Video game news and reaction

[foproy]

you forgot that you also get access to the demo when it is released.

[Sletchman]

After having a heap of fun with the demo, I picked up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning today.  It's by no means perfect, but it's a heap of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously (which is a big plus in my book).  I recommend grabbing the demo for anyone who is even a little interested (or even if you just want the free Mass Effect 3 swag...).

EDIT: Also, you should be made aware that the demo was made from Beta code by a different studio, so the final product is actually quite a bit better (especially in regards to bugs, which the demo has a few of).

[Mister Andersen]

At long last, the FemShep trailer for ME3

[Antilles]

After having a heap of fun with the demo, I picked up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning today.  It's by no means perfect, but it's a heap of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously (which is a big plus in my book).  I recommend grabbing the demo for anyone who is even a little interested (or even if you just want the free Mass Effect 3 swag...).

EDIT: Also, you should be made aware that the demo was made from Beta code by a different studio, so the final product is actually quite a bit better (especially in regards to bugs, which the demo has a few of).

I've been having fun with the full game, so I'll second the recommendation. Also, if you do try the demo, make sure you get your hands on some chakrams, they're my favorite weapon so far

[Sletchman]

Also, if you do try the demo, make sure you get your hands on some chakrams, they're my favorite weapon so far

So true.  I got to try every other weapon in the demo but never found chakrams.  Loaded up my full copy and found a pair called "Twinned Souls" along with Shepards N7 armour in the DLC Chest and they are a total blast to use.  I'm weidling them with a staff - use Mage's Vortex and then blast a group with my chakrams.  There is a lot of movies that I'm mentally converting for tabletop use too (just depends on what spellbound has, so crack on Crafty)...

[foproy]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/1218618p1.html

looks interesting. some video at the bottom of the post.

[Sletchman]

So, the Mass Effect 3 demo came out last night, and I just got a chance to play it.  I'm majorly ticked off that the single player demo is really short, and that you can't actually play the multiplayer demo for 4 more days.

As for the new hotness itself:

Combat: Played on Normal, and enemy damage and accuracy is way up from ME2 (which was cake on normal).  Bioware did say that "Normal was the new Veteran" and I'm believing them (and there is the new Story mode which reduces difficulty in combat for those who don't like hard games).  Shepard can also carry and correctly use all weapon types (at least in the demo - my Adept had an assault rifle, shotgun, SMG and pistol) which makes far more sense for a professional soldier then just being proficient with pistols.  I'm gonna give insanity a go and see if it's much harder then the previous games (though ME1 wasn't actually hard on insanity, just tedious because everything had Immunity).  Shooting mechanics are tight though and Shepards improved mobility is pretty good too.  I'm also loving the unique melee that each class gets - the Adept gets a stylish biotic enhanced shockwave-punch thingie, which looks awesome.

Powers: I finished an Adept playthrough and noticed that the power recharge times have gone up considerably (as in by 50-100% across the board).  The new power evolution method (each power has 6 ranks, 3 of which are like the "evolve" option at rank 4 in ME2) makes up for that by giving you more options, but totally deprives you of being a "caster" style Adept (which is how I played ME1/2 - almost never needed to fire my guns).  In ME2 the ally's usually had high recharge time for powers then Shepard (Tali / Legion had an 18 second charge on their drone, Shepard had 3 seconds) - so it seems that now power recharge times are the same as your squads.  Though my Warp charge time was painfully long so I couldn't chain detonate with Liara, which made me a little bit sad.  There also doesn't seem to be any "you need 2 ranks in X to unlock Y", but there is level requirements (need level 3 to unlock Throw, for example).

Graphics don't look improved over ME2, but I still think ME2 is a sexy looking game (so YMMV).  If you have download limitation issues, I'd say skip this demo until you find out what the multiplayer side involves (which I am happy to let you know), because 2 gig for like an hour is a big ask.

EDIT (On recharge times): In the first bit of the demo (when you're level 1) recharge times are a fraction of what they are later (at 2.67s vs 19.20s and 1.67s vs 12 - literally 1/7th as long).  I have no idea why this would be the case - there certainly doesn't seem to be any internal logic behind it (especially since you have like 1 power, so can't exactly spam powers or anything).

EDIT 2: Yup, Insanity is Hard.  Enemies hit you hard and accurately - pop out of cover for a second and you get shredded by enemy fire and powers (and yours are less effective on them, too).  They also shoot through the gaps in the cover (in addition to AP ammo penetratig the cover itself), as well as try to flank you more.  The insanity Achievement should present something of a challenge.

[foproy]

multiplayer, as a battlefield 3 player, i have access to the multiplayer early. it is hard. with one friend i could only get to the 6th wave, which is halfway through. and that was on the easiest level. you are basically set up with a character similar to your squad mates in game. you also have many of the same powers. you are limited to 2 weapons at least at lower levels, i dont know if that changes and you have 3 powers hotkeyed though you only have one starting out.

gameplay is setup similar to hoard modes on other games, with new and more powerful enemy types being introduced with each new waves. every third wave you have an objective to complete. these include capturing a data node, activating terminals, and eliminating hvt's, these are completely random.

all in all the multiplayer is fun, and i enjoyed what i have played so far. cant wait to see more of the single player, and i like the changes made there.

[Mister Andersen]

Are there bots for the mutiplayer?

[foproy]

Are there bots for the mutiplayer?

its all bots. its a survival mode; enemies come in several waves. though unlike several of them this one has an end point. i think around 10 to 12 waves. also in this case every 3rd wave has an objective and is timed.

[Mister Andersen]

I meant, can you MP with a team of bots, or are you forced to hunt down some actual people to play with

[foproy]

haven't hosted a game myself yet, though i don't think so. even though it can help with the single player it is not needed.
edit: at this point it would appear you cannot turn bots on, and the difficulty only scales to your level, and not the number of people you have in your party.

[glimmerrat]

The N7 pack for the 360 is already sold out. Fuck bioware.

[Mister Andersen]

They were saying last week that they'd reached their production limit on physical collector's editions, and openly said it sucks to be you if you hadn't heeded their earlier warning about stocks being limited.

[TheTSKoala]

Am I the only one who can't get around the writing for Mass Effect?  I love the first one.. but the second one was just so.. corny.. it killed it for me.