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Post by lieden on Feb 14, 2012 22:23:59 GMT 1
Still can't download the damn demo. Loving the "service" us PC users are getting from EA Odd. I got mine rather fast. Mixed feelings about it, so far. May elaborate tomorrow.
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Post by jklinders on Feb 15, 2012 2:05:53 GMT 1
Still can't download the damn demo. Loving the "service" us PC users are getting from EA Odd. I got mine rather fast. Mixed feelings about it, so far. May elaborate tomorrow. I was silly enough to expect competence from EA. I was searching for it in Origin rather than looking for a link in the website. I still had to install it 3 times for it to take. Gameplay wise it is a pretty sharp game. It's setting the right tone. Just like the DA 2 demo though it is really shallow on the roleplay side. Just as well it is not a day one buy for me. I'll definitely get it. Just not right away.
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Post by Knightfall on Feb 15, 2012 6:02:10 GMT 1
Keep in mind, I'm really nitpicking here, and I know it's just the demo, but it's always good for discussion. xD The Good:-The visuals seem to have improved since ME2, which is nice. Characters have a bit more detail, especially their faces and expressions. -Seeing Kaidan/Ash again was cool. -The Reapers landing throughout the city was really cool, though I didn't feel all that threatened by them for some reason... -Enemy variety was good. We've come a long way from killing Geth exclusively. -Combat seemed a little tighter, and I liked the weapon selection. -Cinematically, the intro played out very well. -Clint Mansell's soundtrack, from what I've heard, is very good so far. I wish they would've kept Jack Wall on principle, but still, I like it. -For some reason (and I might be wrong) I remember it being kind of rare for the party members to converse in cutscenes. The exchange between Wrex and Garrus was hilarious. -I loved all of the little references to ME1. The Bad:-I like how after two games, the Council's still not 100% on the Reaper threat. In the second game, they were pushing it. Here, it's just silly. -They don't really explain why Shepard was incarcerated and barely allude to it. (I know it was covered in Arrival, but you'd think they'd at least attempt to recap for players who missed it.) -Where did James come from? Why does Shepard know him already? -There were a lot of action movie cliches working against the demo. Of course the building Shepard's in is the first one to be attacked. Of course the only other person Shepard comes into contact with (the kid) gets killed. "We fight or we die!" When lives are on the line, vague/symbolic strategies are just what we need. -You'd think the Reapers would do a lot more damage. Are they trying to destroy Earth or tickle it? -It's funny/sad that the dialogue wheel, which to me represented an oversimplification of role-playing possibilities, has now been reduced to two options. What's the point of the wheel now? What's the point in any choice at all? -I say this because I played through the demo twice, and picked opposite choices each time. Nothing changed. Shepard actually said the same thing for both decisions one time. Might be the limitations of the demo, but this was pretty disheartening. There was no branching in any form. Not even a token shove against the wall. -The fighting going on in the background was a nice touch, but I feel like there should've been more of it. -Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like I had less control over Shepard this time around. He talked for a very long time before the dialogue wheel popped up. -On that bit where you have to defend yourself against your enemies until the Normandy arrives, if you just fire all your bullets into the air, the cutscene pops. -Anderson's running animation. -I don't like not being able to put away my gun! Why would I run around with both hands on my pistol when I'm balancing on beams and scaling debris! -Wasn't it called the "Charon Relay" and not the "Sol Relay"? Nitpicking, like I said. xD
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Post by jklinders on Feb 15, 2012 11:00:13 GMT 1
Well the reapers are not so much trying to destroy earth as harvest it. They need to suppress the military while leaving some of the populace intact.
I hope some of the other stuff can be addressed by this being another crappy demo. I just really don't think that will be the case, unfortunately.
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Post by lieden on Feb 15, 2012 11:25:32 GMT 1
My own complaints: Fumbling a bit with the controls. I ended up several times rolling sideways from cover to cover rather than leaving cover or dashing forward as I had intented. But that may be my own clumsiness. The textures on the characters looked improved (oh, that super-glossy hair, never disturbed by fightng, rolling around, explosions and dust!), but for some reason my Shepard looked even uglier than usual. I wonder if they messed with the face codes a bit. Shepard sounds a tad clueless in the beginning when (s)he asks why everyone is in a hurry, for someone who has been warning others of the Reapers' imminent arrival. Other than that, I was not overwhelmed, but not exactly disappointed, either.
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 15, 2012 12:57:54 GMT 1
I can only play the demo this friday evening, but from what i saw from walkthroughs so far...yes i did notice those nitpicks but it's nothing major really. I would've liked to see those reapers actually being able to kill you if you daudle to long, klinda like the beginning of Dead Space 2.
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Post by Mr. Glow on Feb 15, 2012 16:35:26 GMT 1
-It's funny/sad that the dialogue wheel, which to me represented an oversimplification of role-playing possibilities, has now been reduced to two options. What's the point of the wheel now? What's the point in any choice at all? -I say this because I played through the demo twice, and picked opposite choices each time. Nothing changed. Shepard actually said the same thing for both decisions one time. Might be the limitations of the demo, but this was pretty disheartening. There was no branching in any form. Not even a token shove against the wall. BioWare have addressed this. They had to cut out a number of dialogue options to keep the demo size down. I'm guessing Shepard gets to say something more impressive than "We fight or we die" during the trial (Which was a pretty sorry excuse for a trial, however you wanna slice it.) It also annoyed me how the game doesn't even bother with the conceit that ammo from is really thermal clips for your guns.
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Post by Mister Buch on Feb 15, 2012 16:38:21 GMT 1
In answer to Knight's post in general -- I hear you. How many times has Shepard given the same response for two opposite commands?
BUT as GLow just said, I'm thinking the demo was streamlined, plus this IS just the tutorial level, not a high-dialogue scene.
--
One thing I don't like in the demo is how much is glossed over - the link between ME2 and 3. I hope the full version will have a little more - e.g. a scene explaining who the hell James is and how Shepard knows him, and what happened to the Cllector base, and how/when she got herself under house arrest.
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Post by herrwozzeck on Feb 15, 2012 16:42:38 GMT 1
-Where did James come from? Why does Shepard know him already? This was touched in the 8-page mini-comic Mass Effect: Conviction. Apparently, Anderson tracks him down to Omega, where James is then recruited to watch over Shepard during the period of his incarceration. Given your complaint about not recapping Arrival, though, it's still a valid point. As for me, I'm not sure about downloading the demo yet. I think I'll wait for my physical copy of ME3...
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Post by Warhammer Gorvar on Feb 15, 2012 17:05:30 GMT 1
Dont you get something if you do play? Like an gun or something?
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Post by Mister Buch on Feb 16, 2012 5:23:58 GMT 1
I think I picked up two pieces of special armour which there was no way to equip -- so I'm assuming those are rewards for the main game.
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Post by Battlechantress on Feb 16, 2012 6:12:13 GMT 1
Great. I'm supposed to read the comics and download all the DLC because BioWare couldn't be arsed to *try* to explain all this in-game? Damn, I sure hope that won't be the case.
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Post by Mister Buch on Feb 16, 2012 6:18:28 GMT 1
I hear that. The player should NOT be expected to read the comics in order to know who lead characters are.
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Post by Knightfall on Feb 16, 2012 7:00:54 GMT 1
Or be out of the loop if they don't play an add-on. Especially if it's a lacking add-on.
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Post by Mister Buch on Feb 16, 2012 7:03:32 GMT 1
Or if they're expected to play a game that has Freddie Prinze Junior in it.
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