Follow Up On Mass Effect 3 Delay, This Might Be Bad

Indy500 · 5 May 2011 at 19:24

Evilsod said:
Meh, Praetorians are pointless. On Horizon its essentially you and about a bazillion stacked boxes and other items of cover so you get to run around in circles for ages slowing killing it. On the Collector Ship its basically the same thing except you need to kill the few Husks/Collectors that attack you first and theres less cover but a nice big square path for it instead.

The whole "slam on the ground and regen barrier" is a pain though.

Evilsod said:
Harbinger not much of an issue though unless you let him be 1. Except the ambush on the Collector Ship there really isn't much of a threat from him. He's mostly just annoying because he ALWAYS possesses the Collector thats about 1 bullet from death.

The other thing is his biotic attacks sometimes ignore cover.

Xelene · 5 May 2011 at 19:27

sr4470 said:
I think one of ME2's main weaknesses is, if you take out the character missions and sidequests, the actual plot is pretty short...

Cerberus Facility - Freedom's Progress - Horizon - Collector Ambush - Reaper IFF - Collectors attack the Normandy - Suicide Mission.

Most of which took under an hour each (unless you're playing on Insanity). The last mission was definitely too short, not exactly giving the impression that "millions" of collectors were on the station.

My last playthrough was 55 hours. I did fall asleep once and leave it on overnight. You aren't going to have a good ending if you rush through it like that.

Xelene · 5 May 2011 at 19:30

Evilsod said:
Meh, Praetorians are pointless. On Horizon its essentially you and about a bazillion stacked boxes and other items of cover so you get to run around in circles for ages slowing killing it. On the Collector Ship its basically the same thing except you need to kill the few Husks/Collectors that attack you first and theres less cover but a nice big square path for it instead.

Harbinger not much of an issue though unless you let him be 1. Except the ambush on the Collector Ship there really isn't much of a threat from him. He's mostly just annoying because he ALWAYS possesses the Collector thats about 1 bullet from death.

I usually just took Jack and Wrex on those missions and let them deal with the Husks, then killed the Praetorians with 2-3 head shots. Harbinger is just a waste of bullets, he's in no way hard to deal with - just have to deal with it too many times.

Indy500 · 5 May 2011 at 19:32

sldsmkd said:
My last playthrough was 55 hours. I did fall asleep once and leave it on overnight. You aren't going to have a good ending if you rush through it like that.

Nope, I was just highlighting the character missions aren't well integrated into the main plot, which is a tad thin on its own. My own playthrough is at 28 hours, with five missions left (Thane's loyalty, Legion's loyalty, Reaper IFF, Joker's mission and the finale). Scoured the hub planets for every sidequest, explored every available system.

Xelene · 5 May 2011 at 19:33

Mattyjw said:
and make dlc characters actually interact properly with the game not the zaed and kasumi canned stories

This. There's especially no point with Zaeed as he was released with the game, and Kasumi was not far after. And hell I'd INTERACT with her!

Evilsod · 5 May 2011 at 20:06

sr4470 said:
The whole "slam on the ground and regen barrier" is a pain though.

The other thing is his biotic attacks sometimes ignore cover.

Yeah but the thing about the Praetorian is, its never dangerous. The only way it can kill you is if you mess up. Its 'slam and regen' is frigging irritating purely because it does nothing but drag the fight out 5x longer.

I think its possible to make them miss all the time by just strafing left/right a bit behind cover when its coming for you. But yeah it is annoying, though most of the time you find yourself blowing Harbinger apart in 1 way of another the moment he spawns. It is good fun as a Vanguard basically Charging around him in circles picking off all the other Collectors.

@Matt - Thats always the problem with DLC, they rarely have any real care or attention put into them beyond the DLC itself. Its even worse when they add characters... Just look at Stone Prisoner for DA:O. It was intended to be in the original release and you can tell, it had interaction with the existing characters and existing characters had things to say during his quests (if i recall). Unlike Return to Ostagar which had every character in complete silence throughout...

Indy500 · 5 May 2011 at 20:10

Evilsod said:
Yeah but the thing about the Praetorian is, its never dangerous. The only way it can kill you is if you mess up. Its 'slam and regen' is frigging irritating purely because it does nothing but drag the fight out 5x longer.

I think its possible to make them miss all the time by just strafing left/right a bit behind cover when its coming for you. But yeah it is annoying, though most of the time you find yourself blowing Harbinger apart in 1 way of another the moment he spawns. It is good fun as a Vanguard basically Charging around him in circles picking off all the other Collectors.

Ah, I didn't pick that class. Maybe I'll try Vanguard if I feel like another playthrough.

Evilsod said:
@Matt - Thats always the problem with DLC, they rarely have any real care or attention put into them beyond the DLC itself. Its even worse when they add characters... Just look at Stone Prisoner for DA:O. It was intended to be in the original release and you can tell, it had interaction with the existing characters and existing characters had things to say during his quests (if i recall). Unlike Return to Ostagar which had every character in complete silence throughout...

I only got the free DLC that was available with the Cerberus Network code. If I had bought all the pay ones, it'd have cost twice what I paid for plain ME2

Xelene · 2 Jun 2011 at 20:49

Mass Effect 3 - Now with added Kinect controls.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/rumor-mass-effect-3-getting-better-with-kinect/

CaptainRAVE · 2 Jun 2011 at 20:57

Some of the changes sound really good, I just prey this lives upto the previous titles.

Deific · 2 Jun 2011 at 21:28

sldsmkd said:
Mass Effect 3 - Now with added Kinect controls.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/rumor-mass-effect-3-getting-better-with-kinect/

I facepalmed

'Wes · 2 Jun 2011 at 21:30

sldsmkd said:
Mass Effect 3 - Now with added Kinect controls.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/rumor-mass-effect-3-getting-better-with-kinect/

Wrong forum?

Ozzie Dave · 2 Jun 2011 at 21:58

Seriously, every press release they hand out, along with others like Ubi/Activision etc is typical corporate BS. Talking about market share/re-aligning their interests/changing game fundamentals to maximise profit/project ten dollar dlc etc etc....am I the only one that feels like I'm being treated like some sort of potential stock investor being wooed (read- BS'ed) rather than a gamer?

How incredibly depressing this 'innovative and artistic' industry has become...

gord · 2 Jun 2011 at 22:08

I shouldn't be surprised by EA but I am. I can understand the powerhouse publishers getting involved in their smaller titles where they feel a developer has lost direction. But Bioware have made many outstanding games and really don't need EA rail-roading them with an established IP.

That said, this also feels like it could be being taken a little too seriously and in actuality ME3 will be very much more of the same. Time will tell.

Pestilence · 2 Jun 2011 at 22:15

I don't see the Kinect addition as a potentially bad thing at this stage. The "Better with Kinect Sensor" monikor means it's obviously not essential in order to play and enjoy the game.

Perhaps facial mapping when creating your character, or facial and voice recognition during dialogue sequences. Keeping it simple like that could be the beginning of a positive integration of Kinect with RPGs.

We'll see in time, though.

Evilsod · 2 Jun 2011 at 22:57

No buts its kinda weird that they actually delayed the release to add Kinect to it...

Only thing I can think of is they got a cash-injection to cover the costs of adding it in in order to try and encourage sales. No way in hell is it beneficial to Bioware/EA to have it.

overclick · 2 Jun 2011 at 23:16

I preferred ME1 to ME2 though ME2 was still very good. I am hoping it is not too dumbed down and that they conclude the story on a par to ME1s story (very high bar i know).

Maybe I am not quite as worried as everyone else as I did not play Dragon Age 2 on account of the bad write up, love the 1st in the series. Finding The Witcher 2 a good RPG at the moment.

Mr Sustainable · 2 Jun 2011 at 23:43

Martini1991 said:
I put 30 hours into my last Mass Effect play through.
I booted up Mass Effect 2 having previously loved it, I felt it was inferior.

EA are a cancer to IP's.

Totally agree!

I have just finished ME1 and just starting ME2. It has been dumbed down significantly (didn't noticed it the first time as much as it had been a while since playing ME1).

It just seems soooo easy (playing veteran difficulty), obvious 'puzzles' and the main 'mission' short, boring and a total breeze. Not to mention the change in kitting out equipment, etc, which meant the four year old / average console gamer could play it.

I will buy ME3 outright, but I (as I am sure many might do) will not forget or forgive if Bioware/EA do dumb it down further and forget their roots. We bought ME1 and raved about it, for a reason.

EA... now I'm worried about BF3 and I have pre-ordered that.

Mr Sustainable · 2 Jun 2011 at 23:55

overclick said:
I preferred ME1 to ME2 though ME2 was still very good. I am hoping it is not too dumbed down and that they conclude the story on a par to ME1s story (very high bar i know).

That's my other moan. ME2 introduced some great characters - too many though, where I would have like to see two less characters and more production into the main mission.

There was also less great moments, i.e. 'high' moments in ME2 compared to ME1. ME2 was fairly neutral throughout and didn't feel I was in the moment making a difference to the galaxy (as sad as that sounds

).

Shamikebab · 3 Jun 2011 at 00:22

Mr Sustainable said:
Not to mention the change in kitting out equipment, etc, which meant the four year old / average console gamer could play it.

You know ME1 was on consoles first right?

Psymonkee · 3 Jun 2011 at 00:29

ME1 had a stupidly short main mission too remember! (If you skipped the side missions and planets.....oh wait that IS the game)

Also I have just thought of a potential use for Kinect to enhance the gameplay - controlling the galaxy map on the bridge. Instead of stepping up, pressing a button and a new screen popping up perhaps this:

Approach galaxy map, camera pans to a sensible height/angle and you use your hands to navigate to your chosen destination?