Thespian: What does everyone think? Does it bode well or ill for your expectations of ME3?
Personally I was very impressed by the demo. It really nailed my hopes for the new game.
Pros; 1 - The game seems to be a thematic blend of ME1 and ME2. Music borrows from both breeds of sound track and sound effects (such as when your gun runs out of ammo) are reminiscent of ME1's cyberpunk-y style.
2 - The leveling system for abilities. Yeah, it looks cool - Not TOO streamlined, could probably stand to have a bit more depth but I like it nonetheless. I also like how it seems every class has a grenade power.
3 - The icing on the cake - For example, my favorite class is easily Sentinel, and my favorite power is Tech Armour. I love the way the new Tech Armour looks like the type all the other NPCs use, and I like how you can detonate it.
4 - Weapons. So, now we can use whatever weapons we want, no matter what class we are. Sweet. I understand there are restrictions, since certain classes carry more weapons than others, but I liked being a Sentinel and carrying a shotgun and an assault rifle.
5 - Squad Banter. No one does this like Bioware, and it's getting extra focus in ME3, it seems. The exchange between Garrus and Wrex at the start of the demo's second mission is priceless. Squad-mates seem to be conversing more during missions as well.
6 - Captain Kirrahe. Just... Just Captain Kirrahe :D I was so glad to see him. I hope this indicates that the full game will draw from the mythos built up by the last two - There are tons of NPCs I'd really enjoy coming across again throughout the game. I expect another chance to upstage Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, maybe see what Thane's son Kolyat has made of himself, or hear what trouble Kal'reegar has gotten himself into lately.
Cons;
1 - Well, as soon as James Vega lumbered into the scene and Shep called him by his first name I realized this would be another forced attempt to make me like the token human characters. This guy just seems like Ashley with a Y chromosome, so if there's an equivalent Virmire for me to leave him burning on he'll be finding himself there soon enough.
2 - Some of the facial expressions and stuff were... Just a bit off? And all in all while there's some pretty scenes, the demo didn't show off it's visuals or textures very well. The first level was a series of grey corridors and the second was a series of... Well, beige corridors. Then again, I was playing it on an old SD TV, so benefit of the doubt I guess.
3 - I thought it felt a little action game-y. Especially the first part, where you're running around Earth and things are exploding and it stops every once in a while to show Shepard dive out of the way of an explosion and it just felt a bit jarring.
4 - No indication as to how Armour or Weapon crafting will work, whuuut? I really wanted to see that. Hrm.
5 - The Dialogue choices were, well, negligible. I had hoped for at least a cool Paragon/Renegade interrupt to get, say, new players excited about the whole choice-making mechanic? Then again, that's hardly their agenda when they give you the choice of ignoring the dialogue parts entirely at the start of the game...
All in all, GREAT demo. I loved it, despite the flaws. It actually rejuvenated my faith in ME3. And we haven't seen how Armour or Weapons will work yet, and the Weapon customizing looks cool. So I think ME3 has a lot of potential.
Number 5 of your cons
I don't know what happens if you choose differently at the start but I feel the game is profoundly making you choose by your emotion
It feels more like your personal preferred way of dealing with things is here reflecting what you become :paragon or renegade
To me it didn't feel as a "tactical choice" rather than a compelling enigmatic way of drawing out what you really felt at that moment
Thus making the kid sequence that more dramatic because you chose how you felt, not what might have been the most tact way of putting it
I don't know what happens if you choose differently at the start but I feel the game is profoundly making you choose by your emotion
It feels more like your personal preferred way of dealing with things is here reflecting what you become :paragon or renegade
To me it didn't feel as a "tactical choice" rather than a compelling enigmatic way of drawing out what you really felt at that moment
Thus making the kid sequence that more dramatic because you chose how you felt, not what might have been the most tact way of putting it
Yeah, but I always choose how I feel in games, and you don't need to press a button to have an emotion about something. Choices should have consequence, which wasn't demonstrated in the demo.
OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.
This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.
This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.
I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.
I do get your point about how long it'll take to take Earth for the Reapers, however they have also said since ME1 that the process of the Reapers harvesting the galaxy can take decades and isn't a quick process, which implies the Reapers, although powerful, aren't so powerful they can just rip apart planets like nothing.
Let's not forget they "harvest" technology, there is probably precision and scavaging involved meaning the Reapers won't just mindlessly destroy everything.
That's my take on it anyways.
Yes harvesting technology. In other words we don't need nor want the species to be alive. And yes it may take them decades to do this but that would more likely be based on the fact that the Galaxy is a huge place. Around 50 billion planets. Even if you just take a few days to scavenge each of them it will take you a few centuries if not Millennia. And I would assume they would have to check each one, for survivors, for outposts, for anything, they would have to be efficient.
In the first Mass Effect, one Reaper was a huge threat, it wiped out entire fleets from all species, and took a huge tole on The Citadel. Suddenly a fleet of these things show up on Earth, and by admission we are not prepared for them, and Earth isn't going to be layed to waste in a matter of days? Did the Reapers become wimpier from one game to the next? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu) The big baddies that have had us scared the entire series are suddenly a threat that we can literally leave and get back to at a later point because, screw them they aren't going anywhere and they aren't really as big a threat as we thought apparently.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
I do agree with this. Still, I've invested too much time in this game not to see how it ends.
However, the whole universe is being attacked, and I think the story revolves around getting the aliens up in arms about it; because they seem fairly apathetic.
I don't think it's as Earth-centric as you're making it out to be.
Besides, this won't be the last game. Just the last one about Shephard, so some of those issues may be resolved down the road.
I do get your point about how long it'll take to take Earth for the Reapers, however they have also said since ME1 that the process of the Reapers harvesting the galaxy can take decades and isn't a quick process, which implies the Reapers, although powerful, aren't so powerful they can just rip apart planets like nothing.
Let's not forget they "harvest" technology, there is probably precision and scavaging involved meaning the Reapers won't just mindlessly destroy everything.
That's my take on it anyways.
Yes harvesting technology. In other words we don't need nor want the species to be alive. And yes it may take them decades to do this but that would more likely be based on the fact that the Galaxy is a huge place. Around 50 billion planets. Even if you just take a few days to scavenge each of them it will take you a few centuries if not Millennia. And I would assume they would have to check each one, for survivors, for outposts, for anything, they would have to be efficient.
In the first Mass Effect, one Reaper was a huge threat, it wiped out entire fleets from all species, and took a huge tole on The Citadel. Suddenly a fleet of these things show up on Earth, and by admission we are not prepared for them, and Earth isn't going to be layed to waste in a matter of days? Did the Reapers become wimpier from one game to the next? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu) The big baddies that have had us scared the entire series are suddenly a threat that we can literally leave and get back to at a later point because, screw them they aren't going anywhere and they aren't really as big a threat as we thought apparently.
The Reapers aren't only on Earth at this point, you know. Heck, not even Harbinger, the leader of the Reaper fleet, is on Earth at this point. The Reapers that invaded Earth probably only had a Sovereign-style Reaper or two with them at the point of landing on it's surface, so most of the Reapers that have invaded Earth are much like the one's you saw in the Reaper vs. Thresher Maw trailer - troop transports and asset capturing (the helicopters/special forces/foot soldiers). Not all of the Reapers have the destructive capabilities that Sovereign displayed, and can only take smaller targets or area's of land without too much difficulty. Maybe about half of Sovereign's size, at best.
You have to leave so you can find a way to actually defeat the Reapers on Earth, and the Reapers everywhere else. Earth was only targeted in the first place (not the first planet to be invaded) because of Shepard, and because the Reapers are cautious about humanity after Shepard has single-handedly bitchslapped each of their plans for their return in the last two games. They figure if the rest of humanity has that potential, even if Shepard is a special plot case, then humanity needs to be harvested and become one with the Reapers. Threat neutralization.
OP: I was not happy. Shepherd talks a lot, but I don't press many buttons to make him talk. He kind of just did his own thing. Not what I play Mass Effect for. And it really seems like my fears have been confirmed: that the scope has been reduced to just "Earth," with everything else as peripheral action advancing that one small plot.
This is pretty much my main problem with the game so far as well. I don't care about Earth. I'm pretty sure you don't do anything on Earth in either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2. The games have NEVER given us any reason to care about Earth. But suddenly we are supposed to be all gun-ho for saving it because "That's where the humans are." SCREW THAT! I barely care about any of the Humans. I kind of care about Ashley and Jack. I care about Miranda and her sister. I care about Kasumi. Aside from that I don't like any of the Human characters I've met. I don't care about Earth.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
Quoted for Mother Fucking Truth.
I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.
It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2. Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.
I do agree with this. Still, I've invested too much time in this game not to see how it ends.
However, the whole universe is being attacked, and I think the story revolves around getting the aliens up in arms about it; because they seem fairly apathetic.
I don't think it's as Earth-centric as you're making it out to be.
[ . . . ]
I sincerely hope that the Paragon approach is pretty much "We must stand united, because otherwise, we will all die." and not "I have to find a NICE way to persuade these aliens to sacrifice massive numbers of soldiers for US.". I always hated the parts of the narrative that elevated humans above all else and always loved the parts that dealt with accepting both that humanity is part of a greater whole and the responsibilities that come with it. It's really what made Mass Effect special for me.
So I really, really hope that you are right with regards to ME3s Earth-centricity.
Loop Stricken: The download took a while, I suppose the Xbox servers aren't as fast as Steam's. But the wait was well worth it just to see Anderson's bizarre sprinting animation!
Cover system felt a bit iffy - Tried ducking behind a wall, ended up rolling past it, got an arrow to the face.
Steam? I don't think so mate, we had to get it from Origin.
Some animations and facial expression were plain awkward, I mean, Anderson running just missed the theme from Benny Hill's show. The combat seemed more fluid than in ME2 and the leveling system had slightly more variation than before, but still very streamlined. The addition of new skills is quite nice, even though some were a bit generic: mines, grenades,... I have played the multiplayer portion A LOT and enjoyed it.
So I really, really hope that you are right with regards to ME3s Earth-centricity.
I hope I am too. But I'm gonna love the game anyway. After all, some reviewers said ME2 made the plot go sideways rather than forward, and I agree. Didn't stop me from doing 20 playthroughs.
I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.
It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2. Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.
That's exactly what a focus on earth would be: every other mission, helping the Krogan, the Salarians, etc, being done so that they will help humans. That means Earth is THE main focus.
I don't want just another "oh no Humans are under attack." That's boring.
It's not just about the humans in ME3. It's not "oh no Humans are under attack" it's "oh no all the species in the galaxy are under attack". At the end of the intro Shepard is send out to gather all the species together to fight against the Reapers. He has to earn their trust and help, hence the second mission in the demo for the Krogans. I'm pretty sure we'll spent very little time on earth. It seems to me that we'll go to every major species and do some mission for them, like the loyalty missions in ME2. Maybe the end fight will be on earth, I don't know but earth won't be the only focus.
That's exactly what a focus on earth would be: every other mission, helping the Krogan, the Salarians, etc, being done so that they will help humans. That means Earth is THE main focus.
I guess you could see it that way but to me it seems like we're helping them to get them to help each other not only humans. It's made clear that the whole galaxy is being attacked by the Reapers. The batarians have already been attacked which explains the batarian husks at the beginning. So the Reapers aren't only focusing on the humans, we're just the next planet (both human and batarian colonize in the same region). that's why the humans act now. The others just aren't really affected by this yet. Yes, we try to stop them from destroying earth but the overall mission is still to stop the reapers from destroying the whole galaxy. Like in Me2 we were trying to stop the collectors because they were attacking human colonies but the main focus was still to stop the reapers from entering the galaxy. Like I said, humans are acting now simply because we're next on their list and we have to make the others realise that the same will happen to them. We don't persuade them to help us, we persuade them to work together and help the whole galaxy. Shepards mission is to rescue the galaxy and if he's quick enough he can do it before earth will be destroyed. You can decide yourself what his/her motivation is but Bioware didn't make earth the main focus.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
It's weird, because all those things you listed
are going to be in ME3
all of them.
all of them.
Just because the demo's [first mission] is set on earth, doesn't mean it's the entire plot of the game.
Didnt really need to play the demo to make up my mind. I was iffy on the multi-player however. But it is awesome. Great mechanics, good level up system. Going to have a lot of fun with that. Just play with friends you can mic with, or you will be destroyed.
Absolutely agree with the Reapers as villains. I still think the game will be great, especially after the demo, but they're basically the tripods from War of the Worlds now. I preferred Sovereign.
Know what I do care about? I care about the Quarian Flotilla. I care about the Quarian Home Planet. I care about the Citadel. I care about The Quarians and the un-indoctrinated Geth. I care about the Asari and the Salarians. I care about keeping the Krogans in check and helping the Rachni return. I've never really been given a reason to care about Humans. I've never been given a reason to care about Earth. So why are we focusing on either of them? It would be like if the third book of the Lord of the Rings was all about Tom Bombadil. Sure he plays a part, sure he is likeable. But we don't CARE about him. We've been focusing our attention on Frodo and the others, we care about that. And in Mass Effect we have been focusing on the rest of the Galaxy, we don't need to suddenly focus our attention on Earth.
It's weird, because all those things you listed
are going to be in ME3
all of them.
all of them.
Just because the demo's [first mission] is set on earth, doesn't mean it's the entire plot of the game.
What... you mean... they are actually going to have stuff in the game that they've had and have alluded to in the last two? I am quite shocked that they would do such a thing. Of course they are going to have those things. You seem to miss the point. The point is that those are the things we care about because they have been the center of the games and they are what we know. But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth.
Earth and Humans have been underdeveloped in the past two games, so we have no real reason to care about them aside from the fact that they are supposed to be relatable. Like I said, it makes no sense to make this the revolving plot point of our story, since Earth and Humanity have been so much background noise in the past two games. If the game wants to have a mission or two on Earth that is fine. But the Demo pretty much said that the whole point of you going throughout the galaxy is to SAVE EARTH! Not save the Galaxy, Earth! That's also why we are going to play this silly little game of "Reapers aren't THAT big of a threat anymore." Because obviously we will have to go back to Earth when it's on the brink of destruction and save it. Despite the fact that we have been gone for weeks, despite the fact that the Reapers are supposedly the most powerful thing in the Universe. In other words it's going to feel silly.
There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.
Frozengale: But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth...There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.
...That's not a bad way to do it, it's the best way to do it. That's where hitting close to home comes from.
I really enjoyed the singleplayer, with the understanding that even the events it depicts are not yet in their full version. That being said, I really wanted to play a krogan in the multiplayer and have so far been unsuccessful. :(
Daystar Clarion: A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.
Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?
But we have played the game. A demo at least. And before you shout "it's a demo, it isn't indicative of the final product." realize that Dragon Age 2's Demo played out exactly the same as the full game did. Also realize that if a demo puts someone off the full game, the argument that the retail edition will be better is rather flimsy.
If you liked the demo and want to buy the full game, that's fine. It should also be fine then to be unimpressed with the demo, and decide that if the player doesn't like their hook, he has every right to explain what he felt didn't work, and why he won't buy the full game.
Frozengale: But everything from the Demo, to the Ads, to what the Developers have said makes it seem like the center point of ME3 is Earth...There are a myriad of ways to go about giving us a sense of dread. Using a planet that we have not really seen or done anything on and is only relatable because it's shares the same name as the Planet we actually live on right now, is a bad way to do it. It's trite.
...That's not a bad way to do it, it's the best way to do it. That's where hitting close to home comes from.
That's not home. Not as we know it. For all intents and purposes it only shares the same name as the planet we live on. It might as well be called Garblaxian Zeta for all we care. If I show you a movie clip of your home getting destroyed, your actual house, that would be hitting close to home. If I showed you a movie clip of a house that is built on the same location as yours is 200 years from now you would not call it your "home". It occupies the same location, and you can probably recognize where it is, but it's not your house, not your home, not where you keep your belongings or where your loved ones live. It's just a house that occupies the same place as where your house once was. That is why I say it is trite. It's them saying, "Okay here is Earth and here are some Humans. We want you to feel sorry now that they are being destroyed."
Well okay I might feel bad on some level. But it isn't any Earth I know, they aren't people I care about. Shame that they are dying, but not my problem. They are telling us we should relate to them because they look like us and they live on a planet that is like ours. That's not how relating to something works. So yeah, it's trite and annoying. It's basically the Uncanny Valley of trying to get me to care.
I'll be honest, I only really played the demo to get the omniblade daggers for KoA (which were useless because I'd levelled waaaay past them by that point).
Ok, total lie, I played it because its Mass Effect. And I loved it. Felt a lot smoother than 2, looked a lot grittier (and I'm not talking about the textures here - although some of the characters still look far too uncanny vally for my taste) and the combat felt a lot more... well, more. I felt like the AI had improved substantially.
That line Anderson had about Shapard getting soft round the edges - while realising that this is an excuse for Shep to need to level all the way up again - should have had a renegade option to, I dunno, snap his neck or something. 'You calling me fat!?' Guess it'd be a really short game then though...
Vega..? Uh, no. Aside from the madatory mission where you'll have to use him, he'll be relegated to ab crunch duty, like Jacob in 2.
Yeah I'm holding off most of my technical complaints until I get the full version of the game, mainly because I think that they might have had a sacrifice textures and animations to try and fit that 2.1 gig demo size. I mean if you look at how much game is actually in that demo, it's very impressive, seeing as you have Earth, and the Salarian homeworld, as well as 2 multiplayer maps with everything for it being capable of being unlocked.
Daystar Clarion: A lot of moaning and supposition going on in this thread.
Why don't we actually wait to play the game first, eh?
But we have played the game. A demo at least. And before you shout "it's a demo, it isn't indicative of the final product." realize that Dragon Age 2's Demo played out exactly the same as the full game did. Also realize that if a demo puts someone off the full game, the argument that the retail edition will be better is rather flimsy.
If you liked the demo and want to buy the full game, that's fine. It should also be fine then to be unimpressed with the demo, and decide that if the player doesn't like their hook, he has every right to explain what he felt didn't work, and why he won't buy the full game.
How is Dragon Age 2 relevant? Different dev team for a start.
The Kingdoms of Amalur demo was buggy as hell, while I have yet to find any in the full game. Using that as an example is about as relevant as using DA2.
Now in terms of story etc, yes, that isn't going to change, but performance wise, there's always the chance that the demo is subpar to the full product.
Only played the first level of the demo, seemed a bit cheese action, but i enjoyed it. Graphics are a bit clunky but im assuming its because of the demo. Really reminded me of Mass Effect 2 more than 1. Wish i could holster the damn weapon though, seeing shepard run with it constantly aimed like that kinda kills the realism of it for me a little, hope to god we can holster the damn thing.
Turned the demo off at the second mission because i hate spoilers and more importantly because i love the story, and i don't want to guess/anticipate/spoil what happens further on based on whats shown in the demo, but yeah... im psyched for this game :) Already have my collector pre-order set in. Just gotta count the days now until march.
Funny thing is i was playing dragon age 2 today, just starting to get into it, then i hear about the demo for mass effect.... heh.... bye bye DA2..... im kinda itching to play mass effect 1 and 2 again so i run into this game fresh and ready
Eh, it was alright, I guess. Because the demo is based on an earlier build of the game, I'll dismiss the rather shoddy facial animations (and the fact that the lip synching wasn't done right), and the mediocre graphics - I'm sure the actual finished build of the game has been far more polished - demos are almost always based on Beta builds after all.
But the writing has taken a dip in quality. There's a lot more "BRO-DUDE!" Chest pumping Gruff Military "We Fight.... or we DIE!" OOOOOOOOH, how deep! What a magnificent display of wit and complexity! "I'm not a soldier anymore!" "The fight's here!" "I'm making you an honorary Krogan!" "ANYA! IT'S A GIANT WORM" - sorry, wrong game.
When did all the character turn into cheesy 80's action gruff guys? I feel like half the lines were written by the original writing team, and the other half were written by Michael Bay.
The gameplay is fine - it's like Mass Effect 2's gameplay but it's quite a bit smoother and moves faster, which is great. I also like the menu interfaces and the ability to level up and pick pathways for powers. And the multiplayer is actually fun! I wasn't expecting that!
On a technical level, the game looks stellar - apart from a few wonky animations and facial movements, which I'm sure they'll iron out before release. But the writing seems quite a bit worse. Maybe they picked the action-yiest scenes for the purposes of the demo, and maybe there are better scenes with much better writing in the game, but a lot of the writing seemed really, REALLY lazy. Especially the exchanges between Wrex and the rest of the team - they made me groan. Would Wrex really say "there's no one I'd rather have along for the ride!"? Really? When did he turn from a gruff warrior into a 70's buddy-action cop partner? What's next, he's gonna scream "SHEPARD! YOU CRAZY MAN?!" as they drive a Mako off a cliff?
Now that I've had a chance to play it (and the multiplayer)...
Really good demo. I enjoyed it very much. Ashley's new design makes me cringe, but I never used her anyway. Makes me wish I'd killed her instead of Kaiden though....
My one beef (with the demo only, not the potential game) is that the game didn't give me a Sniper Rifle.
I was playing an Infiltrator. Without a sniper rifle. WTF?
I understand that the first part I was using whatever I could find on the ground, but in the second part the game gave me a shotgun, an SMG, and a new assault rifle - but no sniper rifle. Suck.
Fortunately, the multiplayer gave my Infiltrator a sniper rifle from the get-go.
As to that - I am impressed with how fun the multiplayer actually is. I may actually play it now and then. Also, I like the way we go about unlocking stuff. Neat.
Now, here's hoping that those items STAY unlocked when I get the full game.
I was debating whether I wanted to play it for the longest time. One side wanted me to wait for the game proper to come out- the other part of me wanted some kind of taste to whet my appetite. I found some middle ground by downloading the demo and playing it only ONCE before deleting it from my 360. Just so I can keep some things fresh and not get old/repetitive when I do get the game.
I liked it. Particularly the new sound effects for all the weapons. Nice middle ground of the super-sci fi sound from the first ME and the more modern gun sounds from ME2. Liked the voice work as always. Remembered half way through that James was Freddie Prinze Jr- and realized that I would never had known if people had made an issue of it. Like the differences in the engine. Adds a lot of the great lighting detail that seemed to have been lost over from ME to ME2. Wrex and other krogan are good examples of the differences.
Pros: It's absolutly brilliant, but if I had to pin something down, the characters seem less like wankers.
Cons: One graphical glitch with my femshep's hair.