Mass Effect Review Thread: Discussion

Kyle009 · 20 Nov 2007 at 11:24

really looking forward to this now, not that long!

Davey_Pitch · 20 Nov 2007 at 11:45

Zefan said:
Of course it is very fluid and gives you great choice most of the time which is great, the thing that annoys me is the way they try to make you think you've got a choice in cases where you don't.

That doesn't really bother me as such, as I feel there are times in games when you simply have to be pushed down a particular path to progress the story. It's not the open world we all really want it to be, but then again very few games really deliver on the "go anywhere, do anything" premise so many of them say they have.

Bigpig · 20 Nov 2007 at 11:46

Zefan said:
LOL @ that chat choice ring image

From what I've seen the chat isn't as flexible as I thought it was going to be at first, take this made up example with 3 choices

"Why?"
"We need to get over there"
"I'm not going to let that happen".

It doesn't matter which you select, he always says "Why does that matter? I'm not going to sit by while X happens, we need to get over there right away" so it's only actually giving you the illusion of choice some of the time.

Of course it is very fluid and gives you great choice most of the time which is great, the thing that annoys me is the way they try to make you think you've got a choice in cases where you don't.

Those little chocies most of the time change the way you're crew think of you so they all important

Shicky · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:38

Didn't really have much clue about this game till last night, knew it was a big upcoming title but just thought it was another FPS. After watching the review on gametrailers.com it was well and truly pre-ordered and im very much looking forward to it.

Works great for me as i dont have my 360 on the net or with a subscription in my room (lack of COD4 online helps with uni work) and i wont miss the online RPG experience, which would annoy the hell outta me but still get a great game to play and enjoy at a sane pace.

Zefan · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:40

Davey_Pitch said:
That doesn't really bother me as such, as I feel there are times in games when you simply have to be pushed down a particular path to progress the story. It's not the open world we all really want it to be, but then again very few games really deliver on the "go anywhere, do anything" premise so many of them say they have.

Yeah I know that, but why give 3 choices when all he's going to do is say all of them anyway? I understand a true interactive narrative is impossible, I wasn't getting at that. The thing that annoys me is that they attempt to make it appear that you're choosing what to say when actually you're not given any choice at all. I'd prefer if they were just honest about it.

Bigpig said:
Those little chocies most of the time change the way you're crew think of you so they all important

These one's don't.

Snow-Munki · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:40

ahhh so there's no online element to this at all ?

Zefan · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:41

Snow-Munki said:
ahhh so there's no online element to this at all ?

Nope.

moody · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:52

Zefan said:
Yeah I know that, but why give 3 choices when all he's going to do is say all of them anyway?

You don't say all three. The only time you can say all three is when your trying to find out general information normally about planets and species. According to my mate this type of chat appears on the left-hand side.

In talks that effect the storyline you got three options but you can only select one. These appear on the right.

Zefan · 20 Nov 2007 at 13:55

moody said:
You don't say all three. The only time you can say all three is when your trying to find out general information normally about planets and species. According to my mate this type of chat appears on the left-hand side.

In talks that effect the storyline you got three options but you can only select one. These appear on the right.

You're not getting what I'm saying.

There are points in the game where you select one chat option but he says another you didn't select aswell anyway. I.e. the plotline is forced. As I said before, I don't have a problem with this, but I do have a problem with them including 5 options when there's only 3 available answers that play.

Davey_Pitch · 20 Nov 2007 at 15:05

Snow-Munki said:
ahhh so there's no online element to this at all ?

Only downloadable content

tomanders91 · 20 Nov 2007 at 15:39

gamespot gave it 8.5, and they give halo 3 a 9.5 or something.

DanH84 · 20 Nov 2007 at 16:38

tomanders91 said:
gamespot gave it 8.5, and they give halo 3 a 9.5 or something.

i hate gamespots reviews myself, could be that it is only an 8.5 so i won't comment on that but they seem to rate any game that could even possibly have elements from it by fps benchmarks.

McDaniel · 20 Nov 2007 at 16:41

you cna increase your charm and intimidation skills to allow for more options which can otherwise be locked out

wannabedamned · 20 Nov 2007 at 16:54

I cant wait for this. 3 more days! I'll be having my copy!! Good reviews. As for the Halo 3 vs mass Effect scores, For me Mass Effect can't be worse than Halo atall, Why? Because I don't like Halo all that much. For me its an average game. I'm sure for others Mass effect will be seen as an average game.

Review scores are given by a person. That person, Will always have slight bias, Its human nature. It's called preference.

If i was reviewing, I'd rate Halo lower than 9.5, Definately. I can't say what i'd give Mass Effect having not played it.

slambo69 · 20 Nov 2007 at 17:44

Gamespot reviews are weird, the same reviewer that gave mass effect 8.5 gave assassins creed a 9. The general press concensus is that mass effect is the AAA game and not AC.

Teaf · 20 Nov 2007 at 17:50

Gamespot reviews are a bit silly, I used to use them all the time for reviews but after some very dubious ratings I look elsewhere and tend to use GameTrailers now, plus their HD video reviews are free to download and are fast download speeds

ps. GameTrailers gave it 9.6

SiD the Turtle · 20 Nov 2007 at 18:11

I'm always dubious about Gamespot reviews, I have no proof but I bet money/favours are changing hands.

Gametrailers reviews are good because you get to see the game in action for an extended period of time so you can make your own assessments. For example the GT review of Mass Effect showed the tearing/frame rate drops so you could assess if it would be a show stopper for you.

Bloodshot · 20 Nov 2007 at 18:37

SiD the Turtle said:
I'm always dubious about Gamespot reviews, I have no proof but I bet money/favours are changing hands.

Gametrailers reviews are good because you get to see the game in action for an extended period of time so you can make your own assessments. For example the GT review of Mass Effect showed the tearing/frame rate drops so you could assess if it would be a show stopper for you.

The fact AC had a take over on Gamespot (they cost like £25,000 a day by the way) the day the review went live means the review is more than likely bought. Do you think Ubisoft would pay £25,000 for Gamespot to then give the game a 7 on release day when all their advertising kicks off?

RuMp3l4$k1n · 20 Nov 2007 at 18:48

The Gamespot score fitted well with the text of the review, I don't see any issue with it. The same problems have been noted else where but some just choose not to reflect that in the score. Decide on the text not the final score,it still looks like a good title and they said so themselves.

nicktay2605 · 20 Nov 2007 at 21:06

I've played UT3 and its nowhere near as good as Crysis, theres no way its even in that category. Crysis probably lacks the mass appeal, PC games don't get GOTY so often, though I'm sure it will get PC GOTY (and probably deserves the overall win too). Also how has nobody mentioned Halo 3!?