Mass Effect 2

[hogso]

You're bang on about the ending.

The fact that you get pretty much the same ending whatever you do is a real shitter. Especially after so many decisions before making such a difference.

The other point about the ending, is you destroy the mass relays. So the Geth, Turian, Asari and Quarian fleets are all completely stranded in our Solar System, with only a pretty devastated Earth to sustain them. (and the Turian's can't even eat human food.) So that'll be a pretty horrible mess.

It's just so out of Sheppard's character not to get either, a **** you I'm killing you my way renegade option. Or a hey, I brokered peace with the Geth and Quarians, so synthetics and organics can live in peace, Paragon option.

Too many plot holes and coincidences going on in the ending sequence for the following to be not true IMO. SPOILERS obviosly.

I presume thats a link to the spoiler?Indoctrination theory?

I dunno, man. Bioware said before the game was released that they had spent a lot of time on the ending, and were happy with it. I think that might actually be true, unfortunately for us, they got it horribly wrong. What I wouldnt be surprised by, would be them to run with this idea and implement it into a new/true ending/epilogue.

spoilersFor example, Shepherd being under alot of pressure durnig the final mission, and the injuries sustained from the final attack on Earth making him/her more susceptable to indoctrination.

Regardless of what they decide to do, some DLC is on the way, we know that much, and it was always going to be. They're probably terribly embarrassed at how the ending has bombed, so I don't suppose they'll ever admit that the future DLC was ever going to be an extension of the ending or not. After all, previous DLC that has been released doesnt require you to finish the game before you can play it, so the events of the ending don't have to be taken into account...

I'll be honest, I probably would have bought any DLC despite it being inevitably terrible as the vast majority of the previous DLC was. If they do decide to do another ending, or an extended ending, or an epilogue or whatever, and they charge for it - prepare for the next fanboy shit storm

[kkr]

Clarification of the endings is coming in DLC no doubt, there are too many hints and suggestions from Mass Effect/Bioware accounts on twitter to suggest otherwise.

One of the most recent claims the endings don't make sense.....YET, in response to to someone pointing out an event from the ending that seems completely illogical. I hope they are doing something along the lines of what is posted in that video above and that it is free DLC. Charging for it will indeed create an inevitable shit storm, however it's EA also and they are thieves!

[briggaman]

Completed this a couple of weeks ago and absolutely flew through it. Really good game and one moment in it had me a little choked up.

The ending was utter crap though. I was hoping for something special being that I got to 100% galactic readiness. It turns out it was rather pointless though. I also went mainly renegade, yet that seemed to have little impact overall.

Shame that Bioware messed up a little, yet it was a fantastic ride throughout the trilogy. I'm not sure if I'll go back to ME3 unless the DLC is amazing. I enjoyed my short time with it though.

[Chindie]

I find myself kinda putting off finishing this. I'm finding excuses to put time into the multi first. Hmm.

[Chindie]

Hideously bad ending.

[GarethRDR]

Just how hideous are we talking? I'm at what I suspect to be the 'point-of-no-return' mission with ~3500 EMS, so I'm gonna take a quick break and plow through the multiplayer to get up to 5000 (I've read this is the cut-off point for the "best" possible ending, quite frankly how this is meant to be acheivable in the campaign alone is beyond me because I've been everywhere and done everything) but I'm worried I'm gonna be let down regardless. I mean, is it simply a little disappointing or is it full-on Fable 3 bad?

[hogso]

Considering the amount of hours you've probably put it over the course of all 3 games, as the average fan of ME would have, it's massively disappointing. There are the parts that don't make sense, there's a massive reveal that is explained away in seconds, and the whole thing just seems rushed. The reveal is also a missed opportunity in terms of what happens with the franchise next, cos it just wasnt necessary. As I said before though, I have seen worse, and there are some nice moments...just not nearly enough of them.

What happens at the end of Fable 3?

[Chindie]

Just how hideous are we talking? I'm at what I suspect to be the 'point-of-no-return' mission with ~3500 EMS, so I'm gonna take a quick break and plow through the multiplayer to get up to 5000 (I've read this is the cut-off point for the "best" possible ending, quite frankly how this is meant to be acheivable in the campaign alone is beyond me because I've been everywhere and done everything) but I'm worried I'm gonna be let down regardless. I mean, is it simply a little disappointing or is it full-on Fable 3 bad?

It isn't good. (Mildly spoiler-y discussion follows, I'm not going to give stuff away verbatim but I mention some... critique of the details - you could probably read this and still not have a clue where it's actually going in the end, but you'd have an idea that what happens is not going to leave the game in your all time favourite finales)

The whole thing smacks of them going 'Shit we need to finish this now, but we've written in so many threads we're a bit ****... so we're going to have it end like this'. And they didn't think about how that would tie into any of what went before, and they didn't think that throwing a huge reveal at you that they don't even really attempt to explain is going to leave players annoyed. That what that reveal... well, reveals, also doesn't make a lick of sense doesn't help, either.

The way they do 'the endgame' as well is a little... cheap, grim, naff.

It's incredibly disappointing. You've spent 3 games, 5 years, with these characters, you've made huge, even genuinely difficult decisions right up to the very end of the the trilogy... and then the ending doesn't acknowledge that. At times it actually pisses on the canon they've built - the end at one point directly contradicts a piece of information from Mass Effect 2's expanded plot, for example. Once you've watched it, if you actually think about some of the consequences of the ending, it's even more unsatisfying.

The game also makes a save point right before you enter the ending, allowing you to go back to it and fiddle the details a little, if you wish. I immediately did that. And if anything that left me even more disappointed, I recommend when you finish it you go do the very same thing yourself.

It's a shame really, because up till then ME3 is a good ride. It's gameplay fundamentals are the best in the series (though still not as good as a properly dedicated 3rd person shooter), and while it's not as good as ME2 for plot, it's still a really good ride. But then it falters - the final piece of the actual game is cheap, and feels somewhat anti-climatic simply because it's no different to what came before it, it's just 'more of' what preceded it. I found that particularly annoying because there a moments in that final mission that have real punch to them, and right up till the final hurrah you've got some nice touches, but that last battle... it's just not good. And then it leads into that ending, that for a fleeting second promises so much and then shits all over itself and expects you to be impressed.

It kinda leaves me sour on Mass Effect as a whole, honestly.

(For what it's worth I got what I understand to be the 'best' ending(s) I could - I entered the final missions with around 6500 EMS, having got 100% galactic readiness or whatever (in fact this whole system is another critique of the ending - though to say why would possibly be a pretty major spoiler)).

[GarethRDR]

What happens at the end of Fable 3?

Basically, all these grandiose choices you're allegedly "destined" to make in order to decide the fate of the kingdom boil down to whether or not you bothered to grind for a massive amount of cash at the start of the game. The ending (in as much as it is one) also jumps at you from out of nowhere, so unless you've prior knowledge of the need to hoard, it's a full restart for you!

Thankfully, one of the post-story DLC packs makes up for it a bit. Hell, it's pretty much better than the whole game that precedes it.

[GarethRDR]

And thanks for the input chaps. I've visions of some sort of Dallas-esque "it was all a dream" scenarios now.

[Ginko]

Shame to hear that the end of ME:3 is a disappointment. I finished playing through Mass Effect a couple of weeks ago (didn't much care for it) and now I'm onto ME:2 which is absolutely brilliant, so I'm still looking forward to ME:3 but not as much now as I'm hearing all this talk of an anti-climax.

[jon_c]

I honestly believe Mass Effect 2 is a superior game in every aspect, even if you discount the endings.

[hogso]

Shame to hear that the end of ME:3 is a disappointment. I finished playing through Mass Effect a couple of weeks ago (didn't much care for it) and now I'm onto ME:2 which is absolutely brilliant, so I'm still looking forward to ME:3 but not as much now as I'm hearing all this talk of an anti-climax.

I wouldnt let it put you off. ME3 is still a great game, with many wonderful moments and pretty heart wrenching scenes (if youve allowed yourself to get emotionally attached to some of the characters anyway), which make it worth it. When I got to the end of the game, the things I had been hearing about the ending actually made me want to finish it even more, just to see what the fuss was about

Still prefer ME1 to ME2 though. Much better plot, fantastic ending, and above all else driving around in the Mako was infinitesimally superior to that **** planet scanning bullshit

[Dante_Lockhart]

Priority: Earth is the only mission I have left now. Gonna try and complete it tonight.

Kind of wish that I had kept my 'perfect' save from ME1 through to ME2 so I could have carried over my choices, but apparently they don't mean much anyway, so meh. Would have been nice to have Wrex, Thane, Jack, Samara etc... making an appearance and my Rachni choice being noted. Would it really be that hard to have some multiple choice options at the start of a new character though so you could have some diversity in your dialogue throughout the game?

[Ginko]

Still prefer ME1 to ME2 though. Much better plot, fantastic ending, and above all else driving around in the Mako was infinitesimally superior to that **** planet scanning bullshit

Seriously? The gameplay in ME was just far too repetitive, and the Mako was one of the worst parts about it! That thing was a nightmare to control and it was the same shit, go to a planet, struggle to drive around annoying mountainous terrain for the most part, shoot a few things, scan an artifact, find a base or a mine (which always looked identical to the last one you've just been in) and then shoot whatever is inside with the non-responsive shooting mechanic.

I liked the story, and the ending was good, no problem with that, but ME:2 has a good story with all the rich detail of the universe and much improved gameplay. I know what you mean about planet scanning and getting resources, although to be fair, you don't HAVE to do that if you don't want any of the upgrades, it doesn't really bother me too much though. It breaks up the action well enough for me and I spend a lot less time scanning planets in ME:2 than I did in the shitty Mako in the first game.

[hogso]

Does seem to be a very divisive issue in regards to the series. I just thought it was such a fantastically immersive way of showing the player that, yes, you are exploring new planets (which can't possibly be easy, hence the impassable mountain ranges, etc!), and finding undiscovered items from lost civilisations, and fighting aliens on some rock in the back end of the universe. Agree with your criticisms of the gameplay and the re-used 'generic moonbase/space station' that were revisited over and over (although honestly if man were to colonise other planets and make numerous spacestations they would basically be flat pack build kits, so they all would look the same ), but to me that was a missed opportunity in the 2nd game not to build on what the first had done.

Wouldve loved it if they had left in the Mako and explorable planets, but plonked in more unique structures as there were in ME2. As it turned out, they instead decided to release a horrible DLC package with a floaty-Mako, which takes place in a volcano, with some sort of pseudo platforming element - the failure of which results in an instant GAME OVER. Dear me, that was terrible

[Chindie]

I think all things considered the second game has the right mix. 1 has big ideas but it really feels like the ideas didn't quite match up to what they could do at that point in time, and 3 suffers a little plot-wise (and of course the ending is woeful). But 2 had everything, nearly. I think most of all 2 succeeds because it has the best collection of characters in the series, has a strong plot (that almost plays like a side story to the main events set up in 1 at times), and has tighter more confident gameplay than the first.

At it's best, it's been a great series. Shame it lets itself down.

Speaking of which, they've announced 'Extended Cut DLC' that'll be free for everyone in the summer, which will 'expand' the ending with additional cutscenes and epilogues.

Can't help thinking that they really could have called it the 'Fudging it hopefully quiet people down' DLC.

[legov]

driving around in the Mako was infinitesimally superior to that **** planet scanning bullshit

No no no no no. Wrong on so many levels

Driving around in the Mako was really, really, really crap.

most of all 2 succeeds because it has the best collection of characters in the series

Not too sure about that personally, I loved most of the characters in ME2 don't get me wrong (Jacob being the sole exception) but the affinity* I feel I have with the characters in ME3 - Liara, Garrus, Ashley et al - is for me unmatched in gaming. I'm not being hyperbolic.

ME3 has been really, really great so far, but it is precisely because of this that I chose to stop playing halfway through and hold off completion of the game. I love the ME series so much that I can't bear to sully the incredible experiences I've had with it with an ending that's wimpy or incongruous with the rest of the story.

* Disclaimer: I do have a real life, and real friends, so **** off

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Say I want to get in to mass effect. Is it a game changer if I dont play through 1 and jump straight in at 2? Has 1 dated badly or is it still pretty and brilliant?

[legov]

Say I want to get in to mass effect. Is it a game changer if I dont play through 1 and jump straight in at 2? Has 1 dated badly or is it still pretty and brilliant?

I'd suggest playing 1 first, 2 contains a lot of references to the first game that might be confusing to a first-time player (certainly was for me, I started with ME2 as well). One caveat worth taking into consideration though is that the combat in ME1 is seriously flawed. But if you're able to look past that it should be a cracking experience.