Volourn

"What gets me is that we have this huge galaxy to explore and only one freaking city." One city; but lots of towns/villages/other civilized places. How many actual cities does NWN have? Or either BG game have? Or KOTOR? And, no, KOTOR's combat is not like Aurora (or IE combat). It's way too simplified. Heck, it's the same basic system as NWN 9d20); but with far less options. I agree with xard, though, that KOTOR's combat animations were fun to watch and made the combat at least fun to watch.

I like that review as it's fair, and it's a perosnal opinion. But, he loves KOTOR and thinks it is awesome. Make me suspicious that he just doens't want BIO's new space rpg to be better than SW. HA! If ME is worse than KOTOR, it's not worth an 8. KOTOR only deserves around an 8. P.S. Ther eis no way the combat is worse than KOTOR.

Mass Effect! Mass Effect! Mass Effect!

Yeah, we Kanadians get screwed. NA release today; but Kanada stores ignore that... I hear lots of fellow Kanucks whining about not getting the game today.. including me.. BOOO!!

Week 12 Thursday, Nov. 22 Green Bay at DETROIT 12:30 pm - My upset special. Detroit will squeak out a victory. Though, GB winning won't be a shocker. N.Y. Jets at DALLAS 4:15 pm - Dallas. Another ho hum blow out. T.0. will catch at least 2 TDs. INDIANAOLLIS at Atlanta 8:15 pm - After 2 subpar games, Peyton has a strong game with 3TDs at least, and no more than 1 INT. Indy wins in a laugher. Sunday, Nov. 25 Buffalo at JACKSONVILLE 1:00 pm - After being embarassed this week, Buffalo falls apart as Jacksonville runs amok over them and tightens the defensive screws. Houston at CLEVELAND 1:00 pm - *yawn* Boring match up. I don't care so flip a coin. Home team Cleveland by default. Minnesota at N.Y. GIANTS 1:00 pm - Giants as they seem to be able to beat the teams they should. (only losses are two against Dallas and 1 against GB). NEW ORLEANS at Carolina 1:00 pm - Hmph.. NO just because Carolina has even less going for it though I'll cheer for Testervade. Oakland at KANSAS CITY 1:00 pm - KC only because Oakland cna't buy a win no matter how will they play. Seattle at ST.LOUIS 1:00 pm - Seattle is going boringly along while STL has won 2 striaght after a horrid start. Tough call. I'll go with Bulger and the home team; but I will not be surprised if Seattle wins. TENESSEE at Cincinnati 1:00 pm - HA! Cincinnati *should* win this; but they won't. Tennesse pulls off another undeserving win. Washington at TAMPA BAY 1:00 pm - Equal teams; but I like Garcia (and I wanna continue mocking Philly fans) so home team TB wins. San Francisco at ARIZONA 4:05 pm - Bleh. Arizona just because SF is just plain bad this year. Baltimore at SAN DIEGO 4:15 pm - WHAT!?! former contenders now luke warm. SD wins; but only because Baltimore has had their ehad sin the sand. Denver at CHICAGO 4:15 pm - Chicago as they'll be fighting for .500 all eayr. Why change now? Philadelphia at NEW ENGLAND 8:15 pm - NE in a blow out unless McNabb is back and plays like McNabb of old. Note: Sunday night games in Weeks 11-17 subject to change. Monday, Nov. 26 Miami at PITTSBURGH 8:30 pm - Pittsburgh wins in a rout taking out their furstrations on a hapless Miami team that is merrily skipping along to a possible winless season. R00fles!

Exactly. or FO would be one. L0L

Exactly.

"However getting back on topic what does ME do to set it apart from the many of other FPS with RPG elements that I mentioned above that have gotten 'best eva!!!11' reviews? I see with just the handful of people posting here mixed opinions about the story, gameplay and FX engine. If such a small sampling cant even come to terms with it what does that say?" Because, it's more of a RPG with shooter/action elements exactly as BIO described. It has more in common with games like BG, FO, KOTOR2, and BL. ME has as much dialogue as any other RPG (in fact, i've read it has over a million words which definitely surpasses most RPGs), it has C&C like any RPg should have (and, just like any RPG I have ever played some dialogue choices are just glitter and are fake), it has mutliple so0lutions to quests as well as multiple ways to get, it has dialogue skills, it has non combat skills as well, it has a focused story with oppurtunity for plenty of side quests (from all accounts, ME's side quests/missions while not as deep as its main story have as much hours to be played if not more). What do role-playing games really have that ME doens't have? ie. What makes BL a full fledge RPG in your eyes yet ME 'just a shooter with RPG elements'? As for mixed opinions. Big deal. that's what the internt is all about. Mixed opinion. Some people love FO. Some hate it. Some love PST and consider it God of Gaming. Same with BG2, NWN2, and a host of other games. Example: I like BL a lot; but I hate its combat. However, there are others who absolutely LOVE BL combat. Go figure. *shrug* Conversely, some people dislike BL's story and writing yet I love those. Ah well. NEWSFLASH: Don't listen to hype. Hype is unimportant. Hype doesn't tell you anything. Statements like 'best game ever', 'it's evolutionary', or even 'game sucks worse than x game' or 'this is just an Oblivion wananbe' means absolutely nothing. The meat is more important.

"Anyone else get a Fallout-esque feel to the multiple endings?" Yes, Obsidian did very well with the multiple endings. It's up there with the FO series, and HOTU in terms of top notch handling of multiple endings. Overall, MOTB is a very good game. No doubt about it.

Actually, Hellgate has not been getting universal praise... In fact, at Gamerankings it is rated, on average, 71.5. ... Do, I now have to check the others out to make sure you aren't taking stuff out of your hat. btw, The only gam,e of those you mentioned that I've played is the 'underwater FPS thing' (aka Bioshock). It's an okay game to me; but I'm not much of a shooter fan myself.

By your defintion then, ME is a 'full fledge RPG' then because it's right where BL. In fact, BL combat is less stat heavy than ME seems to be. To me an Action RPG is a game that has real time combat (no 6 second rounds ala IE or Aurora) where player ability *and* character ability is important. It also has story, role-playing, characters, and C&C that you'd fine in any RPG. G3, BL, JE, and ME all fit this category. An action game to me is something that BGDA or the newer BT. P.S. being called a Action RPG. a shooter, a RPG, or a sports title shouldn't be an insult anyways. It's a classification. It's only an insult if you hate that type of game.

"'Action RPG' is a near oxymoron IMO. its a poor attempt on the publishers part to put a RPG cover over a shooter to try to coax CRPG fans into buying it. If you wish to fall into that PR/sales pitch trap by all means, I wont nor do I subscribe to it." Actually, ME is opposite. It's a (Action) RPG which has shooter elements that BIO pushed in order to get Shooter fans to buy it. In fact, most combat issues that reviewers seem to have is that it's not shootery enough. Stats/skill influence combat too much, it's too 'slow', to get the best out of your and your compnaion's abilities you have to pause a lot. And, many games fit into the Action RPG section as Sand mentions. Action RPG = mix of action and rpg. That describes ME perfectly. " really my concern unless it comes to the PC anyways. I just wanted to point out the buzz/spin on it seems > then the actual product from what (little) I read. Could be wrong but theres nothing 'wrong' with that. thats the publishers job to make their game seem like the best thing since sliced bread. I was merely pointing that out." You don't make sense. The reviews are mainly praising the game yet you say it's not living to the hype. The only really critical review of the game was from the same guy who bashed NWN2 because it was 'too D&D'. L0L

"another shooter that may" It's not a shooter. In fact, most complaints about the combat is that it's too slow, and too much pausing, and too heavy on stats/skills influencing the combat. Xard: There are also other choices that some of the rveiews have mentioned including one that gave the game a reasonable 80%. The game does have 4 endings, IIRC. The story, itself, doesn't seem all that original though. Then again, most stories aren't. It's all a matter of how they're told. "Just as usual (sadly) people buying into the publishers hype machine. In Jan. I'd like to know who (if anyone) is still playing this game." Just a sad is the opposite of the fanboy doing their thing. You know the type. they have a theory of x game being horrible, and only pay attention to stuff that 'proves' them right yet ignoring anything that contradicts that theory. Then again, you are a known BIO hater. You can't even get ME's genre right. It's a Action RPG; not a shooter. On the contrary, as big a fan of BIO that I am, I can actually read the reviews (not just scores), and have second thoughts on certain aspects of a game. ME's inventory seems quite poor in it's KOTOR way (possibly even worse), and the non main story worlds seem to be superficially shallow at worst, or time wasters for exploring and xp gainage at best. *shrug*

"However, PW roleplay seems to consist of standing in a town square talking about the weather for 3 hours." Yeah, a lot of so called 'hardcore' role-players think talking = role-playing. That's just silly. If you are a barbarian from a war like tribe in the middle of the jungle talking is anything but role-playing. L0L

"but this is no Baldur's Gate 2, that's for sure." Nor was it meant to be. P.S. "slow, unexcited pace of combat, not cerebral enough gameplay" Meh. Outside of KOTOR which had combat I could live without, I find combat to be a strength of BIO.

"both main story and sub quests, are 95% action, and play like any other action game, only not quite as well-realised." Sounds like most RPGs.

HAHA! L0L

People will whine about the score for being 'low'; but to me 8.5 is good. The rveeiw itself is well written except one noticeable flaw... The reviewer simultaneously calls the combat 'weak' as well as 'fun and exiting'. So... which is it, GS, which is it? Otherwise, it's mostly positive with some negatives thrown in. That's cool. No game is perfect. *shrug*

http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/2101/M...n-Interview/p1/

Yes, oh god, yes.

L0L Doomed I say! P.S. Theyw ere bought by EA! To some, it means they already are doomed! HA! P.S.S. As a BIO fnaboy, I blame any ME weaknesses on MS the publisher and EA the new owner! It's NEVER the developer's fault! NEVER!!!

Yeah, I agree. 8/10 isn't bad per se on its own. Sadly, in the gaming community it's gonna be seen as ME = 8 = crap. It's bad it is that way though since I don't rate too many games that high myself. *shrug*

"*Every single mission* is a third person action romp, so the game has to be judged as an action game first, with role playing elements playing a less significant part." Yet, he also writes this to basically start the review: "When cuddly old Bob Hoskins said that it was 'good to talk', he was trying, in his loveable ****ney kind of way, to get us to rack up enormous phone bills. He wasn't advocating that using endless exposition was the best way to get you into space fairing action RPG epic. He'd probably politely tell them to 'shut iiiiit'. Advertisement My goodness, does Mass Effect love to talk - or at least it certainly does in the first few hours, as BioWare cranks up the cinematic dial up to 11 and sets a course for the heart of sci-fi-rama. A word of warning before we get underway: if you're not someone with Babylon 5 or even Firefly box sets displayed proudly on your shelves, early encounters with this earnest 'save the galaxy' quest might feel like hard work. But even if the thought of another galaxy saving plot has your eyes rolling, 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. You'll need to approach the game with the relaxed mentality of someone who enjoys a good story as much as they appreciate blowing things up. 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." It's just that he expected it to be a shooter/action game. It's an Action RPG, though. It has a lot of combat (like all BIO games, btw); but it also has role-playing/talking too. *shrug*

Heh. I just started a thread about the rveiews. Bugs, and such seem to be the biggest complaint. Combat complaints seem to be centred on the fact that ME isn't 'shootery' enough. EG dislikes the fact that too much emphasis is put on talking/exploring than on combat which they expected since to them it's the 'meat' of the game cause I guess they expected a 'shooter'. L0L Otherwise they positive depsite the relatively low score (though, 8/10 isn't horrible in relaity;/ but in game land it cna be a death sentence).

A collection of ME reviews. Be sure to check out Gametrailers' video review. Awesomeness abounds. Gametrailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/27704.html 9.6 Xboxevolved: http://xboxevolved.e-mpire.com/article.php...1&comments= 9.8 IGN: http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/833/833640p1.html 9.4 (includes both video and written review) Gamespy: http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/mass-e...t/836239p1.html 5/5 Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=87875 8/10 (too much talking, not enough shooting, subpar shooter) Teamxbox: http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1437/Mass-Effect/p1/ 9.6 There ya go. Add any you find. Most common complaints is the combat isn't 'shooter' enough, some bug hang ups, and not as much handholding as expected (no tutorial for example), and side quest exploration isn't as deep as the main quest stuff. Most common praise is story, characters, graphics, sound (voice/music), and role-playing. Have fun! P.S. I should have the game tomorrow!!!