Mass Effect drops Nov. 20

[Riggswolfe]

Console games suck.

I'm glad you could finally just come out and say it.  Now get the fuck out of a topic about a console game.

Agreed.

[LK]

People still care about FMVs?

In-game rendered cutscenes are good enough.  Metal Gear Solid proved that.  A lot of the complaints people are having are just personal preference.  That's why I'm willing to accept them and not really change my position on any of the subjects mentioned.  Yes, I love that they used a generic *last name* and allowed you to name your character whatever you want.  It's crazy to record Female AND Male stuff, but they did it, and it'll work in this game.  The thing is, whatever you do, it has to work with what you're doing.  Sounds stupid, I know, but if you're going to have a silent protaganist, don't expect there to be any major personal character development.  That would mean YOU'D have to personally grow, and I've yet to see a game do something like that.

[Riggswolfe]

People still care about FMVs?

In-game rendered cutscenes are good enough.  Metal Gear Solid proved that.  A lot of the complaints people are having are just personal preference.  That's why I'm willing to accept them and not really change my position on any of the subjects mentioned.  Yes, I love that they used a generic *last name* and allowed you to name your character whatever you want.  It's crazy to record Female AND Male stuff, but they did it, and it'll work in this game.  The thing is, whatever you do, it has to work with what you're doing.  Sounds stupid, I know, but if you're going to have a silent protaganist, don't expect there to be any major personal character development.  That would mean YOU'D have to personally grow, and I've yet to see a game do something like that.

I don't think Shepard is a silent protagonist. I've seen a few in-game scenes of him talking to people. (usually threatening to beat the shit out of them or something.)

[Yegolev]

There was a time when full voice was "crazy", so having both a male and female track isn't a big leap.

[murdoc]

Same voice was used, the female Shepard is just a butch.

[LK]

Sorry, was attempting to speak in a generality about how the choices you make for how the main character works needs to work with the game system.  The fact that you choose the emotion of what you are going to say rather than the actual line of dialog is really cool for Mass Effect.

[rk47]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24938.html

 woot, i can't wait 4 the pc port. imma shoot people's kneecaps.

[Sky]

Ohmyachin. That looks great. PEEEECEEEE VEEEERSION NOOOOOOWWWW!!! :)

[Riggswolfe]

IGN has a hands on with the first hour with lots of new videos including a possible opening cinematic (a small portion of it changes depending on your characters background and of course gender) as well as character creation videos. They made a nice looking female Shepard. They referred to her as a battle scarred model and I'd agree. So, no Oblivion horse faces in this game it looks like.

I'm watching the videos now and I'm quite excited about the game. I'm not sure about the "ring" system of choosing commands yet, but it could be good.

[Nevermore]

Same voice was used, the female Shepard is just a butch.

My character shall be named Dr. Girlfriend Shepard!

[bignatz]

PEEEECEEEE VEEEERSION NOOOOOOWWWW!!! :)

Is there ANY chance for this at all?

[murdoc]

PEEEECEEEE VEEEERSION NOOOOOOWWWW!!! :)

Is there ANY chance for this at all?

It's probably not an 'if' , but a 'when'.

[Rasix]

If you guys want, I'll record myself playing it.  I can pretend it's having problems with my video card.  I can then turn off shadows or perhaps even set textures to medium quality.   Perhaps with some nifty video editing I can make it look like I'm playing with a keyboard and mouse!  It'll be like comfort food for your soul.

 

Yah, it's a "when" and I remember at least the KOTOR port was pretty nice. I think it even had an extra encounter.

[Sky]

Err...I have a decent pc, Ras :) As long as they don't port it to the PS2 first and then use those textures....

Jade Empire showed us Bioware will port to pc even when they've said pretty adamantly that they won't. It also showed that consolization is sucky, but Mass Effect looks waay better than JE looked with the crappy xbox hardware. The crappy 360 hardware is much nicer :)

This is the game that is making me have to really exert some willpower to avoid buying a 360. Luckily, there's the fact that I'm broke.

[Velorath]

Just break down and get a 360.  Do you really want to be playing Mass Effect around the time everyone else is getting Mass Effect 2?

[Sky]

At the least I'd hold off until the die shrink. I'm a patient man, I've become used to waiting for the pc versions of console games, and regret the one time I didn't (KotOR). I just wish Bioware was quicker about creating the pc version, Jade Empire took forever. I'm all for doing it right, though, which is where I derive my patience. That, and already having more games than I can play despite only buying a fraction of what most people here buy.

[Riggswolfe]

Same voice was used, the female Shepard is just a butch.

My character shall be named Dr. Girlfriend Shepard!

The female Shepards voice is Jennifer Hale for those who are curious. She did the voice of Bastilla in KOTOR. Check her IMDB profile. She's done a TON of video games and animation.

The game also has Lance Henriksen as some crusty old Admiral and Seth Green as "Joker", your ship's pilot. David Keith is in there somewhere as well, hopefully as the main villain. (Though I'd almost prefer Lance Henriksen in that role. Maybe the admiral will go bad.)

[Riggswolfe]

Just break down and get a 360.  Do you really want to be playing Mass Effect around the time everyone else is getting Mass Effect 2?

I agree. BTW, am I the only one who has setup my XBOX 360 to get pics and stuff from my PC? Something about being able to watch downloaded movies on my high def TV is great. (and no, I'm not trailing a cable through my entire house so I can hook the video card directly to the PC.)

[schild]

BTW, am I the only one who has setup my XBOX 360 to get pics and stuff from my PC?

No, you aren't. We have an original xbox, a 360, and the PS3 doing this between 2 tvs. The original Xbox is for xvid and other codecs that companies pretend don't exist.

[Tannhauser]

And another reason to get Mass Effect, hot lesbian sex!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Game, Set and Match my dear Mr. Schild.

[schild]

Alien lesbian sex. Don't misinform. For real though, that was one of the first PA's I liked in forever. The last panel was money.

[murdoc]

Gone gold.

[Riggswolfe]

*tries not to eat his own arm off while waiting*

So, a couple of interesting things. There is a limited edition out that you can't order in-store from Gamestop but can order from their online store. WTF? So, I want to spend money in your local store but I'm not allowed?

Game Informer has an advance review. They basically drooled all over the story but noted some interesting gameplay hitches, like bad AI at times with your allies. Interestingly, they noted things like you might have an ally shooting a wall during a fight but still gave it something like a 9 or 9.5 out of 10 mostly based on the storyline and universe from what I could tell.

[LK]

That seems to be what all the crazy kids are doing, giving high scores to games with ridiculously shit AI.  Halo 3 Driving, anyone?

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Schild: I'm sorry you can't deal with the art. But pigeonholing a game because of it, well, it makes you look like a gibbering moron.

Cough...cough...EX 3...

Really though I think Mass Effect looks cool. I actually would like to play that.

[schild]

Schild: I'm sorry you can't deal with the art. But pigeonholing a game because of it, well, it makes you look like a gibbering moron.

Cough...cough...EX 3...

I'm sorry, should I have mentioned the word standards? I have some. EX is way below them. Also, sucks. What the fuck are you doing in here anyway? This is an RPG thread.

Really though I think Mass Effect looks cool. I actually would like to play that.

As we've discovered lately. You'll play anything.  But really, for real. Anything.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Oh also, I don't look at X-COM as an RPG but more of a Strat game... Maybe Strat RPG.. Also, I think the Galip Bros do the best Strat game play...I guess that is just me. I like the battles in there stuff more than Disgairiaieiaieia.

[rk47]

Just break down and get a 360.  Do you really want to be playing Mass Effect around the time everyone else is getting Mass Effect 2?

There are plenty of new games coming out on PC right now to make the wait not so unbearable.
Witcher for one is  , Then there's Hellgate 

[grunk]

Origin made the rpgs that i loved early on, the consoles kinda picked up the torch after them... imo the western devs suck. I may be shot down, but imo... Diablo 1 / 2 was the last great pc rpgs made... i loved the diablo games... (bout to reinstall d2 LoD)

aside for BG and kotor, bioshat has made some seriously shitty games... NWN? what a turd that one was. the worst 3d graphics ive ever seen... (maybe a bit much lol).

JP RPGS that pwn all that bio shat.

Phanzer Dragoon Saga (if you dont know about this game, your just not a gamer)
Castlevania SoTN (between this and vagrant, hard to pick)
Vagrant Story (IMO, the greatest rpg made in the last decade) (PSX)
FF Tactics (PSX)
Ogre Battle / 64
Zelda OoT

I dont consider ff tactics a ff game (I refuse to list an FF game in this list), in fact, FF Tactics is deepley tied to Vagrant Story (just ignore the chocobos)

Ill even go as far back as say games like Phantasy Star 4 (yeah im a p-star fanboi) (talkin 16 bit era now lol)
Dragon Force
Crono Trigger (still holds up)
Metroid

that being said, i really enjoyed kotor and i wana play Mass Effect... badly (yay for sci fi!)... just wish we could get a true sequel to Wing Commander Privateer (and fuck you, that FMV shit was a fucken piece of flying shit).

[Riggswolfe]

grunk, do you even know what an RPG is?

Diablo 1/2 are not RPGs. They are all about the loot-ding-grats. I'd go so far to say they are the progenitor of MMOs in some ways. You kept playing for that elusive rare loot.

Castlevania SOTN? That's an action game, not an RPG.

Metroid? An RPG? Are you fucking kidding me?

[grunk]

grunk, do you even know what an RPG is?

Diablo 1/2 are not RPGs. They are all about the loot-ding-grats. I'd go so far to say they are the progenitor of MMOs in some ways. You kept playing for that elusive rare loot.

Castlevania SOTN? That's an action game, not an RPG.

Metroid? An RPG? Are you fucking kidding me?

Your idea of an RPG, is that of sitting in your moms basement, rolling dice... STFU prz.

[schild]

Oh man, that's awesome.

[grunk]

Oh man, that's awesome.

Can i have some fucken cake?

[schild]

Oh man, that's awesome.

Can i have some fucken cake?

Retarded drug addicts don't get cake.

They get detox and cattle prods.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

They also get sedatives and orderly delivered anal rape.

SOTN and Metroid are not rpgs..Neither is Diablo.. 

Schild: Is there any way you can get a rolling eyes icon that is more ...rolly?