March 5: wallet threat level red

Posted by on March 5, 2012 in Games

Who’d have thought a guy who hated Mass Effect 2 would declare an elevated wallet threat level on the week of March 5th, 2012?

  • NotJeff

    I wanted to reread your thought on ME2 as a result of this, and am reminded again what a shame it is that everything you wrote for SyFy fell down the memory hole when Fidgit shut down.  I don’t suppose that writing is reprinted anywhere?

  • BDGE

    I also am very curious to read this as well.  Have you revisited ME2 since completing ME3?   ME2 had some issues, but ‘hate’ is a pretty bold stance to have.  

  • Andrew

     http://web.archive.org/web/20101226081738/http://fidgit.com/archives/2010/01/ten_things_gone_terribly_wrong.php

  • http://www.facebook.com/Janster01 Jan Bjørnebo

    You can’t just say this and not elaborate!

  • tomchick

    It will be tomorrow. :) I’ll be posting a complete 10-point comparison of ME2 and ME3 based on that article when the review embargo ends tomorrow afternoon.

  • http://ashish.vashisht.net/ MoGlee

    Maybe because you didn’t really hate Mass Effect 2 ;)

  • Mercanis

    I’m looking forward to your post. The only thing more exciting than a good game is a good game that radically improves on its predecessor.

  • Hurtado

    I’m hearing that the ending is terrible, for reasons I won’t specify, but I’ll wait and see what the actual reviews and comments say once more people can check it out for themselves. 

  • Tim James

    Also do a comparison with The Witcher 2. I don’t mean which one is better. I just remember you correctly pointing out ways it surpassed Bioware at their own game. Is ME3 better at that now? I can decide for myself, but I’d like to read your commentary.

  • http://profiles.google.com/matthiaswatkins Matt Watkins

    I hated ME2 as well (duck behind cover, shoot some dudes, move down the hall, do it again, engage in interminable dialogue, repeat endlessly). Are you suggesting that ME3 is actually good?

  • tomchick

    Oh good lord, no. In terms of story, writing, and characters, the Witcher 2 is head and shoulders above anything Bioware has done, and that includes ME3.

  • Len

    I would not have thought that.

  • Barac Wiley

    I’m curious, Tom – did you ever play the original Mass Effect? Because there’s a line in that article that could be read either as a) “as someone who never played the original Mass Effect” or b) “as someone who didn’t like the original Mass Effect”.

    Personally at the time I thought your article was pretty much spot on about Mass Effect 2′s flaws (with a few things that didn’t really bug me), and it’s been interesting going back to the original game over the past couple of days and noticing that while it does share some of the flaws you mention to a lesser degree, it’s really an excellent game in a lot of respects that the sequel failed to expand upon.

    Which is sad for the usual reasons, but also because one of ME2′s real strengths was just that – callbacks to your personal version of Mass Effect. They hit the right smaller notes, but flubbed the big picture. Or at least, that’s how it feels right now. I guess we’ll see if I have a more positive take when I revisit it next.

    In either case, after the one two disappointment whammy of ME2 and Dragon Age 2, I’d been dubious enough about the prospects for ME3 that I did not preorder. It’s heartening to hear that my misgivings might be unfounded.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Rucker/100000745851295 Brian Rucker

    My experience with Mass Effect 2 was via the PS2 mega bundle and I think that added quite a bit to the characterization, including additional characters, and a sense of depth.  The theatrics and presentation of ME2 blew me away and the story interested me every bit as much as that of Dragon Age (1 not 2, 2 did nothing for me at all while the original completely turned me around on storytelling in RPGs – something even Torment didn’t manage to pull off). 

    SWTOR’s put me off a bit to Bioware but I’m in for ME3.  ME1 was fun but not amazing, ME2 just took my breath away, so I’m hoping ME3 brings it all home.  Sounds like it to judge from your tone.

    And I loved, loved, loved the ship.  It was so great the only thing more I want from it is, well, an actual space game!  Something along the lines of Independence War or Bridge Commander.  Hollaring out orders to my crew and seeing the battle play out in the holographic display.  Sparks flying from consoles as the bridge shudders under fire.  But, yeah, that would probably be too much to ask.  Don’t mean I won’t ask though…pretty please?

    I’d take that over those dumb platforming puzzles masquerading as vehicular planetary exploration any day.

  • Samuel Leighton

    Just a question, can you ignore all the rpg stuff and still finish the game like you could in Mass Effect the first 2 games?

  • Heh

    Massive Defect 3!

  • Anon

    Would’ve been SFxT here, but by law Capcom has to delay their PC releases. Perhaps some of that one disc DLC will be accessible as an olive branch? Somehow doubt it, hehe.

  • Anon

    on disc*

  • McG

    Would it surprise anyone that ME is written by a literal fan fiction author?

    ending spoilers

    http://i.imgur.com/fTjfm.jpg