Mass Effect - "the" Xbox360 title to get

[horacethegrey]

Apologies if there was a thread on this before. Looked through the archives and didn't see one. If there was, apologies again.

I know everyone's been salivating over the upcoming release of Halo 3 (that's a bit of an understatement really. It seems the whole universe is yearning for it ). And while I do like what I've seen of Bungie's game, it hasn't impressed me in the way that the 360's other upcoming shooter has. A shooter made by, of all people, those RPG maestro themselves Bioware.

I just can't get over the fact how awesome Mass Effect looks and plays. A shooter RPG? I'll admit I had my doubts about it (then again, I had my doubts too whether Bioware could actually make a game based on Chinese mythology work. And looked how that turned out. ), but after seeing the numerous videos of the game in action, I'm convinced Bioware has another instant classic on their hands.

How this game comes out and is received will determine my purchase of the 360 in the future. I so want this game to be good. Anyone share my thoughts? You can check out vids of Mass Effect on gametrailers here , or go to the official site .

 

[Grog]

A shooter RPG? I'll admit I had my doubts about it

It was done back in 2000 with Deus Ex.

 

[trancejeremy]

I hope it's good, because I'll probably get a 360 sooner rather than later. But I really was very disappointed with Jade Empire, so I'm not getting my hopes up about this.

It actually reminds me more of Starflight (the very old PC game) than anything else. With more of a plot and RPG aspect. But how you fly around the galaxy and explore planets.

I'm also a bit concerned about the nature of the universe. I don't generally like sci-fi where aliens are dominant, or at least, humans aren't prominent. Rarely are aliens actually alien, rather than excagerated steretypes usually based on some aspect of Earth culture (like war-like samurai aliens) but if they are truly alien, then the depth of interaction you can have with them is somewhat limited, because they are alien.

 

[takyris]

I think that Deus Ex is a great comparison. It's not a first-person shooter, but you can try to play it like one (and some few people might succeed, albeit with some pain). The way most people are expected to play is with a rhythm that goes something like "shootshootshootPAUSE, okay, I can take that guy down, my squad can take out that dude over there, and I'll select this ability to fire off at that turret to disable it for a few seconds... aaaaaand GO".

So there's a strong roleplaying element in terms of tactics and strategy, not to mention customization at level-up and story and all the usual stuff. If you tried to play without increasing any of your skills, you'd be in a world of hurt.

In any event, if anyone has questions, I'm around. I can't say anything that isn't public knowledge, but I can answer most questions about gameplay at this point, because people have seen that.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I know everyone's been salivating over the upcoming release of Halo 3 (that's a bit of an understatement really. It seems the whole universe is yearning for it ). And while I do like what I've seen of Bungie's game, it hasn't impressed me in the way that the 360's other upcoming shooter has.

I'm getting both, Halo3 would have to really drop the ball to not live up to expectations, so the excitement is real. Mass Effect I'm a bit more cautious of. It looks like it could be a great game, but there's a lot of room for it to fall, so hard to judge.

Either way, I'm expecting KotOR or better.

 

[horacethegrey]

I hope it's good, because I'll probably get a 360 sooner rather than later. But I really was very disappointed with Jade Empire, so I'm not getting my hopes up about this.

Forgive if I don't agree with you, but I thought Jade Empire was fantastic.

In any event, if anyone has questions, I'm around. I can't say anything that isn't public knowledge, but I can answer most questions about gameplay at this point, because people have seen that.

I take it you're part of the development team then?

 

[takyris]

I was, from late October to late June. Now I'm off of M.E. and on an unannounced project (still at BioWare). I don't have the battle scars of the guys pulling the all-nighters for the past couple months (although as a writer, my need to pull all-nighters at this stage of the game were shaky at best, which is why I was given back to the project that had lent me to M.E. last year, when a writer WAS necessary), but I was there for a good chunk of time, and I'm in the credits and everything.

So, short version: yes. Writer, so not much programming-fu on my end, but I can answer most common gameplay questions without making an idiot of myself.

 

[horacethegrey]

That's nice. Okay. Got a question then. When Bioware first unveiled the game, they stated that one of the key features was the ability to interrupt conversations with NPCs. So far, none of the game videos I've seen has shown this feature in action. So, is it still in the game or was it removed altogether?

 

[takyris]

It's in, but "it" doesn't do a whole lot that hasn't been done before. Say somebody is giving a line, and at the end of the line, you have the usual range of responses. You now have two ways to handle that:

1) The normal way, which means that even if you hit the choice while the speaker is still talking, your character will wait until the speaker is finished, and then respond immediately (for a cinematic feel).

2) The interruption way, which means that you cut the speaker off in the middle of their line with your own line.

They don't react to it. They don't notice it. It's not a tracked variable. I, frankly, don't know why that was listed as a cool feature, ever. Maybe it was on the to-do list, and then they realized that they'd bitten off a big bunch of work with the new dialog system all by itself, and adding interrupts (that NPCs notice and care about) was a big enough layer of complexity that it was cut. Maybe someone in marketing misread a feature and stated as fact something that was never intended. I have no idea.

Regardless, there you go. You can interrupt, but it doesn't mean anything. It might feel cool, but it's not going to be tracked as something you did in the game.

 

[horacethegrey]

Alrighty then. Thanks for the heads up. I'll pop back if I have anymore questions.