Another 360-PC port...Mass Effect

[MinisterofDOOM]

I bought ANOTHER game I had previously not been impressed with a couple days ago. I watched a friend play the PC version and thought it looked meh. Then I actually PLAYED it and found it to be quite enjoyable. So I picked it up ($20 on Steam, plus the DLC is free for the PC version).

I'm really impressed with the port job on this game. The entire interface has been completely overhauled. I think that makes a big difference...the 360 interface was clunky and meh. You'd never guess this was ported from a console from the interface alone.

Unfortunately, there ARE some issues. There are some really significant texture glitches with the game, and the Steam version particularly. They can all be circumvented, but typical players will be stuck with amazingly low-resolution (250x250!) textures on characters. Clothes have antialiased lego-brick pixels so large you can count them. The low-res textures combined with high-tech shader and lighting effects makes for a very strange look...eyeballs are glisteningly shiny with (again) pixels so big you can count them from a distance.And the Steam version has a shader cache error that causes some critical planetary textures not to draw. Anywhere that should have lava has empty blackness.With these fixed (some simple .ini file editing and config file deletion) the game looks fantastic, though, with some of the most realistic looking faces I've ever seen in a game (including Crysis).Actually, graphics-wise, hacking .ini files allows you get get far better than "stock" allowable settings through the game's menus. I've cranked up texture filtering and resolution scaling so that I see lots of sharp, clean details everywhere.

As far as gameplay, combat is enjoyable, the story is genuinely good, and (most surprisingly for me) squad management is a blast. Holding spacebar brings up the command menu, from which you can easily and quickly give commands (including specific movement orders). Hotkeys are more numerous now, thanks to lots of keyboard keys. Inventory management has been improved (but still sucks). And the hacking minigame has gone from lame quick-time event tedium to a what is essentially circular Frogger with an urgent time limit.The new PC command interface:http://www.blogcdn.com/news.bi...d.jpg(The inset image of the 360 hud is misleading, as that's the "bare" 360 hud vs the "command" PC hud--the 3 command/ability panes disappear when you release the spacebar.)

I'm not really disappointed that I waited to pick this game up, as the PC version is clearly better suited to my tastes. But I'm glad I didn't skip it completely. It's a lot of fun and despite what I've been told, plays absolutely nothing like Knights of the Old Republic, which I hated.

[positron1]

Dude you are gonna love this game when the story starts to pick up! How far or where are you currently? Keep me informed on your progress!

[MinisterofDOOM]

I've just got command of the Normandy and rescued the blue chick, so I have the full crew now. I would probably be farther along but I had to mess with fixing the damn missing lava textures on the planet I saved the blue girl from. It's hard to avoid driving into lava when you can't see where the lava is.

I'm playing as an engineer with a focus on combat (I don't like being dependent on my squad. I'd rather tell them to run off and hide and take care of things myself when things get REALLY nasty).

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

I just bought it a couple months ago myself...though I haven't played it in several weeks. I just installed all the fallout 3 dlcs at once and i've been playing through those so Mass Effect went onto the back burner.

It's also not a game you can just hop right into...the menus are tedious for trading and it just takes way too long to get through certain parts of the game, such as running through the main city. So, atleast I, had to plan in advance to play it...which is a pain kind of. With F3, Oblivion, or an fps I can just jump right in.

Other than that I really want to be able to get further in the game...as I hear the ending is spectacular.I have the same gripes as you do for the graphical glitches. My upper-tier PC makes it look pretty good and the Environments look fantastic...but characters have a few display glitches as I'm unable to run dynamic shadows or it will cover the characters in weird shadows and grainy textures. Yes, I turned off that stupid cinematic effect.

I love, LOVE the character customizing in the game...and it's so cool to see the character YOU designed talking and interacting naturally as if it were programmed as such. My dude is a little like a mix between Jet-Li that guy from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I just wish you could choose other races other than human.

[bmike818]

I have had the 360 version since launch. This game made me feel like I am in a scifi series. I just wished there were more things to do on the surface of the planets (vehicle mode)......i mean all of the planets looks very similar. I would have wanted more variation......a crystal moon where the surface is shines like a mirror....translucency IDK

there were moments...like OMG....WTF just happened......a good thing

first time I saw somebody impaled...

p.s. you can get with the blue chick

[positron1]

This game made me feel like I am in a scifi series.

Man you took the words right outta my mouth, this is exactly the feeling that I got from it especially at the end when you're fighting for the Citadel. I felt like a character at the end of one of the big epic movies like Return or Revolutions when everythings on the line and it's up to you to save the universe!!!! Intense feeling this game gave me!