What did you think of the demo?

What did you think of the newest demo for Mass Effect 3? I personally thought it was really good, but not quite as epic as I had hoped it would be before getting my hands on it. The gameplay itself has been refined and it actually plays much better; the sound and voice acting is also amazing. Graphics are quite impressive, but the amount of low resolution textures is quite shocking. As for the music - it's alright, but nowhere near as great as that of Mass Effect 2 and very disappointing.

My biggest gripe with the demo has got to be the lack of choices. I mean, sure, BioWare gave us cut-out pieces of gameplay whilst missing out all the important parts to avoid - that's good (because it avoids spoilers for the time until the full game is out) - but I was expecting much more choices to be made in the conversations, even if there were only a few.

Anyway, overall I must say that the demo was very good but also quite disappointing in some aspects. Despite of my high expectations, I'm still really excited for Mass Effect 3; I've copied my Shepard's identity code so I'll get the same look in the full game as I created in the demo. :)

What did you think of the whole thing?

I'm skipping the demo... waiting for the real thing. Don't feel like teasing myself into 20 days of agony.

I went to have a look though, chez BioWare... Seems my account has been erased or something... can't log-in no more

I'm skipping the demo... waiting for the real thing. Don't feel like teasing myself into 20 days of agony.

I went to have a look though, chez BioWare... Seems my account has been erased or something... can't log-in no more

JimmyJumpy

The demo only has gameplay that has already been widely distributed through E3 and other sources, so in all honesty its not that bad.

As for the demo I thought it was quite good, although it could not quite live up to the hype that I was druming up for two years.The textures I agree are quite low quality, despite more impressive art design, character resolution (particularly in the face), and animation. This I felt wasn't nearly as grating as it was in the past since a lot more attention to grit and high constrast blacks are much more pronounced, distracting from the obvious age of the engine. I was calling bologna when Bioware was bragging about the game looking SO much better because it was running on a "heavily modified" Unreal Engine, and I ended up being right unfortunately. Its still a stellar looking game, just a bit tired by today's standards. Then again, I'm a firm believer that the only developer that doesn't make the Unreal Engine look bloated is Epic.

I also found the cover mechanics a bit finnicky. Often times I would vault across the room only to miss my target completely. With that said it is the best of the series, particularly in the vast freedom of movement. Shepard no longers seems to be weighted down with lead-covered logs anymore, vaulting and rolling all over the battlefield with ease. I was also satisfied to learn that the "falcon-punch!!" melee attack wasn't overpowered, fitting quite well in the repetoire of shepard's arsenal. The weapons also had a noticable weight to them, the punch ofthe assault rifle beingquite different than the "tok" of a pistol or the scattershot spray of the submachine gun (also kudos to the recoil on that one--balances the gun out quite nicely).

The music I felt was a very nice touch as well, hitting ona much more emotional front than the hollywood scifi stock music in ME2 (that on occasion uttered brilliance only after its toy block flailing mania ceased for a hushed second). It felt like a true evolution from ME1's peerless soundtrack, with tints of sync and the minimalistorchestration similar to the film "Moon" but still having its own identity. The lack of player input i can only conclued is the fact that it is the beginning of the game, Shepard is being herded (heh) from one point to the next in quick succession, and the fact that its a demo. The RPG elements are a welcome turn, fitting snuggly between the exhaustive (yet brilliant) laborithian skill bars in ME1, and the stripped-mined wasteland found in ME2. Enemy AI also seems better, since I noticed I was having a harder time this time around than in previous games, although they did suffer from characteristic tactics oddities this series is known for (ie. enemies still planting indefinately in inadviceable cover, ranged combat emphasis while shying away from up front confrontation etc.) Despite my critiques it is one of the most impressive of the series to date, and my enthuasm can't be higher!

Yes, Mordin unfortunately does have a different voice. :cry: But he's not bad either, so at least they picked someone good (though not as good) to replace the previous voice actor. As for the FemShep character creation... probably the worst thing about the demo. I think it's pretty much impossible to create a decent-looking female character in ME3. :(

In addition, the animations look a bit awkward on FemShep since they are the same as those used for male Shepard. Yeah, she should look quite tough when walking since she's been in the military - but it just looks too weird now. Maybe picking something not as overly-sexualized as the female character animations of Dragon Age 2, but slightly more feminine than the animations used in the Mass Effect 3 demo (keeping the toughness and dropping the ugliness) would have been a much better choice.

After all, Shepard is a tough & independent woman; a great icon for equality and an example of progress in gaming (seeing as how most developers are so sexist that they have a male lead with females as only weak love interests in their cliché games), but why shouldn't she be attractive? :x

I tried another playthrough of the demo which left me slightly distraught :( I've been playing the default femshep since ME1 tried to import her to ME3 using the identity code, the result was less then pleasing. Note: default code makes her a blonde in ME3, changed hair color to red, hence the codes don't match completely. Since the game has gone gold I doubt we'll seen any changes in this with the final game :(.Lone_Warrior_66

I had the exact same problem, I hope they fix this, I tried moving the slides but she is still different, can we protest to bioware and get some sort of patch????

could it be a demo thing????

I had the exact same problem, I hope they fix this, I tried moving the slides but she is still different, can we protest to bioware and get some sort of patch????

could it be a demo thing????

Raven_1981

I thought the demo was really good. The multiplayer was fun, and I liked the gameplay additions. The music that played while leaving Earth was EPIC.

IThe music that played while leaving Earth was EPIC.

genius2365

I thought we were supposed to get unlocks by playing like in KoA demo. Anyway, I enjoyed it. Im going Vanguard on my first playthrough. Nova is good and also the heavy melee attack right after bio charge. Even if I ran out of shotgun ammo, I can rely on heavy melee.

Does anyone know how to take a screenshot with Origin? All I get is a black screen from "paste".

Absolutly Awesome!

One thing though was Anderson on one of the shuttles at the end :?

Falcon084 on another thread

Does anyone know how to take a screenshot with Origin? All I get is a black screen from "paste".

Falcon084

I think I would've been a lot more amazed by it if I hadn't watched the leaked footage first...

Well, I noticed nobody is talking about the Kinect features so I guess I will...

...Um...kind of useless...most of it, anyway...

First off, it works best when you mute the TV...:?

The sounds from the game sometimes interfere and make the Kinect have trouble picking up on your voice amidst the gunfire and explosions...

When the Kinect thinks it hears someone making a voice command, a small red microphone icon appears in the upper left corner of the screen. That icon appears a lot whenever Anderson is speaking to Shepard during the first 'mission'...thinking that Anderson is the player trying to make a voice command...

In conversations, there's a bit of a delay when speaking your dialogue choice...the game figures out your choice around one second after you stop talking...too long, I think...the conversations should keep moving; using the Kinect slows that down...

Opening doors or picking up items with the Kinect is almost completely pointless...as many people have said: "It's just one button." Pressing A is, of course, faster than using the Kinect...although it is possible to say "Open" before reaching a door and (due to the slight delay) the door will open as you walk to it...but that can be tricky to do...so pressing A is still faster and easier...

What the Kinect features are good for is to act as extra hot keys...

Since you can only hot-key 3 of Shepard's abilities to the RB, LB and Y buttons and one ability from both squadmates to left and right on the D-pad, using your voice to activate those extra abilities can actually be easier (or at least faster) than opening the power wheel and pausing the action...

However, this can become frustrating if the Kinect fails to hear your commands over the fighting...

Also, having to say the character's name and then the power you want them to use can be difficult if you tend to stumble over your words as I often do...I don't know how many times I messed up the lines - "Liara, Singularity" "Liara, Warp" "Garrus, Overload" ...the 'stress' of being in a firefight probably doesn't help when trying to produce a coherent sentence...:P

Though, I think you only need to say their name if no one else has the power you want them to use...not certain about that...

Another thing the Kinect can be used for is to switch weapons. Again, this can be faster than opening the radial menu and doesn't stop the action. Just say the type of gun you want to switch to. You can also say "Switch weapons" to switch to your previously equipped weapon...but holding the X button will do the same thing just as quickly...

You can also tell you sqadmates to attack seperate targets...

Previously, you could press Up on the D-pad to have both squadmates focus their attacks on one target...with the Kinect, you can tell one squaddie to focus on one target and tell the other squaddie to focus on a seperate target...I thought that was kind of cool...but don't really see a whole lot of situations where it would be too useful...

And lastly, if I'm not forgetting anything, you can tell your squaddies to move into cover. Aim at the spot you want them to move to, say their name and say "Move"and they will move to the area you designated. This can also be accomplished by aiming at the area and pressing the D-pad but that can also accidentally cause your squadmate to use their hot-keyed power when you didn't want them to...

...And...um...I think I'm done typing...:|

I think I would've been a lot more amazed by it if I hadn't watched the leaked footage first...

Well, I noticed nobody is talking about the Kinect features so I guess I will...

...Um...kind of useless...most of it, anyway...

First off, it works best when you mute the TV...:?

The sounds from the game sometimes interfere and make the Kinect have trouble picking up on your voice amidst the gunfire and explosions...

When the Kinect thinks it hears someone making a voice command, a small red microphone icon appears in the upper left corner of the screen. That icon appears a lot whenever Anderson is speaking to Shepard during the first 'mission'...thinking that Anderson is the player trying to make a voice command...

In conversations, there's a bit of a delay when speaking your dialogue choice...the game figures out your choice around one second after you stop talking...too long, I think...the conversations should keep moving; using the Kinect slows that down...

Opening doors or picking up items with the Kinect is almost completely pointless...as many people have said: "It's just one button." Pressing A is, of course, faster than using the Kinect...although it is possible to say "Open" before reaching a door and (due to the slight delay) the door will open as you walk to it...but that can be tricky to do...so pressing A is still faster and easier...

What the Kinect features are good for is to act as extra hot keys...

Since you can only hot-key 3 of Shepard's abilities to the RB, LB and Y buttons and one ability from both squadmates to left and right on the D-pad, using your voice to activate those extra abilities can actually be easier (or at least faster) than opening the power wheel and pausing the action...

However, this can become frustrating if the Kinect fails to hear your commands over the fighting...

Also, having to say the character's name and then the power you want them to use can be difficult if you tend to stumble over your words as I often do...I don't know how many times I messed up the lines - "Liara, Singularity" "Liara, Warp" "Garrus, Overload" ...the 'stress' of being in a firefight probably doesn't help when trying to produce a coherent sentence...:P

Though, I think you only need to say their name if no one else has the power you want them to use...not certain about that...

Another thing the Kinect can be used for is to switch weapons. Again, this can be faster than opening the radial menu and doesn't stop the action. Just say the type of gun you want to switch to. You can also say "Switch weapons" to switch to your previously equipped weapon...but holding the X button will do the same thing just as quickly...

You can also tell you sqadmates to attack seperate targets...

Previously, you could press Up on the D-pad to have both squadmates focus their attacks on one target...with the Kinect, you can tell one squaddie to focus on one target and tell the other squaddie to focus on a seperate target...I thought that was kind of cool...but don't really see a whole lot of situations where it would be too useful...

And lastly, if I'm not forgetting anything, you can tell your squaddies to move into cover. Aim at the spot you want them to move to, say their name and say "Move"and they will move to the area you designated. This can also be accomplished by aiming at the area and pressing the D-pad but that can also accidentally cause your squadmate to use their hot-keyed power when you didn't want them to...

...And...um...I think I'm done typing...:|

majinstrings

Darn I had high hopes for Kinect. Hopefully they can fix some of the problems before launch.

I felt the demo was good, but the face of my femshep worries meRaven_1981

They already said that using ME2 code in demo will give you different result since the codes have changed.

[QUOTE="majinstrings"]

I think I would've been a lot more amazed by it if I hadn't watched the leaked footage first...

Well, I noticed nobody is talking about the Kinect features so I guess I will...

...Um...kind of useless...most of it, anyway...

First off, it works best when you mute the TV...:?

The sounds from the game sometimes interfere and make the Kinect have trouble picking up on your voice amidst the gunfire and explosions...

When the Kinect thinks it hears someone making a voice command, a small red microphone icon appears in the upper left corner of the screen. That icon appears a lot whenever Anderson is speaking to Shepard during the first 'mission'...thinking that Anderson is the player trying to make a voice command...

In conversations, there's a bit of a delay when speaking your dialogue choice...the game figures out your choice around one second after you stop talking...too long, I think...the conversations should keep moving; using the Kinect slows that down...

Opening doors or picking up items with the Kinect is almost completely pointless...as many people have said: "It's just one button." Pressing A is, of course, faster than using the Kinect...although it is possible to say "Open" before reaching a door and (due to the slight delay) the door will open as you walk to it...but that can be tricky to do...so pressing A is still faster and easier...

What the Kinect features are good for is to act as extra hot keys...

Since you can only hot-key 3 of Shepard's abilities to the RB, LB and Y buttons and one ability from both squadmates to left and right on the D-pad, using your voice to activate those extra abilities can actually be easier (or at least faster) than opening the power wheel and pausing the action...

However, this can become frustrating if the Kinect fails to hear your commands over the fighting...

Also, having to say the character's name and then the power you want them to use can be difficult if you tend to stumble over your words as I often do...I don't know how many times I messed up the lines - "Liara, Singularity" "Liara, Warp" "Garrus, Overload" ...the 'stress' of being in a firefight probably doesn't help when trying to produce a coherent sentence...:P

Though, I think you only need to say their name if no one else has the power you want them to use...not certain about that...

Another thing the Kinect can be used for is to switch weapons. Again, this can be faster than opening the radial menu and doesn't stop the action. Just say the type of gun you want to switch to. You can also say "Switch weapons" to switch to your previously equipped weapon...but holding the X button will do the same thing just as quickly...

You can also tell you sqadmates to attack seperate targets...

Previously, you could press Up on the D-pad to have both squadmates focus their attacks on one target...with the Kinect, you can tell one squaddie to focus on one target and tell the other squaddie to focus on a seperate target...I thought that was kind of cool...but don't really see a whole lot of situations where it would be too useful...

And lastly, if I'm not forgetting anything, you can tell your squaddies to move into cover. Aim at the spot you want them to move to, say their name and say "Move"and they will move to the area you designated. This can also be accomplished by aiming at the area and pressing the D-pad but that can also accidentally cause your squadmate to use their hot-keyed power when you didn't want them to...

...And...um...I think I'm done typing...:|

Falcon084

Darn I had high hopes for Kinect. Hopefully they can fix some of the problems before launch.

Ok, I'm done "going dark" for a bit. Maj, very good review of the Kinect features. I've been very curious about how that feature was going to work.

I still stand by my opinion that the singleplayer portion of the demo is disappointing; but the multiplayer... it's fantastic, I love it. :D It's not original or unique, but it is still tons of fun and very addictive. I just hope that there will be some way to carry over your characters from the demo to the full game (when it's out0. I already have a human female Vanguard - level 12 - and wouldn't want to lose her after puttng in so much time to get her skills up. :(Bamul

Bamul, what is your review of the new and imporved Vanguard. I watched some footage of a guy on YouTube who has his Vanguard up to level 17 and he was absolutly unfricken' stoppable. Has the Vanguard become overpowered with the Charge, Nova, Shotgun combo?

I think the Vanguard stays true to its previous role. Charge + Nova is a high risk high reward tactic. You can take down a lot of foes quickly by charging in, hitting them with nova, and finishing what's left off with your shotgun, but if you miss a few, face a tougher enemy, or a turret you'll probably find yourself in the middle of its field of fire and end up dead. Especially on higher difficulty levels I think playing as a Vanguard will be a real challenge.Lone_Warrior_66

In the end, it's best to get out there and use your abilities to, well, the best of your ability. :P But always make sure that you are not too far out in the open, that there's always a safe piece of cover to retreat to nearby and that none of the enemies (which aren't in front of your field of view) are trying to use any side routes to flank you. However: if you choose the Vanguard and want to utilize all of that cIass' potential, be prepared to die... many times. This is because sometimes it's just impossible to flee once you're too far into the battlefield. Also, since not everyone you get teamed up with is actually a team player, gather as much medi-gel as you can and don't waste it. If you see a team member close by after getting wounded, even if they're getting their ass kicked, give them a chance. If there's not enough time left for them to revive you or a Cerberus trooper is just about to stomp on your face, use the medicine and keep killing.

As for the weapons that best suit the Vanguard; well, a shotgun (as described by Lone Warrior) is great for his deadly combo. I was using the assault rifle the most often, but after unlocking a very powerful sniper rifle I switched. Now I'm actually doing a lot better than I used to. If you'd rather not get close to enemies too often, a strong sniper rifle and Phalanx pistol weapon combo is perfect. A well-aimed shot from the rifle I unlocked (sorry but I can't remember its name) can kill most enemies from any distance. A "Nemesis" will go down after a headshot. If a lesser enemy is dangerously close, switch to the pistol and dispose of them in a few clean shots to the upper half of the body.