"ANDROMEDA SUCCEEDS, DESPITE A HOST OF PROBLEMS"
From Polygon, I can live with that.
Hovering in mid-high 70's on Metacritic. I'm alright with that, honestly. I expected as much.
[editline]20th March 2017[/editline]
Forbes gave it an 85, Gamespot a 6. These scores are all over the place.
[QUOTE=KaptonJack;51985856]Hovering in mid-high 70's on Metacritic. I'm alright with that, honestly. I expected as much.
[editline]20th March 2017[/editline]
Forbes gave it an 85, Gamespot a 6. These scores are all over the place.[/QUOTE]
Game gets high scores - The reviewers have been bribed!!
Game gets average scores - The game is absolute shit
Eitherway it seems to be going to be a solid 80, which is fairly acceptable.
PCGamer gave it an 80, though the actual review makes it sound more like 70~
From PC gamer:
[Quote]Here's the thing, though: in the end, Andromeda still manages to be more than the sum of its parts. As a critic I can point to the things that don't quite work, the things that could be better, the things that should be better after 10 years and four of these games. I can also appreciate where improvements have been made, the basic pleasure of an improved combat system and a full-feeling, spectacular sci-fi world to explore.
Yet I'm also aware that when I'm in Mass Effect's zone a lot of these dry pros and cons don't seem to matter as much. This is a series that has always been good at getting under your skin, that has built its reputation on the moments when all of those disparate elements, good and bad, cohere into an adventure that feels like it's happening to you. Andromeda can still do that. It's not perfect. It's not consistent. But for a story about vast journeys and fresh starts, it also feels a little like coming home.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Del91;51985884]From PC gamer:[/QUOTE]
The main flaw I can see in this argument is that, if we really must remove the gameplay proper from the equation if it suits our personal view on a certain game, at this point we may as well be watching a movie and get the same feelings in less time and cheaper
[QUOTE=Del91;51985884]From PC gamer:[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
My nostalgia makes this game better than it actually is.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=27X;51985932][QUOTE]My nostalgia makes this game better than it actually is.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]
Did you actually ever get to play the game yourself?
And don't give me a "no need to, [some vague reason]".
[QUOTE=Loadingue;51985954]Did you actually ever get to play the game yourself?
And don't give me a "no need to, [some vague reason]".[/QUOTE]
I don't know if you took a look at the part of the PC Gamer's review that was quoted, but basically the author said "This game has several glaring issues, but I'm willing to ignore them because I like the series and the general setting".
This is a behaviour I tend not to like in a person who's supposed to give me a fair (not objective) assessment on a game's quality
It makes me sort of angry I'll probably never get to be a game writer like I used to dream of but then shit like this gets made and I feel like I could write better dialogue when I'm sleeping.
Like I'm not saying the whole thing is bad but clearly some of the script writers either have no clue or don't give a fuck yet they somehow lucked into getting their job.
I stopped trusting PC Gamer when they gave their highest score ever to Dragon Age 2.
I was pretty skeptical after the funny gifs and videos, but tbh I really enjoyed the trial, and instantly preordered the moment it prompted me to.
I have been waiting for a decent Bioware game again, and this is it (imo). Never got into the Dragon Age series, those are waaay more janky than ME1/2/3.
Andromeda reminds me a lot of how I felt when I played ME1 for the first time. They chose the theme really well this time around, perfect for a space adventure.
[QUOTE=Scot;51986035]I stopped trusting PC Gamer when they gave their highest score ever to Dragon Age 2.[/QUOTE]
it wasn't quite their highest score ever
but it was 94%
[B]ninety four percent[/B]
[QUOTE=Loadingue;51985954]Did you actually ever get to play the game yourself?
And don't give me a "no need to, [some vague reason]".[/QUOTE]
I've [I]been[/I] playing the game since the MP technical alpha, and I've been privy to the SP since longer than that, which is why I have no intention of even bothering with it unless some miraculous DLC appears from writers whom are not the current ones. ME2's DLC was amazing because the man whom would begin steering the plot was off transitioning things and handling big picture elements, and the writers who gave a damn about the characters the big picture is made of got to pretty much do their own thing within reason and context. ME3 is a textbook case of BW being herded by a company that did not give a shit about anything but that sweet sweet portfolio, and how quickly we have forgotten that, which is why people abandoned ship left and right.
That isn't the case here. EA gave Bioware the time they needed and gave them overhead to re-find the talent they lost, and here we are, with a by-the-numbers hyper cliche plot that not only doesn't rise above current popcorn movie fare, it [i]deliberately[/i] doesn't even throw a new take on its own legacy.
On the other side of the fence we have MP that is still fun, but is also a complete unhardened, unbalanced mess. Inf and Vanguard are heehaw strong, melee is amateur hour incarnate and only holds up by means of being slightly overstrength for the beginning meta, and primers are far more useful at starting gate levels while detonators need about 7 levels of XP to be worth a damn on protected enemies, and the jetpack is so over emphasized, especially as a means of escape as to make cover and tactical positioning meaningless anywhere but indoors, even with the 50% shield regen in cover.
The game is a mess, and you can't blame that on EA and bullshit scheduling this time. If BW is truly committed to this game like their marketing says, they can turn it from a 6 to MAYBE an 8 in the time they're contractually obligated to support it. But given the amount time and money spent, it shouldn't be a 6 in the first place.
[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;51986026]It makes me sort of angry I'll probably never get to be a game writer like I used to dream of but then shit like this gets made and I feel like I could write better dialogue when I'm sleeping.
Like I'm not saying the whole thing is bad but clearly some of the script writers either have no clue or don't give a fuck yet they somehow lucked into getting their job.[/QUOTE]
I feel you. I'm looking to get into game design and writing and seeing what kind of people are doing those jobs it just makes me angry and frustrated all the time. As much as I love Mass Effects, they do so many things so, so wrong.
Seems like reviews range from "meh" to "good", yet rarely land at "great". Which I kind of expected. Mass Effect Lite seems to be the general consensus. Seeing as the game never hooked me the same way the OT did, and that neither reviews or promo-material have managed to sway me, I don't think I'll end up a customer. Which, as an OT fan, bums me out to no end.
Though it probably received a [I]lot[/I] more scrutiny due to The Ending.
[QUOTE=Eurogamer]If there's any genuine mystique to the idea of travelling 2.5 million lightyears to colonise another galaxy, BioWare's fourth Mass Effect smacks it over the head with a prospector's shovel and boots it out the airlock during the first few hours of play.
-
Perhaps above all, there's a shortage of drama or real consequence to Andromeda, apparently brought on by the shift to an open world template, that is sadly new to Mass Effect - a series celebrated not merely for its freedom of choice, but for making those choices matter.
-
Where the original Mass Effect games kept you moving through the story, Andromeda relegates its critical path to second place, offering up a spread of loosely associated scenarios that just happens to include a fairly uninspired tussle with a genocidal tyrant. It's a game that is more interested in keeping you busy than keeping you in suspense about what happens next, or making you feel the consequences of your actions.
-
The lion's share of Andromeda's missions are busywork - go to a waypoint, scan 10 Remnant collapsible shelving units with your ugly wrist-mounted display, scoop up five mineral deposits for some lazy boffin back on the Nexus, blow up three raider outposts, and so forth.
-
In some respects, Andromeda is most disappointing when it's at its best. There's a mission in the opening third that conjures up the spectre of Virmire - a raid on a kett facility, accompanied by a crack squad of angaran guerrillas. The shift in mood and focus is faintly miraculous: the music kicks up, the bugs ease off, the dialogue straightens out of its slouch and the combat goes into overdrive. There are familiar but pleasantly ghoulish secrets to uncover, rooms to comb for hints about kett society, and a couple of heated, deftly worded interactions with companions that genuinely get your blood pumping.
It's gripping stuff, and a reminder of the greatness of the Mass Effect trilogy - its intelligent reworkings of pulp sci-fi cliche, the taut splendour of its scenarios and aesthetic, the colour and dexterity of its writing. All that's still in here somewhere, I think. But then you pop out the other end of the mission, back into Andromeda's labyrinth of drudgery and obfuscation, and remember that you're a long way from home.[/QUOTE]
The sum of all my fears.
[QUOTE=JeSuisIkea;51986026]It makes me sort of angry I'll probably never get to be a game writer like I used to dream of but then shit like this gets made and I feel like I could write better dialogue when I'm sleeping.
Like I'm not saying the whole thing is bad but clearly some of the script writers either have no clue or don't give a fuck yet they somehow lucked into getting their job.[/QUOTE]
Well...
[QUOTE=BioWare]BioWare's general manager, Aaryn Flynn, [URL="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2016/11/28/biowares-new-horizon-inside-andromedas-challenges-star-wars-future-and-the-new-ip.aspx"]noted[/URL] that many of the developers working on the project were fans of the original trilogy who came to BioWare specifically to work on a Mass Effect game.[/QUOTE]
It's not too far out to suggest some of them wrote fics at some point. Which is probably a good exercise to learn the ropes of writing, but come on.
If I pre-order can I continue the trial or must I wait until Thursday to play it again?
I got another 5 hours or so left but I have been enjoying the game so far.
Sure animations are janky, facial animations are unfinished and certain characters voice acting is horrible (The my face is tired girl, the krogan and the Scottish girl mainly) also most faces looks like potatoes, but honestly it's not all bad. The environments look beautiful, the story has peaked my interest, the world seems alive, certain characters are genuinely interesting and overall it's pretty engaging so far. I think I want to finish this game either way.
[QUOTE=Buck.;51986165]If I pre-order can I continue the trial or must I wait until Thursday to play it again?
I got another 5 hours or so left but I have been enjoying the game so far.
Sure animations are janky, facial animations are unfinished and certain characters voice acting is horrible (The my face is tired girl, the krogan and the Scottish girl mainly) also most faces looks like potatoes, but honestly it's not all bad. The environments look beautiful, the story has peaked my interest, the world seems alive, certain characters are genuinely interesting and overall it's pretty engaging so far. I think I want to finish this game either way.[/QUOTE]
The trial ends after 10h, whether you own the game or not. It does not let you continue playing if you own the game.
Talking about review scores: 7.7 from IGN
Brad and Jeff from Giant Bomb both described it as "like a direct-to-video sequel".
[QUOTE=KaptonJack;51985716]Wowzers the romance scene with [sp]Cora, at least. I only watched that one since I have no intention of romancing her[/sp], is pretty explicit.
[/QUOTE]
Is it sad that's probably the best animating I have seen in andromeda ? :v: I guess that's where all the budget went.
So are there Quarians in the game? A friend of mine said he wants to get it because of Quarians and I just wanna laugh at him for buying it and not even getting Quarians.
[QUOTE=SEKCobra;51986247]So are there Quarians in the game? A friend of mine said he wants to get it because of Quarians and I just wanna laugh at him for buying it and not even getting Quarians.[/QUOTE]
[sp]Nope, DLC or sequel set-up since they arrive late with all the other Milky Way species that aren't council or Krogan[/sp]
[QUOTE=FpShepard;51986241]Is it sad that's probably the best animating I have seen in andromeda ? :v: I guess that's where all the budget went.[/QUOTE]
I vividly remember some dev describing MEA as a "softcore porn in space" or something along those lines...
I've gotta know though..
Is the new alien squadmate romanceable by both Ryders? Asking for science.
[QUOTE=27X;51986091]I've [I]been[/I] playing the game since the MP technical alpha, and I've been privy to the SP since longer than that, which is why I have no intention of even bothering with it unless some miraculous DLC appears from writers whom are not the current ones. ME2's DLC was amazing because the man whom would begin steering the plot was off transitioning things and handling big picture elements, and the writers who gave a damn about the characters the big picture is made of got to pretty much do their own thing within reason and context. ME3 is a textbook case of BW being herded by a company that did not give a shit about anything but that sweet sweet portfolio, and how quickly we have forgotten that, which is why people abandoned ship left and right.
That isn't the case here. EA gave Bioware the time they needed and gave them overhead to re-find the talent they lost, and here we are, with a by-the-numbers hyper cliche plot that not only doesn't rise above current popcorn movie fare, it [i]deliberately[/i] doesn't even throw a new take on its own legacy.
On the other side of the fence we have MP that is still fun, but is also a complete unhardened, unbalanced mess. Inf and Vanguard are heehaw strong, melee is amateur hour incarnate and only holds up by means of being slightly overstrength for the beginning meta, and primers are far more useful at starting gate levels while detonators need about 7 levels of XP to be worth a damn on protected enemies, and the jetpack is so over emphasized, especially as a means of escape as to make cover and tactical positioning meaningless anywhere but indoors, even with the 50% shield regen in cover.
The game is a mess, and you can't blame that on EA and bullshit scheduling this time. If BW is truly committed to this game like their marketing says, they can turn it from a 6 to MAYBE an 8 in the time they're contractually obligated to support it. But given the amount time and money spent, it shouldn't be a 6 in the first place.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for this post. I don't think I've ever seen you explain how much of the game you were actually familiar with, but I'm glad you've finally said where you got your insight from.
Anybody knows if I'll be able to play the multiplayer if I unlock the game early through VPN?
[QUOTE=SFC003;51986258]I've gotta know though..
Is the new alien squadmate romanceable by both Ryders? Asking for science.[/QUOTE]
A reviewer mentioned that Jaal is open only to Female Ryder which is honestly :disgust:
[QUOTE=CrossNgen;51986386]Anybody knows if I'll be able to play the multiplayer if I unlock the game early through VPN?[/QUOTE]
Yes you should be able to play MP once you unlock the game with a vpn.
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