Jim Sterling's Terrible Bucket List: Mass Effect

"Mass Effect always had promise. BioWare, as a studio, always has promise. Unfortunately, the bizarre gameplay choices never seem to work out well, and the fact they’ve been deliberately engineered that way makes it worse. If it was some sort of screw up, it would almost be forgivable, but BioWare made Mass Effect this way on purpose and thinks it’s good. In fact, loads of people think it’s good, and that’s an awful, awful thing to comprehend. "

[Caspel]

I'll take Mass Effect over many other sci-fi based RPGs.

[Blacktric]

"Unfortunately, the bizarre gameplay choices never seem to work out well, and the fact they’ve been deliberately engineered that way makes it worse. If it was some sort of screw up, it would almost be forgivable, but BioWare made Mass Effect this way on purpose and thinks it’s good. In fact, loads of people think it’s good, and that’s an awful, awful thing to comprehend."

Disgusting fat f*ck. This guy should die by the worst f*cking way.

Edit: He'll probably write a new article named "Jim Sterling's Greatest Bucket List: KFC" in the near future.

[Studio-YaMi]

Just because you don't like what he says doesn't give you the least right to wish him dead,that's just wrong dude..

You people really need to chill out jeez...
The guy says something bad about your "game" and it's like he blow up a freakin country.....*sigh*

Humanity...-_-

[Blacktric]

Oh look we got a "humanitarian". I dare to ask you; what is the greatest thing you did for a human? Probably nothing. You are just like the others in N4G who keeps trying to prove themselves worthy to get some more bubbles. I didn't really meant what I said there for God's sake and you are sitting in front of your computer and trying to give lessons about humanity to me. You and Jim Sterling has so much in common. If you know what I mean this time...

[Bereaver]

I read some of his comments, and picked up very clearly that he's a prick. (jim sterling) that is. He started reforming his self but it's too late for that in my books.

[HolyOrangeCows]

I can understand what people like about the Mass Effect series, but honestly, I agree with what Jim said. The combat and AI aren't that great at all, the story could have addressed things in a more deep and meaningful way, and the vehicle sections are annoying.

[kneon]

I agree, I absolutely hated the combat. Way over complicated, trying to use the tactical hud is a pain and ruins any sense of immersion there may have been. But the main problem with the combat is that all that extra crap is pretty pointless. I just played the entire game with a pistol, including the entire final boss battle. But that was a pretty simple boss battle as far as such battles go. Rarely did I bother with anything else or even give orders to my useless crew.

[XactGamer]

You agree with him because you are a Sony fanboy and most likely never played the game. In other words stop being a poser and trying to convince everyone on N4G your not a troll. I think by now everyone knows the names of the worst of the wost and you're on that list.

On topic I played both on my PC and even though they are really different games I still loved both equally. I have no idea what they play like on the 360 but I assume the gameplay is the same. Mass Effect is a sci-fi action RPG with a fantastic story.

[HolyOrangeCows]

If that's what you have to tell yourself about my opinion to sleep tonight...

You can all cry fanboy, but all of what I said is reasonable. I didn't like the combat, I thought the Ai was bad, the themes could have been more deeply explored, and the vehicle sections are annoying filler.

[mastiffchild]

No, I'm not the biggest ME fan in the world(and actually prefer the first game by a tiny margin if I'm honest)and though Jim touches on one or two tangential points there simply isn't enough there to warrant the article.

Sadly, the reason for the piece isn't the game, isn't even gaming but, as ever with this guy, his own self importance. FFS he even shoehorn's his name into the damn headline! He constantly plays the controversy card in the simplest ways imaginable-by knocking well respected and well loved games(ME and AC2 off the top of my head this year alone) or by hitting berries with sledgehammers and riling a certain set of fanboys(pick and choose, Jim isn't picky who he uses to buff his gargantuan ego!)with something facile and pointless.

I used to be content when it seemed the guy was restricted to just D'toid but these days he's popping up everywhere with articles that make you wonder whether games journalism will ever drag itself out of the morass of the mediocre. This week I've seen him three places-GR, here and somewhere else that I can't recall) and only once was he actually talking about things fairly and in a way that didn't make me feel he was massaging his ego for lulz.

Maybe, if this was N'Gai Croal or someone similar I'd take it a bit more seriously but as it's a habit article from a constant repeat offender like Sterling(I even remember a GR article he did about what films would make great games where 90% of his ideas appeared to be "inspired" by those of the posters when GR previously asked them the same question! I recall this because a couple he suggested had been mooted by myself(and probably others too) in the earlier thread! Whether he'd cribbed or not is neither here nor there(I can't quite think he actually did) as he should have researched it well enough to avoid the issue entirely beforehand anyway.

In short, I don't take anything he writes seriously and am of the opinion that he's just far more interested in how great and clever he thinks he is than with games or informing his readers about the matter at hand. That he does it so haphazardly and cack handedly just makes it worse and shows zero respect for those reading the tripe he spouts. His brand of trite controversy hounding for notoriety isn't EVEN new or clever and as the guy has actually got some decent writing talent in him it's all the more sad. Stop caring so much about your bloody image , Jim, and one day you might earn the respect of a lot more gamers. Wasted talent is one thing but talent abused l;ike this makes me really wonder. I've seen enough of his articles like this and that's the sad truth.

How he fools chains of editors into publishing the twaddle is the big mystery here. Anyway, whether you happen to love Mass Effect or not I wouldn't read anything into what's said here as there's very little assurance that he really means it anyway-he's just slagging a game he knows a lot of gamers like to get hits and a reaction so he feels big. I'd go as far as to say I've fallen into his trap by writing this but, rest assured, it's the last time I knowingly read anything he's written(let alone write about it myself) until I hear he's started using his talent for something other than self promotion.

I was once told that you're never bigger than the topic you write about and it's the kind of humble attitude missing from JS and, sadly, a lot of current game writers both with and without raw talent with a pen.

[Galaxia]

Mass Effect 1 is one of the best Sci Fi RPG's ever. Stop trolling Jim! How the hell are Bioware overrated?

[Marceles]

Yeah I agree, I really liked the first Mass Effect despite the technical side. Mass Effect 2 cleaned it up, but made the game less complex in the process...I liked how complex the original was but both are great games.

[Galaxia]

I was disappointed in ME2 at first, I wasn't a fan of all the changes either. But after a while I realized the game was great fun on it's own right. ME1 and ME2 are both great games, but I prefer ME1 personally, I like the complexity and non linearity, over a more robust shooting mechanic.

KOTOR was even better than both ME's though, one of if not the best RPG's ever I think. Everyone should play it at least once.

Have yet to play Dragon Age, but I will soon. I love Bioware.

[Mista T]

I recommend that people play mass effect 1 on pc because of the frame rate problem on 360 and the screen tearing. but mass effect 2 completely solved those problems and is amazing on both platforms.

[Darkstorn]

Knights of the Old Republic > Mass Effect

[asyouburn]

exactly what i was thinking

[mobijoker]

If i hate a single thing about gaming industry,its this sterling
guy.I have a feeling that he bashes all the great games to get hits in his site.He knows nothing on rpg and bashes them as he does not like the idea of character building.He gives marks to popcorn FPSs.
He gave AC2 4.5.That shows his credibility.

[Ryan220694]

Mass Effect 1 is one of my favourite games ever. Changing things in number 2 was rather annoying making it not as good gameplay but also the story seemed to always go good then boring then good etc. Mass effect 2 is still a good game but the ending completly ruined it in my opinion.

[sombrero]

I liked Mass Effect 1... just finished Mass Effect 2 and was extremely disappointed.

[vermontffl]

I liked ME2, so I went out and bought ME1. That game was boring and the combat sucked. As a matter of fact a lot of Bioware games suck. Dragon Age I thought was gonna be great and true to form that sucked. Don't worry brother we are out their sharing your pain.

[mistermostyn]

Sorry Jim, you're so wrong it's simply "an awful, awful thing to comprehend."

[lanmanna]

BioWare makes good games. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was one of my favorites.

[Nike]

I just wanna state a couple of things:

Mass Effect 1 is to Mass Effect 2 what Kingdom Hearts 1 is to Kingdom Hearts 2.

Both sequels adapted a more linear story telling approach and less depth to exploration (despite having large and numerous world) in comparison to their predeccesors.

Both took a more action oriented and stylish approach.

Both got better reviews than their predeccesors, and they didn't (just) improve on their mistakes - they went out of their way to expand the gameplay in a new direction.

Does that mean Mass Effect 1 and Kingdom Hearts 1 aren't classics? Not at all.

OT - Jim is making a very earnest effort to rile people up. I'm sorry, it's just too obvious that he wants angry responses and hits. Neither which he will get from me, and I hope other people on here can do the same just to spite him.

@Caspel: And that's totally cool. Because they're two different games with two different styles of play and narration.

Jim likes to get attention and challenge norms, but it's now beginning to look like he's doing it just for the heck of it.

[Caspel]

I prefer Kingdom Hearts 1 over Kingdom Hearts 2, but that's besides the point.

Some call Sterling the shock jock of video games.

[zatrox]

You forgot KH1 was basically a fun, somewhat light hearted game about a dude trying to save his friends while traveling over Disney worlds that alot of us recognize, while KH2 got over the top dumb and complicated, if not stupidly annoying as well. The only good thing about KH2 was that the gameplay was better.

[LeBart]

This guy is just asking for hate mail. This game is 3 years old, why would you want to come out and say "hey that game sucked by the way" ?

[zatrox]

I seriously don't get the hate for Jim, he just points out flaws in the games, and I can agree with him. Mass Effect is somewhat overrated, and so is Bioware. Does that makes it a bad game? Not at all. Is the game perfect? Nope, and he proves that.

[STICKzophrenic]

I don't even know where to begin with his horrible opinion piece.

"It tries to be a cover-based, methodical shooter, so what does it do? It consistently pits the player against fast-moving melee attackers that bum rush the party without warning. In fact, most enemies move much faster than the main characters can, totally putting paid to the idea of methodical, tactical combat and attempting to be more of a twitch shooter with player characters that weren’t designed for it."

There are ways to counter these fast moving enemies. One way would be to choose a different class other than Soldier and use Biotic powers designed to neutralize these enemies. Another way would be to control your squad mates power usage and use their Biotic powers when you need to stop those enemies. The game design allows for tactical play, as well as run n gun. He just hasn't figured this out.

"While we’re on the subject of player characters, it doesn’t help that your allies in the game are not only made of paper, falling down dead if an opponent even so much as looks at them, but things are made worse due to their complete lack of a survival instinct. It’s almost like they have moths living in their chests, driving them to run towards the bright flashes of enemy weapons as quickly as possible. For a cover-based shooter, these guys don’t like cover all that much. They seem to prefer holding competitions to see who can get filled with as many holes as possible."

The game allows for giving directions to your squad members. You see that waist high wall in front of you? Command them to go to it. They'll be in cover. Dumbass.

"In between the combat, of course, we have the Mako, although it should have been renamed The Magical Bouncing Rubber Jelly Car. Like the Gummi Ship in Kingdom Hearts, this totally pointless vehicular section is as insignificant as it is overused. The vehicle is frustrating to control, due to the fact that it grips to the road like a bucket of semen on a seesaw covered with soapy water, and yet BioWare thought we’d have incredibly amounts of fun bouncing around desolate planet crusts while attempting to shoot at the same collection of tank robots. Sign me up!"

I've played the game something like six or seven times, and I love the Mako. This one really is about personal preference, so I can't fault his opinion on this.

"In fact, the whole vague navigation system aboard the Normandy seems designed entirely to bore and irritate the player, all the while bumping up a playing time that is already pretty damn long. Was it too much to ask to just give a list of places the player can visit in order to progress the story? Or at least inform players about navigation rather than letting them figure it out for themselves? Apparently not."

LoL wut? You have Primary Objectives and Secondary Objectives. The Primary Objectives are pretty straight forward, aside of maybe the vagueness of locating Liara. It almost feels like this guy has never played video games.

Mass Effect is one of my favorite games ever and I know not everyone is going to like it, but this guy is a moron for his reasons.

[kneon]

I have no problem with the handling of the mako, though it behaves as if you are on a low gravity planet yet your characters seem to experience normal gravity once they leave the mako.

But I did have a big problem with most of the ground excursions, they were linear, repetitive and for the most part boring. And I didn't even do any of the mining which apparently is no thrill ride either from what I've heard.

[CrzyFooL]

"Jim, you sound like a janitor at a wine tasting. Know your limits and stay inside them."

Best Comment Ever. lol

[Caspel]

LOL. hilarious!

[CrzyFooL]

It's a trap!! Jim is trolling for flame!! Oh Noes!! He's winning!! Halp!!

[DarkNinMagic]

Mass Effect 1 was ok, but I had a hard time even beginning the game. But I found myself really getting into Mass Effect 2 more. It was a lot more fun and I enjoyed it because of how fun it was.

[cnagel47]

both of the mass effects were great. dont really get the gripe here

[jcole432]

And yet many other websites praise ME as the greatest Xbox 360 game and one of the best RPG's of all time...

[BYE]

I partly agree, the interactive story was great, but the shooting sequences were among the most horrible I ever played.

Bioware really stepped up their game with Mass Effect 2 which is leagues above the prequel.

[Acquiescence]

Please keep your site clean of Failing Sterling, do not degrade yourself.

[Blaze929]

Mass Effect 1 was amazing. ME2 only made it much more epic

[doubled215]

Mass Effect is good but not that good.

[MiltonZep]

But he was pretty much spot on. Dtoid is pretty much a joke site , but once in a while , you see decent articles from them.

I honestly thought ME1 was better than ME2. I'm probably in the minority here , but here's why.

All the awful things about ME1 weren't really fixed in the sequel. The AI is still awful(friendly and enemy alike) , the sound design is still poor , the weapons are pretty generic , and the cover system isn't much better in the sequel.

ME1 had more balance as far as it being a hybrid - you had a nice amount of RPG stuff , and a nice amount of shooting(even though it wasn't great) , ME2 does not share this balance. There's too much shooting stuff.

I quite preferred DA:O over ME2 , and ME1. I definitely agree that Bioware is one of the most overrated devs in the industry. I love most of their stuff , but they make the same games with different skins. There's nothing inherently wrong with that , but still.

All in all , ME is a excellent series , albeit very overrated.

TL ; DR I agree with the article.

[NickVD8]

The whole look of ME never appealed to me, so for that reason I've never bothered to buy/play one.

[jdktech2010]

Thankfully I can think for myself and don't give a care what Sterling thinks. I've thoroughly enjoyed Bioware's games. The first one I've played is KOTOR and I've played everyone since. I've owned everyone since and there hasn't been a lemon in the group as far as I'm concerned.

THey aren't perfect...every game has it's issues but I'm eagerly awaiting The Old Republic and ME3.

[dtanner797]

sux

[KaijuNexus]

Fucking love MASS EFFECT!!!

[Azule61]

I disagree with Jim. Mass Effect is great (even with its problems).

[ChronoJoe]

I share his opinion. Not that Mass Effect sucks or anything like that, it's fun, good game. But WTF were Bioware thinking with sections such as the vehicle section?

Combat is also pretty dull, gameplay overall pretty poor, but the story and world bioware have created for the game is interesting and keeps the games entertaining.

One thing I dislike about Bioware RPGs is they seem to follow this structure

Start: Great, engaging, interesting intro (about 5hours)

Middle: Go to these 3 locations and do some mindless crap which doesn't directly relate to the main story. (10hours)

End: Epic endings, huge battles, truly epic moments. (2hours)

I think Bioware try to compensate the bulk of there games by having these big, extravogant epic endings. Because after you finish a game, that's all people are going to really remember. When the last two hours are absolutely awesome, you forget the tedium of the 10 before it.

Another example of this is the Mages Tower in Dragon Age, the worst 2hours I've ever spent gaming, were in this section of the game. That kinda gets forgetton later on though. It's just another example of bad design.

Bioware need to playtest, and then change there games. Like good developers such as Insomniac, Santa Monica Studio, and Epic Games.

[clarkdef]

The only thing I didn't like about ME was the dialog very stony voice acting, but it still draws you in. Also ME2 best ending I have played in a long time.

This game should be played on the PC version the controls are quicker with shortcut keys.

[DarkBlade4658]

I loved ME1 and ME2, so this article just made me giggle

[alee]

I haven't played either ME1 or ME2 yet. I hope that I'll find them to be much better than this article describes it. GZ

[lavachoke]

i pernoally loved me1 and me2. me2 was better imo. jim is part of a really small minority of people who hate it.

[aftZard]

This is what worries me about today's web based journalism, people just write crap whenever they feel like.
Whether there are flaws in Mass Effect or not, the language of that piece itself marks it as a "i-so-badass-that-i-want- your-attention". It really seems as if he's not even trying to offer criticism, just spew whatever comes into his head.
Journalism is about writing, and writing is about editing, making arguments, and being intelligible.
He seems to have missed all that....
It is also not a "scientific fact" that Mass Effect is a bad game. It is a "scientific fact" that Rouge Warrior is a bad game, but not Mass Effect. If Jim has problems understanding a game that is mildly more complicated that "OMG!!ENEMIES!!!SHOT THEM", then I'm sorry for him, no, really.

tl;dr : Bad article, flawed analysis.

[mobijoker]

I guess you never played D&D and you loved fallout3,me2 and oblivion.D&D games allow you to create your character at your will and develop your character as you like.Many find
developing characters boring but in truth its the true essence of rpg as it allows you to get inside the character.I like jrpgs,d&d rpgs and even fallout3 like rpgs as they give you different flavour of the genre given that you are ready to spend time to explore your character.

[pistons3213]

I can think of plenty of reasons why i do not like Mass Effect but yet I still keep going back and playing it.

[pbkup]

Some call Sterling the shock jock of video games

[Sev7enSyndicate]

I love mass effect but i do agree with the fact that the combat isn't that great. I've never been with the gaming majority either though. I hate gears of war but everyone seems to like it. So in that way i can relate to you. We both hate games that everyone loves. We just happen to hate different ones. That is the beauty of humanity and opinion.