So who's ready for Mass Effect 3?

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NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
I'm 3 1/2 hours in, so far no mention of how the Reapers actually got to Earth. Am I missing something here? Last I recall, we just spent two games foiling the Reapers plans and yet the third game begins with their arrival... and without an explanation? Was it really this easy to get to Earth all along?

Also, why aren't they focusing on the Citadel, I remember in ME1 the Prothean relic states that the Reapers targeted the Citadel first - that the Prothean leaders and command structure were already dead/broken before anyone knew the invasion was happening. So why break form this time and go for Earth...

Anyway, maybe these questions are answered later in the game. This is, of course, always the problem with the third part of any trilogy - the people playing and looking for answers are inevitably disappointed because at the end of the day, most people are just playing a game and aren't that into the plot. For instance, I wonder how many people playing ME3 will even ask themselves "How did the Reapers get here if I just spent two games stopping them?". If I had to guess I'd say less than 5%.

Ramblings...
 

irishScott

Lifer
Oct 10, 2006
21,562
3
0
I'm 3 1/2 hours in, so far no mention of how the Reapers actually got to Earth. Am I missing something here? Last I recall, we just spent two games foiling the Reapers plans and yet the third game begins with their arrival... and without an explanation? Was it really this easy to get to Earth all along?

Also, why aren't they focusing on the Citadel, I remember in ME1 the Prothean relic states that the Reapers targeted the Citadel first - that the Prothean leaders and command structure were already dead/broken before anyone knew the invasion was happening. So why break form this time and go for Earth...

Anyway, maybe these questions are answered later in the game. This is, of course, always the problem with the third part of any trilogy - the people playing and looking for answers are inevitably disappointed because at the end of the day, most people are just playing a game and aren't that into the plot. For instance, I wonder how many people playing ME3 will even ask themselves "How did the Reapers get here if I just spent two games stopping them?". If I had to guess I'd say less than 5%.

Ramblings...

If you played the "Arrival" DLC for ME2, you'd know the Reapers were already damn close. As in within months. Once they reach a mass relay, they can go wherever they want.
Remember they built the things.

And spending two games stopping them is exactly why they're going after earth first. They perceive humanity as a serious, perhaps unprecedented threat thanks to Shepard.

Also you're forgetting that in ME1
it was explained that the citadel IS one big mass relay. That's how the reapers were able to smash it so readily, they warped in right on top of it. The protheans sabotaged the citadel so it couldn't be used for such again, leading to the events of ME1.

So basically you have taken away much of the Reapers' advantage. They have to take over the galaxy the old fashioned way.
 

NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
If you played the "Arrival" DLC for ME2, you'd know the Reapers were already damn close. As in within months. Once they reach a mass relay, they can go wherever they want.

So they just "flew" here? Normal space flight...etc.? That's the part I don't get. They flew to Earth in just six months? Then why'd they spend two years trying build a human reaper... makes no sense. If you're wondering where I'm pulling these numbers, there were 2 years between ME1 and ME2, while only six to eight months from 2 to 3.

By the way, the story doesn't have to make sense, it'd be nice if it did but it doesn't have to. I'm not bitching about the story, just having some fun trying to flesh it out further than what is explained in-game.
 
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NoSoup4You

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2007
1,253
6
81
Okay, well I have an answer... and it's somewhat interesting (to me at least). So after hitting my last reply I launched the game and my last save game was right before I opened the Galaxy map on the Normandy for the first time. Heh, so I opened the map and low and behold, there are already four systems under the Reaper's control, and they're not close to one another. So it appears the Reaper's were literally all over the edges of the galaxy, not just clustered together in one spot... which was my original assumption.

I'm really hoping they have a better explanation for this than just "they flew here". I remember thinking they were going to incorporate that "dark energy" subplot on Haestrom in ME2 (Tali's mission). They still may well do that, gotta keep playing I guess!
 

SLU Aequitas

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2007
1,252
26
91
It was explained that they had to FTL it to the nearest relay, after which they could simply piggyback the Mass Relays without any need to maintain supply chains, allowing them to bypass most traditional defense points. Codex hints at this, Admiral Hackett gives out more info.

Been playing for a while (understatement, 6+ hours) now, MUCH better presentation than the demo...why does EA feel the need to shoot its developers in their collective feet with shoddy demos? Anderson still runs funny though.

Quite impressed with the AI, even though I only have it on Normal.

Explanation given as to why I can sidequest it up while Earth is burning. Still feel there is a discrepancy between the pace Earth was shown being annihilated and what was explained as the rate of annihilation, but enough to let me go on with the story :)

Inventory is a HUGE improvement over ME1 (ME2 had none, lol), and powers have some interesting choices with them that make them behave noticeably different. Loading up a max level ME2 character places you at level 30, so yeah, got to experiment right away.

Overall, giddy with excitement over the game, and relieved after my experience with the demo.
 
Aug 11, 2008
10,451
642
126
I'm 3 1/2 hours in, so far no mention of how the Reapers actually got to Earth. Am I missing something here? Last I recall, we just spent two games foiling the Reapers plans and yet the third game begins with their arrival... and without an explanation? Was it really this easy to get to Earth all along?

Also, why aren't they focusing on the Citadel, I remember in ME1 the Prothean relic states that the Reapers targeted the Citadel first - that the Prothean leaders and command structure were already dead/broken before anyone knew the invasion was happening. So why break form this time and go for Earth...

Anyway, maybe these questions are answered later in the game. This is, of course, always the problem with the third part of any trilogy - the people playing and looking for answers are inevitably disappointed because at the end of the day, most people are just playing a game and aren't that into the plot. For instance, I wonder how many people playing ME3 will even ask themselves "How did the Reapers get here if I just spent two games stopping them?". If I had to guess I'd say less than 5%.

Ramblings...

Well I don't have the game yet but your last question is exactly the one I have. Earth seems totally surprised at and unprepared for the invasion. WTF? Its not like you didn't know it was coming after the first game and all during the second game.
 

terry107

Senior member
Dec 8, 2005
891
0
0
Don't scare me ;) since it can't be worst then Dragon Age 2,anyway I find out this weekend with luck.

I haven't read any because I don't want to be hit with a wall of spoilers. I'm hoping it's just people griping about trivial crap or how much they hate EA/Origin.
 

PhatoseAlpha

Platinum Member
Apr 10, 2005
2,131
21
81
Well, subsequent to a bunch of installation troubles I currently believe to be related to the securom protection used, I've gotten to play.

So far the gameplay has been a vast improvement over ME2. Enemies are much smarter and the zones far less linear. A lot of familiar faces too. Plot is .... well, it's isn't doing anything to assuage my fears so far, but at least it's not making them worse.


Some highly questionable decisions though. Those of you who played the multiplayer are aware of the odd Trading Card Game booster-pack scheme used for unlocking things. Fun in it's way, but a little frustrating in it's way too, and an odd choice.

Until you open up multiplayer, and see that they're selling those packs for real money as well as in game currency. At which point all of a sudden the must-keep-buying-more aspect it brought takes on a much darker face.

I understand that companies need to make cash and all, but this policy of "Monetize Everything".....it's worse then I thought even EA would be able to push Bioware to.
 

SLU Aequitas

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2007
1,252
26
91
Well, subsequent to a bunch of installation troubles I currently believe to be related to the securom protection used, I've gotten to play.

So far the gameplay has been a vast improvement over ME2. Enemies are much smarter and the zones far less linear. A lot of familiar faces too. Plot is .... well, it's isn't doing anything to assuage my fears so far, but at least it's not making them worse.


Some highly questionable decisions though. Those of you who played the multiplayer are aware of the odd Trading Card Game booster-pack scheme used for unlocking things. Fun in it's way, but a little frustrating in it's way too, and an odd choice.

Until you open up multiplayer, and see that they're selling those packs for real money as well as in game currency. At which point all of a sudden the must-keep-buying-more aspect it brought takes on a much darker face.

I understand that companies need to make cash and all, but this policy of "Monetize Everything".....it's worse then I thought even EA would be able to push Bioware to.

It's easily purchasable using in-game currency, it's a non-issue. Now, if they have something ONLY available through real currency that affects balance, then you have an issue.
 

gothamhunter

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2010
4,464
6
81
Some awful metacritic reviews. Thsi is my favorite though:

I went out to buy this game on release day, at midnight. I headed to my local gamestop, armed with my trusty family size bag of Sour Cream and Onion Lays and Super Big GULP of Mountain Dew. There was a short line of people waiting at Gamestop. I was 8th. I popped open my bag of chips and grabbed a fistful, getting crumbs on the ground and slurping my dew. The guy infront of me, some fat-ass dressed as Thane, asked if he could have some. I told him it wouldn't help his cancer and he frowned at me. And then, this girl and her friends, got in line behind me. I took a look at her ass. That fine, Miranda-esque ass. A sweat droplet dripped from my forehead. I don't do well with women, you see. I shoveled chips down my mouth in order to calm the urge to say something, because it wouldn't end well. I used my Big GULP to wet my cottonmouth. Just don't talk to her and she won't know. Then it happened. She asked me if I had a pen, because she wanted to draw something for a friend. More sweat. I reached into my pocket, grasping at the contents, my greasy, sour cream and onion hands finally grasping my favorite DRAGON AGE pen. She looked at it when I handed it to her, and said, "Oh you like Dragon Age? It's one of my favorites!" I opened my mouth, feeling the anxiety, and closed it without saying anything. I must've been turning pale at this point, because the pressure was building and I didn't have a release valve handy. "Y-yes, I l-loved DA." She smiled. Oh god. That beautiful angel smiled. And that was the end. I couldn't contain it anymore. A girl had smiled at me. For the first time in 4 years, a female other than my mother had smiled at me. My shriveled phimosis pecker from masturbating to Tali suddenly sprang to life, raging out of my grease-stained sweatpants like a primeval animal. My head went back, and I unleashed a guttural, inhuman sound as a rumble came from within. My foreskin ballooned up, and the girl turned around, looked at it, and looked at me with pure terror in her eyes. But it was too late. The die had been cast. A huge torrent of semen gushed out, as if the Hoover Dam had suddenly been blown wide open. The wheels were in motion. The front of the wave smashed into her like a fist, knocking her back into her friends and them into a wall. And I couldn't stop. I wasn't going to stop. The river would flow. Plastered against a wall, I could barely make out their outlines... until my footing started to give away. For each action, there is a reaction. When a gun is fired, it recoils. I yelled for help. The fatty Thane turned around slowly, taking out his earphones. It was too late. I lost traction. My bulk smashed into him. And the others behind him. The propulsion of my semen was too much. I had left a sizeable lake in the outdoor mall, and now, I was being lifted off of my feet and into the air, smashing into the poor people behind me one by one, knocking them out of the way as they yelled and cursed. My mass hurtled towards the store, propelled by the orgasm. The door to Gamestop was no match for me. It shattered when my ass rammed it. Cum sprayed everywhere in the store, all over the demos, the consoles, and all of the games. I bounced around in the store like a pinball, unable to control my tirade. And then it happened. My stomach started rumbling. I shouldn't have had those 24 tacos... and then the 2nd gate was open. Hot, molten liquid brown started flooding out from between my cheeks, coating the store in brown. I was covered in my own crap and cum. The force was too much. I hit the ceiling hard on a bounce, and the ceiling gave way as I went into the sky, a spiral of sperm and feces raining down below me, coating cars, trees, pets, houses, you name it. I must've gone a good 2000 feet up into the air. The horrendous flow just wasn't stopping. I grabbed my shaft, trying to stem the flow, but I ended up directing it into the air, forcing my trajectory to change towards the ground. I was in tears. Why was this happening to me? I looked down, and realized I was heading towards the local orphanage. I closed my eyes and prayed. I prayed for it to be over. But it wasn't. The walls of the orphanage were no match for my mass. Room by room I hurdled by, spraying each with my internal brown and white. They gave way easily as I hit the ground, hard. I must've made a small crater. At least I had stopped moving. But the orphanage was already in shambles, the children covered in my would-be children and waste. Look what you did Bioware. You ruined an orphanage. Also the game sucks, I grabbed it in Gamestop while pinballing and played it after I got home when the urges subsided, and the opening menu sucks. Do not buy.…
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mass-effect-3/user-reviews?user_review_id=2165003