Quick Look: Mass Effect 3: Omega

yay! prework quick looks!

Rabbits are small mammals in the familyLeporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world.

Hmm, sceptical on this one.

The crucible?

I enjoyed the DLC for what it was. I was hoping for more out of it, though, especially with how they've been hyping it. Compared to Leviathan, it wasn't as good. But length-wise, it was better. I was a little disappointed with the story aspects and felt Leviathan was superior on that front. It wasn't bad, though, and Aria was fantastic in it. Great work by Carrie-Anne Moss on that, and Nyreen is a very good character. Female turians!

@Rokkaku said:

Rabbits are small mammals in the familyLeporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world.

Hilarious! Complete with links and all :)

@Gorehorn: If you're being sincere, then thanks! We've all learned a little something today.

Is that Brad with a freshly cut hair standing behind Aria there?

Damned space-Russians...

Aria uses biotics. LIKE A BOSS

Never understood people that play with default character models instead of customizing it. Thats like my favorite part of any RPG or game in general.

@Humanity: I could never change the default male Shepard, but I do make a custom female Shepard for my renegade playthrough

While I still love Mass Effect, I'm not sure if I'll ever want to play it all that much again, but it's cool that they're doing this, and I'm glad Brad's finally getting through ME3; hope he enjoys it.

Man, not sure if ill play this. Maybe when it's on sale.

I can't imagine these DLC's sell very well, as much as I'd love more mass effect, any events that take place before the end seem pointless, it's as I get to free a dolphin from a fishing net only to see the get plunked by a harpoon by a faroe whaling boat a couple minutes later.

@MikeJFlick: I agree, this is the exact problem I have with it. They were talking about whether they should make a prequel or a sequel, and I vote for sequel, if they're definitely going to make one.

Soldiers are the least of funs.

Man, as great as the Mass Effect voice acting is, and while the animations in general are adequate, I really wish they got the actors in motion capture suits. I think it'd really enhance the way things are presented, and the actors I imagine would be a bit more into it. They need to blend the best of the Mass Effect trilogy into one. So have the camera and graphics from three be transferred to two and the original, but enhanced.

That's just an example, but making it consistent all the way through and then put it in one package for next-gen I would love that. Oh, and very important, put every single DLC out for them on disk. I agree with Brad on just about everything he says here, but Vinny is also correct, it feels like it has been a long time since going through this game, though it's not as though I have forgotten the basics of the game.

Every time I see the character menu, whether it be online, or when I just play the Mass Effect games, it looks pretty amazing for some reason, a little more so than when you see it in action as you watch the cutscenes.

@VikG: By can't you mean you thought it looked so good you didn't want to or? I just assume everyone wants to personalize their experience so thats it's YOUR Mass Effect story rather than default Shepard that a ton of other people are rolling with.

@Brad You're really overselling Javik. Yeah, he's a cool character and some of the stuff he says on the Normandy is worth seeing but the only mission on which I think he really adds anything is the Thessia mission. Other than that, he's just as replaceable as all the other companions in ME3.

Jesus, so happy I played as a biotic through the whole series, Brad looks like he's struggling and I would just mow these bitches down! Looks boring playing with just guns too...

@RVonE said:

@Brad You're really overselling Javik. Yeah, he's a cool character and some of the stuff he says on the Normandy is worth seeing but the only mission on which I think he really adds anything is the Thessia mission. Other than that, he's just as replaceable as all the other companions in ME3.

You obviously didn't take him to the Salarian world Sur'kesh and talk to Wrex. He has some amazing things to say there. That conversation alone would have been worth the price of admission.

@onan said:

@RVonE said:

@Brad You're really overselling Javik. Yeah, he's a cool character and some of the stuff he says on the Normandy is worth seeing but the only mission on which I think he really adds anything is the Thessia mission. Other than that, he's just as replaceable as all the other companions in ME3.

You obviously didn't take him to the Salarian world Sur'kesh and talk to Wrex. He has some amazing things to say there. That conversation alone would have been worth the price of admission.

I obviously did. I played through the entire game with six different pairings (meaning six full play-throughs); one of those included Javik. Thanks for the assumption, though.

Like I said, some of the stuff he says is, perhaps, worth seeing, but I really only think he adds anything to the overall narrative on the Thessia mission.

I have pretty much lost interest in anything to do with Mass Effect 3 due to the ending, but I could make an exception here in one circumstance: Can I shoot Aria in the head at the end of this? If yes, there is a slight chance that I might want to actually buy it. Otherwise I can just continue ignoring ME3 DLC perfectly happily. Especially DLC that will have utterly no meaning (yay, more entirely pointless war assets).

@Bored_Ming: SHE IS NOT LIKE A BOSS - SHE IS THE BOSS!

@MikeJFlick said:

I can't imagine these DLC's sell very well, as much as I'd love more mass effect, any events that take place before the end seem pointless, it's as I get to free a dolphin from a fishing net only to see the get plunked by a harpoon by a faroe whaling boat a couple minutes later.

This is how I feel 100%. I may check it out after a significant sale, but I just don't really care enough at this point.

Kudos to Brad Shoemaker on a fantastic use of the word tumultuous!

I'm tempted to play this.

@Phatmac said:

@RVonE He's my favorite character in ME3, so I'd say he's vital to my enjoyment of ME3.

Oh sure, I can totally get behind that. I mean, I have my favorites also and I enjoyed having Javik along. The only thing I was saying is that Brad's "you cannot play this game without that character; you're crazy if you do" is really overselling the importance of Javik (or any character outside of Shepard, for that matter) to ME3's story development. But yeah, Javik is a fun companion, regardless.

Why do they insist on playing the soldier and then saying the combat is just barely competent? It's taking anything unique from mass effect out of the combat. Unique might be a bit of a stretch, it's basically the force, but biotics are great.

@Humanity: I couldn't be bothered to customise the character in 2007, I think it looked good & have never ever had any issue enjoying games using the default. For my 2nd play through I changed the hair & eye colour purely for cosmetic reasons but otherwise left the character model the same.

I think it has to do with the quality of the default or generally the quality of models/textures, for example I would not want to ever customise Niko Bellic or Cole Phelps , but heavily customise my Saints Row 3 character. In something like Skyrim/Fallout I would not bother either as I would be wearing a helmet most of the time :-/

@AlisterCat: Yeah, on multiple occasions they've said that they rely on the companions to bring all the powers while their Shepard brings the guns. I agree that that's a sure way to make the combat less interesting. An example of how a non-soldier Shepard is more interesting: if your character can use biotics, you're able to curve biotic powers over or around cover while the companions often just blast the power into the cover itself. Curving is good for setting up combos and drawing fools out of cover.

The way they streamlined the dialogue wheel, now only giving you 2 instead of 3 choices to select from, and how so much of the game has Shepard on autopilot during cutscenes and conversations is what I especially disliked about ME3. Mass Effect to me was never a series about making choices, since barely any of them matter anyway, but as a way for me to roleplay and sculpt my own different Shepards.

Through Mass Effect 1 and 2 I had 5 different Shepards that to me at least felt somewhat distinctive from one another, because in prior games (the first one especially) you selected like 99% of what Shepard would say.

And dear God, any who played through the games as default male paragon Soldier Shepard (IE: Jeff and Brad) are such a bloody bore. It just irks me when they give people this much to play around with and yet they would still stick to the most generic of choices across each aspect.

@RVonE: My bigger problem with that is that on some level mass effect stops being a shooter if you have biotics and engineering powers. I like juggling enemies while my team mates shoot at it. Lots of combat isnt a bad thing when it stops being a standard shooter. Playing a soldier makes it a standard shooter.

@RVonE said:

@onan said:

@RVonE said:

@Brad You're really overselling Javik. Yeah, he's a cool character and some of the stuff he says on the Normandy is worth seeing but the only mission on which I think he really adds anything is the Thessia mission. Other than that, he's just as replaceable as all the other companions in ME3.

You obviously didn't take him to the Salarian world Sur'kesh and talk to Wrex. He has some amazing things to say there. That conversation alone would have been worth the price of admission.

I obviously did. I played through the entire game with six different pairings (meaning six full play-throughs); one of those included Javik. Thanks for the assumption, though.

Like I said, some of the stuff he says is, perhaps, worth seeing, but I really only think he adds anything to the overall narrative on the Thessia mission.

How obvious do you honestly think that was to anyone other than you?

He's critical to the enjoyment of the game. He brings context to the fundamental concepts in the Mass Effect universe: technology, the Reapers, the 50,000 year cycle, and almost everything that happened in Mass Effect 1 (the beacon, Vigil, Ilos, etc). He also brings Liara's character arc full circle. None of that is explained properly without the From Ashes DLC installed. Your subsequent playthroughs probably weren't lacking because you already knew what was going on.

If we want to talk about disposable party members though, I've got one thick-necked N7-hopeful named James Vega that fits the bill.

After the shit ending of ME3 and all the horrible cuts they made to the game in order to introduce a money grabbing multiplayer mode, I am never playing this game or any BioWare game ever again.

When Brad said hard SciFI, I immediately thought of Roman from Party Down

Although I feel completely finished with the Mass Effect Trilogy, I am still interested in this DLC anyway. The Omega missions were some of my favourite parts of Mass Effect 2.

@Brad so aria is basically a space republican?

@onan: My use of the word 'obvious' was in reference to your statement that it was obvious that I didn't bring him to see Wrex. Assumptions on your part, not on mine.

I've been over this already, but I don't agree with you that he (or any of the companions) is absolutely vital to the game. I do agree with you that some interesting stuff happens with him and Liara's story arc and I'm not saying that he adds nothing to the game, I'm only saying that people are not "crazy"--as Brad said--when they play the game without Javik. BioWare made sure, for better or for worse, that all characters are replaceable. Javik is a cool dude and they obviously put serious effort in fleshing him out but I really don't think he's vital to the ME3's story. And, to avoid misunderstanding, I'll argue the same thing for any of the other companions (including my own favorites).

Would love to play ME3 again, but thanks to Origin and a stupid error that won't allow me to download anything, I can't even play the base game let alone any DLC. Fuck you EA, fuck you.

It's weird, I played Mass Effect 3 a few months ago, and didn't love it. But watching this video made me want to play some more damn Mass Effect. Something about that universe is so cool.

I still hate how much Shepard just fucking runs off at the mouth without any player input... so annoying..

You're just watching a cutscene for 15 minutes...never before has a Mass Effect game done that..you were always engaged and had a chance to interact or decide how your Shepard would respond...

@AlisterCat: Yes, I agree completely.

SPACE RUSSIANS ARE STILL A THREAT

@Yummylee said:

The way they streamlined the dialogue wheel, now only giving you 2 instead of 3 choices to select from, and how so much of the game has Shepard on autopilot during cutscenes and conversations is what I especially disliked about ME3. Mass Effect to me was never a series about making choices, since barely any of them matter anyway, but as a way for me to roleplay and sculpt my own different Shepards.

Through Mass Effect 1 and 2 I had 5 different Shepards that to me at least felt somewhat distinctive from one another, because in prior games (the first one especially) you selected like 99% of what Shepard would say.

And dear God, any who played through the games as default male paragon Soldier Shepard (IE: Jeff and Brad) are such a bloody bore. It just irks me when they give people this much to play around with and yet they would still stick to the most generic of choices across each aspect.

Soldier in Borderland 1 and 2? A turret? Great! Why do you need incredible powers like freezing an enemy in another dimension while you suck the live out of him when you can have a turret?

The Mechromancer? You have a robot that is a flying turret and powers like Anarchy and Jeff says: Meh, I like a turret and firing guns like in any other f****** shooter out there!

Introducing female Turians as a thing in optional DLC after the game stopped being relevant? Wow, Mass Effect 3 just keeps jumping the shark.

I also disagree with the notion that Javik (the Prothean) is all that important. Yeah, he's a cool party member that gives some more insight into the Protheans but you could get by without him. Your other party members are plenty interesting as is.

That Batarian's head disappears at 10:28.

@RVonE said:

@onan: My use of the word 'obvious' was in reference to your statement that it was obvious that I didn't bring him to see Wrex. Assumptions on your part, not on mine.

I've been over this already, but I don't agree with you that he (or any of the companions) is absolutely vital to the game. I do agree with you that some interesting stuff happens with him and Liara's story arc and I'm not saying that he adds nothing to the game, I'm only saying that people are not "crazy"--as Brad said--when they play the game without Javik. BioWare made sure, for better or for worse, that all characters are replaceable. Javik is a cool dude and they obviously put serious effort in fleshing him out but I really don't think he's vital to the ME3's story. And, to avoid misunderstanding, I'll argue the same thing for any of the other companions (including my own favorites).

What kind of statement are you even making? Yes, you could get rid of all of the companions across all games, and then you'd end up with 100 hours of The Arrival DLC when you run around solo for the majority of the game. Yes, it would be functional, and wouldn't be broken. Is it worth playing at that point? Is it interesting? Is it recognizable as what most people consider Mass Effect to be? I don't think it would be.

Obviously it's not critical to have, but Javik contributes more to the story of ME3 and Mass Effect lore as a whole than almost any other character in the franchise except maybe Shepard him/herself. I'm not sure what's the point of disputing Brad's statement, unless you were just railing against the use of hyperbole -- on the *internet* -- in which case, good luck with that particular sisyphean task.