Ok so some people are gonna slate me for my views or complain about the thread. Heres a tip. Leave now, and dont bother. You dont have to be in the thread, you know I have created it. So decide now.
Mass Effect2.
I ran out last night at midnight, got a cab and went to 24 hour Asda. Grabbed a copy and flew back home. Me and mate just couldnt wait. We'd heard the loading screens were loads better if you installed the discs, so we did. Heres my impression.
First and foremost, Mass Effect 1 was a fantastic game. It showed that games could have amazing stories ( not your usual find this emblem, or get the potion stuff) nowadays. It had it's flaws technically which is well documented, but drew you in to the game only really possible with the variables in play. So we took my save from ME1, and started her up. Awesome. I read a few reviews of Jaw dropping vistas etc. Well it may sound cliche ( and Selnorish ) but it did. That opening 10 mins ( even though I spoiled it on Youtube ) was without a doubt gobsmacking on my lovely Panasonic HDTV. The thing is it's not just ME2's graphics alone that hit you. IT's the presentation as a whole package. Audio, Soundtrack, visuals, camera work, attention to detail it's all been so refined it truly feels like the budget of a brand new sci fi movie.
Technicals first. The stuttering framerate of the first is non existant here. In 5 hours we saw 1 texture popin about 1 sec after the scene game up. Without a doubt Bioware have addressed the technical issues of the first. An update was available straight away fixing the glitches our US friends have found in the game, so so far there has been no glitches at all. Textures are vastly improved over the original. The character models have such high texture that the materials themselves have intricacies. Leather as that matt shine, Armour has fully modelled 3d scrathces and the eyes are the closest thing to real we have seen. Shadows are very well done, Example of this is when Miranda puts her hand to her face the shadow falls across her mouth and gets gradually lighter as the light disipitates. Lighting is awesome to. Glares off shiny surfaces, different colour lights throw shades of colour across characters and scenery and when fog or mist passes through the light it's the closest you'll see to real mist or fog. Sounds silly? Not really. Games have had this before, but not to the technical degree shown in ME2. Your vision through the mist seems so real ( that distant yet seethrough feeling you get ) that it doesnt feel like there are different layers of 2d smoke.
However it's the presentation as a whole that makes this game rise above the rest. You willbe able to see for miles, the vistas are astonishing. Even if they are 2d or not ( If they are all games should do how they are done) , they are so detailed and huge it's the best you'll see of any vistas out there. It gives a sense of draw distance we just have never witnessed before. The animation is another topic. It's so lifelike, every inch of the game has so much animation needed it's remarkable that everything is so well done. Something simple as having a conversation with a club owner and Shepherd leaning back lifting his right leg onto his left is done with such opress you cant help but smile at the precise work Bioware have done. The eyes also are amazing. Not only have they got the look right, but the behaviour of the eyes. When a particualr character is thinking or squirming their way through a conversation thir eyes will flitter about, as any real persons eyes would do if they were on edge thinking quick on their feet to lie their way out of trouble. It's such a small touch, but something that makes the characters feel the most realistic a gmae has ever seen.
Audio again is jaw dropping itself. Something we take for granted in games like gunfire or a robot moving is very very high quality akin to that of a movie. Explosions sound big and deep. And the sound will come a split second after you have seen it explode. Effects in the game are also amazing. You will never see a better explosion with an ingame engine like that at the start of the game. It's almost to good for ingame that you think it's a Square style RPG CGI cutscene. The soundtrack chops and changes on the fly, and to be honest kicks the arse of so many TV series and film sci fis let alone other games. It's such a well presented experience with the likes of Martin Sheen, Carrie Anne Moss putting in tremendous voice overs with feeling it just cant be a game.
Playing the 2nd without the first is not gonna give you half of the experience Bioware intended. Within 3 hours 2 of the BIG choices in ME1 you make have an impact. To the point of an entire council or place not being there in ME2. The way the Alliance behaves from the get go, hugely depends on your decisions in the last game. This is what really makes Mass Effect the most personal game your ever likely to play. Not only is it cinematic beyond anything else ( Presentation on a whole is far and away higher than anything ) but it does it at such a personal level, that a movie can never ever achieve.
Quite simply, even the game was to end at 10 hours it would be the best 10 hours of gaming Ive ever experienced. It deserves all the praise it gets. And all the sales.
Selnor out.
