Mass Effect 3

[mdn2]

All things considered I strongly disagree. I'd love to have all three games available on one platform with all the DLC. That is possible on the PC but for some reason Bioware never bothered to add controller support and I'd like to play them on my TV.

I've got that: on my 360.

I bought the last couple of bits of DLC for ME3 I didn't have yesterday. I'm going for a complete run through of all 3 + DLC.

[Talk Show Host]

I would agree with Moore if EA was focused on releasing games with fresh ideas and was a company which liked to "push forward". What a load of bollocks. When the cost/development time and sales projections agree with each other they will release them immediately.

[Ingy]

All things considered I strongly disagree. I'd love to have all three games available on one platform with all the DLC. That is possible on the PC but for some reason Bioware never bothered to add controller support and I'd like to play them on my TV.

I spotted some controller support mods whilst looking into the PC versions of the games a few days ago, they look to be pretty comprehensive (with the interfaces from the 360 versions and rumble support in at least ME2 and ME3): http://me3explorer.freeforums.org/download-area-f9.html

I ended up just getting the 360 version of ME3 (and the DLC in the sale) since I already have the other two with their DLC on that platform, and the DLC still costs a small fortune on the PC. It's kind of surprising that there was never an 'all the stuff' re-release, they're popular games.

[Khrushchev]

I've got this series still to play on my old 360, among the unplayed back catalogue of shame.

How much of the DLC is essential to get from a story perspective?

[BruceBruce]

All of it. Or at least the citadel dlc for mass effect 3.

[Alex W.]

As far as understanding the main plot goes, you only really need Shadow Broker and Arrival for ME2; and Ashes, Leviathan and Citadel for ME3. (I skipped Arrival.)

However Kasum and Overlord for ME2 are excellent standalone stories and the former gives you an extra character.

Omega has no redeeming qualities. It's a glitchy unfinished mess which hastily resolves an irrelevant loose end.

[Jg15]

If they announced a remaster I would probably die of happiness before I even got to play.

Your profile pic and comment are perfectly matched!

Personally I see them being made BC before a remaster happening. It surely would have happened by now along with Dead Space (which I would like to see remastered).

[Smitty]

Hey guys. I was wondering if it was still worth playing through the entire trilogy, what with the huge controversy over the 3's ending? I don't know what that ending is btw, I just know it was hugely controversial and made a lot of people feel like the whole thing was a waste of time.

 

Let me tell you where I am with the games currently. I completed ME1 back when it came out on the 360 - I really enjoyed it. 

 

I started Mass Effect 2 but didn't get too far into it before I stopped playing it, for some reason. It seemed to start really well. I've never been back to it - I think I am slightly intimidated by the length and depth of the games.

 

I've never played 3 because I didn't finish 2 and I would never touch a sequel without playing the original.

 

Should I invest the necessary time to restart the series from the start and finish it off?

[Oz]

I did that in Jan this year. with @Captain LeChuck as online discussion companion/adviser. Glad I did. on PC everything holds up. specially 1 was a fucking joy to replay. one caveat. got really pissed off with the options that were left for me to finish three so I never did the final battle. this is because I played 1 and 2 in one go, living with my choices. then on 3 I had no way to save a character that was really dear to my heart. so fuck saving the galaxy and that stupid cunt child. the citadel DLC on 3 and layer of the shadow broker on 2 are seminal pieces of entertainment.

[Alex W.]

The third one is very plot led rather than character led, which is disappointing in a character-led series. Also said plot is well ropey. However it's worth it for the journey. Even just doing the first and second is really rewarding. 

[Soulstar]

I played this trilogy for the first time in very recent years, finishing it off last year and starting in 2014 and it became one of my top gaming experiences regardless of any pitfalls the series may have. Everything from customising my own personal character who I felt worked and actually looked right for the role, to the enjoyable gun and action fights, to the difficult decision making situations, to the lore of the universe and in depth storyline that could rival something like Star Wars, to strong character attachments and individual story arcs, to the upgrading process, to the excellent music, to the natural connected continued progression from one game to the next, to the diverse range of characters and excellent comedy moments (more in 2 and 3 as 1 isn't as comedy centric). It needs to be played and I think considering the next one is due out over the next year or so, it might be worth it even more if you do really connect with the trilogy. 

 

Many people talk about the third game controversies, but it's still a valid ending and there's a DLC which slightly gives a better explanation to the various choices you get to carry out at this stage. It did feel rushed though and missing things, but the third game for me was an important step in finishing off the story that we'd all been leading up to all along. It was one of those games that despite spending a combined 260 odd hours, never actually felt like I had been on it for that long because I was always entertained and never got bored. There are many games that have repetitive boring elements about them which can oftthen make you realise the time you spend, but this got it right. Th e only time I got a bit fed up was when I tried to do all the Mako rover missions that I had left in the original game as they ostarted to feel samey in quite bland locations. Overall though this wasn't a major thing though and was always optional, I just preferred to try and finish all the missions off. The only thing I was annoyed at though was the amount of DLC I missed when playing the third game. I wasn't too happy at the £40 (ish) price tag for the combined DLC on PS3. I did get to play all the DLC on 2 though and it was pretty good and worth it for the two additional characters who have their own story arcs and missions.

 

This is a series I'd say needs to be played from 1 to 3 in order to get the proper experience and attachment. ME3 wouldn't have been anywhere near as good without having that long build up to it with the previous games, which a short 10 min back story t couldn't re-create. I can imagine a fair few people out there started on the third game and probably didn't get enough from it for that reason. I know someone who did and backed out part way through.

 

 

[Cosmic_Guru]

1 hour ago, Punished Smitty said:

 

 

Should I invest the necessary time to restart the series from the start and finish it off?

 

I would say yes, yes, yes.  Take your time and do all the side-quests so you get at least a brief reference to their outcomes in the later games.  Take the Mako out and explore those planets.  Be an engineer for MaxPower.  

 

(confession time: I was so angry with the original ending to ME3 I haven't touched it since, so I have no idea how the revision improves things)

[Gabe]

Short answer: Play them all, play them now!

 

Longer answer: I'm one of those who think 3 is the best of the series because whilst it's true it is plot led, it actually felt like stuff was going down and the missions flowed together a bit better; I was more on board with the fact it wasn't just Shep and the SuperCrew (tm) saving the day, but actually the universe coming together. I actually liked the idea of needing to build up resources and allies for the final battle, it added a little extra benefit to the short incidental missions. Plus, Citadel is utterly amazing and poignant, especially if you play it after you've finished the main game; many say you should play it before you do the final mission, but I actually found it more engaging once all was done and dusted.

 

I think most people rate 2 as the best and, whilst it's a great game, I found the stripped-out character customisation disappointing and the plot never really felt as 'big' as the characters said it was.  Still has plenty of fabulous moments though (triggering combo damage bonuses never got old) and mining was quite relaxing too - some nice ambient music meant it was quite serene and a nice diversion.

 

It is a fantastic trilogy though, with a lot of content (even without all the DLC - but you should get it all anyway to complete the experience) and some of the decisions do sit with you for a while. I love them and, whilst I haven't actually played any games much this year, I'll be all over ME4 when it comes out (which'll mean buying a console to play it on, too). They are the only games I've played more than once and completed on the highest difficulty, too. Never been a renegade character, mind - good guy Shep for me, all the way.

[Kryptonian]

Do it @Punished Smitty

 

Great series

[Butters]

Any chat of the trilogy getting remastered in the lead up to the fourth game?

[Gabe]

EA's policy is not to do remasters, they'd rather create new games is their official line - so no, it's not coming.

[Smitty]

What about controller support for the first one? I believe you can get a mod for that, has anyone here used it?

[JoeK]

The series deserves to be played to death  - which I have  . Probably not as much as the honorable Cap'n, but a lot of times for sure.

 

I've even got accustomed to the ending, which actually is perfectly fine...and anyway, ME3 has some of the most wonderful scenes of any pretty much any game I've ever played...and an awesome 'greatest hits' of a soundtrack.

 

Oh, and whilst I found Garrus an irritating so and so in the first game, he bloody well comes into his own in the next couple

 

I fucking want a remaster right now! 

 

Whatever flaws the games have - and most of them are just the way Bioware create their RPGs, they're still just brilliant pieces of entertainment, and tell a bloody brilliant tale.

 

Also - there's your little talk with Sovereign in the first game.

Worth it just for that quite honestly.

 

 

[Gabe]

Yeah, Garrus is the man in the 2 & 3.

[dreamylittledream]

Really wish they'd remake the first one with the combat engine from 3 - would pay serious cash money for this EA (and a remaster of the other two whilst you're at it).

[BruceBruce]

3 hours ago, dreamylittledream said:

Really wish they'd remake the first one with the combat engine from 3 - would pay serious cash money for this EA (and a remaster of the other two whilst you're at it).

 

I agree.  But I kinda wish they all played like ME2.

[mr_woo]

I actually played all 3 of these recently again on PC.  With the exception of the first game last year I haven't touched the series for 4 years since ME3 came out so it was great going back and doing a full runthrough again.  I won't be too spoilery as I'm sure new players don't want to know the ins and outs of my playthrough.  I also played with mods and it was great to play all 3 games looking nice in 60fps.

 

Mass Effect 1 - still my favourite of the trilogy.  I completely understand all the complaints against the game and they are well known but regardless of that I still love that feeling of 'adventure' it provides and mysteriousness due to being the first game of the series.  I know the Mako sections are essentially just bouncing over cut and paste areas but it still kept me hooked and I couldn't help but love driving that bouncy fucker all over the place on my way to kick some more ass.  The RPG mechanics I enjoy a lot as well even if they weren't as fully fleshed out as they could have been.  It has my favourite story of the 3 games by far and Saren is a great villain.  For me it also has the best soundtrack of the series.  The DLC was OK, Bringing Down The Sky was decent enough but Pinnacle Station was a bit bollocks.

 

Mass Effect 2 - This would probably be my 'least' favourite of the trilogy and I say that as not disliking but basically being the least awesome for me.  The best thing with ME2 is how strong its characters are and their loyalty missions with my favourite of the new characters being Mordin, Thane and Grunt.  The main story is the weakest point of the game for me with the sense of urgency compared to the first game not really being there I felt or at least never feels as foreboding.  It's not really bad and the final actual suicide mission is awesome but overall the main story never really hooked me as much as I thought it would.  However Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man is definitely one of my favourite characters of the series and he was a great addition.  Plays that 'main man of a shadowy organisation' really well.

 

Combat is definitely more streamlined and feels great but I must admit I wasn't a fan of removing the weapon mods and restricting weapons to certain character types was a bit too streamlined IMO.  I'll be one of the very few folks to say this in this thread but I really do miss the openness of the Mako and going straight from mission to mission actually made me miss the downtime of trundling about on a planet to get to the next destination.  I'm one of those strange folks that like negative space in games, it's one of the reasons I love games like Far Cry 2 so much.  The Hammerhead wasn't a bad replacement but I miss my Mako.  Everything feels so enclosed just jumping from mission to mission and I miss that feeling of exploration even if, quite frankly, it was just picking up random things on planets.  However I don't really consider the scanning in ME2 to be much better tbh as a replacement, it quite frankly sucks.   

 

DLC wise, the Lair Of The Shadow Broker DLC was superb and the best of the ME2 dlc.  Liara's one of my favourite characters so it was great having a DLC devoted to her.  Overlord was a fun distraction but didn't really feel needed and Arrival was cool, and started to show the effects of what had to be sacrificed to stop the Reapers.  Project Firewalker was a fun distraction as well but again nothing really substantial.

Mass Effect 3 - This moved up from being my least favourite game in the series to being my second favourite.  I really like the main story in this one a lot more compared to ME2.  However the thing I still find disappointing with this is that (affects whole trilogy, beware) 

 

some of your choices essentially don't matter, or at least don't have as big an effect

 The ending still isn't great but it didn't bother me as much this time due to knowing what was coming.  The sense of urgency and desperation runs throughout the whole game, it almost felt a bit 'weird' going off to do sidequest stuff that didn't have as much to do with the main storyline at times.

 

Combat wise it has the best combat of the series by far.  The amount of variety in enemies etc is great.  I found myself getting killed a lot more in comparison to 2 and 3 but then that's just me being bad very likely  Was great to have all the weapon slots back and I quite liked their way of altering your power cooldown with the more weapons you had equipped.  Was a nice way of balancing things out or at least giving the player plenty of choice.

 

DLC wise, From Ashes has Javik and I feel like having him as DLC is one of the biggest injustices EA made with this game.  He should have been in the main game as standard and it's really fun to hear his insight with a lot of stuff over the course of the game.  Omega was great because I love Aria but again that's more of a fun sidestory and not really needed but definitely recommended if you like that character.  Leviathan was superb and genuinely very interesting.  Hearing more about the Reapers background added a lot to the game and  I really wish we had seen the Leviathans during the end of the game fighting the Reapers.

 

This brings me onto Citadel, probably my favourite piece of Mass Effect content and one of my favourite DLCs ever.  I don't want to spoil anything as it's more fun knowing nothing about it but it was laugh out loud funny a lot of the time, great character interaction and ended in a very satisfying way.  It also had quite a bit of content such as the combat simulator.  Some companies would charge you for that mode alone and only that mode.

 

ME3 Multiplayer - This is surprisingly going really strong still on PC, get into matches within 10 - 15 secs.  I played it for a bit but with other games to play ended up uninstalling the trilogy.

 

Anyway apologies for my random waffle, after spending so much time with the series in the last few weeks just wanted to type a bit about it, over 100 hours at least.  I really enjoyed my trilogy playthrough again, my only problem is that I never really have the heart to go renegade, apart from the few odd times.  I can't help but be nice and it's fucking infuriating   This is why I love games like say God Of War for example, because Kratos is a dick and that's it, I don't get to choose

[Talk Show Host]

You played with mouse and keyboard?

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

[Oz]

2 hours ago, Talk Show Host said:

You played with mouse and keyboard?

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

I did in Feb. they play great with mouse and keyboard. absolutely brilliant. don't know why people get hung up on controller support. I agree with Bruce though that the best playing is ME2 though. they went almost completely shooter in ME3. having said that, camera placement was better in ME3 and so was inventory management. the idea of weight affecting your cool downs was brilliant. I just felt they did away almost completely with the need to plan your attacks while pausing the game (which was a staple of the series).

[Alex W.]

I don't think that they could do ME3's combat systems with the earlier games without completely overhauling them. It's not obvious until you play the higher difficulties or multiplayer just how exquisitely balanced it is around the new set of enemies, the way it changes your use of cover and swaps out ME2's situational use of abilities for a whole range of tactical uses. Power Combos completely change the battles against the large enemies for instance; they feel like bullet sponges but are in reality these complex little combat problems.

 

And the level design in ME1 is just completely inappropriate for the type of game ME2 and ME3 became. There's a greatly reduced emphasis on cover, the are engagements over ridiculous ranges and with massive tactical flexibility, your abilities don't link together with enemies as cutely, etc. etc.. The encounters it sets up and the environments it puts you in really reflect a completely different type of game. The same problem would exist to a similar but lesser degree in ME2; while you'd have all these exciting new abilities you could use, the enemy encounters would never really draw upon them.

 

[Cosmic_Guru]

@mr_woo  Nailed it. ME1 is my favourite too (if you could only take one on a desert isle it would be this one) and the only one which fully demonstrates the typical RPG sense of empowerment - from struggling to kill a giant plant to snapping your fingers and exploding massive fuel canisters.  Incomparable sound track too.  They didn't do enough with the artefacts and handful of other objects you encounter planet-side - those pyramids for example - and I hope that this aspect is ramped up in 4 (although I'm resigned to it not being an RPG).

 

@Alex W.  As you say, combat systems often only show their real quality when the difficulty is ramped up (the best example possibly the Witcher series).  Unfortunately the bad taste the ending left in my mouth precluded a second run through of ME3 at the highest difficulty, so the subtleties of power combos have passed me by.  I enjoyed the hard runs of the other two games though.

[Alex W.]

It was the multiplayer that really cleared it up for me; I put in about 5 hours a week for... well, the online thing says I hit 100 hours so 20 weeks. When I went back to the main game as new DLC came out I was like "oh, that's how that's meant to work".

[Gabe]

The multiplayer was excellent and showed how well it stood up as a shooter.

 

The bumping of this thread is making me want to do another run through, but this time as a renegade. Hmm.

[mr_woo]

4 hours ago, Talk Show Host said:

You played with mouse and keyboard?

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

 

Yeah with m/kb and it works really well especially with aiming.  You can however get controller mods for all 3 games on nexusmods I believe.

 

Getting the DLC was the most expensive part, even with the 30% sale on Origin last month I ended up spending £50 or so on all the DLC.  Was worth it though.

 

[Butters]

14 hours ago, dreamylittledream said:

Really wish they'd remake the first one with the combat engine from 3 - would pay serious cash money for this EA (and a remaster of the other two whilst you're at it).

 

With you 100%. I still need to go back to the first one to replay it, because the first time around I really didn't get on well with the combat engine.