Mass Effect 2

[Alex C]

I rather doubt Blue Kitty really meant that in reply to your post.


As far as Mass Effect's plot being mediocre, it always surprises me when people nitpick about it. It's really the first time I was made aware that there might be gamers out there with some semblance of taste when it comes to their plotlines. Usually the guys I hear prattle on about plots are the same dudes who think MGS is brilliant and jerk themselves off to FF7 slashfic.

[KvP]

I thought ME's storyline was terribly unimpressive, not relative to gaming as a whole, in which most all stories are shit, but relative to the rest of Bioware's oeuvre. It hit all the same keys but failed to deliver much in the way of the sort of twists that made KOTOR or even Jade Empire halfway effective. They did a fair job on the world-building, though.

On the subject of settings and storylines, Iron Tower (a subsidiary of the RPG Codex *boo hiss*) recently interviewed Brian Mitsoda, the creative lead on Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (which was enjoyable pretty much only because of its plot) and on Alpha Protocol in its infancy, on this sort of thing. linky

Right, so, I’m not a big fan of saving the world because it’s usually used as a crutch to make the story and its characters weightier. A good story is a good story regardless of the scope of the protagonist’s deeds, but in games I think studios gravitate towards “save the world” because it makes the story sound so much more grandiose – it’s a press release/back of the box bullet point. I’d like to see more games feature well-developed characters and plots more than anything else, epic or not.

[Alex C]

I agree with the saving the world bit. None of my favorite games have ever really been about saving the world/city/galaxy. Oh, sure, you might do so by the end, but it was almost rather tangential. People didn't care about Fallout because you defeated some nasty super mutants at the end of it nor was Grim Fandango ever intended to be "epic."

[Johnny C]

Shenmue was critically acclaimed, but for a space opera Mass Effect wasn't that bad and it had a decent grasp of both the grandiose story and the minutiae of its characters.

[Alex C]

Sometimes I just want a game that looks good, sounds good and has characters slightly more interesting than the dipshits in Army of Two. Mass Effect delivered.

[KvP]

http://twitpic.com/28xfg - Make sure to watch Spike next Friday night, we'll be telling you a lot more about ME2  - Geoff Keighley

[KvP]

Vague plot synopsis courtesy of ME2's Amazon page -

The second chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy takes you to the darkest reaches of space, where you must uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of humans across many worlds. Prepare yourself for a suicide mission to save mankind. Travel the galaxy to assemble a team of soldiers and combat specialists, and launch an all-out assault on the heart of enemy territory.

[Darke]

Sounds pretty standard. I'm all about suicide missions, though.

[glyphic]

Get ready to gather a team of dead-eyed fucktards who only want to say three things to you on a week long flight to a deserted planet where you drive your dune buggy for ten hours to survey the land and find crashed satellites!

I surveyed the fuck out of those planets, though. I think I found everything on every planet. After I beat the game, I was disappointed in myself. I will probably borrow ME2 from a friend.

[Storm Rider]

I'm really excited for the GTTV preview, it seems like they're getting their hands on a lot of high-profile games before anyone else. All I'm gonna say is that I hope they don't do the copout thing and removing all the characters that could have died during the first game and cooking up some half-assed reason why they aren't in your party if your save file says they're still alive.

[KvP]

Killing off all the characters and rendering the Ashley/Kaidan choice essentially meaningless would be both terrible and completely hilarious.

Other than that, Bioware has killed off CNPCs unceremoniously before.

[Storm Rider]

I'm just saying, organizing all the current scenarios based on what characters you currently have in your team was difficult enough in the first game. Adding 3 characters that may or may not even be alive to the mix would just make things more resource intensive. It would be easier for them from a development standpoint to have Kaidan and Ashley be 'reassigned' to some unrelated position so that they don't have to work out how to put them in the game effectively. It would be a bad idea, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, I think.

[KvP]

Stuffs from GDC!

Cutscene design demo (robovoice yaaaay)

Combat demo

Giantbomb writeup

[Storm Rider]

Not a whole lot of new info in the GTTV preview, really. The most significant details in my mind were: the beginning of the game will be different if you use your ME1 save, you may play as different characters throughout the game, and the party size will be much larger than in the first game. They promised much more info at E3, just like everyone else.

[KvP]

Sounds like they'll be lifting some elements from KOTORII, which is a smart move on their part.

[glyphic]

You wake up on a freighter with amnesia. Then you replay the entire first game.

[Zombiedude]

Fuck yeah

Also, GDC Report

[Melodic]

The design timeline for games is the most crucial thing to "nail". Some companies that can afford to do so avoid streamlining this cycle by simply refusing to release an unfinished product, but since Bioware has to make deadlines it's nice to see that the biggest problem with ME1 is being dealt with.

[Blue Kitty]

So, iPhone backstory aka Jacob's Story

[Zombiedude]

Can't be any worse than that MGS Ipod game.

[Blue Kitty]

Shepard probably isn't dead

Also, more info on Jacob's Story

[Zombiedude]

I bet they're gonna drag it out until the last day of E3.

[KvP]

Shepard probably isn't dead

WHAT NO I DON'T BELIEVE IT

[Scandanavian War Machine]

oh man

[Blue Kitty]

Holy fuck

[Zombiedude]

Wow

[scarred]

Holy fuck

[KvP]

The animations have certainly improved. Looks like they took the BG1->BG2 claims serious enough to maybe back up.

Still, I'll believe it when I play it. And combat wasn't really the problem for ME1 so much as rendering large environments was, which was mostly a problem with 360 architecture. Hopefully they can fix that.

[Felrender]

Oh, fuck, new synthetic enemies.  Where the hell are we in this game?

[Melodic]

I was not expecting to be that impressed.

[ackblom12]

It would not surprise me if they were a form of evolution for the Geth.

But man that looks might impressive.

[Darke]

I suppose now would be a good time to finally replay Mass Effect. Yeah. I think so.

[billiumbean]

Since Mass Effect 2 is supposed to be better than the first somehow, I've done a little thinking, and this is my guess as to what the plot will/could/should be like;

Sheppard was forced into reclusion by the religious groups and tabloids that ridicule and scandalize her relationship with Liara.  When Liara became pregnant, the couple decide to flee on the Normandy to live in a distant, more open-minded colony.  On the way, the gang is bombarded with asteroids that Joker claimed to have not been on the map and/or did not exist at all and/or no other pilot could avoid as valiantly as he, the greatest pilot in all the yadda yadda.  Their ship, a husk of its former beauty, spiraled through space and ends up desintegrating in the atmosphere of Kahje, the homeworld of the Hanar.  Sheppard, dead, drifts through the gigantic ocean until she reaches a very, very polite colony of Hanar, who resurrect her and worship her as a god.  There, she must find a way to request a transport off of their god-awful world, but as to not offend them or imply that their hospitality was somewhat unsatisfactory.

Once off of Kahje, Sheppard must take the phoenix mirror and ask around the Citadel for where she can find Lan Di, as well as find a part-time job.  One night, after her watch tells her to go to a hotel and sleep, she is visited but the Daedric god Azura, who tells her that she is the Nerevarine and that Lan Di is actually none other than Dagoth Ur.  She is sent to Skyrim where she must fulfill some prophesies, as they were written in the Bethesda newsletter as "So, yeah, ES5 will probably might be Skyrim since we trademarked the word, blah blah about other games."  Completely bypassing the third and fourth installments in that series, she orders Carth to pilot the Siltstrider to Taris, where they can be blown to shit by Darth Malak in a spaceship that isn't the Death Star, escape with Bastila alive, destroy Dagoth Di using the dragon mirror and the now-fully-explained floating sword (named "Keening"), resurrect some Dwemer/Protheans/Quin Dynasty to find out just what the hell they were, and dramatically fly away from a big explosion in the Ebon Hawk.  The end of the game would be the characters landing on Earth in the player's hometown to havoc on their enemies' shrubbery and the like until they pass out from all the FUN.

I think a game like that would satisfy absolutely everybody's needs everywhere so that they can all shut up.

[Josefbugman]

My guess is more than likely that you will play a character alongside shepard for the first 10 minuites or so. The mission your on is basically on one from the council (wether its human dominant or not, personally I hope not) to go into the outer reaches of the universe and try and find out "wtf are these 'reaper' things we have heard so much about?" You go along with a new team, your old one has either left to try and help the various other areas of the cosmo's or have been substantially promoted and your PC is part of the new team .Your the one who has report him dead after the ship gets damaged/ attacked and then have to start trying to accomplish your mission, either through subterfuge or beating the living snot out of whichever drug dealing snot bag gets in your way.

You won't be in constant contact with the citadel, but they will be able to reach you at certain areas and will try and send out help to try and ensure that the mission goes well, no doubt they are not completly ignorant of what occurs out beyond the light of "civilised" planets. They send out teams (possibly including old Shepard team mates) to help you out. After that the story will probably develop more and more intricacies until eventually you realise if not what the reapers are at least if/when they are coming. After that, its a race against time to either unite the scattered and self-interested crime families and warlords to combat one of the big scout ships or to race back and tell the council, leaving the edge to its fate.

Sheppard will probably turn out to be alive and a rescue mission might be possible.

[imapiratearg]

I don't know what Mass Effect you guys were playing, but Sheppard was still alive when I finished it.

[Sam]

Oh, fuck, new synthetic enemies.  Where the hell are we in this game?

those are varren in doggy space-suits, apparently
awesome

[Felrender]

Oh, fuck, new synthetic enemies.  Where the hell are we in this game?

those are varren in doggy space-suits, apparently
awesome

fuck

[billiumbean]

Sheppard will probably turn out to be alive and a rescue mission might be possible.

Sheppard sounds a lot like Goku in the Frieza Saga.  The greatest warrior in the universe, but he's really really far away.

[Zombiedude]

In Mass Effect related news, I've found out a way play as a party member. Having Liara run around, doing your lines is so weird.

Edit: I would show you a screenshot, but they all come out in bitmap. Lame

[Blue Kitty]

Hey there Shepard, you look a little beat up

[KvP]

Edit: I would show you a screenshot, but they all come out in bitmap. Lame

Open it in paint and save as into jpeg.

Also I think Gametrailers has a pretty big Bioware episode this week. Don't know if there will be new stuff, but it should cover both Dragon Age and ME2.

[Zombiedude]

Goddamnit Garrus, you blinked!

[billiumbean]

Hey there Shepard, you look a little beat up

Oh, you know they doctored that.

[Johnny C]

Shephard...

[Johnny C]

COMPLETELY BADASS THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THIS TRAILER/THINGS OF NOTE

• A dude gets he neck straight fuckin snapped
• A dude pushed out a window
• The dead dudes wearin some kind of weird armour? huh
• Gameplay looks a lot more action heavy and visceral
• FLYING CAR
• A dude gets he neck straight. fuckin. snapped.

ME is a trilogy, right? So this is the dark middle portion?

[KvP]

There's not much new, really. The graphics got a facelift but there's a shot with a camera angle (facing Shepard) that won't be available in-game and the rest of the combat looks pretty much exactly like ME1 combat with bigger guns (hard to tell for sure given the quick cuts). I'm reminded how little I liked the male Shepard VA.

[Johnny C]

nothing pleases you

[KvP]

On the contrary, people are too easily excited.

[Johnny C]

the last game ruled and this just looks like it but nicer and maybe a bit faster so it's exciting you turd

[Dimmukane]

I CONCUR, STOP RAINING ON OUR OVERLY HAPPY FUCKING PARADE