Played: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
I should have taken my own advice re: side quests before main quests. I made sure I picked up all the stray sidequest widgets from Tuchanka before curing the genophage: i.e. unleashing a horde of ever-proliferating alien battle toads to combat the omnipotent genocidal robot octopi. I tried to go back to the Citadel and turn all of it in at once, but a terrorist attack gunned down several of my quest-givers. Thankfully, my war assets screen says I get to keep that nifty Shadow Broker Wet Squad I found regardless of my initial contact's vital state. The nightclub power grid, however, must now go forever un-upgraded. Next time I play this, I'll make sure my quest log is as empty as possible before moving on, even if I have to fly back to the Citadel halfway through exploring a planet.
Looking at my entries thus far, you'd think I didn't like this game, but I do. The fact that I'm planning to play it again after all the DLC is out ought to tell you as much. There are a few problems, a few bugs, a few annoyances, but if there are two things ME3 has in spades, it's atmosphere and characters. The feeling of helplessness in the face an of invasion by a far superior enemy pervades the game. Ambient noise and conversation work with mission types and dialogue to keep things desperate at all times. Combat environments serve the atmosphere better than they have in any previous Mass Effect game. Instead of box-filled prefabs (ME1) and linear corridors (ME2), ME3's combat environments are wide open, and the enemy frequently pops up in all directions. Rather than fortify a position, I dash from cover to cover, always looking for a new safe spot. Wildly varying husk types (Reaper ground units) and intelligent human enemies force me to constantly revise my tactics. The odds are against me, and the game never lets me forget.
Character dialogue is top-shelf, and instead of having my comrades in arms hang around in a predetermined spot waiting for me to romance them/rebuff their advances, they wander the ship and the Citadel on errands of their own. My favorite part of the game thus far is finishing a mission and then exploring my ship all over again, seeing where everyone's gotten to.
Word of warning: do not ask Liara about her floaty little hologram helper at the beginning of the conversation. Or maybe you should, just to laugh at the way they keep trying to twist their heads all the way around like owls while you're exhausting the dialogue options.
Welcome, Won't You?
Monday, March 19, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Game Log 3/15/12: Eaten by a Grue
Played: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
Main quests in Mass Effect 3 are called "Priority Missions," which is kind of a joke. Everyone knows that the proper order of operations in a computer RPG is sidequests first, then the main quest. You have to do it this way, as main quests have a nasty habit of sealing off sidequest-rich areas upon completion.
The lowliest of Mass Effect sidequests is resource collection. ME1 had you move planet-to-planet across the whole galaxy, occasionally stepping out to moonbuggy your way through hostile territory to collect salvage, minerals, artifacts, what have you. I guess people thought this was boring? Well, yeah, I was one of those people, but when it came to boring, we hadn't seen nothin' yet.
ME2 thought to solve the problem by making the system more complex. Instead of just pinging a planet to see if it had resources, you had to manually scrape your scanner over every square mile, as if feeling it up for cancerous lumps. Instead of moonbuggying through hostile territory, you just walked around and shot at things. Shooting at things in ME2 was better than shooting at things in ME1, but with no vehicle combat to break the monotony, plus the sheer vast number of planets that needed groping, the resource collection ended up significantly more tedious overall.
ME3 messes with the formula yet again. Instead of wiping my scanners over every square inch of each individual gas giant, I'm setting my scanners off while flying back and forth over the orbital plane like a galactic lawn service. The core mechanic of mowing systems is eerily similar to that of groping planets, but they differ in a few key ways:
1) There are far fewer systems than planets.
2) You don't get to go down to the surface and shoot at things.
3) If you scan more than two small areas of a system, the Reapers leap out of dark space and eat you.
A few of observations: Finding sidequests was the only good thing about ME2's resource gathering system. That's the one thing we can't do anymore. Also, with no indication of where the resources in any given system might be, two scans gets me precisely nowhere. The only way I ever find anything is through the combined powers of my old friends Grid Search and Quicksave/Quickload.
I don't know what the solution is. Resource collection has always been an integral part of the Mass Effect experience. It gives the galaxy a sense of hugeness we wouldn't get from missions alone, so we're better off with boring resource collection than no resource collection at all. I still miss the ME1 version, though. Yeah, it was kind of dull, but that's still better than "very dull" (ME2) and "frustrating" (ME3).
Main quests in Mass Effect 3 are called "Priority Missions," which is kind of a joke. Everyone knows that the proper order of operations in a computer RPG is sidequests first, then the main quest. You have to do it this way, as main quests have a nasty habit of sealing off sidequest-rich areas upon completion.
The lowliest of Mass Effect sidequests is resource collection. ME1 had you move planet-to-planet across the whole galaxy, occasionally stepping out to moonbuggy your way through hostile territory to collect salvage, minerals, artifacts, what have you. I guess people thought this was boring? Well, yeah, I was one of those people, but when it came to boring, we hadn't seen nothin' yet.
ME2 thought to solve the problem by making the system more complex. Instead of just pinging a planet to see if it had resources, you had to manually scrape your scanner over every square mile, as if feeling it up for cancerous lumps. Instead of moonbuggying through hostile territory, you just walked around and shot at things. Shooting at things in ME2 was better than shooting at things in ME1, but with no vehicle combat to break the monotony, plus the sheer vast number of planets that needed groping, the resource collection ended up significantly more tedious overall.
ME3 messes with the formula yet again. Instead of wiping my scanners over every square inch of each individual gas giant, I'm setting my scanners off while flying back and forth over the orbital plane like a galactic lawn service. The core mechanic of mowing systems is eerily similar to that of groping planets, but they differ in a few key ways:
1) There are far fewer systems than planets.
2) You don't get to go down to the surface and shoot at things.
3) If you scan more than two small areas of a system, the Reapers leap out of dark space and eat you.
A few of observations: Finding sidequests was the only good thing about ME2's resource gathering system. That's the one thing we can't do anymore. Also, with no indication of where the resources in any given system might be, two scans gets me precisely nowhere. The only way I ever find anything is through the combined powers of my old friends Grid Search and Quicksave/Quickload.
I don't know what the solution is. Resource collection has always been an integral part of the Mass Effect experience. It gives the galaxy a sense of hugeness we wouldn't get from missions alone, so we're better off with boring resource collection than no resource collection at all. I still miss the ME1 version, though. Yeah, it was kind of dull, but that's still better than "very dull" (ME2) and "frustrating" (ME3).
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Game Log 3/14/12: Points Junkie
Played: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
With the prologue missions out of the way, I'm free as a bird--a space bird with an urgent and desperate mission to unite the warring races of the galaxy before the giant octopus robots turn us all into octopus robot food. Naturally, the first order of business is to park my ship in aimless orbit around some random star and poke my nose into the Normandy's every room and corridor.
Now, I don't have a problem with laser cannons and hot blue lady aliens. These are far enough away from my personal reality that adding them in causes no cognitive dissonance. I am, however, very happy that my boss at work doesn't come round every few hours and hover over my shoulder, repeatedly demanding an opportunity to help me solve all my personal problems. For the next half hour or so, this is exactly what I have Shepard do.
"Hey, how's it going? What do you do here? How's that working out? Got any tragic past experiences you want to share? What about points? You got any points? Experience points? Reputation points? War asset points? Any kind of points will do. I'll do anything. Sidequests, dialogue checks, you name it. Come on, man. I finally got control of this damn ship after two nights of play and I'm hurtin' real bad. I gotta have my points."
The Normandy crew eats this stuff up for some reason.
With the prologue missions out of the way, I'm free as a bird--a space bird with an urgent and desperate mission to unite the warring races of the galaxy before the giant octopus robots turn us all into octopus robot food. Naturally, the first order of business is to park my ship in aimless orbit around some random star and poke my nose into the Normandy's every room and corridor.
Now, I don't have a problem with laser cannons and hot blue lady aliens. These are far enough away from my personal reality that adding them in causes no cognitive dissonance. I am, however, very happy that my boss at work doesn't come round every few hours and hover over my shoulder, repeatedly demanding an opportunity to help me solve all my personal problems. For the next half hour or so, this is exactly what I have Shepard do.
"Hey, how's it going? What do you do here? How's that working out? Got any tragic past experiences you want to share? What about points? You got any points? Experience points? Reputation points? War asset points? Any kind of points will do. I'll do anything. Sidequests, dialogue checks, you name it. Come on, man. I finally got control of this damn ship after two nights of play and I'm hurtin' real bad. I gotta have my points."
The Normandy crew eats this stuff up for some reason.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Game Log 3/13/12: Prologue on Rails
Played: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
Default-Face Shepard is enough of a stranger not to set off my Evil Twin alarms when I restart the game with him. Thankfully, he's still the Shepard I've spent two prior games perfecting in everything but looks.
Opening dialog is a little thicker with backstory than the sparse, action movie clichés they gave us in the demo. Meathead-speak still permeates the script, most notably the infamous, "We fight or we die." "We've got company" also makes an appearance near the beginning of the second mission. Fortunately, both of the above are padded with real dialog, making them a little more palatable.
ME3 doesn't give me a lot of control while it's establishing the story. The Reapers (evil robotic space octopi) invade Earth in the middle of Shepard's meeting with the Earth's Alliance Command. Every major city on the planet has burst into flames with millions dead before the game lets me take my first shot. The opening tutorial level ends with my escape from Earth and the admonition to seek help from our alien allies.
The second mission begins automatically after a cutscene. I'm reintroduced to Shepard's previous love interest, sexy blue alien paleontologist Liara. Also reintroduced: the game's secondary villains, a human supremacist terrorist group called Cerberus.
It's been two fairly lengthy missions, and the game still hasn't given me the conn. It won't now either. A seriously wounded squad member needs urgent medical attention and we're off to the Citatel, sort of an alien U.N. After thoroughly exploring two small areas (and aquiring a side mission that I guess I'm not allowed to complete yet) it becomes apparent that the Galactic Council isn't going to help Earth until I've done a few fetch quests for them.
Oh, can I? Am I allowed? Can I start the game now?
No. Gotta have a dream sequence first, slo-mo chasing a little boy I saw die back on Earth. I guess the game doesn't want me going off half-cocked until I'm good and haunted...
...actually, I was already good and haunted before the dream sequence. My prior investment in the series and Earth's current plight were more than enough to work me into that state. The first two missions did a good job of getting the story on track, but the nightmare was a step too far over the top. The ridiculous overreaching made me snicker, which probably wasn't the reaction the game was looking for.
Anyway, Shepard wakes up. A lady with a sexy British accent gives me a slideshow tour of my ship, The Normandy, and I'm finally free. Just in time save my game and go to bed.
Default-Face Shepard is enough of a stranger not to set off my Evil Twin alarms when I restart the game with him. Thankfully, he's still the Shepard I've spent two prior games perfecting in everything but looks.
Opening dialog is a little thicker with backstory than the sparse, action movie clichés they gave us in the demo. Meathead-speak still permeates the script, most notably the infamous, "We fight or we die." "We've got company" also makes an appearance near the beginning of the second mission. Fortunately, both of the above are padded with real dialog, making them a little more palatable.
ME3 doesn't give me a lot of control while it's establishing the story. The Reapers (evil robotic space octopi) invade Earth in the middle of Shepard's meeting with the Earth's Alliance Command. Every major city on the planet has burst into flames with millions dead before the game lets me take my first shot. The opening tutorial level ends with my escape from Earth and the admonition to seek help from our alien allies.
The second mission begins automatically after a cutscene. I'm reintroduced to Shepard's previous love interest, sexy blue alien paleontologist Liara. Also reintroduced: the game's secondary villains, a human supremacist terrorist group called Cerberus.
It's been two fairly lengthy missions, and the game still hasn't given me the conn. It won't now either. A seriously wounded squad member needs urgent medical attention and we're off to the Citatel, sort of an alien U.N. After thoroughly exploring two small areas (and aquiring a side mission that I guess I'm not allowed to complete yet) it becomes apparent that the Galactic Council isn't going to help Earth until I've done a few fetch quests for them.
Oh, can I? Am I allowed? Can I start the game now?
No. Gotta have a dream sequence first, slo-mo chasing a little boy I saw die back on Earth. I guess the game doesn't want me going off half-cocked until I'm good and haunted...
...actually, I was already good and haunted before the dream sequence. My prior investment in the series and Earth's current plight were more than enough to work me into that state. The first two missions did a good job of getting the story on track, but the nightmare was a step too far over the top. The ridiculous overreaching made me snicker, which probably wasn't the reaction the game was looking for.
Anyway, Shepard wakes up. A lady with a sexy British accent gives me a slideshow tour of my ship, The Normandy, and I'm finally free. Just in time save my game and go to bed.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Game Log 3/12/12: Invasion of the Shepard Snatchers
Played: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
It's probably a good thing that I didn't get to play Mass Effect 3 until the day after installation. If I'd managed to play the same day, The game and I would have started off on the wrong foot.
Just getting ME3 onto my hard drive took an hour-long wrestling match with EA's mandatory game delivery system, Origin. First Origin installs and patches itself despite the fact that a fully up-to-date version already exists on my machine. Then it tries to download the game instead of using the disc. When I insist it use the disc, it re-starts installation several times despite the first installation process still running in the background. I let the background installation finish and then cancel all the others. Thankfully, this does not invalidate the first install.
Now it's time to fire up the game... after a 70MB release-day patch trickles down through EA's overtaxed servers. Following this I purchase From Ashes, the day-one DLC. (Yes, I know, I'm a corporate whipping boy and "part of the problem." Will you please shut up about this now?) The DLC can only be purchased via Origin's in-game browser, which opens in a tiny, unscrollable window that doesn't let you see the Paypal buttons needed to complete a transaction. Sure, there's an unmarked tab in the bottom right corner that lets you resize the window. Guess how long it takes me to figure that out.
It's getting late now, which I guess is a good thing, because download speeds for the DLC are a little better than they were for the patch. I fire up the game and import my ME2 saves, but the face import doesn't work. Okay. I go into the custom face menu and do my best approximation of my favorite old Shepard. Halfway to the Alliance board room (right around the time I see Ashley) I try to stop the game. It's Shepard. His voice sounds wrong coming out of that face. You see, I did a pretty good job re-creating my old Shepard, but not an exact job. The uncanny valley is in full effect. He's almost-Shepard. Pod-person Shepard. I just can't go on with that voice and that not-quite-familiar visage. I already know from the demo that there are at least ten unskippable minutes of in-game cutscene before I get access to the game menu. It takes control-alt-delete to shut the game down.
Now it's too late to get back through character creation and get my gaming groove on before bedtime. Tomorrow I'll try again with a little extra patience and the default Shepard face.
It's probably a good thing that I didn't get to play Mass Effect 3 until the day after installation. If I'd managed to play the same day, The game and I would have started off on the wrong foot.
Just getting ME3 onto my hard drive took an hour-long wrestling match with EA's mandatory game delivery system, Origin. First Origin installs and patches itself despite the fact that a fully up-to-date version already exists on my machine. Then it tries to download the game instead of using the disc. When I insist it use the disc, it re-starts installation several times despite the first installation process still running in the background. I let the background installation finish and then cancel all the others. Thankfully, this does not invalidate the first install.
Now it's time to fire up the game... after a 70MB release-day patch trickles down through EA's overtaxed servers. Following this I purchase From Ashes, the day-one DLC. (Yes, I know, I'm a corporate whipping boy and "part of the problem." Will you please shut up about this now?) The DLC can only be purchased via Origin's in-game browser, which opens in a tiny, unscrollable window that doesn't let you see the Paypal buttons needed to complete a transaction. Sure, there's an unmarked tab in the bottom right corner that lets you resize the window. Guess how long it takes me to figure that out.
It's getting late now, which I guess is a good thing, because download speeds for the DLC are a little better than they were for the patch. I fire up the game and import my ME2 saves, but the face import doesn't work. Okay. I go into the custom face menu and do my best approximation of my favorite old Shepard. Halfway to the Alliance board room (right around the time I see Ashley) I try to stop the game. It's Shepard. His voice sounds wrong coming out of that face. You see, I did a pretty good job re-creating my old Shepard, but not an exact job. The uncanny valley is in full effect. He's almost-Shepard. Pod-person Shepard. I just can't go on with that voice and that not-quite-familiar visage. I already know from the demo that there are at least ten unskippable minutes of in-game cutscene before I get access to the game menu. It takes control-alt-delete to shut the game down.
Now it's too late to get back through character creation and get my gaming groove on before bedtime. Tomorrow I'll try again with a little extra patience and the default Shepard face.
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