is the Mass Effect series worth it?

i never played any of those games or really paid any attention to it, is the 3 games worth the money?

I have only played 1 and 2 and I can't recommend them enough.

I have heard from friends that 3 is a blast, but the ended is a little stupid. But they said it was a must play.

Yep, 2 and 3 are great as shooters. 1 is more of a rpg, than a shooter, the graphics are a bit muddy, and the shooting is a bit meh, but if you like more rpg like games play all 3.

if you enjoy story/character driven games, yes you will enjoy it.

Yes theyre definitely worth playing.

Yup I started late like you too. Start with the first one though. The jump from 1 to 2 can feel a little weird but once you get used to the rest of the series becomes fun as well. To get the full experience play all from the start

Yes but only buy the first one and see if you like it then you can buy the rest later. If your looking for a game with a very fleshed out and interesting game world(well universe in this case lol) and alot of depth to the story and characters with top quality voice acting through out then go for. It gameplay is also not bad at all but thats not what makes mass effect so great. I would reccomend going with hybrid combat class so you get abilities that more abilities to use besides just combat ones.

Granted it's not the most innovative RPG ever released but the story telling is the greatest in an extremely long time. That combined with the solid shooting make it more than worth it.

Without a doubt YES.

1 for Story, 2 for combat.

2 is my favorite.

3 blows.

1 for Story, 2 for combat.

2 is my favorite.

3 blows.

jakes456

more like 1 for RPG 2 for a third person shooter and 3 for a somewhat mix of both. I still think 1 is the best because it was the first and new and is so different than the other two. It actually had depth to it, and the series had so much potential before EA sank their claws into them

[QUOTE="jakes456"]

1 for Story, 2 for combat.

2 is my favorite.

3 blows.

seanmcloughlin

more like 1 for RPG 2 for a third person shooter and 3 for a somewhat mix of both. I still think 1 is the best because it was the first and new and is so different than the other two. It actually had depth to it, and the series had so much potential before EA sank their claws into them

The story isn't really notable, and the combat is very lackluster in all 3. However, the characters are great and the universe is interesting, although inconsistant.

The first two are definitely fun games to play through, although I just don't understand why they're praised as masterpieces. So, sure, you can probably find the first two for cheap and they'd be worth the price.

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

[QUOTE="jakes456"]

1 for Story, 2 for combat.

2 is my favorite.

3 blows.

JangoWuzHere

more like 1 for RPG 2 for a third person shooter and 3 for a somewhat mix of both. I still think 1 is the best because it was the first and new and is so different than the other two. It actually had depth to it, and the series had so much potential before EA sank their claws into them

I actually kind of enjoyed the Mako sections. I mean, they weren't perfect, but that's no reason to completely get rid of them.

What cliche moments are you talking about?

And at least the first game at least had a good lot of side missions, a lot of them were pretty good. ME2's even fewer side quests were lame as hell. (I don't count loyalty missions as side quests, I consider them main quests)

The ending of ME3 ruined 1 and 2. Then again i've never played it so i'm jut jumping on the bandwagon because I don't have my own opinions.

No they are not, they suck (IMO)

The story isn't really notable, and the combat is very lackluster in all 3. However, the characters are great and the universe is interesting, although inconsistant.

The first two are definitely fun games to play through, although I just don't understand why they're praised as masterpieces. So, sure, you can probably find the first two for cheap and they'd be worth the price.

[QUOTE="JangoWuzHere"]

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

more like 1 for RPG 2 for a third person shooter and 3 for a somewhat mix of both. I still think 1 is the best because it was the first and new and is so different than the other two. It actually had depth to it, and the series had so much potential before EA sank their claws into them

Lord_Nas3k

I actually kind of enjoyed the Mako sections. I mean, they weren't perfect, but that's no reason to completely get rid of them.

What cliche moments are you talking about?

And at least the first game at least had a good lot of side missions, a lot of them were pretty good. ME2's even fewer side quests were lame as hell. (I don't count loyalty missions as side quests, I consider them main quests)

I didn't find the mako enjoyable at all. Driving on a barren planet that has almost NOTHING on it is NOT fun. IT doesn't help that the controls weren't super great either...

I haven't played the original Mass Effect in 4 years, so I don't quite remember the story all that well. I just remember being really turned off by the stupid visions and the whole prophecy thing. It just felt really lame and old to me.

The first Mass Effect was filled with extremely boring and tedious side missions. Having to drive around in the mako for the majority of them really killed it for me. Its not fun to scan keepers or to investigate stupid samples or to play missions that have zero to no dialogue whatsoever. A lot of the side missions reused the same building interiors, so the fights against the enemy's were basically all the same. Mass Effect must be the first WRPG I played were I basically refused to finish all of the side stuff because it was all very VERY boring.

In Mass Effect 2 you are almost always doing something interesting. I never found any of the side missions to be repetitive or tedious like in Mass Effect 1.

Play 1 and 2. Both are excellent games.

Pretend 3 doesn't exist, or that it's some sort of zany, non-canon, fanfiction spinoff. ME3 is what happens when EA gets ahold of a good franchise.

Play 1 and 2. Both are excellent games.

Pretend 3 doesn't exist, or that it's some sort of zany, non-canon, fanfiction spinoff. ME3 is what happens when EA gets ahold of a good franchise.

bigfoot2045

You do know EA has published all 3 mass effect games? ME3 was a great game.

There's nothing wrong with 3 - it has the best combat in the entire series and its story is way more epic than 1 and even 2 - and goes to great lengths towards tying up all the loose ends in the series.

I agree that 1's story was full of cliches (inc spoilers) - the whole MC gets proven right in the end thing and how Saren is yawn inducing and 1-dimensional - just pick any bond movie and you can find someone like him. Oh yeah there was a big epic space battle at the end - that's never been done before. Or how about big enigmatic aliens that are seemingly unstoppable and just want to crush everything - guess there just isn't enough free space where they live.

But all this is pointless - you can gripe about any of the stories until you're blue in the face - still doesn't change the fact that all 3 are great games - it is certainly nowhere near as bad as some of you are making it out to be.

There's nothing wrong with 3 - it has the best combat in the entire series and its story is way more epic than 1 and even 2 - and goes to great lengths towards tying up all the loose ends in the series.

darktruth007

Did we play the same game? Mass Effect 3 was disgustingly bad. Silicon Knights could've made a better game.

Play the first, ignore the rest.

[QUOTE="darktruth007"]

There's nothing wrong with 3 - it has the best combat in the entire series and its story is way more epic than 1 and even 2 - and goes to great lengths towards tying up all the loose ends in the series.

Lord_Nas3k

Did we play the same game? Mass Effect 3 was disgustingly bad. Silicon Knights could've made a better game.

ME3 Was good. You can't judge an entire game on it's ending.

[QUOTE="Lord_Nas3k"]

[QUOTE="darktruth007"]

There's nothing wrong with 3 - it has the best combat in the entire series and its story is way more epic than 1 and even 2 - and goes to great lengths towards tying up all the loose ends in the series.

HyperWarlock

Did we play the same game? Mass Effect 3 was disgustingly bad. Silicon Knights could've made a better game.

ME3 Was good. You can't judge an entire game on it's ending.

Seriously, I don't understand this. Yeah, the ending was bad, I get it. But I found the rest of the game to be just as bad. Everything from the lackluster shooter gameplay, the insultingly bad writing, the barrage of boring fetch quests, and the laughable characters. I don't mean to take jabs or insult anyone who did enjoy the game, I just can't, for the life of me, understand why this game would be considered anything abovemediocre.

[QUOTE="bigfoot2045"]

Play 1 and 2. Both are excellent games.

Pretend 3 doesn't exist, or that it's some sort of zany, non-canon, fanfiction spinoff. ME3 is what happens when EA gets ahold of a good franchise.

HyperWarlock

You do know EA has published all 3 mass effect games? ME3 was a great game.

EA published Mass Effect 2 and 3. Microsoft publlished Mass Effect 1, but EA published the PC version that came later.

[QUOTE="HyperWarlock"]

[QUOTE="bigfoot2045"]

Play 1 and 2. Both are excellent games.

Pretend 3 doesn't exist, or that it's some sort of zany, non-canon, fanfiction spinoff. ME3 is what happens when EA gets ahold of a good franchise.

JangoWuzHere

You do know EA has published all 3 mass effect games? ME3 was a great game.

EA published Mass Effect 2 and 3. Microsoft publlished Mass Effect 1, but EA published the PC version that came later.

Were on the PC fourms, so i'm of course talking about PC. Again I say ''You do know EA has published all 3 mass effect games? ''

[QUOTE="HyperWarlock"]

[QUOTE="Lord_Nas3k"]

Did we play the same game? Mass Effect 3 was disgustingly bad. Silicon Knights could've made a better game.

Lord_Nas3k

ME3 Was good. You can't judge an entire game on it's ending.

Seriously, I don't understand this. Yeah, the ending was bad, I get it. But I found the rest of the game to be just as bad. Everything from the lackluster shooter gameplay, the insultingly bad writing, the barrage of boring fetch quests, and the laughable characters. I don't mean to take jabs or insult anyone who did enjoy the game, I just can't, for the life of me, understand why this game would be considered anything abovemediocre.

Maybe you should elaborate a bit on your points then because I don't understand where you're coming from either.

1) The shooting-gameplay mechanics were a huge step up from 2 - on par or better than many shooters on the market today and certainly better than anything 1 had to offer. Things like grab attacks, the new viability of melee, more combo attacks and many new abilities - not to mention the awesome multiplayer mode that lets you screw around with it to your hearts content. Found the variety and execution of the combat far more enthralling than Gears of War for example - which pretty much follows its own formula to a T through all 3 games.

2) How is the writing insultingly bad compared to any of the last 2 games? Don't really see the point of such an argument seeing as people complained constantly about the story for every ME game. You could pick apart the storylines in any of them and argue why the other one is better til you're blue in the face its still not going to change the fact that the storyline in 3 or any other ME game hit a certain level of quality and was very well recieved by many in the gaming community.

3)ME1 and 2 both had their fair share repetitive elements - from the boring Mako excursions to the empty near-identical side-quests and tedious planet scanning - one could argue that at least in 3 the sidequests were either quick and painless or had a fun little mission attached to it.

4) (Spoilers) By this I assume you mean Kai-Leng - personally I found him to at least be more entertaining and spontaneous compared to how boring Saren was in 1 or how - well annonymous Harbinger is in 2. Found his death at the end to be way more satisfying than Saren's - 1 is more ideological but at the same time dull, the other is more personal.

[QUOTE="HyperWarlock"]

[QUOTE="Lord_Nas3k"]

Did we play the same game? Mass Effect 3 was disgustingly bad. Silicon Knights could've made a better game.

Lord_Nas3k

ME3 Was good. You can't judge an entire game on it's ending.

Seriously, I don't understand this. Yeah, the ending was bad, I get it. But I found the rest of the game to be just as bad. Everything from the lackluster shooter gameplay, the insultingly bad writing, the barrage of boring fetch quests, and the laughable characters. I don't mean to take jabs or insult anyone who did enjoy the game, I just can't, for the life of me, understand why this game would be considered anything abovemediocre.

i pretty much agree with this, it has some "moments" but the rest iof the game.... it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't the third one of a trilogy, Some people just have low standards.

If you want mindless cookie-cutter action, with a generic universe and bland characters, and self-defeating light RPG mechanics with an illusion of choice, then you can't do much better. Cinematic "gameplay" is the new king of gaming.

In my opinion I think it is one of the best sci-fi RPG/shooter out there. I do recommend playing through the first one all the way to the third one.

If you want mindless cookie-cutter action, with a generic universe and bland characters, and self-defeating light RPG mechanics with an illusion of choice, then you can't do much better. Cinematic "gameplay" is the new king of gaming.

Socijalisticka

ME1 & 2 are worth the $20. Wait for ME3 to go down before buying it. Around $30 (50% off) would be good enough. My theory is that a full price $60 has to be extremely good to be worth it. A weaker game doesn't get $60 from me. The Mass Effect games have been weak PC ports, and the gameplay lacks depth. I have only bought them when they were on sale.

If you want mindless cookie-cutter action, with a generic universe and bland characters, and self-defeating light RPG mechanics with an illusion of choice, then you can't do much better. Cinematic "gameplay" is the new king of gaming.

Socijalisticka

So you're refering to the ME series as a whole I take it?

Sounds like you were expecting this to be the Mozart of gaming - no the writing isn't utterly brilliant by any standards. It has many flaws sure, but there's still alot here to be enjoyed by most rpg afficionados provided they aren't as close-minded or cynical as you seem to be in your post. I'd suggest independent or lower budget games would be the more realistic thing to look into if you're looking for something that's incredibly deep and original - as they are usually the ones to take more risks.

Actually the writing in most Bioware games never struck me as particularly better than what we're getting right now. What does KOTOR have on this? Oh right a (by now) extremely over-rated plot twist in the middle. Baldur's Gate? Twas nothing compared to say Planescape: Torment in my opinion. Good but not great. And Jade Empire - now that was mediocre storytelling at its finest.

Frankly I'm unsure if you're completely serious or just trolling.

It's a great game. The story and environment is incredible, and it's made even better by the great cut scenes and background animations. I definitely recommend them.

Mass Effect to gaming is like Star Wars to movies or Star Trek to television shows. Its a must play sci-fi series, easily the best whole trilogy in gaming (especially wiith the awesome ability to have your achievements and character transfer over, effectively changing the entire trilogy based on your decisions in any one game), and the storytelling is of course, top notch as usual for Bioware.

It has its detractors, but what game doesn't these days? If you enjoy RPG's, third person shooters or good storytelling, its well worth it. I have some very fond memories with the series.

One of the reasons why I like them is cause I"m sick and tired of Modern/Medieval games. Scifi needs some love too. You can get the 3rd one for 30$ now on GamersGate.trastamad03

You can also snag the first two for ~$7 each on Gamersgate at the moment. They might have a better deal before the end of the week, though.

i never played any of those games or really paid any attention to it, is the 3 games worth the money?

sedhic23

Play the first, ignore the rest.

agpickle

yep. i loved the first but just couldn't make it more than two thirds through the second. me2 was a jack of all trades and master of none.

the first may have been rough around the edges but the story, characters and pacing were masterfully done. and because the events unfolding were edge of the seat stuff the clunky combat elements were easily forgiven.

the streamlined second may have been slicker but the delivery of story and characters was nowhere near as compelling as the first. the whole thing was [spoiler] pretty much a glorified recruitment drive. [/spoiler] and as a result the game drags from early on. it was all about the story for me and, imo, when an rpg so heavily dependent on its story churns out one so pedestrian, no amount of slicker combat mechanics (which still aren't that great) can save it

Great series that isn't over :)