Mass Effect 3 Review - An adequate farewell

If you read my initial impressions about Mass Effect 3, then you already know that I was not completely overjoyed with my first few hours of playing the game.
Despite my great affection for the Mass Effect games, or perhaps exactly because of that, I could not help but feel a little let down by the first impression I got from this final chapter in the trilogy.

Problems with awkward animations, flat voice work, bad lip syncing and a universe that felt a lot smaller than in the previous two games made me really concerned that BioWare had managed to do a "Dragon Age 2" on Mass Effect 3.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Dragon Age 2, you can replace "do a Dragon Age 2" with "completely fuck up a great franchise".

Presentation has always been a fairly big part of Mass Effect.
The Mass Effect games have played heavily on providing the player with a very cinematic experience, so when I was met with bad animations and dull voice performance that was a major issue for me.
Luckily the quality of the voice overs, the lip syncing and, to some extent, the look of the animations all improve a lot once you get deeper into the game.

"Sweet, I can see my house from here !...Oh crap!"

The plot of Mass Effect 3 sees the invasion of the advanced sentient being nom-nom-nom'ing Reapers, who have arrived to rid the galaxy of all advanced life, a routine that happens every 50.000 years or so and is generally what most of aforementioned advanced life would consider "a bit of a downer".
As you take control of commander Shepard it's your job to travel across the Reaper infested galaxy and recruit the various civilizations into joining into a combined force that will be strong enough to take on the Reapers.

Being a story about large scale politics and saving all advanced life in the galaxy, Mass Effect 3 focuses much less on the intimate personal stories that were such a big part of Mass Effect 2, though you'll meet plenty of familiar faces from both of the first two games.
And as is the trademark of the Mass Effect series, the familiar faces that you run into will react differently to you depending on how you handled them in the previous games. Provided you didn't get them killed, in which case you'll be meeting new and unfamiliar faces, which again affects the way that things are going to play out.

Mass Effect 3 Impressions - A mixed bag of massed effects

I've spent the last few days trying to save the galaxy from the Reapers in Mass Effect 3, clocking up about 20 hours of dialogue wheeling and Cerberus blasting.
I'm still a little ambivalent about my feelings of Mass Effect 3, but from a shaky start I'm now really warming up to the game and find myself itching to get back in the thick of Reaper busting.

As you may know from my previous article about the things that I was looking forward to seeing in Mass Effect 3, I'm a huge Mass Effect fan. The Mass Effect games are some of the very few RPG's where I actually go out of my way to clear all side content instead of just barreling straight through the main story.
I really love the fiction of the universe and the characters feel excellently realized, in no small part due to the great voice acting and cinematic camera work during dialogue.

Shoot Brutes in the face for maximum chance of sending them into a murderous rage

Naturally I was therefore extremely excited to finally getting to play the final installment in the ME trilogy.
The demo, which I've previously given my impressions on, reminded me about how much I love these games, so as soon as I got my hands on the game I wasted no time importing my Shepard and getting down to business.

But after the first couple of hours with ME3 I started to get more than a little worried about BioWare's efforts.
Much of the first hours of the game was spent listening to voice work that felt flat and badly timed, with lines often being delivered without any sense of appropriate emotional intonation and responses sometimes coming after several seconds of awkward silence.
Furthermore it seemed that whoever was in charge of lip syncing the game is a heavy drinker or a tragic stroke victim, with dialogue several times coming out of characters' mouths in ways that made it look like they were in some kind of redubbed B-movie.

Finally, while the initial part of ME3 does a good job of setting the scene and showing you some cool looking set pieces, I felt that I was being lead down straight corridors with no room to explore or choose my own approach.

"Oh Mass Effect 3!" I cried to no one in particular "What have they done to you?! You were supposed to be a seductive Asari, beautiful and perfect, but you look more like a scarred up Krogan".

Mass Effect 3 Launch Trailer features more Reapers doing their reaping thing

Mass Effect 3 is launching next week and, in an attempt to drive us into a Krogan-like state of Mass Effect fueled frenzy, BioWare has just put up the launch trailer for the game.

Oh yes, I'm ready for another ride with the good Commander!



 Subscribe in a reader

Mass Effect 3 Take Earth Back Trailer

In case you still needed a reason to want to play Mass Effect 3, take a look at this juicy new cinematic trailer that BioWare has just released:

I can't wait to dive back into the Mass Effect universe!



 Subscribe in a reader

Mass Effect 3 Demo impressions - Reapers with a side order of Krogan

I just finished playing through the Mass Effect 3 demo and I'm pleased to say that I'm still very excited to play the full version of the game, when it releases later this month.
The demo gives you a chance to play through two different segments of the main storyline, where one is primarily focused on the narrative and cinematic effects, while the other mission is more about showcasing Mass Effect 3's combat.
After the very mood dampening experience that it was to play the demo for "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning", I was almost scared to try out this demo, in case BioWare had managed to ruin my favorite gaming franchise.

You get a chance to spec out your Shepard before you start the demo, so you can choose if you're going to play as a male or female, your background story and also select which class that you want to play as. Sadly you don't get to import your save game Shepard for the demo, but I guess that would be a bit overkill as you'll be through the two missions within an hour or two.

"Oh crap, Reapers! This is going to significantly reduce local property values"

After a nice intro sequence the demo kicks off with the first mission, which sees Shepard back on Earth where he has been stripped of his military rank after an incident that you could play through in the last bit of DLC for Mass Effect 2.
When reports of human colonies going dark suddenly start pouring into Earth military command, Shepard is brought before the armed forces leaders to confirm the obvious; the Reapers have finally shown up and have begun nom-nom-noming on the sentient beings of the galaxy.

Events really pick up when Earth itself comes under attack by Reapers and Shepard needs to escape the military compound while it is being assaulted by Reapers and the zombie-like "husks".
Your old buddy Admiral Anderson is also there to help you out, as you scramble through the apocalyptic war zone, which also acts as a tutorial for introducing you to the various controls of the game.

Mass Effect 3 Demo is hitting the web today

Just a friendly reminder for those of you that may have missed it that today is the day where we get a small taste of the space opera goodness that is Mass Effect 3.
The content of the demo is sounding pretty juicy as BioWare presents it on the official Mass Effect 3 webpage:

"Crap. I should have brought my ship"

"The demo begins in dramatic fashion with the spectacular opening attack on Earth, after which you're thrust headlong into a mid-game section showcasing the groundbreaking interactive storytelling, adrenaline-pumping action, ruthless and intelligent enemies, and deep customization that make Mass Effect 3 the must-have title of 2012."

In addition to whetting our appetites for the single player blowout, the demo will also offer you a chance to try your hand on the brand new multiplayer part of Mass Effect 3.
You'll get to try two co-op missions that sees you and your fellow players facing off against the invading enemy hordes, in a heroic defense of planet Earth.

The demo will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

I'm interested in seeing if any of my top 5 things I'm looking forward to seeing in Mass Effect 3 things are present in the demo.



 Subscribe in a reader

Why the "Geth" from Mass Effect are awesome

*Warning, contains Mass Effect 1 and 2 spoilers*

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Geth from Mass Effect.

In fact I'm such a big fan that learning more about them and their development is high on my list of things I'm excited about in Mass Effect 3.

But what is it that fascinates so much about the Geth?
Surely, they're just another two-dimensional machine race that cliche-like turned on their makers and now want nothing more than destruction of life, galaxy supremacy and voting right for toasters? (remember to vote "no" on proposition #1253B!)

"Is that a flashlight on your head or are you just happy to see me?"

Or, as I have seen one ME fan describing them; "baby Reapers".

Ah, but that is exactly what the Geth are not!

5 things I can't wait to see in Mass Effect 3

I am a huge fan of the Mass Effect series.

I played the first game on Xbox and then again on PC (because I wanted to play the sequel on PC and had to get a save set up).
I have completed all side quests in Mass Effect 2 and played through all the DLC (Lair of the Shadow Broker FTW).

In short, I like me some Mass Effect!

So close, yet so far away..

So it's no surprise that I am hugely excited about Mass Effect 3.
Sadly it got pushed out from it's expected 2011 release window and into 2012, but oh well, more time to play The Old Republic I guess.

The Mass Effect universe is incredibly deep and there are so many things that I am looking forward to learning more about in the final chapter of the trilogy.

Here are the 5 things that I am giddy with excitement to see in Mass Effect 3: