Sulphur on 8/3/2012 at 16:27

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So it's... interesting. 4-5 hours in and... the hammy opening is, of course, still hammy. The overall arc of it is what I expected - you need an arc-resolving MacGuffin, you get one. You need the Seven Samurai plot expanded into alliances and politics played on a 'galactic' scale, you got it. You need End Times to drive the (melo)drama, you get more than a sodden handkerchief's worth, or so I've heard/read.

The focus on the Earth invasion remains an irritatingly clichéd device for narrative urgency, but it's not in your face all the time, at least -- not so far anyway. The import from my ME2 save doesn't seem to have transferred my Renegade Shep's cool neon scars. :( Also, it looks like I lost Legion in that playthrough. Tsk.

The combat's more or less the same, with a couple of tweaks from ME1 - mods and ends and stuff. And grenades and a melee attack, which are welcome. You get tons of skill points and start at level 30 or so if you import a character - interesting, because I've maxed out my Infiltrator's tactical cloak skill already in 4 hours, and I don't know if Bioware does enemy scaling with levels.

And the graphics - Bioware seems to have gotten a nice handle on UE3 now. Faces and models are still ew, with human skin continuing to look like bacon wrap and faces continuing to be eery and bug-eyed; but environmental design's been given some care. The Normandy's design isn't as spartan as in previous installments, and the incidental detail makes it look lived in. Details like a poker table in a room and odds and ends lying around on desks are nice little touches. Environments are still a touch modular and boxy, but that's Bioware design for you.

The lighting is generally lovely and more than a touch moody (witness the CIC's brightness levels now compared to ME2), but there are also more lens flares in this game than in every scene of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek combined. Every time I visit the War Room, I feel like a disco ball's about to descend from the ceiling and then the Bee Gees rise up from the centre, singing 'Staying Alive' and shaking their booties. It's like the time I discovered Photoshop's Filter menu when I was 15 and promptly added lens flares to every nipple in every photo in my porn collection.

Get a handle on it, Bioware. :erg:

Phatose on 9/3/2012 at 01:05

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It's not that there's one that's the best of the bunch. They each fuck up different things. ME1 did the main plot well, but the interface sucked. ME2 did the characters very well, but the RPG portions were largely removed and the main plot was forgettable. So far, ME3 is on a crash course for having an epically shitty plot, but good everywhere else.

icemann on 9/3/2012 at 14:27

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Been playing ME3 since release day a few days ago. Its a shame that I played the demo first as that half ruined the effect of the opening "level" for me since I knew already what was going to happen (obviously). Quite impressive none the less. Up until you FINALLY had some level of control of where you would head to next I was starting to think "what the, can't you choose where to go now?". Glad you still do.

I've noticed on 2 occasions a weird head bug with the game, where Shepard's head will turn alittle too far in a direction when your talking to people. The first occurred in a conversation with Liara, with Shepard and her fixing their direction of gaze on the robotic floating thing with only their heads and not their bodies as well and since the robot moves about the room, their heads would go to very odd amounts in directions. Saw it again to a lesser degree with the girl who stands by the galaxy map. Hope I don't see that again. Reminds me of a similar bug in Freelancer except in that games case the heads would on rare occasions spin the full amount around.

In either event I am absolutely loving the game so far, though the weapon included with the from ashes dlc makes some of the battles alittle too easy at times. One thing occurred in the game that had me take my hands off the keyboard and have to think really hard before I made a decision. What choice was that? the choice between Tali and Liara since I had been slept with Liara in the first game and Tali in the second. So when Liara asked me if it was over with Tali I had a very hard time deciding on which of the 2 I preferred. Both have their own pluses and negatives.

The reliance on multiplayer for what I assume to be later events on the singleplayer end of things is a bit of an annoyance as it forces you to play the multiplayer (if your like me and like to get everything done well in a game the first time round). The multiplayer I should point out however is awesome. I've been making a point of playing 1 singleplayer mission, then going and clearing 10% off the readiness percentages each time.

Dresden on 9/3/2012 at 15:40

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What exactly is impressive about the opening level? The complete lack of music, Anderson's running animation, and all of your dialog options are the same. Its all predictable scripted sequences. Also:

(http://steamcommunity.com/id/dresdenstl/screenshot/470863759137880232?tab=public&filter=shortcut_103623) Face.
(http://steamcommunity.com/id/dresdenstl/screenshot/470863759137915186?tab=public&filter=shortcut_103623) Palm.

Phatose on 9/3/2012 at 17:41

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Good lord the quality of the writing in this game is all over the map. Occasionally genuinely interesting (Seeing the memories in the Geth Server), occasionally actually amusing - Joker and Garrus swapping jokes on the bridge of the Normandy. But also frequently dipping into self-parody (I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is now my favorite spot on the citadel!), stupid nonsensical cliche (LOL I killed 300,000 Batarians, 40,000 assorted sentients with small arms, and now I'm having bad dreams about one kid in a fucking apocalypse.), just flat out retarded (Ancient Death Machines are destroying our civilization, so we'll seek refuge status on a station built by those Ancient Death Machines for the purpose of destroying civilizations), to goddamned awful romance fanfic level WTF. Aside from the previously mentioned WTF, there's the Garrus/Tali hookup.


The actual combat is fun, although so far warp/throw seems to be the answer to everything. Maybe an occasional shot from the Paladin, but that's for personal satisfaction instead of actual strategic value.

But goddamn, the plot is like a road accident.