Just wanted to let people know that the first Mass Effect run well on PS3.

I love the Mass Effect series. Even the third one! I love all three of them. So when EA said they were finally brining the whole trilogy to PS3, I was excited and I purchased it without a hesitation. It is also important to say that my favorite Mass Effect is the first one. I remember borrowing a 360 from a friend to play the first Mass Effect. I also remember that game having a lot of issues.

If you have not played the first Mass Effect and you want to experience it, let me warn you; that game has not aged well. Control is awkward, cover system is not a toggle, those Krogans are still hard to kill, etc etc.

It did crash twice while it was loading, but I think frame rate is slightly better than the 360 version, but I am not sure. At the end of the day, there is really no significant differences.

I would still recommend to anyone who has a PS3 and never had a chance to play first Mass Effect. Story is still great and it sets up the universe really well. You are missing out if you have skipped the first one.

It also successfully imports your save file to the second game. I was a little scared that EA might have screwed this one up and not let me import my save file. Rest assured! I boot up the second Mass Effect just to check that and it did it perfectly.

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

It's not that it hasn't aged well. None of that was any good when it was new. It's still easy to look past though.

I really liked ME1... It took me until 1/3 of the way into ME2 to begin swaying me. I think I really dug the whole story and execution of 1. Gameplay is much better than 2, but I hated the change in the ammo system. That was a big problem for me. I still feel that 3 was a rushed peice of trash. I'm standing by that.

the inventory! ahhhhhhh

Whoever made up the Mako stuff needs to be taken outside and shot. Its horrid. 

If I ever play the first Mass Effect again, I'm setting it to easy and just doing it for the story.

How do the jaggy graphics look? It was so bad with ME2 on the PS3 that I couldn't play it.

My first time playing this game was one of the worst experiences for a game I was so hyped for before release. Didn't know what class I wanted to be so I wasn't concentrating on what I was good at (shooting) and I went to Noveria early on in the game which I now now was a bad mistake. So for a long time I didn't finish the game and it wasn't till March of this year that I started with ME2 and after beating ME3 I owed it to myself to go back and beat the first. While some game play does not hold up especially with how the series has evolved the writing in the game is some of the best this generation and playing C-Sec detective was good fun. I pretty much had a few goals going into this game and they were going all in as soldier, getting the persuasion stats up so I could Jedi mind trick anybody, saving Ashley instead and leaving Noveria to the very last.

Let us know if they fixed the face importing bug whenever you get to ME3. Still can't believe they shipped the game with that shit. That patch didn't even fix it one bit.

But yeah, the first one is magnificent. The tone and universe-building is perfect. I even like the gameplay (I like that I get really different gameplay in each game. Makes it easy to marathon the entire series). If only those side quest planets and the Mako didn't suck so hard and take up so much time. I mean, there are a few good side quest planets (or ships), but most are really dull. But oh well. I still complete pretty much everything but the collectables (Matriarch writings/Salarian IDs/Turian insignias) when I play the first game.

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

Dude, I... I'm starting to like you.

Can I hold your hand?

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

A lot of the design decisions felt new and innovative at the time. Mass Effect 2 seemed very reactionary to feedback. I remember thinking the whole Mako exploration was cool (barely tedious), the overheat gauge in the weapons felt futuristic, and the storytellers took their time. Some of the classes felt a bit underpowered, but that was my only real complaint.

Mass Effect 2 was very much a reaction based on the feedback they got on the first game. I still think Mass Effect 2 is a spectacular game, but ME1 is my favorite by far.

@Snail said:

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

Dude, I... I'm starting to like you.

Can I hold your hand?

If we want this to last, we're gonna have to take it slow.

Also, there's something you should know about me before you commit. I think ME3 multiplayer is one of the best co-op experiences of this generation and I LOVED IT.

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Tali's, Thane's, Legion's and Grunt's were different. You fight a Thresher Maw for Grunt's, that was rad. There were way too many that ended with "kill this person or not" though. The Mako exploration was cool but man the controls on that thing were garbage. I did like the infinite ammo and being able to fire all your powers at once though.

While I love the story aspects of the first Mass Effect, the gameplay was just... CONVERT TO OMNIGEL CONVERT TO OMNIGEL CONVERT TO OMNIGEL CONVERT TO OMNIGEL CONVERT TO OMNIGEL CONVERT TO OMNIGEL, etc.

@TheSouthernDandy said:

I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Tali's, Thane's, Legion's and Grunt's were different. You fight a Thresher Maw for Grunt's, that was rad. There were way too many that ended with "kill this person or not" though. The Mako exploration was cool but man the controls on that thing were garbage. I did like the infinite ammo and being able to fire all your powers at once though.

Not on the PC version.

I would take the mako stuff over scanning planets and shooting probes any day. That thing could climb anything and being on the moon was great. ME1>ME2.

I loved the first game. The shooting wasn't there and I preferred the overheating to "reloading" from ME2. Playing ME2 actually made me love ME1 more since that first game was like an RPG, the leveling up felt right, the choices were there. The extra missions did feel like part of a bigger world. I guess I just miss it because of how gimped it got in ME2.

When playing ME2 the first time, I thought, ok, this is pretty good, then I got to a mission complete screen, and I was pissed. Every single fucking mission felt like a shooting gallery. Start a mission, talk to a couple people, then shoot your way to the objective. Shoot your way out. Report. Fuck that. How about collecting evidence, or doing puzzles, or talking to assholes and getting them to do what you want. Every single time, it was like, go here shoot that come out. Damn, it drove me crazy.

@TheSouthernDandy said:

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Tali's, Thane's, Legion's and Grunt's were different. You fight a Thresher Maw for Grunt's, that was rad. There were way too many that ended with "kill this person or not" though. The Mako exploration was cool but man the controls on that thing were garbage. I did like the infinite ammo and being able to fire all your powers at once though.

True.

But why did you remind me about the AWFUL global cooldown? That made nearly all of your secondary powers useless as you would invariably end up using just your favourite one. Beyond stupid and purely lazy design so they wouldn't have to balance more. Hated that decision so much, still do.

I love the series, and while I like ME2 better than ME1, I definitely understand the problems people have with the gameplay. It's a great example (the best example, probably) of how developers can fuck up by listening to the wrong people. The combat was far better in ME2, but the RPG aspects were gutted. The inventory was fucked, but instead of fixing it, they took it out. What the heck? ME3 got things back on track, but by then I think Bioware just didn't know what to do anymore. Now they're looking for fan feedback on the next Dragon Age. I hope they ignore most of it.

It's good to hear the PS3 version of ME1 isn't completely screwed, which was what I kinda expected.

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

The first one had some of the best world building and storyline of any game ever, particularly for a completely new IP, and as Patrick pointed out: finding out Sovereign's true nature is one of the best "OH, WHAT?!?!" moments of this generation, but that game is not without its flaws. The combat is positively languid and based FAR too much on level rather than skill (I had a level 50-something Infiltrator that could literally stand in the middle of a heated firefight and pick off targets completely at will on Hardcore) and say what you will about the planet scanning, it took 90 minutes at most, while the Mako sequences were hours upon hours of required awkward controls. And the shields take WAY too long to recharge.

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

The first one had some of the best world building and storyline of any game ever, particularly for a completely new IP, and as Patrick pointed out: finding out Sovereign's true nature is one of the best "OH, WHAT?!?!" moments of this generation, but that game is not without its flaws. The combat is positively languid and based FAR too much on level rather than skill (I had a level 50-something Infiltrator that could literally stand in the middle of a heated firefight and pick off targets completely at will on Hardcore) and say what you will about the planet scanning, it took 90 minutes at most, while the Mako sequences were hours upon hours of required awkward controls. And the shields take WAY too long to recharge.

Planet scanning is way more dull than the Mako, and the Mako's controls weren't bad on the PC version.

The Mako sections weren't even dull, I actually enjoyed going from barren planet to barren planet and explore the hidden debris and relics that were hidden there: all that made the galaxy feel vast. If I have any complaint about the Mako it's that the areas were so small, and not even limited by any believable reason (if I remember correctly it was just invisible walls). I understand that they were technically limited and couldn't just generate entire planets, but that's where I wanted it to go. Not to simple point and click mini-games.

Not to mention the Mako sections were mostly - or maybe even entirely, I'm not remembering that too well - optional. You need to scan planets to fucking do important shit. AND IT TOOK SO MUCH TIME ALL THE HOLDING DOWN LEFT MOUSE KEY NNNGHHHH.

i s-ranked the first (as well as the second, will get third once they stop releasing dlc) game on 360, so i spent a lot of time with me1. fantastic game- inspired a love and laid the groundwork for the series that i'm sure i'll follow into the future (or until they make an undeniably bad game). but i prefer me2 as the finest the series has to offer thus far- i had way more 'whoah, this amazing' moments in that game than any other.

and at the risk of offending (although that isn't my intention)- i don't find any of the main plots of any of the titles particularly original or compelling. me2 held my interest the longest probably due to the mystique of the illusive man and the collectors, we all know where me3 has it's issues, and me1 was a fairly typical story (former good guy gone bad , and whoops there's an even bigger bad guy pulling the strings). not bad, just standard action movie/video game stuff. to me, the richness of the mass effect series comes from the backstory writing and the supporting characters.

i'm genuinely interested to see where they take it from here.

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

Likewise, I voluntarily went across Mass Effect's galaxy on a quest to land on as many planets as I could.

@Snail said:

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

Likewise, I voluntarily went across Mass Effect's galaxy on a quest to land on as many planets as I could.

I think we're taking planet scanning to mean different things, but I DID do that with the Mako, I just never found it added all that much to the story. It was more a lark than anything.

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail said:

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

Likewise, I voluntarily went across Mass Effect's galaxy on a quest to land on as many planets as I could.

I think we're taking planet scanning to mean different things, but I DID do that with the Mako, I just never found it added all that much to the story. It was more a lark than anything.

I seriously think it made the galaxy feel a lot more vast, filled with stories and overall richer in lore. Planet mining, however.

@Snail said:

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail said:

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

Likewise, I voluntarily went across Mass Effect's galaxy on a quest to land on as many planets as I could.

I think we're taking planet scanning to mean different things, but I DID do that with the Mako, I just never found it added all that much to the story. It was more a lark than anything.

I seriously think it made the galaxy feel a lot more vast, filled with stories and overall richer in lore. Planet mining, however.

Certainly made the planets feel RICHER! HEEEEYOOOO!

And to me, since all planets had uniform gravity and the incidental quests were mostly fetch quests, it just felt like padding. It was often fun padding, but just as often tedious. Ah well, different strokes and all that.

@Vitor said:

@TheSouthernDandy said:

@Vitor said:

@Snail said:

I've played the first one and the second one, and honestly I might've preferred the former in many ways. Some under-the-hood consequences in ME2 were really bullshit and unpredictable - like, "oh hey, yeah this is a video-game but you shouldn't have hung around space for so long because we're doing this kinda real-time thing even though we didn't tell you, but that you should have known about, so enjoy the shitty consequences that ensue and also fffuuuuuuuuck you!".

Playing as the stealth class in ME2 was a heck lot more fun than the gameplay in ME1, though. So I guess all-in-all preferred the second game, even though I have some mixed feelings about it.

Pretty much this.

Also, every loyalty mission in ME was the EXACT SAME THING. Find someone important in your crew members life, convince them to either kill them or not. They all lasted the same amount of time and were clearly built on the same blueprints. Not obvious if you play through one every few hours, but really readily apparent if you do them all in one go.

Also, infinite ammo was awesome and give me the Mako over that stupid scanner any day. It was the only part of ME that actually felt like exploration and not linear corridors.

I wouldn't say that's entirely true. Tali's, Thane's, Legion's and Grunt's were different. You fight a Thresher Maw for Grunt's, that was rad. There were way too many that ended with "kill this person or not" though. The Mako exploration was cool but man the controls on that thing were garbage. I did like the infinite ammo and being able to fire all your powers at once though.

True.

But why did you remind me about the AWFUL global cooldown? That made nearly all of your secondary powers useless as you would invariably end up using just your favourite one. Beyond stupid and purely lazy design so they wouldn't have to balance more. Hated that decision so much, still do.

Yeah wasn't a big fan of that, didn't make a lot of sense especially considering different powers had different cooldowns. I think 2 overall is still my favorite all things considered but 1 had a lot of great stuff in it.

@Undeadpool said:

@Snail: The Mako sections were in no way optional, every single story mission had at LEAST one section of it, sometimes more, sometimes over thirty minutes in a single storyline. And maybe I'm just insane, or I have enough alternate stimuli, but I never found planet scanning all that terrible.

I didn't have a big problem with it either. Kinda tedious but there was something sorta relaxing about it.

I've been playing through the first game all over again on PC (I played on 360 and PS3 first time through) and I actually have zero issues with the control scheme. Then again I didn't have any issues with it when I played the game on 360 either. It doesn't feel as tight as 2 and 3, but then again, I felt the first game was more RPG like in that the bullets did variable amounts of damage based on your specs, so it didn't need to be as precise.

How does ME2 pick what to carry over? Do you get to pick? I've finished the game twice and intend to do it again. Does each finish make a different file or does it just keep rolling

im playing through them all on ps3 right now for the first time too.i think i prefer the first one in a lot of ways. most missions in me2 involve being plopped down in a real linear enviroment and shooting dudes for an hour or so until you reach the end to get a dialogue tree. there seems to be less options as far as resolving situations through talking in me2. also miss some of the rpg elements they werent perfect but i was hoping they would be improved upon instead of thrown out.

still really enjoying it. the interaction between squad members is more satisfying.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

How does ME2 pick what to carry over? Do you get to pick? I've finished the game twice and intend to do it again. Does each finish make a different file or does it just keep rolling

You import save files, so however many completed save files you have is however many characters you can import. If you New Game Plus'd over one save file, you can only bring that one save file in.

@casper_ said:

im playing through them all on ps3 right now for the first time too.i think i prefer the first one in a lot of ways. most missions in me2 involve being plopped down in a real linear enviroment and shooting dudes for an hour or so until you reach the end to get a dialogue tree. there seems to be less options as far as resolving situations through talking in me2. also miss some of the rpg elements they werent perfect but i was hoping they would be improved upon instead of thrown out.

still really enjoying it. the interaction between squad members is more satisfying.

I felt like that too when I immediately played Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 back to back. I actually missed the elevator sequences which masked load times as opposed to just switching to a load screen and I missed some of the openess. But in time Mass Effect 2 grew more for me. Every side mission is a really good side mission in Mass Effect 2. I literally explored every single planet in Mass Effect 2 and did every side mission possible. I didn't feel the need to do that in ME1. Overall Mass Effect 2 has more polish and will hopefully grow on you like it did me. It also has a more epic scale.

Its funny that the Mass Effect trilogy played out a lot like the original Star Wars trilogy. Generally people like the 2nd one the best, though most people agree the first was really good and some contend it is the best. The third left a bad feeling among a lot of the devoted fans but is the accessible (in some ways) and concludes in a (relatively) unsatisfying way.