Mass Effect (X360)

[Petrarch]

Got my copy of this today, one of the collectors edition tins, and it's simply stunning. I'm not too far into it yet but already it's got me gripped. Many memories of playing the first KoTOR have all come flooding back.

Mass Effect, for those not in the know, is a sci-fi themed RPG using the same sort of style that KoTOR did. It has a number of key differences in the mechanics though that add that extra layer of polish. Chief amongst these are the way the player character is handled. Rather than being silent, the voice acting has been recorded for both so the character speaks - not sure who the male actor is, but the female one is Jennifer Hale, who voiced Samus Aran from Metroid and Bastilla Shan from KoTOR. Keith David and Lance Henrikson feature in the cast, so they've pushed the boat out a bit in that department. The other is that, unlike many other RPGs, you don't have to wait for the other character to finish speaking before you pick your reply, so it gives a more seemless flow to conversations.

It does have a couple of graphical glitches which seem to be an issue with the Unreal 3 engine itself rather than any act of being lazy by Bioware, but these don't distract from the game. Though it's late in the year, and those that are familiar with my love of Halo might be surprised by this, Mass Effect has become a late contender for my game of the year, and right now it looks like it'll be getting the top slot.

Mass Effect Official Site

[Night Owl]

Yea, I like this a lot too. The conversations are just really well done - I like that you pick more or less the general thought of what you would say, but your character actually says something different. Still learning the menu layout and such.

Halo 3, Assassin's Creed (another really good game), Mass Effect - good times for the 360.

[Brugdor]

Haven't seen the game but Bioware definitely has a leg up on the competition this year.

[Doombot]

I can't wait till we get our 360 and I can finally play all these wonderful games.

I do like the fish game on X-Box live though. =)

Xbox.com | Feeding Frenzy - Game Detail Page

[Tank]

Too bad it's 360 only, can't afford a console and wouldn't buy one if I could, but it sucks to miss blatantly good titles like this one :/

[inso]

got it today. haven't played a lot (got priorities and stuff) but so far it's pretty cool. i'll probably remap my grenade button though, Back is a very bad choice for something like that.

edit: okay looks like you can't do that. oh well.

[Petrarch]

I'm a bit further in now and loving every minute of it. The voice acting is second to none and I like the way the weapons fold up and compress when not in use, alongside the graphical model visibly changing depending on the make.

Mass Effect is getting the GOTY award from me for sure. The only sore point I have is that since it's planned as a trilogy, that'll be us having to wait another year to get the next installment.

[The SysMan]

I'll wait til someone emulates it for the PC, then I'm all in

[Night Owl]

and wouldn't buy one if I could

Why? Good games are good games. You're missing a lot.

[TK]

I'm seriously thinking about getting a 360, I prefer gaming on the PC but the 360 has sme brilliant games and the media center extender functions are really appealing. 

[inso]

so i may or may not have stayed up all night playing this. i'm having quite the blast playing it, though the weapons and abilities selector wheel thing really irks me. and the Mako controls... oi.

combat's insanely fun though.

[Night Owl]

I'm seriously thinking about getting a 360, I prefer gaming on the PC but the 360 has sme brilliant games and the media center extender functions are really appealing. 

I used to think the PC was better (still is for some games). But, imho, PC gaming has gone down the toilet in the past two to three years. The amount of good games I can easily run on a two to three year old machine is sparse.

I think the main gripe the PC Fanboys have is the controller, which is a complete non issue once you get used to it (yes, even for shooters.)  At one time, we all had to get used to a mouse and keyboard too.

[TK]

I play RTS games a lot and I'm not aware of any of these games that are as good on consoles as they are on the PC.  That said I've heard that keyboard and mouse support on the 360 is quite good and that some games have keyboard and mouse combinations as a control option.


The thing I like most about PC gaming is the sheer scope of user made mods and addons, is this something that modern consoles are moving more towards? 

[Petrarch]

Well, I don't use Xbox live myself, but quite a lot of the stuff these days gets downloadable content. Could be anything from a new level, new character model, map packs, in some cases a full blown add-on pack, though the smaller content packs are the majority at the moment as far as I'm aware. So it's moving towards the whole add-on end, but not in the user made stakes as yet.

Personally I doubt we'll ever see user made ones for any console, not since you need a licence to develop for them.

Haven't looked at Live Arcade but I hear there's some good stuff on it, but I'm not too familiar with the way the PS3 system works. The Wii has something similar to the arcade on live though.

[Night Owl]

I play RTS games a lot and I'm not aware of any of these games that are as good on consoles as they are on the PC.  That said I've heard that keyboard and mouse support on the 360 is quite good and that some games have keyboard and mouse combinations as a control option.


The thing I like most about PC gaming is the sheer scope of user made mods and addons, is this something that modern consoles are moving more towards? 

These two parts I fully agree with you on. As they stand now, the mouse/keyboard is superior for an RTS. But that's about the only game (besides MMO) I can think of where it's a clear advanatage and not a "I'm just not used to it".

Consoles have made strides in RTS games, and I actually think they can help the genre by making more tactical games viable, and get rid of a lot of the mindless clicking (let's just say I really like the Myth series)

Mods... I assume at some point the better user-made mods will be viable, but PC has it in spades here. Oblivion, for example, is *much better* on the PC simply due to the user made mods. That said, almost all games have downloadable content, much of it free. Patches and enhancements aren't an issue either.

But it need not be either/or - an x-box is really pretty cheap. If you're someone who likes games, you really don't lose anything by getting one.