I’m sorely tempted to by Mass Effect, partly because I’m in the mood for something scifi, partly because I’ve liked Bioware stuff in the past and partly because yes, I’ve bought into the hype a bit.
The question is now xbox360 vs PC? I have a suitably mega rig to run it in PC land and it will no doubt be prettier there, but the thought of sitting on the couch in front of the big screen is appealing too. I also like the achievement thing on the 360, and just as much despise the “games for windows live” crap on the PC.
Thoughts, grievances, opinions etc welcome.
EDIT: This is understanding the PC version isn’t out yet, but is due out soon.
From a Gamespot preview of the upcoming PC version:
The most obvious of these improvements, which was immediately evident regardless of the fact that we were checking the game out on a 720p HDTV rather than on a higher-resolution monitor, is that the visuals are now much sharper and more detailed. The character models look great, environmental features such as water and foliage are much more believable, and even the textures of the relatively featureless non-story-critical planets look very different now that you can clearly see cracks in the ground, small stones, and such. On one of the planets we were shown during the presentation, there were clouds of dusts blowing across the screen, which are in the Xbox 360 game but not nearly as effective as they are on the PC. We can report that the PC game’s textures load much more quickly than those in the console game as well, and though we noticed them popping in on occasion, the problem wasn’t nearly as pronounced as it was for Xbox 360 players last year. For what it’s worth, the PC version of Mass Effect that we were looking at is still a work-in-progress as well, so it’s conceivable that the problem won’t be in the finished game at all.
I think its fair to say the PC version is going to be hands down superior, with a possible exception of controls. Still, who knows if it will be released as scheduled.
Unless you have a control scheme preference, and depending on your console game setup, I don’t think it really matters. There’s nothing crippled about the 360 version that will be magically better on the PC version, at least from what I’ve seen.
All the little stuff is irrelevant anyway. If it bothers you then it means the game has already failed in terms of keeping you interested in the main story. If they don’t bother you then it doesn’t matter what you play it on.
Plus, you can play the 360 version now and probably find a used copy for a price that’s competitive with what the PC version will be.
The PC version will be playable with a 360 controller, so controls will not be an issue. Achievements will also be available through Games for Windows Live! Loading times are going to be greatly improved as well.
The PC version sounds better in every way, but it’s not going to be the definitive version until Bioware announces plans for the DLC to appear on PC.
Though they’d have to be done through GfW Live to generate gamerscore for your Live account. If you care. I don’t particularly, myself. I just like achievements conceptually.
GfWL will have an impact on my decision I think, I don’t care for it. Good point up there about picking up a used 360 version, I looked around the innerwebs and found some for as low as $30.
Not having played the PC version, it’s hard to really give you a recommendation.
That said, I imagine the framerate issues on ice worlds will be cleaned up on the PC release, and of course you can always mod PC games. I also find that UE3 games look better on a “mega rig,” so there’s that, too.
Man, don’t foist GfWL on us! Who needs to deal w/ that turkey? Mass Effect isn’t multiplayer; the last thing I’d want is to have to create/link a 360 account just to play the game. Sell it on Steam!
I bought the 360 version. I bought the PC versions of KoToR though, so assuming the same level of port, it doesn’t really matter what you play it on, unless, by some magical means, the elevators go 10 times faster. Then, buy it on PC.
Right, because you can play on Steam without a Steam account? Oh wait, no you can’t! Heh.
GfWL seems fine by me, since the game doesn’t include multiplayer then there’s no real incentive to pay at all for Gold level membership (which is usually just for cross-platform play on select titles). I already have a registered free account, so it’s pretty much a no brainer. It gives their game a new content distribution system for future download packs, a way to track achievements, etc.
