I don't tend to do a lot of videogame discount posts because I have a mortal fear of enriching my backlog, but when I see the entire Mass Effect trilogy and all of its expansions for around the price of a slightly aristocratic sandwich, I am compelled to share. The Legendary Edition of BioWare's ravishing sci-fi RPG series is 90% off on Steam until 13th May. That translates to 6€, $6 or £5 for all three main games and 40 DLC packs, plus bells and whistles such as 4K Ultra HD and beefed-up character models. If you haven't played a Mass Effect game before, this is a pretty good place to start.
]]>Welcome to the latest edition of The RPS Time Capsule, where members of the RPS Treehouse each pick one game from a given year to save from extinction while all other games fizzle and die on the big digital griddle in the sky before blinking out of existence. This time, we're turning our preservation mitts on the year 2012, a year absolutely stacked with some pretty stellar releases. But which ones will make the cut and be safely ensconced inside our cosy capsule for future generations? Come on down to find out.
]]>To me, Mass Effect ends about six hours into Mass Effect 1, when I get bored and wander off to play something else. I've had ears and eyes long enough to know that people were upset about the ending of Mass Effect 3 however, even after BioWare tweaked it. The original Mass Effect 3 had various "Happy Ending Mods" to change the close of Commander Shepard's story, and now Mass Effect Legendary Edition does, too.
]]>Amazon Studios are "nearing a deal" to develop a TV series based on Mass Effect, according to a recent Deadline report. Excellent stuff. I'm all for it! If Mass Effect were to be adapted into anything, I'd much rather it be a potentially long-running series rather than a film so it has enough time to establish its excellent sci-fi setting. However, we need to talk about what story Amazon could potentially take from the games. To me, it seems likely they'd follow the trilogy, which I reckon is the right move. But I don't think we need to see more of Shepard's side of things, you know? They should put Liara front-and-centre instead.
]]>The geth have begun launching seemingly random attacks on human colonies. Rumours are circling that ancient machines will soon emerge from darkspace. There is only one man equipped to deal with these threats: Intergalactic Man Of Mystery, Austin Powers. Someone has made a video editing Mike Myers' 60s spy into Mass Effect and I'm astounded at how well it works. I don't know what else to say. This is Mass Effect in its ultimate form. Please watch it, it's the best minute I've spent all week.
]]>Last night, BioWare released a fun infographic with stats about player choices in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Most of it is pretty unsurprising, with players mostly choosing to be the good guys, opting into peace and Paragon points. But it also has info about what backgrounds and classes players chose. And I have to know, in a game where you're able to play as techno wizards and space sorcerers, why did 40% of you decide to play the class in which your only special skill is "has several guns"?
]]>It's a wonder why I enjoy Mass Effect so much considering I think third-person games are a bit rubbish. Would it be the perfect game if it were all in first-person? I don't know, but someone has made a mod that adds a first-person mode to each game in the trilogy in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, so now we can find out.
]]>Last night, the Mass Effect Legendary Edition got a new patch, nerfing Commander Shepard's bank account and reducing the noise from those deafening Mass Relays. Sure, it got some performance tweaks here and there, but more importantly, you'll now find an imported Shepard from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 might have considerably fewer credits than before. Perhaps it's all linked to the Mass Relays, I wouldn't be surprised if Shep splashed out for some sound proofing on the Normandy.
]]>Leading up to the launch of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, I was looking forward to comparing the decisions I made when I first played the trilogy in 2013, versus the decisions I would make now, so many years later. How much could my opinions have changed? Surely things wouldn't be too different, but I imagined there'd be at least some nuance to my actions.
Alas, much like playing the sneaky archer in Skyrim, I have immediately fallen back into old habits. But you know what? So be it. They're all the correct choices, and you can't make me change them. You're not my mum.
]]>Mass Effect Legendary Edition received its first big update last night, bringing some helpful calibrations to BioWare's freshly remastered sci-fi RPG trilogy. Oddly, some of the changes include improved textures and lighting, which I thought was the point of the remaster in the first place. Other tweaks include achievement-tracking fixes and cutscene improvements, but the patch notes are pretty vague - especially for a patch some players report was an 11GB download.
]]>In celebration of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition release, a big group of the trilogy's voice actors, writers, and producers got together to answer questions from fans and tell old stories over the weekend. Spearheaded by femshep voice Jennifer Hale herself, you can also hear the voices of dudeshep, Tali, Liara, Joker, Samantha and more all together in the same nostalgia-ridden video call.
There's talk of the developers' kids now playing the games for the first time, actors hugging lots of fans, and getting a little emotional in the recording booth. It was honestly just swell to hear the team talk about the joy of working together, whether or not you're planning to jump back in for the remaster.
]]>The snazzy new packaged up and fancied up version of the original Mass Effect trilogy is now out, so I imagine there are plenty of you who clocked double digit hours into it over the weekend. As they do, modders spent the weekend remastering the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition even further. There are a good handful of mods available for the new edition already, utilities and reshade presets and all.
]]>Striking up a romantic relationship with a character in Mass Effect 3 will earn you a lovely picture of their face that sits on the desk in Commander Shepard's quarters. It's a nice touch, but for Tali romancers it's particularly special, because it means you actually get to see her face without her helmet on. Unfortunately, in the old ME3, that picture of Tali was a stock photo of a model edited to look a bit alien. But now in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, BioWare have swapped it out for a much more "realistic" pic.
]]>It's here! It's here! Put on your best space shoes, it's time to chat up some aliens. Mass Effect Legendary Edition is out right now, remastering Commander Shepard's trilogy of adventures, and bringing back all your extraterrestrial pals with some spruced-up graphics. It's been a long while since I last explored BioWare's epic sci-fi RPG series, and I can't tell you how excited I am to zoom off into the Milky Way again.
]]>Bioware have taken great pains to show off all the swanky new visual enhancements coming to their remastered Mass Effect Legendary Edition tomorrow, including support for 4K resolutions, ultrawide monitors, revamped lighting, sharper textures and loads more. The difference is plain to see in screenshots and their before and after comparison video, but in terms of being able to fiddle around with those settings yourself in the game's PC settings menu... well, what's the equivalent of an intergalactic tumbleweed?
]]>We're but a mere eight days away from the release of the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. In writing that, it's just dawned on me how close I am to seeing my hi-res alien pals and bombing around in the improved Mako. To tide fans over until the remaster's launch, BioWare have released a free content package containing loads of Mass Effect's iconic music, as well as digital art books and comics. They've also created an online tool that lets you select your favourite squadmates to make some personalised cover art.
]]>Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has the tough job of upgrading the visual appearance of games originally built to run at 720 or 1080p on an Xbox 360. That's a mammoth task even if it was just one game and not the entire Mass Effect trilogy.
A new trailer and blog post on the remaster's official site breaks down how BioWare went about upscaling 30,000 textures, and shows exactly how the results look.
]]>I've twice tried to get into the Mass Effect series and both times I've given up a few hours into the first game. 'That's where it starts to get good!' my friends tell me, while also saying that Mass Effect 2 fixed a lot of the first game's problems.
I'm therefore pleased to learn of how Mass Effect Legendary Edition will tweak the first game to make it more consistent with its sequels. A new blog post on the RPG remaster's official site goes into detail on how they're tuning combat, boss fights and the Mako "without outright scrapping the spirit of the original games."
]]>He's Superman, Geralt Of Rivia, and now it looks like Henry Cavill might be a Mass Effect fanfiction writer to boot. Yesterday, he posted a picture on his Instagram of some unassuming blurry text, with a caption teasing a "secret project". As it turns out, that text is actually from a Mass Effect 3 Wikipedia entry. So, is he studying for a secret live-action Mass Effect role? Could he be lined up to voice a character in the new Mass Effect game? Nah, he's definitely writing fanfic.
]]>The adventures of Commander Shephard, legendary hero and shopper, will return revamped on the 14th of May in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. BioWare today announced a launch date for the remaster of their sci-fi RPG trilogy, which is coming with new prettiness and character customisation options, plus a whole heap of old DLC. No multiplayer, though. Have a gander at the refresh in the new trailer below.
]]>I can hardly believe my eyes, but BioWare just revealed a teaser trailer for the next Mass Effect at The Game Awards - and Liara was in it. Blue space-wife Liara from the Mass effect trilogy was in the new Mass Effect teaser, exploring a snowy planet and picking up a discarded piece of N7 armour. What does this mean for Mass Effect 5? Will it be set in the Milky Way after all? Is Andromeda done? Who knows! Watch the trailer below and come be excited with me.
]]>Hello and welcome to the corner of the RPS Treehouse where we sit and chant, "Mass Effect! Mass Effect! Mass Effect!" to will news about BioWare's sci-fi series into being. This week, our dark magic has summoned three (3!) new images of some lovely artwork for the next Mass Effect game, which the developers revealed they were working on during their N7 Day celebrations.
Oooh but what can we decipher this time? Well, I already said it about the first teaser image, but I reckon these new ones even further suggest that Mass Effect 5 will be a sequel to Andromeda.
]]>Look at this official Mass Effect PC case. I love it, but I hate that it's a Mass Effect case. It's as though NZXT thought: "What would Commander Shepard herself play video games on?" But they should not have done that because - for as amazing as she is - Shepard clearly has boring taste.
Shep's casual clothes are like, what, an N7 logo hoodie, an N7 logo leather jacket, or *checks notes* an N7 logo bodycon dress. All stylish clothing items, obviously, but to follow that pattern for a PC? No! It should look like a spaceship.
]]>It's been seven years since the original Mass Effect trilogy ended, and even now modders are working on all kinds of additions and improvements to Commander Shepard's adventures. During the N7 Day celebrations on Saturday, BioWare announced the official Mass Effect remasters, but the modding community also took it as a chance to show some of the unofficial upgrades they've been working on over the last year.
They made a video to showcase it all - and it even has a cameo from DudeShep himself, Mark Meer.
]]>Three years after Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to ignite a new sci-fi RPG saga, developers BioWare today announced they are working on "the next chapter of the Mass Effect universe." Huh! Sure, everyone expected them to announce remasters of the original trilogy today (because chat about them has been leaking for months) but this was a surprise bonus. BioWare give no hints about the new Mass Effect's plot, setting, or anything, simply saying they're in the "early stages" of development. While I imagine it's yonks away, I'm quite excited.
]]>Talk about the worst-kept secret in the galaxy. After months of rumbling and speculation, BioWare today announced the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, bringing all three (quiet, Andromeda) Mass Effect games into one remastered collection next year. While not full remakes, the Legendary collection spruces up Commander Shephard's ageing space saga with better visuals, smoother performance, and all the extra DLC packed into the Normandy's cargo bays.
]]>N7 Day, or Mass Effect day as you might know it, is right around the corner. This Saturday, a couple of BioWare devs and a load of the original trilogy's voice cast are holding a "very special" panel to celebrate. Now, there are suspicions and whisperings of what may or may not be said at this panel - it would be baffling if all this fanfare wasn't to reveal the long-rumoured remasters of Commander Shepard's adventures. But what if! What if they threw a complete curveball and announced Mass Effect 5?
]]>Ah, N7 Day. A time for Mass Effect fans to come together and be sad because there hasn't been a new game in the series since 2017 (even then, we don't particularly like talking about that one). This year could be different, though. On Saturday the 7th November, a couple of BioWare developers and a bunch of voice actors from the Mass Effect trilogy are holding a "very special" panel.
]]>Everything's delayed this year, even the games no one actually announced. The oft-rumoured remasters of the original Mass Effect trilogy have been delayed, according to a new rumour, though this isn't too surprising/disappointing given that we don't know for certain they're actually real. Rumours had said EA were revamping the first three Mass Effect games for release this October, or at least by March 2021, and the latest whispers say Mass Effect: Legendary Edition come in early 2021. I mean, given that EA still haven't even announced any such project, I'm not surprised that it wouldn't be coming next month.
]]>Though EA's notE3 showcase has come and gone with nary a mention of a remastered Mass Effect trilogy, rumours persist. Now they're being stoked again by an Amazon listing apparently revealing an expanded version of the art book, The Art Of The Mass Effect Trilogy is coming in March 2021. Which makes some fans wonder: why expand the art book now? Hell, we all need something to believe in.
]]>Say those three words and I'm yours forever: Mass Effect remaster. The rumour mill has lit up today following a titbit of news from EA stating that a HD remake or remaster of one of their games is planned to release sometime this year. VentureBeat claim it's going to be a remaster of the Mass Effect trilogy. Or maybe a remake. The article uses both words which is a little misleading.
But, what would we actually want from a Mass Effect remaster? I think it's an important distinction to make that these games don't need to be remade. But at the same time, there are plenty of things I would love BioWare to fix.
]]>Happy love day, you disgusting piece of filth. Got you. That was an example of what today’s young people call “neggling”. This is when you are nice and nasty in such quick succession that the body becomes inexplicably aroused. Spasms of lust take over both neggler and negglee, resulting in a paroxysm of extramarital sex and, subsequently, the degeneration of humanity. This is just one of the signs of an unhealthy relationship. But there are many more examples in videogames. Here are the 10 most toxic couples out there. Don't worry, you can argue fruitlessly in favour of any of them. That's the point of these articles.
]]>On Wednesday, EA raised the prices for a large portion of their game catalog on Steam. The increases seem to have affected most regional currencies outside the United States. Price changes are inconsistent, with some regions seeing small increases and others being slapped with 300% price hikes on certain games.
]]>Children, life’s great copy-paste. Adorable, drooling idiots with no self-control and a habit of yelling embarrassing facts to the entire supermarket. In our everyday lives, human children are a snotty emblem of hope, vulnerability, and aspiration. In videogames, they are a cursed harbinger of escort missions, narrative roadblocks, “cutesy” voice acting, and precocious dialogue. They are annoying. But hold on, that’s the point. Many of them are meant to be that way. So here is a list of the 10 most annoying children in PC games. And perhaps, the best annoying?
]]>Here we stand in the dark neo-year of 2020. The spam bots have risen to prominence, the governments of the world are bickering over follower counts, and history class has been renamed "meme studies". Somewhere, in a dusty room in the RPS treehouse, a rogue human is compiling a list article for a crumbling PC games website. It is a warning to all those who read it. A prophecy of the terrible things to come. Wars, invasions, disease, heat death. Videogames, it turns out, have predicted all this and more. Here we replicate this cautionary pre-chronicle, your guide to the harrowing times ahead. Here are the 11 worst years in our future history, according to games.
]]>It's November 7th, and according to Bioware that means it's N7 Day, where we salute the (colour-coded) hard choices made by Commander Shepard in defence of Earth. This year, an alliance of Mass Effect 3 modders have gotten together to release a slew of complimentary updates, polishing up old content, adding entirely new missions and expanding the player's impact on its galactic war. Below, an official video celebrating this day in future fictional space-time, and a peek at some of the mods rolling out or being updated today.
]]>Face still feeling tired after the whole Mass Effect: Andromeda debacle? Well, the earlier, better games haven't stopped existing, y'know. Maybe revisiting them with a slightly more 2017 look will scratch your itch. For instance, with these mods that add over 3,000 replacement, higher-res, 4K-friendly textures to Mass Effect 2 & 3.
]]>Mass Effect: Andromeda [official site] is boldly going where no Mass Effect has gone before, taking BioWare's sci-fi RPG series to a new galaxy, in the far future of the original trilogy's far future setting. Because of the N7 designation held by Mass Effect protagonists, November 7th is to Mass Effect what May 4th is to Star Wars, and today brought a new cinematic trailer showing some giant monstrosities, a bland default player character who you'll probably want to edit immediately, and some ominous voiceovers. Take a look.
]]>I'm a big fan of artbooks, which is quite lucky since not only are there plenty of them around right now, the quality of them has never been better. Forget the scrappy little affairs that used to be used to bolster out the Collector's Editions of games, much as concept art used to fill in for interesting secrets to unlock. Today's artbooks are typically huge, prestigious affairs, that come hardbound and printed on excellent quality paper. You might not put them on your coffee table, but they certainly look great on the shelf. This week, I thought we'd take a look at a few of the RPG ones that have found their way to mine - not all the recent ones by any stretch, but a few.
]]>Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
You know which game has a great ending? It's Mass Effect 3 [official site].
]]>I have no flupping idea what to expect from Mass Effect Not-4, aka Andromeda [official site], given all signs point to it being a clean break from the Shepard saga. But the reveal that combat will be similar to Mass Effect 3's frantic shooty fare does start to make it a solid thing in my brain, rather than an entirely abstract concept with a few twinkly stars in it.
]]>Every Sunday, we reach deep into Rock, Paper, Shotgun's 141-year history to pull out one of the the best moments from the archive. This week, John's interview with voice actress Jennifer Hale. This post was originally published July 27, 2011.
Jennifer Hale has appeared in a great many more games than you probably realise. The person behind the voice of the female Shepard in all three Mass Effect games is also responsible for Metal Gear's Naomi Hunter, SOCOM's HQ, the spookily good British accent of KotOR's Bastilla, and even the grunts and groans of Metroid Prime's Samus, among literally hundreds of others in gaming, TV and film. We caught up with Jennifer as she drove through LA, to ask how she came to provide so many of gaming's iconic voices, the combination of anonymity and fame, and which of the Commander Shepards she's voting for to appear on Mass Effect's cover.
]]>At the end of Mass Effect 3, thousands of ships from all across known space come together to liberate Earth and smash the Reapers. Then a pretty cutscene plays, and we passively watch the ensuing cool space battle. But oh, what if you gathered and commanded the fleet, and they were following your strategy? What if the slog across the Milky Way were a bit more Homeworld-ian? Turns out I didn't write those sentences as idle musings, that there is actually a purpose to this post.
See, that's basically the idea behind Mass Effect Reborn, a Homeworld 2 mod where you get to control that Alliance fleet. The first version is out now, if you fancy giving it a bash.
]]>Anyone who's watched Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD, and possesses more taste than a toilet roll, will have noticed that it's a massive stinking turkey of colossal proportions. Somehow making Agent Coulson an unlikeable character - an even more impressive feat since he's surrounded by utterly hateable characters - it's a miserable mess of dreary sub-sub-sub-CSI procedural tedium, and mortally embarrassed to be in the Marvel universe. It seems to go out of its way to avoid including anything regarding super heroes, and indeed anything directly relating to familiar Marvel themes, instead opting for that most tiresome trope: evil scientists. (Although without mentioning AIM or Hydra, of course.) Viewers of a recent episode of the somehow not cancelled series might have noticed their strangest decision yet: to use Mass Effect 3 concept art.
]]>Just a snippet about something that was more or less a given, but I think it's worth stating and knowing for the record that the next Mass Effect will entirely and definitely steer clear of Commander Shephard. The controversial outcomes of Mass Effect 3 do leave some room for 'what happened next?' investigations, but the three-game plot had tied itself in so many knots by that point that a totally clean break for the next set of Meffects is only sensible.
]]>There's just something about goodbyes. Like, growing up, I had a pet parrot. She filled my youth with eardrum-skewering screams and will probably be able to take most of the credit for my first heart attack, which will come at age 29. Also, she's going to outlive me. But, if she doesn't, I'll be a complete wreck when she finally closes her infernal, saliva-less beak, er, forever. Which is my way of saying the Mass Effect trilogy is kind of like an obnoxious cockatoo. Sure, it didn't always do me right, but we grew together, and we had some magnificent times over the years. According to BioWare, Citadel is Shepard and co's swan song. But hey, at least everyone (and apparently, BioWare really does mean everyone) is coming back for one last reunion tour.
]]>Bioware have so far seemed determined to end their first Mass Effect trilogy with a whimper rather than a space-Jesus bang, with the DLC to date having been distinctly underwhelming. Is it just using up old stuff to earn a few more pennies, is it a sign that the devs are fairly disheartened with the game after EndingGate, is it that all the good staff are too busy working on Mass Effect 4: Shepard Bought A Zoo, or is it that the mysterious and sinister Satisfaction Thieves came and stole all the good bits during the night? We shall never know.
What we can do instead is hope, pray and passive-aggressively demand that the next and final Mass Effect 3 DLC will be more Citadel than Shitadel. Several major cast members, including Seth 'him out of Buffy' Green as Joker, have recorded new lines, there are eight writers working on the thing and there are Krogan in it.
]]>I'm not the sort of person who usually watches the deleted/extended scenes of movie special editions. I mean, I'm sure they're fascinating - and I'll definitely go for a swim in the deep end if I'm really, really into something - but odds are, I've already gotten the point. I've seen the credits roll on the vanilla version. I've taken the journey, and - unless it's been a while - I'm not super interested in trying the scenic route. That's pretty much my dilemma with Mass Effect 3's DLC as well. Omega, for instance, looks like a bombastic jaunt off the beaten space-path, but I already know where it ultimately leads. Still though, a new trailer makes a compelling argument for me to play it sooner rather than later - if only because it looks like a fairly robust self-contained tale. Also, Aria's finally doing things. Explode-y things. I bet her faithful couch is terribly lonely.
]]>Whaaaaaat! How is it possible for there to be another Mass Effect game? Surely everything was tied up and the game universe so profoundly changed by the conclusion(s) of ME3 that there's simply no room for more? Unless there was somehow some way to tweak and retcon a story that's already built around ad-hoc pseduo-mythology, resurrections and space magic.... No, surely no such thing is possible. While we wait to see how Bioware take ME's prophecy-blighted space opera to new places (I'm going to bet you play as a new character who encounters/searches for a long-lost Shepherd), what we do now know is that it'll be departing its mucky-textured Unreal-based engine of yesteryear and moving to DICE's impressive (and, thus far, very PC-sympathetic) Frostbite engine for the next instalment.
]]>Mass Effect 3's next batch of single-player DLC isn't just any old carved up chunk of side story gristle. It is, according to BioWare, the biggest yet, which sends "Leviathan" - a synonym for the very concept of largeness (and perhaps also in-charge-ness) - tearfully packing to second place. Titled "Omega," the new add-on comes bearing an elaborate tale in which you team up with ousted Omega ruler/master space-club-couch-lounger Aria T'loak in an effort to reclaim her old haunt. It also carries a price tag to match.
]]>I tend to lose my sense of connection to science fictional narratives once they get into the realm of prophecies and pseudo-deities, so the idea of a return to the Mass Effect universe that's only about the neat spaceshippy stuff and none of the Circle Of Destiny soapboxing appeals enormously. Frinstance, this unofficial mod for the TIGHT space strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire which plans to recreate the Normandy and its multi-species chums' war against the Geth, Collectors and Reapers.
]]>Oh those crazy Collectors. What won't they take? Entire colonies, the last pudding cup in the cafeteria, lives, your favorite parking spot, that coat you'd been waiting to nab on sale, etc, etc, etc. They'll just never stop. Well, unless you force them to. That's the idea behind Mass Effect 3's upcoming and still rather miraculously free "Retaliation" multiplayer DLC. The Collectors have invaded, and it's up to you to put them in their place. Which is not your place. Which is where they are anyway. The jerks. Happily, Retaliation also brings with it a suite of other goodies, including new weapons, new characters, "hazard" maps, and a challenge point system. Gaze upon it with your feeble human eyes after the break. Unless the Collectors took those too.
]]>After hearing the news that both members of BioWare's doctoral duo are headed for greener (or beerer) pastures, you might have worried that the studio would lose its flair for role-playing epics and start churning out farming sims, 1990s FMV adventures, or tasteful ballroom gowns. In a shocking twist, however, it's instead going to make more Dragon Age and Mass Effect. On top of that, though, Mass Effect lead Casey Hudson and some members of his team are putting together "an all new game set in a fictional universe." Which could mean just about anything, but anything is better than nothing. Or something. Words!
]]>Really, if you think about it, the ocean is basically space, but more blue. I mean, both are sorely lacking in breathable air, give us the ability to defy basic physics while shouting "wheeeeee," and are absolutely, positively, I-really-really-hope teeming with life. (What if fish aren't real?! Wouldn't that be a total bummer?) Also, Mass Effect 3's now claiming that both have Reapers, and I suppose it would know. So now the hunt for Leviathan is on, and you can watch a trailer of some strange bald man wearing Commander Shepard's clothes take the fight to the ocean's briniest depths in a trailer beneath the break's, er, briniest depths.
]]>We live in a terrifying world of constant change. You might, for instance, neatly tuck each of your games into bed a night and gingerly kiss them on the cheek, safe in the knowledge that - when you awake - they'll be there waiting, same as always. But honestly, who knows? They could just suddenly update and transform into strange, multi-tendriled monstrosities. You could awake from your dreams right into a living nightmare. Or, you know, you could just get some Earth-bound levels in Mass Effect and - oh gosh - Aquaman in DC Universe Online. OK, yeah, I'm sticking with the nightmare thing.
]]>Hurrah! It's the first proper trailer for the upcoming anime prequel Mass Effect: Paragon Lost in all its glory. And by glory, I mean of course... oh good lord, you have to be kidding. It may have Production IG involved, but we're not exactly talking Ghost In The Shell here. The fun series, I mean. Not the boring, over-rated movie and its even more tedious sequel.
Mass Effect fans, put down your plussedness. You shall need non of it today.
]]>After a long, bone-density-ruining day in space doing space things, it's only natural that you'd want to come back to Earth, kick back, and put your feet up on something familiar - say, a footrest, Big Ben, or the city of Vancouver. But, in Mass Effect 3's Earth DLC, you'll return home to find the place ransacked, with Reaper forces making a mess of everything and totally wrecking your perfectly organized Mt Rushmore collection. So it's time to fight back - with a handful of new classes, guns, modifications, and whatnot, of course. Such is the way of these things.
]]>You know what - let me apologise and make something clear. The phrasing wasn't ideal, but my intent was only to call those who stamped around demanding the ending be changed for them, and behaving in really extremely unpleasant ways, farts. Not those who didn't like the ending, and those who expressed their disappointment with the ending. Not liking things is clearly not worthy of fartdom. So I'm sorry for the offence caused to those whom I wasn't trying to offend.
I liked the ending of Mass Effect 3. I've said so before. I acknowledge there were plot holes, perhaps even mistakes, but not being a self-entitled giant fart of a human, I find that I'm able to accept that the ending of something does not have to meet my preconceived expectations, nor wrap up everything I've encountered in a neat bow - heck, I can even hate it - without requiring it be changed. Human stories rarely end that way, and nor should all fiction have to. However, the farting was so loud and so smelly that BioWare felt a need to react. And so it is that new endings are available for the game. I've now seen all four. Clearly this involves hefty spoilers for the original game. I only discuss one of the new endings in any detail, however, but still you might want to see them for yourself first.
]]>You may not have heard, but the Mass Effect trilogy tried to end earlier this year. It was all like, "OK folks, that's our show!" And then everyone held hands and bowed at the same time. As the curtains closed, I even briefly caught a glimpse of Shepard and Harbinger hugging. They had quite a run together, those two. Fans, though, weren't so keen on the space odyssey's final moments. Perhaps the krogan dance number lacked 'zazz. Maybe the one-fourth scale replica of the Normandy that ran on doves and confetti was a bit much. Regardless, BioWare decided to have another go at it. Just, you know, better this time, apparently.
]]>Sadly, this is not the intergalactic sequel to Brendan's now-deceased column series. Much as we wanted to mix things up with a sassy Elcor sidekick, contractual issues left the whole thing stalled out on the launch pad. So instead, you'll just have to settle for some particularly rebellious Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLC. Specifically, the Vorcha are making their no-good, law-breaking debut by, er, joining your baddie-smashing squad and cooperating. In addition, Quarians and Ex-Cerberus add two new characters a piece to the fray, with two new maps, three weapons, and a stat-altering persistent gear slot rounding out the package. Best of all, unless you're playing a used (read: impossible on PC) or scandalously acquired copy, it's all free from the get-go.
]]>This may well be an example of the dread medium known as UnNews, but I post it purely because it at least allays fears that the forthcoming extended cut of Mass Effect 3, which fleshes out the game's notoriously damp-squibby ending, will simply be a montage of still images with captions like 'Garrus Vakarion retired to found the first inter-planetary branch of Gregg's Pasties' and 'Tali discovered her mask had a hole in it all along and she had only 2.8 seconds left to live. She spent them playing Minesweeper.'
Instead, it transpires that many of Mass Effect's voice cast have returned to the studio to record new lines of dialogue. One of these is Lance 'Bishop' Hendriksen, who offered perhaps the most succint yet accurate encapsulation of just why the internet lost its rag a couple of months ago.
]]>Yes, they're all at it. There's a whole bunch of them playing Tribes Ascend, and they even have their own server. The same is true of the Arma corps, who get up to regular shenanigans, which now even includes shooting zombies. Then there's the surprisingly popular Mass Effect 3 shootery, which is taking place over here. If you prefer things a little more persistent then the Eve and Perpetuum corps are both recruiting, while the unstoppable Blood Bowl league persists in quite a different way. Long may it continue. Finally, it's worth pointing a wizened finger at the Wargame: European Escalation gang, because that game is certainly worthy of your attention. There's plenty more, of course, over here...
]]>Eurogamer bring the news that Keith Ramsdale, EA's Northern European boss, has declared that the company wants all of its brands to become "online universes". That doesn't mean everything will be massively multiplayer, but rather that each player will never have an excuse to stop playing EA games. Play Battlefield, for example, on a console in the evening, a PC in the midnight hours, a smartphone on the commute and a tablet while at the office. All the data, all the progress and achievements, will carry from one device to the other, allowing the player to play "how he wants, when he wants and on the device he wants". Let's have a think about that.
]]>Yes, that's right: multiple players. Not singular players or angular players - which are, of course, works of incredibly esoteric modern art. Mass Effect 3's Resurgence DLC is arriving on April 10, and - somewhat amazingly - it's totally free. For the price of nary a nickle, dime, or duplicitous Citadel store endorsement, you'll nab two new maps, six new characters, and three new weapons. Among them are brand new races (Batarians and Geth) and a positively delightful-looking harpoon gun, which is so worth the time I spent sending complaints to the FTC attached to precision-targeted harpoons. Take the mass relay across the break for a trailer of every character, weapon, and map in action.
]]>Hey, remember those "content initiatives" aimed at providing "clarity" for Mass Effect 3's ending? Well it looks like they will part of a spread of DLC arriving in a few months time. I was hoping they'd swap out the ending for a Bollywood dance number and something involving puppets, but oh well. I suppose DLC that's "more personalized for each player" will do in a pinch. BioWare's officially deemed it The Extended Cut, and it's free! Pretty neat, huh? But today, we too are announcing our own extended cut. It's attached to the lower half of this very post. And that's free, too.
]]>In response to a vile show of hatred, EA - the Worst Company In America - has made clear they are taking no notice of their recently being inundated with complaints about the portrayal of gay and bisexual characters in their games. GI.biz reports that the publisher has confirmed they've been on the receiving end of "several thousand" emails and letters protesting the inclusion of LGBT characters and relationship options. Because it's 1950. Of course EA have, in slightly more polite terms, told these dismal hatemongers to fuck the fuck off.
]]>Here's a thing that looked fake but isn't. The notorious Mass Effect 3 ending - could it have really been hinted at in Mass Effect 1? A post on Reddit showed a planet description that seemed to describe, well, that's a spoiler I'll put below. But apart from the picture that had been rather hastily added, that planet is really there. I've flown there myself. Take a look below.
]]>All the important games are changing their endings these days, you know. If you want a high profile, that's the way to go - and as Mass Effect 3 teaches us, preferably after initially concluding your narrative with a last-minute bodgejob riddled with continuity errors, then subsequently bowing to fan ouctry. Frozen Synapse developers Mode 7 Games did no such thing, but have sensibly realised that the route to true success entails screwing around with their creative vision willy-nilly to suit whatever their community demands, and as such a new, happier (and far sillier) ending to their splendid turn-based strategy game will go live later today.
"I don't mean this to be critical of Bioware even slightly," Mode 7's Paul Taylor tells me. "It's just an experiment. I was so bowled over and fascinated just by the fact that such a change would even be considered, so I thought I'd see how it felt to do it."
]]>I'm not entirely sure how to take this statement from BioWare's Dr Ray Muzyka regarding the astonishing drama surrounding the conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy. It's not saying outright they'll change the ending of the game, but there's this:
]]>The obsession with endings is a peculiar one. Perhaps it's a result of having been indoctrinated by a lifetime of movies with "surprise twists", or stories so poorly written that they rely on their final hook. But however we've come to this place, it's one that fails to recognise the real pleasure of being told a story. Mass Effect 3 tells a story, and I'm here to defend it.
]]>Initially I had a load of things I wanted to say and analyse about Mass Effect 3's ending, but then a week passed and I realised I'd stopped personally being bothered by what that notorious final cutscene did or didn't answer. I'd had an adventure, and now it was time for another one. Mass Effect games have always been peculiarly adept at entirely dominating my thinking for a while, but quickly enough something else always comes along to distract me. The concluding moments of the game remain a bone of contention for many, however, and so much so that it's taken me nearly 700 words just to document the current state of the online debate.
I've avoided all direct spoilers and narrative details in the below, but there are a few oblique references to the manner in which the conclusion is presented which you might want to steer clear of if you've not finished the game.
]]>Jim's done singleplayer, I've done the From Ashes DLC, and now I take on Mass Effect 3's vaguely controversial four players vs AI-controlled enemy waves co-op multiplayer mode. I've been playing it what might be said to be a little too much over the last week, having taken several characters to level 20 and gotten righteously indignant that I keep unlocking pistols rather than sniper rifles. Allow me to explain.
I lay there, dying and enraged. My last surviving team-mate, a Salarian Infilitrator, stood right next to me. Actually, that's a lie, intended to cover my indignity - he was standing right on top of me, feet stomping on my face, taking wild potshots at a Cerberus Centurion hiding behind a nearby wall. All he had to do was press one button for a couple of seconds, and I'd be back in the fight, at his side, helping him to win this war and go home with the spoils of victory. I hadn't wired up a mic for this match, so I couldn't scream and beg at him. Still, what was required was beyond obvious - yet he would not do it. The seconds ticked away. My blood trickled away.
]]>Mass Effect 3 closes off Bioware's epic sci-fi series with a bang, and one of the most controversial endings of the last few years. Many fans have been clamouring for an update that outright changes it, and not simply because the war with the Reapers didn't end quite as they wanted. Bioware maintains that it just wanted to get people talking.
So let's talk a little about That Ending, shall we?
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. ABOUT SPOILERS.
]]>My Shepard isn't saving the universe in Mass Effect 3. I wanted her to, but as I play through the final instalment, she's still stuck half-way through the immeasurably dull scanning missions that would ensure Mordin and my other best people survive Operation: Certain Death. Instead, I'm playing with someone else. She looks the same - red hair, the right eyes, the same voice and the same no-nonsense approach to saving the galaxy. She's even had many of the same experiences. But she's not my Shepard. She's Bioware's - the sum of their choices.
And while I'm sure I could find a Shepard closer to my own, ready to import, from Mass Effect 2 Saves, that's even worse. Mass Effect is inherently a sum of Bioware's choices - a few more in character creation hardly makes much of a difference. But to just climb into someone else's story? That feels... weird. In an era where ownership of our own characters is an increasingly rare privilege, you may as well ask to borrow another gamer's underpants...
]]>Jim's already judged Bioware's new guns'n'conversation epic, while I am a mere 10 hours into Mass Effect 3. What I have done that he hasn't is pick up the contentious From Ashes DLC, allegedly developed after work on the main game was completed and included in the £55 Collector's Edition, or as a £6/$10 addon to the standard edition. I forked out for the latter, and thus have an extra dude in my crew. We've already pondered about whether it should have been part of the core game in concept, but now it's time to look at it what it actually includes.
I've avoided all ME3 storyline spoilers outside of the core concept of From Ashes - if you already own it and want to go in totally blind, I would strongly advise against reading the below. And if you are 100% spoiler-averse about ME3 in general, I would also avoid reading the below. I've steered clear of any discussion of plot outcomes, but I do talk about the nature of the new character - stuff you'd find out for yourself not long after meeting him, but I do understand that might be too spoilersome for some. If that's you, you can find a very quick summation of whether I think the DLC is worth acquiring at the very bottom of the post, underneath the (perfectly safe) YouTube video.
]]>A lot of the Mass Effect 3 reviews are focusing on the bleakness of Bioware's story, and quite a few are shocked at the game's darkness in regard to the choices they made. Some guy called Tom Francis over at whatever the heck PC Gamer is, has figured out exactly why it's even darker than expected, and it's a bit of a dodgy trick that BioWare have pulled if true. No, it's not new-news as such, but it is worth reiterating strongly now the game's out in some territories. I'll go into details after the jump, as I'm aware some people view even the words Mass Effect 3 as some sort of spoiler. As long as no-one spoils the ending of Se7en in the comments: I've had it on pause for on my VHS for about 16 years. I keep intending to return, but it's just so tense!
]]>I have avoided any plot-specific spoilers in this review, and reading it will not reveal any details about how the story unfolds or concludes. Clearly if you want to avoid knowing anything at all about the game, or seeing images from it, then look away now. Otherwise...
It's done. Commander Shepard has taken the final steps in the grand science fiction tale of the Mass Effects. Now there is only the aftermath, the discussion, the opinions, the DLC, and the inevitable retrospectives. Here's Wot I Think.
]]>Tomorrow (or Friday in blighted Blighty) is Mass Effect O'Clock, and the day when we discover whether or not the purported conclusion of Shepherd's adventures can live up to over a year of having enough marketing to make twenty Daikatanas a success fired continually at our exhausted eyes and ears.
Which means we have scant hours/days to ensure we get the ME3 we want. I'm in a tricky situation whereby the crew I wound up with at the end of ME2 is not the crew I'd want in ME3: is endlessly replaying the climactic ME2 suicide mission until the right folk make it out alive my only hope of rewriting my destiny? Nope! Mass Effect 2 spoilers and savegame-fiddling below.
]]>So I am busy playing through Mass Effect 3 at the moment, with my collected thoughts on the events, happenings, and systems therein to appear on Tuesday. I've been doing a bit of retrospective browsing over the first two games, too, and comparing events in those to the events in the third game. This process led me to wonder this: what has been your favourite event in the games so far? And why?
]]>Oof. High-street retailer GAME's troubles are deepening, with reports that Electronic Arts will not be supplying them with games, including Mass Effect 3. Pre-orders the store has already taken for the title will only be refunded in store credit. While both EA and GAME have yet to confirm, the official Mass Effect 3 website has updated informing anyone that has pre-ordered ME3 to reorder the game from Amazon.co.uk, Play.com, Zavvi.com and ShopTo.net.
It's not looking good.
]]>No. Nooo. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo way. Destructoid writer but not X-Files creator Chris Carter (who is probably incredibly bored of that reference) has been doing a bit of maths, which immediately makes him a more capable human being than I am. The purpose of this mathleticism was to collate all the disparate bits of DLC, pre-order bonus, unlocks and whatnot available for the upcoming marketing monolith that is Mass Effect 3, and just how much it'd cost someone to lay hands on the whole shebang. Take a seat before you read the next line.
$870/£550/€650. Whaaaat.
It must, however, be pointed out that much of that horror-price stems from having to buy bonus code-sporting hardware such as special gamepads, keyboards and headsets, or Mass Effect 3 merch such as multiple action figures and iPhone cases.
]]>A cause of occasional, but rather fervent ire of recent times has been day one DLC. Why do people get pissed off? Because times were you'd buy a game, and get a game. Now, the perception is you buy a portion of the game, and are then asked to buy the rest in premium lumps over the next few months. And when one of those premium portions appears the same day as the game - well, it looks like the publishers are taking the piss. "Here's most of our game! Now pay more to complete it." So it is likely with these arguments in mind that BioWare are making it clear that Mass Effect's day one DLC, From Ashes, was developed after the core game was completed. But does that change anything for the player?
]]>There's a demo of Mass Effect 3 out. And I don't want to play it. The culmination of a years-long series, heavily focused on the story of Shepard versus the Reapers, is something I want to approach fresh and clean, not over-burdened by hints and experience. But that's me - you may want to dive head first into the demo that offers two missions from the game, and lets you create a unique Shepard for the experience, I think. There's also a glimpse of the multiplayer co-op doodah, but that's not unlocking until the 17th - er, unless you have a Battlefield 3 online pass activated, and then it works today? Good grief, really? To get the demo you'll need to head here, and then log in via Origin.
]]>What better way to set foot into the upcoming week than having me going: "Stop! You there, yes you, wearing the 'I Heart FemShep' shirt and hugging the plushie Thane. No, the guy behind you. Yup, you. Nice neck tattoo. I know you have work, but there's an important thing you have to see over *coughMass* here *coughEffect* and you *cough3* really, really *coughfootage* need to see it. Really. Re-ally.' *wink*? If you want me to me more explicit: there's a 40 minute video of the opening of Mass Effect 3 a few centimetres below this paragraph, so please stop anything important, like work or cutting an umbilical cord, and watch it.
]]>God forbid we'd post yet another Mass Effect 3 trailer, but... well, here's another Mass Effect 3 trailer. It stars, at long, long last, the female version of Shepard, finally getting just a tiny fraction of the official marketing acknowledgment she deserves. You will, I trust, understand.
]]>I can't wait for Mass Effect 3. I'm replaying ME2 to make sure I get the perfect starting point. I'm planning to buy the new Mass Effect: Deception novel and go through it making corrections in ANGRY RED PEN. I'm even pitching the official musical version of the story, featuring amazing lyrics like "Spectres don't fear the Reapers. Nor do Garrus, Tali or Thane..."
What I'm not doing is watching any of the trailers or reading any previews. I want to dive in knowing as little as possible about the new plot, characters, locations, even guns. If you crave a pre-release hit though, good news! Bioware has released five brand new trailers, which I've embedded below while keeping my eyes shut. From the odd unavoidable glimpse, it does look as if they mostly feature some boring guy wearing Shepard's armour, but fret not - there's another coming where the real heroine of the series will finally get her spotlight...
]]>BioWare may have mentioned once or twice that Mass Effect 3 is the closing of the trilogy. Now, obviously you'd have to be more naive than a tiny puppy to believe they'd not make any more games in the enormously popular universe, but it did feel reasonably safe to say this would be the last outing for Shepard. But perhaps not, after BioWare's Mike Gamble told GamerZine that we should hang onto our save games. What does it meeeeeeeeaaaaaaan? We've speculated, and have some insights you will not read anywhere else.
]]>Words. Words need voices, or they're just stupid, noiseless blobs. For example: what if I were to tell you that you're now reading these words in the voice of Futurama's Professor Farnsworth? Oh my, yes indeed. Bioware have just released a small teaser trailer showing you who is making their blobs into voices for Mass Effect 3. Now I know it's the third game in a trilogy, so you'll probably know who is making word things less blobby, but when I get the chance to link to President Bartlet Sheen, I take it. Join me below in a frankly embarrassing amount of hero worship.
]]>Bioware's white-hot marketing plasma has congealed into a glistening multiplayer combat trailer for Mass Effect 3, which you can see below. In the excitable two-minute sequence, Super-Shep and his surprisingly humanoid alien friends get stuck into a good old clobberin' session. There are quite a few explosions, and the footage is basically designed to show how while one player is shooting the enemy, another can be stabbing it, or blasting it with a grenade, or using their mutant brain energies to turn it into a far less lively version of itself. That'll learn 'em, eh space fans?
Mass Effect 3 will be teleporting star-credits directly out of your wallet on the 6th, 8th, 9th, or 15th of March, depending on which part of the lumpen crust of the planet Earth you are tethered.
]]>Not the best quality video, for some reason, but the chaps at Evil Avatar spotted a Bioware trailer showing off Mass Effect 3 single player and talking to developer Mac Walters. I'm not sure if this was the video Bioware intended to release as it seems to cut out at the end there. I'll have a look around and see if there's a fuller version. Oh: there's a full version on GTTV.
]]>Somewhere in a meeting room in EA, a place where heartbeats have been replaced with the papery flap of money being riffled, a meeting took place.
“February 12th?” “Dear God, no. That's the day the creator of Peanuts died!” “Okay, how about the 13th, then?” “Excuse me, but did you really just suggest we launch the demo on first day of the The Festival of Parentalia? There'll be outrage! I won't sit here and allow you to disgrace EA by -” “Alright! Enough! February 14th? Does anything significant happen on that day? Anything at all?” “Well, it's the anniversary of Australian currency being decimalised, but other than that...” “Fine. Right. Gentlemen: from this day forth, February the 14th shall forever be known as 'The Day EA released the Mass Effect 3 demo'. Call Clintons: I have an idea for a commemorative card”
]]>You know, I didn't bat an eyelid at the Mass Effect/Dragon Age pre-order crossover stuff, because it seemed like a random lark within Bioware games. Not so! And not limited to the preemptory pounds, either. EA look like they're going to try the cross-pollinatory approach across a bunch of their other games, too, starting with Mass Effect and Kingdoms Of Amalur demos. We mentioned this briefly yesterday, but there's now a video (below) detailing precisely what you'd be getting for playing either game's demo in the other game. This could be some clever meta-commentary on how trad sci-fi and fantasy settings are basically two sides of the same coin, of it could be a mad marketing ploy dreamt up to shift more units: YOU DECIDE!
]]>Anyone who's not looking forward to the conclusion of the Mass Effect trilogy is an idiot. That's the official word given via the parliamentary press secretary for David Cameron, speaking to a field of bees this morning. And if you needed any more proof, there are five new screenshots of the game out today, each emblazoned by BioWare's ludicrously pointless logos, and one of them showing a big fat alien monster. Like you can resist clicking onward.
]]>It's going to be Mass Effect trailers from here until March I reckon, at which point we can finally play the game and enjoy the conversation as well as the guns. This new'un resolutely focuses on the latter, or more specifically giant space beasts at war as tiny ManShep legs it around a collapsing cityscape in their wake. Spectacular stuff, but scripted from here to eternity and all a bit Gears of Warsy.
]]>Bioware have put out a video focusing on Shepard's improved animations in Mass Effect 3, which you can see below. The clip shows off how his reactions when taking cover are more nuanced, and also shows how melee is made a little smoother and more believable with improved animation syncing. It's quite an interesting insight into the little tweaks that the devs are able to make for the third game, and it shows the designers demonstrating their combat in a test scenario, which makes the improvements on the original character animation really stand out. Skip to 1:20 to get past the "community" blatherings and get to the meat.
]]>Here are some details about Mass Effect 3 combat abilities. They've been encapsulated in video form so you don't even have to read anything to find out about the new class-specific powers. However, if you don't want to watch a man enthuse over the contents of the game's special edition you should skip forward to around 1 minute 50 seconds. There's nothing too surprising, with such things as floating turrets for engineers, improved melee combat across the board and shockwave-inducing ground-punches for vanguards. I suppose the most surprising reveal is that the collector's edition contains a working model of the Normandy but I just made that up.
]]>Two female aliens and a human man probably. Whatever the logistics, it's sick. Either that or I'm not referring to Kirkesque feats at all but rather to the fact that according to leaked beta assets, Mass Effect 3 will allow players to choose from three different playstyles: Action, RPG or Story. The full text from the menus is below but the names are fairly self-explanatory. I certainly wouldn't want to play a Mass Effect game in 'Action' mode, although Mass Effect 2, eh? Improved combat did lead me to believe all traces of RPG had been completely erased and that only guns remained were once there was dialogue. Or not.
]]>Bioware are releasing a whole new game after Mass Effect 3 is sent out into the big wide world. All we know, though, is that it's a new franchise, and this is the first screenshot of it, as bestowed upon the industry's number one chum GameInformer. We don't know a name, we don't know if the inclusion of buggies and deserts is a red herring (as was the Mass Effect 3 image they released for last year's VGAs), and we don't even know if it's an RPG, guns & conversation, shooter, or what. We'll find out just what it is at the VGA awards on Saturday.
]]>I was recently able to sit down for a game of Mass Effect 3’s four-player co-op mode, Galaxy At War. So, what is it, exactly? What does it add to the game? And is it going to distract you from the single player? I think I've answered that all below, along with four brand new screenshots you can click on to enlarge.
]]>More details have emerged about Mass Effect 3's surprising decision to include multiplayer. This time they're talking about what Galaxy At War might be, and much more information has arrived from elsewhere.
And it seems that the single player game could well be affected by playing not just the multiplayer, but any number of side-projects BioWare tack on to the release of the game.
]]>
