Mass Effect universe discussion thread

[PeteJ]

It's obvious all the reapers in the trailers are just Sovereign's model from ME1, maybe spruced up a bit. They all look identical where as the ones in the ME2 final cutscene had quite a bit of diversity in designs.

True, but Sovereign/Nazara looks massive in size when compared to those in the trailer.

I'm just eagerly awaiting news of how they're going to be handling the squadmates from ME2. About the only thing that could deep six this whole thing for me would be them deciding we needed to spend 80% of the playtime just recruiting a whole new team again. Then why did we bother keeping the last one alive.

I want to add on to the team, maybe even if it means trading away existing characters for new, but I don't want another. "spend the whole game gathering people for a mission that lasts 1 out of 40 hrs", scenario.

Agreed. Mass Effect 2 was great but it was seriously lacking missions that actually advanced the main plot. I got a little annoyed when I had gathered my team, and completed the loyalty missions, and was expecting many more missions to come. Then the game just ended with the suicide mission and I sat there thinking ''that was it?''

Imo the first game was better.

[g.o.d]

Batman: Arkham City
Bulletstorm
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dragon Age II
Duke Nukem Forever
Gears of War 3
Mass Effect 3
Portal 2
Star Wars: The Old Republic

Plus maybe:
Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Hitman 5
Shogun 2: Total War




*dies*

well, as much as I wanna believe that, I doubt we'll ever see ep3

[gotthammer]

I don't remember, but has it already been stated as to how they'll set it up for people who let Shep die in ME2? It would be interesting if there's an option for a new protagonist...
(I don't think I got as attached to Shep, despite having a voice, as I did w/ the Warden in DA:O, so I won't mind seeing a new protagonist/PC in ME3)

I'd also have to agree w/ Ouroboros' sentiments regarding the 'collect 'em all' setup (esp. as it's a rather common device in RPGs).
A 'refresher' or 're-introduction' would be nice, provided they're not too lengthy.
Some more/new companion options to pick from/collect would also be nice (esp. if your Shep got most of his/her team in ME2 killed ), provided that, if you already had a decent team (i.e., didn't mostly die off in ME2), their recruitment quests wouldn't be the focus.

I just hope that, overall, the trilogy will feel more like the 'Lord of the Rings' movies(mostly satisfying and epic. Not perfect, but still worth a re-watch every now and then)...as opposed to the Matrix trilogy (great first movie, an ok 2nd movie that's obviously a setup/build-up for the 3rd, and...then...*shrugs* I don't even feel like watching the first movie anymore... )

[Ouroboros]

well, as much as I wanna believe that, I doubt we'll ever see ep3

It would indeed be pretty insane of them to release a game on the original HL2 engine in 2011. They definitely missed the bus on this one big time.

Just roll ep3 into HL3 when it comes out sometime in 2025.

True, but Sovereign/Nazara looks massive when compared to those in the trailer.

He was supposed to be 2km long as I recall, so yeah, they're undersized. I figure it was so they could fit more of them in the shot.

Agreed. Mass Effect 2 was great but it was seriously lacking missions that actually advanced the main plot. I got a little annoyed when I had gathered my team, and completed the loyalty missions, and was expecting many more missions to come. Then the game just ended with the suicide mission and I sat there thinking ''that was it?''

That's pretty much the feeling I was left with to. Great I finally got to know everyone, upgraded my ship to the hilt, furnished the team with the most cutting edge weapons Cerberus could get their hands on and.... wait it's over.

It felt like once you really got everything out of the way and got comfortable it was just in time for one last big hurrah and then the game was over. You really wanted to spend more time flying around with all your new space buddies but then it's all cut so short. Depending on what order you pick them up in to you barely even get to know some of the characters, Legion being the most obvious example, and for all their "you can keep playing after the game" hype that came out before it was released there's very little to do after the main storyline other than the DLCs. Some of the DLCs are good, but they still don't feel like the main game with the totally mute teammates, meaning they don't do much for giving you the sense of more time with the existing characters.

I've played through the game fully twice and have another couple of stalled playthroughs and I've still not fully finished every character's dialog tree, mainly out of fear of the magnetic pants effect bioware builds into the dialog.

There's still plenty more you could do with the existing cast as virtually all of them have potential for more development and depth to be added to their characters. I'd rather see that, the existing characters deepened and enhanced, than have to start over with another group of "origin stories". This goes especially true for the romance options as I don't think I've ever seen a game force a player to actually live with one, as opposed to just building one into a PG-13 sex payoff then dropping the whole thing immediately after the inevitably awkward scene plays.

I want to see a game where other crew members might get suspicious or resentful of that certain team members "special" relationship with the commander. ME is ripe for this already as some of the characters don't really like each other and it's really only Shepard's influence that keeps them working together. If that influence appears to be getting directly influenced by someone they dislike though...

Imo the first game was better.

In some respects perhaps, skills especially, but it had plenty of problems to. I did like how they gave you your entire party right from very early in the game though.

[s09119]

I absolutely loved ME2, and I'm really looking forward to the plot of ME3.

I envision something like this being the intro scenario: the Reapers arrived and made the Citadel their first target, blowing it out of the water and destroying galactic government. While the various Citadel races scramble to rebuild a chain of command, the Reapers have moved out against each race's territory, forcing them to independently fight on their own. This brings the galaxy dangerously close to the Protheans' situation, and Shepard recognizes the tactic and its efficiency. As the Alliance prepares to outfit him to go and assist the others, Earth itself falls under siege, and while it pains Shepard to do so, he knows he can't afford to stay and help there if the Milky Way as a whole is to survive. So he heads out in the Normandy to bring his team back together, picking up those that have thus far survived from wherever they're fighting. Along the way he visits the current seat of power for the Asari, Turians, Salarians, Quarians, Rachni, Terminus Systems, Omega, and Geth, convincing them one by one to form an unprecedented coalition to fight off the Reaper invasion. After liberating those races' homeworlds/bases/whatever, the cross-species armada heads for an occupied Earth, where they meet the Reapers in one final battle for the fate of the galaxy...

At least, that's how I think it'll go down.

[Oranos]

I'm just eagerly awaiting news of how they're going to be handling the squadmates from ME2. About the only thing that could deep six this whole thing for me would be them deciding we needed to spend 80% of the playtime just recruiting a whole new team again. Then why did we bother keeping the last one alive.

I want to add on to the team, maybe even if it means trading away existing characters for new, but I don't want another. "spend the whole game gathering people for a mission that lasts 1 out of 40 hrs", scenario.

I got my elite team, let me put them to the test. The collectors were just the warm up lap.

Good God. If I spent ME2 running around and recruiting the galaxy's best and most dangerous, only to have to recruit a new squad in ME3, I might actually lose faith in BioWare. I strongly suspect that they're smarter than that, however.

BioWare did monitor ME2 to see which squadmates were the most popular -- I strongly suspect this is part of the reason why. They bring back some of the fan favorites, but with a couple of new guys and gals (especially for those people who lost some of the squad on the suicide mission).

I do wonder whether the marine in this teaser is going to be a potential squadmate (much like Legion in the first ME2 teaser).

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

To the people that saying the reapers are undersized, no they aren't. They were dwarfing Big Ben. the Houses of Parliament and the London eye, which was barely half the height of the reapers tentacles. Reapers are only actually a couple of k long, they were the correct size.

I think people need to get perspective, the reaper at the end dwarfed this building, so it is really big.

[Ouroboros]

Good God. If I spent ME2 running around and recruiting the galaxy's best and most dangerous, only to have to recruit a new squad in ME3, I might actually lose faith in BioWare. I strongly suspect that they're smarter than that, however.

BioWare did monitor ME2 to see which squadmates were the most popular -- I strongly suspect this is part of the reason why. They bring back some of the fan favorites, but with a couple of new guys and gals (especially for those people who lost some of the squad on the suicide mission).

Well at bare minimum you'd think that they're going to have to include

Ashley
Kaiden
Liara
Miranda
Jack
Garrus
Tali
Jacob

Because they're all romance options and it would seem odd to finish the story without them. Thane is as well but they already set him up for an early out in ME2 so he might not be appearing again.

If they're going to cut characters I'd say the ones at the head of the list would be

Mordin - very old for a Salarian, recruited for expertise on collector seeker swarms, might want to finish apprentices work before he dies depending on choices

Zaeed - DLC and his contract would be complete

Kasumi - DLC and her contract would likewise be complete

Samara - Signed on to fight collectors, not sure if she'll stick around afterward rather than just go off and resume standard Justicar things again.

Morinth - Unlikely to stay out of any kind of loyalty, will leave as soon as she gets bored. She's also the fanbase's most hated party character by a landslide. She even makes Jacob seem popular.

Thane = As mentioned, he's already got an advanced stage terminal disease when you recruit him in ME2, depending on how much time passes between 2 and 3 he might already have died.

Wrex - Might just leave him as the head of the Korgan, especially considering he might have been dead since ME1 for some players (the terrible ones who play the game wrong).

I'm kind of on the fence about Legion. On one had he is fascinated with Shepard, on the other hand he's a hardware platform for a bunch of AI programs that could easily be transferred into something else that wasn't a selectable party character.

I do wonder whether the marine in this teaser is going to be a potential squadmate (much like Legion in the first ME2 teaser).

It seems likely.

To the people that saying the reapers are undersized, no they aren't. They were dwarfing Big Ben. the Houses of Parliament and the London eye, which was barely half the height of the reapers tentacles. Reapers are only actually a couple of k long, they were the correct size.

I think people need to get perspective, the reaper at the end dwarfed this building, so it is really big.

Yeah looking at it again I'd be inclined to agree. The two I was thinking were undersized are actually a lot further into the background than I first though. The one seen to "step on" the camera is actually the closest one to big ben and it's enormous.

[gotthammer]

Yup. Quite big.

As for companions: yup. Unless anything 'bad' happens to Shepard (again?), I'm expecting the whole crew (at least those your ME2 Shep kept alive) to be there.
I'm also hoping that some of the 'interesting' NPCs also become available as companions: Wrex, Aria, Xen, the Biotic God (or at least a cameo ), etc.

Ooh. And since it's Earth...I hope that finally means Shep and co. can finally rumble about in a REAL tank (I could settle for a hover/grav tank, provided it's not as fragile as the Hammerhead. Or they could just bring back the Mako...).

And more taxi driving scenes, too, I hope!
(LotSB was great. Gotta get around to doing another playthrough...lotsa time 'fore the next game anyway)

[Replicator Todd]

I still haven't played Mass Effect 2(), but the Mass Effect 3 trailer is excellent!

[Oranos]

Well at bare minimum you'd think that they're going to have to include

...

Because they're all romance options and it would seem odd to finish the story without them. Thane is as well but they already set him up for an early out in ME2 so he might not be appearing again.

If I just sat here, I could come up with equally compelling reasons for why each member of the team might rejoin Shep or be off doing their own thing. So I'm not convinced about anyone yet.

However, if Garrus isn't around, me and BioWare might be having a few issues.

[Col.Foley]

That trailer was really something else....

[Ouroboros]

If I just sat here, I could come up with equally compelling reasons for why each member of the team might rejoin Shep or be off doing their own thing. So I'm not convinced about anyone yet.

However, if Garrus isn't around, me and BioWare might be having a few issues.

They've just got to have Garrus. It wouldn't be ME without him. He's pretty much the face of the whole series to me.

[Homer 120]

Just saw the trailer, WOW WOW WOW!

''But its been bloddy effective''

Was that Ghost/Gaz from Modarn Warfare doing the voiceover?

[DigiFluid]

I think Legion is kind of a must for ME3, if for no other reason than because he was pivotal in defining the future of the Geth in ME2.