When Kumail Meets Emily, I mean The Big Sick is a romantic comedy that is based on Pakistani writer Kumail Nanjiani cross cultural and interracial romance with Caucasian Emily Gordon. She also co-wrote the screenplay. Now, when you see a romantic comedy get ready for the formula. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl back assuming you want the Hollywood ending.
Kumail (played by the real Kumail Nanjiani) is a struggling Pakistani-American stand-up comedian in Chicago. During a performance, he's heckled by Emily (Zoe Kazan), a Caucasian woman. When Kumail finishes his set, he goes over to her and hits on her. Later that night, they have sex. Really. This never happens to me. There is a reason for sex on the first meeting, I won't say impossible on the random sex act because I'm sure it happens somewhere. It's because this film probably would have been three hours long if the two waited for the third date.
Anyway, between Kumail's stand-up and his Uber driving, he is able to maintain a relationship with Emily. Kumail is also pressured by his Muslim parents, father Azmat (Anupam Kher) and mother (Zenobia Shroff) Sharmeen to marry a nice Pakistani girl. Hey it ain't going to be a bad girl. They arrange meetings with women at family dinners. You see in Kumail's culture, people are married by arrangement. And your new wife better be Muslim. It's like Fiddler on the Roof. You know where the Jewish father starts to sing "Tradition." Will I get in trouble by mixing Jews and Muslims? By the way, I can make jokes about Jews and Muslims since I'm a Chinese American. (That's a joke.)
Well, Kumail keeps his relationship with Emily a secret from his parents and that fact from Emily. All right, here it comes. Boy loses girl. Then girl goes into a coma. Um... well it happens this way. Emily gets sick and must be placed in a medically induced coma. What?! Is this thing turning into Love Story?. Guess what? I've researched this and it really happened to the real Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon. (People) So there. The big, crazy plot point is actually based on something true. But why should we be surprised at crazy stuff in real life? We've got a guy who brags he molests women, betrayed his country for the Russians as our President of the United States. .
Anyway, Emily's parents, Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano) arrive to care for their daughter. I don't think Romano will ever shake his character in Everybody Loves Ray unless he plays a serial killer. But God love Holly Hunter. Her Beth is a passionate, loving, Southern liberal. Yeah, they do exist.
Kudos to Nanjiani and Gordon's writing. You want to see how talented Nanjiani is? He plays this guy in the video game Mass Effect: Andromeda. He's the voice of Jarun Tann, a Salarian. You know those guys with two horns for a head and nasal voices.
But I digress. This film succeeds because of two things. First, the jokes work. The writers are unafraid of poking fun at Muslim traditions, and other topics that do not lend themselves to comedy. There are jokes about 9-11 terrorists, dog erections and being in a coma. And while some of the comedians in the movie disagree about how much humor is in dog erection jokes, I think they can be quite funny. Second, the romance works. Emily loves Kumail. But can he overcome his cultural upbringing to embrace his love for her?
The Big Sick is very funny, and has a big heart. The grade is A.
Showing posts with label Mass Effect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mass Effect. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Monday, May 15, 2017
Stephen Colbert offers a deal to Trump
In a Time magazine interview, President Donald Trump went after comedian Stephen Colbert claiming that Colbert's rise in the ratings is because Colbert goes after him. Um... to paraphrase Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), a satirist makes a living by going after the absurd. And yeah, I agree, Mr. Trump. Colbert has taken his laser sharp wit and destroyed you. He's tore up conservative Republicans before and has gotten an Emmy and Peabody Award to show for it.
Anyway, Colbert takes on Trump's assertions and makes an offer to Trump if he wants him to stop. It's in the video below. Funny stuff. And Lying Donald. Demagogue Donald. Take Colbert's offer and save our country.
Anyway, Colbert takes on Trump's assertions and makes an offer to Trump if he wants him to stop. It's in the video below. Funny stuff. And Lying Donald. Demagogue Donald. Take Colbert's offer and save our country.
Monday, March 27, 2017
The Problems with Mass Effect: Andromeda's hilarious animation and graphics
I've been playing Mass Effect: Andromeda and burst out laughing when I saw some of the animation of game play and cutscenes. Stories about the bad animation with the game have been spreading around the internet for months. Well, it's true. Some of the graphics are terrible. Watch this xLetalis video comparing Mass Effect: Andromeda with the original Mass Effect released in 2007.
Here is some more video of Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is even funnier.
So what's causing these problems with character animations?
1. Bodies and faces are badly designed.
I'm not going to post every article by feminist hating writers that say Mass Effect: Andromeda's women were made "uglier" But check out this article from The Sun which features pictures of the model Jayde Rossi who was the template used for the main female character Sara Ryder. Now the male model Steven Brewiss who is the template for the main character Scott Ryder looks just as much as the hunk in the game as he does in real life. However, it's obvious that modifications were done to make Jayde Rossi's face less attractive. Somebody gave her thicker lips, a more angular, larger nose and a puffy face. If I were Ms. Rossi, I would sue. I would agree that it looks like BioWare made the women uglier.
And what about the body design? Well, on both male and female characters, the arms seem too long. Character Cora Harper whose supposed to be a bad ass Biotic has a bizarre body. She's short, has way too thin waist but a large bottom with very wide hips. Here's the image. And to boot, you could stick her head on a man's body and it would not look out of place. Just change the hair. Okay, it's not that bad but there's something going on here. Update. I've been playing the game and Cora's bizarre body appears when she's on planets not in cutscenes or on the ship Tempest.
Is this the revenge for Miranda from Mass Effect 2 and 3? By the way Miranda looks like actress Yvonne Strahovski because that's who she was modeled after. But I digress. Look, the effect of ugly faces and weird body types is two fold. When Asari Peebee jumps ontop of you and sticks her mug in your face, you will literally yell. Their faces make you laugh when you shouldn't be. Second, I've noticed that Cora can walk bowlegged at times. The long arms are not animated and the whole effect makes her act like a string puppet rather than a human being.
This attempt by BioWare and EA to be politically correct will backfire. Look, I am a liberal but a politically incorrect one. Video games are art. And most of them are fantasy in that they let you become the hero. This is especially true in Mass Effect since you can make the lead character look like you. And the male gamer and female gamer who maybe is a lesbian gamer wants to woo the gorgeous woman. Yeah, I get the feminist view. In real life, women don't look like they do in most video games. This isn't real life. Actress Gal Gadot is beautiful. Should they have picked somebody uglier to play Wonder Woman? Don't get me wrong. Not every film or video game should be forced to cast a beautiful woman. But let the part dictate it.
2. Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn't understand how the face and body works. I don't know if they used motion capture or not but it looks like BioWare didn't. I mean going back to Cora, she walks with her buttocks way out with those long arms. It's not natural. Sometimes the arms don't move as she walks.
However, it's the emotions on the faces that fail the game. I'm sure somebody at BioWare understands the art of acting and how it can be portrayed by computer animation. For this game, it seemed like that person at BioWare was on vacation.
Actors perform with not just their voices but their faces. And one's face moves in multiple ways to convey emotions. Just watch the great Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal. (2006) You don't even have to listen to her dialogue to figure out what she is feeling. And a lot of the reaction in her face is subtle. We don't see this in Mass Effect: Andromeda particularly in cutscenes. Faces look like mannequins. Frozen. Then there are times where eyes move back and forth for no reason. It's hilarious.
But can acting be caught or portrayed in a video game? Yes. Just check out L.A. Noire, a game that came out in 2011! Here's a trailer for that great game.
Yeah, L.A. Noire used 32 high definition cameras to motion capture facial emotions but the concept is still sound. I'm sure BioWare could have done some of this without breaking the bank or at least have an animator put more attention into the facial performances. . I don't know if BioWare was trying to save money but this is a AAA game. They certainly didn't spend it on big name stars. Maybe next time BioWare should have somebody objective look at the product before they put it out.
Here is some more video of Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is even funnier.
So what's causing these problems with character animations?
1. Bodies and faces are badly designed.
I'm not going to post every article by feminist hating writers that say Mass Effect: Andromeda's women were made "uglier" But check out this article from The Sun which features pictures of the model Jayde Rossi who was the template used for the main female character Sara Ryder. Now the male model Steven Brewiss who is the template for the main character Scott Ryder looks just as much as the hunk in the game as he does in real life. However, it's obvious that modifications were done to make Jayde Rossi's face less attractive. Somebody gave her thicker lips, a more angular, larger nose and a puffy face. If I were Ms. Rossi, I would sue. I would agree that it looks like BioWare made the women uglier.
And what about the body design? Well, on both male and female characters, the arms seem too long. Character Cora Harper whose supposed to be a bad ass Biotic has a bizarre body. She's short, has way too thin waist but a large bottom with very wide hips. Here's the image. And to boot, you could stick her head on a man's body and it would not look out of place. Just change the hair. Okay, it's not that bad but there's something going on here. Update. I've been playing the game and Cora's bizarre body appears when she's on planets not in cutscenes or on the ship Tempest.
Is this the revenge for Miranda from Mass Effect 2 and 3? By the way Miranda looks like actress Yvonne Strahovski because that's who she was modeled after. But I digress. Look, the effect of ugly faces and weird body types is two fold. When Asari Peebee jumps ontop of you and sticks her mug in your face, you will literally yell. Their faces make you laugh when you shouldn't be. Second, I've noticed that Cora can walk bowlegged at times. The long arms are not animated and the whole effect makes her act like a string puppet rather than a human being.
This attempt by BioWare and EA to be politically correct will backfire. Look, I am a liberal but a politically incorrect one. Video games are art. And most of them are fantasy in that they let you become the hero. This is especially true in Mass Effect since you can make the lead character look like you. And the male gamer and female gamer who maybe is a lesbian gamer wants to woo the gorgeous woman. Yeah, I get the feminist view. In real life, women don't look like they do in most video games. This isn't real life. Actress Gal Gadot is beautiful. Should they have picked somebody uglier to play Wonder Woman? Don't get me wrong. Not every film or video game should be forced to cast a beautiful woman. But let the part dictate it.
2. Mass Effect: Andromeda doesn't understand how the face and body works. I don't know if they used motion capture or not but it looks like BioWare didn't. I mean going back to Cora, she walks with her buttocks way out with those long arms. It's not natural. Sometimes the arms don't move as she walks.
However, it's the emotions on the faces that fail the game. I'm sure somebody at BioWare understands the art of acting and how it can be portrayed by computer animation. For this game, it seemed like that person at BioWare was on vacation.
Actors perform with not just their voices but their faces. And one's face moves in multiple ways to convey emotions. Just watch the great Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal. (2006) You don't even have to listen to her dialogue to figure out what she is feeling. And a lot of the reaction in her face is subtle. We don't see this in Mass Effect: Andromeda particularly in cutscenes. Faces look like mannequins. Frozen. Then there are times where eyes move back and forth for no reason. It's hilarious.
But can acting be caught or portrayed in a video game? Yes. Just check out L.A. Noire, a game that came out in 2011! Here's a trailer for that great game.
Yeah, L.A. Noire used 32 high definition cameras to motion capture facial emotions but the concept is still sound. I'm sure BioWare could have done some of this without breaking the bank or at least have an animator put more attention into the facial performances. . I don't know if BioWare was trying to save money but this is a AAA game. They certainly didn't spend it on big name stars. Maybe next time BioWare should have somebody objective look at the product before they put it out.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Stephen Colbert on Russia and Malaysian Airlines 17
It's tough to make comedy out of tragedy. But Stephen Colbert does and he does it well. Here's Stephen Colbert's piece on Russia and the downing of Malaysian Airlines 17.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Ghost in the machine : Mass Effect 3 Retaliation DLC crashed my XBOX
So I try to play Mass Effect 3 multiplayer when it freezes at the loading menu. That's the menu which looks like couple of PCs and features your galaxy at war report. It also tells you that your XBOX is connecting with EA's servers. Now this happened after I lost the Internet connection. I reconnect easily and every device that is attached works. I call EA support on a Friday. We delete everything including all the DLC and reload it. Well, it looks like it worked since I could immediately play the game starting from the menu. But the next day, I started the game back up again and it froze. My XBOX crashed.
I call EA support again. This time we did a route trace. (Don't ask me what that means. I think it has to do with looking at the Internet signal to my XBOX.) EA tells me i'ts my ISP. I call Cincinnati Bell. We do a route trace there. They analyze and say since I can play Grand Theft Auto, it ain't us. They tell me to call EA again. I call EA again. They think it's a particular DLC. I'm told to delete each DLC and reinstall to see which one. Oh and before that we created another profile to test my XBOX. On that one, the test profile ran and it worked. That means whatever is wrong is attached to my profile. Which stinks since my multiplayer profile has all the weapons maxed out. Hey I play a lot of Mass Effect. Goddess. Well, I test each DLC. Voila. It's the DLC Retaliation that is crashing.
EA moves me up past Tier 2 support. I'm now discussing my case with senior tech support. This nice gentleman tells me to take my XBOX to another network. Now I've already done everything in support protocol. Disconnect my modem. Take the XBOX off the Internet and reconnect. I literally took my XBOX and directly connected it to the Internet connection. And I had said before, created a test profile to test whether it was my XBOX or my profile. Loaded each DLC separately and found it was Retaliation. So I'm a little skeptical. He said something about re-synchronizing my profile and XBOX.
The Happy Ending.
Well, I take my XBOX to another network. And it worked. What the ? Then I took it home. It took a little bit of coaxing because I couldn't connect. I ran the connection tests and got the XBOX to go online. And it started to work! I have no idea why Retaliation crashed on my profile. All I can say is that taking it to another network may have reset everything. One more strange thing. When downloading the single player DLC again, I would lose connection to EA's servers. Not a real problem since I just would reconnect. The bottom line is that I got Mass Effect to work again. Thank the goddess.
I call EA support again. This time we did a route trace. (Don't ask me what that means. I think it has to do with looking at the Internet signal to my XBOX.) EA tells me i'ts my ISP. I call Cincinnati Bell. We do a route trace there. They analyze and say since I can play Grand Theft Auto, it ain't us. They tell me to call EA again. I call EA again. They think it's a particular DLC. I'm told to delete each DLC and reinstall to see which one. Oh and before that we created another profile to test my XBOX. On that one, the test profile ran and it worked. That means whatever is wrong is attached to my profile. Which stinks since my multiplayer profile has all the weapons maxed out. Hey I play a lot of Mass Effect. Goddess. Well, I test each DLC. Voila. It's the DLC Retaliation that is crashing.
EA moves me up past Tier 2 support. I'm now discussing my case with senior tech support. This nice gentleman tells me to take my XBOX to another network. Now I've already done everything in support protocol. Disconnect my modem. Take the XBOX off the Internet and reconnect. I literally took my XBOX and directly connected it to the Internet connection. And I had said before, created a test profile to test whether it was my XBOX or my profile. Loaded each DLC separately and found it was Retaliation. So I'm a little skeptical. He said something about re-synchronizing my profile and XBOX.
The Happy Ending.
Well, I take my XBOX to another network. And it worked. What the ? Then I took it home. It took a little bit of coaxing because I couldn't connect. I ran the connection tests and got the XBOX to go online. And it started to work! I have no idea why Retaliation crashed on my profile. All I can say is that taking it to another network may have reset everything. One more strange thing. When downloading the single player DLC again, I would lose connection to EA's servers. Not a real problem since I just would reconnect. The bottom line is that I got Mass Effect to work again. Thank the goddess.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Elysium review
Director and writer Neil Blomkamp's first movie District 9 (2009) was a science fiction tale with a contemporary message on race. It was a critical success and was nominated for the Academy Awards' Best Picture. District 9 was also a huge financial success. When Blomkamp talks, the Hollywood suits are going to listen. So, his follow up to District 9 is Elysium.
Elysium takes place in 2154. The rich or Mitt Romney's people have fled earth and live on a gigantic space station called Elysium. The rest of humanity live on the overpopulated, heavily polluted earth and speak Spanish. These are the poor or the 47 percent who won't vote for Romney. I kid Mitt Romney. Anyway the rich live like kings, speak French and oh yeah, have futuristic health care courtesy of a medical pod that can heal major illnesses, and injuries. I'm talking about things like cancer and having your face blown off by a grenade. These medical pods only work for the citizens of Elysium. So the rest of humanity is on the Republican health plan which is to die quickly. Okay, that's from Rep. Alan Grayson. (D-Fla.) Link. I kid the Republicans. Now, the unwashed masses want to get to Elysium to use the medical pods. But Secretary of Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster) won't let that happen. Foster is fascistic and cold. The illegal immigrants are rounded up when they land to Elysism. Delecourt even uses lethal force with a stealth assassin named Kruger. (Sharlto Copley) She orders him to shoot them down. One thing about Kruger. He's seriously mentally ill. Read that to mean he's crazy. Copley's portrayal borders on comedy.
Matt Damon plays Max. From flashbacks, we find out that as a child he has a dream to go to Elysium. The nuns tell him that he will do something great. So he writes and stars in a movie with Ben Affleck and wins an Oscar. Okay, that last part isn't in the plot. Max is a ex-felon, working man who builds robots. You see robots in the future will be cops, medics and parole officers that can detect sarcasm. Also from the flashbacks, we find out that he has a childhood love named Frey. As an adult she's played by Alice Braga. She's a nurse and has a daughter who is dying of leukemia. Both do an excellent job of portraying two poor people trying to make ends meet.
One day at the robot factory, Max is involved in an accident. He's exposed to lethal radiation and has five days to live. His only chance is to get to Elysium. He makes a deal with an underworld criminal. Hack the brain of a brain of Max's boss to steal his secrets. The data would be stored in Max's brain. Oh, yeah they'll put an exoskeleton on Max so he can do cool super human things like rip the heads off robots. Problems arise for the people of Elysium when it's realized that Max's boss has codes that will rewrite society. Delacourt also wants those codes so she can take over Elysium.
If you don't get the metaphors in Elysium, you've been living under a rock or in Canada. Yep, the medical treatment on Elysium, is a metaphor about health care. Those that can afford it and those that can't. Scenes of illegal immigrants hoping out of ships on Elysium is commentary about illegal immigration. And the rich living on a huge space station is akin to the rich living in a gated communities separated from the poor. That's about wealth disparity. I appreciate the ideas but it's a little heavy handed.
But there are major problems with Elysium. A science fiction movie has got to be logical. The first thing that bothered me was if it's virtually impossible to die on Elysium wouldn't they have a population problem? And if things are so bad on earth, why was it overpopulated? I mean all the sick people would die. There are a number of flashbacks to Max's childhood. These sap the movie's dramatic drive. Finally, the character of Kruger nearly brings down the whole movie. First, Copley plays him with a heavy South African accent. When he says a word that sounds like "wahf" and it takes you a couple of seconds to realize he said "wife", then you've got major communication problems with the audience. Then using an insane guy as an assassin that's out of control makes no sense. Kruger engages in a fight with Max on a transport is just illogical. I mean why risk killing Max when he's got that important information in this brain? When Kruger snaps in the last third of the movie, you ask yourself, "Where are the robot cops?" And why does Kruger want to take over Elysium?
Thankfully, Blomkamp knows how to direct a film. He's got a great sense of visuals. On the surface of the planet, there are slums. Above, the earth is a beautiful blue. Elysium reminds me of The Citadel in the video game Mass Effect. Clean. Civilized. Ships look like they really exist. One can thank the legendary artist Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Aliens, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) for some of the design of the movie. Blomkamp generally handles the action scenes well. But he's like many modern directors. The editor has too much control here. Some of the battles are confusing. There are times you can't tell what's happening.
Elysium is a good film not a great one. It's got major problems in the area of the character of Kruger. The grade is B.
Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) highlights the Republican health care plan and the model for the future of earth and Elysium.
Elysium takes place in 2154. The rich or Mitt Romney's people have fled earth and live on a gigantic space station called Elysium. The rest of humanity live on the overpopulated, heavily polluted earth and speak Spanish. These are the poor or the 47 percent who won't vote for Romney. I kid Mitt Romney. Anyway the rich live like kings, speak French and oh yeah, have futuristic health care courtesy of a medical pod that can heal major illnesses, and injuries. I'm talking about things like cancer and having your face blown off by a grenade. These medical pods only work for the citizens of Elysium. So the rest of humanity is on the Republican health plan which is to die quickly. Okay, that's from Rep. Alan Grayson. (D-Fla.) Link. I kid the Republicans. Now, the unwashed masses want to get to Elysium to use the medical pods. But Secretary of Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster) won't let that happen. Foster is fascistic and cold. The illegal immigrants are rounded up when they land to Elysism. Delecourt even uses lethal force with a stealth assassin named Kruger. (Sharlto Copley) She orders him to shoot them down. One thing about Kruger. He's seriously mentally ill. Read that to mean he's crazy. Copley's portrayal borders on comedy.
Matt Damon plays Max. From flashbacks, we find out that as a child he has a dream to go to Elysium. The nuns tell him that he will do something great. So he writes and stars in a movie with Ben Affleck and wins an Oscar. Okay, that last part isn't in the plot. Max is a ex-felon, working man who builds robots. You see robots in the future will be cops, medics and parole officers that can detect sarcasm. Also from the flashbacks, we find out that he has a childhood love named Frey. As an adult she's played by Alice Braga. She's a nurse and has a daughter who is dying of leukemia. Both do an excellent job of portraying two poor people trying to make ends meet.
One day at the robot factory, Max is involved in an accident. He's exposed to lethal radiation and has five days to live. His only chance is to get to Elysium. He makes a deal with an underworld criminal. Hack the brain of a brain of Max's boss to steal his secrets. The data would be stored in Max's brain. Oh, yeah they'll put an exoskeleton on Max so he can do cool super human things like rip the heads off robots. Problems arise for the people of Elysium when it's realized that Max's boss has codes that will rewrite society. Delacourt also wants those codes so she can take over Elysium.
If you don't get the metaphors in Elysium, you've been living under a rock or in Canada. Yep, the medical treatment on Elysium, is a metaphor about health care. Those that can afford it and those that can't. Scenes of illegal immigrants hoping out of ships on Elysium is commentary about illegal immigration. And the rich living on a huge space station is akin to the rich living in a gated communities separated from the poor. That's about wealth disparity. I appreciate the ideas but it's a little heavy handed.
But there are major problems with Elysium. A science fiction movie has got to be logical. The first thing that bothered me was if it's virtually impossible to die on Elysium wouldn't they have a population problem? And if things are so bad on earth, why was it overpopulated? I mean all the sick people would die. There are a number of flashbacks to Max's childhood. These sap the movie's dramatic drive. Finally, the character of Kruger nearly brings down the whole movie. First, Copley plays him with a heavy South African accent. When he says a word that sounds like "wahf" and it takes you a couple of seconds to realize he said "wife", then you've got major communication problems with the audience. Then using an insane guy as an assassin that's out of control makes no sense. Kruger engages in a fight with Max on a transport is just illogical. I mean why risk killing Max when he's got that important information in this brain? When Kruger snaps in the last third of the movie, you ask yourself, "Where are the robot cops?" And why does Kruger want to take over Elysium?
Thankfully, Blomkamp knows how to direct a film. He's got a great sense of visuals. On the surface of the planet, there are slums. Above, the earth is a beautiful blue. Elysium reminds me of The Citadel in the video game Mass Effect. Clean. Civilized. Ships look like they really exist. One can thank the legendary artist Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Aliens, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) for some of the design of the movie. Blomkamp generally handles the action scenes well. But he's like many modern directors. The editor has too much control here. Some of the battles are confusing. There are times you can't tell what's happening.
Elysium is a good film not a great one. It's got major problems in the area of the character of Kruger. The grade is B.
Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) highlights the Republican health care plan and the model for the future of earth and Elysium.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Jon Stewart on the wimpy media
House Speaker, John Boehner used the word "ass" in admonishing the Senate to get off their butt and do something about the sequester. The media got all flustered over the word. Here's John Stewart of The Daily Show with commentary. Check out the Mass Effect reference.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
First impressions of Mass Effect 3 DLC Retaliation and playing on Gold
I've been playing Mass Effect 3's DLC Retaliation for multi-player for a couple hours and here's my initial take and review. Plus I talk about succeeding on Gold at Firebase White.
The New Enemies
You've got new foes. The main bunch are the Collectors from Mass Effect 2. And they are a challenging bunch. I played this game on the Silver difficulty level and it felt like Gold. The foot soldiers spawn all over the place and have a Collector assault rifle that is rapid firing. Then there are the bosses. The slow moving Scions are here. Then there are the Praetorians. I call them floating tanks They still have the dual laser beams that will tear you apart. I did not see the temporary invulnerability but on Silver, they can attack in pairs. New to this enemy class is a web that you can get caught on. And then there are the Swarmers. If you recall, these are the flying insect like creatures. When you are enveloped by them, you lose your ability to fire off powers. If all this sounds annoying, it is.
The Geth get a new weapon. It's called the Bomber. It's a flying drone and fires cluster grenades. It has shields and armor. While it can get distracted by the Salarian Engineer's decoy, it also destroys the decoy more quickly than other enemies.
The New Allies.
There are Turian classes. One of them has a jet pack. I haven't tried them yet because I was too busy trying to analyze the enemies.
There are also the Volus. Yes, the short, rotund aliens. The engineer of group has mines. There's a recon mine which will highlight enemies for the squad. You know who's around the corner. Proximity mines are also part of the inventory. And they cause huge explosions.
Modifications to Maps.
Two major additions or modifications were made to Firebase Reactor and Dagger. Now, the originals are still there but there are modified versions for you to play. There are hazards involved. Your reward is more experience points.
The big modification to Firebase Reactor is the Reactor. It's now active. You'll know you're on this modified base by the golden haze. If you get caught in the reactor when it's firing, the doors close and you get fried. Sounds awful. The goal is to try to lure the enemies into the reactor.
Perhaps the worst of the modifications is to Dagger. The hazard here is a sandstorm. Your visibility is only about two meters. Fun? Well, if you like having your teeth drilled without novacane.
Firebase White was changed. Hallways have been added to areas behind walls on the old map. The biggest change has been to the lower interior control room. This is the area where players would set up on Gold and Platinum to make a kill zone. There has been added another hallway which allows another entrance to this room. More on this later but if you don't play on Gold or Platinum here, it won't mean much to you.
Challenges. A new feature has been added. It features individual player challenges, involving weapons and kills. You can see another players medals on the game lobby. Your N7 number will flip showing the medals., times you promoted that class and the N7 ranking.
Hints for Firebase White on Gold with the Retaliation DLC. I was able to complete Firebase White on Gold after the Retaliation DLC and the October patch. Here's my strategy for successful complete extraction on this map and difficulty.
The map is still Firebase White. After the changes, you still run downstairs to the interior control room. But EA seeing that players do this, have added another entrance to this room via a hallway on a back wall. So now you can be flanked from another direction. It's a little harder but the new difficulties also can be used in you favor. The additional hallways can be used as escape routes.
The enemy is Geth. Yes, they have hunters and the new annoying bombers. But you don't have single kill enemies such as Phantoms or Banshees. Plus Geth are still distracted by decoys. That leads us to ...
The squad. You should still have a Salarian engineer. He has the decoy. When we played it last night, we used two. One decoy for the back hallway and one for the main control room. We also divided the squad in two. Two guys for back hallway and two for main control room. N7 Demolishers and Destroyers are welcome. Build the Demolisher to spam grenades.
Weapons. On Gold and Platinum, it's advanced assault rifles. Revenant. Harrier. Typhoon. You must put tons of suppressive fire on enemies from a distance. The Harrier deserves special mention here. Unfortunately, it's hard to upgrade due to the paucity of weapon upgrades and it has a small ammo magazine.
So even with EA's attempt to make life more difficulty on Gold, you can still complete it with just a little more effort. Just remember to follow the same strategies for the challenges. You know. One guy goes for the Enable-Retrieval challenges. Decoy saves the squad on Escort.
Conclusion. Look EA has made the game more difficult with the October changes. Unless weapons are made more powerful, the multiplayer part of this game becomes harder and less fun. Look, EA should realize if a player wants a challenge, he can play on the Gold or Platinum difficulty levels. The new changes just make the game annoying.
The New Enemies
You've got new foes. The main bunch are the Collectors from Mass Effect 2. And they are a challenging bunch. I played this game on the Silver difficulty level and it felt like Gold. The foot soldiers spawn all over the place and have a Collector assault rifle that is rapid firing. Then there are the bosses. The slow moving Scions are here. Then there are the Praetorians. I call them floating tanks They still have the dual laser beams that will tear you apart. I did not see the temporary invulnerability but on Silver, they can attack in pairs. New to this enemy class is a web that you can get caught on. And then there are the Swarmers. If you recall, these are the flying insect like creatures. When you are enveloped by them, you lose your ability to fire off powers. If all this sounds annoying, it is.
The Geth get a new weapon. It's called the Bomber. It's a flying drone and fires cluster grenades. It has shields and armor. While it can get distracted by the Salarian Engineer's decoy, it also destroys the decoy more quickly than other enemies.
The New Allies.
There are Turian classes. One of them has a jet pack. I haven't tried them yet because I was too busy trying to analyze the enemies.
There are also the Volus. Yes, the short, rotund aliens. The engineer of group has mines. There's a recon mine which will highlight enemies for the squad. You know who's around the corner. Proximity mines are also part of the inventory. And they cause huge explosions.
Modifications to Maps.
Two major additions or modifications were made to Firebase Reactor and Dagger. Now, the originals are still there but there are modified versions for you to play. There are hazards involved. Your reward is more experience points.
The big modification to Firebase Reactor is the Reactor. It's now active. You'll know you're on this modified base by the golden haze. If you get caught in the reactor when it's firing, the doors close and you get fried. Sounds awful. The goal is to try to lure the enemies into the reactor.
Perhaps the worst of the modifications is to Dagger. The hazard here is a sandstorm. Your visibility is only about two meters. Fun? Well, if you like having your teeth drilled without novacane.
Firebase White was changed. Hallways have been added to areas behind walls on the old map. The biggest change has been to the lower interior control room. This is the area where players would set up on Gold and Platinum to make a kill zone. There has been added another hallway which allows another entrance to this room. More on this later but if you don't play on Gold or Platinum here, it won't mean much to you.
Challenges. A new feature has been added. It features individual player challenges, involving weapons and kills. You can see another players medals on the game lobby. Your N7 number will flip showing the medals., times you promoted that class and the N7 ranking.
Hints for Firebase White on Gold with the Retaliation DLC. I was able to complete Firebase White on Gold after the Retaliation DLC and the October patch. Here's my strategy for successful complete extraction on this map and difficulty.
The map is still Firebase White. After the changes, you still run downstairs to the interior control room. But EA seeing that players do this, have added another entrance to this room via a hallway on a back wall. So now you can be flanked from another direction. It's a little harder but the new difficulties also can be used in you favor. The additional hallways can be used as escape routes.
The enemy is Geth. Yes, they have hunters and the new annoying bombers. But you don't have single kill enemies such as Phantoms or Banshees. Plus Geth are still distracted by decoys. That leads us to ...
The squad. You should still have a Salarian engineer. He has the decoy. When we played it last night, we used two. One decoy for the back hallway and one for the main control room. We also divided the squad in two. Two guys for back hallway and two for main control room. N7 Demolishers and Destroyers are welcome. Build the Demolisher to spam grenades.
Weapons. On Gold and Platinum, it's advanced assault rifles. Revenant. Harrier. Typhoon. You must put tons of suppressive fire on enemies from a distance. The Harrier deserves special mention here. Unfortunately, it's hard to upgrade due to the paucity of weapon upgrades and it has a small ammo magazine.
So even with EA's attempt to make life more difficulty on Gold, you can still complete it with just a little more effort. Just remember to follow the same strategies for the challenges. You know. One guy goes for the Enable-Retrieval challenges. Decoy saves the squad on Escort.
Conclusion. Look EA has made the game more difficult with the October changes. Unless weapons are made more powerful, the multiplayer part of this game becomes harder and less fun. Look, EA should realize if a player wants a challenge, he can play on the Gold or Platinum difficulty levels. The new changes just make the game annoying.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
The Mass Effect 3 October patch sucks
The October patch for Mass Effect 3 is out. Most of the "corrections" are for multiplayer. And let me say that it sucks. I've played the multiplayer game on Platinum, Gold and Silver difficulties with XBOX Live. The big changes are aimed at the Gold and Platinum difficulty settings.
The Rocket Glitch
Let me talk about the rocket glitch. It was a shortcut to allow players to turn a weapon which fired explosive rounds (ala Falcon assault rifle) into a Cobra missile launcher. You could literally finish a Platinum round in less than twenty minutes and many times usually less. Some of us players believe it's not a glitch at all but a shortcut written in the program by a software engineer. It's illegal according to BioWare and Electronic Arts. (EA) And you could get banned for using it. My view is that mulitplayer game is hard. Using the glitch doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, it helps the whole squad since they will share in the bounty of virtual credits. Earning virtual credits to buy upgraded weapons is a good thing. Okay, it could affect one's N7 number and ranking. But that ranking is meaningless since it only goes up when you promote classes. So a bad player if he wanted to play for a very long time could have the highest ranking in the world.
I haven't talked to anyone today about the rocket glitch. And like I said, you could get banned for using it. But from what I've read about the patch, the rocket glitch is gone. So sorry for you guys, farming Platinum for credits.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Pyros get saved from your skills to kill them. You cannot stab Geth Pyros from cover with the instant kill maneuver. So, EA decided to make a hard game even harder. Why?
Banshees get stronger. How many of you thought it was too easy to kill Banshees? Obviously EA did. When you play the Firebase White map, the Banshees had trouble getting over the counters to kill you. Yeah, on Gold and Platinum, it was easier for the squad to direct their fire on them. But there were other enemies attacking you at the same time. So, it wasn't easy. Well, now the Banshees can warp behind the counters so they can instantly kill you with that head butt move. Having fun yet?
I'm guessing that EA has a thing for the "lovely" Banshees because they made them immune to the charms of the Decoy. If you played on Platinum, most of the time, good players always had a Salarian engineer with them. He's the only one with the Decoy. And the Decoy was the great strategic move to help you win Platinum rounds. The Banshees would attack the Decoy, giving the squad time to kill them. Well, now the Banshees ignore it. Don't get me wrong the Decoy is still useful against other enemies such as the Geth but this has made Platinum almost unbearable.
Loading games for Platinum.
One change that is absolutely not needed is the feature that automatically sends the squad into battle if three ready gamers are ready, even if the fourth is not. Under the old system, a fourth gamer could hold up the squad if he wasn't ready. But there was already a solution. You could kick out the fourth member if he took to long to signal his readiness. The new system automatically sends them into battle. But did this "improvement" cause another problem?
Is there a bug in the machine? My first time in Platinum, was nearly a disaster. The squad indicated it was ready. Then when I hit Firebase White, I was all alone. Yikes. Luckily, the program found random players and downloaded them. But by then, the strategy of Firebase White was gone. There were enemies everywhere. We expended most of our supplies within the First Wave. I was lucky that the three guys were very good. We got through Wave Ten.
The loading times. For some reason, loading times are extremely long. The loading time for one Platinum mission was so long that I told the squad to abort. We did.
So far I have found nothing good with this patch. EA should stop trying to make a fun game harder. Mass Effect 3 for multiplayer is hard enough.
The Rocket Glitch
Let me talk about the rocket glitch. It was a shortcut to allow players to turn a weapon which fired explosive rounds (ala Falcon assault rifle) into a Cobra missile launcher. You could literally finish a Platinum round in less than twenty minutes and many times usually less. Some of us players believe it's not a glitch at all but a shortcut written in the program by a software engineer. It's illegal according to BioWare and Electronic Arts. (EA) And you could get banned for using it. My view is that mulitplayer game is hard. Using the glitch doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, it helps the whole squad since they will share in the bounty of virtual credits. Earning virtual credits to buy upgraded weapons is a good thing. Okay, it could affect one's N7 number and ranking. But that ranking is meaningless since it only goes up when you promote classes. So a bad player if he wanted to play for a very long time could have the highest ranking in the world.
I haven't talked to anyone today about the rocket glitch. And like I said, you could get banned for using it. But from what I've read about the patch, the rocket glitch is gone. So sorry for you guys, farming Platinum for credits.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Pyros get saved from your skills to kill them. You cannot stab Geth Pyros from cover with the instant kill maneuver. So, EA decided to make a hard game even harder. Why?
Banshees get stronger. How many of you thought it was too easy to kill Banshees? Obviously EA did. When you play the Firebase White map, the Banshees had trouble getting over the counters to kill you. Yeah, on Gold and Platinum, it was easier for the squad to direct their fire on them. But there were other enemies attacking you at the same time. So, it wasn't easy. Well, now the Banshees can warp behind the counters so they can instantly kill you with that head butt move. Having fun yet?
I'm guessing that EA has a thing for the "lovely" Banshees because they made them immune to the charms of the Decoy. If you played on Platinum, most of the time, good players always had a Salarian engineer with them. He's the only one with the Decoy. And the Decoy was the great strategic move to help you win Platinum rounds. The Banshees would attack the Decoy, giving the squad time to kill them. Well, now the Banshees ignore it. Don't get me wrong the Decoy is still useful against other enemies such as the Geth but this has made Platinum almost unbearable.
Loading games for Platinum.
One change that is absolutely not needed is the feature that automatically sends the squad into battle if three ready gamers are ready, even if the fourth is not. Under the old system, a fourth gamer could hold up the squad if he wasn't ready. But there was already a solution. You could kick out the fourth member if he took to long to signal his readiness. The new system automatically sends them into battle. But did this "improvement" cause another problem?
Is there a bug in the machine? My first time in Platinum, was nearly a disaster. The squad indicated it was ready. Then when I hit Firebase White, I was all alone. Yikes. Luckily, the program found random players and downloaded them. But by then, the strategy of Firebase White was gone. There were enemies everywhere. We expended most of our supplies within the First Wave. I was lucky that the three guys were very good. We got through Wave Ten.
The loading times. For some reason, loading times are extremely long. The loading time for one Platinum mission was so long that I told the squad to abort. We did.
So far I have found nothing good with this patch. EA should stop trying to make a fun game harder. Mass Effect 3 for multiplayer is hard enough.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The new Mass Effect 3 endings review
By now, you've heard or downloaded BioWare's response to gamers complaints about the Mass Effect 3 endings. I've been playing a ton of multi-player and have finally gotten around to playing the new endings. Warning. Spoilers ahead.
The extended endings now feature four endings. I've previously gone over the three endings. But with the new endings, we're going to go over them.
1. The Rejection Ending. BioWare allows you to reject all the choices at the end. But that comes with consequences. You see, the battle against the reapers is lost. And the galaxy's advanced races are harvested. However, remember that Liara has created a computer record for future races. You see the program at the end. And if you watch the new stargazer scene, you realize in the distant future, other races have found it and used it successfully to defeat the Reapers. Both the ending and the new stargazer scene are included in the video below.
2. The new Renegade Ending or Destroy Reapers Ending. The new ending is more triumphant but remember, it's likely the cycle will begin again. And you can forget about EDI, you've destroyed all synthetic life. Her name is one of the dead on the Normandy's memorial. Note that the ending is narrated by Admiral Hackett.
3. The new Paragon Ending or Control Reapers Ending. There are some who consider this the Paragon ending. I don't. But in this ending, you control the reapers and get them to back down. However, the new ending indicates your Shepard is some type of god. You don't have a body. But you oversee the future like the Star Child from 2001: A Space Odyssey. And note that you narrate the new ending. EDI also survives.
4. The new Synthesis Ending. I've always considered this the true Paragon ending. After all by creating combining synthetic life and organic life, you gain true peace. And you know for sure that EDI will live. EDI narrates.
The review.
Let me first say I'm glad that BioWare did not drastically change the endings because some loud fans complained. They were wrong about the original endings not having significant differences. I mean if you choose the synthesis ending, you're creating new life forms of combined organic and synthetic life. If you destroy the Reapers, you also kill the Geth and EDI.
But I want to say about the new endings, that's more like it. I've complained that the old endings were lacking in exposition. For example, we didn't know how the crew got on board the Normandy and why Joker was trying to pilot the ship away from the energy pulse. How your crew gets aboard the Normandy is shown before you transport to the Citadel. There's even a shot of you flying through a port in the Citadel. And the Normandy is not stranded on the two moon planet. That's cleared up by a shot where the Normandy is taking off from the planet.
When you confront the Catalyst, you will get more dialogue. You get more information about the Catalyst, the Reapers and the beings that created them. Good stuff.
As for the specific endings, you get more fulfilling conclusions. You get real explanations as to the future after you choose an ending. Even though I liked the original endings with reservations, I'll say these new endings are an improvement. Great job BioWare.
But did we get any new information? Yes. On the Paragon ending, we learn that Shepard is alive but is kind of a incorporeal spirit. On the Renegade ending, there's a comment that the Mass Relays were damaged. I thought they were destroyed in the original endings. So, now I'm guessing there could be a sequel. But probably not with Shepard since there is only one ending where Shepard is alive, i.e. with a human body.
I recommend that you get the new endings, especially if you hated the old endings. They don't cost you anything. If you liked the old endings, you'll get more depth to the story. You will find it very satisfying.
The extended endings now feature four endings. I've previously gone over the three endings. But with the new endings, we're going to go over them.
1. The Rejection Ending. BioWare allows you to reject all the choices at the end. But that comes with consequences. You see, the battle against the reapers is lost. And the galaxy's advanced races are harvested. However, remember that Liara has created a computer record for future races. You see the program at the end. And if you watch the new stargazer scene, you realize in the distant future, other races have found it and used it successfully to defeat the Reapers. Both the ending and the new stargazer scene are included in the video below.
2. The new Renegade Ending or Destroy Reapers Ending. The new ending is more triumphant but remember, it's likely the cycle will begin again. And you can forget about EDI, you've destroyed all synthetic life. Her name is one of the dead on the Normandy's memorial. Note that the ending is narrated by Admiral Hackett.
3. The new Paragon Ending or Control Reapers Ending. There are some who consider this the Paragon ending. I don't. But in this ending, you control the reapers and get them to back down. However, the new ending indicates your Shepard is some type of god. You don't have a body. But you oversee the future like the Star Child from 2001: A Space Odyssey. And note that you narrate the new ending. EDI also survives.
4. The new Synthesis Ending. I've always considered this the true Paragon ending. After all by creating combining synthetic life and organic life, you gain true peace. And you know for sure that EDI will live. EDI narrates.
The review.
Let me first say I'm glad that BioWare did not drastically change the endings because some loud fans complained. They were wrong about the original endings not having significant differences. I mean if you choose the synthesis ending, you're creating new life forms of combined organic and synthetic life. If you destroy the Reapers, you also kill the Geth and EDI.
But I want to say about the new endings, that's more like it. I've complained that the old endings were lacking in exposition. For example, we didn't know how the crew got on board the Normandy and why Joker was trying to pilot the ship away from the energy pulse. How your crew gets aboard the Normandy is shown before you transport to the Citadel. There's even a shot of you flying through a port in the Citadel. And the Normandy is not stranded on the two moon planet. That's cleared up by a shot where the Normandy is taking off from the planet.
When you confront the Catalyst, you will get more dialogue. You get more information about the Catalyst, the Reapers and the beings that created them. Good stuff.
As for the specific endings, you get more fulfilling conclusions. You get real explanations as to the future after you choose an ending. Even though I liked the original endings with reservations, I'll say these new endings are an improvement. Great job BioWare.
But did we get any new information? Yes. On the Paragon ending, we learn that Shepard is alive but is kind of a incorporeal spirit. On the Renegade ending, there's a comment that the Mass Relays were damaged. I thought they were destroyed in the original endings. So, now I'm guessing there could be a sequel. But probably not with Shepard since there is only one ending where Shepard is alive, i.e. with a human body.
I recommend that you get the new endings, especially if you hated the old endings. They don't cost you anything. If you liked the old endings, you'll get more depth to the story. You will find it very satisfying.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Mass Effect 3--Grissom Academy: Investigation; tips for Insanity
One of the toughest missions in Mass Effect 3 on any difficulty level is the side mission, Grissom Academy: Investigation. This post will cover how to get through the toughest parts on the Insanity difficulty setting. Remember this is a side mission and it will go away if you don't play it soon after it comes available. Besides, you want to save Jack don't you? Before you deploy, go over my general tips.
1. Your class and weapons. Engineer. You can sabotage turrets and turn them against Cerberus. You have combat drones and the sentry turret. For weapons, I bring the M-99 Saber and M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That combination allows for me to use powers quickly.
3. Your squad. Garrus and James. Why? You can arm each with the M-37 Falcon assault rifle which is s grenade launcher. It packs a wallop against the enemy. Liara is another choice since her Singularity and other biotic powers are good against Guardians. But remember you won't face Guardians in frequency.
4. Hardest parts of the mission.
a. Orion Hall. After a cutscene, you're confronted with an Atlas. Get to cover immediately. Launch a combat drone at it. Now, the hall has one set of stairs to the left and to the right. The Atlas is near the left stairs. Take your Saber and feed the Atlas lead.
Okay, the Atlas may be on top of you. You can sabotage it. But you will have to deal with it sooner or later. I run to cover on the left (concrete bed?) before the stairs. The drone and your squad should be keeping it busy. Your saber will eventually bring it down.
Now you need to go over to the right. There are Cerberus infantry over here attacking the students. Stay in cover under the benches. Use the combat drone, Garrus and James' powers. Let them have it with your Saber. Area is cleared.
b. The Atrium. Perhaps one of the toughest sections in the game outside of London. As you enter the area, Cerberus troops rush you. Launch a combat drone at them. In the distance, an Atlas will unleash missiles at you. You can't get to the Atlas yet; it's over in the second section of the area. First, run up the ramp and seek the high ground. At the top, there are two flower beds, next to a wall which provides cover. There's a stairway with a regenerating ammo clip next to it. Deploy sentry turret. Position squad members up here. Stay at the top for the most part of this section. Note up here, the Atlas can't get to you.
Stay in cover. And unleash your Saber from the high ground on the Cerberus troops. Watch out for grenades. On Insanity, they are instant kills at close range. After about about 15 seconds, two Guardians magically appear at the top of the stairway. Launch a combat drone at them. Run down the ramp and seek cover at the first flower bed. You still have the high ground. Now deal with these pesky guys and kill them. Okay after they're down, head back to the top of the ramp.
Continue letting the enemy have a taste of your Saber. If you're low on ammo remember the regenerating ammo clip. Also sabotage any enemy turret. Watch it gun them down. Eventually with the students biotic attacks, your squad's fire and your Saber shots, you defeat all the waves.
Okay, move down the ramp but stay under cover. The Atlas in the other section will fire on you. But now you have an advantage. You can snipe at it from cover and at a distance. Eventually you and your squad take it down. Now move to the tunnel under the ramp.
You come on the door to the second section of the Atrium. Don't go through. Because enemy engineers will deploy turrets that will cut you down. If you want you can send a squad member through and have him take cover by the front pillar. But take out your sniper. Wack the bad guys from the safety of the door. Keep moving away from the door if a grenade comes. Use your combat drones to hunt down bad guys. Eventually you hear one engineer and his turret are left. Listen for the turret. Okay, don't take any chances. Go to the other side, i.e. the first section. Use your HUD to locate the turret. Sabotage it. That will kill the engineer or hurt him badly. If you can launch a drone, then do so. Now if the turret is weakened, carefully enter the second section. Run to the ramps and advance under cover. Destroy any stragglers or what's left of the turret. You're done. On to the final section.
c. The Atlas. You take control of the enemy Atlas and kick ass. Stick to using the gun over the homing missiles. You can keep moving while using the gun. Use the missiles when you see a group of infantry close together. That will take out a bunch of them.
The cool tip. Say during your battle with the infantry, the armor gets low on the Atlas. Do this. Hop out. Now hop back in. Your armor has replenished itself. Now take out the other enemy Atlas when it appears. Mission over. Listen to Jack "cuss" out Joker. Well, they bleep it.
1. Your class and weapons. Engineer. You can sabotage turrets and turn them against Cerberus. You have combat drones and the sentry turret. For weapons, I bring the M-99 Saber and M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That combination allows for me to use powers quickly.
3. Your squad. Garrus and James. Why? You can arm each with the M-37 Falcon assault rifle which is s grenade launcher. It packs a wallop against the enemy. Liara is another choice since her Singularity and other biotic powers are good against Guardians. But remember you won't face Guardians in frequency.
4. Hardest parts of the mission.
a. Orion Hall. After a cutscene, you're confronted with an Atlas. Get to cover immediately. Launch a combat drone at it. Now, the hall has one set of stairs to the left and to the right. The Atlas is near the left stairs. Take your Saber and feed the Atlas lead.
Okay, the Atlas may be on top of you. You can sabotage it. But you will have to deal with it sooner or later. I run to cover on the left (concrete bed?) before the stairs. The drone and your squad should be keeping it busy. Your saber will eventually bring it down.
Now you need to go over to the right. There are Cerberus infantry over here attacking the students. Stay in cover under the benches. Use the combat drone, Garrus and James' powers. Let them have it with your Saber. Area is cleared.
b. The Atrium. Perhaps one of the toughest sections in the game outside of London. As you enter the area, Cerberus troops rush you. Launch a combat drone at them. In the distance, an Atlas will unleash missiles at you. You can't get to the Atlas yet; it's over in the second section of the area. First, run up the ramp and seek the high ground. At the top, there are two flower beds, next to a wall which provides cover. There's a stairway with a regenerating ammo clip next to it. Deploy sentry turret. Position squad members up here. Stay at the top for the most part of this section. Note up here, the Atlas can't get to you.
Stay in cover. And unleash your Saber from the high ground on the Cerberus troops. Watch out for grenades. On Insanity, they are instant kills at close range. After about about 15 seconds, two Guardians magically appear at the top of the stairway. Launch a combat drone at them. Run down the ramp and seek cover at the first flower bed. You still have the high ground. Now deal with these pesky guys and kill them. Okay after they're down, head back to the top of the ramp.
Continue letting the enemy have a taste of your Saber. If you're low on ammo remember the regenerating ammo clip. Also sabotage any enemy turret. Watch it gun them down. Eventually with the students biotic attacks, your squad's fire and your Saber shots, you defeat all the waves.
Okay, move down the ramp but stay under cover. The Atlas in the other section will fire on you. But now you have an advantage. You can snipe at it from cover and at a distance. Eventually you and your squad take it down. Now move to the tunnel under the ramp.
You come on the door to the second section of the Atrium. Don't go through. Because enemy engineers will deploy turrets that will cut you down. If you want you can send a squad member through and have him take cover by the front pillar. But take out your sniper. Wack the bad guys from the safety of the door. Keep moving away from the door if a grenade comes. Use your combat drones to hunt down bad guys. Eventually you hear one engineer and his turret are left. Listen for the turret. Okay, don't take any chances. Go to the other side, i.e. the first section. Use your HUD to locate the turret. Sabotage it. That will kill the engineer or hurt him badly. If you can launch a drone, then do so. Now if the turret is weakened, carefully enter the second section. Run to the ramps and advance under cover. Destroy any stragglers or what's left of the turret. You're done. On to the final section.
c. The Atlas. You take control of the enemy Atlas and kick ass. Stick to using the gun over the homing missiles. You can keep moving while using the gun. Use the missiles when you see a group of infantry close together. That will take out a bunch of them.
The cool tip. Say during your battle with the infantry, the armor gets low on the Atlas. Do this. Hop out. Now hop back in. Your armor has replenished itself. Now take out the other enemy Atlas when it appears. Mission over. Listen to Jack "cuss" out Joker. Well, they bleep it.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Mass Effect 3- Priority: Perseus Veil; Disable the Dreadnought, tips for Insanity
We continue with our series of tips for Mass Effect 3 on the Insanity difficulty level. As with other articles, in this series, I cover only the hardest parts of the mission. First if you haven't checked my general tips, please do so. Today, we cover Priority: Perseus Veil; Diable the Dreadnought.
1. Your class and weapons. My class is Engineer. The class has combat drone, sentry turret and sabotage. Since your enemy is Geth, your powers are more relevant. My weapons are the M-99 Saber and the M-97 Viper.
2. The squad and weapons. Tali is mandatory. I equip her with the Graal Spike Thrower and the Scorpion pistol Garrus is my second member. He gets the Black Widow sniper rifle and the M-37 Falcon assault rifle which is basically a grenade thrower.
3. The hardest parts of the mission.
a. Dreadnought Operation Center. Okay when you enter the room, you get jumped by Geth troopers and Hunters. Hunters are problematic since they have cloaks. You need to look for distortions in the air. Firing at the distortion will expose them. They carry shotguns and will kill you with a couple of shots. The first thing I do is to deploy sentry turret to cover a flank. Once you regain the ability to use more powers, I might sabotage a trooper and get it to fight for me. I also use Tali's powers to launch a combat drone. All this interference will hopefully give you time to damage the Hunters or kill them. If they get too close, I run along the perimeters.
Once this first wave is down, you go to the operation console. Before I access the console, I deploy a sentry turret. Okay, access the console. You get attacked. Use Tali to either sabotage a trooper or launch a combat drone. The million dollar tip. Now at the beginnig of this attack, the Geth come out of a room on the far side to your left. Run to that room. If you stay by the console, the Hunters will flank and kill you. But once you get to that room, you create a kill zone because the Geth will have to come into that room. You cannot be flanked.
In the room, there's some cover. So use it. The Geth come to you and cannot flank you since they cannot move throught the walls. There's only one place they can enter the room and that is through the door. Keep using your powers, especially combat drones and sentry turrets. Eventually, you defeat the Geth sent to kill you.
b. Main gun battery. Keep your distance from the Geth as you advance. The electric charge takes down your shields and the Geth will finish you off. Use your and Tali's powers. If you have to retreat to the beginning of the battery, then do so. Don't confront a Hunter up close and personal. If you have to run, then run. Eventually, you defeat the Geth and can advance.
c. The Central Core. Okay, you're almost done. You ride the elevator to the upper deck. Access the console and come under attack. First, take cover along the pillars to your left.
Take out your sniper rifle. Reach out and kill the Geth from a distance. Remember to use your powers. Combat drones. Sentry turret. Sabotage. Life is good. Eventually you make your way around this semi=circle. You see a Prime in the distance. You can sabotage him, but realize you have to deal with it sooner or later. It becomes immune to your sabotage after a couple hacks. Again the safe way is to use combat drones and your sniper rifle. He goes down. Mission over.
1. Your class and weapons. My class is Engineer. The class has combat drone, sentry turret and sabotage. Since your enemy is Geth, your powers are more relevant. My weapons are the M-99 Saber and the M-97 Viper.
2. The squad and weapons. Tali is mandatory. I equip her with the Graal Spike Thrower and the Scorpion pistol Garrus is my second member. He gets the Black Widow sniper rifle and the M-37 Falcon assault rifle which is basically a grenade thrower.
3. The hardest parts of the mission.
a. Dreadnought Operation Center. Okay when you enter the room, you get jumped by Geth troopers and Hunters. Hunters are problematic since they have cloaks. You need to look for distortions in the air. Firing at the distortion will expose them. They carry shotguns and will kill you with a couple of shots. The first thing I do is to deploy sentry turret to cover a flank. Once you regain the ability to use more powers, I might sabotage a trooper and get it to fight for me. I also use Tali's powers to launch a combat drone. All this interference will hopefully give you time to damage the Hunters or kill them. If they get too close, I run along the perimeters.
Once this first wave is down, you go to the operation console. Before I access the console, I deploy a sentry turret. Okay, access the console. You get attacked. Use Tali to either sabotage a trooper or launch a combat drone. The million dollar tip. Now at the beginnig of this attack, the Geth come out of a room on the far side to your left. Run to that room. If you stay by the console, the Hunters will flank and kill you. But once you get to that room, you create a kill zone because the Geth will have to come into that room. You cannot be flanked.
In the room, there's some cover. So use it. The Geth come to you and cannot flank you since they cannot move throught the walls. There's only one place they can enter the room and that is through the door. Keep using your powers, especially combat drones and sentry turrets. Eventually, you defeat the Geth sent to kill you.
b. Main gun battery. Keep your distance from the Geth as you advance. The electric charge takes down your shields and the Geth will finish you off. Use your and Tali's powers. If you have to retreat to the beginning of the battery, then do so. Don't confront a Hunter up close and personal. If you have to run, then run. Eventually, you defeat the Geth and can advance.
c. The Central Core. Okay, you're almost done. You ride the elevator to the upper deck. Access the console and come under attack. First, take cover along the pillars to your left.
Take out your sniper rifle. Reach out and kill the Geth from a distance. Remember to use your powers. Combat drones. Sentry turret. Sabotage. Life is good. Eventually you make your way around this semi=circle. You see a Prime in the distance. You can sabotage him, but realize you have to deal with it sooner or later. It becomes immune to your sabotage after a couple hacks. Again the safe way is to use combat drones and your sniper rifle. He goes down. Mission over.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mass Effect 3-Priority: Rannoch, tips for Insanity
We continue our series on how to beat Mass Effect 3 on the Insanity difficulty setting. Today, we go over Priority: Rannoch. As we have done previously, we only go over the most difficult portions of the mission. My general tips for Insanity should cover the other parts of the mission.
1. Your class and weapons. I recommend Engineer. You have as powers, combat drones and a gun turret. But just as important as combat drones is Sabotage. You can hack a synthetic and he can attack your enemies.
My weapons are the M-97 Viper sniper rifle and the M-99 Saber. The Saber does great damage. And the Viper allows for kills without getting too close.
2. The squad. Tali is an engineer and has combat drones and sabotage. I arm her with the Graal Spike Thrower and the Scorpion pistol. I also choose Garrus. I arm him with the M-37 Falcon and Black Widow sniper rifle.
3. Tips for the hardest parts of Rannoch. The toughest parts of Rannoch come at the the end. It comes after you defeat a Geth Prime. You grab the elevator and confront three Primes.
a. The Three Primes. Right in front of you is a Spitfire. There is also one to the right near some crates. And there's one on the left. Grab the one in front of you. TAKE COVER.
Unload the Spitfire on the Prime. You didn't forget you're an engineer, did you? Unleash a combat drone. Get Tali to do the same. As soon as you can, deploy a gun turret. Okay, by now the Prime in front is on top of you. Run to the right. Get into cover. If you have to, sabotage a prime or its combat drone. Just remember you will have to deal with it once the spell wears off. Don't panic, stay in cover and move if you have to. But keep up with the launching of combat drones, and firing the Spitfire. Try to take them out one at a time. Don't spare the Medi-gel if one of your squadmates dies. If this is your third play through, you should have plenty. Eventually, you bring down all three Primes.
b. The Reaper. Okay, you've got to kill the Reaper by painting it with the targeting laser so the fleet can blast it. You must wait for the Reaper to show its big laser cannon to target it. You target it and two vertical bars begin to close. Once they close on the aiming target, the fleet fires.
The problem is that the Reaper is firing its laser at you. One hit and your dead. Here's what you do. Once the laser hits the ground in front of you, run. Running is more important than maintaining your lock. Why? The targeting laser remembers where you left off. After you hit the Reaper five times, it dies.
1. Your class and weapons. I recommend Engineer. You have as powers, combat drones and a gun turret. But just as important as combat drones is Sabotage. You can hack a synthetic and he can attack your enemies.
My weapons are the M-97 Viper sniper rifle and the M-99 Saber. The Saber does great damage. And the Viper allows for kills without getting too close.
2. The squad. Tali is an engineer and has combat drones and sabotage. I arm her with the Graal Spike Thrower and the Scorpion pistol. I also choose Garrus. I arm him with the M-37 Falcon and Black Widow sniper rifle.
3. Tips for the hardest parts of Rannoch. The toughest parts of Rannoch come at the the end. It comes after you defeat a Geth Prime. You grab the elevator and confront three Primes.
a. The Three Primes. Right in front of you is a Spitfire. There is also one to the right near some crates. And there's one on the left. Grab the one in front of you. TAKE COVER.
Unload the Spitfire on the Prime. You didn't forget you're an engineer, did you? Unleash a combat drone. Get Tali to do the same. As soon as you can, deploy a gun turret. Okay, by now the Prime in front is on top of you. Run to the right. Get into cover. If you have to, sabotage a prime or its combat drone. Just remember you will have to deal with it once the spell wears off. Don't panic, stay in cover and move if you have to. But keep up with the launching of combat drones, and firing the Spitfire. Try to take them out one at a time. Don't spare the Medi-gel if one of your squadmates dies. If this is your third play through, you should have plenty. Eventually, you bring down all three Primes.
b. The Reaper. Okay, you've got to kill the Reaper by painting it with the targeting laser so the fleet can blast it. You must wait for the Reaper to show its big laser cannon to target it. You target it and two vertical bars begin to close. Once they close on the aiming target, the fleet fires.
The problem is that the Reaper is firing its laser at you. One hit and your dead. Here's what you do. Once the laser hits the ground in front of you, run. Running is more important than maintaining your lock. Why? The targeting laser remembers where you left off. After you hit the Reaper five times, it dies.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Mass Effect 3-Priority: Horizon; Tips for Insanity difficulty
Here are some tips for Mass Effect 3-Priority: Horizon mission on the Insanity difficulty level. As per our series on Insanity difficulty, we'll just go over the hardest missions and parts. Before we begin, I suggest you read my basic tips for the Insanity difficulty level.
1. Your class and weapons. I suggest you play Insanity as an Engineer. You get a combat drone, and gun turret powers. My two weapons are the M-99 Saber assault rifle and the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That combination keeps my power recharge speed in the blue.
2. Your Squad. I choose Tali. I give her the Graal Pike Thrower and Scorpion pistol. She has a combat drone. Now you have basically two extra squad members. Garrus is my second squad member. He gets the M-37 Falcon and the Black Widow sniper rifle.
3. Tips for the hardest parts of the mission.
a. General tips. Remember to keep your distance from enemies. Take them out from a distance. Stay in cover. Take down barrier generators or engines as a priority. If you must, fall back.
b. Sanctuary entrance. Okay, you're under attack when you approach the entrance to Sanctuary. Get into cover. There's a Nemesis on the platform in front of you. Then a Phantom jumps into the action.
Launch a drone at the Phantom. Focus on her. Once she's down, continue to stay in cover. Switch to sniper rifle and take out the Nemesis. Finish any stragglers.
c. Banshee and Ravager lab. This is the section after you get rushed by Husks. You see an ammo cache and turn into the long lab. Yikes. A Banshee and Ravager jump you. And they add Marauders for good measure.
Launch combat drones immediately. The Banshee heads for you. Focus your fire on her. If you have to, fall back. Keep moving if she gets a bead on you. If she grabs you, you're dead. You can also open the door to a chamber to the right. It will give you a little cover. Keep redeploying the drones and use the gun turret. Once she's down, hopefully the Ravager is weaken also. Take it on. Stay in cover and fall back if you have to. Finish off any infantry from afar.
d. Upper lab with the Ravagers. Once you climb up a ladder from where you claimed the Locust SMG, you enter a long lab. To your right is a section with cover but it is lower ground. To your left are support beams for cover. I go left. Immediately launch combat drones. Take out the sniper rifle and attack the Ravagers down the hall from a distance. Stay in cover. Make quick work of the Ravagers. You may have to fall back but remember there's very little room to fall back. Keep using your combat drones and gun turret.
Look for any barrier engine or generator. Destroy them. With all your allies, two combat drones and the squad you should be able to bring these guys down. I've tried this section with Liara and Garrus on Normal and it was hard. With the extra allies in the combat drones, this section is doable .
e. Upper lab with the Banshee and Brutes. You take the tram and enter this long lab. Okay, right away, a Brute comes to attack you at the door. Launch two combat drones at it. When it charges, jump to the left. Turn and unleash your Saber on it. You may wish to switch Tali to the shotgun if not already.
Okay, once it's dead, another Brute is close enough to attack you. Redeploy the combat drones. Hopefully, you squad will keep it at bay because down the hall is a Banshee and a Brute.
Once you see the Banshee down the hall, move to cover on the left. This lab is very similar to Ravager lab. Launch a combat drone at her. This will keep her busy. Take out your sniper rifle and shoot at her from a distance. Throw a gun turret in the middle of the hallway. Hopefully, your squad will have taken down the second Brute because here comes the Banshee.
If you've damaged her enough, switch to the Saber. Yeah, I know there's another Brute. But the Banshee is the priority here. If the Brute or Banshee gets too close, RUN TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAB. Keep moving if you have to. I beat the Banshee because I was able to pin her down with a combat drone. Then I weakened her with the sniper rifle. Then I switched to the Saber and finished her off. Once you take out the Banshee, if the last Brute is still alive, dodge and fire. Keep redeploying the combat drones. Eventually you bring him down. Combat portion done. Now if you romanced Miranda, go and save her.
1. Your class and weapons. I suggest you play Insanity as an Engineer. You get a combat drone, and gun turret powers. My two weapons are the M-99 Saber assault rifle and the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That combination keeps my power recharge speed in the blue.
2. Your Squad. I choose Tali. I give her the Graal Pike Thrower and Scorpion pistol. She has a combat drone. Now you have basically two extra squad members. Garrus is my second squad member. He gets the M-37 Falcon and the Black Widow sniper rifle.
3. Tips for the hardest parts of the mission.
a. General tips. Remember to keep your distance from enemies. Take them out from a distance. Stay in cover. Take down barrier generators or engines as a priority. If you must, fall back.
b. Sanctuary entrance. Okay, you're under attack when you approach the entrance to Sanctuary. Get into cover. There's a Nemesis on the platform in front of you. Then a Phantom jumps into the action.
Launch a drone at the Phantom. Focus on her. Once she's down, continue to stay in cover. Switch to sniper rifle and take out the Nemesis. Finish any stragglers.
c. Banshee and Ravager lab. This is the section after you get rushed by Husks. You see an ammo cache and turn into the long lab. Yikes. A Banshee and Ravager jump you. And they add Marauders for good measure.
Launch combat drones immediately. The Banshee heads for you. Focus your fire on her. If you have to, fall back. Keep moving if she gets a bead on you. If she grabs you, you're dead. You can also open the door to a chamber to the right. It will give you a little cover. Keep redeploying the drones and use the gun turret. Once she's down, hopefully the Ravager is weaken also. Take it on. Stay in cover and fall back if you have to. Finish off any infantry from afar.
d. Upper lab with the Ravagers. Once you climb up a ladder from where you claimed the Locust SMG, you enter a long lab. To your right is a section with cover but it is lower ground. To your left are support beams for cover. I go left. Immediately launch combat drones. Take out the sniper rifle and attack the Ravagers down the hall from a distance. Stay in cover. Make quick work of the Ravagers. You may have to fall back but remember there's very little room to fall back. Keep using your combat drones and gun turret.
Look for any barrier engine or generator. Destroy them. With all your allies, two combat drones and the squad you should be able to bring these guys down. I've tried this section with Liara and Garrus on Normal and it was hard. With the extra allies in the combat drones, this section is doable .
e. Upper lab with the Banshee and Brutes. You take the tram and enter this long lab. Okay, right away, a Brute comes to attack you at the door. Launch two combat drones at it. When it charges, jump to the left. Turn and unleash your Saber on it. You may wish to switch Tali to the shotgun if not already.
Okay, once it's dead, another Brute is close enough to attack you. Redeploy the combat drones. Hopefully, you squad will keep it at bay because down the hall is a Banshee and a Brute.
Once you see the Banshee down the hall, move to cover on the left. This lab is very similar to Ravager lab. Launch a combat drone at her. This will keep her busy. Take out your sniper rifle and shoot at her from a distance. Throw a gun turret in the middle of the hallway. Hopefully, your squad will have taken down the second Brute because here comes the Banshee.
If you've damaged her enough, switch to the Saber. Yeah, I know there's another Brute. But the Banshee is the priority here. If the Brute or Banshee gets too close, RUN TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAB. Keep moving if you have to. I beat the Banshee because I was able to pin her down with a combat drone. Then I weakened her with the sniper rifle. Then I switched to the Saber and finished her off. Once you take out the Banshee, if the last Brute is still alive, dodge and fire. Keep redeploying the combat drones. Eventually you bring him down. Combat portion done. Now if you romanced Miranda, go and save her.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Mass Effect 3-Priority: Cerberus Headquarters, Tips for Insanity
We continue our series of tips for Mass Effect 3 missions on the Insanity difficulty setting. Again, we over the hardest parts. And if you haven't read my general tips, I recommend you do. Today's article covers Priority: Cerberus Headquarters.
1. Your class and weapons. I make my Shepard a engineer. Advantage is the ability to use combat drones and sabotage gun turrets. My main weapon is a M-99 Saber assault rifle. My second weapon is the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That's because I want to keep my power recharge level in the blue.
2. Your squad. EDI is mandatory. I give her M-12 Locust and the Scorpion pistol. My second squad member is Tali. She gets the Graal Spike Thrower shotgun and Scorpion pistol.
3. Tips for the mission.
a. Shuttle Bay. You are under attack immediately by infantry. And joining the fray is an Atlas. Okay, get into cover immediately. Get in cover behind your shuttle. Watch out for fighter launches. Launch combat drones. If you have to, sabotage the Atlas. You eventually kill everything except for a Nemesis on the upper platform. Snipe her.
Go upstairs and shut down Cerberus' plan to vent the shuttle bay. Fight your way and reposition the fighter. Then launch the fighter towards the back wall.
Get in cover because an Atlas barges through the opening. Now this is important. The platform above the hole you made, has two soldiers. One for each ladder that they are going to climb down. If you don't kill these guys ASAP, they will each climb into an Atlas stored in the walls. You will face three Atlases. Yikes. But if you nail these guys, you only face the original one.
b. The sublevels. The important thing you have to remember for the sublevels is to destroy shield generators. You don't have to wipe every one. But there will be a shield generatory that will make a gun turret invulnerable.
Keep your distance. Sabotage gun turrets. Launch probes. Eventually you complete thses levels.
c. The Human Reaper catwalks. The big thing here to remember is this. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE. Take out the Phantoms, Nemesises and soldiers from a distance. Use your combat drones.
A couple of interesting things here. If you fail to complete the Grissom Academy mission, Jack shows up as a Phantom. You end up killing her. Or if you sold Legion to Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, Legion shows up as a sniper. Video below.
d. Kei Leng Battle. Keep your distance from Kei Leng and keep firing at him with your Saber. Use Tali's drones to keep other enemies who join the fray. Deploy your gun turret. Stay in cover. And if a Phantom come close, blast her. Eventually you defeat him. Combat portion over.
If you give Legion to Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, you face him on the catwalks.
1. Your class and weapons. I make my Shepard a engineer. Advantage is the ability to use combat drones and sabotage gun turrets. My main weapon is a M-99 Saber assault rifle. My second weapon is the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. That's because I want to keep my power recharge level in the blue.
2. Your squad. EDI is mandatory. I give her M-12 Locust and the Scorpion pistol. My second squad member is Tali. She gets the Graal Spike Thrower shotgun and Scorpion pistol.
3. Tips for the mission.
a. Shuttle Bay. You are under attack immediately by infantry. And joining the fray is an Atlas. Okay, get into cover immediately. Get in cover behind your shuttle. Watch out for fighter launches. Launch combat drones. If you have to, sabotage the Atlas. You eventually kill everything except for a Nemesis on the upper platform. Snipe her.
Go upstairs and shut down Cerberus' plan to vent the shuttle bay. Fight your way and reposition the fighter. Then launch the fighter towards the back wall.
Get in cover because an Atlas barges through the opening. Now this is important. The platform above the hole you made, has two soldiers. One for each ladder that they are going to climb down. If you don't kill these guys ASAP, they will each climb into an Atlas stored in the walls. You will face three Atlases. Yikes. But if you nail these guys, you only face the original one.
b. The sublevels. The important thing you have to remember for the sublevels is to destroy shield generators. You don't have to wipe every one. But there will be a shield generatory that will make a gun turret invulnerable.
Keep your distance. Sabotage gun turrets. Launch probes. Eventually you complete thses levels.
c. The Human Reaper catwalks. The big thing here to remember is this. KEEP YOUR DISTANCE. Take out the Phantoms, Nemesises and soldiers from a distance. Use your combat drones.
A couple of interesting things here. If you fail to complete the Grissom Academy mission, Jack shows up as a Phantom. You end up killing her. Or if you sold Legion to Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, Legion shows up as a sniper. Video below.
d. Kei Leng Battle. Keep your distance from Kei Leng and keep firing at him with your Saber. Use Tali's drones to keep other enemies who join the fray. Deploy your gun turret. Stay in cover. And if a Phantom come close, blast her. Eventually you defeat him. Combat portion over.
If you give Legion to Cerberus in Mass Effect 2, you face him on the catwalks.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mass Effect 3: Priority: Earth Tips for Insanity
With this first article, I'm going to give tips for the Insanity difficulty setting of Mass Effect 3. Now, I'm not going to go over every mission and every part of a mission. I'm going to go over the hardest parts.
I'm going to start with the hardest and last mission of Mass Effect 3 on Insanity. It's Priority: Earth. This is the mission where you fight on the streets of London, England. Before we begin, you should check out my general tips for playing the game on the Insanity difficulty level.
Before you deploy.
Your squad. I chose Garrus. I arm him with the M-37 Falccon and the Black Widow sniper rifle. I also add Tali. She gets the Graal Spike Thrower and Scorpion pistol. Remember that she has the combat drone power. That's like adding another squad member.
Your class. I hope you've taken my advice and are an Engineer. Your combat drone will add another squad member. You have a gun turret power. And you also have Cryo Blast.
Your weapons. I bring the M-99 Saber. I also equip a sniper rifle, the M-97 Viper because it's light. You might want to use a more powerful sniper rifle. Just remember the greater the weight, the longer it takes to recharge your powers.
Part One.
a. The Beach.
As the shuttle doors open to deploy you on the beach, you are under fire. Immediately, deploy combat drones from the shuttle. Hit the beach. Now look to your right. There's a fallen concrete beam. Look to your left, there's another. Seek these for cover.
You'll notice a stairway which leads to a plaza. You can't go up the stairs yet. Too many bad guys. But notice on the stairs to the left that there is a gap in the wall of the stairs. Head there.
Get to the gap and hunker down. You got a flanking position on the Reaper forces. Use the gap to deploy combat drones, and a gun turret. Take shots at them. If a grenade comes your way, move down to the beach and cover.
Patience. Keep deploying combat drones and turrets when they get destroyed. Ammo is sparce at this section so keep using your tech powers to reduce the enemy strength. Cryo blast is also helpful. Eventually, you get the enemy forces down so you can move up to the plaza.
b. The Plaza.
Once you're on the plaza, you come under attack. There are Marauders and Cannibals up here. Get under cover. Take out your sniper rifle and reach out and kill somebody. Okay. You get a warning that there are Brutes. Take these guys out first. Use combat drones and your other powers to help bring them down. Fall back if you have to.
Eventually you clear the plaza. Restock on ammo lying around. There's some in open room next to the ramp. Save your game. Move up the ramp to the shuttle crash site.
c. The Crash Site.
This upper level plaza is a maze of rubble of what's left of a building. When you get up here, you're under attack from Cannibals and there's a Ravager to the right. Get into cover behind some broken walls. Use combat drones to help you clean up the area. Now take out your sniper rifle and from cover, kill the Ravager.
Jump over a gap to reach the crashed shuttle. Remember this gap. There are two
M-920 Cains. Use one to destroy the Hades Cannon. Get the other Cain. Position your squad behind you. The Cain can kill your people too. Get ready for the Banshee.
The Banshee. When the Banshee appears, kill her with the Cain. Now it's quite possible to miss her. She's skinny from all the dieting and not a fat target. ;-) Now what? Launch combat drones on her. And unleash your Saber on her. Now this upper plaza is small. It doesn't take long for her to walk on top of you. Avoid her Biotic blasts too.
Remember the gap. You can fall back by jumping over it. That will give you more room to fight her. I actually fell back all the way to the top of the ramp from the plaza below. That's when I finally brought her down.
Now take out the Cannibals who have congregated by the downed shuttle. Okay. Move back over to the area where you found the Cains. Take cover. Cannibals are advancing from the same area where the Banshee came from. Move if you have to. Watch out for grenades. Keep deploying combat drones and gun turrets. Once the escape shuttle arrives, run for it. Don't worry about killing every enemy in sight. Once you enter the shuttle, this portion of the mission is over.
Part Two.
I'm going to give general advice for No Man's Land. Since this first section of Part Two is doable.
a. No Man's Land.
After you say your goodbyes and give your "command the room" speech, you head out for the Reaper Destroyer and Citadel transport beam. Generally, get into cover right when you spot the enemy. Don't rush into rooms. Use your combat drones and gun turrets to kill and flush out bad guys.
The bosses you face in No Man's Land are Brutes, a Ravager, a Harvester, and a Banshee. As for Brutes, keep your distance and move aside when they charge. Kill the Ravager from a distance. Ditto for the Harvester. Stay under cover when doing so. The Banshee appears after you kill or force the Harvester to retreat. Unleash combat drone on her and move back if you have to. And if Reaper infantry gives you hard time take them out quickly after the Harvester goes down.
b. The Missile Battery.
You've reached the missile batteries. This is the toughest part of the mission. This area of London is a cross shaped intersection of streets. The stem or what I call Main Street has the two batteries. I'll say going north is toward the Reaper Destroyer. The stems of the cross is divided into a left street which is left flank or what I will call West Street and the other street on the right which I will call East Street. At the southern corner of Main and West is shop that has ammo, medi-Gel and a Hydra Missile launcher. At the opposite side of Main is another shop with ammo.
i. The First Wave. When you arrive, you must clear out the enemy forces. Stay in cover and be careful. Use all your powers to defeat the Reapers. Activate the missile controls.
ii. The Second Wave. These Reaper infantry come from the north on Main Street. Stay in cover and take down as many as you can. Because another group arrives from West Street. Keep moving to cover. Use your combat drones and other powers to destroy them.
iii. The Third Wave or the This Sucks Wave. You get word that your left flank is going to be overrun. Okay run to the beginning of West Street. There should be a fallen concrete column that your squad can use for cover. I place Tali in the West Street shop. I keep Garrus with me at the column. I rip out my sniper rifle. Facing west or the left flank, I watch Cannibals and Marauders come down off the wall. At the top of the wall, in the distance, I see the first Banshee. Unleash sniper fire on her even if you don't get her barrier and armor level signal. When you do, you will find out that she has been damaged by your shots.
The Banshee hits the ground on West Street. She'll probably head for Tali. Switch Tali to the shotgun. While she's heading toward Tali, launch combat drones at her. In the meantime, watch out for the infantry firing on you. Anyway, you should switch to the Saber. Let her have it. If she makes a biotic dash to your position, MOVE. Okay, now here's the hard part. Another Banshee joins the fray.
If you're in trouble, move to East Street. There's a sink hole where you can take cover. Deploy a gun turret in the center of the intersection to give you some covering fire. Continue to attack the weakest Banshee. If anybody dies, use your Medi-Gel, you should have at least twelve due to the third play through.
If you get breached on East Street, run north to towards the Destroyer. It's not interested in you at the moment. This is a good position because you've got a good, narrow kill zone. Continue to deploy combat drones if any of the previous ones are destroyed or out of place. Eventually, with your running about, you bring down the Banshees. Be careful and finish off the rest of the infantry. Whew.
Go fire the first missile. Of course it misses. And you are told more enemy troops are headed your way. EDI needs time to target the last battery. And the Destroyer must be moved closer so now it can fire its big laser at you. What?!
iv. The Fourth Wave. First, you face about three Brutes. You know what to do. Launch combat drones to hurt and distract them. Fire your Saber. Keep moving. Keep moving. Run and gun. Stay in the south part of the area. After you take down about two of the Brutes, a Harvester appears.
Run to the West Shop. Grab the Hydra. And blast the Harvester. Even if you miss, which I did, you can still bring down the Harvester with conventional weapons and powers. Once it's down, the music changes. And now the Reapers unleash Banshees on you. And they throw in Marauders.
Here's what you have to do. Survive. Keep moving. Don't stay in the open. Stay away from North Main Street because the Destroyer's laser will kill you. Keep launching combat drones. Once EDI says you can fire the missile, run like hell to it. Activate. Congratulations. You've just finished ninety five percent of the combat for this mission.
Part Three.
If you've played this before, you know what happens. You make a mad dash for the transport beam. You get blasted and are injured. You wake up, about close to death. You have a pistol. You get up and walk to the beam.
This is where I almost threw my controller at the TV. Three husks rush you. And on Insanity, they are stronger. Body shots knock them down. If you can land a head shot, you get treated to a head exploding. If you survive, you move forward. You fall down. You know what is next.
It's that Marauder with shields. Only on Insanity, he's stronger too. On Normal difficulty, he's hard to bring down. That's because you have trouble aiming and have very little health. I've read you should try to aim for his body. Knock him down and then continue firing until he's dead.
Or you could do it the easy way. Yangineer 29 posted this on YouTube. Go to the far right and hug the overturned vehicle. Then when the Marauder fires at you, you can go behind the broken wall and use that for cover. The Marauder has trouble targeting you. You kill him easily.
Congratulations. You are now done with the combat portion of this mission. Now go up to the Citadel and end the Reapers' extermination.
I'm going to start with the hardest and last mission of Mass Effect 3 on Insanity. It's Priority: Earth. This is the mission where you fight on the streets of London, England. Before we begin, you should check out my general tips for playing the game on the Insanity difficulty level.
Before you deploy.
Your squad. I chose Garrus. I arm him with the M-37 Falccon and the Black Widow sniper rifle. I also add Tali. She gets the Graal Spike Thrower and Scorpion pistol. Remember that she has the combat drone power. That's like adding another squad member.
Your class. I hope you've taken my advice and are an Engineer. Your combat drone will add another squad member. You have a gun turret power. And you also have Cryo Blast.
Your weapons. I bring the M-99 Saber. I also equip a sniper rifle, the M-97 Viper because it's light. You might want to use a more powerful sniper rifle. Just remember the greater the weight, the longer it takes to recharge your powers.
Part One.
a. The Beach.
As the shuttle doors open to deploy you on the beach, you are under fire. Immediately, deploy combat drones from the shuttle. Hit the beach. Now look to your right. There's a fallen concrete beam. Look to your left, there's another. Seek these for cover.
You'll notice a stairway which leads to a plaza. You can't go up the stairs yet. Too many bad guys. But notice on the stairs to the left that there is a gap in the wall of the stairs. Head there.
Get to the gap and hunker down. You got a flanking position on the Reaper forces. Use the gap to deploy combat drones, and a gun turret. Take shots at them. If a grenade comes your way, move down to the beach and cover.
Patience. Keep deploying combat drones and turrets when they get destroyed. Ammo is sparce at this section so keep using your tech powers to reduce the enemy strength. Cryo blast is also helpful. Eventually, you get the enemy forces down so you can move up to the plaza.
b. The Plaza.
Once you're on the plaza, you come under attack. There are Marauders and Cannibals up here. Get under cover. Take out your sniper rifle and reach out and kill somebody. Okay. You get a warning that there are Brutes. Take these guys out first. Use combat drones and your other powers to help bring them down. Fall back if you have to.
Eventually you clear the plaza. Restock on ammo lying around. There's some in open room next to the ramp. Save your game. Move up the ramp to the shuttle crash site.
c. The Crash Site.
This upper level plaza is a maze of rubble of what's left of a building. When you get up here, you're under attack from Cannibals and there's a Ravager to the right. Get into cover behind some broken walls. Use combat drones to help you clean up the area. Now take out your sniper rifle and from cover, kill the Ravager.
Jump over a gap to reach the crashed shuttle. Remember this gap. There are two
M-920 Cains. Use one to destroy the Hades Cannon. Get the other Cain. Position your squad behind you. The Cain can kill your people too. Get ready for the Banshee.
The Banshee. When the Banshee appears, kill her with the Cain. Now it's quite possible to miss her. She's skinny from all the dieting and not a fat target. ;-) Now what? Launch combat drones on her. And unleash your Saber on her. Now this upper plaza is small. It doesn't take long for her to walk on top of you. Avoid her Biotic blasts too.
Remember the gap. You can fall back by jumping over it. That will give you more room to fight her. I actually fell back all the way to the top of the ramp from the plaza below. That's when I finally brought her down.
Now take out the Cannibals who have congregated by the downed shuttle. Okay. Move back over to the area where you found the Cains. Take cover. Cannibals are advancing from the same area where the Banshee came from. Move if you have to. Watch out for grenades. Keep deploying combat drones and gun turrets. Once the escape shuttle arrives, run for it. Don't worry about killing every enemy in sight. Once you enter the shuttle, this portion of the mission is over.
Part Two.
I'm going to give general advice for No Man's Land. Since this first section of Part Two is doable.
a. No Man's Land.
After you say your goodbyes and give your "command the room" speech, you head out for the Reaper Destroyer and Citadel transport beam. Generally, get into cover right when you spot the enemy. Don't rush into rooms. Use your combat drones and gun turrets to kill and flush out bad guys.
The bosses you face in No Man's Land are Brutes, a Ravager, a Harvester, and a Banshee. As for Brutes, keep your distance and move aside when they charge. Kill the Ravager from a distance. Ditto for the Harvester. Stay under cover when doing so. The Banshee appears after you kill or force the Harvester to retreat. Unleash combat drone on her and move back if you have to. And if Reaper infantry gives you hard time take them out quickly after the Harvester goes down.
b. The Missile Battery.
You've reached the missile batteries. This is the toughest part of the mission. This area of London is a cross shaped intersection of streets. The stem or what I call Main Street has the two batteries. I'll say going north is toward the Reaper Destroyer. The stems of the cross is divided into a left street which is left flank or what I will call West Street and the other street on the right which I will call East Street. At the southern corner of Main and West is shop that has ammo, medi-Gel and a Hydra Missile launcher. At the opposite side of Main is another shop with ammo.
i. The First Wave. When you arrive, you must clear out the enemy forces. Stay in cover and be careful. Use all your powers to defeat the Reapers. Activate the missile controls.
ii. The Second Wave. These Reaper infantry come from the north on Main Street. Stay in cover and take down as many as you can. Because another group arrives from West Street. Keep moving to cover. Use your combat drones and other powers to destroy them.
iii. The Third Wave or the This Sucks Wave. You get word that your left flank is going to be overrun. Okay run to the beginning of West Street. There should be a fallen concrete column that your squad can use for cover. I place Tali in the West Street shop. I keep Garrus with me at the column. I rip out my sniper rifle. Facing west or the left flank, I watch Cannibals and Marauders come down off the wall. At the top of the wall, in the distance, I see the first Banshee. Unleash sniper fire on her even if you don't get her barrier and armor level signal. When you do, you will find out that she has been damaged by your shots.
The Banshee hits the ground on West Street. She'll probably head for Tali. Switch Tali to the shotgun. While she's heading toward Tali, launch combat drones at her. In the meantime, watch out for the infantry firing on you. Anyway, you should switch to the Saber. Let her have it. If she makes a biotic dash to your position, MOVE. Okay, now here's the hard part. Another Banshee joins the fray.
If you're in trouble, move to East Street. There's a sink hole where you can take cover. Deploy a gun turret in the center of the intersection to give you some covering fire. Continue to attack the weakest Banshee. If anybody dies, use your Medi-Gel, you should have at least twelve due to the third play through.
If you get breached on East Street, run north to towards the Destroyer. It's not interested in you at the moment. This is a good position because you've got a good, narrow kill zone. Continue to deploy combat drones if any of the previous ones are destroyed or out of place. Eventually, with your running about, you bring down the Banshees. Be careful and finish off the rest of the infantry. Whew.
Go fire the first missile. Of course it misses. And you are told more enemy troops are headed your way. EDI needs time to target the last battery. And the Destroyer must be moved closer so now it can fire its big laser at you. What?!
iv. The Fourth Wave. First, you face about three Brutes. You know what to do. Launch combat drones to hurt and distract them. Fire your Saber. Keep moving. Keep moving. Run and gun. Stay in the south part of the area. After you take down about two of the Brutes, a Harvester appears.
Run to the West Shop. Grab the Hydra. And blast the Harvester. Even if you miss, which I did, you can still bring down the Harvester with conventional weapons and powers. Once it's down, the music changes. And now the Reapers unleash Banshees on you. And they throw in Marauders.
Here's what you have to do. Survive. Keep moving. Don't stay in the open. Stay away from North Main Street because the Destroyer's laser will kill you. Keep launching combat drones. Once EDI says you can fire the missile, run like hell to it. Activate. Congratulations. You've just finished ninety five percent of the combat for this mission.
Part Three.
If you've played this before, you know what happens. You make a mad dash for the transport beam. You get blasted and are injured. You wake up, about close to death. You have a pistol. You get up and walk to the beam.
This is where I almost threw my controller at the TV. Three husks rush you. And on Insanity, they are stronger. Body shots knock them down. If you can land a head shot, you get treated to a head exploding. If you survive, you move forward. You fall down. You know what is next.
It's that Marauder with shields. Only on Insanity, he's stronger too. On Normal difficulty, he's hard to bring down. That's because you have trouble aiming and have very little health. I've read you should try to aim for his body. Knock him down and then continue firing until he's dead.
Or you could do it the easy way. Yangineer 29 posted this on YouTube. Go to the far right and hug the overturned vehicle. Then when the Marauder fires at you, you can go behind the broken wall and use that for cover. The Marauder has trouble targeting you. You kill him easily.
Congratulations. You are now done with the combat portion of this mission. Now go up to the Citadel and end the Reapers' extermination.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Mass Effect 3; Tips for the Insanity Difficulty Setting
I've just finished Mass Effect 3 on the Insanity difficulty setting. I did it on the XBOX and I'm pretty sure these tips will probably cross all platforms. By doing so, I got the Insanity Achievement and 75 gamer points.
1. THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU PLAY MASS EFFECT 3 ON THE INSANITY DIFFICULTY SETTING.
a. Class Warfare
When you import a Mass Effect 2 (that's two) game or start the game without importing one, you are given the choice of selecting a class. This is important because you cannot import a prior Mass Effect 3 (that's three) game and change the class. Another factor that you must consider is that now you can use any weapon. For example, in previous games, an Adept could not use a sniper rifle. Now an Adept class can. It only affects weight and your ability to use Biotic-Tech powers consecutively.
And the class you should choose is Engineer. First, you have two powers effective against shielded and armored enemies. Overload takes on shields and barriers. Incinerate is effective against armor and health.
But there's more. You have one of the most useful powers in the game. Combat Drone. It's like having an additional squad member. It will attack a target. After that target is dead, it will roam the battlefield looking for other enemies. This is a power that you should upgrade to the maximum level.
But there's much more. You can deploy a gun turret. And it can be deployed while your drone is wrecking havoc. And get this. At the highest upgrade level, it can fire rockets. Finally, you get Sabotage. It can hack Geth, even with shields, and turn them into your ally. What about those pesky enemy gun turrets? Use this power and turn those gun turrets against your foes. It also can mess with organics' guns. Getting nailed by an Atlas? Freeze his guns. The Engineer may not be as flashy and fun as say an Adept, but because he's effective against all enemies, he's the best choice.
b. Play Mass Effect 3 at least once, preferably twice on Normal before starting Insanity. When you complete Mass Effect 3 once and import that save, you get distinct advantages. The second play through gives you the credits, talent points and powers obtained from the first time going through the game. You also get all the weapons, mods and upgrades you've earned from the first play through. So you can start out the second play through with the M-99 Saber, i.e. once you get to a weapons bench. You also get the amount of Medi-gel that you earned from the previous play through for each mission.
But the playing through gives you other advantages. After the second play through, you're probably going to be at level sixty in terms of talent points. That's the maximum. On this third play through at Insanity, your weapons can be upgraded to level 10, from the start of the game. Level 10 is the maximum You'll notice during the second play through, you could only get up to level seven until you picked up the same weapon during the game. So, the M-99 Saber cannot get to level 10 until late in the game since that's when it was recovered. Still, it's is worthwhile to use the Saber even at level seven.
c. Manually choose to use a teammate's powers and manually level up. This is the usual way to play on any difficulty setting. This way you can direct your squad's powers against a particular foe.
d. Enable the Auto Save feature. The Auto Save feature saves your games at points where you manually can't. I mean you can still manually save your game but there are points where it preserves the game saving you from having to play through a difficult stretch again.
2. THINGS TO DO BEFORE STARTING A MISSION.
a. Weapons. With Mass Effect 3, you can carry any weapon. The downside is that it effects the speed of which you can use consecutive powers. I try to stay on the positive end of the spectrum with the power recharge speed.
That being said, the weapons I usually pack are the M-99 Saber assault rifle and the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. The Saber packs a lot of punch and is semi-automatic. On lower difficulty levels, it demolishes targets. On Insanity, it may not but it causes a lot of damage on enemies. The Viper is a light sniper rifle that may not deal as much damage as other sniper rifles but it won't send your power recharge speed into negative numbers.
b. Armor. Yeah, I know some of you like a clean look when you see your character. Well, you want to live, don't you? So, upgrade your armor from the stores at the Citadel. Or buy armor suits. My Shepard looked like he had stuff growing on him.
c. Default Squads. There are some that say Liara and Garrus should be the default squad but I differ because of powers and weapons. I have two sets. Remember you can upgrade their weapons and they have unlimited ammo.
i. Garrus and James. Garrus can overload shields and barriers. He has unlimited amount of proximity mines and armor piercing ammo. James best power is Carnage which is big ol'biotic blast.
But why these two? Both can carry assault rifles. That means they can carry the M-37 Falcon. It's a grenade launcher with a lot of punch. When you have a squad firing these babies, bad guys start falling. Other choices other than James are Ashley and Javik. But Ashley is gone for half of the game, and you might not have bought the DLC, "From Ashes." I give Garrus, the Black Widow sniper rifle as his second weapon.
ii. Garrus and Tali. Once Tali becomes available, I choose her to pair with Garrus. I give her two kick ass weapons. The Graal Spike Thrower shotgun. It's a vicious weapon with maximum damage up close. And for distance, she gets the Scorpion pistol which fires sticky grenades.
But Tali's biggest asset is the Combat Drone. Now with your Combat drone and hers you can have two extra squad members. She can also sabotage turrets. You can kill enemies without having to fire a shot.
3. MISSION STRATEGIES.
a. Know your enemies. On Insanity, enemies have stronger shields, armor and health. The are more aggressive in flanking you. And they rain down a torrent of fire. Staying out in the open is suicide.
b. Fools rush in. Do not rush into the middle of the battlefield. The enemy will kill you in seconds. There might be exception but I can't think of any right now. You should do the following.
c. Seek cover. And fire from cover.
d. If possible take the high ground. Firing from an elevated position gives you an advantage.
e. Move and fall back if you have to. If you're about to get overrun, move. Fall back if you have to. Going toe to toe in a melee battle usually gets you killed since the other bad guys will shoot you dead once exposed.
f. Take out Engineers and charging enemies first. During a fight with Cerberus troops, take out Engineers first. They deploy those annoying gun turrets which can kill you in a few seconds. Charging enemies are also a priority. Yes, husks are easier to dispatch but they can flush you from cover. Bosses like the Atlas, Brutes and Banshees can get on you in a hurry. Banshees have a biotic dash so they deserve most of the attention.
4. CONCLUSION.
I'm an average player. And I've completed Mass Effect 2 and 3 on Insanity. I found Mass Effect 3 on the Normal difficulty setting to be hard. So, I wasn't feeling up t the task to try it on Insanity. But I played Mass Effect 3 on Insanity and did all of the above. Because you're starting with better weapons and powers, it's actually easier on Insanity than Mass Effect 2 on Insanity. Though there are a couple missions where I almost threw my controller at the TV. That's going to happen with any videogame at the highest level.
Anyway, follow my tips. I'm confident that you will beat the game on Insanity like I did.
1. THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU PLAY MASS EFFECT 3 ON THE INSANITY DIFFICULTY SETTING.
a. Class Warfare
When you import a Mass Effect 2 (that's two) game or start the game without importing one, you are given the choice of selecting a class. This is important because you cannot import a prior Mass Effect 3 (that's three) game and change the class. Another factor that you must consider is that now you can use any weapon. For example, in previous games, an Adept could not use a sniper rifle. Now an Adept class can. It only affects weight and your ability to use Biotic-Tech powers consecutively.
And the class you should choose is Engineer. First, you have two powers effective against shielded and armored enemies. Overload takes on shields and barriers. Incinerate is effective against armor and health.
But there's more. You have one of the most useful powers in the game. Combat Drone. It's like having an additional squad member. It will attack a target. After that target is dead, it will roam the battlefield looking for other enemies. This is a power that you should upgrade to the maximum level.
But there's much more. You can deploy a gun turret. And it can be deployed while your drone is wrecking havoc. And get this. At the highest upgrade level, it can fire rockets. Finally, you get Sabotage. It can hack Geth, even with shields, and turn them into your ally. What about those pesky enemy gun turrets? Use this power and turn those gun turrets against your foes. It also can mess with organics' guns. Getting nailed by an Atlas? Freeze his guns. The Engineer may not be as flashy and fun as say an Adept, but because he's effective against all enemies, he's the best choice.
b. Play Mass Effect 3 at least once, preferably twice on Normal before starting Insanity. When you complete Mass Effect 3 once and import that save, you get distinct advantages. The second play through gives you the credits, talent points and powers obtained from the first time going through the game. You also get all the weapons, mods and upgrades you've earned from the first play through. So you can start out the second play through with the M-99 Saber, i.e. once you get to a weapons bench. You also get the amount of Medi-gel that you earned from the previous play through for each mission.
But the playing through gives you other advantages. After the second play through, you're probably going to be at level sixty in terms of talent points. That's the maximum. On this third play through at Insanity, your weapons can be upgraded to level 10, from the start of the game. Level 10 is the maximum You'll notice during the second play through, you could only get up to level seven until you picked up the same weapon during the game. So, the M-99 Saber cannot get to level 10 until late in the game since that's when it was recovered. Still, it's is worthwhile to use the Saber even at level seven.
c. Manually choose to use a teammate's powers and manually level up. This is the usual way to play on any difficulty setting. This way you can direct your squad's powers against a particular foe.
d. Enable the Auto Save feature. The Auto Save feature saves your games at points where you manually can't. I mean you can still manually save your game but there are points where it preserves the game saving you from having to play through a difficult stretch again.
2. THINGS TO DO BEFORE STARTING A MISSION.
a. Weapons. With Mass Effect 3, you can carry any weapon. The downside is that it effects the speed of which you can use consecutive powers. I try to stay on the positive end of the spectrum with the power recharge speed.
That being said, the weapons I usually pack are the M-99 Saber assault rifle and the M-97 Viper sniper rifle. The Saber packs a lot of punch and is semi-automatic. On lower difficulty levels, it demolishes targets. On Insanity, it may not but it causes a lot of damage on enemies. The Viper is a light sniper rifle that may not deal as much damage as other sniper rifles but it won't send your power recharge speed into negative numbers.
b. Armor. Yeah, I know some of you like a clean look when you see your character. Well, you want to live, don't you? So, upgrade your armor from the stores at the Citadel. Or buy armor suits. My Shepard looked like he had stuff growing on him.
c. Default Squads. There are some that say Liara and Garrus should be the default squad but I differ because of powers and weapons. I have two sets. Remember you can upgrade their weapons and they have unlimited ammo.
i. Garrus and James. Garrus can overload shields and barriers. He has unlimited amount of proximity mines and armor piercing ammo. James best power is Carnage which is big ol'biotic blast.
But why these two? Both can carry assault rifles. That means they can carry the M-37 Falcon. It's a grenade launcher with a lot of punch. When you have a squad firing these babies, bad guys start falling. Other choices other than James are Ashley and Javik. But Ashley is gone for half of the game, and you might not have bought the DLC, "From Ashes." I give Garrus, the Black Widow sniper rifle as his second weapon.
ii. Garrus and Tali. Once Tali becomes available, I choose her to pair with Garrus. I give her two kick ass weapons. The Graal Spike Thrower shotgun. It's a vicious weapon with maximum damage up close. And for distance, she gets the Scorpion pistol which fires sticky grenades.
But Tali's biggest asset is the Combat Drone. Now with your Combat drone and hers you can have two extra squad members. She can also sabotage turrets. You can kill enemies without having to fire a shot.
3. MISSION STRATEGIES.
a. Know your enemies. On Insanity, enemies have stronger shields, armor and health. The are more aggressive in flanking you. And they rain down a torrent of fire. Staying out in the open is suicide.
b. Fools rush in. Do not rush into the middle of the battlefield. The enemy will kill you in seconds. There might be exception but I can't think of any right now. You should do the following.
c. Seek cover. And fire from cover.
d. If possible take the high ground. Firing from an elevated position gives you an advantage.
e. Move and fall back if you have to. If you're about to get overrun, move. Fall back if you have to. Going toe to toe in a melee battle usually gets you killed since the other bad guys will shoot you dead once exposed.
f. Take out Engineers and charging enemies first. During a fight with Cerberus troops, take out Engineers first. They deploy those annoying gun turrets which can kill you in a few seconds. Charging enemies are also a priority. Yes, husks are easier to dispatch but they can flush you from cover. Bosses like the Atlas, Brutes and Banshees can get on you in a hurry. Banshees have a biotic dash so they deserve most of the attention.
4. CONCLUSION.
I'm an average player. And I've completed Mass Effect 2 and 3 on Insanity. I found Mass Effect 3 on the Normal difficulty setting to be hard. So, I wasn't feeling up t the task to try it on Insanity. But I played Mass Effect 3 on Insanity and did all of the above. Because you're starting with better weapons and powers, it's actually easier on Insanity than Mass Effect 2 on Insanity. Though there are a couple missions where I almost threw my controller at the TV. That's going to happen with any videogame at the highest level.
Anyway, follow my tips. I'm confident that you will beat the game on Insanity like I did.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Gayest game ever?
I'ms sure Mass Effect 3 causes conservative heads to explode. That's because the video game has gay relationships all over the place. I wonder if they think the game is some type of indoctrination for the young people. By the way, the concept of indoctrination is a plot point in the game as the Reapers try to to take over the minds of their targets. And before I forget, I'm cool with all the gayness in the game. But I wonder if Mass Effect 3 is the gayest game ever made. Anyway, let's go over some of the gay characters in the game.
1. You, aka Shepard. Okay, you don't have to be gay but you can if you want. And that includes male homosexuality or lesbianism.
2. Liara. Um, she can go both ways. She's an Asari. More on that later.
3. Lt. Steve Cortez. You find this it out early on in the game. He's distraught over the loss of his husband. That has to cause some Republicans to go cuckoo.
4. Specialist Samantha Traynor. She hints at being a lesbian when she talks about how she's attracted to EDI's voice. If you're a male Shepard, you're in for a surprise if you try to hit on her. Video below.
5. The Asari. Alien race. All female. All beautiful. All blue. They can mate with females or males. In case you want to know how they reproduce, here's a Mass Effect Wiki article.
1. You, aka Shepard. Okay, you don't have to be gay but you can if you want. And that includes male homosexuality or lesbianism.
2. Liara. Um, she can go both ways. She's an Asari. More on that later.
3. Lt. Steve Cortez. You find this it out early on in the game. He's distraught over the loss of his husband. That has to cause some Republicans to go cuckoo.
4. Specialist Samantha Traynor. She hints at being a lesbian when she talks about how she's attracted to EDI's voice. If you're a male Shepard, you're in for a surprise if you try to hit on her. Video below.
5. The Asari. Alien race. All female. All beautiful. All blue. They can mate with females or males. In case you want to know how they reproduce, here's a Mass Effect Wiki article.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Mass Effect 3: How to get the Hijacker Achievement
Having trouble getting the Hijacker Achievement for Mass Effect 3? Here's an easy way of getting it, though it will cost you some money.
To get the Hijacker Achievement, you must hijack an Atlas Mech. To hijack an Atlas, you must shoot out the glass canopy and kill the driver. Then you must enter the Atlas before another enemy decides to do so. It's not so easy since the Mech has guns and homing rockets. One or two shots from those weapons and you're dead. Plus, the thing moves onto your position even while you're under cover. So taking shots at it, could get you killed.
Here's the easiest way to get this achievement. Get the DLC mission "From Ashes." Yeah, I know some of you are mad that BioWare put this mission as DLC on the first day of the main game's release, thereby forcing you to pay extra money. Get over it. I have already recommended that you get this DLC for the story lines. I've also told you to suck it up.
Start the mission. First, before you go on land on Eden Prime, equip yourself with a sniper rifle. Okay, at the end of the mission you are about to revive the Prothean known as Javik. Save your game. And do so often. Anyway once you push the button, you will be attacked by two waves of Cerberus soldiers. Once you've defeated those two waves you will get a message from a squadmate for you to get ready by stocking up on supplies.
Right. Get ammo if you have to. Now run up to the ladder of the building that you came down from to get to the stasis tube. Climb up to the roof. At this moment you're going to hear the Atlas land with a thud. Additional infantry arrives. I go to the part of the roof that juts out. Stay under cover. Arm the sniper rifle. Pop out and shot at the canopy of the Atlas Mech until it breaks. Kill the Mech driver. Okay now run to the stairs and climb down. If there any stragglers, take them out or hop into the Mech if you're clear and really create havoc. You may have to fight the stragglers without the Mech because they may be firing on you. Additionally they can also hop into the Mech. You can hop into the Mech even if there are no enemies left. Either way, you get the Hijacker Achievement.
Any downside to this easy way of doing it? Yeah, sometimes the Mech is too close to the building and you can't jump into it. But there will be a time where it's far enough away for you to get in. What's the big advantage? Atlas Mech don't climb ladders. And Machete don't text.
To get the Hijacker Achievement, you must hijack an Atlas Mech. To hijack an Atlas, you must shoot out the glass canopy and kill the driver. Then you must enter the Atlas before another enemy decides to do so. It's not so easy since the Mech has guns and homing rockets. One or two shots from those weapons and you're dead. Plus, the thing moves onto your position even while you're under cover. So taking shots at it, could get you killed.
Here's the easiest way to get this achievement. Get the DLC mission "From Ashes." Yeah, I know some of you are mad that BioWare put this mission as DLC on the first day of the main game's release, thereby forcing you to pay extra money. Get over it. I have already recommended that you get this DLC for the story lines. I've also told you to suck it up.
Start the mission. First, before you go on land on Eden Prime, equip yourself with a sniper rifle. Okay, at the end of the mission you are about to revive the Prothean known as Javik. Save your game. And do so often. Anyway once you push the button, you will be attacked by two waves of Cerberus soldiers. Once you've defeated those two waves you will get a message from a squadmate for you to get ready by stocking up on supplies.
Right. Get ammo if you have to. Now run up to the ladder of the building that you came down from to get to the stasis tube. Climb up to the roof. At this moment you're going to hear the Atlas land with a thud. Additional infantry arrives. I go to the part of the roof that juts out. Stay under cover. Arm the sniper rifle. Pop out and shot at the canopy of the Atlas Mech until it breaks. Kill the Mech driver. Okay now run to the stairs and climb down. If there any stragglers, take them out or hop into the Mech if you're clear and really create havoc. You may have to fight the stragglers without the Mech because they may be firing on you. Additionally they can also hop into the Mech. You can hop into the Mech even if there are no enemies left. Either way, you get the Hijacker Achievement.
Any downside to this easy way of doing it? Yeah, sometimes the Mech is too close to the building and you can't jump into it. But there will be a time where it's far enough away for you to get in. What's the big advantage? Atlas Mech don't climb ladders. And Machete don't text.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
The Mass Effect 3 Ending Controversy
IF you're a Mass Effect fan, you've probably heard of the backlash by some gamers of Mass Effect 3's ending. The protests range from the rather dour end to the lack of differences in the ending to the story finish being unfulfilling. I'm going to tell you the real problems with the ending and why the protesters are ultimately wrong.
SPOILER ALERT. If you don't want to know the anything about the end to Mass Effect 3, stop reading. Additionally, I'm going to assume that if you want to know about what's wrong with the end and why the protesters are wrong that you have finished the game. That way I won't waste too much time explaining how your Shepard gets to the finish.
A. THE THREE ENDINGS
The Catalyst gives you three choices on how to stop the Reapers. To get all three choices, you must have a high enough Effective Military Strength. (EMS) This score must be higher than 2800 according to Mass Effect Wikipedia's article on the Priority: Earth mission. Catalyst opens three paths for you. By the way, there is a point of no return. If you go too far up one path you cannot change your mind. Here are the choices.
1. Destroy All Synthetic Life. This requires you to go up the right ramp. Shot the power conduit. That destroys it and cause an explosion. Red energy bolts from the Crucible. The Reapers are killed but so are the Geth. i'm also guessing that EDI won't make it since she does not come out of the wrecked Normandy. According to Mass Effect Wikipedia, if you have at least 4000 EMS score, Shepard survives or at least looks like it. Since you see his chest take a breath. Some label this the Renegade path and I can see that but the other two must vie for Paragon since one is more diplomatic than the other. Video below.
2. Control the Reapers. Ah, this is the Illusive Man's idea, only this time the Catalyst won't control you but allow you to control the Reapers. Go up the left path and access the control panel. You control the Reapers and order them to retreat. Blue energy bolts from the Crucible. You also end up dying in the process. Some consider this the Paragon ending. Video below.
3. Syntheis. Go down the middle and jump into the beam, combining your DNA with the... oh, I'm guessing with synthetic life. A green bolt of energy erupts from the Crucible. Reapers retreat. You have combined organic and synthetic life. Unfortunately, you die in the process. Now here's the best part. When Joker emerges from the crashed Normandy, he's with EDI. They look at the new planet and hug. I consider this the true Paragon ending since you create harmony among organic and synthetic life. Video below.
B. THE REAL PROBLEMS WITH THE ENDING
The first problem that I have with the ending is more with the writing than the actual ending. I don't have a problem with the somewhat sad endings. After all, didn't Halo: Reach end on a sad note? The exposition is lacking. First, Catalyst should tell the player how to execute the ending. For example, he could have said "Access the control panel on your left. You will control the Reapers." Yeah, they showed you what looked like Anderson shooting at the power conduit and the Illusive Man accessing the control panel. Still, it was confusing. I went to explore and was locked into an unwanted decision.
Second, the lack of exposition with the Normandy is a problem. I thought the bolt of energy from the Crucible only effected Reaper forces. Still, there's a scene where Joker is piloting the ship and trying to get her out of the way of the energy bolt. Okay. But why not have some dialogue to tell us what's happening. Then there should be a scene and dialogue where he makes jump to light speed and crashes the ship on a planet not earth.
Third, the game penalizes the single player. Look, if you want the ending where Shepard might live, you have to get a high EMS number. EMS is calculated by multiplying War Assets times the Readiness rating. Multiplayer gamers can get the Readiness rating up. For single player, your Readiness rating will be at 50 per cent. Obviously, the higher the Readiness rating the higher the EMS number. A single player must depend on collecting as many War Assets as possible.
If BioWare were thinking about changing anything, it's in this area. More exposition would be nice. And find a way for single players to get higher EMS scores.
C. WHY THE PROTESTERS ARE WRONG AND WHY THE ENDING IS BASICALLY FINE.
I believe video games are art. The Mass Effect series is an epic game series. But more importantly, it's a platform to tell a story. It's no different than a science fiction novel. This is writer Mac Walters game or if you will, novel. While he must respect his audience, he must be allowed to tell his story free from pressure of the masses. That way, his ideas have integrity.
There is nothing wrong with the way Mass Effect 3 ended. The whole game had a feel of desperation. Why? The Reapers were romping all over the galaxy and it seems nothing could stop them. The protesters can't honestly think that a sad ending may not happen. Think about how diminished Casablanca would be if the audience demanded Ilsa go with Rick. I commend Walters and BioWare for not pandering for the need for a Hollywood happy ending.
As for the lack of choices in the ending, I urge those protesters to try all three endings. The Renegade ending may kill all the Reapers but it eliminates the Geth. Controlling the Reapers may not stop the problem in the future. And if you combine synthetic life with organic, you get a new galaxy of new life forms. Those are three endings with different consequences.
I liked the ending. The world was in real trouble. It looks like civilized life was over. And over for many planets. You or Shepard did something heroic. He sacrificed himself for the greater good. Check out the hopeful epilogue with the Stargazer and the little boy. (End of the first video above.) I love the use of the original, meditative music from the first Mass Effect. It has a lovely warmth. Perhaps that is the happy end that some of you want.
SPOILER ALERT. If you don't want to know the anything about the end to Mass Effect 3, stop reading. Additionally, I'm going to assume that if you want to know about what's wrong with the end and why the protesters are wrong that you have finished the game. That way I won't waste too much time explaining how your Shepard gets to the finish.
A. THE THREE ENDINGS
The Catalyst gives you three choices on how to stop the Reapers. To get all three choices, you must have a high enough Effective Military Strength. (EMS) This score must be higher than 2800 according to Mass Effect Wikipedia's article on the Priority: Earth mission. Catalyst opens three paths for you. By the way, there is a point of no return. If you go too far up one path you cannot change your mind. Here are the choices.
1. Destroy All Synthetic Life. This requires you to go up the right ramp. Shot the power conduit. That destroys it and cause an explosion. Red energy bolts from the Crucible. The Reapers are killed but so are the Geth. i'm also guessing that EDI won't make it since she does not come out of the wrecked Normandy. According to Mass Effect Wikipedia, if you have at least 4000 EMS score, Shepard survives or at least looks like it. Since you see his chest take a breath. Some label this the Renegade path and I can see that but the other two must vie for Paragon since one is more diplomatic than the other. Video below.
2. Control the Reapers. Ah, this is the Illusive Man's idea, only this time the Catalyst won't control you but allow you to control the Reapers. Go up the left path and access the control panel. You control the Reapers and order them to retreat. Blue energy bolts from the Crucible. You also end up dying in the process. Some consider this the Paragon ending. Video below.
3. Syntheis. Go down the middle and jump into the beam, combining your DNA with the... oh, I'm guessing with synthetic life. A green bolt of energy erupts from the Crucible. Reapers retreat. You have combined organic and synthetic life. Unfortunately, you die in the process. Now here's the best part. When Joker emerges from the crashed Normandy, he's with EDI. They look at the new planet and hug. I consider this the true Paragon ending since you create harmony among organic and synthetic life. Video below.
B. THE REAL PROBLEMS WITH THE ENDING
The first problem that I have with the ending is more with the writing than the actual ending. I don't have a problem with the somewhat sad endings. After all, didn't Halo: Reach end on a sad note? The exposition is lacking. First, Catalyst should tell the player how to execute the ending. For example, he could have said "Access the control panel on your left. You will control the Reapers." Yeah, they showed you what looked like Anderson shooting at the power conduit and the Illusive Man accessing the control panel. Still, it was confusing. I went to explore and was locked into an unwanted decision.
Second, the lack of exposition with the Normandy is a problem. I thought the bolt of energy from the Crucible only effected Reaper forces. Still, there's a scene where Joker is piloting the ship and trying to get her out of the way of the energy bolt. Okay. But why not have some dialogue to tell us what's happening. Then there should be a scene and dialogue where he makes jump to light speed and crashes the ship on a planet not earth.
Third, the game penalizes the single player. Look, if you want the ending where Shepard might live, you have to get a high EMS number. EMS is calculated by multiplying War Assets times the Readiness rating. Multiplayer gamers can get the Readiness rating up. For single player, your Readiness rating will be at 50 per cent. Obviously, the higher the Readiness rating the higher the EMS number. A single player must depend on collecting as many War Assets as possible.
If BioWare were thinking about changing anything, it's in this area. More exposition would be nice. And find a way for single players to get higher EMS scores.
C. WHY THE PROTESTERS ARE WRONG AND WHY THE ENDING IS BASICALLY FINE.
I believe video games are art. The Mass Effect series is an epic game series. But more importantly, it's a platform to tell a story. It's no different than a science fiction novel. This is writer Mac Walters game or if you will, novel. While he must respect his audience, he must be allowed to tell his story free from pressure of the masses. That way, his ideas have integrity.
There is nothing wrong with the way Mass Effect 3 ended. The whole game had a feel of desperation. Why? The Reapers were romping all over the galaxy and it seems nothing could stop them. The protesters can't honestly think that a sad ending may not happen. Think about how diminished Casablanca would be if the audience demanded Ilsa go with Rick. I commend Walters and BioWare for not pandering for the need for a Hollywood happy ending.
As for the lack of choices in the ending, I urge those protesters to try all three endings. The Renegade ending may kill all the Reapers but it eliminates the Geth. Controlling the Reapers may not stop the problem in the future. And if you combine synthetic life with organic, you get a new galaxy of new life forms. Those are three endings with different consequences.
I liked the ending. The world was in real trouble. It looks like civilized life was over. And over for many planets. You or Shepard did something heroic. He sacrificed himself for the greater good. Check out the hopeful epilogue with the Stargazer and the little boy. (End of the first video above.) I love the use of the original, meditative music from the first Mass Effect. It has a lovely warmth. Perhaps that is the happy end that some of you want.
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