You would be thinking that with the Mass Effect slip up over there at BioWare (or was it Microsoft's fault? Either way.) gamers around the globe would be rejoicing at their good luck and celebrating the fact that they have more control over their gaming experience than ever before. Many are, but I'm not as what was leaked shows a disturbing idea: publishers might think you're either too lazy (or stupid) to enjoy a game as it was intended.
Now, of course they won't outright say it and I hope I'm wrong but it seems pretty crystal clear that the trend is quickly, and I mean now quickly, altering core elements of the gaming experience for the sake of flexibility. Remember that terrible game The Bouncer that came out during PS2's dawn? Remember how there was tidbits of actual gaming in between 3-5 minutes of (albeit then beautiful) cinematics?
Fast forward to Final Fantasy 13, or as I like to call it, 'shoestring cinema reminiscent of a 7-11 taquito' and how irregardless of how expansive the world was you kept a tow line straight enough to impress an Army drill sergeant. I don't care what the reviews said, that game was terrible. Gorgeous, but fundamentally wrong. Mass Effect 3 will more than likely get Game of the Year award from some--or all--publications but what I'm saying's deeper than that and I hope they change direction post haste.
What's all the fuss about? Allowing gamers to decide themselves how they want to play the game. I'm not even saying that the new feature is a bad thing to do; there are plenty of people who loved the story from the first two games that would rather not spend all day trying to beat a boss. And there are those who cared less for the 'extras' that came along with blowing crap up. It all evens out in the wash, right?
Not really. The three modes (Action, Story and RPG) sounds as though they deliver alternate styles of play, something I can't quite see as all three modes must have exactly the same beginning, middle and end to guarantee the player doesn't miss anything crucial. A few more conversational options or battles is hardly warranting of this idea. There has to be more to this than what's been released. There is no +game so the replayability is pretty low in my book. After the first time you beat the campaign, what would make me want to play the others?
I love the Mass Effect games. I bought the others and I'll buy this one. I don't need BioWare to reinvent the wheel; making sure it still rolls after all this time is fine by me. Tell me a good story and I don't really care about how involved in how it's told I am.
WTMG's Oliver Shellding: "I feel The Hungry Lamb is for a specific audience, though I can’t quite align with whom that might be. It’s not thrilling enough to land in constant VN recommendations, it’s got uncomfortable relationships which will put most people off, and the endings never hit the high note that satisfies everything. The twists are pretty recognizable from a distance, the voice acting is good, the character designs are alright and the pacing is decent. So many things rubbed me the wrong way and it makes it very easy to delete it from my PC concluding the review. Dive in if you must because of morbid fascination, but you’ve been cautioned: it’s a downward spiral without anything to make the trip worthwhile."
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The three mode-type selections are the least of my worries. The story details that leaked are far more egregious. I read a good portion of them yesterday, and to say I'm disappointed with BioWare's direction wouldn't even do it justice. I won't go into detail to spare those who don't want to know, but there are several bits of the story that really chapped my ass while reading them.
If BioWare/EA weren't on a legal warpath to remove all traces of the leak from the internet, I'd be a lot more confident that they were mostly fake spoilers. Unfortunately, they appear to be mostly legit, giving weight to my concerns that the story is taking a backseat to the asinine new focus on cinematic combat and multiplayer.
Well damn, now I really wish I hadn't read these comments not spoiling anything except how much there was to spoil. I will say that Mass Effect was never about the PLOT so much as the SETTING for me. I mean, it's really just an alien invasion movie on the scale of the whole galaxy. ME3 is the third act of that story, and if the story is going to be more action-driven, (like people seem to be saying, God I hate self-inflicted media blackouts) that's because it's the third act of an alien invasion story.
The three modes thing? The more I think about it, the more it just seems stupid. I can understand the Story option, but isn't that just an easy mode by any other name? I hypothesized that "action mode" would have simpler character development, but I'm still waiting to hear more.
In the end, I can bitch and moan all I want about this, but dammit, I'm Commander Shepard, I've got to finish this story no matter the ending, and I will buy this game even if it will shoot live bees out of my Xbox.
I wont read any of the leaked info. Who knows if it is even real? Just because they go after it doesn't mean anything. I love the series and I have a lot of faith in bioware. I don't think they would just ignore the fan base that made Mass Effect what it is today.
I didnt read any spoilers but i have a feeling that much like the lame ass arrival DLC there will suddenly be huge moments where we cant decide what happens, probably when series favorite characters are forced to die. Im guessing maybe my favorite guys garrus and shepard may be forced to die by bioware. They would probably kill off wrex too if they hadnt made him fairly likely to die in the first game already.
One thing that might make you feel better is that there are really only two different modes, action and story. RPG mode contains both Action and story modes in one.
I believe I read that story mode just makes combat easier while giving you control over the story/dialogue and action mode chooses the dialogue for you and has more emphasis on action.
SO basically, pretty much everyone who plays ME3 will choose RPG mode.
my problem is bioware catering to a bunch of people who dont want their game no matter what they do. A rep from bioware could go up to one of my casual gamer friends a say to them "I will give you a free copy of mass effect 3 and have this super model jerk you off as much as you want for as long as it takes you to finish the game" and they still wouldnt play it for more than 5 min. Action mode or not.
I agree guys. A staple of the generation. Although I hope that the story does not suffer from this change to appeal to more gamers. Those people are not going to buy it anyways, keep the fans happy and you got nothing to worry about. Word of mouth is the strongest advertisement. I cross my fingers hoping they are working on another epic story to finish off Shepards trilogy. We got to have some faith in the team.