Gorth

Who're you gonna call? Uwe Boll!

I got the impression that Normandy wasn't really a ship of the line as much as it was a stealth/scout vessel, relying on staying unobserved rather than fighting. Cue the introduction of ME2, where they all seem shocked that the collectors can "see" them

The only explanation that comes anywhere near making sense to me is that TIM set the whole thing up (probably through Miranda) to test your readiness. (I'd guess that Wilson thought he was selling you out to somebody who happened to be a covert Cerberus op.) Really, why else would there be a freakin' pistol in a drawer 20 feet from your operating table? Conspiracy! I first thought it was a "Peragus Station" light level, with some kind of mystary going on and you had to figure it out, but it was just a short tutorial level. This is how you reload a gun, this is how you point it at an enemy and shoot, this is how the minigames work and this is how to select the powers of team members. The rest was an explanation for why the big, mighty hero is reduced to level 1 again. Heck, they can always add some DLC's that fills some of the gaps.

I am still confused by Wilsons attempt to kill me (and the rest of the station crew) in the beginning of the game. I suppose there is no point in dwelling on the plot holes. Maybe it gets explained in the next installment.

I don't understand a word of the text, but the video is awesome

It's an interesting little game, not overly good but not that bad either. The biggest issues seem to be the camera and the controls but after you get used to those it's a nice distraction. It is quite fun, as long as you don't play for more than 20 minutes at a time There seems to have been a patch released recently (1.06) which deals with some camera (there are several camera modes now) issues. The controls are a bit iffy. It detected my joystick as a gamepad and refused to slow down my car until I found out which know/wheel/slider made it go full throttle Eventually I found it (a Saitek x52 pro has a lot of buttons) and "centered" it, so I could use the keyboard for driving. Got some machine guns for my car, so now I can mow down mobs of zombies in addition to splattering them with my fender. Good fun.

Just bought Zombie Driver, currently downloading from GamersGate. For 10$ I get to drive around running over zombies. DRM free too. How bad can it possibly be?

The irony. The one woman on board the Normandy I want to "romance" only wants to be friends. Maybe Samara will pop up in ME3, who knows. I suppose team members have different ratings. Some might rate higher for their skills, some for their personality. Ignoring their skills, I tend to favour the companionship of Samara and Mordin. Not sure if I can deliver a long dissertation on why, it just simply is. Maybe its their backgrounds, they appear more "stable" than most of the rest.

Speaking of species... I think my Master of Orion 2 fanboyism is getting unhealthy. I keep comparing the ME species to the Moo2 species. Krogan/Sakkra, Salarian/Psilon, Asari/Elerian, Hanar/Trilarian, Geth/Meklar, Volus/Gnolam, Human/Human (duh), Turian/Alkari, Collector/Klackon. Elcor doesn't seem to have an equivalent. Moo2 has a few more species to spare though (Darlock, Mrrshan & Silicoid). Bioware, why couldn't you have made a Master of Orion crpg instead, most of the ingredients are there, right down to the extra-galactic threat (Reapers/Antareans)?!?

Meh, Turians, I feel as much empathy for them as I do the Drell (nada). I suppose I like Krogans and Salarians for their comic relief. Something about about their single minded pursuit of their racial idiosyncracy. Mordins comments and advice on my sexual relationship with Jack made me laugh out loud Hey, want to buy some rare Presidum Fish? Full of healthy Omega 4 fatty acids! Edit: My spelling needs some vitamins

I am such a bastard I'll happily kill bipeds, quadrupeds and tentacled beings left and right, verbally abuse, physically abuse and cheat merchants out of their profits without second thought... but I feel bad about selling "Presidium Fish" to the Krogan on the citadel. Go figure

Thread pruned a bit. Sorry Jags, while I agree that boobs generally improves the aesthetics of a thread, it just didn't reconcile with Indian forms of government. Unfortunately...

It's there for the "immersion" Nah, seriously. Sometimes it's all the little touches that adds that extra "realism" (within the game world) that makes a setting believable. No, I don't like food in games, Ive hated it since Nethack. But scenery that creates a functional environment, as in would probably work in the game world is not such an awful thing, is it?

I need a new identity

Somebody knows how to appeal to Aussies

So, sort of like a temple... they build shrines where you can worship your gaming gods. Iowa is a bit out of the way where I live, so unless they raise a large effigy in honour of Jeff Minter, I am not really motivated

Send in the "cleaners" to remove the body

Officially, yes

Sheesh, can't a guy have a bit of secrecy here?

Undercover

If he had been "just" human, it would have made a lot of sense. The game does portrait him as dedicated to the grey wardens though, making it a not unreasonable assumption that he values the fight against darkspawn over personal interests. Add to that, letting his choice be influenced whether or not you had dragged him along a "light" or "dark" path through the game. If you played a bad guy, blood would flow at the landsmeet (if you didn't kill/injure Alistair yourself, he would fight Loghain to the death) or if the "light" path, the bloodless, but no less unhappy ending you describe

Like dumping his friends, making a mockery of Duncans death, turning his back on the grey wardens, leaving Ferelden and humanity to a horrible, gruesome death? An iffy one indeed

Thread trimmed a bit. Lets stick to the tags for the moment. I don't have any

Hehe... the guy lurking around the corner with the flamethrower is a bit of a pain in the rear First door is sort of easy. Sprint is your friend. If you have barrier or similar, it can be quite useful when approaching the door to be sealed. The second one (to the right of the middle door?) is not too bad either, but a bit of care is needed when those regenerating krogans show up. Incinerate works wonders on them. Or headshots with a sniper rifle. The third door where the corridor has a "bent", is where dirty tactics are needed. I draw out the guy with the flamer and then abuse the weird physics of corridor corners in the Mass Effect universe to fill the guys shoulder/arm with bullets while his flames can't touch me. Edit: Never understimate the powers of team mates. They are expendable decoys, you are not.

Widow makes a mockery of most enemies. Scions, dead in two shots. Harbinger, mostly two shots. Most bosses, two shots (three if they have shiels, barriers and armour). After playing a soldier in my first game, I felt very naked in my second game, when I no longer had an assault rifle. With the improved magazine capacity for the submachine gun, it makes and ok substitute for close combat. Sniper rifles are the preferred tools of trade for Gorth Shepard though. When mobbed by husks, just punch them in the face and then incinerate them