Video game news and reaction

[MilitiaJim]

Am I the only one who can't get around the writing for Mass Effect?

Correct, you are.

[TheTSKoala]

Am I the only one who can't get around the writing for Mass Effect?

Correct, you are.

Ah well.  At least the Witcher 2 is fan-freaking-tastic!

[Sletchman]

Am I the only one who can't get around the writing for Mass Effect?

Correct, you are.

Ah well.  At least the Witcher 2 is fan-freaking-tastic!

Good to hear.  I'm waiting for the Xbox version (which is apparently "difinitive", according to CD-Projekt Red - though I just have an midrange non-windows laptop so don't really get a choice).  Is it as click-intensive as the first?  It bugged me that you had to click every single attack (mostly because you had to track the enemy who was constantly in motion around the screen while also having a moving camera).

[glimmerrat]

I love the first one.. but the second one was just so.. corny..

How so?

[Mister Andersen]

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. 

I've yet to play #2 beyond the demo¹, but yeah, I'm not hugely surprised to hear that, given some of #1's lines. Drew Karpyshyn has some good ideas, but his delivery can be a tad off at times. Let's just hope the embarrassingly public QA fail over the last tie-in novel the ME team allowed to be released was an isolated incident.


1. I'm kinda waiting in the hope that EA/Bioware will announce a GOTY PC edition with at least the metaplot DLC included sometime before the next Steam sale, because frankly I'm not in the least bit interested in paying the ludicrous prices their asking for the DLC, or fucking around with their Origin monopoly money to get it either. (Seriously, when the DLC -- which they've never ever had a sale on -- costs significantly more than the game itself now sells for to the point new customers are dissuaded from giving you their money, you're doing something wrong.)

[TheTSKoala]

I love the first one.. but the second one was just so.. corny..

How so?

Illusive man literally kills it for me.  He's so over the top.. I just can't shake off my sense of believability.  Cerberus is a footnote in game 1.. an organization you barely hear of.. except for side missions.. then they're thrust into the main story as the guardians of the human universe in #2.  It just didn't jive with me.  Maybe if it was a council.. or.. there was something 'more' to it.. other than a guy who gives you mysterious sayings about saving the galaxy.. just.. put me off.  

1. I'm kinda waiting in the hope that EA/Bioware will announce a GOTY PC edition with at least the metaplot DLC included sometime before the next Steam sale, because frankly I'm not in the least bit interested in paying the ludicrous prices their asking for the DLC, or fucking around with their Origin monopoly money to get it either. (Seriously, when the DLC -- which they've never ever had a sale on -- costs significantly more than the game itself now sells for to the point new customers are dissuaded from giving you their money, you're doing something wrong.)

That's my other problem.  Sort of like the Modern Warfare packs.  I'm not paying you 25% the cost of the game for 4 new maps.  It's absurd.  So, I typically wait for GOTY editions.  Fallout 3.  Fallout New Vegas.  Maybe Saints Row 3.  That one sorta peaked my interest.  But yeah.. when your 4 pieces of DLC = Price of game, yet has no where NEAR the content of the original game, I call foul.

[Sletchman]

I love the first one.. but the second one was just so.. corny..

How so?

Illusive man literally kills it for me.  He's so over the top.. I just can't shake off my sense of believability.  Cerberus is a footnote in game 1.. an organization you barely hear of.. except for side missions.. then they're thrust into the main story as the guardians of the human universe in #2.  It just didn't jive with me.  Maybe if it was a council.. or.. there was something 'more' to it.. other than a guy who gives you mysterious sayings about saving the galaxy.. just.. put me off.

Martin Sheen's voice allowed me to forgive almost all his characters fouls.  The only thing that bothered me is that even if you didn't do a single side quest in ME1 you still got told you knew about them and destroyed a bunch of their fringe operations.  I'll forgive a lot if you get to find out exactly how he knew all the stuff he knew (being better informed then the Shadow Broker is a pretty huge deal that gets kinda glossed over...) and what his caper is in general.

Oh, and I hear you guys on the DLC - ME3 picks up after the events of Arrival.  So it's an expansion with a plot that's core to at least the reason for the new games opening sequence - something more then a few players will have no familiarity with at all.

Map-packs are still the worst offenders* - 800+pts**  for 3-4 maps is beyond a joke, especially when a large enough quantity of people don't buy them that the "premium" playlists become ghost towns***.  The only ones I own are because my sister bought the Halo packs so I could play with her and my nephew.

<sub>* Though Mass Effect 2's appearance packs do come awfully close - charging for an alternate appearance that really should have been in the game in the first place is pretty low (should have been because the alternate appearances from loyalty are just super lazy palette swaps).  It's even worse because it has no effect - if the new apperance had stat changes or something you could consider it at least "new kit", but no.

** A big rage spot of mine - 800 / 1200 points for 90% of everything and they only sell points in 500 point bundles?  WTF?! FFS!  There's a rumour that they will be dropped for real currency, so gamers can just buy direct with credit cards, and I really hope that happens.

*** Or worse, when all but a single (boring) playlist becomes "All DLC required".</sub>

[TheTSKoala]

Martin Sheen's voice allowed me to forgive almost all his characters fouls.  The only thing that bothered me is that even if you didn't do a single side quest in ME1 you still got told you knew about them and destroyed a bunch of their fringe operations.  I'll forgive a lot if you get to find out exactly how he knew all the stuff he knew (being better informed then the Shadow Broker is a pretty huge deal that gets kinda glossed over...) and what his caper is in general.

Oh, and I hear you guys on the DLC - ME3 picks up after the events of Arrival.  So it's an expansion with a plot that's core to at least the reason for the new games opening sequence - something more then a few players will have no familiarity with at all.

Map-packs are still the worst offenders* - 800+pts**  for 3-4 maps is beyond a joke, especially when a large enough quantity of people don't buy them that the "premium" playlists become ghost towns***.  The only ones I own are because my sister bought the Halo packs so I could play with her and my nephew.

The Shadow Broker is one of my biggest gripes with the story flow.  ME1.  Shadow Broker.. Shadow Broker.. Shadow Broker.. Shadow Broker.  ME2.  Right off the bat, you shift from 1st gear into 5th, and now it's all Cerberus and Shadow Broker is an asterisk to the to story.  And while the voice acting was wonderful, the story just didn't make sense...

[MilitiaJim]

I don't remember the Shadow Broker being so crucial to ME1.  While Cerberus was not central to the events of ME1, they were shown to have significant doings in the shadows of 'verse.  (Yes they were side quests, but the information is there.  Building into the story of ME2 that you did some/most of them is reasonable to me.)

How Cerberus is funded is a worthwhile question.  Yes the Medellin cartel could have bought a Seawolf sub, but they were crooks.  Though mercenary groups don't seem to have any trouble buying hardware, to include combatant vessels.  I can't imagine that Cerberus does not have some measure of government backing, but I will give ME3 a chance to explain it before I gripe too much.  (That every car on Illium is the same is almost more annoying.)

[My annoyance with most sci-fi settings revolves around space ships, power supplies, and trade.  For most commodities to be worth shipping between planets, the energy cost to get them to orbit needs to be negligible.  Ships are Not Cheap, nor is their fuel.  I want more info on the trade routes and commodity prices dagnabbit!]

[TheTSKoala]

I don't remember the Shadow Broker being so crucial to ME1.  While Cerberus was not central to the events of ME1, they were shown to have significant doings in the shadows of 'verse.  (Yes they were side quests, but the information is there.  Building into the story of ME2 that you did some/most of them is reasonable to me.)

It's been awhile since I played ME1, but I remember the Shadow Broker's name coming up at least half a dozen times in the main quest, while Cerberus was more a footnote on some side missions.  The info was there, yes, but it was very out of the way.  I can remember one side quest off the top of my head about some rogue cybernetics that was linked to Cerberus, where as, Shadow Broker had that little mole dude, and then came back up with one of the alien females (iirc?) directly in the main story arc.

[My annoyance with most sci-fi settings revolves around space ships, power supplies, and trade.  For most commodities to be worth shipping between planets, the energy cost to get them to orbit needs to be negligible.  Ships are Not Cheap, nor is their fuel.  I want more info on the trade routes and commodity prices dagnabbit!]

They mastered the Gummy Bear potion?

[foproy]

Cerberus was a rogue alliance group. they were officially sanctioned black ops group until the alliance was forced to sever ties with them. at least i though that was what kohaku had said in the first game, but i see no mention of it on any wiki's.

[Mister Andersen]

The Broker's narrative presence in #1 is really just background as to why Wrex and Tali are on the Citadel. He pops up (via proxy) only once more to purchase the data Shep recovers on Cerberus (promising future cooperation if she agrees to the deal, threatening future difficulties if she refuses).

And Cerebus really doesn't come across as the Section 31 wannabe it's clearly meant to be, but rather a bunch of moustache-twirling mad scientists who are fucking with nature more for the sake of it rather than any sort of clear pro-humanity agenda. They are however involved in at least on of Shep's origin paths (soul survivor, possibly ruthless too but I can't recall off-hand)

[TheTSKoala]

You know.. now I'm going to have to fire up ME1&2 again just to remember if I actually hate it.. or if I was just hype disappointed.  The Witcher 2 will be blaming you guys for the disruption in playtime.  Fair warning.   

[Mister Andersen]

Play it hacked; recharge times of 0 is a lot more fun.

[agent oni]

Picked up Resident Evil: Revelations last week and been having a blast with it.  Capcom went all out in wanting to provide a console experience on a handheld and they delivered.  Love the episodic flow of the game!  Finally was able to unlock the Raid mode in which you can play co-op with someone over the internet.