The Videogames Tab

FTL Advanced Edition £2.39 on the Humble Store.

Beware though - It'll steal hours of your life. The best Space game since Elite? I think so.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I suppose Walking Dead is a hybrid of sorts and Mass Effect is a very good game not without its faults. It was a real breath of fresh air when it came out.

Broforce has just had a name change!

It's now Broforce (Freedom Simulator 2014). Quite possibly the most American game of all time, and 33% off.



Stupid fun.

Well, played maybe an hour of Mass Effect. I don't love the combat, and it's definitely dated (the environments feel really washed out), but I like that it's really talky. I'm hoping the combat stays relatively rare, though.

Normally I don't bother with this stuff, just because I don't really care about it too much (whereas I know you really dig these kinds of tweaks and customizations). But having played it a bit, I just did this. No-brainer. The low-res textures were pretty jarring. I'm not the kind of person who cares a ton about graphical quality, but in this case it was really noticeable. And pretty surprising given that the game's only 7 years old.

Also, I tried to make my character look like me, but he ended up looking Asian. Just FYI, I guess.

You shouldn't have any problems running it on Ultra. I was able to do it on the old 8800GT back in the day.

The texture pop-in is a bit annoying but it's a problem with the Unreal engine and not the game itself. It's much worse on consoles too.

First impressions?

First impressions are that the back story is already really full and impressive, but that I really hope the combat feels better going forward (and maybe that the gameplay becomes a bit more varied). Which is about what I'd expected given everything I'd heard about it. Pretty sure I had a lot of the story spoiled way back when, but thankfully spoilers don't entirely "stick" if you haven't already started playing/watching/whatever.

I'll definitely keep playing, especially given how highly everyone sings of the next installment.

Are you incurring any lag. I know that was a problem for many people even with good PCs. Combat the first hour pretty much is combat for the rest of the game I think, although you'll get some powers that can be fun to use and thus may make combat a bit more fun.

Haven't had any lag problems. I'm definitely getting some graphical issues here and there (like that little scanline thing, assuming that's the right name for it). And the whole thing is feeling a little drab. It's also feeling really fetch-questy at the Citadel in the earlygoing. But the writing and voice acting is really strong and the way the story's unfolding makes it clear I'm in good hands, storytelling wise.

Combat feels kinda rote--so far I'm just lining up shots and mashing the button a bunch. Not sure I love the sticky cover system--I think those tend to work better with a dedicated key.

I'll definitely keep playing. I'm not lost in it like I can get with some games, where hours melt off the clock in the blink of an eye. It feels a bit more laborious than all that. But it's early!

Combat is much more polished in ME2 and just feels smoother. Plus they fixed ME's horrible inventory (mostly by getting rid of weapon customization unfortunately). My main bit of advice for those who strongly favor more story and extra side quests is you should definitely grind through as much of ME's optional content as you can stand.... It does get tedious due to formulaic quest structure and repetitive areas (although a few side quests are keepers, like the Batarian terrorists hijacking an asteroid) BUT all that is also going to pay off in ME2 by enriching the overall game world with more references to and smaller repercussions from your ME playthrough. You'll see and hear from/about characters/events/groups from ME that, while not individually huge deals, overall they add a lot of depth to the game world and make it feel more lively beyond the main plot.

__________________
#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

I find I get lag and it seems to be worse with a game controller unfortunately.

The citadel has a lot of (too many) side quests but once you leave things should get more exciting. Side-quests on other planets are mostly combat and pretty repetitive if memory serves (many of the interiors are the same model) so you could always just play the main quest line.

The writing, characters and their interaction is always a strong point of Bioware games.

Question for all: just how much do my dialogue choices matter? I did a little save scumming stuff and in many cases, it didn't seem to change the outcome. That isn't too surprising, but sometimes the words my character spoke were literally the same, too, despite what I chose.

I know some of the choices do matter, and from what I've heard some of them are huge. Is it the case that some choices are massive (and that the huge ones are obvious when they arise), and others are only about what back story/information you receive? Or do they all add up, particularly with the vague karma-y system there seems to be (I assume that's what the "Paragon" thing is)?

A couple of choices can effect the sequel somewhat if you carry over a save. Moral choices seem to only effect your regard and how some side-quests are to be completed I think. A choice at the end can change the story's resolution to some degree.

Pretty sparing, then? Most interactions just affect (if that) what information you get from that person at that time?

Depending on how you choose to conduct yourself with others your charm or intimidation ability is enhanced which opens new dialogue/ways to solve a problem just like other Bioware games. And there are some choices you'll have to make which will have an effect on the overall story.

First thing I'd do is turn off film grain in the options. It's a pretty poor effect (and a lot better in the other two ME games) and also motion blur, which I turn off in every game I find it in. Motion blur should be left for consoles or integrated graphics cards.

Otherwise, yeah. The Citadel can seem like a bit of a drag, especially early on - You're dumped into a Galaxy's central hub without any real idea of how it operates so you can be darned sure that Bioware will give you a crash course in galactic race relations. Do as many of the side quests as you can manage - the flavour that they add is just that, flavour.

Combat's not great and easily the game's weakest point. I've not seen a mod to fix it either.

Thing is though, I'll put up with ME1's pedantic nature and numb combat every day of the week because, at its core, it's a proper Bioware RPG. ME2 and 3 are slicker, better looking and handling games but they're dumbed down to the point of being Bioshock with dialogue trees. Fine if that's the experience you're after but the lack of inventory control and dumbed down levelling options are, for me, a huge debit after the credit built up on the more superficial aspects.

They're good games (I think ME2 is an excellent game for what it is) but they're barely RPGs at this point. Were Bioware intentionally hamstrung by their new paymasters?

The rafts of awful DLC (apart from Lair of the Shadow Broker - that thing is one of the best bits of DLC I've ever played) suggest that this was the case.

I really need to stop watching the CoD Advanced Warfare trailer. It makes waiting until November harder. Want now.

__________________
twitter: @ginock
livejournal film reviews: http://windsoc.livejournal.com/
photos: http://www.instagram.com/christopherwindsor

I think I made mistake when I bought Empire:Total War during last day of sale,its a good game but for 10euroes I could get Tomb Raider and State of Decay.

__________________
“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”

Well put. ME2 and M3 were disappointments to me which is to say nothing of the horrid finale of the series.

I should also add that though ME gets a lot praise it's not everyone's idea of fun and while I liked it I also had problems with it.

If I had to rank Bioware's games (that I've played) I'd go:

Dragon Age Origins/Neverwinter Nights
Mass Effect/Baldur's Gate II
KOTOR
Baldur's Gate
Jade Empire
Mass Effect 2
Dragon Age 2
Mass Effect 3
SWTOR

There's not a bad game on that list but it shows that, DAO aside, I'm falling out of love with the company...

KOTOR and Jade Empire each have fantastic twists. KOTOR's is as good as any regardless of medium. I heard so many bad things about DA2 that I never tried it and I was really mesmerized by DAO. Have yet to play Baldur's Gate though I always plan to.