So who else here is pre-ordering Mass Effect 3?

[Elixer]

I've gone through the demo three times now, with Vanguard, Adept and Soldier.

Negatives:

1) The texture quality is utterly abismal with few exceptions. I'm truly hoping the demo isn't representative of the final quality, because if it is, then it would mean ME3 is a step backward compared to previous Mass Effect games.
2) Animations can appear robotic at times, especially when it comes to running.
3) Lip syncing is off in conversations, but I'm sure thats just because it's old code.
4) FOV is WAY too narrow for the PC!

The running animation is horrible, what were they thinking ?
Let's hope for some kind of a high-res texture pack is waiting, otherwise, going to have to wait for this to hit the bargain bins.
The demo did download fast, I am impressed with Origin's server speed.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yeah, the pacing leaves me scratching my head. With the rate the Reapers are going to town glassing Earth, even just from the demo footage that I played, there seems to be little time to do much other than to pop by the Citadel, broadcast a mayday, and head back.

Yet we know this isn't true based on the fact the demo mission features us bribing the Urdnots (and presumably all Krogans by extension) to fight against the Reapers. Yet, again, every minute we spend results in thousands of deaths. There really seems to be a huge cognitive dissonance going on, and I hope that there is a plot event that explains this.

You are right. Something did seem off about the story, but I couldn't really figure it out. But yea, if the reapers are already attacking earth, it seems a bit late to start building alliances. And why hasn't Shepard already started a counterattack? Maybe the reapers appeared simultaneously all over the galaxy or something. My biggest reservation about the game is whether they make a truly epic story or whether they just turned it into an action game with a tacked on half baked story line.

 

[NoSoup4You]

I just played halfway through the demo again with a Vanguard, enjoyed it MUCH more and can see this game being quite easily superior to ME2. Lots of choices for customizing your powers, I like that a lot over ME2's system. There's apparently a weight carrying system, some of the upgrads increase your carrying weight. Not sure how that plays in, you can wear heavier armor maybe? Seems odd though, surely they're not going to suddenly implement an inventory sytem after all the gripes over ME1's.

Even more interesting, this time I picked the "Role Playing" option instead of "Action". The action selection is really quite something, I suppose it offers Bioware's take on who Shepard is and I'm a little surprised to find they consider him a bad ass. He defaults to the Renegade option in most of the cutscenes, only going Paragon with the little kid in the vents (from what I've noticed). It's interesting, I always pegged Shepard as a pansy Paragon so when I play as a Renegade I always change his appearance to something more appropriate. Apparently Bioware intended him otherwise.

Also Kaiden dies if you pick male Shepard (Action, in Role Playing you get to choose) so I wonder if Ashley dies if you choose female Shep. I'm not sure why I notice stuff like this... played the original games way too many times I guess (four times each, lulz).

 

[frozentundra123456]

i also happily used pay phones before cell phones.

steam is, by far, the best content delivery system. no need to concern myself with whatever bullshit thing EA came up with.

I can understand not wanting to use one particular platform, although origin worked fine for me. What I can't understand is ruling out all other delivery platforms than steam.

To use your analogy, that is like saying if you had no cell phone service you would refuse to use any other means of communication.

 

[Carfax83]

The running animation is horrible, what were they thinking ?
Let's hope for some kind of a high-res texture pack is waiting, otherwise, going to have to wait for this to hit the bargain bins.
The demo did download fast, I am impressed with Origin's server speed.

There's a whole bunch of problems with the animations in the demo. In fact, some of the animations appear to outright missing, aswell as disfunctional.

For example, when you switch ammo types, part of the animation appears to be missing.. On the BSN forums, one of the devs said that some of the previous animations (holstering weapons in combat zones for instance) would not be in the shipping version due to console memory limitations.

I don't know if he also meant the PC version would come with these limitations. You'd think not, but I have no faith in Bioware when it comes to utilizing the strengths of the PC platform.

 

[pugh]

They also give you the key...so just purchase, and either dl it from their fat pipes, or through Origin (which I actually always have an amazing connection to).


And yeah, ordered a while ago

Yeah same here. I Have seen anywhere from 6mb -14mbs dl from origin at times. Insane speeds at home. Also Amazon is not bad at all when downloading.

 

[MetalMat]

Played the demo, pretty good. Seems like more of the same from mass effect 2, which aint a bad thing cause ME2 was awesome.

 

[Qbah]

Man, the demo was a blast, gameplay wise! I love the fact that cover thickness is important now, also its dimensions - being behind cover doesn't mean you're safe anymore! You can still get hit if your head sticks out, or arm or back or whatever! Some ammo types also actually go THROUGH it, you can upgrade it and determine how thick it can be! Awesome!!

The enemy AI is great - they throw grenades, flank and push all the time -

Spoiler

that last mech

in the demo took me a few tries! With the grunts going left, right and center, throwing grenades, smoke bombs, cover not really being a safe location and the

Spoiler

mech dropping rockets and shooting all the time

- it was actually hard (on hardcore)!

Now the ugly part - the part when the kid showed up, that was soooo lame. So forced. Also how it ended. Plus the Alliance Council - they're like kids, suddenly realizing the situation and almost crying? They had so much information already, so many incidents, so many reports from Shepard and others (hello Ashley/Kaidan??) showing them facts... but noooooo, wah wah, what do we do now?

Also, I thought the Citadel Council was the ruling body of the galaxy? Why wouldn't they help? Anderson makes it sound as if a member species would be ignored, with all the reports of Reapers and what not - it all looks like they didn't know anything about any kind of threat (even if they did ignore Reaper reports). Very out of place.

And Miranda > Ashley, even with the new looks :awe:

 

[DarkKnightDude]

Ah, I guess I shouldn't be too worried about the conversation thing after I just read this on a forum.

"Just a heads up but Bioware have confirmed on one of their twitter feeds that the dialogue options in the demo are very cut down on what the game is actually like.

You make about 6 dialogue decisions over the two levels in the demo, there is supposed to be whole conversations with people cut out in order to meet the 2GB limit that Microsoft imposes on 360 demos."

 

[Kev]

Played the demo, it was mostly hit with a couple misses thrown in. First problem I had was the lip synching was off, I'm betting they fix that for the full release. Gosh... at least I hope they do... Second was the abysmal textures, uniforms in particular. Further, the walking animations for Anderson during the tutorial sequence were jarring, the worst I've seen in any of the Mass Effect games easily. And the combat is still very ME2-ish, you snap onto cover... it's a little over emphasized for my tastes I'd rather it be there for when you need it instead of being forced to use it in every single engagement. The very first thing you do in a fight is snap onto cover, you have to since you die so quickly. I may give the demo another run through and see if I can survive otherwise, but ME2 was the same way so I doubt it. Me1 had cover there for when you needed it...

The good, and there was a lot of it - the ME2 styled combat felt fun and looks like it'll be far more varied. Ashley looks smokin' hot, she better be a playable character. Nice to Wrex back too, he also better be playable. Gunplay felt better than ME2, looks like there are weapon attachments too since you pick up a scope for the pistol in the demo (not sure how to equip it though). Graphics are quite awesome in some places, and the shading is superb overall.

I have some gripes on the storyline, I really hope there's more to the opening sequence than what we say, although I doubt it. It's more than a little jarring for the Reapers to just suddenly be on Earth like that, especially after we spent two games thwarting their efforts. Even more odd that Shepard then leaves Earth so quickly, for me that's going to make the rest of the game feel very odd indeed... how are we supposed to take our time doing every little side mission when Earth is getting glassed by the Reapers? Unless this game simply doesn't feature side missions...

The side missions seem like they will be more along the lines of getting all the races to work together, so maybe they won't be pointless.

Another thing I noticed, the screen effect when you are getting shot/dying is now just a normal red with some blood on it, instead of that ridiculous root effect (or whatever it was) in ME2.

 

[BD231]

Still no support for the xbox controller on the PC, even though this game is coming out on consoles? LAME.

 

[Red Storm]

Still no support for the xbox controller on the PC, even though this game is coming out on consoles? LAME.

Really? That's odd. You'd think it would support it by default due to lazy porting.

 

[Ackmed]

Not unless they fix the key bindings. I changed bindings in ME2, and when the game told me to "Press X" or whatever button, it didnt change it to what I bound, had the original key binding. Thats just lazy, and annoying.

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Bioware has taken the stance that there's no need for PC users to have the 360 controller option available--did on ME2 and I believe on the forums they confirmed the same for ME3. Which is odd, since they have the extra room to throw the UI from the 360 onto the disc, or even as a dl. It's just laziness, pure and simple.

As for why the Citadel government won't simply rush over to aid humanity...it's simple and completely realistic: self preservation. Why would I rush the bulk of my fleet over to save another species thereby leaving myself defenseless?

What is NOT realistic is Shepard flitting across the galaxy completing side quests while thousands die per hour back on Earth. Again, the rate of extermination shown simply doesn't match the expected pacing from Shepard in gathering the fleet.

 

[thespyder]

Still playing Skyrim. Then I have to get into Amalur, then have to Finish Batman:AC and Dark Souls. So probably won't be pre-ordering anything for a while.

 

[Red Storm]

Bioware has taken the stance that there's no need for PC users to have the 360 controller option available--did on ME2 and I believe on the forums they confirmed the same for ME3. Which is odd, since they have the extra room to throw the UI from the 360 onto the disc, or even as a dl. It's just laziness, pure and simple.

As for why the Citadel government won't simply rush over to aid humanity...it's simple and completely realistic: self preservation. Why would I rush the bulk of my fleet over to save another species thereby leaving myself defenseless?

What is NOT realistic is Shepard flitting across the galaxy completing side quests while thousands die per hour back on Earth. Again, the rate of extermination shown simply doesn't match the expected pacing from Shepard in gathering the fleet.

Also IRC isn't the Citadel the gateway/entry point for the Reapers to come in?

I just hate how human-centric the story line has become. This is what makes the first game the best in the trilogy IMHO (yes, I feel confident saying that despite only playing the demo of the 3rd).

 

[Elixer]

Ah, I guess I shouldn't be too worried about the conversation thing after I just read this on a forum.

"Just a heads up but Bioware have confirmed on one of their twitter feeds that the dialogue options in the demo are very cut down on what the game is actually like.

You make about 6 dialogue decisions over the two levels in the demo, there is supposed to be whole conversations with people cut out in order to meet the 2GB limit that Microsoft imposes on 360 demos."

You are saying that they butchered the PC demo so it can fit under the 2GB limit for the xbox ? I can understand why they would do that on the consoles, but if you are putting out a demo for the PC, then you want to show off what the PC is capable of, not what the consoles are capable of.

 

[Red Storm]

You are saying that they butchered the PC demo so it can fit under the 2GB limit for the xbox ? I can understand why they would do that on the consoles, but if you are putting out a demo for the PC, then you want to show off what the PC is capable of, not what the consoles are capable of.

Recent trends do not agree with you, unfortunately.

 

[thespyder]

You are saying that they butchered the PC demo so it can fit under the 2GB limit for the xbox ? I can understand why they would do that on the consoles, but if you are putting out a demo for the PC, then you want to show off what the PC is capable of, not what the consoles are capable of.

The intent is not to show off the PC capabilities. It is to Entice PC owners to purchase the game "without spending any more money" and to increase the already existant furvor for the game. So they were going to release the Demo "As is" and explain away any issues as "It's an early demo".

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Also IRC isn't the Citadel the gateway/entry point for the Reapers to come in?

I just hate how human-centric the story line has become. This is what makes the first game the best in the trilogy IMHO (yes, I feel confident saying that despite only playing the demo of the 3rd).

The Citadel was *supposed* to be the way the Reapers got back from dark space. However, per Vigil from ME1, the last of the Protheans sabotaged it before they were exterminated. The signal the citadel was supposed to send to the Keepers didn't get sent, and so the Keepers didn't open the citadel as a Mass Relay. Saren needed the conduit to get to the citadel and open it manually, but Shephard and the 6th fleet stopped him. The reapers had to find another way back - that's what they were doing in the Arrival DLC for ME2.

Apparently, Harbinger found another way.

 

[Beev]

Origin exclusivity drove me to preorder it for my PS3. Sorry, EA, but I barely tolerate your products as is. Bioware is about all I get from them.

 

[SithSolo1]

i also happily used pay phones before cell phones.

steam is, by far, the best content delivery system. no need to concern myself with whatever bullshit thing EA came up with.

I hate EA just as much as the next person, they buy up franchises I enjoy and destroy them. That said, in my personal experience, Origin has worked flawlessly as a content delivery system. I can't say the same for Steam. I also get faster DL rates with Origin.


I'll pre-order if only to get BF3 "free". After playing the demo I agree with many of the points already noted including the inconsistency of graphical detail and the forced, Gears of War style, cover combat.

 

[airdata]

Got the demo installed last night. Waiting to play when I get home later!

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

You are saying that they butchered the PC demo so it can fit under the 2GB limit for the xbox ? I can understand why they would do that on the consoles, but if you are putting out a demo for the PC, then you want to show off what the PC is capable of, not what the consoles are capable of.

I'm pretty sure in the no doubt small group at Bioware working on the PC port of this game, the term "minimal effort" has been used on more than one occasion.

 

[irishScott]

I hate EA just as much as the next person, they buy up franchises I enjoy and destroy them. That said, in my personal experience, Origin has worked flawlessly as a content delivery system. I can't say the same for Steam. I also get faster DL rates with Origin.


I'll pre-order if only to get BF3 "free". After playing the demo I agree with many of the points already noted including the inconsistency of graphical detail and the forced, Gears of War style, cover combat.

I'm assuming you haven't played ME2? It was forced cover combat as well. From what I've seen in the demo, I'm pumped.

Improvements:
1. The addition of heavy melee. That omni-tool sword is ridiculously satisfying.

2. Enemy life bars have notches. Makes it a lot easier to detect the effectiveness of an attack.

3. Enemy AI is much improved all-around, especially in terms of tactics. Smoke grenades and bullet-proof shields provided an added challenge and greater variety to combat. The tactics are also no longer universal. The Reaper foot soldiers attack you head on, almost never taking cover, while the cerberus troopers take cover repeatably and attempt to flank while throwing grenades.

4. Cover is no longer perfectly safe. Some can be shot through, and if even a little bit of you is sticking out you'll take the occasional lucky shot.

5. Overall, the little tweaks to combat make it feel much more visceral and real than ME2 or ME1. In ME2 combat was often a simple puzzle with a reflex component. Here I felt like I was actually fighting.

6. The added abilities and ability upgrade tree mesh perfectly and add nuances to playstyle.

7. Ashely is smoking and the game is rated M for "partial nudity" (which ME1 was, but ME2 was not).


Disappointments:
1. Voice acting seems to have taken a hit. Most of it was alright, but more than a few lines sounded downright wooden. Granted ME has never been to Pixar levels, but even the voice acting in ME2 was more convincing. Maybe this is due to the cut-down nature of the demo, with added conversational material some of the out-of-place tonal inflections may make perfect sense.

2. Texture detail. I'm not picky. Plenty of graphics snobs here who will nitpick this point to death, but honestly I don't really care. I would prefer hi-res textures, but this is a console port. I imagine, much like ME2, a high-res texture mod will come out within a few months after release. If Bioware/EA is smart they'll offer it themselves, would be a fairly easy thing for them. But the graphics to me are passable, much like Pizza Hut is passable pizza and Guinness Draught is passable beer. In the high-action sequences you can't really tell anyway. It did not detract from the game's enjoyment for me.

3. At 1920x1200, the team-management and ability icons were overly small. I imagine this is a demo issue, as ME2 does not have this problem.