Reddaye

I'm not totally crazy about achievement gathering, but I still like them. The best idea I've seen for achievements yet are in Mass Effect, where pretty well all the achievements unlock something in the game (10% bonus health, bonus skills, added armor, damage, etc). I'd like to see more developers do things like that.

I don't get how this makes them the biggest publisher... Um they're still well behind EA.

EA's acquired Origin Systems, Bullfrog Maxis, Tiburon and Westwood in the past, with Criterion and Digital Illisions not that long ago... With BioWare and Pandemic just recently.

That's not counting all EA's umpteen dozens of other studios and the different things they have their fingers in. Especially their growing exclusive deals and such, like with Valve.

Sure Activision was fairly big, but EA dwarfed them along with everyone else before, and just by adding Blizzard doesn't exactly make them instantly become #1.

Virmire is, hands down, the best planet in the game. I did it after Novaria, Feros, and Therum (I think it's called) my first time through and was enjoying it...not really blown away though.

Spoiler: Click here to view

The revelation that Sovereign was actually a Reaper was great. After reading the book and having the fact built towards the whole game I still didn't see that coming. First meeting with Saren was epic, made even more epic by the choice of saving either Ashley or Kaiden. I had known about the choice (or sort of) from the trailer but I was still torn. I saved Ashley (romancing her, you all know how it is ) but when I got on the Normandy afterwards with the sad music and seeing Kaiden's normal place on the ship empty...I felt kind of guilty.

Bioware are the masters, no doubt about that.

I just picked this up on Ebay a few minutes ago for around twenty bucks. Haven't played a Fire Pro game since the first GBA installment and I'm pumped (although it'll likely take more than a week to get here). I haven't been interested in wrestling for quite some time but I'm always up for a good game of Fire Pro

Finally I can retire my worn out old Gameboy Advance version. That poor bugger has seen a hell of a lot of use.

This is good news for Guitar Hero fans I'd expect. With Vivendi's massive music library the series won't need to be stuck using so many covers.

Also, Activision Blizzard is a pretty bad name. Surely they could have done something a bit better than that?

For anyone going for another playthrough I advise you rescue Liara after completing Novaria and Feros. Let's just say that her dialog is VERY interesting. >_>

Hmmm...I saved her after doing Noveria and Feros first time around, and I don't remember anything in her dialog of note...

Although, many people had 'relations' with her their first time through, and I did not. (I was too busy banging Ashley )

For anyone going for another playthrough I advise you rescue Liara after completing Novaria and Feros. Let's just say that her dialog is VERY interesting. >_>

As I recall Jeff was the one all the Nintendo geeks were emailing/phoning death threats to when he gave Twilight Princess an 8.8/10 a year or so ago.

Poor bastard gets no respect

The last time I checked, he was male and didn't have long red hair. And the fact that the stories in the games are completely different.

I haven't played it yet because it doesn't really appeal to me.

Well I finished the game last night and it brought me my only real major complaint about the game...but it's also probably the worst thing that could have happened. There's a few other lesser problems so I'll start with the cons and then discuss the pros. WARNING: this could get lengthy.

I loved the storyline (although it was somewhat disjointed)...but where did it go? About eight hours into the game (most of that side quests) I decided to focus on the story missions. Exactly eight hours later and I'm done. I think that I could actually go through the main storyline in about six to eight hours no problem. KOTOR's story was lengthy and even Jade Empire had a longer main quest than Mass Effect. All in all it was over in exactly sixteen hours (although I ended up skipping a large number of side quests).

My other big problem is the lack of interaction with your party. I understand why we can only really deeply converse on the Normandy, but why so few topics? Tali, Wrex, and Garrus especially lacked a lot of things to talk about. Bioware really set the bar with KOTOR (most party members had 20+ topics to discuss) and Jade on how much there was to discuss with your party members...Mass Effect is really a step backwards in that regard. The characters themselves all have good personalit, but sadly there isn't enough of it for you to experience. I also have to note that all in all there's not as much of Saren as I had hoped.

A few technical issues bring it down a bit too. Texture pop-in is frequent (although that's an UE 3 issue; the lack of being able to use the HDD causes problems as well). The framerate can be jittery, and I ran into a few odd glitches here or there. Lastly there's the MAKO, which I have a love/hate relationship with. I like driving the thing around, but trying to do any kind of combat with it, especially close quarters is a huge hassle.

Everything beyond that I found myself enjoying. Although the story was short and didn't seem to all fit together nicely what was there was very good. At first I wasn't really feeling it, but as I came closer to the end some twists and turns really pulled me in. The eventual climax and the choices you have to make are incredible and really made me wish there was more. I won't spoil anything but let me say that I particularly liked the revelations about Saren's ship, and the Citadel.

Although I felt the interaction with my party members was missing a bit when compared to other Bioware games; what was there was very good. I particularly liked Ashley who had her own motivations and a bit of humorous side to her. I actually felt that pound for pound she felt more "real" than any of the other characters. I liked the other characters but they felt too much like characters, if you catch my drift. Supporting characters such as Joker, and Captain Anderson were actually better as far as having a certain "life" to them than several of my party members.

My last comment on characters is reserved for Saren. Once again I won't spoil anything but the ending I chose with him honestly made him one of the greatest villains I've ever faced in a video game. I had read the novel Mass Effect: Revelation beforehand and I thought I'd had Saren pegged as your typical "I'm evil because that's the way I am," kind of guy. Boy was I wrong. My advice to everyone: get your Charm or Intimidate skills as high as they'll go and pay attention to what's going on with Saren and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Most everything else is a high point. Good graphics, excellent music, and voice over. The universe itself has a lot of depth. Plenty of side quests (seems like every time the Alliance has trouble even so much as wiping their ass they give you a call). Ultimately I enjoyed the game but after two years of waitings I'm a bit let down by the short story and lack of conversation I can have with my party members. This was built to be a trilogy and I think it shows in that regard.

I've only put about eight and a half hours into it so far (damn work), but I've hardly even touched the main story. I picked up Liara and I'm about half way through Noveria. Unless the story is extremely short I'm going to get some serious playtime out of it.

This was totally worth the two year wait

Well I picked my copy up today and I'm having a blast. This really is a masterpiece so far (just finished talking to the Council after gathering proof regarding Saren) although I'm only about three hours into it. The dialog system is a wonderful advancement over Bioware's previous efforts and really helps with the cinematic flow.

Only problems I'm having are a jittery frame rate and some texture pop-in. Thankfully the combat system is enjoyable, that's what I was expecting to dislike the most. Kudos to Bioware for crafting such an amazing world.

The worst of it all is that I've gotta leave for work in thirty minutes. Good God the next eight hours are going to be hell. BTW Rice, tell me about your Shepard. I'm interested to hear what other people have come up with for their Commander.

I called my local EB Games about an hour ago to check and see if my preorder was available for pick-up tomorrow. Thank God it is. Now I just have to suffer through work tonight and it'll be mine!!! *cackles*

Thanks for that Rice, I appreciate it.

We've two days away from the official North American release and I just found out about the Mass Effect Experience site. Looks like a site set up by Microsoft and it's very interactive. Very cool stuff, check it out here:

Mass Effect Experience

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it the following scores: 9.0, 9.5, 9.0 and awarded it their Game of the Month.

Next Tuesday seems like eons away.

Congrats on getting the game early. As insanely jealous as I am the way I figure it is that I've been waiting since 2005 so another week won't kill me.

I do have a question though. Can you tell me what the button configuration during combat is (ie: left trigger - aim, right trigger - shoot, etc)?

And for the love of God please put spoilers inside their tags. I'm terrified to go anywhere game related on the internet right now because of spoilers. Thanks

EDIT:

I just found out that Official XBOX Magazine gave the game a 10/10. Although they're not actually owned by Microsoft you can probably take it for whatever you want. Can't post the actual review because it's about four pages long (and I haven't actually read it myself. The magazine's editor supposedly had this to say about the game in his column:

The experience as a whole - the sense of awe that lasts all game long, and the emotions in your gut as you sit back at the end and just gape - pays off all on its own. Personally, it's the best game I've ever played, but even if you're not a hardcore sci-fi nerd like me, Mass Effect is a transcendent experience, the new standard-setter for what a game can be. You have to play it, and that's why we're kinda jealous of you. Even if you memorized all the previews and trailers, you're still not ready for how awesome this game is.

This is probably the first PS3 exclusive this year I'm literally excited for (R&C came close). Everything about this game shows the care for details that make Naughty Dog as good as they are. Like Duin said before; the AI is surprisingly intelligent with their flanking, grenade use, and cover. What really gets me about it though are the animations from the characters are quite good.

Looking forward to this one for sure. The PS3 is slowly picking up steam and it needs exclusives like this to draw people in.

Well the trailer had it's debut for the first time last night during GameHead on SpikeTV, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the episode (which was largely centered around Mass Effect anyways) and I must say it's very good. Since GameHead seem to post their episodes on Game Trailers anyone who wants to watch the episode can check it out here...

POTENTIAL SPOILERS - WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK

GameHead - Mass Effect

If you don't want to wade through old information and other useless gaming news the trailer has been posted on YouTube. Spoilers are seen throughout.

Mass Effect Official Trailer - YouTube

Since I like to think of this as a buffet of your choice you can watch the bits about Mass Effect on GameHead (interviews, previews, etc) without the other game information:

Mass Effect Part 1

and here...

Mass Effect Part 2

BioWare also told us they plan on putting an extended version of the trailer up on their site on Tuesday (holiday Monday). I'll keep my eyes peeled for that too. A big thanks goes to some of my friends over at the BioWare forums for getting this stuff up on YouTube.

It’s been known for awhile that this is street dated, so no mater what, everyone will have the opportunity to get it on the 20th.

Why can't any stores near me break the street date? Besides that this is actually good news. Anyone who preordered it will likely be able to actually get a copy the 20th instead of the 21st which is what normally happens around here.

Although it has been slow to start, tonight on Spike TV, Gamehead will be dedicated to ME, which is where the commercial will debut. Then on launch day, SCI-FI will be doing a SCI vs. FI episode about ME, similar to what they did with Halo 3. And since the game is street dated, there’s a good chance that they’ll have a huge launch party planned.

Well it seems the game has a few more fans on here than I originally thought. It's sad that you don't see as much excitement about this game as it should have; Microsoft are really dragging their asses with the marketing. For anyone who hasn't, I HIGHLY suggest you try and find a video (the Gamespot Character Spotlights are a great place to go) of the conversation system. It's mind blowing how natural everything flows, especially when you compare it to KOTOR or Jade Empire.

Here's a little something else posted by Che:

If I had to rate the different aspects of the game, I would put it in this order:

1). Story/characters -- both of these play into each other and combined makes Mass Effect one of the most immersive RPGs ever made -- and think about it, RPGs are many things but they're not typically "immersive" like an action shooter. The characters are quite memorable, especially your own party, who do offer up exchanges with each other at random moments, but mostly when you're in elevators for some reason. But when it happens, it's pure gold.

I'm at the 23 or so hour mark and I'm still pretty obsessed. The story is very well done, although there is the occasional melodrama that doesn't quite click (actually, I'm only really referring to one scene in particular that was like suddenly seeing B movie quality acting and lamenting in what's been so far a triple-A experience -- I dunno, some of you may not have a problem with it).

There is so much rich characterization and dialogue and exposition in this game. Bioware is really not afraid of giving you a ton of backstory (all of it is optional, and if you do explore the satisfyingly meaty dialogue trees, you gain a small amount of XP as incentive) to a very interesting universe. There is so much I could say here, but it's hard without giving up some spoilers so I'll refrain.

2). Graphics and ambience (including soundtrack) -- The graphics continue to be fucking insanely next-gen, despite occasional problems with slowdown and tearing, something Gears of War didn't really have much of a problem with if memory serves correct.

One thing to note is that I am playing Mass Effect off a "green disc", which is a pre-retail DVD that is sent to journalists. Green discs load much slower than retail discs and they have contributed to some of the jerkiness I've experienced. We ran into the same problem with the greens we sent out for Forza 2 as well, to the point where we actually considered sending them discs they can install to their debug HDDs.

Anyway, the game is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and like I said in my earlier posts, you really can't do the sort of ambitious space opera type of scripts (where you're staring at character's faces all day while they emote) without really good graphics that can express subtle emotion.

Another really nice thing about Mass Effect, and still amazing to me when I think about it is the fact that all of you will have a vastly different image of the game in your mind, simply based on your custom avatar charater's face. You do spend a lot of time staring at it, so my advice is to create a face you really like and one that you would like to see in an epic sci-fi movie or serial.

Personally, I really like my character Mako and when I think Mass Effect, I see Mako's face in my mind, much like others would see Master Chief or Sam Fischer's face in their mind when they think Halo 3 and Splinter Cell.

It's too bad the cover art for Mass Effect is so generic in terms of the leading character. He's just such a square-jawed Biff-type. In reality, the game, both visually and narratively, allows you so much leeway for customization, it makes the cover sleeve a little misleading. In fact, when I saw it earlier in this thread, it was almost jarring for me because that's not the Mass Effect I'm currently experiencing.

3). Combat System -- This aspect of the game will definitely be the most controversial. To put it in very rough terms, the action-oriented combat system in Mass Effect (and yes, it's very fast, very chaotic, and sometimes very unforgiving) is more fun, and works better than say, the melee (or ranged) combat system of Oblivion.

Strip away the stats and powers and modifiers and you've got a 3rd person shooter a la GRAW and it's pretty fun. Add in all the customization you can do and the character stats/evolution and party management/pausing action and you've got a pretty unique marriage of KOTOR and something like Gears of War (it's pretty obvious Bioware played a ton of Gears).

Right now, I'm playing a soldier class, and since I did quite a lot of "grinding" (i.e., random exploration of planets and leveling up by finding loot or killing enemies), my character is pretty handy with guns, allowing me to engage combat more like a straight shooter affair (take cover, pop out, fire off a volley, throw grenades). Meanwhile, I've got 2 "biotic" experts who use decent pistols but they're deadly with all these crazy powers. As soon as we get into a skirmish, these biotic guys are lifting fools and throwing them across the room and casting gravitational blackholes, etc. Anyway, the combo works.

There are two negatives about combat so far -- one of them you can workaround and the other doesn't happen that often but it's definitely noticeable.

First of all, since there's really no slowing down time or anything, combat is fast and furious and you will die often if you get gangbanged from all sides while your shields are down. This isn't that big a deal since, like a good shooter, every time you reload the game, the action happens differently and you learn various tactics depending on the layout of the room/environs to not get caught with your pants down again. The important thing to do is to save often -- as often as you would in any PC shooter or RPG. The other more annoying aspect of combat is the occasional framerate chug when the action gets insane, like there are 8-10 guys shooting you in the room, and your biotic characters are lifting enemies and furniture and all sorts of crap into the air with these crazy plasma effects AND you're firing like crazy, trying to survive. If you're a framerate whore, consider this your warning.

Anyway, I'm going to get back to the game now. It says volumes about the game at 23 hours in when I've got an unopened copy of COD4 on my desk and have no real desire to turn off Mass Effect.

I'll admit Mass Effect has some stiff competition, but what critical response it's gotten so far as been nearly universally positive. Game Informer gave it a 9.75/10 and Che (formerly of 1Up, now he works for the company that makes the Forza games has been posting impressions on NeoGaf that have been very positive). In fact I've taken the liberty of copying over some of his comments to post here, with a few of his screen shots.

I had plans to do an elaborate post about this the whole time I've been playing.

I'm about 8.5 hours into the game now and it's just gotten better and better.

Too much to talk about really, so I guess I'll just answer RStein's question.

Combat is really fun. There are occasional problems with the AI, but it's really nothing 3rd/1st person shooter fans aren't already used to in teammates found in the genre (GRAW, RS: Vegas, etc). I set my squad to "active" which lets the AI use both defensive and offensive abilities on their own (without you having to pause the action, choose targets, and say "perform a neuro blast" or whatever). They definitely get the job done and I often find them stealing my kills. Thankfully, XP and loot goes to the party and it's up to you to divvy up items.

When I said earlier that this game is a shooter first and an RPG second, I was wrong. It's really a great balance of both genres. Mechanically speaking, this is an action game through and through. You dodge bullets, spring to cover, and do all the things required of you in games like Gears of War. You point your gun at something and fire and there is a 1-to-1 cause-and-effect reaction and shit takes damage and blow up, etc.

Stats act more like modifiers. For instance, if I do a full auto burst with my assault rifle, the reticle will gradually grow wider and bigger the longer you fire, representing the kick and recoil of the assault rifle. As a result, the spread of your shots will go from tight to practically useless through the duration of your burst. As you invest in your assault rifle skill, that behavior improves so your spread is tighter even if you fire longer. Of course, if you play the game like I do and just do controlled bursts, it really isn't too much of a problem.

This basically goes for all weapons (sniper rifle, shotguns, etc.) and I think it works great. In the end, combat is an action affair and really there's no other game like Mass Effect where it combines my favorite genre with a genre I no longer play. It's such a nice RPG homecoming.

The only aspect of the combat that can be clunky at times is trying to get under cover mode against an obstacle that's shorter, as it requires you to duck. Whereas Gears of War automatically makes you duck and puts you against lower cover, you have to do so manually here so there's the added click of the left stick -- and in the heat of combat, it can be frustrating... particularly because combat is really chaotic and crazy at times.

Anyway, I know it's too early to know what's GOTY at this point since I haven't played SMG, COD4, or Uncharted, but I know for a fact that Mass Effect is already an easy contender.

I'll take some phone pics and post 'em tonight. This game is RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous and 8 hours later, I am still slackjawed.

I just happened to be browsing around the boards today and noticed that there is literally NO hype for this game around here. With a healthy number of 360 owners on EWB I'm greatly saddened by this revelation. Maybe it's due to no one wanting an epic single player action RPG, or maybe it's the sickening lack of coverage I've seen in the media compared to some other titles that have been/will be released this fall.

Since there's a lot of ground to cover I won't go over every minor detail about the game. Having been following it since it's announcement in the middle of 2005, I wouldn't even know where to start describing it. That being said; here's a quick overview (provided by xbox.com):

Mass Effect™ is a sci-fi action RPG created by BioWare, the commercially and critically acclaimed developer of Jade Empire™ and Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™. Mass Effect delivers an immersive, story-driven experience coupled with awe-inspiring visuals, delivered exclusively to the Xbox 360™.

As one of the first human beings to step onto the galactic stage, you face a grave threat that may destroy all of civilization. Your job is complicated by the fact that no one believes that there is any threat at all. Travel across an expansive universe, exploring the uncharted corners of the galaxy, searching for pieces of the truth in order to discover how to defeat the coming destruction.

* Explore uncharted worlds: Uncover a mystery that defies imagination as you travel to the far corners of the universe. Visit unexplored planets, finding side quests that unfold parallel to the main story. Discover alien life, new resources, ruined civilizations, and powerful technologies.

* Fight in real-time: Mass Effect features a real-time, squad-based, tactical combat system. Enjoy intense and exciting third-person action as you face off against your enemies. Engage your foes with ranged weapons, biotic powers, science-based magic, and tech powers, all accompanied by astonishing visuals.

* Customize your character: Build a stunning, photo-realistic character, expanding your skills and statistics as you progress. Utilize a deep reward system as you travel further afield and discover more about the coming invasion. Change the appearance of your characters with the additions of newly discovered weapons, equipment, and armor to make each one truly unique.

* Experience the next generation: Mass Effect takes full advantage of Xbox 360 hardware, providing players with photo-realistic high definition graphics, amazingly realistic characters, branching dialogue with A.I. responses, and a massive universe to explore. As the future of gaming continues to expand online, look for premium downloads on Xbox LIVE®.