I feel like I've returned from the wilderness. My clothes drab from bleaching under the desert sun. My mouth cracked and dry. I emerge from the seemingly never ending vastness of the unforgiving wastes and I can't believe my ears. People have put Mass Effect 1 back into their machines to remind/compare and lo... it was bad.
It was always that bad you silly, silly people. You just weren't paying attention. I've rarely seen such texture popping, the Mako was a joke they forgot to fix. But mostly, mostly the lies. Ohhhh the lies! Can no one remember all the stuff they said would be in the game that just never appeared? And my god. Running through the same base time after time after time. Don't even get me started on the AI, in fact I think I'm going to refuse to ever reffer to that as AI ever again. It was more like a two line script. See enemy. Run to enemy. Genius.
It always was that bad. Welcome to the real world.

That's what i have been trying to tell people!...... Just kidding. It did just not appeal to me, thats all. I would not call it a bad game at all.

I liked it, a lot.

" I feel like I've returned from the wilderness. My clothes drab from bleaching under the desert sun. My mouth cracked and dry. I emerge from the seemingly never ending vastness of the unforgiving wastes and I can't believe my ears. People have put Mass Effect 1 back into their machines to remind/compare and lo... it was bad.
It was always that bad you silly, silly people. You just weren't paying attention. I've rarely seen such texture popping, the Mako was a joke they forgot to fix. But mostly, mostly the lies. Ohhhh the lies! Can no one remember all the stuff they said would be in the game that just never appeared? And my god. Running through the same base time after time after time. Don't even get me started on the AI, in fact I think I'm going to refuse to ever reffer to that as AI ever again. It was more like a two line script. See enemy. Run to enemy. Genius. It always was that bad. Welcome to the real world. "

Ya know, you're not that far from the truth.  If the story wasn't compelling then I probably would just give up on it because there is a lot wrong with the whole playing the game part, which I don't know if everybody knows this, but that's kind of important.

I hated it too. You're not alone.

Its technical issues were always known, silly.

Awesome topic. Not.

And no, ME1 is not bad. I've been playing it again last week and I've enjoyed it big time, and I never understood the beef about the shooting mechanics.

I would have to disagree. While it is true that its technically brilliant, especially in regards to texture pop-in and Mako control, this game provided some of great characters, as well as the associated voice acting and dialogue, one of the best storylines ive ever experience in a game and some fairly good action, though it ever really compares technically to say Gears of War it does have a unuiqe feel with the combiation of powers, which I beleive supremely outweigh any bad points the game has. I regards to "running through the same base time after time" I think that only really applies to the side quests since for the most part the main story missions do have a distinct feel to them even if they do tend to over use the same crate textures. Although by the sounds of it all the bad points, even ones I havent mentioned or even known, are apparently fixed in Mass Effect 2.

I used to read the official forums and the team were throwing about a whole bunch of numbers for 'visitable planets'. I though the avid fans on their were being sold a line. "Visitable my arse" I thought, as the numbers were stupid. I don't know if anyone else here can remember all the stuff that they claimed was in the game and never was. Interuptable conversations sound familiar? Games often get stuff cut and that's just a fact of the development process but these guys never fessed up and told anyone, even right on the cusp of launch.
Quite apart from that the shooting was aweful, the enemy scripting was aweful, the texture popping was aweul, the Mako was aweful and the list goes on. But yes, I rather enjoyed the storyline despite all that. SHame the game made me feel dirty for having actually coughed up the cash for it.

I think your memory is faulty. The first Mass Effect was lauded for its characters, stories and fully realized world. Oh, and the standard BioWare dialogue trees. However, a lot of the core game bits were pretty heavily criticized, both at the time and long after the fact. It was fiddly, technically unpolished and poorly structured, so much so that the team themselves couldn't figure out ways to patch it or even add too much additional content.
 
The first game was always an awkward half-step. It was BioWare's first attempt at creating an action-RPG hybrid, but the guts of it were still very much rooted in KotOR, which itself was deeply rooted in D20 Star Wars, which in turn was rooted in Dungeons and Dragons. It was an early attempt at whipping the Unreal 3 engine into shape, and when it was working it would sing...that just wasn't as often as any of us would hope. 
 
The first game in most franchises are the test bed for seeing what works and what doesn't. The refinements that BioWare realized in between the first and second Mass Effect games are a prime example of how focusing on your flaws and refining your strengths can create a product that far outshines what came before it. To call the original Mass Effect "bad" is probably a bit harsh; it was rough around the edges, and its sequel is far superior. But the many of the core concepts of the new game had their gestation period in the first.

No!!!!  It was planned that the other squad mates your playing with would stand in the aim of fire and just stay there till they die!!!  Its brilliant if you think about it, this way you can't finish the game because your team keeps dieing.  
 
In all truth I tried to jump on board but ME1 just felt like cruel and un usual torture!  It wanted me to hate it!!

I never got around to playing fully through ME1.  Mass Effect 2 is great tho.  I've yet to land on a planet or ship that looked the same.

"I told you so" thread? Lol duder, that's kinda lame. 
 
ME1 had some pretty glaring issues that you mentioned, but don't lambast the negatives while neglecting the positives. It had a good sci-fi story, great characters, and fun gameply that split third person shooting and RPG elements nicely. It wasn't "fucking phenomenal" but it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, either.

"
        Huh?
     /     
O -- Cool story, bro.
     \
      What the fuck are you on about?
"

" @thehexeditor said:

"
        Huh?
     /     
O -- Cool story, bro.
     \
      What the fuck are you on about?
"

Genius. "

"

"

First of all, Bioware has NEVER been good with graphics, you know that.
 
Second of all, you just described the RPG genre. ME isn't a bad game, it's just an RPG.
 
That said, I have yet to play Mass Effect, which is ironic considering my love for Sci-Fi and RPG's.

" @Ghostiet: The poor combat mechanics are amongst the most obvious, if you can't see those then I'm not suprised you like it. I'm glad for you though, have fun. "

I noticed them. I just never understood why people were making such a big deal about it, as they weren't gamebreaking like Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines' were and were accesible for people who dislike or don't play shooters.

Not to mention the fact that ME was praised for the writing and creating a good world (despite the crying of KOTOR fanboys, because ME failed to have a whiny, arrogant bitch as a squad member), so this topic kinda fails.

i love mass effect 1

Ughh..

I honestly love the op's style of writing.  It's awesome.

Dude. There is an official T-Shirt that pokes fun of the Mako stuff. No one is hiding  that the game had shortcomings but if you actually play it as an RPG it's very good. The story is great, the characters are memorable and by the end you want to find out what happens next. That's all it needed and they fixed it already so why even care.

" @Andorski said:

" @thehexeditor said:

"
        Huh?
     /     
O -- Cool story, bro.
     \
      What the fuck are you on about?
"

Genius. "

GENIUS! (caps necessary for emphasis) "

ME1 was more RPG than third-person shooter. And it had a few irritating but not game-breaking technical issues (elevator load times, pop-in textures). If you went into the game expecting an RPG more like KOTOR, you pretty much got what you wanted. The writing was great, the voice acting spectacular, and the main quest brisk and entertaining.
 
I was pretty sure that before the game came out we already knew that the interrupt system was out, and that the visitable planets outside the main quest were not all that spectacular. There were preview complaints about the Mako, for instance.
 
In any case, it was a good game, not perfect, and I don't recall many people claiming otherwise. Like most RPG games, it focused on story rather than "visceral combat" (note how the game salesman riffs on this point in ME2), which was a design choice that Bioware came to regret. Which is why they took a different tack in ME2. I still think the first game is great. The combat is slow and more tactical, and the AI obviously a bit lacking. But I've yet to see competent AI in more than a handful of games over the years. I took the game for what it was: a variation on KOTOR, not a variation on Gears of War. In that sense, it was certainly a success.

The only thing I hated about ME1 was the shit FPS. I never minded driving the mako it wasn't that damn bad.

Between the one-star MAG review you have and this, is there anything you do like?

Too bad ME1 isn't bad, eh?

I liked Mass Effect 1 personally except the side quests and technical shortcomings.

" Between the one-star MAG review you have and this, is there anything you do like? "

@thehexeditor: Genius!
 
Anyway, all your complaints refer to the optional side missions. You fail.

" @Pessh: Feed me! Feed me! No really, with all your magnificent 'humour' and put-downs I'm pissing blood here. I mean "you fail" etc, seriously how can so few words manage to so fully contain both barbed wit and such divine intellect? Really, I've been taught such a lesson here I must away to my diary to document this great day. Good job barely anyone can be bothered to actualy make points or I'd really be in trouble. "

ME1 was a really good game.  It had it's flaws and I will never rate it as high as some people did but if you like RPGs I don't see how you could not at least like the game. 

 Mass Effect's story was it's selling point, not it's gameplay. 

The first game is a great game, shut the fuck up.

" I feel like I've returned from the wilderness. My clothes drab from bleaching under the desert sun. My mouth cracked and dry. I emerge from the seemingly never ending vastness of the unforgiving wastes and I can't believe my ears. People have put Mass Effect 1 back into their machines to remind/compare and lo... it was bad.
It was always that bad you silly, silly people. You just weren't paying attention. I've rarely seen such texture popping, the Mako was a joke they forgot to fix. But mostly, mostly the lies. Ohhhh the lies! Can no one remember all the stuff they said would be in the game that just never appeared? And my god. Running through the same base time after time after time. Don't even get me started on the AI, in fact I think I'm going to refuse to ever reffer to that as AI ever again. It was more like a two line script. See enemy. Run to enemy. Genius. It always was that bad. Welcome to the real world. "

Well then at least Mass Effect was good enough to fool people into still lauding it with praise. I did have a lot of issues with the game, and those issues are a lot more transparent now that gaming has grown up. Mass Effect is one of those games that did not age well, at all (especially considering it isn't even that old). However, it was obviously good enough to get me to love it back when I played it. I still love the story elements and the dialogue system. I didn't really mind the vehicle stuff as much has some did, but I wouldn't call it spectacular either. 
 
But I also didn't like the fact that it was essentially a bad third person shooter, from a controls perspective, and people gave it a pass for not having the best combat system because it was an RPG, not a shooter.

On the 360 maybe. But I played it on PC with max settings and the game was flawless. I also had no problems with the Mako or shooting, in fact I rather enjoyed them and I'm disappointed that they took the Mako out for ME2. 

Nope, you were and still are wrong.

" @Pessh said:

"

"

"

Mass Effect wasn't bad, it had certain bad elements. There's a big difference between the two.

You know what? Haven't played it more than a couple of hours of it, but I'm gonna say it's the greatest game ever made just to be contrary.