Mass Effect 3

[InCrYsIs]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1221273p1.html

 

New Ending Incoming. Maybe...just maybe they were listening this time. Lets see how this plays out.

[Shadowtroop]

Heres a theory that has been going around about the ending

 

 

 

 

it sounds a bit outlandish but i would like to give bioware the benefit of the doubt.

[DanTheGamer11]

But how would it really explain it? Would it be like one of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ending?

[greengiant912]

Guys I am getting a little sick of this hypocritical attitude from a majority of the gamers out there that have played ME3...

 

 

 

The ending didn't live up to your expectations, so move on you don't always get what you want. I am sure there is a pretty quiet minority that might of liked the ending.

 

 

That being said, gamers around the world for the past year have fought hard to define video games as a work of art and that the creators should be considered artists. Now don't get me wrong art deserves to be critiqued, the Mona Lisa is critiqued all the time. The issue is that we don't demand someone to go paint a new Mona Lisa, we accept it as the artists creativity wether we like it or not.

 

 

If gamers want games to be accept as art we have to accept that the developers are going to make the games that they want to play, and the endings they like, because its their creative minds creating it.

 

 

Was I happy with the ending? It felt a little empty to me, but I didn't hate it with a passon like some gamers... The biggest thing that happened with me is that I wasn't ready to make a decision...

 

 

 

I think a lot of people think that the ending is just a cinematic in games, this isn't really true these days. For ME3 the ending started as sonn as you

assaulted the illusive man's base.

. It was more interactive in nature.

Edited March 21, 2012 by greengiant912

[DanTheGamer11]

The main thing people are disappointed with is that everything you did had no consequence... guess it could be a called a twist..

[greengiant912]

The main thing people are disappointed with is that everything you did had no consequence... guess it could be a called a twist..

 

 

Or did your decisions matter? /queue Inception music...

[Waco]

Or did your decisions matter? /queue Inception music...

Based on what I've seen so far...no. I really wanted this game to be good enough to convince me that Origin wasn't the spawn of Satan but this is making that difficult.

[bilcliff]

just finished the game. Here's my 2 cents

 

the music is some of the best i've heard in video games. it perfectly captures the sadness of key moments and also the fear and desperation at others. there were multiple times where It gave me that sinking feeling in my stomach.

 

The textures look pretty good at times and the art team have done an amazing job constructing all the environments they did. In saying that some characters NPCs (in particular dianna Allers) fall into the "uncanny valley". and the textures on some objects dont look quite low resolution.

 

as other have mentioned the space-bar is assigned to do too much. It can be particularly annoying in multiplayer if trying to take cover or trying to revive a teammate who is next to an objective etc.

 

It annoyed me immensely at how poor the sidequest / journal system is. the journal doesnt update when you progress in a side quest and i regularly found myself looking online to find out where i had to go next to progress in the sidequest. none of them are particularly long but the issue is more prevalent when if you pick up a ton of side quests at once when visiting the citadel. Also the objective marker can be very vague at times as to how to get to your objectives.

 

The cover system is clunky at times. ive had times where i've released the right mouse button to hide in cover just to have sheppard stand exposed for another 1-2seconds and nearly die in the process. Speaking of cover i've had issues with vaulting over cover occasionally. Its not limited to sheppard as i've seen both friendly and enemy AI have same problem.

 

On the topic of bugs, i've also seen the Normandy characters do exorcist 180 head spins someone else mentioned. I've also encountered issues with the PC not climbing down a ladder properly and getting stuck in midair for a few seconds before remaining back where they started on the platform atop the ladder. Theres also a few animation issues where in a few cutscenes where there is a noticable cut where the game has to think about your choices and a character looks like they're about to say something but then they move differently and say something else. It just makes you feel like the scene doesn't flow fully, if you get when i mean.

 

Now for the multiplayer. I was initially one of those who boo-ed and hissed at MP being in ME3. But then i played it for a few hours and i began to like it. But the further i got into the story the more i became disappointed in the multiplayer. I thought it was supposed to have a separate budget to the SP? yet all the maps are direct copy-paste from single player side missions (or vice-versa). The level cap seems too small and too easy to reach.

 

There are issues with balancing classes (bloody vanguards ), enemies and objectives. I've had times where i've had 3 Hacking objectives in the one map but no "high value targets", no activate 4x object. Or sometimes you can end up with tons of banshees, brutes and ravagers, and then others you might only get 1 of each. I know it keeps it from being the same but there are just sometimes where you seem to get a really easy run and others when its damn near impossible. its also alot harder to win if you're entire team is below level 3.

 

Another balancing issue is there are almost no enemies with barriers. this makes the BF3 Soldier class, IMO much better than the standard human soldier. There are many more armoured enemies who can be taken out with cargnage and far less barriered enemies for concusive shot.

 

I'm also not a fan of the multiplayer is set up in general. you could play that for months and still never unlock all the guns and upgrades due to the way you have to unlock them. i would have rathered a level based unlock system for weaponry and upgrades rather than a shop system where chance is involved. but i guess it comes down to $$$ over consumer preference as you cant micro-transaction a level based unlock system therefore EA doesnt make money of it. Heaven forbid!

 

I'd also like them offer a few different things to multiplayer such as stat tracking. varying game lengths. you can usually beat a map in 17-22mins on bronze but its a long time if you fail on wave 8 of 11 just to not get any exp / credit rewards earned to that point. maybe offer us 5 round, 15 round options. also other game modes? more maps. more than 3 objective types.

 

oh and just before i move onto the ending, 2 words. James Vega. don't get me wrong Freddie does a ok job at times but most of his voice acting just doesn't match the image. calling sheppard "loco" (spanish for "crazy") just feels wrong on so many levels.

 

now for the ending discussion. i've been trying to avoid all ME3 ending news on gaming sites etc incase of spoilers but now can someone explain to me why people are so upset over the ending? i dont really see their problem.

I guess it suffers from plot holes and the whole Deus Ex: HR push a button to decide the ending. Here's a challenge for the complainers, how would you have written it differently?

 

Speaking of the ending, IMO the post credits scene sets up perfectly for what would be my next ME game (and last one), being a prequel set in the First Contact War between alliance and the Turians.

 

also i just want to say, just because its not a happy ending, doesn't mean its not a "good ending", see Read Dead Redemption.

 

i'd rant about how the from ashes dlc seems to be content withheld as it forms too much of an integral part of the story but i dont really have the time as i need to wrap this up.

 

on the whole this post may sound like im tearing the game to pieces, but in the scheme of things this are all quite minor. The writing (well 90% of it), and the experience / series as a whole more than makes up for it. Its a 9/10 from me.

[Silas13013]

 

now for the ending discussion. i've been trying to avoid all ME3 ending news on gaming sites etc incase of spoilers but now can someone explain to me why people are so upset over the ending? i dont really see their problem.

I guess it suffers from plot holes and the whole Deus Ex: HR push a button to decide the ending. Here's a challenge for the complainers, how would you have written it differently?

 

Speaking of the ending, IMO the post credits scene sets up perfectly for what would be my next ME game (and last one), being a prequel set in the First Contact War between alliance and the Turians.

 

 

It's not the ending people have a problem with (at least in my case) it's the way it was handled. They could keep the crazy starchild and everything else the same, just have some sort of proof that our actions meant something. You don't see much of anything in the final battle that reflects on what you accomplished in the game. War readiness level doesn't change how the endings look and feel, despite that being the entire game. Killing off races or saving them doesn't show up in the ending as well. Finally, there is cliffhanger endings that set ME3 up for DLC, which means we have to pay to see the real ending.

 

Basically, the could keep the Ending-tron 3000 and still make it work. In fact, having a range of choices at the end would be a perfect fit for the series. However, the lack of any real feedback and sense of accomplishment means that any and all choices you made before the final choice are completely inconsequential. That's the problem with the ending.

[_TheAlexO]

Gonna finish it tonight. Can't wait to see what all the fuss is about

[Fogel]

That being said, gamers around the world for the past year have fought hard to define video games as a work of art and that the creators should be considered artists. Now don't get me wrong art deserves to be critiqued, the Mona Lisa is critiqued all the time. The issue is that we don't demand someone to go paint a new Mona Lisa, we accept it as the artists creativity wether we like it or not.

 

If gamers want games to be accept as art we have to accept that the developers are going to make the games that they want to play, and the endings they like, because its their creative minds creating it.

Once art is commisioned it is open for re-dos. Comparing a painting that was done on an artist's own time to a game where the sole intent is to make money isn't a good comparison. And art of all nature is critiqued all the time. Some people make money simply to put down other people's artwork.

 

If a game company makes a core promise it should keep that promise or not bother trying. No one keeps all their promises but Bioware made promises that were core to the design of Mass Effect. They promised I believe 16 wildly different endings. They promised there would be no cookie cutter ABC endings. I really don't think too many people would complain if there wasn't exactly 16 "wildly different endings". But Bioware did the one thing they should not have done - give fans A B C endings. Many people poured hundreds of hours and kept numerous game saves at various points in case one of the decisions they labored over affected the ending in a way they didn't want.

 

What Bioware gave fans was it really didn't matter how you played the game or what choices you made - everyone got the same 3 endings ...just different allies and point totals. So it doesn't matter if your friend made all the opposite moral choices you did, you both will still end up with the same choice at the end and could theoritically have the same ending.

 

They broke multiple promises they made to fans. Sorry but a game will never be considered art when developers can't deliver a core promise that is the backbone of the game. I don't agree with the lawsuits or getting the government involved but at the same time, but the fans that did buy/play this game based on those promises have every right to let Bioware know what they did is wrong. I don't agree with people always being negative but I also don't think we as gamers should simply accept broken promises and other let downs like many of Pro-ME3 people suggest. There is almost always a middle ground and I've never been a fan of any radical side.

 

In fact, having a range of choices at the end would be a perfect fit for the series. However, the lack of any real feedback and sense of accomplishment means that any and all choices you made before the final choice are completely inconsequential. That's the problem with the ending.

Exactly what I heard from all of my Mass Effect fan friends. I saw this line on another site that made me laugh:

 

I think we all got rickrolled by BioWare.

 

"Expecting an epic ending to our epic masterpeice, were you?

 

Well, here! Have some virtually identical endings with no real closure for all the big decisions you made! Be sure to buy some DLC in the giftshop on your way out!"

[DanTheGamer11]

TBH the more people you recruit the more you kill