Mass Effect Reviews

[Volourn]

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!!!

[mkreku]

I just read (and commented in) the Mass Effect review thread on Eurogamer and found this quote from the reviewer himself:

 

The thing is...the game puts the action front and centre. *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.

 

Mass Effect is no more an RPG than something like Devil May Cry. Kills level up the weapons. Mass Effect just happens to have a heavy narrative element, which I liked a lot. If you know my tastes at all, you'll know that I have nothing against slow-paced games with a large story element.

WHAT?! That makes the game sound like ****!

[Volourn]

"*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'.

 

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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*

[Gorth]

*Sits down, waits patiently for PC version...*

[Leferd]

Gamespot review is up. 8.5

 

Having just read it over once, it seems to be well written, organized, and thorough. Good review I think.

[Volourn]

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*

Edited November 20, 2007 by Volourn

[Tigranes]

I love how the reviewer complains about too much fannying around, when his own review is a drawn out and boring affair.

 

From the videos I've seen I dont' expect ME's combat to really interest me, but we'll see. I wonder if my PC can even handle it.

[Leferd]

It's fun reading the bioboard eruptions over their perceptions of a slight to their honor. It's like Jade Empire all over again. Lolz.

[Leferd]

I suppose you could call this Penny-arcade's review.

[Volourn]

HAHA! L0L

[Sand]

17 hours? That is rather short for a CRPG. Its even shorter than Jade Empire by the sound of it.

[Tigranes]

It's pretty short, he skipped lots of sidequests though. Which means it has to be longer than Jade Empire at least...

[Sand]

Well, I consider Jade Empire short for a proper CRPG at 32 hours.

[Hell Kitty]

According to my save game I've played for 37 hours, and I don't think I'm even very far in the story. I complete all side quests and explore every nook and cranny, though. I also do a thorough search of the side quest and uncharted planets to find all the minerals and artifacts and what not. I can see a lot of people ignoring that, especially since the non story planets aren't terribly exciting.

[Sand]

Well, then I guess thats a little better. I do the same thing when I play for the most part.

[Tigranes]

Sand, I finished Jade in one day, something like 13 hours. With no walkthroughs, so I later discovered I missed a fair number of sidequests, but that's what I was going by. I did play it pretty fast though, since I'm a fast reader, the dialogue bored me and the interface/mechanics were familiar. Apparently it generally took other people a lot longer (hence your 32)... hard to know where on that scale Tycho's 17 fits. Definitely doesn't seem like a very very long game though.

[Sand]

Point. Everyone plays their games a tad bit different. I tend to listen to all the voice work in a game on my first time through and tend to actually walk, not run, everywhere I go if possible. Most people just walk around going to place to place. How many people here actually run when they go do a store or go to work? Running is good if you are going around the blook or three for exercise but just going down the street to the library?!?!?! RIDICULOUS!

 

[J.E. Sawyer]

Point. Everyone plays their games a tad bit different. I tend to listen to all the voice work in a game on my first time through and tend to actually walk, not run, everywhere I go if possible. Most people just walk around going to place to place. How many people here actually run when they go do a store or go to work? Running is good if you are going around the blook or three for exercise but just going down the street to the library?!?!?! RIDICULOUS!

 

When I played Jade Empire I had my character do stretches before and after every fight and drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration.

[mkreku]

Just like to add in that it took Krudster over at Eurogamer 15 hours on his first playthrough and a German reviewer 11 hours in his first playthrough. So yeah, you could probably boost that up somewhat, but this is no Baldur's Gate 2, that's for sure.

[Meshugger]

I am probably not the only one here, but i am hearing the same that was heard when Jade Empire was released. "Incredible story! Role-playing options! Fantastic soundtrack! Interesting new take on gameplay! Best story since (insert other Bioware titles here)". When, in my humble opinion, i found it to have a very generic plot, role-playing options that really were boring, since they were tied to the same bad plot and setting, but the soundtrack was above average at least. The gameplay was underwhelming, and the character creation abysmal.

 

Mass Effect seems to share similar problems. Well, at least the soundtrack seems ok-ish.

[Meshugger]

Oh, i forgot. I will wait with my purchase until it has been reviewed at Zero Punctation.

[Sand]

At least Jade Empire was better than NWN1. Then again, almost anything was better than NWN1.

[Spider]

The reviewer simultaneously calls the combat 'weak' as well as 'fun and exiting'.

 

No he doesn't. He calls vehicle combat weak. On-foot combat gets nothing but praise (well, mostly praise anyway).

[Tigranes]

I am probably not the only one here, but i am hearing the same that was heard when Jade Empire was released. "Incredible story! Role-playing options! Fantastic soundtrack! Interesting new take on gameplay! Best story since (insert other Bioware titles here)". When, in my humble opinion, i found it to have a very generic plot, role-playing options that really were boring, since they were tied to the same bad plot and setting, but the soundtrack was above average at least. The gameplay was underwhelming, and the character creation abysmal.

 

Mass Effect seems to share similar problems. Well, at least the soundtrack seems ok-ish.

 

Every single Bioware release since NWN1 has been described exactly the same by reviewers and PR agents, yet everybody still visits these sites and the great delusion of gaming journalism lives on. I mean, why stop talking out of your arse if everyone listens to you?

 

Friend's getting ME on xbox, I'll wait and try it there. I didn't buy JE and I dont' think I'll buy ME, but we'll see.

 

Sand, I do that with games I like. I let the voiceover run on MOTB for example, and often sat around taking screenshots from silly angles. I just didn't find Jade Empire compelling that way, since I guessed the big plot twist the very first time you talk to the Master. (The British explorer dude was cool, though.)

[Sand]

Yeah, the plot "twist" was as transparent as air but it was meant to be. Ever watch those old style kung fu movies? The plot was very easy to figure out but you aren't watching them for the plot.