Mass Effect Comments by Kieron Gillen

woooooo roll on Mass Effect 2....cant wait.......please put more sex in it Bioware just to piss off the politicians lol

Maybe they based the Mako on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEFGw89K_9o

(the "Crusher", DARPA remote controlled tank / vehicle)

Hopefully Mass effect 2 is more of a find the ancient weapon quest so that you can go explore the galaxy and not feel that it's a meaningless exploration.

good game... i will buy it for Pc, it looks way better.

This review inconveniently reminds me that I still haven't unwrapped my x360 original :|

@ JonFE- :O

Loved Mass Effect - won' be getting it on PC. Can't wait for ME2!

Great review, especially the stuff on page two.

Nice opportunity with the PC review to critique the game once more.

Its brilliant. Get it.

Apologie wrote: I will buy it for Pc, it looks way better.

Based on what. They are pretty much identical. Moron.

Based on him being a PS3 fanboy and using any opportunity possible to have a dig at the 360

"good game... i will buy it for Pc, it looks way better."

lol.

Funny how some peoples perception of a game will change from "It's t3h suck!" to "good game" the moment it it appears on a platform they own.

As much as I'd love a new RPG to play, there's nothing I've really read about this that makes me think it's worth buying.

Lots of talking and meaningless exploration and slightly shoddy combat seem to be the main things I get from the reviews. The best thing about it seems to be the story, but being a sci-fi video game I can't imagine that'll be enough to hold me...

It's pathetic, but, hey thats just some people.
Don't bother listening is my motto.

I loved the original on 360, sure it looks better on PC but i'm just looking forward to number 2 now!

I truly enjoyed this game... I do recognize the failings, but the story and characters exceeded my expectations and the failings seemed to fade into the background.

I don't own a 360, so I've been really looking forward to it coming out on the PC and I have it on pre-order. Some of the negatives mentioned in the review are a bit worrying though, so I hope it lives up to the hype.

KotOR had turnbased combat?

Like GTA4, each component is only 7/10, but together it makes at least a nine for me..one of my top five ever games.

But it all hinges on enjoying the world and the plot.

This will be the perfect post-exam present to myself I believe! Am immensely looking forward to it for some reason. Maybe it's because you said "Kotor", "Deus Ex" and "Gears of War" in one sentence, and that gets me going.

8/10 my arse. An easy 10/10 or I'm not a monkey singing michael jackson songs!

Ryuken: It's running a turn-cycle beneath everything, but not square-based turn-stuff, no. I'll get Tom to tweak.

KG

A great game I've already done on 360, only once though (good boy) couldn't be bothered to go again. Enjoy chatting up aliens PC guys...

/ waits for ME2 on 360

My favourite game of last year. Can't wait for the sequels. And after reading this I may just play through it again any way.

Absolutely loved this on the 360 but not enough to double dip for a few interface and graphical tweaks.

OK, here's a question I never thought I'd ask...

Is it playable with a 360 controller? Maybe it would work better downstairs where I don't necessarily have to give it my absolute full attention.

skillian: This is an awesome game no matter what platform you play it on - not many games have me considering what class I'd like to use on my THIRD playthrough before I've even finished it the first time.

I think he meant is the PC version playable with the 360 pad. And who knows the answer to that one! It is the ultimate question.

It's a fantastic game, was up there with the best of last year.

The shooting is pretty poor for the first few hours but after you level up there's really not much seperating it from a top quality shooter like gears of war.

The driving was fun too, yes, the spiky mountains were a little...annoying to say the least but just bouncing about in the mako over rough terrain is a blast and I can't see why anyone dislikes it?

It takes a while to get into though, the first planet is graphically a bit underwhelming and after that you're condemned to a few hours of actionless conversations. Like the shooting though, a few hours inthe game really picks up and that's when it really 'clikced' with me.

Deserves a 9 or borderline 10 in my opinion, I can understand if the bugs get in the way though, they were pretty obtrusive at times, the frame rate never really bothered me but the texture pop in is a real immersion killer...oh and the lifts, bloody hell the lifts.

Not being funny, and I know there's a three page review above me, but what makes it awesome? Is there lots of loot for me to collect? Can I find random/hidden storylines and quests by just exploring the world? Can I just mess around in the world having fun but not really progressing? These are the sort of things that get me sucked into RPGs, and I haven't really heard much about them.

I don't think the story will be enough, and the shooty bits I've seen on video don't really grab me.

I'm really stuck in two minds about this game. I want it to be great, and I'm glad lots of people seem to think it is, but I'm just not sure what they love about it.

I was under the impression from actually playing the Xbox version that you can in fact send your team mates forward to take up positions. Have I misunderstood something, or has the reviewer?

I felt the X-Box version was a 7/10. I dunno if the PC version can improve things dramatically, but if it does I doubt I'd still be inclined to say it deserves an 8/10.

Still, more acceptable than slapping a wholly unworthy 9/10 on it.

@skillian

Looting isn't a big part of the game and exploration is slim to none in any meaningful way. It's more of a linear adventure game with shooty sections rather than an out and out RPG, it's basically KOTOR with bigger guns.

I enjoyed it so much because the yarn it sells is engrossing and on a scale we rarely see in games these days and the RPG elements just helped me mould the character to how I like to play. Go into it expecting a hardcore RPG like Baldur's Gate and you'll be disappointed but go into it looking for a well told space faring adventure and you'll leave loving it.

The final segment of the game is still the greatest finale I've seen in a game for a long long time. Epic!

It deserves a 9 out of 10 because almost everything about it is interesting and fun after the rather lackluster first hour or so.

The graphics are fantastic, the speech and music is great, decent story but it's told in a superb style (for a video game at least) and the gameplay is just good fun.

I don't agree with the general review consensus that the combat is lacking in comparison ti dedicated shooters, I'm more of a shooter fan myself as well so it's not just down to inexperience within the genre. The mako is actually fun to drive about in, I really can't see what grievances people have with it.

The inventory screen is probably the biggest mark against it, it's just incredibly badly designed. You end up with hundreds of items and managing them is a bloody pain.

MrEd: I have, it seems. Hadn't a Mass Effect 360 to hand, and previews were talking about it being a new feature. It not being a new feature would explain why I thought it difficult to imagine it without it.

KG

"Those hours of running around space-stations and chatting are to make the actual fight against the enemies dramatic"

It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't, it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't.

Awesome game, the only game since Zelda on the N64 I've completed more than twice.

Ha, ha - I loved the screenshot captions. =)

literally, this game was one of the gaming highlights of my life

it was stunning in every way, i even had a month of work at the time to play it

just perfect for me in every way

The Eno/Vangelis type soundrack is fantastic too. Loved the Mako bits, but not the repetitive design of the various hideouts on the planets. Brilliant, but not quite the Oblivion-in-space I was after.

I'll get it on PC next time round [hoping that PC version comes out with the 360 one next time] and I think I'll pop down the shops tomorra and get the PC version as well. Improved mechanics? Well the only thing I find wrong with Mass Effect is the lack of helpful interface mechanics at every fricking level, so it would probably be a better game for me on the PC.

Thanks Kostabi for the info.

I don't think it's my sort of game by the sounds of it, though I can't help thinking I'll be missing out when I read how much people truly loved it :/

Maybe it'll be an impulse buy one day if it turns up on Steam or something.

edit: Although if it's true about there only being 3 (!?) activations, that helps make the decision a little easier. I have a PC both upstairs and down, so that's two of those activations gone already...

Fantastic game, completed it twice already, and I'm going for a 3rd round as soon as I do the 100% @ GTA.

Higher levels of difficulties dramaticaly improves the game as a whole.

I loved this game on 360. The PC crew should like it!

A 20 hour main story is hardly epic in scale for an RPG.

i always wanted a bigtrak as a kid but my parents couldn't afford one.
/looks on ebay

MrEd: I have, it seems. Hadn't a Mass Effect 360 to hand, and previews were talking about it being a new feature. It not being a new feature would explain why I thought it difficult to imagine it without it.

KG

The new feature was being able to order your squaddies individually - so you could send Wrex right into the action and simultaneously keep your sniper out of harm's way.

X360 version only let you clump them together.

Incidentally, those ignoring the side-quests in favour of saving humanity rather than dallying are not missing too much. Few are that exciting, and most just serve to highlight the not-quite combat.

Lovely review, by the way. I heart Mass Effect but still feel it stops just short of a nine. Lots of this piece helped me remember why.

Still would recommend to any unsure - providing you like a lengthy tale.

I was under the impression from actually playing the Xbox version that you can in fact send your team mates forward to take up positions. Have I misunderstood something, or has the reviewer?

In the XBox version you can only do group commands, e.g. "Both you buggers go over there", "Both you buggers attack that other bugger!", "Oi you buggers! Come back here!"; wheras in the PC version you can assign individual commands to individual buggers.

EDIT: And Bertie beats me to it. This is what happens when you wander off for fifteen minutes before hitting post.

I think that you have perfectly addressed an issue with immersion present in most games containing 'side quests'. It's like "Quick, theres a giant melon on collision course with the President's daughter!!!!!!! But In your own time, mate, you can go make some tea for that guy first"

The only game in recent memory I can think that has done a great job of combating this is Dead Rising.

I love Dead Rising. Is there nothing it can't do?

It's given me so much.

Yeah it's a shame us PC players never got Dead Rising. It looked all kinds of awesome to me (though I've never played it) and I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat.

edit: in fact, it seems like Dead Rising has more of the stuff I look for in an RPG than Mass Effect does...