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More inevitable praise for "Mass Effect"
Lewzr | 4:55 PM on 11.22.2007 12 comments


Yeah, I know, bunches of people are raving about it. It's awesome. You can have interspecies lesbo-sex. Blah blah blah. We've all heard it before. But I can't help but make *some* comment about it anyway.

I picked up Mass Effect on Tuesday night, dropped in my 360 as soon as I got home, and lost most of the evening to the game.

Struggled out of bed at noon on Wednesday, sat down in front of Mass Effect again, and played pretty much through until midnight, losing, thus far, a day and a half to the game.

The odd thing is that, as much as I'm enjoying it, I wouldn't say that I consider it a jaw-droppingly good, stand-out sort of game. I mean, it's good, yes. It's fun, yes (though for some reason, I still find combat a bit of a pain in the arse, even though I'm gradually getting better at it), but is it great? I...don't know.

Odder still is that, in spite of apparently feeling like it's a fun but not entirely brilliant game, there's a part of me that apparently disagrees. When I shut the game off last night and went to bed, I fully intended to set Mass Effect aside during gaming time tonight, and spend a bit more time with the COD4 multiplayer, because I own Mass Effect, and COD4 is (currently) a rental that's due back in about five days.

And yet the only game I've been able to think about all day is Mass Effect.

When I think about what I'll do when I get home at the end of the day, Mass Effect is on my mind.

When I think about gaming, Mass Effect is there.

When I look at the clock, wondering how long it is until I can punch out of here, it's Mass Effect that is giving me a reason for punching out.

So what the heck is up with that?

Am I in denial about this game for some reason? Am I trying to pretend that it isn't as good as it is? What the heck would be the point of that? Am I going with the "Yeah, it was okay, I guess," attitude just to try to be different? Absurd.

More than likely, Mass Effect works on some *other* level. More subconscious one. It is, perhaps, a fine example of how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If you look too closely at the individual components, if you find their flaws, you'll not notice how magical the entire experience can be. And maybe it's that magical experience that I've stumbled upon entirely by accident.



And maybe it's the just the promise of hot, inter-species lesbo-sex. That could be too, I guess.



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11 comments | showing # 1 to 11

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bottled dark's Destructoid Blog
i played mass effect for a long time after picking it up, but a tough section has me taking a moment away.
i'm still really early on in the game.
GrayFox's Destructoid Blog
I feel the same way. There isn't really any one thing that makes it a completely stand-out title, yet I think it might be one of the best games I have ever played. Weird. "Subtly awesome" is the best way I can describe it, because it combinines a bunch of well-done aspects into one very good whole.

And the fighting turned me off at first, but it is really starting to grow on me. I think once I started to treat is more as an RPG than a Third-person shooter I began to appreciate the combat more.
the GAMEGOBLIN's Destructoid Blog
It's Gears of Oblivion. And that's why I love it. All of the RPG elements with solid combat and a lot of customization. Praise the lord. I'm disappointed that there isn't much variation with the guns/armor besides colour changes and a handful of different shapes.

Then again, I'm still early into it, so I'm probably getting ahead of myself.
Atlas's Destructoid Blog
I really like the fighting now I got the hang of it.


Also when I fought Matriarch Benezia I almost through the controller through the TV...

I actually beat her and made it an hour past that part and suddenly died from a grenade. Unfortunately my last save WAS RIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE! And the autosave sucks..
GrayFox's Destructoid Blog
I'm not that far either, and I just picked up some pretty sweet looking white armor.

Here's something to keep in mind that you may have overlooked, I know I did: when you are in the weapons/armor select screen, press 'X' and you can add items to your weapons/armor which make them stronger or better suited for certain situations. It took me a long time to realize that.
GrayFox's Destructoid Blog
Yeah, the shitty autosave has caused me tonnes of agony too. I've learned to save every 10 mins or so, for the most part.

And fighting Matriarch Benezia was pure torture. It felt to me like the odds were really stacked in her favor.
BlindsideDork's Destructoid Blog
Huzzah for generic shooter action infused with "lezbo" scenes to entice those...hook line and sinker?
GrayFox's Destructoid Blog
That's one take on it. I would say it's completely wrong but to each his own.

If you play this game like a generic shooter, you will lose.
Turtule Soup's Destructoid Blog
@Atlas That happened to me about a hundread million times. I hate it so much but sadly I never learn.

@unstoppablejuggernaut Very nice!
robotplague's Destructoid Blog
I can't stop thinking about Mass Effect either, in fact, I decided it was about time that I take a break from the game. So I hoped online, checked my usual sites....then searched for others talking about Mass Effect, which brings me here.

I actually really, really enjoy the combat. It took me a couple of hours to figure it out and now I love it. It almost reminds me of a small condensed version of an RTS game. You know where your enemies are, you pause, figured out what weapon to switch to or what ability to unleash on them, position yourself so you don't get hit, wait for abilities to come back, do it again, etc.

The CRAZIEST thing about it is I have a long history of not liking sci-fi stuff. And to think the game that's drawing me in the most right now is indeed sci-fi.
Lewzr's Destructoid Blog
It seems there were a few who missed the fact that the lesbo sex was a bit of a joke. I really only made the reference because there was the big media hubbub about it before the game was released, so I figured it had kind of stuck in everyone's minds as a defining feature of the game. Also because I figured D-toid was somewhere I could use a phrase like "lesbo-sex" and give at least a few people a cheap giggle.


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 about me

My name's Todd, and I'm a gamer.

I have an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii. I have a computer, but it's not exactly a current-gen gaming rig, so it's mostly used just for on-again off-again love-affair with World of Warcraft.

I used to have a Gamecube, but I sold. I also used to have a PS1, but I sold that too. I also used to have a Commodore 64, but that was too many years ago, and you'd have to ask my parents what happened to that one.

My taste in games is somewhat eclectic. Shooters are a blast, though it's taken me awhile to get used to running them on consoles. RPGs are great, but I tend to prefer the North American style to the Japanese style. I'm currently nursing a hardcore addiction to Guitar Hero 2, while having nasty dreams about the potential of Rock Band.

I drink and I smoke, and find that both hobbies, while perhaps not great for my body, improve the gaming experience tremendously.

I have another blog here, but it's not updated very frequently. I also passionately love McDonald's Hot Mustard sauce, and think it is a crime against humanity that it is no longer commonly available.

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