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Mass Effect

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KvP:
Didn't see a thread, so I'll make one.

Bioware's new RPG for the 360 is out in about a month and a half (Nov 20) It has a look similar to that of their last big hit, Knights of the Old Republic, but it's a new IP. Bioware made their name on D&D (most notably the Baldur's Gate games and NWN) and Star Wars, but they've only recently been focusing on original properties. Their last game was Jade Empire, which was somewhere between okay and great, depending on where you're sitting, but Mass Effect is looking a lot different and potentially a lot better.

The plot seems to be fairly standard as far as sci-fi goes. The PC is sort of a human interstellar cop, tracking down an ancient artifact stolen by an anti-human alien militant who commands an army of robots.

Supposedly the designers were going for an 80's sci-fi blockbuster sort of feel, which has resulted in the gameplay, particularly the dialogue, being a little over-the-top (think 24) and that's alarmed some people. This is a nice sample of the game that shows off some of the game's features. There's the real-time combat, and also the unique dialogue mechanics. Basically, you use the right thumbstick to choose your character's dialogue. The catch is that you only get a brief synopsis of what your character will say. The purpose of this is to introduce the concept of time into dialogue. Whereas in previous games you took the time to read through possible dialogue options before choosing one, in Mass Effect the time it takes to choose will affect what the character says and how he says it. Choosing an option rapidly, for example, might cause the PC to interrupt an NPC and threaten him, altering the course of the conversation. This is made a little easier to control through the setup of the right thumbstick as a scale, the upper left being diplomatic and the lower left being aggressive, and all options on the right being "neutral". At least, that's the way it looks. Their facial expression tech isn't the best, so it'll take some getting used to.

Bioware has also stated that this is the most non-linear game they've ever made, although it'll take quite a bit to overcome Baldur's Gate. Some of the more purist RPG gamers have criticized Bioware for not taking player choice seriously enough, with KOTOR and Jade Empire both being fairly linear. They've also mocked the tone of the game, although it's important to point it out that all demos of the game so far have made it a point to choose the most "aggressive" options possible.

Anybody else looking forward to this? I'll give Bioware a shot at anything after BG2.

ScrambledGregs:
Maybe it's because I haven't played it in years, but was Baldur's Gate really THAT non-linear?? Certainly the series have you a fuckton of quests to accomplish, but to my mind you were always on a fairly linear path to an ending.

KvP:

--- Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 05 Oct 2007, 15:12 ---Maybe it's because I haven't played it in years, but was Baldur's Gate really THAT non-linear?? Certainly the series have you a fuckton of quests to accomplish, but to my mind you were always on a fairly linear path to an ending.

--- End quote ---
I think what they mean by "non-linear" is that there will be an abundance of non-plot-critical areas and quests to explore. Baldur's Gate had a central storyline, but there were also vast areas to explore for no good reason at all. I don't remember KOTOR having any area of the game that didn't play into the storyline. There hasn't really been a "non-linear" game made by the definition of there not being a central storyline with a beginning and end, unless you count the various Maxis games and their ilk.

Another criticism worth noting: Some have complained that the various dialogue options are really just different ways of saying one thing, and thus Bioware still isn't implementing any choice into the game.

Scandanavian War Machine:
I wasn't really looking forward to this game but the more information and footage that gets released, the more interested I become. So at this point I am pretty excited to play this whereas when I first about it I may have thought about renting it but probably wouldn't have bothered. Now I'll prolly buy it if I find myself needing a new game to play around that time (when it comes out).

Storm Rider:
Fuck yes Mass Effect. This game beats out Super Mario Galaxy by a hair for the game I'm most excited to play this year. Everything Bioware does is great, this looks fantastic and has a lot of pretty ambitious features in it, and it's on Microsoft's dime so there's no doubt that it's got the necessary funding behind it.

I haven't preordered this game yet, but I find that Gamestop's online store will usually toss out a deal a few weeks before a game comes out (usually free 2-day or overnight shipping) in order to squeeze a few last preorders out of people on the fence, so I've taken to waiting for those bonuses even for games I know I want. I just did it for Phantom Hourglass, and I got free overnight shipping on my copy of Orange Box as well.

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