Mass Effect - Previews @ GameSpot, Eurogamer

Dhruin

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It's GameSpot's turn to look at Mass Effect, after spending some time in Edmonton with a "near final version":
Beyond what we played, we got a demo of how you'll discover uncharted worlds in the game and what you can do with them. Once you have the Normandy at your disposal, you'll be able to go and explore anywhere you like. If you discover a planet, you'll typically get some kind of side quest that's either unique from the main story or, in the case of the demo we saw, one that is related to something in the main plot. The demo we saw found Shepard stumbling onto a pirate outpost and interacting with their leader before turning it into a pirate butt-kicking situation.
...Eurogamer says the choices will be more complex than previous BioWare games:
This is nothing new for a BioWare game. Making choices which change how the game plays out was a defining feature of previous titles Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. But the choices in Mass Effect are much more complex and much harder to make, as studio president Greg Zeschuk explains.
More information.
 
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I have always thought this game looked a bit silly, basically an action game with "rpg" thrown in for giggles, but reading that last preview that talks about choices, it does seem a little more interesting.

On the other hand, I wish rpg devs would stop clinging to "good/evil" reputation scales (and they say TB combat is outdated, har har har) and track reputation in slightly more convinving ways. I guess it sort of fits with Mass Effect's whole Space Opera atmosphere, but still, it has always bugged me.

Also, based on the videos I have seen so far, the dialog situations and voice acting will be very hard to take seriously. Plus, the dialog options on the wheel usually seem to be all the same. Probably necessary to limit things with that level of animation and voice acting.
 
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Well they don't track the choises by black and white good vs. evil. There's two seperate scales, paragon and renegade. I admit things that might be concidered "evil" or unlawful are probably going to be on the renegade scale and "good" and lawful things on the paragon. But it isn't about as much about good and evil as it is about what you think is justified to get your mission done. Also because the bars are seperate, you don't end up with a clear cut good/bad.

The dialog choises you see aren't what's going to be said, they just convey the overall direction the line is going to take, then char speaks the line which is usually a lot longer than the text on the dialog wheel.
 
What Razgul said. You don't have a good/evil meter. You have two separate bars which track how people perceive you. It's more reputation than alignment.

Subtle differences, but important.

You don't get to be evil in this game. You're pretty much out there saving the universe one way or the other. You just get to choose whether you're stopping to help the helpless along the way.

(And frankly, I like the way that the reputation stuff was handled. In KotOR, turning down the assassination quests meant turning down content, and I hated not being able to do content because it would give me Dark Side points. In Mass Effect, you never lose points. You can take a more mercenary quest if you want, and you'll gain some Renegade points, but you won't lose any Paragon points, and you can still, most importantly, DO THE QUEST if you want.)
 
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Also, based on the videos I have seen so far, the dialog situations and voice acting will be very hard to take seriously. Plus, the dialog options on the wheel usually seem to be all the same. Probably necessary to limit things with that level of animation and voice acting.

Anything in particular? I already heard Billy West as an alien and he's a great pro.
 
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OK, so it isn't evil to shoot someone cold dead when he has surrended. I think it is.
And nearly all humans on this planet, think it is. But now we know where the whole Jack Bauer in space thing comes from. From this. Just get the job done, no matter how manu innocent people get hurts along the way. Didn't humanity already try this? And didn't that mean we would lose our humanity ?

If making these Jack Bauer type choices means that the story deals with this, then I would be happy ;) since this would be seriously good writing. However, somehow I doubt it...

I'm sorry for being so harsh on this, but I reallt do think that people have misunderstood the whole military concept. Most military personal are not trigger happy or excited about the use of escessive force. They are trained to use the appropriate amount of force necessary to get the job done, and always use as little force as necessary to get the objective completed.
 
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I don't disagree. The Renegade options have to walk a pretty fine line between funny-harsh and actual cruelty, and you're walking a pretty fine line as you do this stuff.

Regarding gunning down the surrendering guy, this is somebody who could very easily ooze out of any potential charges pressed against him, and you don't have time to put him in custody for plot reasons. It's a case of either letting him go (he insists that he'll disappear forever) or finishing the fight that he started.

I'd still let him live, but it's not quite executing a surrendering soldier.
 
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