So ME3 is out and I've played through
the first two missions. So far, I have some positive things to say
about but mainly some rants and issues that are bugging the hell out
of me. I know everyone is complaining about the ending, but I'm not
even that far yet, so don't worry. This will basically be about the
differences between ME2 and 3 as well as some odd things I will point
out. I will try to keep any spoilers to a minimum but just in case;
if you have not played Mass Effect 3, then you have been warned.
Before I even talk about the game, I
want to talk about the first thing that pissed me off; transferring
character data from ME2. I had to redesign my character's physical
appearance. Apparently, my character data didn't transfer correctly
or there was some stupid bug the prevented my previous appearance. I
think I remade my character accurately, but it fuckin' pissed me off
that I had to do it in the first place. Speaking of the characters
design, what a bunch of crap. If you can customize a character
without looking too fat or starved, then you have a skill that I will
never posses. Plus, the skin tone adjustment during the design phase
makes it appear very limited. All tones look ashy and gray rather
than natural human tones. But when you get into the game, it looks
like it should. Not a big deal, but it kind of threw me off.
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| Stupid customization... |
Now, on to the game. We open with what
everyone should already know, the Reapers invade Earth. Shepard and
Admiral Anderson escape and you go through a tutorial mode.
Basically, if you are used to playing ME2, then you're ready. Nothing
too new. You find your way to an escape shuttle and Anderson sends
Shepard to recruit help and to come back and retain Earth. Shepard is
contacted by Admiral Hackett and is ordered to an Archive on Mars to
retrieve Prothean data. Some squirmishes with Cerberus and then you
find the data. It is revealed that the data is a schematic to a
Prothean weapon and is theorized that it could destroy the Reapers.
Shepard takes this information to The Citadel and pleads with the
Council to come together and help take back Earth. Not all are for
the idea but as you may predict, you begin your busywork missions to
try and win the favor.
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| Reaper attack on Earth |
As far as the story goes, I like it
thus far. I have completed the first two missions as well as the
first DLC, “From the Ashes,” which is fucking awesome but like I
said before, I will hold back the spoilers, but I will just detail
that you go back to Eden Prime and get a DLC character. The first
mission involves going to a Turian moon and trying to to find the
Primarch. Shepard and his crew fight on an awesome terrain, and the
effects are just killer. I mean, in the background are gigantic
Reapers just waging chaos; it is something you must see. You find the
Primarch and also meet up with Garrus that rejoins your crew. The
second mission involves the Salarian homeworld, where Shepard and
Wrex attempt to find a female Krogan that can lead to a cure to the
Genophase. Like I said before, the story is great so far and keeps
you very interested.
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| Just a tease of what the "From the Ashes" DLC holds |
My issues are focused mainly on some
disappointing things I was looking forward to that are not in the
game. A while ago, the ME creators said that ME3 would be a perfect
combination of the first and second games. They don't seem that way
to me. In fact, ME3 kind of just feels like large DLC for ME2. Combat
is relatively the same; I mean, it is almost the duplicated system
from ME2. Cover, shoot, repeat. Nothing really new(unless you use a
Kinect, which I've heard is awesome). As far as the equipment and
weapons go, the same. You can purchase pieces of armor, you just
spend credits upgrading weapons; the only new thing is that you get
to add two modifications onto a weapon. Now, you think it sounds
awesome, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. You can add
scopes, extra ammo, etc. BUT WHO CARES?! It took them THREE FUCKING
GAMES to finally add this and you know what, I don't even see a
difference(except for the scopes, obviously).
 |
| The Weapon bench w/ Mods |
Moving on to the exploration, it's an
even more watered down version from ME2. Instead of scanning planets
for resources, you scan the systems for anomalies to help your war
effort. But if you scan too much in a system, Reapers appear and try
to chase you down if you don't leave. And yes, you STILL have to use
Fuel to go from system to system. I mean, HOW FUCKING USELESS IS THE
FUEL?! It's just something added in the game to drain your wallet,
totally useless. And of course, no planet exploration like in
ME1(apparently I was the only one who enjoyed that).
There are some glitches in the game as
well. Sometimes, you will be talking to more than one character in a
dialogue scene. I've noticed that Shepard will be talking to one
character but be looking at the other. This is pretty funny, but it
gets annoying when it happens more than once. Imagine speaking to the
person in front of you while looking in the complete opposite
direction. Another annoying dialogue hiccup are the background
conversations while walking around public places. They all stack and
you can't even understand what FOUR DAMN PEOPLE ARE SAYING. It's
frustrating as hell. There were some obvious factors that I feel were
overlooked.
One more thing that pisses me off, not
Mission trail. By that I mean, when I need to get a mission
completed, like bring an item to an NPC, there is no indication or
compass that leads me there. For awhile, I was just wandering around
praying to run into the person that wanted something. I also had to
try and memorize where certain NPCs were. But then I learned that you
can check your Map and if there is a new name on the legend, then
that meant that that was someone that would accept an item. I do not
like this. I think it is horrible navigation and something else
should have been placed. Like in ME2, I would click the right stick
and an arrow would lead me to where I need to go. I can't even go
into the Quest selection and have a marker brought up showing me
where I need to go on the Map. It is a broken and weak Mission/Quest
navigation system that has had no improvements. It's actually quite
sad considering that Mass Effect has a large involvement with
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY.
Overall, like I said before, the game
just feels like ME2. I don't play this game and feel anything really
different. ME3 has not really opened up to its own identity(apart
from its story). I mean, I still enjoy it, mostly. The little bugs
are annoying, but tolerable. I'm sure some may say that I should play
the game more, which I will, but these are just my first impressions.
Would I say this is a bad game? No. But does it just feel like a
clone of ME2? Yes. I've always had a rant regarding the elimination
of the ammo system from ME1 because that made ME unique. Then the
drop to an ammo count just eliminates one more thing that this game
had that others did not. So far, ME3 has not really taken a step into
doing something daring or special that you can only find in the ME3.
But once again, I've just taken one step in the door on this game. I
shall see how ME3 continues the more I play.
