Mass Effect PC

[Kou]

Is it a good port?

[T2A`]

It's currently got a 2/5 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Arts-19081-Mass-Effect/dp/B00140P9BA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1212171759&sr=1-1), but I dunno how pervasive that is. A lot of the one-star ratings might be due to the DRM crap that's on it.

[Kou]

Best Buy has 3/5 based on 1 review, so who really knows...?

[Capt.Toilet]

IGN gave it a 9.2 or something around there. And maybe I didnt read enough, but they didnt mention anything about the starforce junk or whatever is on there.

[Rambowjo]

Wait, there's StarForce on it? I'm not getting it then :/

[Soggy_Popcorn]

Not Starforce. SecuRom. It does suck, but it's generally not destructive. However, it does have that dumb-ass "3 registrations" license thing. I'm just wondering if the game itself justifies a purchase...

[Fearless]

right now my opinion of that is is that it is pretty fun so far.

More to come.

[Fuzzle]

Apart from the security stuff, word is that the port is really polished.

Interface overhaul, better controls, downloadable content included, performance/visuals ratio some of the best around.

[dragonfliet]

Apart from the security stuff, word is that the port is really polished.

Interface overhaul, better controls, downloadable content included, performance/visuals ratio some of the best around.

What I heard. I really want it, tbh, because I wouldn't mind playing through the campaign again (and on my PC to boot), but I can't make myself shell out another $40 when they refuse to support modding in any way shape or form.

~Jason

[hal]

Game Rankings for the win: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/944902.asp?q=mass%20effect

[T2A`]

MetaCritic also for the win?

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/masseffect?q=mass%20effect

93/100 for "universal acclaim." User score is 88/100.

[hal]

Yeah, also for the win. I don't count user scores unless they actually make comments so that I can understand the basis on which they have assigned their score.

[pine]

Excellent. I will be playing this game for sure.

[-Jes-]

The PC version is definitely polished. It's far more refined on a key/mouse system, not to mention a great game donning outstanding performance for it's quality.

[pine]

So I ran out and bought this yesterday, only to have the voice-over sounds go all crazy on me, then the game pulled a BSOD after about 10 minutes. Checking over the support forum, apparently it is riddled with fatal bugs. Guess I should have done my homework. :( Can't recommend this purchase to anyone until they release a patch or three, or eight.

[T2A`]

This is retarded.

The game is #2 on Amazon's current best-sellers list for PC games. Yet it's got a 2.5/5 rating and the comments are full of stuff about terrible DRM, wonky controls, a clunky camera system, etc. Then other people come in and say how awesome it is while MetaCritic says it's great and BuF people are as divided as Amazon.

CONSOLE PORTS SUCK. They cause nothing but trouble. :(

[Soggy_Popcorn]

Just bought this game: here's the deal.

It's NOT a console port. The controls, menus, combat, etc. ALL fit the PC perfectly and it could easily go for my GOTY if it's patched. (See next point.)

However, it is fatally buggy. It only runs for me and lots of other people in windowed mode (though it's still at 1280x1024) and crashes randomly, locks up for like 5 minutes pretty frequently, and generally makes me want to smash something.

Wait for the patch, then snatch this baby up! :D

*edit* Also, you know the reason for not supporting modding, right?

Steamy nude alien lesbo sex scenes!!......in the strip club! :D

[pine]

Interface and controls aren't that bad. So far it seems like KoTOR's squad controls were a little easier to use, but maybe I will get the hang of it more with time. I also got my game working (woot!) after reinstalling sound drivers, lowering my Windows hardware acceleration setting, and closing absolutely everything before I started it up.

Mass Effect actually doesn't look quite as good as, say, Bioshock (imho) but it's still fun to play a game with such good production values once in awhile.

[shoptroll]

*edit* Also, you know the reason for not supporting modding, right?

Steamy nude alien lesbo sex scenes!!......in the strip club! :D

The last console Bioware game they ported was Jade Empire and that was also not very mod-friendly either.

[dragonfliet]

The last console Bioware game they ported was Jade Empire and that was also not very mod-friendly either.

Yeah. They were WONDERFUL with NWN (released a wonderful set of module-creation tools (like what Oblivion has) that people STILL make missions with. In fact, one of the application requirements for writers is to make a module with NWN toolset), but afterwards decided that they didn't give a crap about the PC. KOTOR and Jade Empire were both LATE ports that weren't that good at all, at least Mass Effect is somewhat timely and well done. That's about as much as you can hope for from BioWare on the PC anymore.

~Jason

[Fuzzle]

I picked this up yesterday, and it runs absolutely flawless on my 8800gt. Solid 60fps, with the biggest noticable dip happening when overlooking the entire citadel, and that was a plenty acceptable 30-40.

I played up until you got command over your ship and did a few planets, and haven't encountered any technical issues or crashes yet of any kind.

[Kou]

Don't know what's up, if anyone can explain this to me it'd be appreciated. I have no lighting in-game and some of the first cutscene seems to be just black.

[T2A`]

So... Is it worth the $40 Amazon wants for it even with all its DRM bullsh*t?

[Slainchild]

I've played it up to the end of the first mission (need to deactivate the bombs now), and it runs really well. The interface is a bit confusing, but only because I'm not used to it yet. It crashed once when it was streaming in a cutscene, and there's this weird bug where there are two character models on the stats screen intersecting each other, but it's quite good otherwise. Could do with a higher FOV, feels a bit limiting.

:tup:

[Azura]

I picked this up yesterday, and it runs absolutely flawless on my 8800gt. Solid 60fps, with the biggest noticable dip happening when overlooking the entire citadel, and that was a plenty acceptable 30-40.

I played up until you got command over your ship and did a few planets, and haven't encountered any technical issues or crashes yet of any kind.

Can you get higher than 60 fps ? It sounds like your graphics setting are capping your maximum frames.

[Fuzzle]

It's capped due to my LCD screen, it doesn't go higher than 60. I found some ini tweaks yesterday and went ahead and doubled the shadow resolution beyond the game's max setting, and didn't notice any performance loss, so I suppose I have (or had) a bit of slack to work with.

I just finished this game now, and man, it is without doubt one of the greatest games I've ever played, and only fallout is keeping it from taking the #1 spot in the rpg genre.
It's been a long, long time since a game's story has interested me to such an extent, and some of the events - especially the ending - gave me the chills.

I'll definately have to give it another run-through on a harder difficulty. I skipped a ton of sidequests and the combat was a bit of a walkover on normal.

[Slainchild]

You completed it within 2 days wtf.

[Fuzzle]

Well I got it on thursday, so that's.. 3-4 loooooong~ weekend sessions. It wasn't "short", but yeah, not terribly long either.

[Defeat]

It's capped due to me having vsync on, it doesn't go higher than 60.

Fixed ;x Sounds like a fun game, I might try and get it once my computer gets fixed.

[neilthecellist]

Bioshock was a port and it ran fine on my computer, I didn't have any of the bugs that everyone else had.

Star Wars Republic Commando (I know, old game) was a console port and that ran fine on my computer.

Gears of War was a console port and it ran fine on my computer.

I haven't gotten Mass Effect yet, but judging from the problems everyone's having, I might hold off on getting the game until a decent patch comes out.

Oh, and by the way.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the only console port that ran with massive bugs on my computer.

[pine]

It's capped due to my LCD screen, it doesn't go higher than 60. I found some ini tweaks yesterday and went ahead and doubled the shadow resolution beyond the game's max setting, and didn't notice any performance loss, so I suppose I have (or had) a bit of slack to work with.

I just finished this game now, and man, it is without doubt one of the greatest games I've ever played, and only fallout is keeping it from taking the #1 spot in the rpg genre.
It's been a long, long time since a game's story has interested me to such an extent, and some of the events - especially the ending - gave me the chills.

I'll definately have to give it another run-through on a harder difficulty. I skipped a ton of sidequests and the combat was a bit of a walkover on normal.

I think I'm about 1/3 of the way through now and it's definitely got my attention. I played for like 10 hours yesterday, so yeah. :shy: The combat is easy for you? Man, wtf. I die in practically every encounter, and some of them take me 5 or 6 tries to get through. Maybe it's because I have never played a tactical shooter with a cover system before so I tend to charge in and get pwned. :x

neilthecellist, that post is anecdotal evidence from your personal experience so it doesn't say much about console to computer ports in general. Just because those games worked on your computer doesn't mean they will work on everybody's, and there are MANY other console ports out there that are just plain lousy.

Also, Bioshock was not a port - it was co-developed for both systems. After playing the game I came to the conclusion that it was designed with the PC foremost in mind.

[neilthecellist]

neilthecellist, that post is anecdotal evidence from your personal experience so it doesn't say much about console to computer ports in general. Just because those games worked on your computer doesn't mean they will work on everybody's, and there are MANY other console ports out there that are just plain lousy.

Fair 'nuff.

[Nines]

You completed it within 2 days wtf.

It wasn't "short", but yeah, not terribly long either.

I'm just going to pop in and say that if you do all sidequests as well, you'll get at least 25-30 hours(depending on your playing style, class etc.) out of the game. :)

[Fuzzle]

Yeah, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I hardly did any of the side quests. That comment was mostly referring to the main plot.

[Dante]

I found the begining rather boring - story seemed pretty dull (save the galaxy by killing your arch-enemy), combat was nice but many games done it better, not many skills to choose from (hard to say if its actualy good or bad thing), but after completing like half of the game it really hooked me, especialy after i met that Reaper. After some time story became a lot more interesting than I first thought. And the ending levels very exremely well done, it really felt as if you were fighting in some grand battle for survival.

[Soggy_Popcorn]

The main storyline is indeed awesome, beyond every rpg I've played aside from Morrowind. However, the side-quests/planets blow. They're so dull and tedious.

[pine]

Yeah. The levels repeat themselves pretty badly. If you're going to spend that little time and thought in designing side-quests, why include them in the first place?

Actually my favorite part of the side-missions is just driving around planets and moons in the mako. They're a little barren but they still look very cool. I like the sense of exploring alien worlds.

[B]

I picked this up a couple of days ago (It was only €20,- @ E-Plaza)
I've played it for about 45 minutes, then I got stuck halfway through the first mission. Litteraly stuck, I fell off a small cliff and I can't jump back up (since you can't jump at all) and I can't go further down. I hate these flaws...
Other than that the game so far is cool, I have to get used to all the dialogue (good warmup for MSG4) and the control scheme (default) is kinda funky.
It runs like a charm on my pc, capped @ 60FPS all the time :)