As It Is In Life, So Shall It Be In Mass Effect

Funny things happen when one falls in love, both physically and mentally. Let's not go into the physical however. No, let's not. We could be here all day.

I, for one, am usually blessed with seemingly inexhaustible stores of patience, especially for the inanimate things of the world. And it was with this renewed vigor that I decided to give Mass Effect 3 another go, despite all the other games I'm currently investing in. I had sighed and pined for months for this game, in what seems now like another life time, so it seemed only fair I didn't give up on it so soon.

So I sat down on my bed, turned on the faithful 360 and set to it. As soon as the title screen came on I felt like something was amiss, or rather, not altogether right.

First take this into account.

Now, I don't know about you but, to me, this music got me in the mood. In the awesome-by-proxy, shoot-people-in-the-face mood.

Now consider this.

Oh, it's good, I'm not saying it isn't. But it brings me down more than it pumps me up. I'd rather cuddle than kill at the sound of this. And this mood continues throughout the game. Ambiance music is gloomy and mellow. I know there's a war going on and that wars are a sad affair. But you could at least try to get my blood flowing so I'd actually feel like doing something about it.

And this whole lethargic feel of "war is sad" is the backdrop for everything. In every screen, during every thing you do, there is this undertone of sad. I haven't finished the game yet but I see where this is going. This is just too much sad build-up for my taste.

During the first two installments of the saga I always felt like the situation was dire but Shepard was ready and willing to step up and own face. Now it's more of a lackluster day job affair for her. Yes, she's the savior of the galaxy and all things organic but we knew this already. We're moving on rails here people, let's just get this over with.

I'm going to finish the game. Soonish. I may be a bit too content at present to actually be able to stomach all of the "sad" in the game but, if push comes to shove, I'll just set the difficulty down to slap in the face and breeze down to the finish line.

Just so I can start bitching about it like everyone else.

Mass Effect 3: "Hi, My Name's Kaidan. Where're The Geth?"

I had a much worse title for this post but, watching the livestream interview with Raphael Sbarge, he dropped this line and I thought it a shame to let it go to waste.

We've been waiting for this one for a very long time, haven't we? Since the first one, actually, we knew it was coming. And word around the grapevine is that ME3 won't be the last of the universe we'll see. I read this on a magazine and I'm hoping they didn't mean more DLC. *shakes fist*. There's mention in there of an MMO but... well, we'll just have to wait and see.

But the demo came out recently didn't it? So let's talk about that.

I had previously mentioned that the whole reason that I wanted and eventually acquired a Kinect was ME3 and its voice commands feature. I was pleased to confirm that the game didn't give a rat's ass about the Kinect not allowing voice commands on the dashboard. It even has an option so you can choose your accent. I am yet to fool around with that one but it sounds promising.

Remarkably, voice commands were the last thing I tried on the demo. Throughout the first part I was way too hyped about killing things and finding a safe way to my ship to even remember to say anything. But then they kindly reminded me that I could and so I did. I started off giving off simple commands I was sure it'd understand like "Garrus, Overload" and "Liara, Warp" and then moved to "Garrus, Sniper Rifle" or "Liara, take point." All worked just fine. You can also talk to Shepard telling him/her to open doors or interact with obejcts but that, to me, just seems a bit excessive. While talking to your party members might add to the experience as a whole, talking to yourself is just a bit... sad. Overall I was pleased with the experience. Let's see how I adapt to it when not playing in the easiest difficulty setting.

Speaking of FemShep (I just did, didn't I?) I was pleased, like must of us were, that they decided to acknowledge how popular FemShep was and invest in her image and publicity. What I was not happy about was the obscene amount of make up she seems to be wearing. "Oh, the Reapers are here, are they? Let me just apply my eye shadow and I'll be right there."

The one thing I'm yet to give a whirl is the multiplayer. They sure tried to hype it up but I just wasn't in the mood or had the means to do it. But the sheer fact that they have hyped it makes me shy away from it. Dunno. Maybe it's good. I'll wait and see.

It served it's purpose, the demo. It got me a spoiler-free insight into the overall feel and gameplay and sated my ME thirst for a few weeks.

But did I just hear they are going to have DLC for it from day one? With a mother-fucking PROTHEAN in it? A race extinct for thousands of years? Oh Boo, EA. Boo.

Mass Effect 3: Fangirly Drool

There are certain episodes in your life that help you define and reaffirm what you are.

I'm a girl. A fangirl. I am a Kaidan Alenko fangirl. And yes, it's mostly (if not completely) due to Raphael Sbarge's sexy voice.

Which is why I was so flamboyantly excited when I found this in BioWare's Facebook.

'OMG OMG!' my over-excited brain yelled. 'It's Kaidan. I get to see him again. I get to nag him about professing his undying love for me and then shoving me off when some shady characters he had no particularly strong feelings towards had brought me back from the dead!'

Oh, yeah. And Liara's back too, apparently. Yay.