for something of that scale and magnitude.

Good luck seeing that from bioware now that EA's bought them out.

God forbid they have to delay the game and miss the holiday buying season

Erik von Nein · Post by **Erik von Nein** » 2007-11-29 05:20pm

You know, knocking EA for pushing Bioware to put out a game before the developers feel they're ready after the abomination that is KOTOR II is incredibly humorous for some reason.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-29 06:41pm

The Spectre thing is an example of why the paragon/renegade thing is silly. When those Novaria guys tried to rule on me, I shut them up good and proper: oh noes renegade points because I didn't suck their cock for threatening me!

And I really don't see any replay value in this game beyond my sad achievement-whoring. Once I've got the epeen points I want, why would I go back to see the slightly-different but ultimately-irrelevant conseration difference? At least replaying Witcher allows ACTUAL difference, and I doubt I'll replay that either.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-11-29 08:51pm

havokeff wrote:The "Hardcore" setting is a lot more fun if you start over from scratch after the first play through instead of continuing on with your original character. I hope "Insanity" is just that.

Side question... Is there some sort of resistance or reluctance, in either the development or gaming community, to make a multiple disc game. This game, along with games like KOTOR and such, would seem the perfect fit for something like that.

Why not make a 3 disc game with all the discs containing the same amount of content... say like a disc for Noveria and it's side missions, one for Feros, etc.

I mean, if we have to wait a little longer for a good game that is fine, and I wouldn't personally mind paying more for something of that scale and magnitude.

Blue Dragon is multiple discs, but that is because of a bunch of pre-rendered cutscenes.

If all the cutscenes are done in-game you can fit a lot more on one disc.

Here's what I'd want for Mass Effect 2: A 2 disc game, with one disc being the "cache" disc that installs some stuff on your HDD so that there will only be loading as you move to different systems or onto/off a planet, with the rest of the disc consisting of extras like included in the LE.

The other disc will be the game, with that much more content on it and none of the loading that we're forced to put up with because MS doesn't want to allow games to require a HD.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2007-11-29 09:08pm

Supposedly the game wasn't shrunk down in terms of content to fit on one disc, they just managed to compress it sufficiently. The developers commented that only shortly before they had to press the discs, they didn't think there was any way they could get it down to one, but then they came up with some clever compression methods that allowed them to squeeze it on there.

There is resistance to multi-disc games, but the content in Mass Effect was established before they pared it down. Nothing was cut just to keep from pressing a second disc.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-29 09:20pm

Actual installs would be nice, but non-Elite users would have to alternate if too many games started using it.

I'd actually like to see the things they sold Mass Effect 1 on in Mass Effect 2. Even the goddamn attract mode features shit you can't do due to the unchanging storybook nature of the game. Actual decisions with actual pressures and consequences (like ME1 was supposed to have) would hopefully be in any sequel. I'd like to see situations you can't resolve simply by choosing your mind-control powers, and actual roleplaying encouraged by different approaches being necessary with different people or situations rather than 'use charm = you win always to the point of suicide'.

[insert lol witcher has all this stuff already text here]

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-11-30 12:47am

The point with the charm and intimidate options is that if you can't select them, then your character simply isn't charismatic enough to talk the character out of the situations.

That (gasp) happens in life sometimes.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-30 01:11am

And that NEVER happens if you level the skill. It doesn't even seem to matter which one you use for a given situation: the red/blue options always result in 'success', thus removing any actual decisionmaking about the dialogue.

When I said 'I'd like to see situations you can't resolve simply by choosing your mind-control powers' I was directly referring to this mechanic. It is *literal* mind control because it *always* works, and you don't have to gauge an approach, roleplay, or misjudge someone's reaction. It's a magic ability to resolve any situation ever by choosing the blue/red option, and it's stupid. It's frankly absurd to say 'hey mang drugs = bad you know' and have someone INSTANTLY about-face and give up their habit and change their entire viewpoint.

Frankly, since I never referred to the levelling of the skill or the options being unavailable, I'm not sure why you even brought it up. Unless you're suggesting it's adding choice and consequences to the game that the same skill will always work and instantly resolve any situation with anyone ever.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-11-30 01:30am

It "works" in that it helps resolve whatever conflict you are approaching, but that doesn't mean it is the best answer.

For example, if you talk to Chellick at C-Sec about picking up some evidence from a dealer, and you use the renegade option on the dealer, you end up killing him, and then Chellick doesn't give you a reward like he does if you follow his instructions.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-30 02:37am

Amusingly, that is one of only three points I was thinking of that had actual choices.

Usually the options are just various ways of saying 'I win', but a few quests have quests you can break or things you can miss out of by going a certain way... but that only makes the other 98% of the paint-by-numbers dialogue lame.

Like the hostage situation. Is it a tense negotiation, a complex appreciation of both sides of the issue leading to a gradual reduction in violence, causing both drama, roleplaying, and cool events?

Nope, it's 'choose the glowing option and you win'. Pffft.

I'm hoping if you give Wrex the renegade option you just shoot him in his stupid face. It really disappointed me that I couldn't do that more: I was a hell paragon guy, but there were many of the +1 or +2 options I went renegade on (of course, massively outweighed by the several +20 paragon options).

The black market mission you mention even has three different results, but it's just 'different loot' options. When the attact movie for the game is ZOMG TEH HUUUUGE CHOICES and the closest thing to it is the manufactured 'zomg who diez' thing, that's lame at best and misleading at worst.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2007-11-30 02:03pm

I found a new mission I missed on my first play through, that has a dumb fucking ending when you choose the blue option... the chick on the Citadel that wants you to KILL here competitors in the gang she is in... so you do it go meet her and choose your good guy option and she gives up her life of crime and disbands the gang... huh? Yeah right.
I suppose though that if you choose the red option you can blow hell out of the whole gang, but still,, just fucking dumb.

That's another thing that is bugging me now. If I attack and wipe out an entire mercenary gang in one location, I would expect some sort of retaliation, Specter or not. It's not like they don't have the same resources I have since I am using all their equipment. They also have biotics that are clearly powerful.
Actually I was expecting more of this after the assassination attempt out side of Chlora's Den, but they seem to have forgotten about doing that.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-30 05:36pm

I got the sense that the different guys who made the mission scripting didn't really go for an even feel. The same differences are noticable in games like Oblivion: some missions 'feel' much different in tone to others. Some of the ME quests are cool, or have interesting twists or lead to good decisions, but the majority are cookie-cutter badness. It amused me when (since I avoid the boring Citadel) I eventually went back to turn in the half-dozen quests I'd picked up, one was that Asari who wanted me to kill her sister. She'd never told me to (I'd never responded to her call to meet her on Citadel), but I'd killed her sister all the same during my planet-trawl. She was pleased she didn't have to talk me into it... although she said I'd get access to new items, but I never found them.

At least I now know you can finish the Citadel in under 2h if you ignore the silly crap. Also Hav, Hardcore on a high-level character is way harder than starting again, due to the leveling. Instead of facing a few drones on Eden, you face about a dozen rocket and assault drones from the end of the game on Veteran. It's fun.

Rightous Fist Of Heaven · Post by **Rightous Fist Of Heaven** » 2007-11-30 05:51pm

Hitting on 22 hours into the game, and starting to think how to get the Spectre weapons. So somebody clue me in, how do I get the best candy in the shop

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-30 05:53pm

Get one million bucks for the 'rich' achievement.

Vendors have a 'buyback' pane, where you can get your shit back for the value they paid you not retail. So go to a vendor, sell everything to get over a million, get the achievement, then buy everything you want back.

In all seriousness, how far through are you? That's about the time it took me to finish the game. Where do you think the extra time comes from? I even did all the stupid scavenger hunts.

EDIT - also, with Rich only a few vendors (like C-Sec and Normandy shops) sell the Spectre weapons. Oh and you should also be high level, so let me know if you hit level 50 on first play through.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-11-30 06:25pm

You should get the "Rich" achievement pretty easily if you open every crate, weapon locker, and item cache you find and sell the stuff. By the time every crate is disgorging 3-4 Mk VIII items you'll be swimming in cash.

I ended up maxing my money out with both Shepherd and Garrus fully outfitted with all four Spectre weapons, Mk VIII and Mk IX mods on armour.

I hit level 50 right before the final battle. Literally the last few grunts before the end boss got me to 50. (I also managed to get Damping Expert on the last boss himself, yay me).

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-11-30 06:27pm

Stark wrote: In all seriousness, how far through are you? That's about the time it took me to finish the game. Where do you think the extra time comes from? I even did all the stupid scavenger hunts.

It took me 40 hours and change. But then I'm slow and spend ages footling about and poking my nose into every available corner.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-11-30 06:29pm

Heh, yeah I got two of my skills maxed in the final sequence too. So you CAN reach level 50 eh? I must have missed some pile of guys, or maybe I shoulda saved the scavenger hunt for later where the guys would have been leveled to get more total xp? I mentioned the money being ridiculous on the first page: at the start guns sell for like $20, and later you've got 100 guns worth 8k a pop...

Why is everyone doing second run as a soldier? ARs suck, heavy armour doesn't give you any achievement-able skills, and if you did what everyone seems to do and go Infiltrator first time surely you want biotics? Madness.

It also appears you can't lose renegade/paragon points, so Anton will eventually have maximum in both. Go the system!

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-11-30 06:32pm

Stark wrote:I got the sense that the different guys who made the mission scripting didn't really go for an even feel. The same differences are noticable in games like Oblivion: some missions 'feel' much different in tone to others.

Luckily for Fallout 3, they have the best people from Oblivion working on it. The guy who did the Dark Brotherhood quests is one of the leads.