Guy at GAF who apparently has Mass Effect gives his views thus far

And here they are:

"I had plans to do an elaborate post about this the whole time I've been playing.

I'm about 8.5 hours into the game now and it's just gotten better and better.

Too much to talk about really, so I guess I'll just answer RStein's question.

Combat is really fun. There are occasional problems with the AI, but it's really nothing 3rd/1st person shooter fans aren't already used to in teammates found in the genre (GRAW, RS: Vegas, etc). I set my squad to "active" which lets the AI use both defensive and offensive abilities on their own (without you having to pause the action, choose targets, and say "perform a neuro blast" or whatever). They definitely get the job done and I often find them stealing my kills. Thankfully, XP and loot goes to the party and it's up to you to divvy up items.

When I said earlier that this game is a shooter first and an RPG second, I was wrong. It's really a great balance of both genres. Mechanically speaking, this is an action game through and through. You dodge bullets, spring to cover, and do all the things required of you in games like Gears of War. You point your gun at something and fire and there is a 1-to-1 cause-and-effect reaction and stuff takes damage and blow up, etc.

Stats act more like modifiers. For instance, if I do a full auto burst with my assault rifle, the reticle will gradually grow wider and bigger the longer you fire, representing the kick and recoil of the assault rifle. As a result, the spread of your shots will go from tight to practically useless through the duration of your burst. As you invest in your assault rifle skill, that behavior improves so your spread is tighter even if you fire longer. Of course, if you play the game like I do and just do controlled bursts, it really isn't too much of a problem.

This basically goes for all weapons (sniper rifle, shotguns, etc.) and I think it works great. In the end, combat is an action affair and really there's no other game like Mass Effect where it combines my favorite genre with a genre I no longer play. It's such a nice RPG homecoming.

The only aspect of the combat that can be clunky at times is trying to get under cover mode against an obstacle that's shorter, as it requires you to duck. Whereas Gears of War automatically makes you duck and puts you against lower cover, you have to do so manually here so there's the added click of the left stick -- and in the heat of combat, it can be frustrating... particularly because combat is really chaotic and crazy at times.

Anyway, I know it's too early to know what's GOTY at this point since I haven't played SMG, COD4, or Uncharted, but I know for a fact that Mass Effect is already an easy contender.

I'll take some phone pics and post 'em tonight. This game is RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous and 8 hours later, I am still slackjawed."

*Link to thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8478387#post8478387

Wow

Someone posted this earlier today, but still I'm hyped for this game:D.cyborgjak427

Ahh, sorry about that. I just read it myself and thought it sounded great.

I can't wait!

Other than Mario Galaxy, Mass Effect is my most hyped game of the holiday! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

so i guess ppl from kotaku was right, its more a shooter game then a RPG game. either way, first day buy for me. lt-rickhunter

Sounds more like the perfect RPG/third person shooter hybrid to me.

Go buy the November Game Informer issue and read their review. It's even better. They basically say it's better than Star Wars in terms of being rock-hard sci-fi.

so i guess ppl from kotaku was right, its more a shooter game then a RPG game. either way, first day buy for me. lt-rickhunter

Well that would still make it the most RPG'ish ''shooter'' ever. Seriously though, if they used bows and arrows would people think its an outright RPG instead?

[QUOTE="lt-rickhunter"]so i guess ppl from kotaku was right, its more a shooter game then a RPG game. either way, first day buy for me. tomarlyn

Well that would still make it the most RPG'ish ''shooter'' ever. Seriously though, if they used bows and arrows would people think its an outright RPG instead?

So its a third person Deus Ex?jeffwulf

Later in the thread he goes on further to say:

"Dude, this game is too much. It just keeps throwing **** at you to do. I'm about 10 hours into the game and I've barely even touched the main quest.

To answer the question about the moon buggy physics... no it definitely isn't a canned go-from-point-A-to-point-B type of affair. Like I said, it's Warthog meets Scorpion tank and you have thrusters so yeah you are doing INSANE stunts the whole time. You can't ever flip over (although you come close and then the computer rights you up again) but you can do some pretty funny stuff.

Vehicular combat is also very satisfying. There's also a "hood view" for the moon buggy if you pull down the left trigger. Makes it REALLY immersive when you're exploring new worlds or an ancient ruin... driving slowly in hood view, right thumb on the right turret stick, looking independently of where you're driving... so awesome.

And yeah, different planets have different climate effects. I went to one planet where it was having a meteor shower or something. **** was raining down from the sky... of course, it wasn't like you had to dodge the meteors but it looked and sounded cool as hell.

The characters are really good in this game too. I've already become attached to 2 of my characters, and because I'm playing a female character, I've already had one of my male Biotic engineers hit on me during one conversation. It was... uh, awkward.

But it's the NPCs and the plot in this game that really does it for me and propels you forward. I've never really been a fan of Bioware's console RPGs (yeah, gasp, I know) because I felt they were trying to do these emotional, deep, cinematic dialogues, but it would always fall flat on its face because of the game's ****** graphics which couldn't support the kind of drama Bioware was going for. Plus, it didn't help that KOTOR had basically like 10 character models in the whole universe and you kept running into the same black guy or the same alien guy.

Well, that is NOT the case here... every character in the galaxy has been unique so far, and **** WOW at the graphics/acting/voiceover for the most part. There has been some good writing and very interesting interaction with both my crew and the rest of the NPCs out there. Really awesome informational tangents and personal anecdotes. At first I was playing with subtitles on because I didn't want to miss any details or whatever, but after a couple hours, I turned them off and I swear to god it was like watching a gorgeous CG movie where you can somewhat control the outcome of events.

This is next gen RPG folks. Gonna go play now before the wife wakes up and makes me go to the farmer's market."

*As if I was not hyped enough for this game already. It is sounding like more and more that Mass Effect will be regarded as one of the best games ever made. I would hate to be one of the people who are saying that this game will flop, lol.

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]

[QUOTE="lt-rickhunter"]so i guess ppl from kotaku was right, its more a shooter game then a RPG game. either way, first day buy for me. lt-rickhunter

Well that would still make it the most RPG'ish ''shooter'' ever. Seriously though, if they used bows and arrows would people think its an outright RPG instead?

Thief is not an FPS series at all. Thats like calling Oblivion or Morrowind an FPS.

[QUOTE="tomarlyn"]

[QUOTE="lt-rickhunter"]so i guess ppl from kotaku was right, its more a shooter game then a RPG game. either way, first day buy for me. lt-rickhunter

Well that would still make it the most RPG'ish ''shooter'' ever. Seriously though, if they used bows and arrows would people think its an outright RPG instead?

GOTYTheOwnerOner

Agreed

I seriously cant wait :D

GOTYTheOwnerOner

Possible but who knows. Gamespot gave Deus Ex 8.2, so anything could happen. I'm not even going to read any reviews or feedback from other players until I have completed the game. I want to experience this without any preconceptions or as few as possible.

Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.Adrian_Cloud

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.loky4000

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

WOW lol @ this lemming

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.loky4000

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

[QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.M0rph0_o

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

WOW lol @ this lemming

lol @ this jealous cow.

[QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.M0rph0_o

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

WOW lol @ this lemming

Show me a game on any of the 3 consoles with equally as good graphics, professional voice acting, huge terrain.

yea i guessed not

[QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.Adrian_Cloud

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

Gamespot seems to think it will set a new standard for graphics like Gears of War did and they have played it recently. From what I have seen in videos I can't say i disagree with them.

The visuals in the game are a dazzling showcase of technology and art direction that raise the bar for Xbox 360 games in much the same way that Gears of War and BioShock have done.

http://gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect/news.html?sid=6178928&page=2

Whoever said this game recieved a GFX downgrade should slap themselves now. New graphics king, new GOTY contender, etc. And you won't find it on PC, you won't find it on Wii, you won't find it on PS3. You'll find it on the console to own this year, last year, and next year. 360. V_Isle

Except you WILL find this game on PC. Every Bioware game comes to PC.

I only have to wait a year to get improved versions of every game on "the console to own", and I don't have to pay for a crappy P2P online service, I get to play on lag-free, dedicated servers.

And thats even after all of the great PC exclusives I have to play.

[QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.Adrian_Cloud

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

Eventho' it was a retorical question I might be correct :P Check the pictures taken ingame with a mobile phone, I'm tired of fighting cows and whatnot, all I can say is that when ME gets released its gonna blow games like Uncharted and Bioshock out of the water.

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"][QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.TiberiusKane

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

Gamespot seems to think it will set a new standard for graphics like Gears of War did and they have played it recently. From what I have seen in videos I can't say i disagree with them.

The visuals in the game are a dazzling showcase of technology and art direction that raise the bar for Xbox 360 games in much the same way that Gears of War and BioShock have done.

http://gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect/news.html?sid=6178928&page=2

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"][QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.TiberiusKane

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

Gamespot seems to think it will set a new standard for graphics like Gears of War did and they have played it recently. From what I have seen in videos I can't say i disagree with them.

The visuals in the game are a dazzling showcase of technology and art direction that raise the bar for Xbox 360 games in much the same way that Gears of War and BioShock have done.

http://gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect/news.html?sid=6178928&page=2

Gears of War was an average game that they rated 9.6, Bioshock was an excellent game they gave 9.0. They also said the same thing about Lair.

They said it "raised the bar...in much the same way". Not that the graphics looked as good, just that the graphics have progressed.

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"][QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.loky4000

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

Live Gamplay of final build> Screenshots.
If your telling me this is the best looking graphics on a console based off screenshots, then you've got to be kidding. I've seen the game in motion and it looks great. Not Bioshock, Uncharted or Gears great. But Assasins Creed and RS6 great, which is still a feet in its own. If your comparing it to a lot of other "next-gen" titles then ofcourse Mass Effect looks better. But its far from the best... heres a suggestion - play MORE games.

Eventho' it was a retorical question I might be correct :P Check the pictures taken ingame with a mobile phone, I'm tired of fighting cows and whatnot, all I can say is that when ME gets released its gonna blow games like Uncharted and Bioshock out of the water.

:| The final Build.... THE FINAL BUILD...nothing changed on the FINAL BUILD. The graphics won't get better, there FINAL. IT can't blow them out of the water, if still doesn't as good at its FINAL BUILD.

now to go back and play PGR4.

Man oh man. I am so pumped for this beast. I have a feeling it's going to absolutely blow away the haters.-Tretiak

The haters will persist regardless of what happens. Just look at Halo 3. 9.5, killer sales and very well received by other sites and it got more hate then just about any other game this year.

Who said the graphics will get better? They look amazing :P

And I dont play racing games.

[QUOTE="M0rph0_o"][QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.loky4000

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

WOW lol @ this lemming

Show me a game on any of the 3 consoles with equally as good graphics, professional voice acting, huge terrain.

yea i guessed not

uncharged has the best graphics of any console game. even your fellow lemmmings admit that.

[QUOTE="loky4000"][QUOTE="M0rph0_o"][QUOTE="loky4000"]

[QUOTE="Adrian_Cloud"]Sounds 8.5 to me, the graphics don't look as good as i thought they did. But there still great looking, certainly up there with RS6, GRAW and AC. Its a good "Review" without giving too much information away, i'm still not sold on a exploring a planet of nothing.M0rph0_o

Are you legally blind? The graphics are THE BEST a console has seen so far, claiming otherwise is just proving that your in denial.

WOW lol @ this lemming

Show me a game on any of the 3 consoles with equally as good graphics, professional voice acting, huge terrain.

yea i guessed not

uncharged has the best graphics of any console game. even your fellow lemmmings admit that.

http://www.gamespot.com/search.html?type=11&stype=all&tag=search%3Bbutton&om_act=convert&om_clk=search&qs=uncharged&x=0&y=0

sorry?

Dude, this game is too much. It just keeps throwing **** at you to do. I'm about 10 hours into the game and I've barely even touched the main quest.

To answer the question about the moon buggy physics... no it definitely isn't a canned go-from-point-A-to-point-B type of affair. Like I said, it's Warthog meets Scorpion tank and you have thrusters so yeah you are doing INSANE stunts the whole time. You can't ever flip over (although you come close and then the computer rights you up again) but you can do some pretty funny stuff.

Vehicular combat is also very satisfying. There's also a "hood view" for the moon buggy if you pull down the left trigger. Makes it REALLY immersive when you're exploring new worlds or an ancient ruin... driving slowly in hood view, right thumb on the right turret stick, looking independently of where you're driving... so awesome.

And yeah, different planets have different climate effects. I went to one planet where it was having a meteor shower or something. **** was raining down from the sky... of course, it wasn't like you had to dodge the meteors but it looked and sounded cool as hell.

The characters are really good in this game too. I've already become attached to 2 of my characters, and because I'm playing a female character, I've already had one of my male Biotic engineers hit on me during one conversation. It was... uh, awkward.

But it's the NPCs and the plot in this game that really does it for me and propels you forward. I've never really been a fan of Bioware's console RPGs (yeah, gasp, I know) because I felt they were trying to do these emotional, deep, cinematic dialogues, but it would always fall flat on its face because of the game's ****ty graphics which couldn't support the kind of drama Bioware was going for. Plus, it didn't help that KOTOR had basically like 10 character models in the whole universe and you kept running into the same black guy or the same alien guy.

Well, that is NOT the case here... every character in the galaxy has been unique so far, and **** WOW at the graphics/acting/voiceover for the most part. There has been some good writing and very interesting interaction with both my crew and the rest of the NPCs out there. Really awesome informational tangents and personal anecdotes. At first I was playing with subtitles on because I didn't want to miss any details or whatever, but after a couple hours, I turned them off and I swear to god it was like watching a gorgeous CG movie where you can somewhat control the outcome of events.

This is next gen RPG folks. Gonna go play now before the wife wakes up and makes me go to the farmer's market.

Here is another excerpt from the same guy.

movie effect GOTYM0rph0_o

movie effect GOTYM0rph0_o

what???

Even as a Hermit, even I have to admit that this is by far the one game I envy the lemmings for (the others were ported over, haha). I'm crossing my fingers for a port...

... and yes, I don't mind waiting a couple of years for this game.

movie effect GOTYM0rph0_o

Is that honestly the best you can do?

The poster said all in the picture is explorable, you can even get to the mountains and climb them if you want to. This is taken with a cell phone camera.