bbuckley23

Sadly there is no k-mart near me...oh well i preordered from gamestop so i will just have to wait

Flay

Favorite line of dialogue so far:

Flay

Story-Spoiler free impressions of my first 6 hours into the game:

So far, I've completed the opening level on Eden, nearly every mission available to me so far on the Citadel (kind of the hub of operations) and visited my first planet in another galaxy. The opening level really sets up the story and offers a brief glimpse at what lies ahead for the main character.

The game is very much structured like KOTOR in terms of decision making and level design. Choices between compassionate and aggressive responses are very clear. I've went both ways a few times, but I'll be sticking to the side of good for the remainder of the journey. I've been loading more points into my Charm skill rather than intimidate. Some conversation responses are blacked out and cannot be selected until you gain enough skill points in the corresponding category.

While there's more options at your disposal, controlling the group is easier than KOTOR. The quick access to weaponry and talent powers are easier accessed by the bumpers. Squad commands are easy to access as well on the directional pad, although I've rarely needed squad tactics yet. (Still around level 8)

So far I've recruited nearly all my crew members in the first 5 hours, basically for moving the story along at the Citadel. I'm still missing one though. I have visited my first planet via the galaxy browser and it was a cool cinematic. You are dropped onto planets in a 6 wheeled all-terrain vehicle with a mounted machine gun / cannon.

Unfortunately, there's not much to do once you get down there besides drive around. There are markers on the map to go investigate different areas, but I haven't seen much that's worth visiting. Sometimes there's some good equipment out there. If there is a story related item on the world, I'll usually just head for that. Interestingly, the majority of the planets in a system cannot be visited. There are typically only 1 or 2 planets that can sustain life in the systems I've visited. You can survey planets for minerals and gases, but it seems so pointless at this point.

I'm staying away from the main story right now and just exploring. Similar to KOTOR, you can't move the conversations between your crewmates forward until you complete another portion of the story.

There are options in the video section to turn off the film grain as well as the motion blurring effect. I prefer the film grain off, but it does give the game a more natural look in high definition.

I'm playing on normal, but have the targeting help turned off. I may need to turn it up a bit as I didn't die until about 4 hours in. Friendly Teammates never actually die, just get knocked out for a bit until you rid the area of enemies.

Happy to answer any questions.

Spiderbite

Got my new OXM in today and on the front cover it states..."Reviewed! Mass Effect. Why Bioware's latest is Xbox 360's BEST GAME YET!"

Pretty high praise from Halo Central.

I haven't read the review yet but they gave it a 10 and state that it is the "Best story ever told in a videogame, period."

Unbelievable how many good games are out right now.

Timeshift only got a 7 in the same issue. A huge review on Rock Band which got a 9.5

flashburn

For the surveying of minerals and gases (you can also find different minerals and metals actually on the planet), there is a secondary quest to find all of them. No clue what you get for doing it though.

I am thrilled they gave us the option of turning the film grain and motion blur off, as I thought they were both pretty annoying.

Supermallet

How am I going to have time to play this when it comes out on the same day as Rock Band? Nice move there, Bioware.

Brent L

This is such a basic question, but meh, here I go. Is this a straight up action-RPG, like Zelda or the like, or is there a big a turn-based action as well?

Flay

Straight up action-RPG, no turns. You can pause battle on the fly to change weapons or call up powers, but that's as close as you get. You also have basic squad movement control.

I'm up to level 20 now and strategy starts to come into play on the main story missions. You really have to setup your battle plan before running into battle. Still, it's very much a third person shooter.

Brooklyn

On the newer videos the combat looks very Rainbow'ish, though a few who
have played it have said it's rather stiff. What do you think? Are we talking
Winback here?

Flay

The squad elements are nowhere near Rainbow Six quality. All you have are four commands to choose from: Move, Rally, Target, and Take Cover. Those commands are shared as well. You can't direct specific teammates to different locations. Additionally, there are very few situations that give you enough time to react tactically to the onslaught of enemies later in the game.

The friendly AI will get knocked on their ass constantly as well, but they do provide an excellent distraction as I pick off the more powerful enemies and there is a talent power to help downed friendlies later in the game. I typically roll into a fight with a teammate on the sniper, a teammate on the shotty and myself with the assault rifle. I've been successful with that combination of weaponry so far, along with a few choice talents.

Brent L

Perfect, thanks Flay. It's now a must-buy for me.

PixyJunket

Squad Elements?

Leroy's To Rent List

Bioshock
Mass Effect
Soul Calibur Legends

xmiyux

From what i have heard, the squad elements are just adding an slight AI to the team members as a layer between them deciding things completely on their own and using the KOTOR method of pausing->issuing orders to each member->unpause->wait 3-5 seconds-> repeat.

It's not squad stuff like in a FPS like Republic Commando.

Flay

Yep, there's lots of secondary collection quests for the deep space area. Collecting minerals and gases actually do have a nice payout in terms of credits. It's nice for the early stages when you want a quick boost of money.

Speaking of money, it's not much of a problem up at level 25. Rarely have I even had to buy anything yet. Nearly all of my equipment was found in the mission areas. Also, I found out there is a 150 item cap for carrying items. You will start to get warnings around 135 items.

timewaster

i'm one of the lucky ones and just got a copy last night.
Here are some screen shots for those of you who do not believe me.

http://www.box.net/shared/d3jc8ql44x#1:10757637

Got home late and didn't get a chance to play it much.
Early impression - The sound and music is fantastic. Makes you feel like you are participating in a movie. The graphics are amazing. The faces are photorealistic. They look like real actors.

One complaint so far - There is no onscreen map. Its a bit annoying. U need to hit 2 buttons to access the map. The map shows u and your squadmates and which way they are facing, but I havent figured out how to distinguish yourself from your squadmates in the map. So if you and your squadmates are facing off in different directions, its a bit difficult to figure out which way you are facing.

I've only played it for about 10 mins, but i can see this game replacing Bioshock as my favorite game of the year.

flashburn

Same, here. I have only bought one thing (other than licenses) from the vendor, which was a set of heavy armor back when I was like level 10, which was way better than anything else I had at the time.

I did notice there is an achievement for getting 1 million credits, but I doubt I will get that during this playthrough since I am trying to stay on the "good" path. Extorting money is an option that comes along often, but I never take it.

Supermallet

Those could easily have been faked. I don't see a quarter anywhere in those pictures.

Deftones

EGM's review wasn't as glowing as some of the others, but they did give it a few 9.5s and one 8.5, IIRC.

Supermallet

Let me guess, it probably went something like:

Jack: This was pretty cool!
John: Nice graphics!
Jan: I didn't like it as much as you guys did.
Jack: But it's so cool!
John: And it looks so nice!
Jan: Yeah, but it's not as great as all that.
Jack: But look at how cool it is!
John: And that imagery!
Jan: I'm just saying, it could have been better.

Scores: 9.5, 9.5, 8.5

flashburn

Seriously, EGM has some of the worst reviews of any magazine out there. I definitely wouldn't give the game a 10, as it does have problems, but I think it is the best game I have played this year.

Flay

Not sure about that. I'm on the path of good and I'm up to about 500K at this point. I sell on a regular basis though.

flashburn

Interesting, I am currently level 26 and I have about 80k credits, I have only spent about 30k. Maybe once I go through more of the secondary missions I will get a bit more cash.

Flay

I'm at level 27 right now. The secondary objectives on the planets really help. I'm clearing about 5K per artifact at this point.

Flay

Level 33, 900K in creds, so close to 100% of Paragon.

flashburn

Damn you, rich bastard! Time for my daily dose.