Mass Effect - Retrospective @ Continue Play

Couchpotato

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If you feeling like reading another retrospective then head on over to Continue Play where they take a look back at Mass Effect . Here is a small sample of the article.

There’s not much we can really say that’s negative about Mass Effect, other than what we’ve already noted. It’s a sober, subtle transition for new players, and it hides a wonderful layer of complexity, waiting to be uncovered by returning players. It effectively replicates a feeling of wonder with its exploration – as damning as some of it may be – and through the space opera wraps around the fables of the Reapers, we come to understand the origins of the reporter-punching, galaxy-saving Commander Shepard.
More information.
 
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Mass Effect isn’t. It’s a buggy, sluggish, rough, and heart-filled endeavor that seems more like a transitional piece in the same vein as Dragon Age: Origins.
I stopped reading there.
The only bug in ME still present today is crash to desktop if you quicksave while sprinting. Whoever wrote that retrospective can go preach crap to someone else. And praise Skyrim if it matters.
 
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Well, the retrospective did end on a positive note, giving the game an 8 out of 10. However, "buggy, sluggish, rough" does not accurately describe Mass Effect at all. In fact, I consider ME1 the best in the series by quite a margin, because it actually involved exploration and had some interesting plot twists.
 
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I skimmed that overlong article, but it seemed to largely ignore the worst parts of Mass Effect, which would be the horrible inventory system, the simplistic RPG mechanics, and the dreadful loot system.

Overall, it was a giant step down compared to KotOR in terms of mechanics - and I especially lament the lack of proper hacking and terminal interaction.

I played and completed Mass Effect on both PC and Xbox, and I don't remember much in the way of bugs. In fact, I seem to remember it being reasonably polished - which is one good thing about Bioware. Most of their games are pretty polished.

That said, it WAS clunky and the Mako was a fantastic idea with a bad implementation. Having played with both M+KB and a gamepad, I can confirm the Mako controls suck either way.

All that said, though, it had the most amazing atmosphere, and the background lore is among the strongest for any sci-fi setting done in a game.
 
Never had problems with bugs in ME1, to me the only weak aspects was the exploration/side-quests in the uncharted planets (the ones outside of the main quest) being too repetitive (the only thing redeeming some of these planets were the fantastic sky of some of them, like the one with that giant blue sun...) and the handling of the Mako (but even this is better than the puzzle/platformer levels of the Hammerhead in ME 2...)
 
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I don't get the amount of retrospectives ME series gets. Yeah, I think ME1 was a great game, especially since there is a dearth of space opera RPGs (or games in general), but everything that there was to tell about it has already been told.

That being said I'll choose ME1, with it's poor Mako handling and boring planet exploration, over the streamlined blandness of ME3 every day.
 
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Each of the 3 ME games did something extremely well, but none of them nailed the pure wonder of exploring the galaxy like the first. While I still think ME2 was the best of the series as far as pure "fun-ness" was concerned, it's a shame they got out of the exploration business after the original entry.
 
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I don't get the amount of retrospectives ME series gets.

I think that might be created by a self-hype and awareness for a potential ME4 reveal this year. It just make people replay the ME games and write blog entries about it.
 
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ME4 is half-done so it could be revealed at E3 easily. But ME4 will most probably be mentioned just as a side note, not as a major thing. I'm pretty sure EA will use a crapload of cash to push Sims4 everywhere possible and there will be not enough space for many details on ME4.
 
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Mass Effect 1 was the best Mass Effect in my opinion. It had a great villian, sensible story, exploration, a real sense of a space epic. And I loved the Mako parts, not even joking! I fondly remember searching planets in hopes for finding fun stuff (granted only a few planets had anything of interest). I never had control issues with the Mako on M/KB.

Anyway...I'll go away now...I know most of the kids prefer ME2 and ME3 with their nonsensical plots and lack of scary stat numbers.
 
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Another vote here for ME1 being the best of the series. Imo, the latter 2 games weren't even close to the original in terms of overall quality.

I'd love to see them develop a game similar to ME1 but with a better inventory system and more of a focus on exploration and discovery.
 
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I am glad to see that ME1 is thought of well. I enjoyed a lot about the game but there were a few aspects/mechanics of the game which I did not like, and I enjoyed ME2 and ME3 a whole lot more.
 
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I stopped reading there.
The only bug in ME still present today is crash to desktop if you quicksave while sprinting. Whoever wrote that retrospective can go preach crap to someone else. And praise Skyrim if it matters.

Bugs come to mean anything, including things like perceived imbalances or design decisions that players do not like.

But ME1 went throug a difficult developpment period and it showed. A lot of unfinished features that keep popping, with dialogues giving the same outcome (like for the thorian)
The graphical engine returns tons of geometrical errors.

On the technical side, it qualifies for being buggy.
 
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