Mass Effect Demonstration Video Available Now

[MSUStud911]

Major Nelson (http://www.majornelson.com/) reports that the Mass Effect demonstration video that wowed crowds at E3 is available now on Xbox Live.

The video is also available for your perusal at various gaming websites including GameVideos.com (http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/4529).

I cannot wait for this game. The video definitely shows that Bioware is on the right track.

[AspectVoid]

I watched it last night. I was very very happy with what I saw. I just wished it had shown some of the character creation process. That's what I'm really interested in, as making your own character is a big part of what seperates Eastern and Western RPGs.

[Morratut]

Cool will download this along with a load of other stuff tonight.

Too much stuff on marketplace. I want a feature where my 360 will automatically power off when it's downloaded everything i've wanted :D

[disc]

Does that video show that Bioware is on the right track????

A company that was MADE by its great RPGs now doing a shooter. How can that be right track?

I'm so damn disappointed by their track record. From BG1 and 2 it's only gone downhill. Damn shame.

[Captain Awesome]

Im very HOT for this title. I can't wait to see Jade Empire 2 aswell ;)

[Nighthold]

Does that video show that Bioware is on the right track????

A company that was MADE by its great RPGs now doing a shooter. How can that be right track?

I'm so damn disappointed by their track record. From BG1 and 2 it's only gone downhill. Damn shame.


Yeah its really awful that they have made their games more accessible and fun to play, while keeping them deep, interesting, and unique. A damned shame.

/Except KOTOR 2
//That one really sucked.
///Alot.
////woot slash!

[MSUStud911]

It's clear to me from the video that Mass Effect will maintain that Bioware RPG feel, while making the combat system more fun and engaging. I think this is a great direction to go in, especially because it's a new property without preconceived notions or baggage.

Oh, and KOTOR 2 was done by Obsidian, not Bioware.

[EvilBob46]

Does that video show that Bioware is on the right track????

A company that was MADE by its great RPGs now doing a shooter. How can that be right track?

I'm so damn disappointed by their track record. From BG1 and 2 it's only gone downhill. Damn shame.

It has all the aspects of a role playing game, just now it comes with a more of a real time hands-on combat system (although you can still pause the action any time).

[digitalErich]

It dives a little bit into the Uncanny Valley, but otherwise this game looks to have some promise.

[KamaItachi]

It looks gorgeous, but the animation seems really stiff and stilted.

[The Iron Weasel]

I absolutly cannot wait for this game.

[EvilBob46]

It dives a little bit into the Uncanny Valley, but otherwise this game looks to have some promise.

That disturbed me too. Some of the environments look rather bland as well.

This trailer is higher res than the GameVideos one.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=11786&type=mov&pl=game

[Mdot23]

i've been waiting for some videos of this after looking at the same screenshots for months. looks as good as people were describing it as. im doubtful for the winter 06 release date. i think it might fit better during early 07, in between gears and halo 3.

[snugglebearofdeath]

Does that video show that Bioware is on the right track????

A company that was MADE by its great RPGs now doing a shooter. How can that be right track?

I'm so damn disappointed by their track record. From BG1 and 2 it's only gone downhill. Damn shame.

So they can only by on the "right track" if they continue to make the exact same genre of game?

[Mike Jones]

One of the few reason I will end up with a 360 eventually. This Lost Plant and Gears of War and no this isn't a misprint ;)

[Tia]

/Except KOTOR 2
//That one really sucked.
///Alot.
////woot slash!

*cough*that was not bioware*cough* which is why it sucked so bad. Actually the game was ok, but just not as deep as the first one. It also had the worest ending in a game evah.

[Nighthold]

*cough*that was not bioware*cough* which is why it sucked so bad. Actually the game was ok, but just not as deep as the first one. It also had the worest ending in a game evah.

Ok, sorry... but Bioware WAS involved in the creation... didn't they supervise/advise or something like that? Or was it that they selected the company to do it, and it was made up of former bioware employees?

Whatever the case, it sucked. It felt... broken.

As far as Bioware goes with action/rpg's, Jade Empire was loads of fun, if a bit too easy.

[sebastard]

this might be the game that makes me buy an X360.. wow..

[Kyro]

So they can only by on the "right track" if they continue to make the exact same genre of game?

Well, it's not like any of us would mind if they made a BG3 :D

Bioware is free to make any kind of game they want - it's just that they made such fantastic Turn Based RPGs that you kind of wish they would just pump out more and leave the shooter genre to everyone else. It's not like were being overwhelmed with RPGs at the moment here :rolleyes:

[BigJonno]

I'd like a game that can't be completed in a normal weekend please. 30+ hours and I'll be happy.

[Savok]

KOTOR2 was awesome, flawed in places, but the overall concept was pure awesome.

[Eran Hawke]

Wow! This is amazing!

If you haven't gotten this trailer yet, do it now!

I laugh at people who wait for PS3 when the rest of the world will be playing this jewel.

[PopoWRX]

KOTOR2 was awesome, flawed in places, but the overall concept was pure awesome.

Besides the totally hideous last act to the game, it was much better then KOTOR in terms of story and characters. Kreia was an incredibly deep character that trumps any character that came outta KOTOR...except maybe HK...but he was in KOTOR2 too...I totally agree with Savok in that the concept was pure win. If the movies would have this kind of complexity to it...man...

[Savok]

As for shitty Bioware stuff, original NWN campaign and HotU expansion, horrible, awful games.

That said, I just watched the video... I've previously said I wouldn't pay $90US (I'm an Aussie don't forget) for any game that didn't give me a blowjob the moment I opened the case, I think this is that game.

[Savok]

Besides the totally hideous last act to the game, it was much better then KOTOR in terms of story and characters. Kreia was an incredibly deep character that trumps any character that came outta KOTOR...except maybe HK...but he was in KOTOR2 too...I totally agree with Savok in that the concept was pure win. If the movies would have this kind of complexity to it...man...
Yeah it was rushed, execution fell pretty short, the concept still got across though, thank god.

[EvilBob46]

Let's hope it's a lot better than Jade Empire. I saw a lot of parallels between Jade Empire and Chrono Cross, in that they were both RPGs that were praised to death (the infamous 9.9 score from IGN for the former, a perfect 10 from GameSpot for the later), but did not come even close to meeting their lofty expectations.

EDIT: Neverwinter Nights! I almst forgot about that game (not surprising, really). The original's Singleplayer campaign was extremely uninspired. Shadows of Undrentide was even worse in that regard. Hordes of the Underdark was a big improvement, but still left a lot to be desired. NWN was supposed to be a multiplayer/module centric game, sure, but that's not excuse for creating lengthy singleplayer side quests that are as dull as the one's Bioware provided (minus HoU).

[Wyrm]

KOTOR should have been a movie. Both of those games' stories were so unbelievably better than the movies, I'm not sure why they let George write the damned things.

[Tia]

Ok, sorry... but Bioware WAS involved in the creation... didn't they supervise/advise or something like that? Or was it that they selected the company to do it, and it was made up of former bioware employees?


Well... supervise/advise doesn't mean much. And if I am not mistaken Obsidian is former Interplay employees not bioware. Still "former x employees" really depends on are those former employees, what was their part, and why they are former ;-) I do hope Obsidian do a better job with NWN2.

As for character and story depth between KoToR and KoToR2... 2 might have had a bit more story depth in potential. But it had too many things left hanging to tell if what was planned was really a better story or they never did know where they were going with it. Also, the side quests and different worlds in KoToR2 were much smaller in scope and pure size than in the first one. Which made me feel robbed out of a lot of the exploration fun. Except Nar-Shaada (or however you spell it) most of the other ones were just tiny.

It had potential. But didn't live up to it.

By the way, Mass Effect can't come too soon.

[Wyrm]

Let's hope it's a lot better than Jade Empire. I saw a lot of parallels between Jade Empire and Chrono Cross, in that they were both RPGs that were praised to death (the infamous 9.9 score from IGN for the former, a perfect 10 from GameSpot for the later), but did not come even close to meeting their lofty expectations.

I loved Jade Empire, but I did not feel like it was the end all, be all of RPGs as some would have had you believe. It was a great game with really neat combat and character options, and I will probably play through it again at some point, and I did end up enjoying it a little more than KOTOR.

As for the second KOTOR, I must say I had lots of fun with it until it ended. The ending was simply underwhelming and didn't really fit with everything else that had happened, but the concept was incredibly cool. For example, how badass is a badguy that holds a ship together (and himself) with the force because he's such a fucking badass. What about a dude who can destroy planets with his mind. That's the kind of shit that we should see in Star Wars games more often, and the game doesnt get enough credit for some of the cooler characters in the Star Wars universe.

[Savok]

Oh they knew, once you grasp (at times overly subtle) central theme, they knew exactly what was going on.

[Mason]

Besides the totally hideous last act to the game, it was much better then KOTOR in terms of story and characters. Kreia was an incredibly deep character that trumps any character that came outta KOTOR...except maybe HK...but he was in KOTOR2 too...I totally agree with Savok in that the concept was pure win. If the movies would have this kind of complexity to it...man...
Search around online, people uncovered a bunch of dialog which fleshes out the ending. The unmade ending is tons better, very well written. It's a real shame they couldn't/wouldn't finish the game and offer it as a patch.

Still up in the air on Mass Effect. Production values are very impressive (aside from the undersized depth stencil surface for shadow mapping), but it's hard to tell if gameplay has evolved along with them.

[Savok]

The ending makes sense when realize that all roads lead to Rome and it's the Force that makes it that way.

[Jack B]

One of the few reason I will end up with a 360 eventually. This Lost Plant and Gears of War and no this isn't a misprint ;)

Wow, now that post should be it's own news thread... :) The 360 and PS3 are both going to be excellent. The PS3 has to get going first, but it will happen just a bit later.

[net7runner]

I don't know what you guys are talking about...those animations are some of the most fluid ones in a game to date. Certaintly much better than Oblivion...

From their fluidity and ubiquity, I'm guessing they must have used hella motion capture on this one. It's nice to see some body language during conversations, too. Looking at talking heads will only last so long...

Other things that really got me excited:
-Cinematic camera angles and lighting - I don't know if this is preprogrammed or they have some kind of algorithm, but damn it looks nices
-Real-time conversations - I think the abbreviated conv. choices works really well. At least on paper...who knows if it's going to be restrictive later on...

And does anyone else think that the main character looks a whole lot like Karl Urban (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881631/)?

I also understand where everyone is getting the Valley of Unreal thing from, but for some reason it didn't really bother me...dunno why.

[UnderHero5]

I dunno. It looks very good, don't get me wrong, but as far as animations go (specifically facial animations) I'd say Half Life 2 Episode 1 has far better facial animation still.

[Zanzibar]

Dear God, did you see the self-shadowing? Man. This is promising.

[Khash]

The combat didn't look all that fantastic. And what's with the framerate drops? I'll get this if it comes out for PC so it will actually be playable.

[Zanzibar]

The combat didn't look all that fantastic. And what's with the framerate drops? I'll get this if it comes out for PC so it will actually be playable.

Just read your last several posts. Yes, you are a Sony tool. Dismissed.

[jacktion]

This game looks amazing. This will sell an xbox360. I will buy one just for this game.
good work, bioware or whomever.

[danhoo]

This continues to impress me, at least in visual quality (can't really tell much gameplay-wise still). The uncanny-valley effect does seem to kick in a little, however. The faces are rendered so well (reflective eyes, etc) that the slightly stiff facial animation becomes more noticable. But most folks won't really care too much about this, I suspect.

[TRiLoGY]

Nice.. I enjoyed the Video :)

I Loved KOTOR and I'm really looking forward to this!

[YoungAlCapone]

Any word yet on this coming to PC, if it isn't then I guess I will have to get a 360 after all.

[Zeal]

This is the game to buy a 360 for. Seriously.

[ChaosDent]

If you're willing to wait between 12-24 months of the Xbox game release, YoungAlCapone, I would count on a PC version of this, Gears of War, Halo 3 and any other Microsoft published game that has wide PC crossover appeal.

Anyway, I like the look and feel of the dialogue scenes. The real time conversation choices don't look like the dramatic leap away from dialogue trees the previews had described, but it's nice to see conversations that never really disrupted and some nice cinematic camera angles to break the monotony. I think the biggest improvement though was the choice to give the main character a voice, a limitation on the "be anybody" RPG ethic that Bioware has been so fond of but it could pay that back many times over with far better character.

[balamoor]

Bioware never ceases to amaze me in the quality of it's games, this is on my must buy list. I am also eagerly awaiting the next King of MMORPG's being developed by them in Austin. I figure we should see the "Back-Burner" Crusade six or seven months after that goes live. :rolleyes:

Seriously; I do wonder what the title will be, it seems a toss up between KOTOR Online and Baldurs Gate (Or Forgotten Realms) Online.

[balamoor]

This is the game to buy a 360 for. Seriously.

QFT, I can actually see myself clocking some serious 360 time on this one which is rare for me.

[Mr.Condescension]

Sadly there are entirely too many "Not the jaggies, dear god, not the Jaggies!" moments in the demo. They really need to figure out how to get some more AA in their final product. It really mars the presentation.

That being said, I'm totally there either way.

edit: note that this applies entirely to the 720p vid. The low res one looks fine because downscaling is a form of AA in a way. Check out the 720p one to see how it will actually look.

[Zanzibar]

When's this supposed to be out, by the way?

[J3DI]

Cool will download this along with a load of other stuff tonight.

Too much stuff on marketplace. I want a feature where my 360 will automatically power off when it's downloaded everything i've wanted :D


Look in your settings blade... you can set your 360 to auto-off. Thats what I usually do when I download something late at night that is over 1GB. It'll turn off after 6 hours on its own... that is as long as no one messes with the controller while its in standby.

[Wasson_]

This game, and Bioshock. Gonna rock.