Mass Effect 3

[Cayal]

Because it came out today and it will be massive.

I haven't got it yet so I won't post much but for those who do, enjoy and post your thoughts.

 

[CyBeR]

All I know so far is that the internet hate machine is out in full force on this one:

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/mass-effect-3/user-reviews

And this is the case AFTER Metacritic cleaned out some of the negative reviews.

I usually assume that whoever gives a review with a rating of zero is an idiot. Seems like they all came out of their hidey holes for this one.

 

[Cayal]

What have the negative reviews been all about (aside from trolling).

 

[Kaladan]

Looks like a bunch of people didn't like the ending. The demo was pretty cool, though the sprint animation reminds me of I, Robot and the Centurions' smoke effect is abysmal, hope they fixed that for the full game. The multiplayer is brilliant.

My copy is hopefully arriving tomorrow but whether I'll be in to get it is another matter. My weekend is packed so I doubt it'll make a difference anyway. Although if it turns up I'll likely do little else.

 

[Chaoticheart]

What have the negative reviews been all about (aside from trolling).

Almost exclusively about the inclusion of a homosexual romance option.

There has been a little criticism about the ending as well, but primarily the issue seems to be "ONOES MANLOVE!". What an accepting world we live in.

 

[CyBeR]

As I said, the hate machine is strong in this one.
I would like to include this episode of the Jimquisition regarding that subject of Mass Effect 3. Not safe for work as his language is pretty appalling (don't mind the character he portrays, just what he says):

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vid...-Mass-Effect-3-And-The-Case-For-A-Gay-Shepard

 

[devilsgrin]

As I said, the hate machine is strong in this one.
I would like to include this episode of the Jimquisition regarding that subject of Mass Effect 3. Not safe for work as his language is pretty appalling (don't mind the character he portrays, just what he says):

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vid...-Mass-Effect-3-And-The-Case-For-A-Gay-Shepard

that clip was hilarious, but i also completely agree with everything Jim says about the "homophobia-disguised-as-justification" arguments of "fans" of the series.

 

[Freelancer]

I finished ME3 yesterday and with the exception of one segment in the finale, I had no problem with the ending at all. It's using a philosophy what many can't understand, namely the "Regardless what decision you make, you have a fix destiny". The only problem in the ending is the "Normandy" scene, however I also have an explanation for that. The problem is that the ending is requiring some meditation and that's why many don't like it and / or worse, don't understand it.

 

[Kaladan]

Finished it yesterday. Both ME2 & ME3 have been unable to instill that sense of impending doom that the original managed to do. Kinda dithered into the final quest thinking "****, was that all of the side quests?" Apparently not, but I'm not sure how I missed them. What happened to all the "randomly land on a planet and kick the stains out of XYZ mercenary company" quests???

I WTF'd at the Normandy cut-scene.

As for "gay Shepard", the only problem I had with it was that I didn't want to select the wrong options in conversation with the pilot and end up in the sack with him, lol. Some of those options can be misleading, particularly when what Shepard says is absolutely nothing like the text suggested.

 

[devilsgrin]

yes, paraphrasing Shep is a nightmare. I actually found it very easy for femshep to shoot down the fem-fem option, and still remain friends with her.

Having said that, i adored Mass Effect 1, Loved Mass Effect 2 even more, and i LoveD 95% of Mass Effect 3 - i utterly LOATHED the ending. From the Cerberus base onwards (except for the final goodbyes prior to launching the "Hammer" assualt), it sucks balls. (and not in the good way )

 

[Kamosis]

I finished it a few days ago, the game is awesome! The ending is... stupid.

 

[Rahl Windsong]

Still need to buy this one, enjoyed the demo though I never did manage to get a multiplayer game going and I am not really sure what that is all about...do you play the storyline in cooperative mode? Or is it just a way to test your character in a PvP battle?

I have loved this series right from the get go so I can not imagine not liking ME3 and on a side note I have no idea why Bioware decided to team up with LucasArts for their MMO game because in my oppinion they have a much better space opera of their own that they could now be developing into an MMO...The Mass Effect Universe...

 

[C Of K]

Mass Effect 3 was perhaps the most depressing game I've ever played.
In the middle of the whole thing, I had to take an entire week off so that it wouldn't
completely pull me down into an emotional slump.

Having said all that, I understand the need for the game to be this way. I personally
just don't need that much negativity from a gaming experience. After a week of not playing,
I went ahead and finished the game.

While the in-action experience was definitely high adrenaline, I felt absolutely no attachment to the new cast of characters. the ME2 cast had personality. The ME3 cast was cardboard. Lastly, the ending, the secret to the universe, was laughable. I laughed because it was almost like Bioware was sacrificing itself for the good of the gaming industry, although you can't quite be sure how their sacrifice would actually help the gaming industry. The in-story ending gives you that exact same feeling. It's funny that Bioware probably did do the best that they could by destroying the re-playability of their entire series, and then at the absolute end of the game, after the credits have scrolled, offering you the opportunity to pay for more downloadable content.

A resounding vote of "no confidence" in Bioware's ability to successfully conclude an epic trilogy of video games

 

[Kamosis]

"Regardless what decision you make, you have a fix destiny"

That could have worked in other games, but in ME Shepperd would have headbutted destiny and did things in her/his way.

 

[devilsgrin]

Mass Effect 3 was perhaps the most depressing game I've ever played.
In the middle of the whole thing, I had to take an entire week off so that it wouldn't
completely pull me down into an emotional slump.

Having said all that, I understand the need for the game to be this way. I personally
just don't need that much negativity from a gaming experience. After a week of not playing,
I went ahead and finished the game.

While the in-action experience was definitely high adrenaline, I felt absolutely no attachment to the new cast of characters. the ME2 cast had personality. The ME3 cast was cardboard. Lastly, the ending, the secret to the universe, was laughable. I laughed because it was almost like Bioware was sacrificing itself for the good of the gaming industry, although you can't quite be sure how their sacrifice would actually help the gaming industry. The in-story ending gives you that exact same feeling. It's funny that Bioware probably did do the best that they could by destroying the re-playability of their entire series, and then at the absolute end of the game, after the credits have scrolled, offering you the opportunity to pay for more downloadable content.

A resounding vote of "no confidence" in Bioware's ability to successfully conclude an epic trilogy of video games

Overall the generally depressing tone was expected and not the problem for me with the game. A war-time setting against the "big bad" is not a sunshine lollipop party...
A FULL renegade shep playthrough is one of the most difficult things to do in this game. the Samara and Mordin bits especially. they make the game utterly utterly terrible (Renegade Shep in ME3 WAY different to Renegade Shep in ME1 and ME2)
There are however some utterly brilliant arcs in this game... Tuchanka (i cried when i renegaded Mordin, so i reloaded and paragaded tuchanka instead) and Rannoch (cried again, from melancholy happiness) are gaming magnificence. Thessia is desperately sad (i cried more) (kai leng excluded of course). Its once all these large set-pieces that actually are made different by your earlier decisions that make the ending EVEN WORSE. Thessia doesn't change much i'll admit, but Tuchanka and Rannoch are vastly different

 

[C Of K]

Overall the generally depressing tone was expected and not the problem for me with the game. A war-time setting against the "big bad" is not a sunshine lollipop party...
A FULL renegade shep playthrough is one of the most difficult things to do in this game. the Samara and Mordin bits especially. they make the game utterly utterly terrible (Renegade Shep in ME3 WAY different to Renegade Shep in ME1 and ME2)
There are however some utterly brilliant arcs in this game... Tuchanka (i cried when i renegaded Mordin, so i reloaded and paragaded tuchanka instead) and Rannoch (cried again, from melancholy happiness) are gaming magnificence. Thessia is desperately sad (i cried more) (kai leng excluded of course). Its once all these large set-pieces that actually are made different by your earlier decisions that make the ending EVEN WORSE. Thessia doesn't change much i'll admit, but Tuchanka and Rannoch are vastly different

Game had great moments. Kai Leng was a horrible character. More cardboard.

****************************SPOILER WARNING BELOW************************************

Spoiler

It's just sad that Bioware writers felt a need to explain everything, that had gone before the ending, which, in turn, opened up a whole slew of new questions, the answers to which all became irrelevant the moment they destroyed all the Mass Relays.

I didn't need an explanation for why the Reapers do what they do every 50k years. For two whole, very successful games, I had accepted that they were just big bad evil creatures, and that they were millions of years older than anything else. Why should something like that need an explanation? I think almost everyone accepted them without Bioware introducing the catalyst as the little kid at the end who tells Reapers when to knock over anthills.

Now I want to know why this kid, a machine, tries to stop all machines from destroying sentient life, by using machines to destroy all sentient life... ... Of course, the answer to my question hardly matters now that the kid no longer has the ability to do so

I wholeheartedly lament the failure of Marauder Shields, the true hero of ME3

 

[devilsgrin]

Marauder Shields was a truly great hero, he paid the ultimate price to help prevent THAT ending...

 

[Finnien]

There are a lot of problems centered around Mass Effect's ending.

First, you have the problem of player expectations. In the previous two games, you could achieve a relatively happy ending, provided you put in your time, gathered as much side-quest support as you could, and made the best choices available to you. In the third, not so much. Therefore, the expectations the first two had created led to unfulfilled expectations in the third.

Additionally, the game advertised increased player responsibility in comparison to the previous games, games which were already seen as revolutionary in the diversity of their endings. The advertisements cited the staggering number of decisions from previous games that would carry over to the third, and stated that players would be able to have substantially different endings based on their decisions and actions. Those expectations were not met.

The ending itself was also a source of criticism, not only because of lack of player choice or because of the events themselves, but because of its incomplete nature. Love interests, major characters you've been with for years, whole planets and races - totally left out of the ending. It left the player sorely lacking for closure.

Finally, there was debate around the debate - criticism of the fan community for its outrage at the ending. A portion of the external media not only criticized the fan base for its 'sense of entitlement' but went on to cite the fan outrage as a major factor in why video games were not taken seriously as art - no artistic integrity in storytelling if the game is changed on behalf of fan outrage, and no fan support if it isn't. I believe Forbes had an article with this point of view that was particularly critical of the video game community, although it never really addresses the differences between movies and video games in storytelling.

So overall, it's really a question of which debate you want to take part in. How much freedom should the player be allowed in determining the ending of a video game like this? Does the community have a right to complain when an ending lacks depth, and how far does that right extend? Does the nature of video games allow for interaction between player and author, and subsequent development of the story (fleshing out vs. radical alteration), or does any change invalidate the artistic credibility of the game itself? At what point are the objections merely reflections of a sense of fan entitlement, and at what point are they legitimate criticisms of false advertising and failed promises? Is Bioware's publisher Electronic Arts really full of nothing but money-grubbing sadists bent on destroying the video game industry for its own sick pleasure?

Plenty of material for debate, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out once the 'expanded ending' content is released this summer.

 

[Kamosis]

****************************SPOILER WARNING BELOW************************************

Spoiler

I didn't need an explanation for why the Reapers do what they do every 50k years. For two whole, very successful games, I had accepted that they were just big bad evil creatures, and that they were millions of years older than anything else. Why should something like that need an explanation? I think almost everyone accepted them without Bioware introducing the catalyst as the little kid at the end who tells Reapers when to knock over anthills.

Really? For me this game was all about understanding the reapers, finally getting an answer for why they do that! I'm was hopping to see some kind of explanation, a valid reason, not only "They do it because they are evil".

 

[Finnien]

I agree with C of K. I was more interested in the way the story was being told, the effects individual decisions had on the ongoing story. I think Mass Effect 2 was the highlight of the series for two reasons: First, your actions had considerable influence on the outcome of events. Second, the decisions you made had an outcome you could not predict. With the third game unreleased, each decision you made in #2 had to be made within the context of the storyline, not based on an outcome you could look up online. The decision to save or destroy the Collector base was one of the few hard decisions a video game ever presented me with, because I couldn't look up the ramifications it would have in the future.

Where Mass Effect 3 failed, in my eyes, was a lack of significant decisions. The series went from being absolutely revolutionary to ... bland and disappointing.