Mass Effect - "the" Xbox360 title to get

[ohGr]

Notice how class talents only have 6 levels while every other one has 12? A specialization class adds on those 6 other levels, but gives you different bonuses (you keep the original class bonuses).

Each class can select from two different specialization classes (spoilering it, just in case):

[sblock]Soldier
Commando: Weapon damage bonus (%, by level), reduced cool-down for Immunity, Marksman and Assassination.
Shock Trooper: Health and damage protection bonus (%, be level), reduced cool-down for Immunity and Adrenaline Burst.

Engineer
Medic: First Aid and Neural Shock cool-down reduction (%, by level), improves Neural Shock's duration and damage, First Aid heals more and revives downed party members.
Operative: Tech Mine cool-down reduction (%, by level), improves radius and damage of Overload and Sabotage.

Adept
Bastion: Biotic cool-down reduction (%, by level), improves durability and duration of Barrier and allows you to damage targets in Stasis.
Nemesis: Biotic damage/duration bonus (%, by level), improves radius and damage of Warp and greatly improves radius of Lift.

Infiltrator
Commando and Operative.

Sentinal
Bastion and Medic.

Vanguard
Shock Trooper and Nemesis. (Shock Trooper reduces cool-down on Barrier in lieu of Immunity, which Vanguards don't have.)[/sblock]

 

[Simplicity]

Okay, finished the game, and my final view is a little less favorable than my starting impression. The side missions were all way too similar, so at some point I just stopped doing them. Without the side missions, I think I finished the game in about 20 hours of play.
Which seems way too short for an RPG. Each of the main missions was quite awesome. Really incredible, in fact... But the major choices I had to make... well they didn't really amount to anything in the end (that I could tell...). So, how were they really choices at all?
Maybe I missed something. May play it again as a paragon and see how it alters things.

Nitpicks:
- X skips dialog. X should not also pick responses. It's way too easy to try to skip a speech and accidently pick something.

 

[trancejeremy]

I finally got this today. So far it's pretty neat, and some of the graphics are amazing (especially Citadel and the Krogan).

But at the same time, it seems exactly like KOTOR, albeit with the d20 and the SW license stripped out and new stuff put in. Even some of the aliens seem suspiciously similar to SW, and Biotics = The Force. This is not a bad thing mind you, since I liked the KOTOR games, but I was hoping for something a little more different than just the graphics (well, the combat is also quite different in practice).

And one thing - why is it every woman in the future has the same hairdo? (Except the one on your squad).

 

[Vocenoctum]

Soldier Ally gives "Damage Reduction improves by 10%", not a big deal, but okay. Got it right at Completionist (which increases XP awards by 5%), and still waiting for Liara to register (since I got her later on).

 

[Vocenoctum]

Even some of the aliens seem suspiciously similar to SW,

I thought the aliens felt more like Star Treks "humans with masks" at first, but some have a SW vibe, sure. The Elcor aren't much to look at, but are fun.

and Biotics = The Force.

A buddy that read the novel said biotics were very much like the force. In the game, I can see the similarities, but there's enough of a difference in story I think.

This is not a bad thing mind you, since I liked the KOTOR games, but I was hoping for something a little more different than just the graphics (well, the combat is also quite different in practice).

There's basically around 3 building archetypes for "random worlds" (anything not a core quest) and it gets a bit tedious.

And one thing - why is it every woman in the future has the same hairdo? (Except the one on your squad).

Perhaps there was a law passed and they just don't mention it.

 

[ohGr]

Soldier Ally gives "Damage Reduction improves by 10%", not a big deal, but okay. Got it right at Completionist (which increases XP awards by 5%), and still waiting for Liara to register (since I got her later on).

Your probably going to be waiting a long time. The way the ally achievements are triggered, it's pretty much impossible to get Liara's if you play the game like a normal person. (i.e.: doing everything available on the Citadel before moving on.) Basically, you have to rush through the Citadel portion of the game ignoring all the side-quests, make rescuing her your first priority when given the chance, and then return to the Citadel to do all the side-quests. It... sucks.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Your probably going to be waiting a long time. The way the ally achievements are triggered, it's pretty much impossible to get Liara's if you play the game like a normal person. (i.e.: doing everything available on the Citadel before moving on.) Basically, you have to rush through the Citadel portion of the game ignoring all the side-quests, make rescuing her your first priority when given the chance, and then return to the Citadel to do all the side-quests. It... sucks.

This is my second playthrough, so I did avoid the sidequests in the citadel, AFAIK. I did the party gain ones, since you have to, flew right there, grabbed her, then returned. Still, I'd hope by the time I finish Ilios it'd activate it...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

This is my second playthrough, so I did avoid the sidequests in the citadel, AFAIK. I did the party gain ones, since you have to, flew right there, grabbed her, then returned. Still, I'd hope by the time I finish Ilios it'd activate it...

Its roughly 15 main quests and 45 sidequests to get it, so you can kind of tally that up yourself to get an idea. But the numbers are rough and with her so late to join, even going right for it, that's the 'fun' one.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

So XBox achievements actually affect gameplay? Interesting. I've not heard of any other 360 games doing this. Is it common, or is Mass Effect on of the first to incorporate achievements in this way?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

So XBox achievements actually affect gameplay? Interesting. I've not heard of any other 360 games doing this. Is it common, or is Mass Effect on of the first to incorporate achievements in this way?

As far as I know, this is the only game that does it.

Hopefully it'll become common, though.