Mass Effect 4's first screens glimpsed over BioWare Montreal's shoulders; promise "new worlds" - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=Novangel;42796960]Remember the feeling of wonder from 1?[/QUOTE] That, the atmosphere, the story, soundtrack and Saren made ME1 the best of the three.

[QUOTE=Rapist;42798025]I liked ME3. Great game, just the end wasn't great.[/QUOTE] I still deny that the ending happened and just go the real ending is the indoctrination theory, since I just like the idea of Sheppard getting indoctrinated.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;42796970]While I can certainly say ME2 and ME3 dramatically improved the combat, ME1 will remain my favorite Mass Effect purely because of that feeling.[/QUOTE] To me, Mass Effect 1 felt like it was bringing in an almost StarWars level world and universe and I literally had dreams about exploring. It felt so rich.

ME2 would have been better if it had taken place before ME1 I think. [editline]9th November 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=nightlord;42802826] There are many reasons why people complain about it. Here is a document that lists and explains some of the problems with the ending: [url]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QT4IUepvrU1pfv_B95oQj0H84DlCTUmzQ_uQh1voTUs/edit?pli=1[/url][/QUOTE] [quote]Bonus! A Heart-Warming Quotation Interviewer: [Regarding the numerous possible endings of Mass Effect 2] [I]“Is that same type of complexity built into the ending of Mass Effect 3?” [/I] Casey Hudson: [I]“Yeah, and I’d say much more so, because we have the ability to build the endings out in a way that we don’t have to worry about eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we’re taking into account so many decisions that you’ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It’s not even in any way like the traditional game endings,where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.....The endings have a lot more sophistication and variety in them.”[/I] [/quote] :v:

is there a red planet and blue planet or a yellow planet?

[QUOTE=SexualShark;42807287]is there a red planet and blue planet or a yellow planet?[/QUOTE] It was green and nice try at an old joke.

[QUOTE=G3rman;42807368]It was green and nice try at an old joke.[/QUOTE] Oh, that's worst of the planets.

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;42807179]I still deny that the ending happened and just go the real ending is the indoctrination theory, since I just like the idea of Sheppard getting indoctrinated.[/QUOTE] If the indoctrination theory had been confirmed real, it would've been one of the most amazing endings in the past decade. I deny Bioware's official ending and assume the indoctrination theory to be real.

I think Mass Effect was an excellent series as a whole. Not sure why everyone was so pissed about the ending of Mass Effect 3, but that's most likely because I finished the game with the Extended Cut installed. The first game definitely felt special, though. Watching the Normandy dive through space, bouncing around the snowy surface of Noveria, hanging out with Garrus and Tali every mission... it was pretty amazing. The only game that has given me a similar feeling would be Metro 2033, but that's probably because I love games with snow. I enjoyed Mass Effect 2 as well, especially with the expanded cast and the Normandy SR-2, but there was something lost in the transition to the sequel. Maybe it was the Mako, maybe it was the very tight story, or perhaps just because the first game had a significantly smaller budget and rabidly recycled every asset it could spare.

As people are getting excited about ME1 again, there is a texture/shadow improvement mod available for pc. The video makes it look pretty good so I'm downloading it now: [url]http://www.moddb.com/mods/mass-effect-1-new-texture-updatesimprovements-mod[/url]

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;42800926]Everyone keeps complaining that the whole "reapers killing every space-faring civilization to prevent synthetics from destroying organics" thing is really stupid[/QUOTE] I always hated it was because of just that, what do they not care if organics destroy organics or synthetics destroy synthetics? hell these would of been...better then invisible wars ending -Reapers just kill all races once they pass a stage because many cycles ago everything reached a point or rather in their original time transformed into an Warhammer40k grimdark slaughterhouse full of unspeakable evil and the reapers decided this after countless other cycles of trial and error was the only final solution. - Reapers kill all space races because if they grow attracts attention of worse things in dark space that even the reapers see as a threat/cannot stop/ - Reapers just use them as food sources or do so for the sake of their survival aka Star Control route - Go with the fucking Dark Matter ending theory

[QUOTE=Jackald;42807564]Yeah, the REAL secret issue of the series was Dark Matter, as evidenced by it being hinted at in ME1 and even having an entire mission dedicated to it (tali's recruitment) in ME2. Drew Karpyshyn intended the ending to be something to do with the Reapers sacrificing their race to curb the proliferation of Dark Matter, but Casey Hudson decided that was too complex for the call of duty crowd he was trying to attract, so he made it some dumb terminator bullshit and ruined all mystery or intrigue about the Reapers. And before you say "IT WAS AN ENTIRE TEAM" no, Casey Hudson and Mac Walters went into a room at one point in development and wrote the ending entirely by themselves with no quality vetting with the other team. That's why the writing is so bizarrely different and poorly done in the ME3 ending; there was no peer assessment.[/QUOTE] Unless it was written INSANELY well, I can't imagine the Dark Matter ending being any good either. That one also comes almost completely out of left field, with barely even 2 minutes dedicated to it in ME2. Honestly, I think they should have just kept it simple and gone with the Reapers "We are your salvation through destruction" motif. Yeah, it's cliche but it at least would fit with the rest of the narrative.

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;42808326]Unless it was written INSANELY well, I can't imagine the Dark Matter ending being any good either. That one also comes almost completely out of left field, with barely even 2 minutes dedicated to it in ME2. Honestly, I think they should have just kept it simple and gone with the Reapers "We are your salvation through destruction" motif. Yeah, it's cliche but it at least would fit with the rest of the narrative.[/QUOTE] Technically it was hinted throughout 1 and 2 in codexes, planet bios, etc. But I believe even Drew didn't have a concrete ending in his mind when he left the project.

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;42807179]I still deny that the ending happened and just go the real ending is the indoctrination theory, since I just like the idea of Sheppard getting indoctrinated.[/QUOTE] There were just so many problems with the ending and the rest of the game, i was really hoping the indoctrination theory was true. It would of been a great plot twist and made much more sense than what we got, even with the extended ending. What I'd really like is if ME4 is a sequel that reveals he actually was indoctrinated and none of the ending was real, but i know that won't happen.

[QUOTE=nightlord;42802826]I'd like a new Mass Effect game, but i don't really have much hope for it being any good because of Mass Effect 3. Not just because the story was terrible, the actual gameplay was bad as well. For example there was a complete lack of any sort of real side quests other than repetitive fetch missions that gave you a random meaningless number as a reward, which in the end had absolutely no affect on anything. There are many reasons why people complain about it. Here is a document that lists and explains some of the problems with the ending: [url]https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QT4IUepvrU1pfv_B95oQj0H84DlCTUmzQ_uQh1voTUs/edit?pli=1[/url][/QUOTE] Oh no I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying that there's a lot more about the writing in that game that was god awful.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;42802858]Sorry Bioware, you broke the three strikes rule with DA2, TOR and ME3.[/QUOTE] In all fairness, TOR was done by Mythic under the Bioware label.

[QUOTE=nightlord;42808440]There were just so many problems with the ending and the rest of the game, i was really hoping the indoctrination theory was true. It would of been a great plot twist and made much more sense than what we got, even with the extended ending. What I'd really like is if ME4 is a sequel that reveals he actually was indoctrinated and none of the ending was real, but i know that won't happen.[/QUOTE] The indoctrination theory is pants-on-face retarded and literally the same shit as "THIS SERIES IS ACTUALLY ALL A DREAM FINN IS DYING IN THE HOSPITAL AND JAKE STARVED TO DEATH WAITING FOR HIM TO COME HOME." It's fucking TVT level stupid and doesn't even fit the lore the game provides other than Reapers and Leviathans can control sentients to certain degrees based on how invasive the power/tech used is. That's it. [QUOTE=Novangel;42808398]Technically it was hinted throughout 1 and 2 in codexes, planet bios, etc. But I believe even Drew didn't have a concrete ending in his mind when he left the project.[/QUOTE] Pretty much. He had a basic set of endings, but nothing specific, nor would he have been able to, as several races and characters were supposed to be completely dependent on the choices the player made thereof.

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;42807179]I still deny that the ending happened and just go the real ending is the indoctrination theory, since I just like the idea of Sheppard getting indoctrinated.[/QUOTE] The indoctrination theory is even dumber than what we got and is concocted by people in a terrible amount of denial just picking and linking whatever they can together in an attempt to make the shit we got not stink so much.

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;42808326]Unless it was written INSANELY well, I can't imagine the Dark Matter ending being any good either. That one also comes almost completely out of left field, with barely even 2 minutes dedicated to it in ME2. Honestly, I think they should have just kept it simple and gone with the Reapers "We are your salvation through destruction" motif. Yeah, it's cliche but it at least would fit with the rest of the narrative.[/QUOTE] Yes, thank you. People always bring up that Dark Matter ending as if it was the secret good one we could have had, but while it doesn't contradict earlier themes, it's trivially more foreshadowed, and makes the reapers even lamer villains than before.

[QUOTE=27X;42809102]The indoctrination theory is pants-on-face retarded and literally the same shit as "THIS SERIES IS ACTUALLY ALL A DREAM FINN IS DYING IN THE HOSPITAL AND JAKE STARVED TO DEATH WAITING FOR HIM TO COME HOME." It's fucking TVT level stupid and doesn't even fit the lore the game provides other than Reapers and Leviathans can control sentients to certain degrees based on how invasive the power/tech used is. That's it. Pretty much. He had a basic set of endings, but nothing specific, nor would he have been able to, as several races and characters were supposed to be completely dependent on the choices the player made thereof.[/QUOTE] In what way was the indoctrination theory bad? I don't think the game should of ended there if it was true but it was much better than what we got. In what way doesn't it fit the lore? Shephard had all the signs of being indoctrinated.

Ilos in ME1 was the most immersed I had ever been in a video game. Exploring the ancient ruins, dating back thousands of years before we were even intelligent, learning about the prothean's downfall and what their civilization used to look like. Then meeting Vigil, and having him explain what happened in the bunker that you just fought through. It's so awe-inspiring and wonderful. It made me truly fear what these "Reapers" were, some lovecraftian horror where they were so much more powerful than us, we know that we don't stand a chance. God, if I had the chance I would wipe my memory just to experience the feeling of playing ME1 for the first time again. Then ME3 threw all that out the window and made them a defeatable enemy, it took a lot of the weight out of the concept of the reapers

[QUOTE=nightlord;42810362]In what way was the indoctrination theory bad? I don't think the game should of ended there if it was true but it was much better than what we got. In what way doesn't it fit the lore? Shephard had all the signs of being indoctrinated.[/QUOTE] It's worse in pretty much every way but the main one being it basically turns the plot into a "but is was all a dream!" which is just fucking terrible. And no he didn't, any "signs" you see of him being indoctrinated are just you looking for anything possible to justify the horrible ending.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;42808907]In all fairness, TOR was done by Mythic under the Bioware label.[/QUOTE] And TOR wasn't even awful, I mean it wasn't a fantastic entry into the star wars extended universe but it could have been WAY worse than what we got. Once you get into the late game shit it becomes just like every MMO, really really fun.

[QUOTE=Hiccuper;42801195]I don't know why people just complain about the ending of ME3, I thought Kai Leng and EDI/Joker were just as bad travesties of writing. Also, some more ME1 feeling [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQKp5EWw0j8[/media][/QUOTE] a comment [img]http://i.imgur.com/oLHIpL1.png[/img] well that's depressing

Mass Effect 3 felt a bit dull outside of the Tuchanka arc, Mass Effect 2 felt dull in the mid-game to just before the end (the ending was perfectly executed in my opinion) but Mass Effect felt amazing at all of the different story development points. The end of Eden Prime, the Citadel, becoming a Spectre, the final battle, the debriefings at the end of the missions, oh and those conversations with Vigil and Sovereign as others have said. I mean fuck, Mass Effect 3's final battle, even before the final 5 minutes was massively dissapointing. We got a space cinematic that was pretty, but made absolutely no sense at all, and you never saw most of your assets go to use throughout. As one of my favourite critics put it: 'Why don't we get to see the Krogan charging the Reapers and ripping them to pieces?'

i think i would have been fine with the Reapers being defeatable if they kept it vague what they would actually do to the galaxy. in ME1 the only stuff they actually showed you was a bunch of freaky looking tentacle aliens screaming in terror and dying, and some gross machine needle-teeth being covered with blood and opening up to scream. all it tells you is that there's these dudes named the Reapers, and they killed your benevolent precursors on a scale too grand and horrible to describe properly. it's really genuinely the closest i've seen a game come to a proper Lovecraftian end-of-the-world scenario, just because it's so vague and yet so nightmarish. you get the sense that even the people being killed didn't understand what was happening. Mass Effect 2 had the same thing going on if you wait for the countdown in Arrival, where it doesn't really show you [I]too[/I] much, but lets you know that it's fucking BAD NEWS right as everyone dies screaming in fear. there's so much buildup to the vagueness. but then it turns out that they just make cyborg zombies out of dudes and brainwash some people, and that's it. they should never have told you as much as they did

[QUOTE=Novangel;42796960]Remember the feeling of wonder from 1?[/QUOTE] I still have very fond memories of playing through ME1 in 2007. As soon as I started the game up for the first time and heard the menu music I knew I was in for a treat. That and I actually enjoyed tossing the Mako around a few worlds for upgrades to my gear. Some of the planets were amazing, and the music was top notch. As much as I loved the series (the downfalls in story and certain characters as the series progressed aside) I am, at best, not optimistic about the next game.

[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;42810601]It's worse in pretty much every way but the main one being it basically turns the plot into a "but is was all a dream!" which is just fucking terrible. And no he didn't, any "signs" you see of him being indoctrinated are just you looking for anything possible to justify the horrible ending.[/QUOTE] Not true, some signs are definitely troubling and are never given an explanation or something close. The most striking sign, in my opinion, was right after Shepard is transported to the Citadel, at the end of the game. He wakes up and opens his eyes suddenly, like electrocuted, right as Anderson whispers "Shepard!" while a suspiciously deep/electronic (Reaper-ish, you might say) sound plays. Even if the Endoctrination Theory is just "it's all an hallucination" and we have no idea what happens, I think it's still more believable (and enjoyable) than the actual ending we've got. I'm not sure it's called the same in English, but in French we call it an "open ending": we just don't know how it ends, it's up to the player's imagination. I have no problem with that.

[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;42809966]The indoctrination theory is even dumber than what we got and is concocted by people in a terrible amount of denial just picking and linking whatever they can together in an attempt to make the shit we got not stink so much.[/QUOTE] I remember when people were arguing hard for the Indoctrination Theory that someone said "You know you have a shit ending when 'It was all just a dream' is considered preferable."

[QUOTE=Loadingue;42812228]Not true, some signs are definitely troubling and are never given an explanation or something close. The most striking sign, in my opinion, was right after Shepard is transported to the Citadel, at the end of the game. He wakes up and opens his eyes suddenly, like electrocuted, right as Anderson whispers "Shepard!" while a suspiciously deep/electronic (Reaper-ish, you might say) sound plays. Even if the Endoctrination Theory is just "it's all an hallucination" and we have no idea what happens, I think it's still more believable (and enjoyable) than the actual ending we've got. I'm not sure it's called the same in English, but in French we call it an "open ending": we just don't know how it ends, it's up to the player's imagination. I have no problem with that.[/QUOTE] There are no signs. It's all just grabbing at straws to make the vomit inducing ending not hurt so much. You guys are giving BioWare way to much fucking credit where they deserve none. Those "signs" with no explanation are just their shit writing and that's all there is to it. There is no clever hidden shit or whatever. What you call an "open ending" I call a terrible ending. After 3 fucking games I expect a concise ending that isn't full of stupid bullshit that people have to come up with half-baked theories to explain and ease their pain.