[02/14/12] Mass Effect 3 - DEMO Review

[Shoma]

GAME: Mass Effect 3 (DEMO)

 

 

 

 

 

Systems: PC, PS3, Xbox360

 

Soooooo yeeeeah.... The demo came out today and if you didn't know please get up from the rock you've been under and smell the sweet smell of ME3... However... I expected a fresher smell. Btw I'm reviewing based on the Xbox360 version.

 

 

Single Player:

 

I played the single player session and found that part to be underwhelming.

First off the game is set into 3 different types, Action, RolePlay, and Story.

The first being COD style, an what do i mean by that? Well all the cut-scenes and conversations can be skipped and - I love this- you don't make any dialog choices because the game will do all that for you! Gotta love the new-age RIG theses days. The second being "standard" ME experience which seems fairly true. AS for story... it's just roleplay but a lot easier(??).

You'll also notice quite a few set pieces in the first map but i guess that's fine. Now MIND YOU, all of these different styles are changeable in the settings menu so I'm sure they wont ask us what style we wish to play in the real deal. hopefully.

 

Half the demo you are on Earth with a pistol and an assault rifle and fighting off new fat Geth who pretty much just walk to you while shooting,

The second part, you're dealing with human armored dudes and they perform the usual shoot and cover stuff. I was hoping some aliens to mix it up but i chalk that up to bad decision making on the demo.

 

THe action is there! The intensity, the way the guns feels when shot. It all feels awesome! The graphics are beautiful and there are some slight audio sync issues i ran it during the talks but these were glitches. Everything is smooth for the most part and did i mentions how nice it feels to get a head shot in this game. ANd don't get me started on the BIonic Charge

 

MultiPlayer:

 

The multi-player is basically horde mode for M.E. You fight wave, after wave, and if you lose your health(incapacitated) a friend can heal you. But if you dot get revived up in time you die. Also the enemy can curb stomp which kills instantly(GOW type thing). The slight difference is you will occasionally have to hack a few terminals during a wave or kill a certain group of enemies in a time-frame but the latter makes the horde mode seem sillier to me.You can level up just like in single player although from what i saw, they gyve you five or six powers(four are usally used for the ammo change, grenade power and the passive things like "Fitness" and "training" powers and you just keep upgrading those powers. This caused me to raise an eyebrow, especially on the campaign( which does provide slightly more to work with, by giving you about seven or eight powers to upgrade) since they stated they were gonna address the concern for the game being more shooter than rpg--- I didn't see that addressed at all.

 

Bottom line is it fun?... Well yea..kinda. The single player was dull because everyone did the same, duck, cover, and shoot. It would have been better to demo Shepard fighting some Krogan or Asarians who usually posses powers and specific attack patterns. Other than that, it was standard cover action.

The coop/horde was really fun with friends who know what they're doing. It becomes thrilling but i guess i feel a little empty due to my expectation of thinking the coop would be Single-player-like missions but with friends. Instead we're on this one map that doesn't expand and we fight until we die..... Doesn't fit right at all for a ME game. But i will keep playing it and I'll see if my seemingly negative opinion changes, but there isn't much left to do but level up on coop now.

If it does i will love to come back on and retract my statements. Keep in mind, so far the game does not seem bad, and i'm still gonna get it, its just a franchise like ME- if you're gonna go with a demo, then go hard.

 

Plz comment an lemme know what ya think.

[Kloplop321]

The role playing aspect is unfortunate. I found out I owned Mass Effect 2, must have got it during a steam sale over Christmas.

 

Do you think you could compare gameplay aspects between the two?

[Shoma]

Well as far as ME2 and ME3(the little that ive seen) they're pretty identical at first glance.Well mainly because it is, there are tweaks in the game play. For the most part however if you played in ME2, it will feel like 2nd nature on ME3. ITs more like they decided to merely build upon me2.

 

Movement:

They're the same aside from a few new features like climbing up and down on ladders. ALso they intorduced a new long jump feature for over gaps while running. HOWEVER it seems if you walk to the edge, you cant fall so its kinda pointless. I DID notice a little Gears of War syndrome when in cover.Cover is a lot less safe which forces you to take action. Its kinda hassle to get detached from the wall while under-pressure, you some times run into cover when getting even a little close to a wall while storming.

 

Dialog:

Now for some reason, we didn't have much of this. I saw nothing groundbreaking like when they introduced the interruption sequence in ME2(that wasn't in ME1 for those who don't know). The demo's dialog was neutral as no matter if i was a douche or a saint, the game played out the same so i cant really speak so much on that as not much was given in the demo.

 

Fights:

This is where the identical parts comes in. The action is about the same as for as battles. I did notice they made the guns feel much more powerful in ME3. The team and powers setup are exactly the same. You'll hardly feel like its a new game which is probably a good or bad thing.

 

Explorer:

Not shown in demo

 

Leveling up:

Leveling looks the same, aside from having the 2way choice at the very end of each power, you can make those choices from level 3 to the max.

 

Customize:

SO this aspect did in fact pimp-slap ME2, for this one. The guns can be messed around with a little bit.In the coop you could also certain type of rounds. i assume that will on the campaign as well.

 

Romance:

Not shown in Demo

 

 

 

I'm sure i said more than you wanted to hear but if I overlooked something let me know.

[Kloplop321]

No, you provided exactly what I wanted(and moreso, I think).

 

Thanks for your review!

[emsley]

Nice, should think the demo is way short though.

I'll be getting this for sure, ME1 was Meh for me, stopped playing.

ME2 Was the shit.

[Shoma]

Nice, should think the demo is way short though.

I'll be getting this for sure, ME1 was Meh for me, stopped playing.

ME2 Was the shit.

Yeah, honestly Im sure what their goal was for the demo. SO little was shown, but then again I say the demo was pretty much to hear feedaback on the Co-op IMO.

[Shoma]

HAs anyone else played the demo? Would like to know others' impressions.

[Skythe]

I just finished an action solo demo. I liked it as action as oppose to role playing or story. More fluid.

 

 

I'm about to try out the multiplayer.

[Agozer]

Played the demo on the PS3 and liked it very much. "Cerberus as antagonists" and "The Reapers will fuck your shit up real good" angles worked for me.

[emsley]

Out in march?

Ill be saving some pennies for this one.

[Shoma]

I really dont care a whole lot for the horde co-op gameplay. I just wanted to do single player type missions with my friends. I thought it would be its own separate story like with splintercell co-op.

 

YO Skythe lemme know what you think of the MP.

 

UPdate: Even with new enemies, I was never the horde fan, but I dont see this holding water very long after game is launched.