gaggle64

Looking over the Bioware forums, it appears that there are others suffering from the same elevator bug. Bioware say they're on it right now, hopefully it's something they can fix in an update.

This is one of those pesky "what the hell's wrong with the original anyway"? things.

I do get the impression that Bioware were forced to rush final development to meet Micro$soft's deadline demands, resulting in the rather uncharacteristic bugs in the game. The Halo 3 campaign also feels left hanging, levels and ideas dropped in the rush to release.

Some of the characters keep suggesting something similar to me, though I suspect that something that looks vaguely like an ending will be suddenly and violently dumped on by a big final twist. Still, I'm taking time out from the main objectives to get some good ol' exploration in anyway.

As a Techie, I usually bring lovely ladies Ashley and Liara, giving me a perfectly balanced team that can deal with most situations, but I do occasionally swap them around when the situation necessitates. If I come up against a lot of, say, robots, I'll generally swap Liara out for Garus or Tali. Sometimes Rex and Garrus will come along if I need a blunter but still varied force to properly hit home. Kaiden is a bit of a spare wheel, but he'll be useful support character when I replay as something like a soldier class.

Very good, but a more gentile episode I thought. Probably blew most of their budget in Africa.

My dad knows this guy who wore contacts, got into a bar fight (in Butlins, for some reason) and one of his contacts slipped right round his eyeball and severed all the connections at the back. Ain't got no depth perception any more. Yes.

There's a thought process working away just below the bubbly surface of my subconscious. It's been doing it all weekend. I've been playing a coma inducing amount of Mass Effect the last couple of days, certainly much more time on video games then normal. I don't think it's actively unhealthy, especially at this time of year, but I feel like I'm eight years old again, when I would just spend my entire weekend playing Super Star Wars or Desert Strike or Starwing, playing through the entire game in one sitting because I couldn't work the password system. It was like my brain needed to to be so utterly distracted by something, essentially switching off my concious mind while remaining awake as badly needed repairs and reformations were conducted on the neural pathways and electrical configurations. It's an odd and frightening, because then it was an instinctive mechanism coding new instructions to help me survive my childhood as a victim of bullies and my parents imminent divorce. I don't think this time though it's something as drastic as that, certainly nothing so drastic is happening to me now, though I do suffer all the usual daily life stresses everyone else does. But something is starting to change in there, I don't know what or how, but it is changing and change is always a little frightening.

Not having anything, I'll just follow the group. Until someone comes up with something else, seems as good as any: Vote: McMad

I can confirm Tellyn is innocent. I've seen him around throughout the game, and since no one he targets never turns up dead, I think he's trustworthy.

What I love most is how different the ways you progress are depending on your choices. Recently I decided rather then doing all the dialogue/help me side quest kerfuffle, just to hack straight to my objective thorugh a secure area. Of course I should have known that this would just to turn everyone against me, and I had to just murder everyone on the station. I died shortly after which was mildly annoying, but it gave me the opportunity to play again and try something different, and it was completely different - this time I actually killed some bad guys, got a bit of extra story and helped a few dudes out, and I feel better for it. It's just fantastic to know that your choices in a game actually make a difference for once. Now I know fully what the conversation with Cpt Anderson was trying to tell me: That choices actually have to be made now, and how you make them will define who you are. Also, Liara really knows how to fuck people up. Right, and royally.

Yes, but it was only Tellyn, and as Cube pointed out he's probably a good guy. Also, as I was a recruited member of the football team, all the members were good or neutral, so I won't highlight them, unless Jayseven was lying about who was who for some reason, which I doubt.

With nothing else to go on, the above deductions seems solid enough. Vote: Gizmo

I know what you mean, I haven't found that system to exactly place your guys. The video that showed that is more then a year old, I can only assume they cut it. If you just tell them to take cover behind stuff in real time, they'll keep themselves pretty safe. Just remember to keep hitting and holding RB - gives you thinking space as you activate your next round of abilities.

American Splendour Just watch it. Please, for the love of god, just do it.

Yay, managed to erase most of my goal difference with that that. Shame about the own goal, but still.

To get back to your ship while on a planet, go to the map screen and hit the X button. You can redeploy with a different party line-up from there.

I've just finished a seven hour or so play session. It's good. Very good. The technical quibbles (loading textures, load hang ups and what not) are minor distractions at worst and much of the time are blink-and-you-miss-it-events. Some of the details of the story are a little hard to follow at first, but just go with the flow and you'll be right up to speed by the time you first leave port. The in-game codex of course is there if you want it, in all it's fully narrated glory. The story so far is fun and involving with just the right amount of cheese on top and the characters involved are all genuinely and very effectively portrayed. The voice acting is simply superb (Marina Sirtis not withstanding) and even minor characters are fascinating to interact with. Visually it's an absolute feast. From the pristine white corridors of the citadel to the blasted, lava choked wasteland of an alien planet, the sheer scope of it all is impressive. Planet exploration levels stretch for miles, and station bazaars and ports are teaming with a variety of colourful species and characters. I think it's a testament to the game that I spent at least five hours simply playing through the story and side quests on the citadel, exploring and interacting with other characters, and the only dull moment was when I forgot where the docking port was once I was done. The combat is a bit of an oddity, being what feels like an unlikely marriage between the Ghost Recon and Final Fantasy combat systems. As soon as you understand it though, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Pick your party wisely, keep a cool head, remember to use the full range of your abilities, and you can easily overcome any given combat situation. I will say that the AI is a little off, sometimes blasting the same rock they shelter behind for example, but generally your party proves that it isn't just there to make up the numbers. Summing up initial impressions, while Mass Effect isn't completely perfect, it's vast scope and ambition unfolding before me is a spectacle I simply haven't seen before on any medium or platform. The technical foibles may slightly annoy some, but those won't stop you even slightly from enjoying the full glory of this space epic. Blue boobies here I come!

I like to take my time and breath it all in. If I'm playing a game with great environments, often I'll just stand there looking at it. If a game gives me a lot of freedom, I usually spend whole play sessions just bombing around. If I play an impressive or exciting level, I have a tendency to ignore the next level while I reload and play it again. If it has a good story and related in-game notes or a codex, I'll sometimes spend an hour just leafing through them. I can quite happily spend regular sessions creating different combinations on a suitably versatile character creation menu. The one thing I simply can't be bothered doing is completing it "100%", whether it's completing all the side quests or collecting every single star, or beating absolutely every time and every score or whatever. Then the game just feels like a second job, rather then a piece of entertainment.

Fantastic. Does this mean I'm allowed to hate McLaren now?

He's apparently stolen items and tried to kill Coolness. There's a bad guy with Pokemon around here somewhere.

Good grief, the bodies have been piling up haven't they? I only went out for a drink with a few girlfriends last night, and just look what I come back to. Tsk, tsk. Anyway, I got nothing. Unless I'm in the right place at the right time, there's nothing I can do.

Depends on if you prefer Sci-fi or rock and roll, really.

After all the postal strikes and government data being lost, I've decided to err on the side of caution and will pick this up in store on my way back from college Friday afternoon. I know I'm going to play this at least twice, but what do you think I sould play as first? A] A character based on myself, a sensible, cool headed techie and born survivor, or B] A sassy, red headed, lesbonic, extra-terrestisexual super soldier? Ah, the agony of choice...