Reviews Written By: A3AHW8VE2MXK7Oprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Mass Effect | |
 | "Best game I've ever played" | 2009-09-28 |
| This game is incredible. It isn't perfect, and its style might not appeal to everyone, but if you're looking for an extremely detailed RPG with a lot of real time combat thrown in for good measure, this is a great choice. Mass Effect was first recommended to me by a friend who told me it was "just like" KOTOR (which I also loved). Let me say that he was dead wrong, this game is no KOTOR. Yes, there are elements of the game play that are reminiscent of KOTOR - this is a good thing, trust me. The system isn't close enough to be anything close to a KOTOR clone. More like the elements of KOTOR that worked well evolved further. The story is incredible, and the choices in character development, dialogue and so on are the most varied I've seen in any game. Also, for once we're presented with a game that allows multiple moral choices, without those choices falling into the realm of cartoonishly good or evil, and without being reprimanded or punished if you choose the less noble actions. Which brings me into another big appeal of the game - this game is for grown ups. Not in the way that the GTA games are, but because the game world is not black and white, with bad things never happening to the good guys. Some of the decisions you'll make will be tough ones, and that's a good thing for an RPG. In all, I would say that anyone who likes plot and doesn't mind exploring huge dialogue possibilities will probably like this game. If you just want to shoot at stuff, there's plenty of that too, but you probably won't want to deal with everything in between.
That said, I have a few criticisms, which is why I would only give this game 4 stars instead of 5 in regards to pure fun. Although the plot is great, there aren't enough main missions. Instead, the vast majority of the missions are side missions. This wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that most of the side missions are tedious and repetitive. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't mind the idea of exploring planets in the Mako in and of itself, but got bored when there wasn't much of anything new to see. Yes, every base looks the same, and the planets look almost the same. A lot of creative detail was put into the sky of some of these worlds, but practically nothing when it came to the landscape. The colors were changed a little and the layout of the mountains varied slightly, and that was it. Even on worlds that supposedly had life, the only thing slightly interesting that you might find would be a small heard of the same two kinds of animals, and only if you didn't mind exploring the whole surface of the planet looking for minerals. Navigating these planets was also frustrating, because a lot of the things you need to find involve climbing mountains in the Mako, which is practically impossible. You have to drive around, looking for a spot that's a little less shear, only for the Mako to come to a halt about 3/4 of the way up. Then you have to struggle not to slide all the way back down, and try to inch your way up the rest by driving sideways. Needless to say, this isn't fun. I would not have minded the repetitive side missions if it meant you at least got to explore a new and interesting environment each time. There are other ways to hide goodies than to place them in nearly inaccessable mountain crevices, and I didn't find it believable that every single planet would be mountainous. What about some sand dunes? A jungle environment? Canyons, craters, or water? Given all the effort that was put into graphics in this game, and how detailed some of the main mission environments are, I don't see why they couldn't have put just a little more creative effort into the side mission planets since they are such a huge part of the game. Battling in the Mako is also difficult because you usually have to do it while driving, and even when you use the canon you have to be spot on with the aiming. Enemies will be highlighted with red triangles. While they are easy to hit when fighting on foot (you don't have to hit inside the triangle), in the Mako it seemed to me that if you didn't line the center dot of the sights directly in the middle of the red triangle, you would almost never make a hit. This was especially problematic because you tend to fight at a distance with the Mako, so the triangles are tiny. Even closer up, however, I found that large targets such as Geth Armatures would not register a hit, even if visually, the canon sights were lined up with a part of the Armature's body, unless you hit inside the triangle. Very frustrating, especially while moving. And you do have to move while you're fighting in the Mako, or you'll get your butt kicked. I found that enemies will almost always be able to hit you, no matter where you're coming from, even if you cannot hit them. Pretty much any time you are not level with the enemy, you will not be able to hit them, even if your line of sight looks clear. Whether you are coming from above or below, or appear to have a clear shot, it usually won't matter and you'll find your canon rounds hitting the side of a hill or ridge between you and the enemy. Despite this, they will almost always be able to hit you if you can see them (and sometimes when you can't), whether you are above or below them. In other respects, the game itself was awesome enough to make up for these flaws, but it really would have been perfect if the missions in the Mako could have been improved. Despite this, it really is an awesome RPG/3rd person shooter, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a game with both action and plot. | ||
 | City Infernal | |
 | "An honest review sans synopsis" | 2008-07-22 |
| I'm not sure why nearly everyone thinks a review should consist mainly of a plot synopsis, but by this time I'm sure almost everyone reading this is familiar with the essential premise of the book, so I'll be skipping that here. This was also the first Edward Lee book I ever read, so I had no preconcieved notions of what his writing should be like. I found this book to be an enjoyable, easy read with a unique and interesting take on Hell. It immediately caught my interest, which I appreciated in contrast to horror that takes chapter after chapter to build up. I would classify this book as "fun and cool." I didn't find it to be as horrific or gross as some reviewers did. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I actually thought it was a bit tame given that describing Hell essentially gives an author free reign to dwell on whatever kind of graphic torment they would like to. Sure, gross and horrific things happen, but they tend to be described in a quick and matter-of-fact way, rather than lingering on the details of things. If you're expecting a completely serious version of Hell, or heavy horror for that matter, this book may not be for you. For me, it was serious enough to invest my fictional belief and fascination in, and fast-paced enough to engage my interest, but I didn't really find the book to be incredibly suspenseful or horrific. I would be more inclined to classify it as dark low fantasy with horror elements, but I suppose the fact that the fantastic world the main character finds herself in being Hell gets the book automatically placed in the horror genre. But for what it was, the book was good and inspired me to read the rest of the series as soon as I finished the first. The reason why I only give the book four stars, however, is that there were a few elements that I thought were lacking. I didn't find the story to be as weak as some reviewers, however it is true that Lee does focus a great deal on descriptions of places and less on character development. On one hand, his descriptions are fantastic and satisfying in their own right. On the other, I did wish I knew the characters a little better. I felt that Cassie was explored fairly well, but the other characters seemed more like useful sidekicks and less like independent entities. There were instances where I felt that certain plot points could have been better exploited in regards to the characters than they actually were. I also found that things were a little too easy. The characters meet a few challenges and snags in their planning, but for the most part problems are fixed with something new revealed by the sidekick characters. Also, at the end of the book (which I won't give away), I thought the twist could have been better exploited, and explained for that matter, especially given some of the revelations that take place in the sequel, Infernal Angel. Despite these flaws, I think the book is well worth reading, and that Lee makes up for some of these problems in the next book. | ||
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