Mass Effect 3

I bumping this up to ask ... shouldn't Mass Effect 3 be delayed?

Seriously, we've just seen first-hand what the result of building a large-scale RPG to such a tight deadline does. Dragon Age 2 had me so p'd off with it's shameless recycling of areas and lack of scope that I can't help but feel this is the doomsayer for the Mass Effect finale. Under 2 years ... it's just not enough time for a game of that size. And if the finale to Mass Effect is as underwhelming and half-arsed as Dragon Age 2 was, I'll be in an uber-dimension of depression.

I actually want to petition Bioware to delay the damn game now.

ME2 took only a little over two years itself. The time-frame for ME3 isn't greatly different.
 
Apparently we should expect ME3 coverage from several magazines next month.

On an unrelated note, anyone try Arrival yet?
 
Summary of GameInformer article as posted on gamingunion.net

Spoilered for plot details, I guess

- Mass Effect 3 starts with Shepard on Earth, he's on trial for the events that took place in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, Arrival.

- The Reapers invade during the trial.

- The Prologue sees Shepard escape Earth with the Normandy and the search for allies and a crew begins.

- Liara, Ashley or Kaiden, Garrus and James Sanders return as squad mates. There's a screenshot of Ashley with her hair down.

- Wrex, Mordin, Legion, and Anderson also return, but it has yet to be confirmed if you can recruit them to your crew.

- The Illusive Man has a major role in Mass Effect 3, apparently Cerberus is now out to kill Shepard.

- Enhanced RPG elements and more expansive skill trees.

- There is more freedom with character skills.

- Powers can evolve through several tiers and not just one like in ME2.

- Mods make a return, you can swap out various parts of your weapons, from scopes to barrels and ammunition. This affects the physical appearance of the weapon in addition to its stats.

- Weapons can be wielded by any class now, but there will be limited slots. Soldiers can carry every one while Adept, Engineer and Sentinel can supposedly carry only two weapons, Vanguard and Infiltrator can carry three.

- There will be multiple endings and your squad mates will have quite a big impact on them.

- There is no multiplayer.
 
>Legion and Wrex are back

I'm amazed they actually brought back one of the most compelling characters in the series and the biggest bro in the entire galaxy.
 
Mass Effect 3 starts with Shepard on Earth, he's on trial for the events that took place in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, Arrival.

Wait, WAIT. So in order to understand what is going on at the beginning of Mass Effect 3 you have to buy the Arrival DLC? What the ****ing ****?
 
Other sources say that there'll be a 'previously on' graphic novel for new players, just like the PS3 version of ME2.

And Arrival is supposedly shit enough that you can read the cliffnotes and save yourself the pain.
 
I'll wait to see some gameplay, but those sound like some nice changes.
 
Other sources say that there'll be a 'previously on' graphic novel for new players, just like the PS3 version of ME2.

Even if they don't do that, putting some exposition in a courtroom usually isn't that hard.
 
Those details sound pretty F**king amazing. I guess the Game-informer guys played through a version where you dont...
destroy the collector tech, and where you royally piss off the Illusive Man

It would seem like the choice you made at the end of ME2 would almost make the story of ME3 completely different.
In one you work for Cerberus, in another they are your enemy... That's a pretty HUGE story difference

I LOVE WREX! Jacob was a good Bro, and Mordin was endless fun.

I like how thy might be adding more intricacies to the weapon and skill trees. Hopefully we will strike a balance between the detail if ME1 and the simple to understand and effective system from ME2

Tali better be F**king in this or I will be seriously pissed off.

I wonder if we will get a new ship SR3 anyone?

The Paragon/Renegade was wonky and I often found myself making choices based on its Renegade or Paragon status rather than choosing the option I really wanted to pick. There were also several times where I chose an option that appeared to be a nice choice only to have Shepherd menace someone (the choices on the wheel can be misleading) I'd have it so that every choice on the wheel has a Paragon or Renegade option. You chose your intent and then chose what you want to say. If you chose Paragon you will be nicer, and gentle (even when you are technically threatening people) if you chose the Renegade, you will be aggressive and harsh even if what you are saying is for the good of the character. (does that make sense?)
 
Those details sound pretty F**king amazing. I guess the Game-informer guys played through a version where you dont...
destroy the collector tech, and where you royally piss off the Illusive Man

It would seem like the choice you made at the end of ME2 would almost make the story of ME3 completely different.
In one you work for Cerberus, in another they are your enemy... That's a pretty HUGE story difference
Unless of course it's one of those things that changes a couple of dialogue hooks and a single scene, and Cerberus turn against you regardless. You know. Like everything in the series so far.
 
Even if you chose the Renegade path and
preserved the Collector station
you basically did it for a supposed greater good and warned the Illusive Man that you'd **** him up if he ever misused it. Perfect opening for you and Cerberus to start killing each other.
 
- Mass Effect 3 starts with Shepard on Earth, he's on trial for the events that took place in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, Arrival.

How exactly is nobody complaining about this? It is bullshit! What the hell happened to DLC being side quests? I haven't the first idea what the **** happened in the Arrival DLC because I didn't buy it. I'd hoped ****ing playing through ME2 would be enough, but nooooooooo. You have to play the Arrival DLC. I mean come on what?

This is ****ing stupid.
WANT THE REAL ENDING? PAY MORE MONEY LOL.
 
Unless of course it's one of those things that changes a couple of dialogue hooks and a single scene, and Cerberus turn against you regardless. You know. Like everything in the series so far.

That is what they've done in the past and it kinda ticks me off. I am very aware that splitting the game into servile completely different story lines would, in essence, double their production requirements, but for a game that is supposed to be all about choices the impact of those choices sometimes seem... merely cosmetic.

But you are probably right. I hope they separate the different choices by a bit more than that though.
 
I remember a while back that Bioware said ME2's DLC would bridge into the third game, so I'm not particularly surprised by that.

Although kickstarting it after the Reaper invasion seems kind of wtf
 
Damnit,

I can't not picture the invasion as a reaper busting through the courtroom wall and going "OH YEAH."

Pop culture ruined my life.
 
Summary of GameInformer article as posted on gamingunion.net

Spoilered for plot details, I guess

- Mass Effect 3 starts with Shepard on Earth, he's on trial for the events that took place in the Mass Effect 2 DLC, Arrival.

- The Reapers invade during the trial.

- The Prologue sees Shepard escape Earth with the Normandy and the search for allies and a crew begins.

- Liara, Ashley or Kaiden, Garrus and James Sanders return as squad mates. There's a screenshot of Ashley with her hair down.

- Wrex, Mordin, Legion, and Anderson also return, but it has yet to be confirmed if you can recruit them to your crew.

- The Illusive Man has a major role in Mass Effect 3, apparently Cerberus is now out to kill Shepard.

- Enhanced RPG elements and more expansive skill trees.

- There is more freedom with character skills.

- Powers can evolve through several tiers and not just one like in ME2.

- Mods make a return, you can swap out various parts of your weapons, from scopes to barrels and ammunition. This affects the physical appearance of the weapon in addition to its stats.

- Weapons can be wielded by any class now, but there will be limited slots. Soldiers can carry every one while Adept, Engineer and Sentinel can supposedly carry only two weapons, Vanguard and Infiltrator can carry three.

- There will be multiple endings and your squad mates will have quite a big impact on them.

- There is no multiplayer.

No mention of
Tali, Grunt, Jack, Thane etc
 
I would assume most of them are coming back. It wouldn't look good if some of the series most beloved characters (and potential romance partners) were MIA.
 
I remember a while back that Bioware said ME2's DLC would bridge into the third game, so I'm not particularly surprised by that.

Not being surprised doesn't mean you shouldn't be ****ing pissed about this. Come on is this really ok?
 
yeah I dont like this idea of the dlc bridging it either,unless me3 comes whit it,I hope that dont become standard of selling the ending as dlc
 
I thought we all knew by now that Bioware are ****s.
 
Making the DLC a required part of ME3's backstory is a pretty d*ck move. If you don;t buy it the game will probably assume you took a certain path, kinda how ME2 assumes you killed Wrex in ME1 unless you played through ME1 and didn't.

Could this be untrue? They also, as it has been suggested, could include Arrival with ME3, but then what about the people who forked over the cash for it earlier? (I guess you could chalk that up to price discrimination)
 
I played the "Shadow Broker" DLC, but I don't plan on getting "The Arrival". It's a dick move, but I can't say I'm all that bothered by it. I mean after all I started playign Mass Effect straight from part 2 without giving a shit about what happened in the first one so whatever.
 
It's a dick move, definitely. But for someone who has actually played the DLC it's a welcome one, because there wasn't really any other reasonable way of restarting Shepard and breaking the fellowship rather than killing him/her again. Though frankly given the ending of ME2 I would have preferred it to continue right off the bat: here's your previous Shepard, here's your remaining crew, here's the scenario, go for it.
 
I'm gonna be honest, I barely remember the ending I got in Mass Effect 2 to begin with, story wasn't all that memorable to me.

But I'm guessing ME3 will "fill you in" on your decisions and the ending you got just like ME2 did when using an ME1 save-game.

Also, for those here that HAVE bought and played the Arrival DLC, is it worth getting?
 
Also, for those here that HAVE bought and played the Arrival DLC, is it worth getting?

Arrival is a bit over an hour in length and would be the equivalent quality of... some of the better companion missions? Your money's best spent elsewhere if you don't really care about actively playing through the story. There undoubtedly will be a quick recap of the events of Arrival at the beginning of ME3.
 
Also, for those here that HAVE bought and played the Arrival DLC, is it worth getting?

Its ok about on par with other DLCs not as good as LotSB tho.
 
Though frankly given the ending of ME2 I would have preferred it to continue right off the bat: here's your previous Shepard, here's your remaining crew, here's the scenario, go for it.

I would've prefered it this way. This whole "build a team" thing in every game is getting annoying. Would it have been really that hard to just continue with the remaining team fromt the previous game, and perhaps recruit some new squad mates to fill the ranks?

EDIT: Also one character introduced by a DLC that I really liked was Kasumi. It's kind of doubtfull she will be present in this new game though.
 
Arrival is a bit over an hour in length and would be the equivalent quality of... some of the better companion missions? Your money's best spent elsewhere if you don't really care about actively playing through the story. There undoubtedly will be a quick recap of the events of Arrival at the beginning of ME3.

I played through all the quests and so forth in ME2, did every side-quest that became available and every companion mission, but haven't tried any DLCs so far.

I did get all the DLCs for ME1 before ME2 came out though and replayed the game, maybe I should do the same now in preparation for ME3.

Though I'm not interested in replaying all of ME2 but I seem to recall you don't need to, you can just use your completed save game and just play the DLCs on it and it will update your "save" to carry over into ME3?
 
Though I'm not interested in replaying all of ME2 but I seem to recall you don't need to, you can just use your completed save game and just play the DLCs on it and it will update your "save" to carry over into ME3?

Yep.

If you are going to buy all the DLC content, don't bother with Kazumi's Memories or whatever that one's called. I only recommend Arrival because it's evidently plot essential and not all that bad. Shadow Broker is better and longer than Arrival and likely just as plot relevant, I really can't recommend it enough. Overlord is a bit of fun, on par with Arrival and a bit longer, but almost certainly not plot essential.
 
Okay, I reckon I'll just get Shadow Broker and Arrival then, will wait to see if we get some sort of sale on them before ME3 comes out though.
 
fallout 3 did the same with Broken Steel

Not really. The beginning of Broken Steel was just a way to explain how your character is still doing all this DLC crap after the events of Fallout 3. And Broken Steel wasn't a necessary bridge for a sequel.
 
garrus_model.png

MassEffectNormandyMini2-227x250.jpg


New Garrus and new Normandy.

For those wondering what happened to the Normandy

It was seized by the Alliance while Shepard is on trial, taken apart and put back together to their liking. So it's the same ship with a few changes.
 
It was seized by the Alliance while Shepard is on trial, taken apart and put back together to their liking. So it's the same ship with a few changes.

Those bastards.
 
It depends on what one defines as "trial", i.e. if one in that term includes the period during which you are under detention or being investigated in preparation for facing the charges.

I know of cases over here where people have been imprisoned awaiting trial for quite substantial periods of times, in some cases up to a year I think.

I know that doesn't answer your question for how long one is on trial, I am just saying in real life trials can take a long long time so it's not unreasonable to think they managed to do this in the time Shepard is detained/imprisoned awaiting his trial and the trial progressing and such.
 
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