Mass Effect Comments by Kristan Reed

Whatever, play the game and make your own distinctions. Haggling over which specifc sub genre it may or may not belong to is pretty dull, tbh.

Outside of the missions, it's more like an adventure game, again, bearing very little resemblance to what people associate with RPGs.

A game like Mass Effect, with branching storylines and and player choice influencing the narrative are far more important when determining if a game fits under the RPG banner than just some stat increases a la Ninja Gaiden.

I haven't played Mass Effect yet, but if the narrative structure resembles KotOR and Jade Empire it's much more of an RPG than a game like Oblivion, despite the action oriented combat.

With due respect to EG its reviwers and mod-wannabes...: did Gears lost its cult status (that it has in fact - fact!) because it got an 8 @ EG ? Did it underperformed financially ? I don't think so (last time I checked).
So..., play the game, have fun (or wait for the "XXX definitive version" on a system of your choice).

I can't understand some scores in here like 5/10 on Blue Dragon; 9/10 on VF5 (wtf!!! slow motion cat-fights ?)... 8/10 on PES (clearly broken game)..., but hey..., I bought a Zune ffs - what's weirder than that ?

Nuts, I was hoping that this would be a true successor to Deus Ex, one of my faves of all time. The thing about Deus was that it had an enormous back story but you could completely ignore it and just play it as an action RPG.

Shame. Maybe once the kids have grown up I'll have the time to try it, but somehow I doubt my xbox will last that long :-)

p.s. I agree with the earlier post(s), a good framerate and lack of tearing should definitely take precedence over graphical bling.

So you concentrated more on the action than the RPG?

Interesting way of reviewing an RPG...

Krudster said:

"BigBadB, I am the editor. Your point is that we should give it to a sci-fi nut. Why? So they'd give it a better score? I review games regardless of themes, whether it's gangster themes, Wild West, medieval, whatever."

You'll notice that I asked for someone who knows about sci-fi, or at the very least doesn't have a bias against it, not for a 'sci-fi nut'. I don't want a reviewer who's biased towards a game any more than I want a reviewer who's biased against it.

That said, I'd always rather hear the opinion of someone who has an extensive knowledge of what they're reviewing than someone who doesn't - a review of an FPS from someone whos never played an FPS is inherently less likely to be useful than a review from someone who's played every major FPS since Doom.

Exactly the same applies to the fictional genre of a game. A review of Mass Effect from someone who isn't biased against sci-fi is likely to be a lot more interesting and useful to the target audience of the game than one from someone who likes to take cheap shots at sci-fi fans.

"A good story is a good story regardless of theme, and I enjoyed the story immensely."

In which case, why waste time taking a pop at the story for being sci-fi in the opening paras (those most likely to be read by the majority)?

i think an 8 represents an "if you want to like it or really like this sort of game then 9" anyway. its when scores go below 8 that i think its more of an issue for these people too, in my opinion anyway.

erm.. i wasn't aware that he did have a pop at the sci-fi setting and story :S

/re-reads with confusion

Typical, the probably come on the inferior 360 hardware. If this was on PS3, the HDD and bluray would make this game perfect, it's a shame the 360 can't keep up, it's just not powerful enough.

"Typical, the probably "

Well said... lol

@ecureuil

you've been waiting all year to say that i bet :)

Still getting it though

For what it achieves in delivering a compelling narrative and wonderful atmosphere, BioWare deserves a huge amount of credit, as there are few games that come anywhere near it in this regard.

Sold.

@ecureuil

I tink I taw a troll!

Trolling status:

"I'm making a note here: Huge Success"

/high fives ecu

Well, I've played the game and I 100% agree with krudster. Great story but really not great gameplay (which is mostly shooting) oh and the technical issues, oh dear. Bioware don't seem capable of making games with a decent framerate.

Wow, sane comment from *someone who has played it*. Others please take note.

For the record, I like sci-fi, I just don't have a shelf full of it.

Good read.

The amount of dialogues is one of the problems I have with Bioware's games - now I don't mind long dialogues as such (with Planescape: Torment being my favourite RGP), but Bioware don't have quite the writing abilities to make overly long dialogues interesting, and I never liked how every NPC in their games begins with telling you the whole story of his/her life immediately after you meet them.

krudster, if you're still reading this: how much sense of exploration is there in the game? That's one of the problems I had with Kotor, that most maps were corridors, even outside.

All that said, the game looks wonderful, and I'd buy it immediately if I had a 360. Terrific artstyle, too, the best Bioware has ever come up with.

should we block comments on reviews until game release then? :-p

i suppose people just love to moan, in fairness!

Yeah, love the art style.

Some people are so desperate that they even jump at the chance to slag a 'lowly 8'. It's quite amusing. Especially the ones that claim to play this next year on the pc. A comment could be made on ut but it would be rude to burst their bubble.

Wait, 8/10 (and it's "a good 8") is pretty good, I don't get it. And how many people exactly have played the game here? Oo

+10 for miiguel

Working the obscure (for the rest of Europe I presume) "porque no te callas" into the ME thread...

"Wow, sane comment from *someone who has played it*. Others please take note."

If you don't like having your reviews pulled apart, don't write them. Or, at the very least, close the comments function.

I can think of very few developers that do better dilouge than Bioware, UL, partly due to the generaly low standards in the medium so far. Admittedly they can sometimes take a turn towards a bit stilted conversations, but ingeneral the writing is pretty damned good in their games, IMO.

The only ones that beats them are Obsidian and the sadly defunct Troika.

Another review of a hyped game, another predictable comments thread.

8 is a good score. Just because a few other sites give a game a certain score, doesn't mean all sites should fall in line. Otherwise the whole idea of reviews would be a bit pointless. I haven't played the game, so don't have an opinion on who I feel is right or wrong. Just that, in general, no multi-format site is more or less wrong than the other. Everyone has their own ideas of what is good and bad.

A review is just a guide of what a game is like. You will never agree with them all, get over it.

READ. THE. WORDS.

You xbots are almost laughable! When a hyped game for the PS3 comes out and you go crazy! i.e. "PS3 is shit" and when ME gets an 8 ur like "SOLD!" sad i think so! Anyway can't wait to pick ME on thursday!

brillient that the reviewer didn't get caught up in all the hype surrounding this game, the 'killer-app' of 2007 maybe isn't as great as being made out.
i am still definately going to buy the game, and i already felt, just from watching the gameplay concerning the combat, that it wouldn't be upto scratch.
Even the A.I isn't surprising when considering a game as big as this.
BUT...
if you're someone who wants to play while enjoying what seems like a really engrossin g story, then this is the right thing.
as the reviewer says, the game wont be for everyone, but for those who know it is, then it will probs still be the game of the year without doubt

I did read the words. The words are the problem, not the score.

@Xerx3s - OI! And I wasn't slagging the review! Besides, it will be coming to the PC, it's just a matter of time.

It strikes me that bad framerates will put people off of a game.

"Great story, nicely implemented, but I lost a framerate every now and then so fuck it, it's going in the bin"

I'm sure my copy will be dropping through the letterbox this Thursday as always from Gameplay.

OfficialBlue onto the Official Ignore List...! For the WIN!

I don't understand how it can be a "shooter with RPG elements" when you state in the review that of the first few hours, only 15 minutes is spent shooting anything?

I think we're at odds with our definitions here. You seem to be treating "RPG" in purely technical terms - an RPG involves an experience counter that makes you level up. In my eyes, an RPG - role-playing game - involves heavy dialogue, lots of plot exposition, and making choices about your actions that represent the kind of character you want to create.

"Role-playing" is not a gameplay mechanic. Devil May Cry has precisely nothing to do with RPGs. It doesn't even have "RPG elements". It has a system whereby you gain new combat abilities as the game goes on. Yes, that mechanic happens to have originated with RPGs, but just because a game involves the shooting of guns doesn't make it a shooter. (I should point out that I, myself, am not a particular fan of any one genre and try to avoid contact with both dungeons *and* dragons, but I do think a well-told story makes a better experience than an enemy that can roll sideways while its mate runs behind you).

Anyway I agree that arguing genre semantics is deeply boring but I must also agree that targeting the action-shooter crowd in a review of something that clearly is an RPG (and yes, I have played it) is at least bound to cause an allergic flaring-up of the comments section.

Anyway I was definitely surprised to hear that the game is sub-20 hours in length. I tend to get deeply bored of anything longer than that these days and I was under the impression we were in for a 100-hour epic here, so I'll definitely pick it up.

And for all you whingeing little hype-toads, 8 is a VERY GOOD score. So SHUT UP AND ENJOY IT. Or else.

Having read the Assassin's Creed review and played a fair chunk of the game (15 hours up), I disagree with the score EG gave. Having read the review of Mass Effect and judging it against my own expectations, I suspect that once again I'll disagree with the score. All this proves is:

a) As an individual, I am different to the people at EG Towers.

b) My own game-judging powers are more meaningful to me personally than a review written by someone I've never met.

This review neither tarnishes my potential enjoyment of this game, nor invalidates krudster's views. I'd like to think we're all people with our own views on everything, rather than people desperate to have our existences validated by other peoples' opinions.

Like the Pirates Code, reviews are more like guidelines, anyway.

man...people are dumb!... OH MY GOD!!! it got 8 out of 10... the other day i was reading empire and they gave a film 4 stars out of five... other people were probably reading the same review and probably though "four out of five" that film must be pretty awesome... if i am correct 4 out of 5 would be like 8 out of 10... so 8 out of 10 is like a really awesome score... even though the game has really glaringly obvious flaws (ive only read reviews that have said this) a game that gets 8/10 with obvious flaws must be really, really good.... whatever... review scores are dumb... i think you should start reviewing games with like animal names and then itd be up to teh individual.... cos some people love monkeys but my friend..she totally hates monkeys..and then youd have 5million entry arguements about the merits of monkeys...or giraffes..or any kind of animal actually

The only thing good about this is that if ME doesn't live up to expectations I won't feel like the odd one out.
Seriously though, the last paragraph could/should have been in the Bioshock review, just as the score. That way Eurogamer scores would have stayed something I could believe in. After Bioshock, EG sadly has lost credibility. I've never been this disappointed by a game before.
Mass Effect... Sheesh... I'll see when I've actually played it. My gut reaction to this review and score is "You're wrong!" - but the bright side is that it's taking some of the hype away and readies me for yet another huge letdown.

Oblivion got a 10 ... enough said.

>Anyway I was definitely surprised to hear that the game is sub-20 hours in length

A lot of people playing this seem to state this is a 30+ hour game (even without the sub quests).

IGN made similar comment in its review. Disappointing but still worthy. I wasn't happy about Oblivion either. Still no truly great Xbox 360 game for me yet.

I really want to play it, but I really don't want to buy it at full price with the expectations I had for this game. I will definitely buy it at Classic price though.

GameSpy 11/19/2007 - 5 out of 5

IGN 11/19/2007 - 9.4 out of 10

Electronic Gaming Monthly 12/25/2007 - 9.17 out of 10

Official Xbox Magazine 10 out of 10

Game Informer 11/1/2007 - 9.75 out of 10

Eurogamer 11/19/2007 - 8 out of 10

Gamer 11/19/2007 - 9.2 out of 10

Cheat Code Central 11/18/2007 - 4.8 out of 5

Oblivion got a 10 ... enough said.

You make an interesting point...

Arg Stats! Min eyes!

"the 'killer-app' of 2007", wasn't that Halo 3?

We do have short-term memory.

By the sounds of things it's almost a 9 anyway so Ill treat it as such and expect to find it in my stocking

"@Xerx3s - OI! And I wasn't slagging the review! Besides, it will be coming to the PC, it's just a matter of time."

It'll get as much attention as Jade Empire had, and you most likely play it like you played the later.
Let's be honest, the wait thing doesn't really work very well, imo.

Not sold. Sounds like an awful lot of impressive time consuming fizz but not enough sparkle to make it worth the price of admission.

GameSpy, IGN, Official Xbox(of course) Magazine famously for cocksucker review to please whoever. IGN rating on God Hand was bad call.

Gamer and Cheat Code Central, I never heard of it, are they good?

Is there any review website that rate game review?

Now I wonder what Gamespot will give?

I haven't done this before but I feel like I have to join others in the "conscientious moaning" camp.. I'm going to quote a few lines from the first and second (the most negative) pages..

"My goodness, does Mass Effect love to talk - or at least it certainly does in the first few hours.."

"it's a credit to the talents of BioWare that, eventually, not only will you start to tolerate it, but actually start to really enjoy this blend of narrative-heavy adventuring. Whether you've got the patience to spend the time chatting between the action segments is another matter. It's certainly not a game that promises instant thrills, that's for sure.."

"If you're the sort of person who twitches every time a cut-scene comes up in a game, this definitely isn't for you."

That's all within the first half a page. Moving on:

"Or, if you're in a rush to save the galaxy from traitorous sods, you could just dive straight into proceedings with the chiselled boy band escapee John Shepard and be done with it. Your call."

"While it's true that conversations can drag on a little bit when compared with your average videogame.."

"You can literally spend hours just wandering around the central Citadel 'city' before it even dawns on you to get on with the main quest.."

And so on. There's a theme of "the game drags a bit" that pervades the entire review, and with full appreciation for the task set before game critics nowadays, could it not simply be a case that if you're playing Mass Effect to a deadline, you'll enjoy it less? If I spend £30-£40 buying the game new, I'm damn sure going to eke every last bit of entertainment out of it - being presented with a wide-open game straight away isn't going to make me think "oh shit, how do I assign a numerical score to this" but "I think I am getting my money's worth."

I love Baldur's Gate 2, but if I was under pressure to stripmine it for all it's content I'd probably see it as the most insipid, prevaricating, pretentious piece of crap ever to be pressed on to (too many) CDs. Did Bioshock do as well as it did because you could basically see everything there was to see in one straightforward run-through? Linear games do well in reviews, providing - like Bioshock - that they give the illusion of having more to do than they actually do. Games with an overwhelming amount of content (Oblivion, Orange Box, Halo 3) also do well. It's the games in the middle - Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect most recently - that seem to suffer criticism both for being too open and too linear. It's confusing for the reviewers, no doubt - but it's also confusing for the people reading the reviews.

Hence the mess.