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Rivercurse
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Downloading now :Bounce:

 

Will post my thoughts later today.

 

Reviews and opinions of this DLC here. Use spoiler tags if necessary to avoid ruining the DLC for people yet to play it.

 

Update - Finished my review.

 

Alright so here we go, finished now and here are my thoughts.

 

Following review will contain some very very light Spoilers. Nothing heavy, but still, read at your own risk.

 

***************

 

Having only played through the DLC once (as a paragon) I suppose there are some dialogue/choices that I haven't seen, but I thought what I did play through was pretty good actually.

 

Having listened to Bioware's overtures about this content being twice the size of any previous DLC I was expecting a pretty lengthy experience but that idea pretty much crashed and burned when I saw the file size was only 2GB. Still, all told, Omega probably took me about 3.5 hours to beat. This was on insanity with a soldier, getting all achievements and poking my nose into every single drawer and cupboard that I could open.

I've seen a lot of complaints about the length, but as far as I'm concerned it's acceptable. Wether some will be able to balance this length-vs-new-pricepoint is a valid question though, and I'll try to come onto that later.

 

Difficulty is sadly on the wane. Anyone with a reasonable amount of multiplayer experience behind them should have no trouble whatsoever with single player content in Mass Effect these days. Even on insanity (Soldier/Energy Drain/Black Widow X) I only died once and that was my own stupid fault. This is an easy DLC. The notion of being able to pause combat and strategise squad power combos etc pretty much makes you unbeatable once you're used to the balls out multiplayer stuff. When fighting multiple boss units in a row on platinum is something you do with your eyes closed, dropping ONE Atlas into a room with you in the single player and expecting it to be a boss fight style challenge is something Bioware might need to address. There is no achievement for beating this DLC on the hardest difficulty, but do yourself a favour and play it on Insanity anyway. This game is way more enjoyable at that level.

 

Storyline. There really isn't all that much to be learned about Aria in this DLC. I was expecting to learn more about her history, specifically I was hoping there would be at least some fan service reference to the epic battle she had with Wrex before you knew either of them (or why she used to be known by another name), but at the very least I was expecting to come out of the DLC knowing a lot more about her than I actually did.

 

I can't really say I bought into Nyreen very much either. She seemed like a pretty standard character, and I didn't feel enough of an affinity with her to feel much emotion about what happens at the end of the DLC. If you want players emotionally invested, you need to characterise strongly, and I understand that the options to do this are limited in a relatively short DLC pack, but I know Bioware's writers are capable of better work than this. There are only really 2 conversation trees in the entire experience, and both of those are pretty much ask a simple question, get a simple answer.

 

Exploration was quite strong actually. Yes there are a lot of corridors between open area fire fights, but this is Mass Effect right? If this is a criticism I'm not entirely sure what you were expecting...

There are a number of areas that are large, dark, with the illusion of multiple paths kind of like the underground bunkers of the Krogan City in the actual game. I thought these worked well especially with the thrown in audio of one of the new enemy types. With headphones on this scene really had an air of tension I haven't often found in this franchise. I saw a couple of people liken this to Dead Space and I'll agree there was an element of that to it. With the stakes as high as they are in Mass Effect and the sheer horror of what is actually happening to the galaxy, plus the games 18/mature rating, i'd always hoped for a little bit more suspense and horror in the main story. This scene in Omega only has mere echoes of that genre, but it was well done, and still serves to remind of another opportunity missed.

 

Other than that, the art direction is great. There are parts of Omega that look fantastic. I always was a sucker for a vista, and I spent the odd minute or so just looking out into the distance and watching the ships flying past. I did feel that I was within the bowels of a dirty old space station at times, so a job well done on that score.

 

Whilst on the subject of exploration I suppose I should mention the 50 point 'Meticulous' achievement which is for completing some loosely defined side missions. Don't get your hopes up. These are fetch quests and nothing more. Oh, and the part where you have to go and find Aria's couch (oh yes, i'm serious, you have to go and find HER COUCH), what were they thinking there? Shocked and appalled that once I had finished the DLC, Aria's couch wasn't a war asset worth 100 points. It was ridiculous.

 

For completing this DLC you do get some stuff. The war asset total is reasonable. There are a couple of new bonus abilities that unlock (anyone who doesn't take Flare on their next playthrough really shouldn't be playing Mass Effect anymore), and a couple of other little trinkets for your cabin as well as a few weapon mods. I think there was a new weapon aswell thrown in there somewhere but frankly I was kinda drunk by the end and I'm not entirely sure. if there was, it certainly wasn't an exciting weapon.

 

So we move onto value. This is a tricky one for me to be impartial on because there aren't many bigger Mass Effect fans than myself, and I've been known to buy pretty much anything they stick an N7 logo on and still find it value for money. I enjoyed the DLC. Would I buy it again for 1200msp? Yes I would. But again, everybody's financial situation is different. I'm lucky enough that money isn't really a concern for me so it's a lot easier for me to find value in this content than for someone who perhaps bought this instead of a new retail release.

 

The long and the short of it is that it's expensive for what it is. I'm sure it'll be on deal of the week eventually and voting with your wallets is the only way that developers will get the message regarding DLC pricing; but if you have plenty of disposable income, Omega gets a recommendation.

 

Perhaps with the whole ME3 ending fiasco Bioware figured that all of the fairweather fans are gone, and now that only the hardcore are left they can charge what they want and we'll still pay it? Hmm, cynical, but this is a different Bioware these days..

 

Overall, I enjoyed Omega. It lacks a wider significance in terms of the games storyline but that was always going to be the case. It lacks the punch that LotSB or even to a lesser extent Leviathan had at the end of their respective storylines. This is a criticism it's hard to ignore. There is no doubt more that they could have done with the story, and the slimline roleplaying elements became even slimmer in this latest DLC. I can only remember one paragon interrupt in the entire experience, and even that was just butting in on someones speech. Underwhelming. There were definitely more renegade options, but I am yet to try any of these so I can't fairly review them. This bare bones approach to choice leaves one rather concerned for the future of Mass Effect in truth.

 

In terms of where this DLC sits - I'd put it above the likes of Arrival, Leviathan (other than the final scene),and Overlord. It's not nearly as good as the Shadow Broker. Starting to wonder if this holy grail of DLC's will ever be bettered within this franchise.

 

This review highlights a lot of negatives. This wasn't really my intention. There is a lot about Omega that I liked aswell, but I try to review stuff like this dispassionately rather than through my fanboy eyes. If you want a review through my fanboy eyes instead, here it is: Buy Omega. It's awesome. :)

 

Overall - 7.5

Edited by Rivercurse
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How long did it take? And are you one of these guys who blasts through it or do you explore every noook and cranny?

 

Spoilers...

 

I thought I explored everything but I guess I missed a couple of computers and a couch for the side missions. These are my impressions having just finished...

 

-Dialogue seemed like it was written by a sixth grader.

-Tons of dark empty corridores for you to explore, followed by one minute battles with eight to ten enemies.

-This Omega hardly resembles the one you'll be dreaming of from Mass Effect 2. Wanting to see good old Afterlife? Enjoy it for about two minutes in the final battle.

-Even with exploration this clocks in around two, two and a half hours.

 

Overhyped doesn't describe this content, more like complete and utter lies about it being "large" or anything resembling the Shadow Broker content. I love this franchise but Bioware has lost all of their magic. I gave in and bought it, I hope you don't do the same. Even the most die-hard fans can wait for a minimum half-off sale. I promise you I didn't buy this so I could bitch about it, I hoped it would be good.

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Overhyped doesn't describe this content, more like complete and utter lies about it being "large" or anything resembling the Shadow Broker content. I love this franchise but Bioware has lost all of their magic. I gave in and bought it, I hope you don't do the same. Even the most die-hard fans can wait for a minimum half-off sale. I promise you I didn't buy this so I could bitch about it, I hoped it would be good.

 

Unfortunately, I can see many falling for that line "twice the size of any Mass Effect DLC to date". As soon as I saw that line, when BioWare were bigging it up, I thought that it won't be what most of us would consider core gameplay, but most of the file would be bloated by the thing as a whole - level design, textures and stuff, dialogue etc.

 

But thanks for your opinion all the same WW. I wasn't going to get this straight off the bat anyway, as the points I have I'll be spending on Skyrim DLC come next week (and I bet my house I'll get more hours of enjoyment out of it), but you've definitely made me feel better about my decision. It's nice to get a real gamers point of view (compared to that of review sites), especially one who seems a sound enough guy.

 

*waits for a ME3 DLC sale bundle next year, hopefully*

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Spoilers...

 

I thought I explored everything but I guess I missed a couple of computers and a couch for the side missions. These are my impressions having just finished...

 

-Dialogue seemed like it was written by a sixth grader.

-Tons of dark empty corridores for you to explore, followed by one minute battles with eight to ten enemies.

-This Omega hardly resembles the one you'll be dreaming of from Mass Effect 2. Wanting to see good old Afterlife? Enjoy it for about two minutes in the final battle.

-Even with exploration this clocks in around two, two and a half hours.

 

Overhyped doesn't describe this content, more like complete and utter lies about it being "large" or anything resembling the Shadow Broker content. I love this franchise but Bioware has lost all of their magic. I gave in and bought it, I hope you don't do the same. Even the most die-hard fans can wait for a minimum half-off sale. I promise you I didn't buy this so I could bitch about it, I hoped it would be good.

 

I'm watching a Pure-Paragon playthrough right now, you're absolutely right. This is almost worse than Leviathan actually. Trinity's VAing is rather bland, and the Turian just sound like pure fanpanning to the die hards who wanted a female Turian.

 

Also, all of the new weapon mods were added in the Leviathan Download, you just needed to mod them in. Is the new power worth it, I saw the guy use it a few times but I couldn't see over the wall they were hiding behind. Also, from the Dev commentary, the Collector Rifle added seems stronger than the one buried in the files. That, or everyone plays on Casual.

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Unfortunately, I can see many falling for that line "twice the size of any Mass Effect DLC to date". As soon as I saw that line, when BioWare were bigging it up, I thought that it won't be what most of us would consider core gameplay, but most of the file would be bloated by the thing as a whole - level design, textures and stuff, dialogue etc.

 

But thanks for your opinion all the same WW. I wasn't going to get this straight off the bat anyway, as the points I have I'll be spending on Skyrim DLC come next week (and I bet my house I'll get more hours of enjoyment out of it), but you've definitely made me feel better about my decision. It's nice to get a real gamers point of view (compared to that of review sites), especially one who seems a sound enough guy.

 

*waits for a ME3 DLC sale bundle next year, hopefully*

 

Thanks for the kind words as always sir, my little sum up of the DLC probably came across kind of ranty but it's more disappointment than anything. I figured since I was kind of complaining before it's release I should put my money where my mouth is and well, here I am.

 

I'm watching a Pure-Paragon playthrough right now, you're absolutely right. This is almost worse than Leviathan actually. Trinity's VAing is rather bland, and the Turian just sound like pure fanpanning to the die hards who wanted a female Turian.

 

Also, all of the new weapon mods were added in the Leviathan Download, you just needed to mod them in. Is the new power worth it, I saw the guy use it a few times but I couldn't see over the wall they were hiding behind. Also, from the Dev commentary, the Collector Rifle added seems stronger than the one buried in the files. That, or everyone plays on Casual.

 

Yeah I'll admit I ran through on Casual but I don't see playing on Insanity making a monumental difference. I play Mass Effect for the story so while that may have extended my time with it by a half hour or so, I could have gotten the same illusion of length by taking a nap.

 

Some might disagree but there were a couple of parts in the DLC that reminded me of Dead Space for a minute, in a good way.

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Im a massive mass effect fan but i think 6/10 is too high, what we got compared to what we were promised is a joke, i mean i was expecting a decent chunk of gameplay and got 4 half missons sepearted by some filler, the companion missions in ME2 were longer. I hope when someone goes thru the omega code and finds lines of dialogue from the next ME3 DLC that its at least its twice as long!

 

Also you only have like 3 choices the whole DLC!

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Im a massive mass effect fan but i think 6/10 is too high, what we got compared to what we were promised is a joke, i mean i was expecting a decent chunk of gameplay and got 4 half missons sepearted by some filler, the companion missions in ME2 were longer. I hope when someone goes thru the omega code and finds lines of dialogue from the next ME3 DLC that its at least its twice as long!

 

Also you only have like 3 choices the whole DLC!

 

I agree, it was almost as if they added in dialogue choices for Shepard when they realized they forgot to do so. There were like two parts where you had dialogue trees to exhaust, once with Aria and once with Nyreen. And they basically boiled down to questions like "Will you remind me again why we want to retake Omega Aria?" Becuase it's mine Shepard. "What kind of resistance do you think we'll face?" Cerberus mostly Shepard.

 

When I saw the achievement description for "Meticulous" I said to myself, ok good there will probably be a bunch of side missions to go do, that should take an hour or so, they won't be huge but I'll settle for some filler. I don't even think if you were exaggerating you could get away with calling these three tiny tasks missions, even if your description was the sum of all three.

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It was decent, but like everybody else, I think the price is outrageous. As soon as I read the article where they boasted how big the file size was, I knew something was fishy. They used that as a selling point, because honestly, it doesn't seem any longer than LOTSB to me. A big file size justified them charging as much as they did. If it was half the price, I wouldn't be complaining at all, but this is the most expensive add-on I ever purchased, and it wasn't any more special than the others.

 

I really did want to wait, but having some more single player DLC for this series is too much for me to pass up because I love the series so much.

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It's very underwhelming. Story is simple and uninteresting, and the squadies become annoying quickly. For the most part you're just running through some dark corridors killing the same few Cerberus goons, and doing a few generic hack computer/shut down power/fetch item objectives.

 

On the bright side there are some nice looking vistas, and two new enemy units. One esentially fills the same role as the Dragoon, and armoured CQB combatant. The second is more interesting, using powerful biotics, but it only appears in two fights in the entire DLC.

 

Also of note, there was a point in the DLC where I thought they were going to try and do something horror, but it stopped before anything notable happened. Omega system isn't added to the galaxy map, which I thought was odd. It's kinda buggy as well, some of the NPCs were in strange poses during dialog and cutscenes. Considering Bioware Montreal developed this, the prospects for the next Mass Effect game seem bleaker now

Edited by Merch
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Re the NPC bugginess I saw that as well. Poorly rendered animations cutting here and there. Very simple combat based missions and the side missions for the achievements added nothing to the content.

 

In playing and reading these items I couldn't help but feel it was quite representative of the overall game. Few story based issues and more an action game - confirms ME is no longer an RPG although some may say it hasn't been for a long time anyway.

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I'm going to agree with the consensus here and say that it was a little underwhelming. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing amazing about it either, just some typical Mass Effect 3 combat missions in some very pretty environments, with nothing too interesting going on in terms of lore or dialogue or moral choices.

 

I would say it certainly does not justify being more expensive than Leviathan or Lair of the Shadow Broker.

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I really enjoyed the content. Aria is a character that I've always liked. So it was cool to fight alongside her for a few hours and learn more about her. Nyreen was an interesting character to interact with. I always wondered what a female Turian would be like. So that was nice to see. I absolutely love Aria's Flare ability. It's one of the coolest biotic moves in the game. That's definitely going to me my extra ability on every future playthrough I do. I was disappointed that Aria didn't become a romance option. A kiss is fine, but I always thought she would make the perfect romance choice for a Renegade Shepard. But that's really the only negative I can think of about the DLC. It's was really fun and I look forward to more in the future. :)

 

I also got a Dead Space vibe from certain areas of the DLC. I love that series too. So it was a very nice surprise.

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