Mass Effect!

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

They looked fine to me. Actually, all the textures were pretty bad except for the faces.

[Fighter]

Meh. Art is art. I don't remember ever being taught movies, or games in Art Class.

Art: the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

Anything creative is art.

[213374U]

He's ugly.

 

 

That's the joke. Right?

Heh, I thought you were kidding.

 

No, the problem with Garrus' face is that they somehow forgot to add in the hi-res LOD texture. And after a year and a half of NERDRAGE on the boards and failed patches, they gave up and announced that they weren't going to fix it.

[Purkake]

Well, he is a goddamn anthropomorphic bird, he deserves to be as ugly as the graphics made him.

[Volourn]

"Art: the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

 

Anything creative is art. "

 

That definition is lame, and the wussie's way out. I prefer the TRUE defintion of art as the one above is so fake, and this short line explains why: 'Anything creative is art'

 

If you can use a word to basically describe 99% of the world, it's 100% useless. The meaning is meaningless. By thatd efintion my crap can be 'art'. LMAO

[Fighter]

If you can use a word to basically describe 99% of the world, it's 100% useless.

 

So what do you call art?

 

The meaning is meaningless. By thatd efintion my crap can be 'art'. LMAO

 

Yes I'm sure your crap is very creative sparky.

[entrerix]

an enormous crap is of more than ordinary significance. its extraordinary, so under volourns definition, crap can be art, but unless you shape your crap with some creativity, a big crap would not be art under fighters definition

[Arkan]

I've nothing against the general look of the Turians, but Garrus' face (the Volus too) had very low-res textures.

 

 

I downloaded a fix for that.

[Nepenthe]

He's ugly.

 

 

That's the joke. Right?

Heh, I thought you were kidding.

 

No, the problem with Garrus' face is that they somehow forgot to add in the hi-res LOD texture. And after a year and a half of NERDRAGE on the boards and failed patches, they gave up and announced that they weren't going to fix it.

 

The other problem was that they subcontracted the second DLC to the studio that had made the above ****-up. And they proved it wasn't an isolated mistake.

 

As much as I like Mass Effect, I like to think that I'm not exactly blind to the numerous problems it has. It kind of reminds me of Baldur's Gate 1. A game that has its main advantage as paving the road to the best sequel ever made. So yeah, you could say I have pretty high expectations of ME2, and it can go either the route of Baldur's Gate 2 or Matrix 2 - we'll see.

[Humodour]

I played Mass Effecct for 5 hours.

 

Second worst game I've ever played,

[HoonDing]

I played Mass Effecct for 5 hours.

 

Second worst game I've ever played,

#1 is Oblivion?

[Humodour]

I played Mass Effecct for 5 hours.

 

Second worst game I've ever played,

#1 is Oblivion?

 

You are an excellent judge of charatcer. I would like to get drink more alcohol with you. http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/

 

edit: charful, i suspect rupert murdoch might own the times.

 

SIGNIFICATION OF EDIT 2: wait. no sorry. that's not the times. ALL IS WELL.

Edited November 10, 2009 by Krezack

[Meshugger]

"Art: the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

 

Anything creative is art. "

 

That definition is lame, and the wussie's way out. I prefer the TRUE defintion of art as the one above is so fake, and this short line explains why: 'Anything creative is art'

 

If you can use a word to basically describe 99% of the world, it's 100% useless. The meaning is meaningless. By thatd efintion my crap can be 'art'. LMAO

 

Games have a writers, designers, composers, artists involved to become a game.

 

- Writing a story is an art.

- Designing sculpture(characters) is an art.

- Composing music is an art.

- Art-design is an art.

...

..

.

Games aren't an art?

 

(So far, IIRC, only Gromnir have delivered an answer interesting enough)

[Arkan]

"Art: the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

 

Anything creative is art. "

 

That definition is lame, and the wussie's way out. I prefer the TRUE defintion of art as the one above is so fake, and this short line explains why: 'Anything creative is art'

 

If you can use a word to basically describe 99% of the world, it's 100% useless. The meaning is meaningless. By thatd efintion my crap can be 'art'. LMAO

 

Games have a writers, designers, composers, artists involved to become a game.

 

- Writing a story is an art.

- Designing sculpture(characters) is an art.

- Composing music is an art.

- Art-design is an art.

...

..

.

Games aren't an art?

 

(So far, IIRC, only Gromnir have delivered an answer interesting enough)

 

You could say games are a 'work' of arts!

[Meshugger]

Now we're getting somewhere. But does collaborative work art not produce art in itself? Where do you draw the line? How do you apply that into games?

[entrerix]

if films can be art, games can be art, thats enough for me

[Arkan]

So I just finished Mass Effect, and all I have to say is WOW what a game!

 

Here's what I posted over at the BIO forums:

 

Once again, Bioware manages to create an incredible game of epic proportions. As usual, I did a few restarts to find the right character I wanted to play through with.

 

Ever since the days of Baldur's Gate, I've been playing Bioware games (exept Jade Empire), and with the exception of Neverwinter Nights, they have delivered beyond expectations.

 

Mass Effect seemed to be a very ambitious project, and it paid off. The story, the characters, and most aspects of the gameplay were all great. The cinematic presentation was excellent and really drew me into the game.

 

I'm not too good at lengthy reviews, suffice it to say that I loved the game. It had it's flaws, of course, but where it lacked, the good in the game more than drowned out any negative. Incredible job, Bioware. It really is an experience I want to share with others, unfortunately that's difficult to do with such a game, hah!

 

Here's to hoping Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 deliver the same quality gaming experience.

 

I then found the PC Fan Review thread, and Jeff Nichols' review pretty much sums up how I feel about the gam word for word...does a much better job of getting it across, though, haha!

 

http://meforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html...7&forum=125

 

JeffNichols

Tragically overshadowed by the DRM is one of the greatest games to hit the PC in years. Anyone who loved Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire will be in heaven when playing Mass Effect. There is something in this game for everyone, and I cannot praise it enough. I wholeheartedly recommend you stop reading now and buy it. If you need more proof, read on.

 

Visuals/ performance: My system consists of an AMD 6400+, an 8800 GTS 640 MB, and 2 gigs of RAM, using the 175.12 drivers. Not the best system, but far from the worst. Throughout the entire game performance exceeded 60 FPS with settings maxed at 1680 x 1050, with 8X CSAA. Bioware truly did a great job optimizing the game for PC and for choosing when to minimize and maximize details.

 

(If you're experiencing performance problems on decent systems, make sure you have the latest video and audio drivers, along with the latest version of direct X. This game is exceptionally stable and well-performing-- if not, odds are the problem is on your end.)

 

The graphics are certainly above average. Character models and faces look nearly as good as those in Crysis, and for the most part the environment textures are pretty good. You will, sadly, see some extremely low poly trees off in the distance, or perhaps a low-resolution background texture. Thankfully, These weaknesses are hidden by liberal use of depth of field, motion blur, and bloom effects. In short, the game does a great job of choosing where to spend your system's power. The end result is a game that is absolutely beautiful with amazing performance.

 

Unlike most recent PC games, I experienced NO random crashes or glitches while playing, even with overclocks. It's worth noting that there is a "film grain" effect that is on by default. It makes the game look somewhat more like a movie, but I personally hated it. I've noticed some other reviewers complaining about the "grainy, ugly, textures". Odds are they just didn't figure out how to disable "film grain" under video settings.

 

The gameplay is immensely fun and satisfying. You get a pretty standard set of weapons: a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, and sniper rifle. All are useful and enjoyable; I was particularly a fan of the sniper rifle. The cover system is very similar to Gears of War, minus all the crazy dodging: you can take cover against a wall, rock, etc, and then shoot out around it. Simple, but fun. I turned the aim assist completely off, and I was impressed at how good Mass Effect was at being a shooter. Usually when RPG and shooter mix, both are weakened; in Mass Effect, I found the opposite. For RPG-fans who may not be as keen to shooters, you can turn the aim assist all the way up and hardly have to worry about aiming.

 

The RPG aspects, in my opinion, are very well developed. Instead of using a more standard RPG system (Fortitude, Strength, Endurance...), you get a simple chart featuring each skill or ability that you can level up. Everything is explained in detail, and it is a very simple system. I imagine those who are new to RPGs would have no problem with it, while there is still tons of depth for those of us who are keen to it.

 

The story is simply amazing. It lives up to its label as a "science-fiction epic". The dialogue system is the best ever created, hands down, and keeps you paying more attention to the story, the characters, and your own choices than you have ever before. I obviously can't go into too much detail, but rest assured that it is at least as good as the first Knights of the Old Republic.

 

Morality choices have been popular for a while now, but BioWare makes things a bit more serious. You are given choices that have no clear good or bad choice-- I actually had to stop a few times and think about what I was going to do. Other times, of course, there is a good thing to do, and a bad thing to do-- as there should be. There is black and white, but more importantly, there is gray. The ending, I will say, is not a cliffhanger or some other garbage. It is well done in the way that A New Hope is well done. It leaves room for the sequels, but does not set it up frustratingly (like Crysis, for example, or BioShock).

 

The people moaning that this is "an obvious port" are looking for an excuse to complain. I can honestly say that I don't think this game would be any different had it been designed exclusively for PC. It takes a bit to get used to because it is a very unique game, but the UI is great for PC, and you have all the settings and video options you would expect. It performs and looks very good... people will just complain about anything. Bioware is already working on a patch, preparing to provide us with free downloadable content, and promising to support this game for years to come like they've done with all of their games in the past (Neverwinter nights is getting a new patch soon and its 6 years old. Have some faith in a great developer!). This is a better PC game than most that are developed exclusively for PC. The UI adjustments, ability to select hot keys, and improved squad management and inventory really make this a better game than the 360 version, and a game suited perfectly to the PC.

 

Now I will briefly describe the things that kept this game from being absolutely perfect. These issues are small, and honestly did not make the game any worse while playing-- just minor things that I'd like to see corrected via patches. 1) It took a bit of a hassle to set up hot-keys other than 1-8, which I prefer to keep my weapons on. 2) I'd like to be able to use WASD and the mouse on the galaxy map; not just the mouse. 3) We can already select anisotropic filtering, but allow us to change it from the default of 4. We already can by going into the config file (my documents/ bioware/ masseffect/ bioengine.cfg) same goes for trilinear filtering. 4) an option to automatically equip Shephard and the squad with the best weapons/mods available for those that don't feel like worrying about the RPG aspects. 5) The Mako has some terrible physics. doesn't really detract from gameplay, but its a bit funny to watch. 6) Self-shadowing is a bit blocky. I'd like an option to disable self-shadowing and only leave other dynamic shadows, along with an option to increase shadow-filtering quality to get rid of blockiness. You can also already do this by editing config files.

 

The last major reason to buy this game, I'd argue, is the replayability. There are 3 very different classes in Mass Effect-- the soldier, tech specialist, and biotic, and 3 classes that offer a mixture of each. Every one offers a totally different experience. More over, various achievements you unlock allow you to start the game with different skills than would normally be allowed. For example, if you get 150 kills with a sniper rifle, you get an achievement. You can then start a game with a character that wouldn't normally be able to use a sniper rifle and unlock the ability. This applies to all sorts of skills and talents, along with armor and weapons. You can also choose to replay the game with a character you already beat the game with, allowing you to keep your equipment, skills, and levels. Enemies will be scaled to your difficulty, allowing you to keep playing with a particularly fun character, or to take one to the max level of 60. Mass Effect is an extremely replayable game. With the first set of downloadable content coming out for free soon, and other content coming later (and the promise of continued support and updates from BioWare), the deal is only getting better.

 

I'll say it one last time: this is a game that you should buy, play, and love. If you let some silly DRM sway you, or a bunch of idiots who reviewed the game without playing it themselves: your loss.

 

Overall:

9/10 for enjoyable gameplay, amazing story, and great graphics.

[alanschu]

I really enjoyed it to.

 

I, err... beat it in one sitting >.>

[Purkake]

Fanboy much?

 

The side missions were atrocious, most of the companions were bland at best, the "choices" are superficial, especially considering what we know of ME2 and the combat was functional at best. Let's not even speak of the mini games or the inventory.

 

All in all, it could have used another year in the oven.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Purkake

[Arkan]

Fanboy much?

 

 

No. I just feel differently about the game than you do, apparently. What I didn't like was the Mako aspect. And the same decryption method for electronics, unlocking, surveying, and retrieving artifacts was odd, but it didn't bother me too much. It also seemed like only one quadrant of the galaxy was really used, and having the Citadel be so far away from all the other clusters/systems was odd.

[Purkake]

Just looking at Dragon Age should give a pretty good idea of what ME could have been in terms of scale. I enjoyed the dialog system and the story wasn't too bad either, but it all felt just unfinished, hollow. Sort of like NWN2's towns with 2 enterable building.

 

We'll see how much ME2 manages to improve on that.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Purkake

[alanschu]

I stopped doing the side missions because I didn't enjoy them after doing some of them.

 

I did enjoy the main narrative, and I did enjoy the companions. And because the two companions I played with the most were Kaiden and Ashley, the plot point later in the game probably affected me more than others that choose to play with different companions.

[Wrath of Dagon]

but it all felt just unfinished, hollow.

Apparently due to all the technical difficulties they were having, a lot of the content had to be cut/changed, or left in a threadbare state, resulting in that effect. The fact that the game had such a linear structure and the dialogs were designed to be skippable didn't help either.

[Hurlshort]

I enjoyed Mass Effect as well, I'd rate it right along side KotOR on my RPG richter scale.

[Morgoth]

Mass Effect was a good game, but it gets easily beaten down by the excellent Dragon Age.