Mass Effect 3 - Demo Impressions and Preview Roundup # 2

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SasqWatch
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Three more previews with impressions from the demo has been written. The first one comes from Penny Arcade, the second one from Atomic Gamer, and the third and final one from Nightmare Mode. Some spoilers will abound, so read at your own risk.

Penny Arcade about the single player and the multiplayer mode:
The Single Player portion of the demo is just stuff I’m gonna have to play all over again, so I wish I hadn’t. The second bit has super interesting shit about Krogan society, which I thought was worth checking out, but still: you could restrict yourself to the multiplayer and still have gotten an excellent demo. The game comes out March 6th, so I mean… You could conceivably hold out. No? That’s fine, me neither. Ths multiplayer, though. Holy shit. “Horde Mode” is an insulting characterization. The characters you create in this mode accrue experience and invest in skills just like a single player character would, except here you’re earning money that you use to buy what are essentially CCG style Booster Packs of varying quality. These packs contain single use items to help you through tough rounds, weapons and weapon upgrades, along with alien races to play as. It has many, many barbed compulsion mechanisms affixed to tentacles which dance and sway.
Atomic Gamer on the combat:
The fights here involve a fairly diverse set of enemies in some well-designed levels that allow you to get the high ground, flank, and outsmart Cerberus. You'll need these advantages, too, because the AI seems better than it ever has been in Mass Effect, and some enemies carry large riot-style shields that protect them from most small arms fire. One of the easy ways to take them out is to simply get behind them, so that even if they turn around to protect themselves against you, your squadmates can fire at their unprotected flank.
Nightmare Mode on how ME3 tried to both an RPG and a shooter:
In fact, if the first Mass Effect was an RPG with shooter elements, and Mass Effect 2 was guns and conversation, this feels like someone took an RPG and a shooter and shoved them together with no idea of how to balance the two. “Give the adept an assault rifle and a shotgun,” seems to be how they balanced the class. Because yes, giving the space wizard a bigger sword definitely makes them a better space wizard. Ironically, the power I found most useful was Adept FemShep’s Magic Grenade, which speaks for itself.
More information.
 
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I wonder if the MP part is from a later build?

The graphics and movements felt more fluid than in the SP part.

I really don't know what to think about it, Ill probably have to start a thread about it ;-)

(BSN network is just plain weird, BDD all over the place)

I think Tom Auxier on Nightmare Mode summed it up pretty well

"Mass Effect was an RPG with shooter elements, and Mass Effect 2 was guns and conversation, this feels like someone took an RPG and a shooter and shoved them together with no idea of how to balance the two."

Its a demo though.

C
 
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I wonder if the MP part is from a later build?

The graphics and movements felt more fluid than in the SP part.

I really don't know what to think about it, Ill probably have to start a thread about it ;-)

(BSN network is just plain weird, BDD all over the place)

I think Tom Auxier on Nightmare Mode summed it up pretty well

"Mass Effect was an RPG with shooter elements, and Mass Effect 2 was guns and conversation, this feels like someone took an RPG and a shooter and shoved them together with no idea of how to balance the two."

Its a demo though.

C

Well one of the producers already said -
"We just want to tell the best story within the context of an amazing shooter." Michael Gamble, a producer at Bioware Edmonton.

That sums it all up right there.
 
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Mass Effect 1 was, and still is the greatest of the series. ME1 was a true RPG space opera. Beat it 4 times and it still is worth playing again. It and DA:O… maybe the last great RPGs BioWare will ever make. ME2 isn't worthy. And the ME3 demo…it was surprisingly poor quality, another rushed product it appears. You may begin flaming me now.
 
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I didn't really care for Mass Effect #1 or #2 at all, and the fact that the Mass Effect 3 demo has been released only to the privileged media makes it all the more unlikely that I'll play this game. I'll save my 50 bucks for Diablo 3.
 
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We're privileged!

I can understand the single player demo only having a couple of small levels' worth of combat since that's what they wanted to show: the combat mechanics.

On the other hand there should have been more to the multiplayer part of the demo than just one "kill the consecutive waves of enemies" mode in two small maps. Getting flashbacks of DA2's "Another wave!" design.

If there aren't any significantly different game modes in the full game's multiplayer then it's just a worthless addition.
 
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