http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/833/833640p1.htmlIGN does it again. The review just goes on and on about technical stuff that is deemed important, but doesn't give me the slightest idea of what it would be like to play the game.
The game begins with the creation of your Commander Shepard.
The review starts promisingly enough... which is actually just this line.
But then from talking about character creation, it just jumps to the disappointing AI, then the the team AI, then the classes and how ineffective commanding them is, then the morality system, then vaguely mentions how powerful the story arc is without talking about it, then a bunch of other crap... and we've covered two and a half freakin' pages, and the review hasn't told us what the damn game is about.
Seriously, if I had no clue about Mass Effect, I'd read the review and be totally confused. Especially as the first two pages or so don't tell me anything that gives me the feel for the actual game.
Of course, the characters you're sure to interact with have the most depth. Passing up the option to speak with your party members on board the Normandy in between quests would be a great mistake. Doing so reveals sordid pasts, hidden bias and can even result in a spark of love flaring up into a whole lot more. Talk with them enough and they may even open up to you in ways that give you new quests to partake in. These humans and aliens aren't just there to help you in a fight. They're there to help you make sense of the galaxy.
Make sense of the galaxy? How about we make sense of the review? After jabbering on for two and a half pages, I finally get an indication that the game may take place in outer space?
t's a good thing that such care was put into the quests and characters, because some of the exploration elements in Mass Effect aren't as fleshed out. Each of the planets you travel to as part of the main quest is fully realized with city centers to explore, NPCs to interact with, and intriguing missions. Not so for the uncharted planets tied to a number of side quests.
Thanks for telling me about the planets, but why am I traveling to them?
When you first gain control of the Normandy, an interstellar spaceship and the base of your operations, there are only a few star clusters and accompanying systems to visit and explore. More become open as you learn of them through info gleaned from the world or given to you with quest instructions. Through the use of a wonderfully designed galactic map, you can travel from system to system and have a look at various planets and satellites. Most can only be observed from afar and read about from text box briefings. Others can be scanned, awarding the player with some info or a reward to help you fulfill one of the numerous fetch quests. A small minority of the stellar objects can be landed on.
Why do you gain control of it? What are you doing? Who the hell are you? Jeebus.
Page 4:
All of this success doesn't come without a cost. The framerate in Mass Effect is as erratic as they come. This isn't something that happens occasionally. It happens incessantly. The game also has issues loading textures in when you enter a new environment. Flat, boring scenery gets filled in with details piece by piece for a few moments each time you load in.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention Mass Effect's numerous bugs and glitches. Clipping through the scenery is a regular occurrence, particularly when you make use of the singularity biotic. Shepard has a displeasing tendency to get stuck in objects, sometimes in the midst of battle. It happens to NPCs as well -- it isn't nearly as frustrating but it does kill your sense of immersion when an enemy "phases" through a wall. On occasion, the game stopped registering our button presses. Rarely, Mass Effect even went the whole nine yards and locked up. All of these bugs can be wiped away with a reset, but boy if they aren't annoying.
So yes the AI is horrible, the game is too difficult and this as well?
And who the
fuck is Shepard? What is his background? What is he doing? What's the story?
Another Take
from Hilary Goldstein
Mass Effect is a fantastic game and one of my favorite RPGs I have ever played -- and I've played a lot of RPGs.
This just takes the cake.
One of my favorite RPGs I have ever played???
Seriously, I've read four full pages, and all I know is that AI sucks, the combat pales in comparison to action titles, the game is too hard, there are a lot of bugs and glitches... and yet they gave it 9.4 and haven't made anything sound remotely fun.
Yet again I'll have to wait for gamespot to actually learn something about a game.
