Mass Effect - "the" Xbox360 title to get

[Vocenoctum]

It could be the 360. Assassin's Creed froze up on me the other day, but at a really strange time (as Altair was about to kill a guard with the hidden blade). However, the 'box is only a month old, and otherwise I've never had a problem with any of my other games. I don't have the Elite model... I've got the 20g (whatever the heck that's called).

The models are the same, aside from the HD and such. So you shouldn't have a problem. There's always a chance of a game locking anyway, and the new games push the systems more.

But one thing I've noticed about Mass Effect is that it is very... stuttery. The frame rate drops significantly when the disc is thinking (during an autosave, after hitting A to start a conversation).

I actually turned off autosaves, they were too irritating.

Load times I didn't hate, but wish that they'd used a little more thought in how often they trip load screens. Having to hop from ship to C-sec to wherever you wanted to go...

 

[Vocenoctum]

Yeah, ME is very load intensive - odd they didn't use the hard drive - I guess they figured it had such broad appeal a lot of core/acrade owners would buy it.

MS says that no game can require the HD, so it has to be able to run off the disc, but most games will cache to the HD when it's available. ME doesn't seem to do that (or at least, not as much as it could).

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Anyway, I'm curious as to what other people's Shepherds look like. I started trying to make myself, but ended up looking more like Tony Dungy.

I tried really, really hard to make Angelina Jolie, but in the end I was really dissatisfied with her eyes... just didn't look like her. So I ended up making a severe-yet-not-unattractive women with somewhat asian/indian features (dark skin, exotic eyes, very small of face, thin, etc.) It's not exactly what I wanted, but I've grown pretty attached to the character. Her physical demeanor fits her attitude, which is pretty harsh.

 

[Enforcer]

I finally finished my first runthrough last night. Really good story, I enjoyed it. I am miffed that I got none of the Ally achievements though...especially since I had Tali in my party from the very second I met her. Ah well.

I'm playing it again on Hardcore, with a Sentinel. So far Biotics are way more fun than Soldiering was.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I finally finished my first runthrough last night. Really good story, I enjoyed it. I am miffed that I got none of the Ally achievements though...especially since I had Tali in my party from the very second I met her. Ah well.

Did you hit every sidequest?

Remember, the completionist and ally achievements are for total game, not just core plot.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Remember, the completionist and ally achievements are for total game, not just core plot.

It's something like 15 missions, 45 assignments for each ally achievement... or maybe it's the reverse, I get the two confused. Anyway, 15 story quests, 45 side quests. No idea if that's true, but it would make sense.

Anyway, despite my initial problems I know I like this game, because when I'm not actually playing it, I'm talking about it. Yeah, good stuff.

 

[Enforcer]

Oh, I definitely got Completionist. I did EVERYTHING.

 

[ohGr]

The Tali achievement might have the same problem as the Liara one: if you do too many side-missions before getting her, you don't have enough left to get the achievement.

 

[Enforcer]

That's what I'm afraid of. Oh well. This time around I'm keeping in mind the Ally Achievements. I figure I'll have no problem getting the Garrus and Ashley ones, given that they're your first two party members after Kaiden. Besides, I need their combat abilities if I'm a Sentinel this time.

 

[Simplicity]

The unreadable disc error is very common with older 360s. The DVD players in the older models (not elite vs. premium vs. core... I'm just talking about console AGE) can't keep up very well. Though some people have said that they've been able to scrub off little scuffs, mostly if you're getting that error... learn to live with it. :-/