http://www.destructoid.com/pax-2007-mass-effect-is-disappointing-but-nice-looking-40483.phtml Watching the first 20 minutes of Mass Effect played by a cute BioWare representative, I couldn't help but be reminded of a ventriloquist I saw on America's Got Talent a few nights ago. Why I happened to be watching America's Got Talent is none of your business, but let it be known that I wasn't happy about it. Now, the thing about Mass Effect is that it seemed, more or less, like a ventriloquist's dummy. Of course, it was a very nice-modeled, well-rendered dummy with nice textures, but nothing more. The game, much like Pinocchio, lacks life. The gameplay looks like your standard FPS fare, which is to say that I didn't see anything great or remarkable. There's a variety of weapons and abilities to use, but my pants didn't get wet or tight because of them. Gameplay is kind of hard to judge without an actual controller in your hands, so I'm going to reserve judgment on that. Where the presentation really fell short, however, is in the emotionless voice acting and subpar facial animations. Not only did the conversation lack the natural ebb and flow to which we were all looking forward, but it was as if the voice actor's took commas, question marks, and exclamations points out of their repertoire. The dialogue has about as much emotional engagement as a grocery list. Even worse, the facial animations match the shoddy voice acting: the mouths move, and that's about it. It'd be great for a Joan Rivers botox sim, but it doesn't really make for a compelling video game. At worst, Mass Effect is disappointing. The best reaction I've heard all day was this: "It wasn't that bad, just more of the same." If "not that bad" is all you've got going for you ... Well this is interesting.. could Mass Effect fall under the same Heavenly Sword problem?? Pretty but Shallow? The things that scare me is the comments on the crappy voice acting.. is one of the 360 possible AAA titles going to end up a AA or worse a B+??

There's also an article claiming these guys are full of shit.

I find the counter-argument much more persuasive, but then again I'm looking forward to this game, and many of our members have demonstrated how deaf to valid criticism a fan can be.

It's not entirely impossible that this game is not that great. It's a new franchise as well, so we really don't have any measure of it's prognosis. Going by Bioware's past, it has potential, but they're best at BG type games imo.

From the vids i seen, the facial animations do look weird.

Something is just not right.

I dont really expect Mass-effect to be a big hitter . Maybe a million seller , mainly because the hype it surounds it , but thats all . The idea behind it is ... well boring . I would rather stick to KotoR ;)

"The gameplay looks like your standard FPS fare, which is to say that I didn't see anything great or remarkable. There's a variety of weapons and abilities to use, but my pants didn't get wet or tight because of them. Gameplay is kind of hard to judge without an actual controller in your hands, so I'm going to reserve judgment on that."

Am I the only one that see's a problem with this particular paragraph? I mean setting aside the fact that Mass Effect is neither a first person game nor a shooter, the paragraph comes off as contradictory. If you can't judge the gameplay, which is quite obvious because he/she just stated that the game looked like standard FPS fare when its an RPG, then why even bother with a critique of the gameplay at all. I mean confusing a Third Person RPG with a shooter is a huge red flag IMO.

It is what it is... And on its release everyone will have their real opinion Destructoid included...

Personally, though I find Destructoid to be over the top a lot of times... I go to their site to lighten up my day then actual critical acclaim. They do get some news that know one else jumps on... But that is rare.

(Did you see their Viva Pinata article from PAX... http://www.destructoid.com/pax-2007-viva-pi-ata-party-animals-hands-on-40674.phtml more entertaining then an actual preview)

Well I can only hope this is inaccurate because I really wanted this game. I'm going wait till someone gives it a play through until I get really worried. It's the story and gameplay I really want to know about.
There is no way they can call this a shooter though, the videos I've seen have showed a lot of combat but that doesn't make it a shooter, it's just one part of the game.

@ hunter_alien

Yea kotorr the best =) ... all about darth revan =P

...and darth malak of coursee... =)