Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Today, I'm going to tackle some of the backstory in the Fable series. Most of this is taken from the Fable wiki, which was taken from a previous version of the Fable websites. And if you truly want to verify anything I'm going to say, the Lionhead forums have this information somewhere.
That said, on with the show.
Centuries before the events of Fable 1, before even the Old Kingdom of legend, there were three demonic beings known as the Court from a realm outside Albion known as the Void. The Court consisted of three powerful entities: the Knight of Blades, weakest of the three; the Jack of Blades, and the Queen of Blades,
most powerful and highest of the three. They came to the world seeking dominance over its people, demanding
that they bow down in obedience. The people refused, and in turn, Albion
was burned until the earth was as black as the smoke that filled the
sky. Once again, the Court demanded total obedience, and again were
refused. The result was the raising of the sea into the sky and the
flooding of the world. After this next disaster, the Court asked for
worship again, this time promising peace, but met the same result. Angry
at being refused by lesser beings, the Court twisted the minds of the
people of Albion until the entire land was insane. Finally, after many
years of suffering, the people bowed down. The Court had won.
As time went by, there came a challenge from one of the denizens of Albion: a man named William Black, who wielded the Sword of Aeons,
rose to the highest peak of Albion to fight for the freedom of his
people. First to answer the challenge was the Knight, who was quickly
slain by Black. Next came the Jack, who proved to be more of a challenge
than the Knight. However, the Jack met the same fate as his ally, yet
was still able to cheat death by having his essence escape into his
mask. Finally, Black challenged the Queen of Blades. Their titanic
battle was waged for weeks on end, with mountains and valleys forming as
the result of their seemingly endless fight. At last, William threw
down the Queen, ending the reign of the Court over Albion.
Once he had vanquished the Court, the Archon set his mind to unifying Albion into a great kingdom.
His powers of Will were so great that it seemed the world reshaped
itself in accordance with his wishes. Cities were built in a week's time
and marvellous machines were constructed that ran on Will alone.
Through a thousand years of peace, Albion reigned as the greatest centre
of commerce and philosophy the world had ever known. The Archon had
many descendants during this age of fortune, all of whom shared his
powerful Will abilities through his bloodline. These descendants were
also called Archons.
But without an enemy to vanquish, the Archons grew petty and
cruel. They called themselves Heroes and used their powers of Will to
terrorize the people. The first Archon might have stopped them, but his
battle with the Queen and his time in the Void
had infected his body and mind with a wasting illness. To combat this
illness, he returned to the Void and cast it from his body, fearing that
it would one day control him and use him to rule Albion and twist it to
the dark wishes of the Void. William successfully managed to cast out
most of this illness, which became the Corruption and its leader, The Corrupter,
who would repeatedly try to take over Albion. With remnants of the
disease still decaying him, William wrapped his body in golden mail and a
royal blue cloak before vanishing.
Thus began the corruption of The Kingdom.
A descendant of the Archon later constructed a great tower that
stretched thousands of feet into the sky. This tower was named the
Spire, and it had the power to concentrate all of Albion's Will into a
single area. This caused a rift to open between the Void and Albion, a
rift through which the Crawler,
the Corruptor's chief lieutenant, attempted to invade Albion through.
The Old Kingdom's greatest Three Heroes, Stone, Sol, and Blaze responded
by combining their power and targeting the Spire. Though they managed
to imprison the Crawler within Shadelight dungeon in Aurora, the explosion also destroyed the Old Kingdom, wiping out William Black's empire in an instant.
Black returned centuries later as Scythe (which is speculation, mind you, but Lionhead has pretty much "confirmed with out actually saying it officially"), and began to council a bandit named Nostro. Young Nostro was not without a sense of decency, but could not reach his full potential until he met Scythe took an interest in him. Scythe saw in Nostro the power of the Archon
and his descendants, the former masters of the Old Kingdom, and
believed that with proper guidance, Nostro could perhaps even unite
Albion and undo the damage that Archon's children inflicted. With Scythe
as his teacher, Nostro founded the Heroes' Guild, and using his newly taught powers of Will, he raised an army and enforced peace on Albion's people.
Nostro's reign was a glorious one, marked by a return to peace enforced by the Heroes of the Heroes' Guild. Nostro commissioned the Witchwood Arena in order to solve disputes between Heroes, and had the Avo's Tears created to further defend Albion. Unfortunately, he was eventually corrupted by a courtesan named Magdalena.
Seeing her chance to acquire power, Magdalena became Nostro's wife, and
through him undid all of Nostro's great achievements. Under her
influence, the Arena degenerated into a source of violent spectacle
provided for the masses, and the once-mighty Heroes' Guild was reduced
to a house of mercenaries. Scythe, disgusted by the slow erosion of
Nostro's achievements, left him to his fate: death by the hands of an assassin
who slipped poison into his food. Seeing how his power had corrupted
him, Nostro called upon Scythe to stand vigil with him in his final
hours, at peace with himself. However, a warrior at heart, Nostro's soul
haunted Lychfield in perpetual torment, seeking a Hero's Death with sword in hand.
And yes, I did directly copy most of that from the Fable wiki. It took less time than typing it out myself, though I did fix a LOT of spelling errors.
Now, for Heroes, they are extraordinary humans with knowledge and the power over the three heroic disciplines of Strength, Skill, and Will. It is very rare that a Hero may possess control over all three of the Hero disciplines. The Hero of Oakvale, Hero of Bowerstone and the Hero of Brightwall (who are the protagonists of the three games I own. The only other Fable game that's canon at this point is Fable Journeys, but that is Kinect only, and I don't own it, not do I want to. Fuck motion control) possess control over these three disciplines as they belong to the Archon's Bloodline, and are descendants of William Black. Only a true descendant of the bloodline can master all three disciplines. That said, there are exemplars of the individual traits; Twinblade and Hammer are exemplars of Strength, Reaver and Ben Finn are exemplars of Skill, Maze and Garth are exemplars of Will. You also have hybrids like Briar Rose (who shows some Strength and Will), Thunder (also Strength and Will) and Whisper (whom looks more like Strength and Skill, since she shows no Will).
As for the "disciplines", Strength is built around melee combat, Skill is built around ranged combat, and Will is about magic. It's my theory that all Heroes are technically Will users, but not in the same way; their blood born affinity for their chosen discipline, like Garth, Hammer and Reaver in Fable 2. Some manage to become hybrids, like those I mentioned, but all channel their Will to enhance themselves and affect their surroundings.
The amusing thing is that most of the backstory is not presented in the games, not is it hinted at. We get vague information the Old Kingdom, Jack, the Archon, Scythe and Nostro in the first game, a little bit more in Fable 2 about the Old Kingdom, and a little bit of vague info on the Void and Corrupter in Fable 3.
And with that out of the way, I can talk about the games individually, not worrying about the lore except when how it affects the story of the game I'm focusing on!
Until then, Happy Gaming!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 9: Final thoughts
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Mass Effect is a fun game series, though incredibly troubled. When EA acquired Bioware's holding company, VG Holding Group, in 2007, fans who know their history knew that the company was on borrowed time. EA destroyed Origin Systems, the company best known the Wing Commander and Ultima series, with its heavy handed management and unrealistic fiscal demands. EA enforces hard deadlines that no company that focuses on good gameplay and storytelling can meet, and when they don't get the success that they mandate, they start cutting staff in order to compensate. It's all about the "almighty dollar" for EA, and they care nothing about their fans.
That's not to say that Bioware's not fighting to stay in the game; the release of the Extended Cut DLC, which fixes the vast majority of the issues most people had with the original ending to ME3 shows that Bioware still cares about their fans. But with the retirement of the founders, I don't know how much more the company has.
Don't mistake me; the game series is, and always will be, fun. The combat system for the games is fun, despite the hiccup that was ME1's combat engine. The characters we meet (except for Jacob) are endearing and it is a delight to see them grow as we fight along side them. And the story is rich and a delight to experience anew every time I put the games into my console. I love watching Liara fall in love with me every time I meet her, and hear the heartbreak in her voice when you tell her you don't feel the same. I love listening to Wrex's stories about his past. I love watching Tali and Garrus stand by my side every step of the way. And I even love the ending of ME3, despite how others complain about it.
The best way to think of Mass Effect is what Bioware used to be; a great company that made great games with great stories. Remember Mass Effect as the story of how Commander Shepard saved the galaxy from the Reaper threat at the expense of her own life, instead of what EA is going to make Mass Effect 4 into. Because Mass Effect 4 has been announced.
I, for one, will not be purchasing Mass Effect 4, or any new game from Bioware from this point. I will only support their Austin office, since I play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Mostly because Disney won't let EA fuck their franchise like a two dollar whore.
In short, Mass Effect is a great game series from a formerly great game developer.
As for me, I just picked up Fable 3, and I plan on doing a retrospective on that series as well.
Until then, happy gaming!
Mass Effect is a fun game series, though incredibly troubled. When EA acquired Bioware's holding company, VG Holding Group, in 2007, fans who know their history knew that the company was on borrowed time. EA destroyed Origin Systems, the company best known the Wing Commander and Ultima series, with its heavy handed management and unrealistic fiscal demands. EA enforces hard deadlines that no company that focuses on good gameplay and storytelling can meet, and when they don't get the success that they mandate, they start cutting staff in order to compensate. It's all about the "almighty dollar" for EA, and they care nothing about their fans.
That's not to say that Bioware's not fighting to stay in the game; the release of the Extended Cut DLC, which fixes the vast majority of the issues most people had with the original ending to ME3 shows that Bioware still cares about their fans. But with the retirement of the founders, I don't know how much more the company has.
Don't mistake me; the game series is, and always will be, fun. The combat system for the games is fun, despite the hiccup that was ME1's combat engine. The characters we meet (except for Jacob) are endearing and it is a delight to see them grow as we fight along side them. And the story is rich and a delight to experience anew every time I put the games into my console. I love watching Liara fall in love with me every time I meet her, and hear the heartbreak in her voice when you tell her you don't feel the same. I love listening to Wrex's stories about his past. I love watching Tali and Garrus stand by my side every step of the way. And I even love the ending of ME3, despite how others complain about it.
The best way to think of Mass Effect is what Bioware used to be; a great company that made great games with great stories. Remember Mass Effect as the story of how Commander Shepard saved the galaxy from the Reaper threat at the expense of her own life, instead of what EA is going to make Mass Effect 4 into. Because Mass Effect 4 has been announced.
I, for one, will not be purchasing Mass Effect 4, or any new game from Bioware from this point. I will only support their Austin office, since I play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Mostly because Disney won't let EA fuck their franchise like a two dollar whore.
In short, Mass Effect is a great game series from a formerly great game developer.
As for me, I just picked up Fable 3, and I plan on doing a retrospective on that series as well.
Until then, happy gaming!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 8: Companion stories
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Friday, October 11, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 7: Combat, minigame and morality system in the games
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Today, as my header says, I'm going tackle the combat, minigames and morality system in the games. I'm going to go through each one sequentially, giving my thoughts, as well as tips, to play the game in a way that maximizes your fun.
I'm going to state right here that I own the Xbox 360 versions of the games, and thus some of my problems and praises may not apply to the PC and PS3 versions. Though, since we are using the same game engine, I'm sure MOST of what I say still applies.
Mass Effect 1's combat system has a LOT of good ideas, though some are poorly implemented. The way the game is designed to be played is to give you tactical control over the battlefield, allowing you to flank your foes and use powers to dominate the battlefield. In practice, though, there are issues with the implementation.
First off, cover. The way it is supposed to work is that you use the control stick to press up against the wall, and you use the trigger buttons to aim your weapon from cover. In practice, however, it doesn't always work like that. Sometimes, when you want to press up against a wall, only to lift your weapon and stand there like an idiot. You also need to click the control stick to crouch, and you can't move to certain cover unless you are crouched.
Cover is also pretty useless because your enemies don't fight from it. They run around the battlefield, shooting and flinging powers as they run and gun, forcing you to do the same. And if you try to fight from cover, especially in an enclosed area, you are going to get flanked and killed. This forces you to run and gun to survive.
And your companions are useless too. Both companions are tied to a single button on the d-pad, so you can't really send them around the battlefield tactically, since both are going to the same place. And for some reason, they tend to "blow their load" on their powers if you don't set them to "defense only" in the options menu. This becomes a real problem with you are fighting geth armatures in the early game, since their main cannon can kill you in one hit. So if you want to use squad powers when you want them, set the usage to "defense only" before you start the game.
Now, since you have to run and gun to survive, proper weapon and extra skill (remember the first game's post?) selection is essential. There are four factors to consider for weapon selection; aiming, recoil, heat generation and firing rate. It is these four factors that makes the Sniper Rifle all but useless. On every console version I've played, the Sniper Rifle reticule takes a LONG time to finally settle on where you are pointing it, even with the best rifle in the game and 12 points in the ability. It's pretty much "one shot at the start of a battle and then switch to another gun, and ONLY if you get the drop on your foes, which isn't often".
That means you have only 3 real choices in firearms. The pistol is the one gun that all classes can use without advance training. It a reasonable firing rate, reasonable damage output, and reasonable heat generation, and low recoil. It's a good backup weapon when your other guns are overheated.
The assault rifle puts a lot of fire down range, but also has the highest recoil after the useless sniper rifle. This one also has the highest heat generation after the sniper rifle, but one point in assault rifles gives you overkill, which mitigates the recoil and heat generation for a few critical seconds. More points in the skill reduces recoil, and better quality guns reduce heat generation. And with proper upgrades, recoil and heat generation become a thing of the past.
The shotgun, however, has great accuracy, has low recoil, and has high heat generation (though that's the nature of a shotgun, so I wouldn't hold it against it), but also a high damage output. It is only truly useful at close range, though.
My suggestion is to either give the assault rifle or shotgun skill to all but the Vanguard (as that class already has a good weapon), depending on your play style. If you like fighting from mid to long range, use the assault rifle. If you prefer close range combat, shotgun.
Be careful with close range though. The melee attack in this game is the same as the gunfire button, and can trip you up if you don't want to use it. More than once, I've wanted to plant a shotgun shell into an enemy's chest, only to elbow them instead, because they were too close.
As for your load out, go with Spectre guns. They are the best guns in the game, hands down. As for armor, Predator has the best shields and Colossus gives you the best damage protection. But since you have upgrades that upgrade your shields, you can go with the Colossus, then the Titan, Predator and then Mercenary, based on availability.
Biotic amps should be Savant, Polaris and Prodigy in that order. Omni-tools should be Savant, Nexus and Chameleon for Shepard, Tali and Garrus in that order, and Savant, Logic Arrest and Polaris for Liara and Kaidan in that order.
Medi-gel is your healing ability, but the problem with it is that it has a long cooldown; if you use it to bring back your health, you have a long wait to use it again. A step back from KOTOR and Jade Empire, if you ask me.
Grenades in this game are pretty much useless as well. They are thrown sidearm, have a low blast radius, and are very hard to replenish. And they are only useful if you choose the Paragon path in the Feros mission.
Which brings me to the alignment system. The Paragon path is all about protecting the innocent, working together toward a common goal, and doing things the right way. The social skill you get is charm, which, at certain levels, gives you discounts at the stores.
Renegade is all about ruthless determination. Renegade choices are about getting things done no matter the cost and forcing people to aqueous to your desires. The social skill you get is intimidate, which gives you more credits from merchants when buying the gear you sell.
These two morality choices affect the ending you choose, and what is said about you and the human race. But as more info will spoil the ending, I won't go into details.
Now, I feel like I'd be doing new players a disservice if I didn't tackle the two things that aren't fun, but are unfortunately very prevalant; the the QTE hacker minigame, and the damn Mako. Anyone who has played Shenmue, Indigo Prophesy or Resident Evil 6 knows the pain of QTE, so I won't go into it. As for the Mako, that's another "cool idea, but poor implementation". It controls like a brick, and despite what the pre-release and in game codexes say, this thing flips over at the slightest bump on the ground. I've actually had to start the section over when the damn thing flipped over and got stuck. Add to that to the fact that killing things with the Mako only nets you 75% of the xp you would get on foot, and you're better off getting the side quests with the Mako out of the way just after picking up Liara and doing all the fighting on foot, unless you are fighting a thresher maw.
Don't get me wrong; this game is fun. And going with the tips I've given you makes the game more fun.
This game fixes a lot of the problems I had with ME1's combat system. First off, you no longer have to put points into a gun; they are as accurate as your aim is. As such, the sniper rifle is a LOT more viable choice of weapon. In fact, this is my preferred extra gun for all but the soldier and vanguard, for the reasons I've already covered.
Next, the cover mechanism is much easier to drop into; it is tied to the run button, instead of the control stick. This is important because your enemies now fighting from cover, and you will get killed if you try to run and gun. And since your squadmates now have their OWN button to move them around the battlefield and are no longer retarded about power usage, you now have the tactical control over the battlefield that the ME1 wanted you to have.
And as I explained before, the classes are a LOT more distinct, so your game will be different each time, as will your squad choices. Some squadmates are better against machines, others against armored targets, and others work great for biotic detonations. Others are just weapons specialists. Whom you pick is determined by the mission and who compliments your class choice.
This game isn't without its flaws as well; the planet scanning you need to do to upgrade your health, weapons, powers, damage protection and heavy weapon ammo capacity is dull, but can be made less painful by using the wiki for planets rich in resources that you need.
And yes, I mentioned heavy weapons; these replace the grenades, and are far more useful. They are just as limited as grenades, yes, but they hit harder and are easier to aim. That said, some are better than others, so choose based on your preferences.
I also need to mention the Hammerhead tank. It fixes all the problems with the Mako; smooth controls, no longer lose XP when using the cannon, and no longer integral to the game.
The mini-games are a lot more fun too; "Connect the wires" and "match the symbols". Both are simple, and while both are times, neither are QTE.
The Paragon and Renegade meters have also been streamlined; you don't have skills to put points into, so your Charm/Intimidate score is based on your alignment meter. We also gain interrupts; Paragon interrupts stops fights and cools tempers, where Renegade interrupts either intimidates with threats of violence or outright commits acts of violence.
Finally, we get to my preferred load out. This time, it's very different between the squadmates and Shepard. For Shepard, I go with the Kestrel armor from the Aegis Pack, with the Kuwashii Visor replacing the headgear for the soldier and infiltrator, and the archon visor from the Equalizer pack for the other four.
Gun loadout is the Mattlock assault rifle for all who can use it but Shepard, and the Phalanx Pistol for all who can use it but Shepard. These two guns are great in the hands of companions, but not so much as Shepard; the Mattlock is a single shot, while the Phalanx removes the target reticule and replaces it with a laser sight. But companions are always accurate with their weapons, so the damage boost they get from these guns is worth it.
The shotgun you want is the Eviscerator, which does the most damage after the geth shotgun and the Claymore. However, the geth shotgun is a charged weapon, and companions don't charge it. It also won't charge from cover, so it's less useful in combat. I recommend the Eviscerator for all but Grunt and Vanguard Shepard, who can use the Claymore once it is unlocked.
The sniper rifle you want is the Mantis, which is a single shot, powerful gun. The other two are either high magazine/low individual shot damage, or a three round burst, which loses accuracy after the first shot. The best, though, is the Widow, which only Shepard and Legion get access to.
As for the SMG, use the Kassa Locust. It is the best SMG in the game, and since the Kasumi DLC can be played immediately after Horizon, it will carry you through the whole game.
And for all of them, make sure you fix your load out when the game "upgrades" your guns as you acquire new ones. In the vanilla game, those guns were better than the ones you start with (with a couple of exceptions), but with the DLC guns, you will want to fix them at the first available weapons terminal. This is only problematic on Haestrom, where the closest weapons terminal is after a large battle.
As for Shepard, I prefer the Carnifax pistol, which does more damage than the starting pistol, but still maintains the target reticule that the Phalanx doesn't have. For the Soldier and Vanguard, I prefer the Eviscerator. Vanguard upgrades to the Claymore on the Collector ship. All classes but the Vanguard, I go with the Mantis sniper rifle, unless Infiltrator, which I upgrade to the Widow. And the Soldier gets the Avenger, since I prefer my assault rifles to go full auto, until I can get the Revnant on the Collector ship.
As for Heavy Weapons, I go with the Grenade Launcher, then the Cain when I can get it. The missile launcher is good, because you don't have to aim it, and has the largest ammo capacity. But it also does the lowest damage. So I go with the grenade launcher, which does the second most damage, after the Cain.
Oh, and melee combat has it's own button, so you no longer have to worry about elbowing something that you wanted to shoot.
And this brings me to bonus powers. Unlike in ME1, you gain your bonus powers from your companions loyalty missions; whatever power they get, so does Shepard. As such, I have three powers that I prefer; Warp Ammo from Jack, which tears through barriers and armor, Energy Drain from Tali, which takes your enemy's shields and adds them to your own, and Samara's Reave, which does the same as Energy Drain, but for health.
Finally, I need to bring up Medi-gel. In this game, it is used to resurrect your allies and not to heal you. You gain your health and shields back through hiding on cover or the above mentioned skills. In game codex explains why.
Mass Effect 3's combat system brings back the best of both games. You have situations you have to run and gun, and situations where you have to fight from cover. For this reason, you gain a heavy melee attack and a melee combo. The heavy attack allows you to one shot (or nearly one shot, based on difficulty), any enemy that gets close to you. Melee combos are just that; combos you get from continually tapping the melee button.
Heavy weapons are different; they have limited ammunition, are found around the battlefield, and are dropped when they are empty. But there are a LOT more of them, and they are ALL useful.
Grenades return, but are far more plentiful and far more useful. What type you get is determined by your class, (or what you get instead of grenades, in the case of the Engineer and Vanguard. Engineer gets a sentry drone, and the Vanguard gets Nova. The wiki I linked to gives you more details) and you can get up to six of them. And you can replenish them at ammo caches that can be found on most battlefields.
Other than that, the game controls the same as ME2, with a couple of exceptions. Ammo powers no longer trigger global cooldown, so you could sit in cover all day switching out your ammo powers quickly. And the major change, the weight system. Which requires a full explanation.
The weight system means that weapons are no longer restricted by class. Want to build an Adept around the assault rifle? Go for it! Soldier with an SMG? That's good too. Sentinel built around only a pistol once again? That's good too.
But the downside to this freedom is that each class has a different weight capacity, which, while able to be upgraded via your class trait, does affect the cooldown rate of your powers. So trying to load out with the heaviest assault rifles, shotguns or sniper rifles as an Engineer or Adept restricts availability or your class' strength.
What you have to do for all the classes but the soldier is to balance what guns you want with power cooldown rate. The more under your weight capacity you go, the faster the cooldown rate for your powers, and vice versa. Weight of weapons can also be lowered through ultralight material upgrades for your guns, as does upgrading the guns at the armory on the Normandy. (Yes, weapon upgrades are back, and you have a LOT guns to choose from.)
There's another problem with the heaviest guns; reload animation. The heaviest guns (and any sniper rifle for that matter) have a LONG reload animation. So even the Soldier, who only has two powers that trigger the global cooldown, has to worry about weight in a hectic firefight.
This is why I go with a very specific layout for my classes. First off, I forgo a pistol on Shepard, since I can carry an assault rifle and sniper rifle with me, no matter the class. For all classes but the Soldier, Infiltrator and Vanguard, I go with Mantis sniper rifle and the Avenger assault rifle, as these are the lighest possible that function the way I like them (single shot and full auto, respectively). I put ultralight material in the assault rifle to lower my weight capacity, so I can use my powers more often.
The Infiltrator gets the same, until I can afford the Black Widow at the Spectre store, and can pick up the Kassa Locust late in the game. The Vanguard takes the Eviscerator shotgun in place of the sniper rifle, to be replaced with the Wraith from the Spectre office once I can afford it.
As for the Soldier, I replace the Avenger the Cerberus Harrier, which you get from the Firefight DLC pack, and I replace the Mantis with the Widow once I get it, and the Eviscerator until I get the Claymore.
As for companions, I go with the Harrier, Mantis/Widow, Eviscerator, N7 Piranha, Claymore, Tempest SMG/Kassa Locust, Talon Pistol, Carnifax Pistol and Phalanx pistol. I go with three shotguns, since the different shotguns fit better with certain companions roles; Vega is better with the Claymore, since he's a tank, where Tali is better with the Eviscerator, since it has a longer range. (Aria from the Omega DLC gets the Piranha, which is in the Groundside Resistance Pack, because giving her what amounts to a grenade launcher fits her power loadout.)
I focus on armor that boosts weapon damage for Shepard, so I go with the Hahne Kedar armor (with Armax shoulder guards until I can get Hahne Kedar versions after Rannoch), and Kuwashii visor. However, you can find artifacts artifacts around the galaxy that you can use to research character boosts that benefit your class in whatever way you want.
The health system is different though; instead of one long bar, your health bar is multiple smaller bars. You regenerate your health to fill up that bar, and require medi-gel to heal the rest.
Finally, extra skills are received the same way in this game, but this time, they are gained via an unseen "how much I like you" stat. I can only advise one skill this time; armor-piercing ammo. There is one abundant enemy that is a pain without it; the Cerberus Guardian, who carries a big wall shield. The only way to damage them is to either hit them through the "mailbox window", use the biotic power "Pull" to rip the shield out of his hands, or get behind them. But since they quickly turn to face you, the third is difficult to do. But with armor-piercing ammo? One point in it allows you shoot through the shield, damaging it directly. More points allows you to shoot through cover, to an extent. This extra skill is the best in the game, hands down.
Oh, and no tank and no mini games in this game. Mini games have been replaced with multiplayer, which functions the same as single player, except your squadmates are other players. Also, you get to play as other races, which have their own powers for multiplayer. See the wiki for more details.
The best part of all three games is that they teach you through gameplay. Yes, the first area is a tutorial area, but the whole time, you are running, shooting, using powers and getting exposition on the fly. It doesn't talk down to you, and doesn't hold your hand.
Remember though, that you can play your game any way you want, and ignore any tips I've given as necessary.
I'm going to finalize this with a blog on the companions, and then my thoughts on the whole story. Until then, happy gaming!
Today, as my header says, I'm going tackle the combat, minigames and morality system in the games. I'm going to go through each one sequentially, giving my thoughts, as well as tips, to play the game in a way that maximizes your fun.
I'm going to state right here that I own the Xbox 360 versions of the games, and thus some of my problems and praises may not apply to the PC and PS3 versions. Though, since we are using the same game engine, I'm sure MOST of what I say still applies.
Mass Effect 1's combat system has a LOT of good ideas, though some are poorly implemented. The way the game is designed to be played is to give you tactical control over the battlefield, allowing you to flank your foes and use powers to dominate the battlefield. In practice, though, there are issues with the implementation.
First off, cover. The way it is supposed to work is that you use the control stick to press up against the wall, and you use the trigger buttons to aim your weapon from cover. In practice, however, it doesn't always work like that. Sometimes, when you want to press up against a wall, only to lift your weapon and stand there like an idiot. You also need to click the control stick to crouch, and you can't move to certain cover unless you are crouched.
Cover is also pretty useless because your enemies don't fight from it. They run around the battlefield, shooting and flinging powers as they run and gun, forcing you to do the same. And if you try to fight from cover, especially in an enclosed area, you are going to get flanked and killed. This forces you to run and gun to survive.
And your companions are useless too. Both companions are tied to a single button on the d-pad, so you can't really send them around the battlefield tactically, since both are going to the same place. And for some reason, they tend to "blow their load" on their powers if you don't set them to "defense only" in the options menu. This becomes a real problem with you are fighting geth armatures in the early game, since their main cannon can kill you in one hit. So if you want to use squad powers when you want them, set the usage to "defense only" before you start the game.
Now, since you have to run and gun to survive, proper weapon and extra skill (remember the first game's post?) selection is essential. There are four factors to consider for weapon selection; aiming, recoil, heat generation and firing rate. It is these four factors that makes the Sniper Rifle all but useless. On every console version I've played, the Sniper Rifle reticule takes a LONG time to finally settle on where you are pointing it, even with the best rifle in the game and 12 points in the ability. It's pretty much "one shot at the start of a battle and then switch to another gun, and ONLY if you get the drop on your foes, which isn't often".
That means you have only 3 real choices in firearms. The pistol is the one gun that all classes can use without advance training. It a reasonable firing rate, reasonable damage output, and reasonable heat generation, and low recoil. It's a good backup weapon when your other guns are overheated.
The assault rifle puts a lot of fire down range, but also has the highest recoil after the useless sniper rifle. This one also has the highest heat generation after the sniper rifle, but one point in assault rifles gives you overkill, which mitigates the recoil and heat generation for a few critical seconds. More points in the skill reduces recoil, and better quality guns reduce heat generation. And with proper upgrades, recoil and heat generation become a thing of the past.
The shotgun, however, has great accuracy, has low recoil, and has high heat generation (though that's the nature of a shotgun, so I wouldn't hold it against it), but also a high damage output. It is only truly useful at close range, though.
My suggestion is to either give the assault rifle or shotgun skill to all but the Vanguard (as that class already has a good weapon), depending on your play style. If you like fighting from mid to long range, use the assault rifle. If you prefer close range combat, shotgun.
Be careful with close range though. The melee attack in this game is the same as the gunfire button, and can trip you up if you don't want to use it. More than once, I've wanted to plant a shotgun shell into an enemy's chest, only to elbow them instead, because they were too close.
As for your load out, go with Spectre guns. They are the best guns in the game, hands down. As for armor, Predator has the best shields and Colossus gives you the best damage protection. But since you have upgrades that upgrade your shields, you can go with the Colossus, then the Titan, Predator and then Mercenary, based on availability.
Biotic amps should be Savant, Polaris and Prodigy in that order. Omni-tools should be Savant, Nexus and Chameleon for Shepard, Tali and Garrus in that order, and Savant, Logic Arrest and Polaris for Liara and Kaidan in that order.
Medi-gel is your healing ability, but the problem with it is that it has a long cooldown; if you use it to bring back your health, you have a long wait to use it again. A step back from KOTOR and Jade Empire, if you ask me.
Grenades in this game are pretty much useless as well. They are thrown sidearm, have a low blast radius, and are very hard to replenish. And they are only useful if you choose the Paragon path in the Feros mission.
Which brings me to the alignment system. The Paragon path is all about protecting the innocent, working together toward a common goal, and doing things the right way. The social skill you get is charm, which, at certain levels, gives you discounts at the stores.
Renegade is all about ruthless determination. Renegade choices are about getting things done no matter the cost and forcing people to aqueous to your desires. The social skill you get is intimidate, which gives you more credits from merchants when buying the gear you sell.
These two morality choices affect the ending you choose, and what is said about you and the human race. But as more info will spoil the ending, I won't go into details.
Now, I feel like I'd be doing new players a disservice if I didn't tackle the two things that aren't fun, but are unfortunately very prevalant; the the QTE hacker minigame, and the damn Mako. Anyone who has played Shenmue, Indigo Prophesy or Resident Evil 6 knows the pain of QTE, so I won't go into it. As for the Mako, that's another "cool idea, but poor implementation". It controls like a brick, and despite what the pre-release and in game codexes say, this thing flips over at the slightest bump on the ground. I've actually had to start the section over when the damn thing flipped over and got stuck. Add to that to the fact that killing things with the Mako only nets you 75% of the xp you would get on foot, and you're better off getting the side quests with the Mako out of the way just after picking up Liara and doing all the fighting on foot, unless you are fighting a thresher maw.
Don't get me wrong; this game is fun. And going with the tips I've given you makes the game more fun.
This game fixes a lot of the problems I had with ME1's combat system. First off, you no longer have to put points into a gun; they are as accurate as your aim is. As such, the sniper rifle is a LOT more viable choice of weapon. In fact, this is my preferred extra gun for all but the soldier and vanguard, for the reasons I've already covered.
Next, the cover mechanism is much easier to drop into; it is tied to the run button, instead of the control stick. This is important because your enemies now fighting from cover, and you will get killed if you try to run and gun. And since your squadmates now have their OWN button to move them around the battlefield and are no longer retarded about power usage, you now have the tactical control over the battlefield that the ME1 wanted you to have.
And as I explained before, the classes are a LOT more distinct, so your game will be different each time, as will your squad choices. Some squadmates are better against machines, others against armored targets, and others work great for biotic detonations. Others are just weapons specialists. Whom you pick is determined by the mission and who compliments your class choice.
This game isn't without its flaws as well; the planet scanning you need to do to upgrade your health, weapons, powers, damage protection and heavy weapon ammo capacity is dull, but can be made less painful by using the wiki for planets rich in resources that you need.
And yes, I mentioned heavy weapons; these replace the grenades, and are far more useful. They are just as limited as grenades, yes, but they hit harder and are easier to aim. That said, some are better than others, so choose based on your preferences.
I also need to mention the Hammerhead tank. It fixes all the problems with the Mako; smooth controls, no longer lose XP when using the cannon, and no longer integral to the game.
The mini-games are a lot more fun too; "Connect the wires" and "match the symbols". Both are simple, and while both are times, neither are QTE.
The Paragon and Renegade meters have also been streamlined; you don't have skills to put points into, so your Charm/Intimidate score is based on your alignment meter. We also gain interrupts; Paragon interrupts stops fights and cools tempers, where Renegade interrupts either intimidates with threats of violence or outright commits acts of violence.
Finally, we get to my preferred load out. This time, it's very different between the squadmates and Shepard. For Shepard, I go with the Kestrel armor from the Aegis Pack, with the Kuwashii Visor replacing the headgear for the soldier and infiltrator, and the archon visor from the Equalizer pack for the other four.
Gun loadout is the Mattlock assault rifle for all who can use it but Shepard, and the Phalanx Pistol for all who can use it but Shepard. These two guns are great in the hands of companions, but not so much as Shepard; the Mattlock is a single shot, while the Phalanx removes the target reticule and replaces it with a laser sight. But companions are always accurate with their weapons, so the damage boost they get from these guns is worth it.
The shotgun you want is the Eviscerator, which does the most damage after the geth shotgun and the Claymore. However, the geth shotgun is a charged weapon, and companions don't charge it. It also won't charge from cover, so it's less useful in combat. I recommend the Eviscerator for all but Grunt and Vanguard Shepard, who can use the Claymore once it is unlocked.
The sniper rifle you want is the Mantis, which is a single shot, powerful gun. The other two are either high magazine/low individual shot damage, or a three round burst, which loses accuracy after the first shot. The best, though, is the Widow, which only Shepard and Legion get access to.
As for the SMG, use the Kassa Locust. It is the best SMG in the game, and since the Kasumi DLC can be played immediately after Horizon, it will carry you through the whole game.
And for all of them, make sure you fix your load out when the game "upgrades" your guns as you acquire new ones. In the vanilla game, those guns were better than the ones you start with (with a couple of exceptions), but with the DLC guns, you will want to fix them at the first available weapons terminal. This is only problematic on Haestrom, where the closest weapons terminal is after a large battle.
As for Shepard, I prefer the Carnifax pistol, which does more damage than the starting pistol, but still maintains the target reticule that the Phalanx doesn't have. For the Soldier and Vanguard, I prefer the Eviscerator. Vanguard upgrades to the Claymore on the Collector ship. All classes but the Vanguard, I go with the Mantis sniper rifle, unless Infiltrator, which I upgrade to the Widow. And the Soldier gets the Avenger, since I prefer my assault rifles to go full auto, until I can get the Revnant on the Collector ship.
As for Heavy Weapons, I go with the Grenade Launcher, then the Cain when I can get it. The missile launcher is good, because you don't have to aim it, and has the largest ammo capacity. But it also does the lowest damage. So I go with the grenade launcher, which does the second most damage, after the Cain.
Oh, and melee combat has it's own button, so you no longer have to worry about elbowing something that you wanted to shoot.
And this brings me to bonus powers. Unlike in ME1, you gain your bonus powers from your companions loyalty missions; whatever power they get, so does Shepard. As such, I have three powers that I prefer; Warp Ammo from Jack, which tears through barriers and armor, Energy Drain from Tali, which takes your enemy's shields and adds them to your own, and Samara's Reave, which does the same as Energy Drain, but for health.
Finally, I need to bring up Medi-gel. In this game, it is used to resurrect your allies and not to heal you. You gain your health and shields back through hiding on cover or the above mentioned skills. In game codex explains why.
Mass Effect 3's combat system brings back the best of both games. You have situations you have to run and gun, and situations where you have to fight from cover. For this reason, you gain a heavy melee attack and a melee combo. The heavy attack allows you to one shot (or nearly one shot, based on difficulty), any enemy that gets close to you. Melee combos are just that; combos you get from continually tapping the melee button.
Heavy weapons are different; they have limited ammunition, are found around the battlefield, and are dropped when they are empty. But there are a LOT more of them, and they are ALL useful.
Grenades return, but are far more plentiful and far more useful. What type you get is determined by your class, (or what you get instead of grenades, in the case of the Engineer and Vanguard. Engineer gets a sentry drone, and the Vanguard gets Nova. The wiki I linked to gives you more details) and you can get up to six of them. And you can replenish them at ammo caches that can be found on most battlefields.
Other than that, the game controls the same as ME2, with a couple of exceptions. Ammo powers no longer trigger global cooldown, so you could sit in cover all day switching out your ammo powers quickly. And the major change, the weight system. Which requires a full explanation.
The weight system means that weapons are no longer restricted by class. Want to build an Adept around the assault rifle? Go for it! Soldier with an SMG? That's good too. Sentinel built around only a pistol once again? That's good too.
But the downside to this freedom is that each class has a different weight capacity, which, while able to be upgraded via your class trait, does affect the cooldown rate of your powers. So trying to load out with the heaviest assault rifles, shotguns or sniper rifles as an Engineer or Adept restricts availability or your class' strength.
What you have to do for all the classes but the soldier is to balance what guns you want with power cooldown rate. The more under your weight capacity you go, the faster the cooldown rate for your powers, and vice versa. Weight of weapons can also be lowered through ultralight material upgrades for your guns, as does upgrading the guns at the armory on the Normandy. (Yes, weapon upgrades are back, and you have a LOT guns to choose from.)
There's another problem with the heaviest guns; reload animation. The heaviest guns (and any sniper rifle for that matter) have a LONG reload animation. So even the Soldier, who only has two powers that trigger the global cooldown, has to worry about weight in a hectic firefight.
This is why I go with a very specific layout for my classes. First off, I forgo a pistol on Shepard, since I can carry an assault rifle and sniper rifle with me, no matter the class. For all classes but the Soldier, Infiltrator and Vanguard, I go with Mantis sniper rifle and the Avenger assault rifle, as these are the lighest possible that function the way I like them (single shot and full auto, respectively). I put ultralight material in the assault rifle to lower my weight capacity, so I can use my powers more often.
The Infiltrator gets the same, until I can afford the Black Widow at the Spectre store, and can pick up the Kassa Locust late in the game. The Vanguard takes the Eviscerator shotgun in place of the sniper rifle, to be replaced with the Wraith from the Spectre office once I can afford it.
As for the Soldier, I replace the Avenger the Cerberus Harrier, which you get from the Firefight DLC pack, and I replace the Mantis with the Widow once I get it, and the Eviscerator until I get the Claymore.
As for companions, I go with the Harrier, Mantis/Widow, Eviscerator, N7 Piranha, Claymore, Tempest SMG/Kassa Locust, Talon Pistol, Carnifax Pistol and Phalanx pistol. I go with three shotguns, since the different shotguns fit better with certain companions roles; Vega is better with the Claymore, since he's a tank, where Tali is better with the Eviscerator, since it has a longer range. (Aria from the Omega DLC gets the Piranha, which is in the Groundside Resistance Pack, because giving her what amounts to a grenade launcher fits her power loadout.)
I focus on armor that boosts weapon damage for Shepard, so I go with the Hahne Kedar armor (with Armax shoulder guards until I can get Hahne Kedar versions after Rannoch), and Kuwashii visor. However, you can find artifacts artifacts around the galaxy that you can use to research character boosts that benefit your class in whatever way you want.
The health system is different though; instead of one long bar, your health bar is multiple smaller bars. You regenerate your health to fill up that bar, and require medi-gel to heal the rest.
Finally, extra skills are received the same way in this game, but this time, they are gained via an unseen "how much I like you" stat. I can only advise one skill this time; armor-piercing ammo. There is one abundant enemy that is a pain without it; the Cerberus Guardian, who carries a big wall shield. The only way to damage them is to either hit them through the "mailbox window", use the biotic power "Pull" to rip the shield out of his hands, or get behind them. But since they quickly turn to face you, the third is difficult to do. But with armor-piercing ammo? One point in it allows you shoot through the shield, damaging it directly. More points allows you to shoot through cover, to an extent. This extra skill is the best in the game, hands down.
Oh, and no tank and no mini games in this game. Mini games have been replaced with multiplayer, which functions the same as single player, except your squadmates are other players. Also, you get to play as other races, which have their own powers for multiplayer. See the wiki for more details.
The best part of all three games is that they teach you through gameplay. Yes, the first area is a tutorial area, but the whole time, you are running, shooting, using powers and getting exposition on the fly. It doesn't talk down to you, and doesn't hold your hand.
Remember though, that you can play your game any way you want, and ignore any tips I've given as necessary.
I'm going to finalize this with a blog on the companions, and then my thoughts on the whole story. Until then, happy gaming!
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 6: Final game
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
I'm glad I didn't set a time table for this retrospective, because had I done so, I would have been more irritated that I stepped on my game disc for disc 1. (I've been playing the games in order to refresh my memory on how they work.) But now that I've got a replacement for it, I'm starting on the third and final game with Commander Shepard.
First off, do NOT load up this game without the Extended Cut DLC installed. It is completely free, will remain so until April of 2014 (originally 2015), and fixes several things that weren't flagging properly in the original pressing. And with it installed, you won't have to deal with the major issues that internet was butthurt over when this game was originally released.
The game opens with proof of what we and Commander Shepard already knows; the Reapers are real, and they are invading. Earth's leadership is freaking out, starts demanding ways to beat the Reapers from the relieved-from-duty-for-committing-a-war-crime Shepard (but only if you played Arrival. Then, Shepard was relieved from duty was for working for Cerberus. I think that Arrival gives a better opening.), only to get "Sorry, we're screwed because you didn't listen to me three years ago." And to put a point on that, a Reaper beam blows up the Alliance military leadership, leaving only Shepard and Anderson alive. They make their way to the Normandy, where Anderson stays behind to remain Earth's military leader, and reinstates Shepard into the Alliance Navy.
From there, Shepard, the Virmire survivor and new squadmate James Vega head to Mars on the orders of the head of the Alliance Military, Admiral Steven Hackett. They make their way into the facility, only to meet Liara, who tells them there is data about a Prothean superweapon that could give them a chance against the Reapers. Shepard, the Virmire Survivor and Liara (Vega was sent back to have the shuttle ready for extraction) make their way through the facility, fighting Cerberus troops the whole way, until they retrieve the data they need and head to the Citadel to present this information, but the Virmire Survivor is critically injured in the process, and needs immediate medical attention.
Once on the Citadel, the group presents the info to the Council, who says, in so many words, "Sorry folks, we can't help. We must secure our own borders.", but the turian Councillor, in private with Udina present, "Appeal to our leadership directly. We're upholding/reinstating your Spectre status. Go save us."
And this is the major focus of the game; gathering allies and resources to bring the McGuffin against the Reapers. You fly around the galaxy, scanning planets for resources for one of the other, and follow the story to gain the actual allies. And it's a fun ride the whole way.
The gameplay is mostly the same, but with one major change; there is no longer such a thing as "class specific weapons." It has instead been replaced with a weight system; Shepard is now use any gun he or she wants, without extra training. You want a soldier with an SMG? Perfectly fine. An Adept with an assault rifle? Go ahead. But be careful; how much weight you carry affects the cooldown of your powers. So if you decide to haul around the heaviest assault rifle as an Adept, you're not going to be using your biotics all that often. (I'll explain the intricacies of the combat systems of all three games in a separate entry, since I didn't tackle it in any of these.)
Your squad is mostly composed of characters you had in ME1, with a couple of exceptions. Liara and the Virmire Survivor return, as does Garrus and Tali. EDI makes her debut as a squadmate, and you've got a new squadmate James Vega.
But don't think all the squadmates you got to know over the course of the previous two games won't show up. Mordin and Wrex play an important part in the Tuchanka questlines. Jack makes her presence known in the Grissom Academy quest, as well as a cameo later. Miranda has three meetings on the Citadel, as well as playing an important part on Horizon. Jacob drops in during the Ex-Cerberus Scientists questline. Grunt shows up in the rachni quest, and only survives if you did his rite of passage in ME2. And Legion pops up during the quarian/geth war questline, and having him is the only way to broker a peace agreement between the quarians and the geth. But if they died, don't worry; they all have place holders. They're kind of like Biff the Understudy from Baldur's Gate 1; they come in and perform the role of the previous squadmate, though they have different personalities. Urdnot Wreav being the most glaring, but all the place holders are different than their squadmate counterpart.
Now, this game is all about consequences. Garrus and Tali didn't survive ME2? Well, they won't appear in the squad, and will have a placeholder at their important point in the story. Wrex's survival or not affects the story, as does whether or not you saved Maelan's genophage data in ME2. Whether you performed loyalty missions affects certain quests in the game, as does something as simple hanging up on the Council in ME1. So many quests are affected by your decisions, and you could play both games many times just to see how your actions will affect one little quest. That's the reason I said to get that Asari writings quest; it affects a quest in this game!
And I'm glad to say that this game finally brings in Kahlee Sanders into the games, and shows up what she looks like, and gives her a voice. I was so happy to see the protagonist of all the novels was finally in the game, and to see that she has an important part of the Grissom Academy storyline, and becomes an important war asset. Kai Leng also shows up in this game, upgraded by the Illusive Man and works as Shepard's antagonist. And I'm happy to say that yes, you do get to kill him. :)
Now, everything you do builds toward the Military Readiness Rating. You have three factors; Total Military Strength, Galactic Readiness Rating (which you build via multiplayer), and Effect Readiness rating. Without multiplayer, you only get half of your TMS rating as your EMS. In order to get the best possible ending, you need an EMS rating of 3100 (4000 without the Extended cut, which is impossible without multiplayer or other DLC) when you invade Earth. You gain TMS by completing the story, sneaking into Reaper territory with the Normandy's stealth capability and scanning planets for War Assets (yes, planet scanning is back, but unlike ME2, it's not painful). Yes, this game has the Normandy's main selling point, the stealth system, as a tangible game mechanic. About time, I say.
This game is heavy on the DLC. You have From the Ashes, which introduces a new squadmate, Javik, the last Prothean, a new gun, and a war asset. Leviathan gives you a couple of quests about a "Reaper killer", a couple of new guns, and a couple of war assets. Omega has you retaking Omega with Aria T'Loak, who becomes a temporary companion, and you gain a couple of weapons and a war asset. And finally, Citadel is essentially Bioware's goodbye to the franchise, which gives you a story about a Cerberus clone of Shepard its attempt to steal Shepard's identity. The second half of the DLC involves shore leave, which allows you to have some fun with your friends from the past two games (sans Mordin and Legion, who are gone due to to storyline reasons), and have a party with them. You also gain access to mini games, which include an arcade and a combat arena. As for what you gain toward the ending, you gain a new gun, and two new war assets. You also get the groundside resistance pack, which gives you new guns, and an alternate appearance pack, which nets you outfits for a few of your squadmates, which boosts certain stats or them. There's also a multiplayer pack with maps, but I don't really play them, since I don't have an Xbox Live gold account. (I'll go ahead and say my views on multiplayer; it's fun. Not necessary once you have the extended cut DLC, but it's fun.) Finally, you have the Genesis comic, which functions exactly like the Genesis comic in ME2.
Oh, and a special note on the DLC "mission packs"; they come available at a certain point in the story, and make more sense at a certain part in the story. From the Ashes is available after you finish Mars, but you don't get to use Javik until after you finish Palavan. Leviathan is not available until you get EDI in your party, and should be picked up at that moment. Omega isn't available until you've been to the Citadel after you finish Palavan, but you should wait until you finish getting the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse under her control, and if you chose the Paragon path for the Blue Suns, that takes a little longer. Citadel becomes available after Cerberus invades the Citadel, but in my book, should be completed no earlier than Thessia's quest. However, Miranda is not available for the party until after Horizon, which, in my book, is where the ending starts, and wouldn't make sense to take a break just as the Alliance is gearing up to take down Cerberus once and for all. I can understand that having the Normandy get some much needed repairs and the crew get some much needed rest right before the final assault would be healthy for them, but I kind of feel like the pacing is spoiled. Going from full tilt to a long stretch of downtime feels off. That said, I still wait until Miranda is available for the party to start it, because I love her scenes in it.
Now, even with all the praise I'm giving the game, there are a few things I don't care for. The art redesign is irritating. If you were like many ME1 players working to get their Shepard just right, you were pissed off when you import your Shepard and find that he or she looks NOTHING like what you worked for. I once had a Shepard that was a red-head, but when I imported her, her eyebrows somehow turned green. GREEN. Any who doesn't accept the default Shepard is going to want to accept the offer to modify the imported Shepard to fix the eyes, hair, nose and the other things that the new options for character creation have introduced. And while I will never begrudge more options for character creation, they shouldn't come at the expense of existing character models.
I also don't like basic uniform redesign. From a military standpoint, that uniform doesn't make sense. That high collar looks wrong to me, but this complaint is minor, since we finally get the Alliance dress blues, as well as what has a "BDU" feel to them. You also get an N7 sweatshirt, if you bought the collector's edition, though I doubt the code to get the DLC no longer works.
And I really hate Ashley's redesign. She goes from a no nonsense, tough as nails soldier to a femme fatele look. Her new look does not conform to military standards, and every time I import a game with her as the Virmire Survivor, she looks wrong in ME3.
But these are minor complaints, and should not detract from your enjoyment of the game. You CAN fix your character's face. You don't HAVE to wear the ugly looking uniform, though everyone else who is in one is stuck with them. And while the Ashley redesign can't be fixed in game, she doesn't HAVE to survive Virmire.
Finally, my take on the ending. I really think that most who are still butthurt after the Extended Cut DLC don't understand what the game's story is about; your are preparing for an invasion so you can stop the Reapers. Once you start the invasion, it's a straight shot toward the end. Not a lot of room for a "Lord of the Rings ending". People are going to die in this kind of story, even the hero. You're not supposed to have the "Mega Happy Ending", and to expect one shows you don't understand what is going on.
All in all, Mass Effect 3 is a satisfying end to the series, and can be picked up on the cheap. I picked up my new copy for 15 bucks new, and you can find older copies for cheaper.
Next up is an in depth look at the combat systems of all three games, followed by an entry on the companions and the romances. After that, I'll close it out with my final thoughts on the entire series.
Happy Gaming!
I'm glad I didn't set a time table for this retrospective, because had I done so, I would have been more irritated that I stepped on my game disc for disc 1. (I've been playing the games in order to refresh my memory on how they work.) But now that I've got a replacement for it, I'm starting on the third and final game with Commander Shepard.
First off, do NOT load up this game without the Extended Cut DLC installed. It is completely free, will remain so until April of 2014 (originally 2015), and fixes several things that weren't flagging properly in the original pressing. And with it installed, you won't have to deal with the major issues that internet was butthurt over when this game was originally released.
The game opens with proof of what we and Commander Shepard already knows; the Reapers are real, and they are invading. Earth's leadership is freaking out, starts demanding ways to beat the Reapers from the relieved-from-duty-for-committing-a-war-crime Shepard (but only if you played Arrival. Then, Shepard was relieved from duty was for working for Cerberus. I think that Arrival gives a better opening.), only to get "Sorry, we're screwed because you didn't listen to me three years ago." And to put a point on that, a Reaper beam blows up the Alliance military leadership, leaving only Shepard and Anderson alive. They make their way to the Normandy, where Anderson stays behind to remain Earth's military leader, and reinstates Shepard into the Alliance Navy.
From there, Shepard, the Virmire survivor and new squadmate James Vega head to Mars on the orders of the head of the Alliance Military, Admiral Steven Hackett. They make their way into the facility, only to meet Liara, who tells them there is data about a Prothean superweapon that could give them a chance against the Reapers. Shepard, the Virmire Survivor and Liara (Vega was sent back to have the shuttle ready for extraction) make their way through the facility, fighting Cerberus troops the whole way, until they retrieve the data they need and head to the Citadel to present this information, but the Virmire Survivor is critically injured in the process, and needs immediate medical attention.
Once on the Citadel, the group presents the info to the Council, who says, in so many words, "Sorry folks, we can't help. We must secure our own borders.", but the turian Councillor, in private with Udina present, "Appeal to our leadership directly. We're upholding/reinstating your Spectre status. Go save us."
And this is the major focus of the game; gathering allies and resources to bring the McGuffin against the Reapers. You fly around the galaxy, scanning planets for resources for one of the other, and follow the story to gain the actual allies. And it's a fun ride the whole way.
The gameplay is mostly the same, but with one major change; there is no longer such a thing as "class specific weapons." It has instead been replaced with a weight system; Shepard is now use any gun he or she wants, without extra training. You want a soldier with an SMG? Perfectly fine. An Adept with an assault rifle? Go ahead. But be careful; how much weight you carry affects the cooldown of your powers. So if you decide to haul around the heaviest assault rifle as an Adept, you're not going to be using your biotics all that often. (I'll explain the intricacies of the combat systems of all three games in a separate entry, since I didn't tackle it in any of these.)
Your squad is mostly composed of characters you had in ME1, with a couple of exceptions. Liara and the Virmire Survivor return, as does Garrus and Tali. EDI makes her debut as a squadmate, and you've got a new squadmate James Vega.
But don't think all the squadmates you got to know over the course of the previous two games won't show up. Mordin and Wrex play an important part in the Tuchanka questlines. Jack makes her presence known in the Grissom Academy quest, as well as a cameo later. Miranda has three meetings on the Citadel, as well as playing an important part on Horizon. Jacob drops in during the Ex-Cerberus Scientists questline. Grunt shows up in the rachni quest, and only survives if you did his rite of passage in ME2. And Legion pops up during the quarian/geth war questline, and having him is the only way to broker a peace agreement between the quarians and the geth. But if they died, don't worry; they all have place holders. They're kind of like Biff the Understudy from Baldur's Gate 1; they come in and perform the role of the previous squadmate, though they have different personalities. Urdnot Wreav being the most glaring, but all the place holders are different than their squadmate counterpart.
Now, this game is all about consequences. Garrus and Tali didn't survive ME2? Well, they won't appear in the squad, and will have a placeholder at their important point in the story. Wrex's survival or not affects the story, as does whether or not you saved Maelan's genophage data in ME2. Whether you performed loyalty missions affects certain quests in the game, as does something as simple hanging up on the Council in ME1. So many quests are affected by your decisions, and you could play both games many times just to see how your actions will affect one little quest. That's the reason I said to get that Asari writings quest; it affects a quest in this game!
And I'm glad to say that this game finally brings in Kahlee Sanders into the games, and shows up what she looks like, and gives her a voice. I was so happy to see the protagonist of all the novels was finally in the game, and to see that she has an important part of the Grissom Academy storyline, and becomes an important war asset. Kai Leng also shows up in this game, upgraded by the Illusive Man and works as Shepard's antagonist. And I'm happy to say that yes, you do get to kill him. :)
Now, everything you do builds toward the Military Readiness Rating. You have three factors; Total Military Strength, Galactic Readiness Rating (which you build via multiplayer), and Effect Readiness rating. Without multiplayer, you only get half of your TMS rating as your EMS. In order to get the best possible ending, you need an EMS rating of 3100 (4000 without the Extended cut, which is impossible without multiplayer or other DLC) when you invade Earth. You gain TMS by completing the story, sneaking into Reaper territory with the Normandy's stealth capability and scanning planets for War Assets (yes, planet scanning is back, but unlike ME2, it's not painful). Yes, this game has the Normandy's main selling point, the stealth system, as a tangible game mechanic. About time, I say.
This game is heavy on the DLC. You have From the Ashes, which introduces a new squadmate, Javik, the last Prothean, a new gun, and a war asset. Leviathan gives you a couple of quests about a "Reaper killer", a couple of new guns, and a couple of war assets. Omega has you retaking Omega with Aria T'Loak, who becomes a temporary companion, and you gain a couple of weapons and a war asset. And finally, Citadel is essentially Bioware's goodbye to the franchise, which gives you a story about a Cerberus clone of Shepard its attempt to steal Shepard's identity. The second half of the DLC involves shore leave, which allows you to have some fun with your friends from the past two games (sans Mordin and Legion, who are gone due to to storyline reasons), and have a party with them. You also gain access to mini games, which include an arcade and a combat arena. As for what you gain toward the ending, you gain a new gun, and two new war assets. You also get the groundside resistance pack, which gives you new guns, and an alternate appearance pack, which nets you outfits for a few of your squadmates, which boosts certain stats or them. There's also a multiplayer pack with maps, but I don't really play them, since I don't have an Xbox Live gold account. (I'll go ahead and say my views on multiplayer; it's fun. Not necessary once you have the extended cut DLC, but it's fun.) Finally, you have the Genesis comic, which functions exactly like the Genesis comic in ME2.
Oh, and a special note on the DLC "mission packs"; they come available at a certain point in the story, and make more sense at a certain part in the story. From the Ashes is available after you finish Mars, but you don't get to use Javik until after you finish Palavan. Leviathan is not available until you get EDI in your party, and should be picked up at that moment. Omega isn't available until you've been to the Citadel after you finish Palavan, but you should wait until you finish getting the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse under her control, and if you chose the Paragon path for the Blue Suns, that takes a little longer. Citadel becomes available after Cerberus invades the Citadel, but in my book, should be completed no earlier than Thessia's quest. However, Miranda is not available for the party until after Horizon, which, in my book, is where the ending starts, and wouldn't make sense to take a break just as the Alliance is gearing up to take down Cerberus once and for all. I can understand that having the Normandy get some much needed repairs and the crew get some much needed rest right before the final assault would be healthy for them, but I kind of feel like the pacing is spoiled. Going from full tilt to a long stretch of downtime feels off. That said, I still wait until Miranda is available for the party to start it, because I love her scenes in it.
Now, even with all the praise I'm giving the game, there are a few things I don't care for. The art redesign is irritating. If you were like many ME1 players working to get their Shepard just right, you were pissed off when you import your Shepard and find that he or she looks NOTHING like what you worked for. I once had a Shepard that was a red-head, but when I imported her, her eyebrows somehow turned green. GREEN. Any who doesn't accept the default Shepard is going to want to accept the offer to modify the imported Shepard to fix the eyes, hair, nose and the other things that the new options for character creation have introduced. And while I will never begrudge more options for character creation, they shouldn't come at the expense of existing character models.
I also don't like basic uniform redesign. From a military standpoint, that uniform doesn't make sense. That high collar looks wrong to me, but this complaint is minor, since we finally get the Alliance dress blues, as well as what has a "BDU" feel to them. You also get an N7 sweatshirt, if you bought the collector's edition, though I doubt the code to get the DLC no longer works.
And I really hate Ashley's redesign. She goes from a no nonsense, tough as nails soldier to a femme fatele look. Her new look does not conform to military standards, and every time I import a game with her as the Virmire Survivor, she looks wrong in ME3.
But these are minor complaints, and should not detract from your enjoyment of the game. You CAN fix your character's face. You don't HAVE to wear the ugly looking uniform, though everyone else who is in one is stuck with them. And while the Ashley redesign can't be fixed in game, she doesn't HAVE to survive Virmire.
Finally, my take on the ending. I really think that most who are still butthurt after the Extended Cut DLC don't understand what the game's story is about; your are preparing for an invasion so you can stop the Reapers. Once you start the invasion, it's a straight shot toward the end. Not a lot of room for a "Lord of the Rings ending". People are going to die in this kind of story, even the hero. You're not supposed to have the "Mega Happy Ending", and to expect one shows you don't understand what is going on.
All in all, Mass Effect 3 is a satisfying end to the series, and can be picked up on the cheap. I picked up my new copy for 15 bucks new, and you can find older copies for cheaper.
Next up is an in depth look at the combat systems of all three games, followed by an entry on the companions and the romances. After that, I'll close it out with my final thoughts on the entire series.
Happy Gaming!
Monday, September 23, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 5: Final novel worth reading
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Today, I tackle Mass Effect: Retribution. This is the final novel written by Drew Karpyshyn, and the final contribution he made to the Mass Effect Franchise, because shortly after this was written, he moved to the Dallas Bioware office to work on SWTOR.
This book takes place between the ending of the Arrival DLC(or the ending of ME2 if you either didn't play it after the credits rolled, or didn't play it all. Either way, Shepard is still in Alliance lock-up.), and the beginning of ME3. This book once again stars Kahlee Sanders, but Admiral David Anderson(Yes, Admiral. This follows Bioware's internal canon regarding the choice for human Councilor, but still allows for player choice regarding saving/sacrificing the council.) returns as the second main character. The Illusive Man is also a main character, and this book also introduces Kai Leng, a former N7 marine who is a psychopathic racist; he hates all aliens in every way, and will happily kill every one he meets if he can get away from it. He's also the Illusive Man's right hand, to be deployed whenever he needs something done. Nick Donahue is also brought back, now 15, and no longer a bully; he looks out for the younger students and wants to help any way he can. (Though his contribution to the story is important, however minimal it is.)
Paul Grayson returns as well, and is the point which all the events of the novel revolve. The Illusive Man has Kai Leng capture Grayson for experimentation. Grayson is implanted with Reaper tech, so the Illusive Man can learn to control the Reapers. Problem is that the Reapers cannot be controlled; they control you. And Grayson learns this the hard way as soon as the Reapers begin restructuring his body for their purposes.
Kahlee's part in the novel is tied into Grayson's romantic feelings for her; he contacts her about his daughter Gillian, as well to talk, every so often, and the Illusive Man and the Reapers manage to use that against him. Grayson sends Kahlee data just before he is captured, and she contacts Admiral Anderson for help, which begins their adventure to rescue him.
All stories converge when the Reapers bring Grayson to the Grissom Academy for information on the Alliance, among other things. I won't spoil the ending, but the story gets intense as all involved try to stop Grayson, for their own reasons.
As for the in-between comics, you've got Inquisition, which shows how Bailey gets to his position in ME3, Conviction, which introduces to James Vega, a companion in ME3, and Invasion, which shows how Aria T'Loak loses Omega to Cerberus. As with the others, I have no read these, and have no opinion on them.
Oh, and the Homeworlds series tells you more about certain characters. Vega's story is about how Vega became a soldier, Tali's story tells you the events from when she got the Saren's betrayal geth data to the moment she shows up in ME1, Garrus' story is about his backstory both before he meets Shepard and after the events of ME1 to the point when he sees Shepard in his recruitment mission in ME2. Liara's story takes place after she becomes the Shadow Broker, and is about her preparing to fight the Reapers and the Cerberus assault on her base. Evolution starts during the First Contact War, and is about how the Illusive Man becomes the Illusive Man. And finally, He Who Laughs Best is about Joker's attempt to become the Normandy's pilot. As with the others, I have not read them, and have no opinion on them.
Next up, I tackle the final game in the series, as well as the DLC. Until then, Happy Reading!
Today, I tackle Mass Effect: Retribution. This is the final novel written by Drew Karpyshyn, and the final contribution he made to the Mass Effect Franchise, because shortly after this was written, he moved to the Dallas Bioware office to work on SWTOR.
This book takes place between the ending of the Arrival DLC(or the ending of ME2 if you either didn't play it after the credits rolled, or didn't play it all. Either way, Shepard is still in Alliance lock-up.), and the beginning of ME3. This book once again stars Kahlee Sanders, but Admiral David Anderson(Yes, Admiral. This follows Bioware's internal canon regarding the choice for human Councilor, but still allows for player choice regarding saving/sacrificing the council.) returns as the second main character. The Illusive Man is also a main character, and this book also introduces Kai Leng, a former N7 marine who is a psychopathic racist; he hates all aliens in every way, and will happily kill every one he meets if he can get away from it. He's also the Illusive Man's right hand, to be deployed whenever he needs something done. Nick Donahue is also brought back, now 15, and no longer a bully; he looks out for the younger students and wants to help any way he can. (Though his contribution to the story is important, however minimal it is.)
Paul Grayson returns as well, and is the point which all the events of the novel revolve. The Illusive Man has Kai Leng capture Grayson for experimentation. Grayson is implanted with Reaper tech, so the Illusive Man can learn to control the Reapers. Problem is that the Reapers cannot be controlled; they control you. And Grayson learns this the hard way as soon as the Reapers begin restructuring his body for their purposes.
Kahlee's part in the novel is tied into Grayson's romantic feelings for her; he contacts her about his daughter Gillian, as well to talk, every so often, and the Illusive Man and the Reapers manage to use that against him. Grayson sends Kahlee data just before he is captured, and she contacts Admiral Anderson for help, which begins their adventure to rescue him.
All stories converge when the Reapers bring Grayson to the Grissom Academy for information on the Alliance, among other things. I won't spoil the ending, but the story gets intense as all involved try to stop Grayson, for their own reasons.
As for the in-between comics, you've got Inquisition, which shows how Bailey gets to his position in ME3, Conviction, which introduces to James Vega, a companion in ME3, and Invasion, which shows how Aria T'Loak loses Omega to Cerberus. As with the others, I have no read these, and have no opinion on them.
Oh, and the Homeworlds series tells you more about certain characters. Vega's story is about how Vega became a soldier, Tali's story tells you the events from when she got the Saren's betrayal geth data to the moment she shows up in ME1, Garrus' story is about his backstory both before he meets Shepard and after the events of ME1 to the point when he sees Shepard in his recruitment mission in ME2. Liara's story takes place after she becomes the Shadow Broker, and is about her preparing to fight the Reapers and the Cerberus assault on her base. Evolution starts during the First Contact War, and is about how the Illusive Man becomes the Illusive Man. And finally, He Who Laughs Best is about Joker's attempt to become the Normandy's pilot. As with the others, I have not read them, and have no opinion on them.
Next up, I tackle the final game in the series, as well as the DLC. Until then, Happy Reading!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Mass Effect Retrospective 4: Second Game
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Before I tackle the second game, I need to mention Mass Effect: Redemption. It takes place between when the Normandy SR-1 is destroyed and when Shepard wakes on the table in the Cerberus lab. It tells the story of how Liara got Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker and into Cerberus hands. It was a four issue mini-series released by Dark Horse, and started in January 6, 2010. On June 9, 2010, Dark Horse released a trade paperback that collects all four issues and a "special behind-the-scenes section with sketches and more" in one 96 page volume. That is all I can say about it, however, as I do not own it, nor have I read it.
Mass Effect 2 opens 6 months after Shepard saved the Citadel from Sovereign. It opens with a short scene with the Illusive Man and squadmate Miranda Lawson discussing the ending of Mass Effect 1 before cutting to the Normandy, which is attacked by the Collector ship. Now, the conversation is determinded whether or not you imported a character into this game or not. If you did not, you get the "internal canon" opening; Shepard chose not to save the Council, and Udina is elected human Councilor. If you DID import your game, your decisions are reflected in this opening.
I briefly mentioned the Illusive Bastard...I mean Illusive Man, in the novel, but he's a huge part of this game's story. His goal is simple; that of making humanity ascendant above all other races...at any cost, with him at the top. That includes manipulating both other species and experimentation on humans to "bring out their potential." He is a racist, a coward, a master manipulator and an all around example of what happens when people go too far. He epitomizes everything that is bad about the human race, seeing everyone and every as a tool to be used to achieve his goals. The worst thing is that he doesn't see what he is doing as wrong, and that he's the hero of his story, which makes him a very well written and motivated villain. I hate him, but I love hating him.
Anyway, the game picks up two years after the Normandy was destroyed, with Shepard waking up on a slab in a Cerberus facility, after being rebuilt. And this is where you see that the game engine is completely different. Gone is the different weights of armor, replaced with moddable armor (and non-moddable armor, which are DLC and Collector edition only). Weapons no longer shake and lose accuracy as you fire them, nor do they overheat; instead, they are always accurate so long as you aim well, and the overheating is replaced with a limited ammunition system called "thermal clips". In-universe, it's explained that they are detachable heat sinks, but for game mechanics, it's ammunition. But ammo can be found all over the battlefield, so that doesn't matter.
And since guns no longer require training to fire accurately, the entire class system was changed. The Soldier is still your weapons specialist, is still trained in the pistol, shotgun and sniper rifle, and is the only one who can use the assault rifle. (However, the Soldier is the only class that can't use the Submachine gun, which I will get into detail later.) But the soldier now uses ammo powers; disruptor ammo, which is useful against machines and shields, incendiary ammo, which is useful against armor, and cryo ammo, which freezes your foes once barriers/shields and armor is dropped. You also get concussive shot, which is useful as a knockdown and shatter. But the Soldier's bread and butter is the Adrenaline Rush, which slows down the battlefield for everyone but you; this allows you to move around and fire against helpless foes.
The Infiltrator is still the master of the sniper rifle, but gets a Tactical Cloak, to disappear from your foes, allowing you to move around the battlefield and place yourself in the best position possible. The Infiltrator has access to Incinerate, which burns off ammo, AI Hacking, which is useful against mechs and geth, and both disruptor and cryo ammo. To offset the lack of ability to use the assault rifle, the Infiltrator, as well as all the other classes, gain the submachine gun. The SMG doesn't hit as hard as the assault rifle, but the Kasumi DLC gives you an SMG that makes the lack of damage output negligible.
The Vanguard is still a master of close range, but you are a LOT better at it this time around. Utilizing incendiary and cryo ammo for your shotgun and SMG, the Vanguard can use the Biotic Rush to zoom around the battlefield and slam into your foes, giving you time to dish out a powerful shotgun blast right in the chest. Shockwave, a new biotic ability, allows the vanguard to toss foes on the ground away, and pull is simply a modified lift that goes up and toward you.
The Sentinel is still the biotic/tech class, and like the Adept and Engineer, are restricted to the SMG. (All classes can use the pistol, so no need to mention it every time.) But this time, the Sentinel is distinct with the Tech Armor. Tech Armor makes you a tank (in the RPG sense), and you can still debuff your enemies. The Sentinel can use throw, which functions as before, and Warp, which is now used to drop barriers of your biotic foes. Sentinels use Overload, which drop enemy shields, and cryo blast, which function cryo ammo, but as a single, more potent, projectile.
The Adept is still your crowd control, using the same abilities in past games. Singularity still pulls your foes into a single point, and shockwave, pull, warp and throw function as stated previously.
The Engineer has had some of the most changes of all the classes. The abilities Overload, Incinerate, AI Hacking and Cryo Blast have already been explained, but the Engineer has a new ability; Combat Drone. This gives you an extra companion on the battlefield, doing damage to your foes as well as draws aggro.
Now, the guns in this game are fewer in amount, but you can now upgrade the damage output that they do. In fact, upgrades are what this game focuses on; once you recruit a certain companion, you get a station to use the resources you gather to purchase upgrades to yourself, companions and the weapons they all use. This is both a good and bad thing. Good thing, in that you no longer need to worry about equipping better guns for yourself of companions; this does it for you. Bad, because you need to spend a LOT of time scanning planets for resources. And you won't know which planets are rich in what resource unless you either have an FAQ or have completed the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC.
Also, at the point where you go to the Collector Ship mid-game, you gain access to the ability to add another gun to your arsenal, or upgrade the guns you have. If you already have an assault rifle, shotgun or sniper rifle at this point, you can upgrade to the Claymore shotgun (the one that Grunt can give himself as an upgrade), the Widow Sniper Rifle (Legion's upgrade), or the Revenant Assault Rifle (which only NPCs have.) Otherwise, you get to pick up that weapon for use for the rest of the game. My advice for this though, is to go for either the sniper rifle talent or the shotgun talent, as the assault rifle is pointless if you have the Kassa Locust from the Kasumi DLC.
Now, because of the change in game engine, importing your character isn't what you'd think; you still retain all the decisions you made in ME1, but because of change in how combat works, you are forced to start from scratch. However, how high you got in ME1 determines how many levels you start with in ME2. If you import a character up to 49, you start at level 2, get 20,000 credits, and 2,500 of each scannable resource. 50 to 59 gets you to level 3, and you get 30,000 credits, and 5,000 of each resource. And level 60 gets you to level 5, 50,000 credits, and 10,000 of each resource. Also, completing ME2 once gets you 200,000 credits and 50,000 of each resource on top of your import bonus.
Returning characters are Udina, who is the Human Councilor in the default opening, and the assistant to Anderson if you made him Councilor in ME1. Anderson returns as either the human Councillor, or an Admiral who is the assistant to Udina. Kaidan or Ashley return for a cameo on Horizon, depending on who survived Virmire. Wrex also returns for a cameo on Tuchanka if he survived Virmire. Joker and Doctor Chakwas return on the Normandy, and Garrus and Tali return as recruitable companions; Garrus in Act 1, and Tali in Act 2. Garrus left his job at C-Sec, and went to Omega to be a vigilante, while Tali completed her pilgrimage and is finishing a special project for her father when you are able to recruit her. Garrus is a ranged DPS who can drop shields, and Tali is an engineer with a shotgun. As for new companions, you get Miranda Lawson, the woman in charge of the project to bring Shepard back from the dead, who functions as a biotic DPS with the overload ability. You have Jacob Taylor, a former Alliance soldier who joined Cerberus because he believed the Alliance wasn't doing enough. He functions as a biotic crowd control. You get Doctor Mordin Solus, a salarian biologist who functions as tech based debuffer. Thane Krios is a drell assassin with a biotic barrier dropper and long range DPS. Grunt is a krogan weapons specialist who works best at close range. Jack is a powerful human biotic who is used for crowd control. Samara is an asari justicar who single foe biotic DPS. Morinth, whom you can switch out for Samara later in the story, does the same as Samara. (You get to choose at a certain point in Samara's story, which I will get into later.) And the final companion you get, Legion, is a geth who wants to stop the Reapers. He functions as a DPS focused hacker. You also get two DLC characters; Zaeed Massani, who is a weapons focused mercenary who, like Shepard, has a reputation for doing the impossible. And finally, you get Kasumi Goto, the best thief in the galaxy, who is a master hacker and infiltrator. She is also the only one other than the Infiltrator who can use a cloak.
Each companion has a loyalty mission that you must complete to unlock their character specific ability, which is how this game handles the bonus abilities; you unlock it for them once, you unlock it for you for all time. The loyalty missions are there to increase the survivability of that companion during the suicide mission. However, certain characters' missions can be completed in a way that won't let their loyalty; Tali and Zaeed, for example. Choose the wrong option or don't have enough alignment points to convince the parties involved in the quest, you don't gain loyalty. And two pairs of characters have crisis points where you can lose the loyalty of one if you don't have enough alignment points to convince both parties to cool off; Miranda and Jack, and Tali and Legion.
The story is simple; due to the events of ME1, the Reapers have taken an interest in the human race, and is sending their slave race, the Collectors, to begin harvesting us. You get many twists and turns through out the story until you finally launch the suicide mission to bring down their base. And the suicide mission is where things come to head. People can start dieing at this point. If you didn't upgrade the Normandy's weapons, shields and armor, companions start dieing; one per lacking upgrade. If you didn't gain loyalty, or you lost loyalty, people start dieing. And if you chose the wrong specialist for certain jobs in the suicide mission, people start dieing. It is possible to get every one one your squad mates killed if you didn't get the ship upgrades or do the loyalty missions, and chose the wrong people for certain points.
As for the DLC, some are more fun than others. Firewalker is boring, but it opens new sectors and gives you planets to scan that gives you lots of resources. Project Overlord has an interesting storyline, and uses the tank you got in Firewalker. If you don't download Firewalker though, you get the tank regardless. Zaeed's DLC gives you Zaeed, a shotgun and a mission. Same with Kasumi, but you get the best SMG in the game. Lair of the Shadow Broker gets you a mission surrounding Liara and her hunt for the Shadow Broker because of the events of the comic I mentioned earlier. This DLC nets you a location to get an easy few thousand credits as well as a way to get the locations of planets rich in certain resources. It also gives you an opportunity to continue the Liara romance.
And then finally comes Arrival. This is a bridge between ME2 and ME3, and is best played after you destroy the Collector base. Admiral Hackett (who makes his first physical appearance in this DLC) alerts you to a friend of his in a batarian prison, and asks you to break her out. This leads you to an artifact that shows that the Reapers will reach the galaxy in 2 days, and the only way to stop it drive an asteroid into the Mass Relay they will be using to get to us. But through this, Shepard essentially commits a war crime; destroying the Relay destroys the system it is in, and wipes out all life there. And the residents of that system? Batarians, who hate the human race for reasons included in the first book, game and this game. Shepard is told that they are going to be the scapegoat on this, which sets the stage for the opening of ME3.
There is also the Genesis DLC, which is a short animated comic that allows you to select MOST of the important choices from ME1 if you don't own the game, or choose not to import your character from 1 into 2. It's most important if you had the PS3 version before the trilogy version was released.
I enjoyed this game, though because of DLC, you end up buying the game twice with how much of it there is (at least if you bought it new). But I liken it to expansions for PC games back in the day. You can pick this up for about 15 bucks for a physical copy of ME2 on Xbox 360 and PS3, and for 30 for PC download.
Tune in next time for a synopsis of the in between comics, as well as a full review of the third novel, Retribution.
Happy Gaming! :)
Before I tackle the second game, I need to mention Mass Effect: Redemption. It takes place between when the Normandy SR-1 is destroyed and when Shepard wakes on the table in the Cerberus lab. It tells the story of how Liara got Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker and into Cerberus hands. It was a four issue mini-series released by Dark Horse, and started in January 6, 2010. On June 9, 2010, Dark Horse released a trade paperback that collects all four issues and a "special behind-the-scenes section with sketches and more" in one 96 page volume. That is all I can say about it, however, as I do not own it, nor have I read it.
Mass Effect 2 opens 6 months after Shepard saved the Citadel from Sovereign. It opens with a short scene with the Illusive Man and squadmate Miranda Lawson discussing the ending of Mass Effect 1 before cutting to the Normandy, which is attacked by the Collector ship. Now, the conversation is determinded whether or not you imported a character into this game or not. If you did not, you get the "internal canon" opening; Shepard chose not to save the Council, and Udina is elected human Councilor. If you DID import your game, your decisions are reflected in this opening.
I briefly mentioned the Illusive Bastard...I mean Illusive Man, in the novel, but he's a huge part of this game's story. His goal is simple; that of making humanity ascendant above all other races...at any cost, with him at the top. That includes manipulating both other species and experimentation on humans to "bring out their potential." He is a racist, a coward, a master manipulator and an all around example of what happens when people go too far. He epitomizes everything that is bad about the human race, seeing everyone and every as a tool to be used to achieve his goals. The worst thing is that he doesn't see what he is doing as wrong, and that he's the hero of his story, which makes him a very well written and motivated villain. I hate him, but I love hating him.
Anyway, the game picks up two years after the Normandy was destroyed, with Shepard waking up on a slab in a Cerberus facility, after being rebuilt. And this is where you see that the game engine is completely different. Gone is the different weights of armor, replaced with moddable armor (and non-moddable armor, which are DLC and Collector edition only). Weapons no longer shake and lose accuracy as you fire them, nor do they overheat; instead, they are always accurate so long as you aim well, and the overheating is replaced with a limited ammunition system called "thermal clips". In-universe, it's explained that they are detachable heat sinks, but for game mechanics, it's ammunition. But ammo can be found all over the battlefield, so that doesn't matter.
And since guns no longer require training to fire accurately, the entire class system was changed. The Soldier is still your weapons specialist, is still trained in the pistol, shotgun and sniper rifle, and is the only one who can use the assault rifle. (However, the Soldier is the only class that can't use the Submachine gun, which I will get into detail later.) But the soldier now uses ammo powers; disruptor ammo, which is useful against machines and shields, incendiary ammo, which is useful against armor, and cryo ammo, which freezes your foes once barriers/shields and armor is dropped. You also get concussive shot, which is useful as a knockdown and shatter. But the Soldier's bread and butter is the Adrenaline Rush, which slows down the battlefield for everyone but you; this allows you to move around and fire against helpless foes.
The Infiltrator is still the master of the sniper rifle, but gets a Tactical Cloak, to disappear from your foes, allowing you to move around the battlefield and place yourself in the best position possible. The Infiltrator has access to Incinerate, which burns off ammo, AI Hacking, which is useful against mechs and geth, and both disruptor and cryo ammo. To offset the lack of ability to use the assault rifle, the Infiltrator, as well as all the other classes, gain the submachine gun. The SMG doesn't hit as hard as the assault rifle, but the Kasumi DLC gives you an SMG that makes the lack of damage output negligible.
The Vanguard is still a master of close range, but you are a LOT better at it this time around. Utilizing incendiary and cryo ammo for your shotgun and SMG, the Vanguard can use the Biotic Rush to zoom around the battlefield and slam into your foes, giving you time to dish out a powerful shotgun blast right in the chest. Shockwave, a new biotic ability, allows the vanguard to toss foes on the ground away, and pull is simply a modified lift that goes up and toward you.
The Sentinel is still the biotic/tech class, and like the Adept and Engineer, are restricted to the SMG. (All classes can use the pistol, so no need to mention it every time.) But this time, the Sentinel is distinct with the Tech Armor. Tech Armor makes you a tank (in the RPG sense), and you can still debuff your enemies. The Sentinel can use throw, which functions as before, and Warp, which is now used to drop barriers of your biotic foes. Sentinels use Overload, which drop enemy shields, and cryo blast, which function cryo ammo, but as a single, more potent, projectile.
The Adept is still your crowd control, using the same abilities in past games. Singularity still pulls your foes into a single point, and shockwave, pull, warp and throw function as stated previously.
The Engineer has had some of the most changes of all the classes. The abilities Overload, Incinerate, AI Hacking and Cryo Blast have already been explained, but the Engineer has a new ability; Combat Drone. This gives you an extra companion on the battlefield, doing damage to your foes as well as draws aggro.
Now, the guns in this game are fewer in amount, but you can now upgrade the damage output that they do. In fact, upgrades are what this game focuses on; once you recruit a certain companion, you get a station to use the resources you gather to purchase upgrades to yourself, companions and the weapons they all use. This is both a good and bad thing. Good thing, in that you no longer need to worry about equipping better guns for yourself of companions; this does it for you. Bad, because you need to spend a LOT of time scanning planets for resources. And you won't know which planets are rich in what resource unless you either have an FAQ or have completed the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC.
Also, at the point where you go to the Collector Ship mid-game, you gain access to the ability to add another gun to your arsenal, or upgrade the guns you have. If you already have an assault rifle, shotgun or sniper rifle at this point, you can upgrade to the Claymore shotgun (the one that Grunt can give himself as an upgrade), the Widow Sniper Rifle (Legion's upgrade), or the Revenant Assault Rifle (which only NPCs have.) Otherwise, you get to pick up that weapon for use for the rest of the game. My advice for this though, is to go for either the sniper rifle talent or the shotgun talent, as the assault rifle is pointless if you have the Kassa Locust from the Kasumi DLC.
Now, because of the change in game engine, importing your character isn't what you'd think; you still retain all the decisions you made in ME1, but because of change in how combat works, you are forced to start from scratch. However, how high you got in ME1 determines how many levels you start with in ME2. If you import a character up to 49, you start at level 2, get 20,000 credits, and 2,500 of each scannable resource. 50 to 59 gets you to level 3, and you get 30,000 credits, and 5,000 of each resource. And level 60 gets you to level 5, 50,000 credits, and 10,000 of each resource. Also, completing ME2 once gets you 200,000 credits and 50,000 of each resource on top of your import bonus.
Returning characters are Udina, who is the Human Councilor in the default opening, and the assistant to Anderson if you made him Councilor in ME1. Anderson returns as either the human Councillor, or an Admiral who is the assistant to Udina. Kaidan or Ashley return for a cameo on Horizon, depending on who survived Virmire. Wrex also returns for a cameo on Tuchanka if he survived Virmire. Joker and Doctor Chakwas return on the Normandy, and Garrus and Tali return as recruitable companions; Garrus in Act 1, and Tali in Act 2. Garrus left his job at C-Sec, and went to Omega to be a vigilante, while Tali completed her pilgrimage and is finishing a special project for her father when you are able to recruit her. Garrus is a ranged DPS who can drop shields, and Tali is an engineer with a shotgun. As for new companions, you get Miranda Lawson, the woman in charge of the project to bring Shepard back from the dead, who functions as a biotic DPS with the overload ability. You have Jacob Taylor, a former Alliance soldier who joined Cerberus because he believed the Alliance wasn't doing enough. He functions as a biotic crowd control. You get Doctor Mordin Solus, a salarian biologist who functions as tech based debuffer. Thane Krios is a drell assassin with a biotic barrier dropper and long range DPS. Grunt is a krogan weapons specialist who works best at close range. Jack is a powerful human biotic who is used for crowd control. Samara is an asari justicar who single foe biotic DPS. Morinth, whom you can switch out for Samara later in the story, does the same as Samara. (You get to choose at a certain point in Samara's story, which I will get into later.) And the final companion you get, Legion, is a geth who wants to stop the Reapers. He functions as a DPS focused hacker. You also get two DLC characters; Zaeed Massani, who is a weapons focused mercenary who, like Shepard, has a reputation for doing the impossible. And finally, you get Kasumi Goto, the best thief in the galaxy, who is a master hacker and infiltrator. She is also the only one other than the Infiltrator who can use a cloak.
Each companion has a loyalty mission that you must complete to unlock their character specific ability, which is how this game handles the bonus abilities; you unlock it for them once, you unlock it for you for all time. The loyalty missions are there to increase the survivability of that companion during the suicide mission. However, certain characters' missions can be completed in a way that won't let their loyalty; Tali and Zaeed, for example. Choose the wrong option or don't have enough alignment points to convince the parties involved in the quest, you don't gain loyalty. And two pairs of characters have crisis points where you can lose the loyalty of one if you don't have enough alignment points to convince both parties to cool off; Miranda and Jack, and Tali and Legion.
The story is simple; due to the events of ME1, the Reapers have taken an interest in the human race, and is sending their slave race, the Collectors, to begin harvesting us. You get many twists and turns through out the story until you finally launch the suicide mission to bring down their base. And the suicide mission is where things come to head. People can start dieing at this point. If you didn't upgrade the Normandy's weapons, shields and armor, companions start dieing; one per lacking upgrade. If you didn't gain loyalty, or you lost loyalty, people start dieing. And if you chose the wrong specialist for certain jobs in the suicide mission, people start dieing. It is possible to get every one one your squad mates killed if you didn't get the ship upgrades or do the loyalty missions, and chose the wrong people for certain points.
As for the DLC, some are more fun than others. Firewalker is boring, but it opens new sectors and gives you planets to scan that gives you lots of resources. Project Overlord has an interesting storyline, and uses the tank you got in Firewalker. If you don't download Firewalker though, you get the tank regardless. Zaeed's DLC gives you Zaeed, a shotgun and a mission. Same with Kasumi, but you get the best SMG in the game. Lair of the Shadow Broker gets you a mission surrounding Liara and her hunt for the Shadow Broker because of the events of the comic I mentioned earlier. This DLC nets you a location to get an easy few thousand credits as well as a way to get the locations of planets rich in certain resources. It also gives you an opportunity to continue the Liara romance.
And then finally comes Arrival. This is a bridge between ME2 and ME3, and is best played after you destroy the Collector base. Admiral Hackett (who makes his first physical appearance in this DLC) alerts you to a friend of his in a batarian prison, and asks you to break her out. This leads you to an artifact that shows that the Reapers will reach the galaxy in 2 days, and the only way to stop it drive an asteroid into the Mass Relay they will be using to get to us. But through this, Shepard essentially commits a war crime; destroying the Relay destroys the system it is in, and wipes out all life there. And the residents of that system? Batarians, who hate the human race for reasons included in the first book, game and this game. Shepard is told that they are going to be the scapegoat on this, which sets the stage for the opening of ME3.
There is also the Genesis DLC, which is a short animated comic that allows you to select MOST of the important choices from ME1 if you don't own the game, or choose not to import your character from 1 into 2. It's most important if you had the PS3 version before the trilogy version was released.
I enjoyed this game, though because of DLC, you end up buying the game twice with how much of it there is (at least if you bought it new). But I liken it to expansions for PC games back in the day. You can pick this up for about 15 bucks for a physical copy of ME2 on Xbox 360 and PS3, and for 30 for PC download.
Tune in next time for a synopsis of the in between comics, as well as a full review of the third novel, Retribution.
Happy Gaming! :)
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