Mass Effect

[TheMightyEthan]

You can't do it post-game, you have to do it before the final approach to the end (the game does a good job of warning you when that is) but other than that you can do it any time after it appears as a mission (it's the one about Admiral Anderson's apartment on the Citadel).  The later in the game you wait though the more characters will show up.

[Eleven]

You make it sound like there's going to be a party in there. Thanks!

[Hot Heart]

The mission part of the DLC can be played anytime after Cerberus' attempted coup. The rest will sort of unlock naturally as people become available. Though, as Ethan suggests, I would leave it until just before the 'point of no return' (i.e. the assault on Cerberus HQ), which is also where it puts you 'post-game'.

[deanb]

http://www.biowarestore.com/apparel/jackets/n7-leather-jacket.html

 

$475 for a limited edition N7 leather jacket.

[TheMightyEthan]

A Chilean retailer's site has posted a page for the Mass Effect trilogy on PS4 and Xbone.  Could just be placeholder though.

[Strangelove]

Do the PC versions look at all better than the console version? I always thought Bioware games were kind of technically crappy in general. Plus, they cant seem to make humans look not creepy. I don't think any amount of frames per seconds or resolutions would fix that.

[Alex Heat]

A PS4 version of ME1-3 would only be worthwhile if they altered ME1 and 2's gameplay to match 3's.  Looking nicer is all well and good, but I don't think I could sit through ME1's gameplay anymore.

[Strangelove]

Theyre not going to do that. Only in a perfect world.

ME1 is so distant from ME3. I cant play ME1. Just cant.

[TheMightyEthan]

Graphically speaking, resolution is the biggest thing that bothers me about playing last-gen games (has been for the last 5 years or so, since I've had a PC capable of reliably outperforming the consoles), and resolution is something that is readily addressable with a port like this.  Same deal with The Last of Us.

 

That said, I almost certainly won't be getting this at launch, even assuming it's real.  And I probably would feel the same way as you guys about ME1, except I loved it so much when it first came out that I'm able to draw on that reservoir of fond memories when replaying it.

[TCP]

Sign me up for Mass Effect 2 and 3... I don't know if I can play through 1 again..... but if the trophy list is separate....... maybe.

[Strangelove]

Who is this for anyways? Who didn't play them last gen that want to play them now? It was multiplatform. Shit, even the Wii U got one.

 

I dunno, I kind of feel the same way about fallout. I love fallout 3 and nv, but making them 1080p won't save it from shitty animation and copy and paste towns. As long as Mass Effect stays as janky and awkward as it is, nothing can fix it.

Compared to last gens shadow of the colossus or this gens TLoU hd remasters, Mass Effect wasn't ahead of its time(on consoles anyway) graphically. it's not going to shine at a higher resolution or more fps.

That being said, more power to them. Play what you want,

[Alex Heat]

It's probably to set up for ME4 because they don't want to go through the effort of setting up a save station like the Dragon Age Keep does for DA.

[Thursday Next]

My vote is: Not real.

[TheMightyEthan]

For some reason I'm inclined to believe you...

[TCP]

I'm not surprised Mass Effect's coming to PS4/Xbone, and whether or not this listing is real, there's been a ton of rumours about this, so I'd imagine this is happening. 

Mass Effect is one of those series you can play multiple times and make different decisions, so it makes sense to re-release the trilogy a few years later and let people make new decisions while also enjoying the game at a higher fidelity. 

[deanb]

Like the guy who runs from imaginary zombies would know what's real and what's not!

 

[deanb]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/63123472@N02/sets/72157645117333866/

 

Some Mass Effect at 8K resolution. And given some are in-game I'd guess it's kinda playable at those resolutions.

[TheMightyEthan]

According to the Kotaku article the creator of those screenshots said it's a slideshow at those resolutions.

[deanb]

Yeah in the reddit thread he says it's 5-6fps in gunfights, 10-15 in cutscenes. The true next-gen experience.

[TCP]

My boy, Casey Hudson, has left Bioware. He probably didn't want to live in Edmonton anymore. Can't blame him, the Oilers really suck. 

[Hot Heart]

Ah, brings back memories...

[TCP]

I don't care what non y'all say, Man-Shep will always be the best Shep. 

 

 

Also I would totally play through ME1-3 again on PS4, if the games got remastered. Just sayin'.

[TheMightyEthan]

I would too, though I'm not proud of that fact.

[SomTervo]

So, yeah, as per my status, Mass Effect 4 potentially just leaked. Some pretty amazing info if true. Sounds a lot like they took a few steps towards Elite-style systemic stuff.

 

I'm excited alone by how it's largely been untied from the main canon and is now just about 'stranger in a strange land' Star Trek-style explore this galaxy and discover stuff. Real exciting. 100s of planets, too, and clearly more freedom to do what you will.

 

Edit: would help if I put the source link here. A lot more info within: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1031314

 

 

NARRATIVE:

• Premise: Set in the Helius Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy, removed by time and space from the Mass Effect "Commander Shepard" trilogy and its ending. Play as a "Pathfinder" explorer leading expedition with the aim of establishing new home for humanity. Encounter "savage untamed lands", "cut-throat outlaws", and "warring alien races" in an effort to survive and colonies. Andromeda is home to a mysterious alien race, the Remnants, who've left their vaults and ancient technology throughout.
• Game Objective: Explore 100s of solar systems (over 4x size of Mass Effect 3) collecting resources, developing your ship, crew, and arsenal, while engaging in diplomacy in order to set up colonies, while discovering the mystery behind the Remnants and racing to secure their technology.
• New Species: Remnants, an ancient race who've left ruins and technology throughout the galaxy. And Khet, seemingly antagonistic.
• Squadmates: Same as previous games: make friends, take two with you on missions. Cora is able to generate biotic shields you can fire out of. Drack is a Krogan.
• Loyalty Missions: Same as previous games: complete to unlock increased loyalty and new skill tree for that character. Example: Krogan colony ship has been stolen by outlaws. Track down the ship and return it to increase loyalty with Drack. Dialogue trees and end game impacted by loyalty status.
• Dialogue: "Meaningful choices". Deeper control over responses, such as interrupting conversation. Action based choices are physical choices to shape the course of conversation, such as pulling out a weapon and forcing them to open a door instead of attempting to do so purely via conversation.

EXPLORATION/CUSTOMISATION

• Tempest Starship: Pilotable ship to discover 100s of solar systems. Customisable with trophies/loot/photos taken through the galaxy. Transition between flying ship, to landing on planet, to driving Mako, to getting out on foot, all seamless with no loading screens.
• Mako Vehicle: Upgradeable with turbo boost, shield generator, hostile detector, etc. Customisable paint job.
• Planets: 100s of surfaces to explore, for discovering places to colonise, and alien vaults/outputs to conquer.
• Colonies: Build settlements on habitable planets. Able to decide what type of settlement for bonuses. EG: Recon Settlements will clear fog of war on space map and offer more strike team missions, meanwhile Mining Settlements will periodically supply crafting materials.
• Blueprints: Allow you to craft alien technology using materials for better equipment and weapons, such as a jetpack for jumping, cryo-beam to target enemies, etc.
• Crew: Customisable skill trees, gear, weapons, etc.

MISSIONS TYPES AND MULTIPLAYER:

• Remnant Vault Raids: Ancient ruins in two variants. Standard: Accessed by finding and activating Remnant Monoliths, explored to find a "powerful artefact". Acquiring artefact triggers defence systems: robots, traps, and restructured layout. Rewards with valuable loot, crafting resources, and Star Keys. Orbital Facilities: Unlocked with Star Keys, provide permanent stat bonuses, and optional higher difficulty vault raids that add Khet patrols and outlaws. Rewards with rare loot and narrative acclaim.
• Khet Outposts: Optional wave-based combat challenges that reward with XP, reduced Khet power and additional narrative options in the region if destroyed.
• Strike Team: Spend resources to recruit mercenaries and develop AI controlled strike teams to be deployed on randomly generated, time sensitive missions. Include settlement defence and remnant artefact recovery. Strike Teams return 20 - 30 minutes later with XP, currency, and equipment depending on mission outcome. Spend money/resources to train Strike Team, and buy better equipment, to increase success rate and send on dangerous missions.
• Active Strike Team: See above, however you can choose to complete the Strike Team mission manually via play using your multiplayer roster of characters. Able to play co-op with friends, more friends increasing difficulty and rewards. Bonus rewards for joining another players strike team mission. XP, loot, and customisation rewards for Strike Team played characters are cohesive with multiplayer specific horde mode.
• Horde Mode: Similar to Mass Effect 3: four players against waves of enemies with additional objectives such as disabling a bomb or assassinating a target. Similar XP/loot rewards to Mass Effect 3. APEX funds earned to be used in single player.

An especially interesting/exciting thing is that, as you discover and protect worlds across the galaxy, you don't just forget about them and move on. They will dynamically encounter disasters/attacks, at random and randomly generated, and you'll have to create and dispatch a Strike Team to go and protect them. Manage your Strike Team well enough, and you'll keep the planet safe and get bonuses for doing this. Just like the Assassin's Creed Assassin Guild stuff, which never reached its full potential. Sounds like Bioware are taking that template and running with it to the endzone.

 

But on top of that you can choose to actually go on the Strike Team yourself and do the mission, bringing friends with for co-op (and higher difficulty).

 

A lot of potential here. I couldn't even finish Mass Effect 3. It was great but all the noise about the ending really deflated my experience. I need to go back actually - that's a monolith in my backlog, tbh.

Edited April 20, 2015 by kenshi_ryden

[deanb]

A lot of the "get resources/build colonies" stuff sounds more like the whole resource gathering probe mechanic of ME2. So you'll likely have a map to plonk colonies, pay a cost n for most part it'll be that. Rather than anything vaguely more developed as like a "simcolonies" or something.

 

 For the most part it seems like it's much of a muchness with the past games, just different locale n squad. Still got loyalty missions, upgrade blueprints,renegade/paragon convo options etc. I like the narrative thing doesn't actually give any like "oh yeah what you do will play out with affecting other stuff n hey different endings" The strike team stuff is kinda new, seems more in line with the likes of the "War room" in DA:I, where you send diplomat/spies/soldiers on missions n get rewards out of it. Though here with the option to go do stuff yourself.

 

 

I'm interested to hear more, but set phasers to cynical.