Review: Fallout 3

Grade: A+
Time Spent Playing: 20 hours


This is the kind of game I longingly dreamt of when I was a child. Well, that hypothetical game probably had more boobs in it.

My meaning is actually quite simple: Fallout 3 feels, more than any game I can recall, like the evolution of the medium. Instead of being bound to the designer's linear will, I'm free to make my own way. In his infamous essay arguing against video games as art, Roger Ebert cited the observer's control over events as a key reason as to why video games were not art. I would offer this game as the antithesis to that argument. Were it not for the tremendous freedom the player enjoys in Fallout, its commentary on mankind's natural inclination toward petty barbarism and its message that doing good is its own end would be completely lost because it's the choices the player makes that reflect these themes.

But Roger Ebert was silly for writing that article. His point of reference was Myst and, as Bioshock cleverly highlighted last year, the observer generally has little to no control on the outcome of events in a video game.

Fallout 3 begins with your character's birth and gives brief glimpses into his life before he follows dear old Dad into the unknown. As an escapee from an underground vault meant to preserve mankind from annihilation, you will embark on a journey across a ruined world; a wasteland of humanity where might makes right, mutants pillage, abominations devour human flesh, and opportunistic slavers ply their trade. The waste is sparse, irradiated death and the waste is your constant companion.

I find myself drawn to combing the hellish desert more so than kicking around towns and the magnificently rendered ruins of Washington DC. Every moment feels dire. Every moment feels like a possible end awaits nearby. The desert, largely quiet, is indifferent to my trespass; knowing that I too fade away with time.

Fallout 3 isn't perfect, but to list any complaints seems an obtuse task. Much better to use my time reflecting on what an amazing game Bethesda has put together.

MS Attributes Recent Success in Japan to Exclusive RPGs, Xbox Live, and Raping Tentacles

For the second week in a row, the Xbox 360 has managed the seemingly impossible and bested the  PS3 in Japanese hardware sales.  Long considered a lost territory to the American born system due to the complete failure of the original Xbox and the mild reception the 360 had garnered up till now, Japan seems to be slowly awakening to the console's hissing siren call.

In an exclusive phone interview with RD!, Xbox Japan Boss Takashi Sensui said, "We think the audience is responding to the great exclusive RPGs like Tales of Vesperia and Infinite Undiscovery and they are also enjoying the robust online experience provided by Xbox Live.  Also, they really enjoy how it sprouts tentacles and rapes young women."

Sensui revealed that as part of tailoring the New Xbox Experience to Japanese tastes, they've included a feature that allows the Xbox 360 to sprout giant, cephalopodic tentacles that seek out nubile women and rape them.  It was planned to release with the rest of the NXE later this fall, but the situation in Japan was deemed so dire, Sensui approved the release of the beta.

"The full version will be so much more robust," he added. "You'll be able to choose the color, the texture.  Right now they only commit vaginal rape, but the final version will seek out any opening for violation.  It also won't be limited to women; we don't want to leave you guys out on all of the fun! The best part is, the number of tentacles is tied to your gamerscore.  If you have very little gamerscore, you'll only get one tentacle, but if you have over 20,000; oh man, watch out!"

RD! was allowed to download the full version and will be posting our impressions soon.  Needless to say, use of the updated Xbox 360 around the office has proved a great distraction.

"Jump" Button In Mega Man 9 To Be DLC

It appears that Capcom's earlier, pre-release announcement that Proto Man
will be available as down loadable content in Mega Man 9 was only the
tip of the iceberg, as a new press release from the respected game
publisher revealed that the ability to jump will also require a
microtransaction. At 2 dollars (200 Wii points, 160 MS points), the jump option will allow players to leap to higher platforms as well
as dodge enemy blasters with ease. The news is already sending
shockwaves throughout the gamer community, such as displayed by neogaf
forum member, kratosephiroth420:



"this is so ghey u know its becaus tehy sold out to M$. damn fuck capcom never should have ported DMC4. there ghey"



In an exclusive phone interview with Robotronic Dynamite!, series
producer Keiji Inafune defended the decision, "People are saying that
the game is virtually unplayable without the jump. This is simply not
true. Look, I'm playing the game right now without the jump and it's fine."



When we reminded Mr. Inafune that we were conducting a phone interview
and therefore could not see him playing the game, he proceeded to
pretend he didn't speak english and hung up.



Stay logged in to RD! for further updates on this breaking story.

Review: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

Rating: B+
Time Spent Playing: 20 to 30 hours

There was a point during my time spent with the new console friendly Civ in which I stopped wondering to myself, "why did they take this feature out?" and just started enjoying the game for what it is. I imagine this obstacle will prevent more than a few hardcore Civ fans from fully appreciating what a great and unique experience this game is. It feels, especially when played online with friends, how I imagine a board game version of Civ might feel. It's Catan on steroids.

One of the game's key successes is the controls. Designing a game around a controller produces far better results than trying to cram the complicated controls of a keyboard and mouse into a gamepad. It's for this same reason that I suspect if an RTS will ever find success on a console, it will be one designed specifically for console, a la Halo Wars. There is a bit of a learning curve with acting efficiently--a crucial skill when playing the timed rounds of multiplayer--but after two or three games everyone should be founding cities, researching techs, and reigning bloody devastation upon their enemies with ease.

The transformation of Civ from a primarily single player game to multi player is remarkable. Human opponents make for far more entertaining foils than AI ever will. The idea of everyone moving at the same time seems chaotic but generally works quite well.

There are faults to be found. Single player AI essentially results in every competing civilization waging endless war on you. I've been playing on deity difficulty lately and even when I'm in near last place in every category, even as the French are launching their space station into space, all focus is on my English rubes who've barely figured out rail roads.

Multi player probably drags on a bit too long for anything outside of play with friends. Gameplay is titled far more towards winning by Domination and Monetary victories. I don't recall anyone ever winning via Culture.

As far as elements from previous Civs dropped for this game, there is only one that I find truly annoying and mystifying as to its absence. The ability to upgrade units to their new tech equivalent with gold. As it is, it can only be done by building a specific wonder, making that wonder far more useful than just about any other.

Project Disappointment

Fear was a solid game that was over-appreciated, as is their custom, by PC fps enthusiasts for its impressive technical qualities. Its biggest fault--more so than even the generic, Saturday morning cartoon look of the enemies--was the environments. Office buildings are terrible places to work; I don't know why anyne would set a game there.

For whatever reason, the devs decided to once more head back into the world of cubicles and break rooms. I was also hoping for a new villain, as creepy little girl spirits bent on indiscriminate vengeance is cliche at this point. Maybe I'll pick it up for the multiplayer that no one but the psychopaths who memorize spawn patterns will bother to particpate in.

Blah.

Game of the Year 2008: Confirmed

Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, "maybe he's jumping the gun here. There's a ton of great, high quality games coming out this year. And some people don't like games that give you the freedom to do whatever you want."

Just remember: you're dumb and John William is very, very smart.

Review: Army of Two

Grade: B
Time Spent Playing: 5 hours

Before I get into this review, I should note that I never played any part of this game in single player. I have a feeling that playing the campaign by yourself is a dreadful task equaled only by watching baseball or, even worse, playing baseball.

Also, I had a fair number of beers. So, taking a wild guess, playing this game by yourself and sober would probably be a C- experience.

Anyway, with cold High Life's at the ready and my very own Joey Coco in tow, I set about making my way through the bullets and bombs dude-athon that is Army of Two. There is some sort of story in the game that has you shooting lots and lots of thugs of differing ethnicities in exotic locales culminating with a face off with a guy with a brohawk. To be honest, I purposefully didn't pay attention to the story and my experience was likely the better for it.

While the graphics and audio are of remarkable quality, what truly shines in this game is the cooperative gunplay. While the first few levels allow you to run from room to room like a couple of rambos, the difficulty soon swings upward and with it, the fun. Once you're forced to play smart and use cover and makes use of cooperative tactics, the game goes from amusing yet forgettable shoot 'em up to an engaging and often challenging experience.

There are also fun little additions like the "fist pump" button and the ability to literally pimp out your weapons. On the other hand, the weapons store is somewhat mystifying, featuring weapons so expensive we still didn't have the money to purchase them on the very last level of the game.

I'm looking forward to this game's inevitable sequel. While it does have its flaws, it succeeds in spite of them. With proper handling, the sequel could be the triple A title this one so desperately wanted to be.

A personal note: Sorry it's been so long since I updated this blog. I recently uprooted myself from Louisville and moved to the milder climes of Portland, Oregon. Expect me to start arbitrarily drifting into rants about the merits of riding bikes and eating organic food.

Review: Lost

Grade: C
Time Spent Playing: 4 hours
Rental Only!

It's difficult to gauge the overall quality of Lost. It's entirely dependent on whether you're a fan of the show. If that isn't the case, then don't even bother reading the rest of the review because there is very little here to warrant playing through for a non-fan. I do, however, make one funny joke, so maybe it's worth your time.

This is pretty much fan-service in interactive form. There's some kind of adventure game tucked away in here but I can't think of better way to describe it than as being gentle-adventure gaming. The backdrops are gorgeous; some of the best graphics I've seen period. The characters models based on the actors we're familiar with range from funny to scary. Micheal reminded me of what the Little Rascal character Buckwheat might have looked like in his teen years had the cast not been put to death by their studio overlords upon reaching puberty.

The story is a mixed bag. While the character's story on the island isn't that engaging and disappointingly ends with a Wizard of Oz twist, the story in his flash backs is interesting because it turns out he was kind of a huge piece of shit in his past life. While games like GTA and Saint's Row have you playing as morally reprehensible jackasses, it doesn't really matter in terms of the viewer's connection to the story because there's a cartoonish detachment to the world and the characters. The story presented in Lost's flashbacks will actually shock you. I distinctly recall thinking to myself, "Wow. What a piece of shit."

The gameplay isn't so much broken as it is boring. The hardest parts are generally when you're making your way to different areas on the island, avoiding the monster and the Others who, in the games biggest departure from the show, spend most of their time hanging out in trees shooting at hapless travelers. You'll also have to do some spelunking, which really isn't that much fun either. To aid you in your quest, you'll barter for useful items like guns and torches with items like chocolate bars and beers that you find as you explore the island.

So I begrudgingly recommend a playthrough for Losties. Do be aware it's not that great of a game. It has some nice visuals and the character may eventually be introduced on the show.

Review: Stranglehold

Grade: C-
Time Spent Playing: 5-6 hours

If I were reviewing Stranglehold based off of the first level, I could have provided some kind of awesome pull quote like, "A thrilling, thrill-a-minute, thrill ride!" Regrettably, the developers opted not to call it a day after finishing the first level and soldiered on, making sure to quash any potential this title might have had. Not that there isn't any fun to be had on the third level; it's just that in between bouts of destroying meticulously constructed set pieces, you have notions of, "I'm doing the exact same thing over and over again. But man, is it pretty."

It was about halfway through the Museum of Chicago level that I started to transition from thinking this was a fun, if repetitive shooter to realizing the game kinda sucks. What happened? The enemies--the common enemies--became bullet sponges, forcing you to spend most of your time taking cover instead of pulling off the silly, flashy maneuvers the game was sold on. It was then that I started to really hate the "go into a room, clear guys, now clear fifty more guys who will randomly pop out of eight to ten different doors--sometimes right behind you!" formula.

The other main offense, stupidly lame boss battles, isn't worth complaining about because, honestly, I would have still liked the game a lot if that was all that was wrong with it. By the end of it, as I died over and over again, I questioned why I was bothering. Surely, it was the amazing and compelling story that pushed me forward.

Nah. The story is insipid. I wonder why they bothered coming up with justification for what could be called, "Chow Yun Fat Shoots Thousands of Chinamen in their Bing Bongs." It has something to do with a past lover I don't remember from Hard Boiled and a daughter they had together and something about bringing balance back to the force by shooting as many Chinese people in the ball sack as possible. What's even worse was the presentation. Some of the Chinese characters speak normal, mid-west English while others sound like they're auditioning for Kung Fu: The Animated Series. Perhaps it's some clever comment on the state of ABC versus FOB relations.

For his part, I'm fairly certain Chow phoned his lines in from a bar where one of the producers said to him, "Just figure out ten or so different ways to say, 'I don't need my badge, I'm doing things MY way!' and we'll cut them into the story."

So, in the end: play the demo. Play it two or three times. Skip the full game.

Review: The Simpsons

Saxamaphone.

Grade: C+
Time Spent Playing: Around five hours

It should be noted that had the Simpsons game started out with a Hostel parody in which Lisa is gruesomely murdered I probably would have given it an A++. Tragically, EA did not have the wherewithal to make my common sensical suggestion a reality. What's more, they actually force you to play as Lisa. Ignoring the urge to send a bullet barreling through your brain everytime you hear her proclaim "Girl Power!" is a mini-game in and of itself.

Which takes me to my larger problem: Why am I playing anyone but Homer? Homer Simpson is late 20th century's sole addition to the ongoing endeavor of western literature. Marge is fine as his foil but after hearing the same intentionally bad joke 20 times over, you forget the intent of the writers and realize it's just bad. Lisa is Lisa, and if you can't intuit why she sucks you probably should swallow some tacks or something. Bart is ok, and is probably necessary because it doesn't make much sense for Homer to interact with myriad of kid characters from the show, but in all honestly he stopped being cool when I turned 13 or so.

Yes. Homer is who we crave to play.

The Simpsons is an action/puzzler/platformer. The puzzling is its strongest element. The fighting is infuriating as the characters' melee attacks are so limited and unpowerful and their ranged attacks have a seriously limited ammo supply. The platforming is ok, but never great. That's the overall impression of this game. It never works the magic that truly good games do. I had to literally play the game in 30 minute intervals lest I get too bored. All the pieces are there, they're just not working as they should. Taste the mediocrity.

The graphics are pretty good, though they really should have have drawn thicker lines around the characters to help them pop out and to reduce the jaggedness. I was playing in 1080 resolution and the lines still didn't look clean.

The saddest part: I don't remember laughing more than a handful of times during my entire play through.

Comments From Idiots

I derive a perverse pleasure from comments provided by morons on video games news sites, so I decided to start a regular column where everyone could enjoy them. I can't guarantee how often I'll do this, because it's totally dependent on how often the websites decide to post flame bait.

For my inaugural post on this topic, I've used Joystiq's recent poll over which console players expect to buy GTA4 for. It seems to me there are a few reasonable arguments.

For either:

I prefer the controller
I only own this particular system
More of my friends own this system and I'd like to play with them
I simply prefer to play on this system
Through shady dealings, I'm getting it for this console for free/discounted

PS3:
Playing online is free
Due to it's largely superior specs, I believe it will be better on PS3

Xbox 360:
Achievements
Exclusive downloadable content
Custom soundtracks
Though it costs more, Xbox live provides a better experience than PSN

If I left anything out, please forgive me.

Now, let the retardation begin!


phizzy contends:

"Achievements don't make a game better. Certainly don't make a game 'fuller'. They just give you the opportunity to wave your imaginary penis about at internet people."

I often wonder what it's like to one day wake up stupid.

ridgerich79 says: "I really don't care about the multiplayer b/c I haven't been playing my 360 lately."

It's called a non sequitur. Look it up.

He goes on: "I also hope R* doesn't screw up the PS3 ver. like many other 3rd party publishers have done in the past. What am I saying, this is R*, who actually care about the games they make unlike other publishers *cough*EA/Valve*cough*"

Yes. Valve doesn't care about the games it releases.

Fag.

mystic opines: "God I LOVE you idiots who scream RROD. I only know one other person who owns a PS3 besides me, and guess what, his PS3 DIED ON HIM a week after he got it! It's not so much the 360 is a higher failure rate, it's because the 360 is played more, and it's because you dumb sony fanboys don't go screaming on the internet when it breaks because you LOVE your Sony brand and don't want to tarnish your favorite brand and company. Get a mind of your own kids."

Le sigh.

Of course, I can sort of understand his frustration with posts like this, from "this guy":

"As of now, I'm leaning toward PS3 though because it's a much more reliable system. 360 is always breaking down. "

My Xbox 360 broke down once. Once broken down, it would not play any games. I sent if off and got a repaired one. How exactly do you keep playing a system that is constantly breaking down? Why haven't you sent it back for repair? What does dick taste like?

rc adds: "There is a lot of buzz out there that GTA IV runs and looks better on the PS3."


Yeah. My mom told me while she poured milk into my wheaties.

hdhrant suggests: "There should be 2 more options: Both & Neither."

Show me the person that buys two console versions of a game and I'll show you someone who eats turds for quarters.

please writes: "Xbox owners get 100 hours of comfort

PS owners get future arthritis(unless you have Asian effeminate hands)"

Actually, in burning Asians, this kid is dead on.

Dude's hand to hand fighting a tank

Other than the original Xbox caliber graphics, I don't see what not love about this game. Admittedly, the very last sequence did remind of those commercials for the first Conflict game that showed Saddam in the player's cross hairs.

Review: Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky

Grade: B-
Time Spent Playing: 90 minutes

If you're going into Bring Down the Sky like I did, thinking it was comparable to the main story missions of the game, you're going to be disappointed. What's here is effectively a beefed up side mission. The locales are put together by previously existing assets as far as I can tell and there is little here that isn't like 99% of the rest of the game. Of course, the rest of this game is friggin' amazing so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

I have to admit, the Batarians are pretty cool, but the story here is straight forward. The Batarian Osama Bin Laden wants to crash an asteroid onto a colony of millions of people in retribution for perceived offenses against his kind. You have to stop him. There's no twist here at the end.

It would have been cool if this download added more to the game, like the Batarians themselves. Just because their civilization lives in self-imposed exile doesn't mean there can't be individual Batarians running around Citadel space, perhaps acting as catalysts for other side missions or small story segments.

The saving grace is the gameplay. It could be that I'm playing through on hard--or whatever they call it in this game--but this was a really tough mission. Your enemies are tenacious bastards who will use every tech/biotic power in the game against you. One enjoyable segment had me navigating a mine field while jerkwads fired at me from cover.

Five bucks just seems like too much to pay for what you're getting. Had they actually used the Batarians to expand the game universe or delivered an experience more on the level of the main missions of Mass Effect, then I could unabashedly recommend it. As it stands, it's really only for people who enjoy challenging gameplay.

Review: Bully: Scholarship Edition

Grade: B+
Time Spent Playing: 30 hours

Bully is essentially a GTA game without all of the annoying bits. By keeping the world smaller and more focused, it's more detailed and subsequently feels more real than any of the GTA 3 iterations. Unlike the denizens of a GTA world, you actually recognize your classmates as they wander about, becoming familiar over time. Yeah, you can't massacre scores of nameless, purposeless people, but you do get to pinch girls' bottoms and bombard teachers with stink bombs.

Instead of gunplay, most of the combat is hand-to-hand. The combat engine, while not particularly deep, is fun and effective; plus, it evolves over time. It also has the welcome benefit of not having to load into a seperate game engine, unlike a certain other open world beat 'em up. Supplementing your melee attacks are items like marbles, firecrackers, and a spud gun.

Of special interest to me is the soundtrack, provided by the talented Shawn Lee. It spans a multitude of genres and some of the tunes are clearly inspired by classics like Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. It's all really catchy and actually warrants a listening outside of the game.

When I played Bully on the PS2, I probably would have given it an A+. It's only diminished now because of its PS2 roots and as it's a brand new release for a current gen console, I have to judge it on that basis.

The constant load times are my biggest problem; every time the game loads a cut scene or you enter or exit a building it goes to a loading screen. I recognize fixing that probably would have meant rebuilding the game from the ground up on the 360, but when the nearly-two-years-old Saint's Row offers seamless transitions, I expect it as a gamer.

The 360 version does sport "updated" graphics and while the cleaner textures are nice for the environments, they have the unfortunate effect of making many of the character models look uglier.

The multi-player offering is laughable, simply allowing you to compete offline against a friend in one of nine mini-games. Again, I point to another GTA clone, Crackdown, which allowed two players--online--to have fun playing in the sandbox.

Another disappointment, though related entirely to it being a 360 game, is the achievements. Where a sandbox game should be ideal for fun, imaginative achievements, a la Dead Rising, most of what's here feels like busy work. For example, instead of an achievement that rewards you for finding all of the different boys and girls you can lock lips with, you simply just need to do it a certain number of times. So find a dude or chick to kiss and just keep pressing the A button for five minutes and you get an achievement. Extremely lame are ones that have you giving 50 wedgies, kicking 100 soccer balls, or doing 200 wheelies. A couple did actually inspire me to think of ways to complete them faster. For example, one achievement required I trip 25 people with marbles, so I set them up by the dorm exit and pulled the fire alarm.

I hope Rockstar gets a lot more imaginative with the GTA 4 achievements.

As a final note, I didn't have the same problems other people seemed to have had with the game running like ass. It did occasionally crash, but I'd estimate it was about three times out of a 30 hour game. So, if you have an older 360, you may want to wait for the promised patch before firing the game up, because I understand it's almost game ruining for many people.

The Darkening

I really enjoyed my time with the Darkness, but one thing it didn't have was a fun multi-player mode. What's more is that when I did actually try to play it, I got my ass completely kicked by people who I'm convinced were only playing the multi for the achievements. So anyway, they're releasing a new map for free. I can only assume it was part of an abandoned plan to offer numerous maps for actual money.

I really liked that game, but I think if they were to keep working on it, maybe they could have worked on the AI of your darkling buddies so they weren't so damn useless in fire fights. It would be enough to get me to play through it again, at least.

Finally, a game for douchebags by douchebags

It's hard to imagine how this game could be anything other than the best thing ever.

Darkness Is Spreadin'

I've noticed there's a general ennui among the gaming press about the new Alone in the Dark. Perhaps it's a simple case of seeing previews for a game for too long a time--this trailer is actually the first thing I've bothered to check out--but I think this game is promising. Granted, it's hard to discern if gameplay can match the hypnotic effect of the guy's leather jacket but there's plenty to be excited about here. I really like how the inventory screen is just him looking down at his belt and inside his jacket.

I just wish I could figure out why he wastes a bullet to obtain a sword...

Review: Mass Effect

Grade: A-
Time Spent Playing: 40 hours


It is every earth man's dream to travel among the stars, killing bug faced aliens and taking blue skinned ladies to bed. Mass Effect lets you do this, but certainly more of the former and less of the latter. Which is disappointing because I would like to see how mankind's discovery of telekinesis and other paranormal powers would affect bedroom antics. But since we're far more comfortable with seeing bodies mutilated than we are with seeing them kissed, I'll just have to be satisfied with blowing those blue skinned ladies to hell.

Mass Effect takes place a few hundred years in the future. Thanks to the discovery of alien technology on Mars, humanity began exploring space and eventually came into contact with the Citadel Council, basically the United Nations of space. The Council commissions uber-agents called Spectres to enforce galactic justice when conventional means fail. As the player, you control the first human Spectre, and your choices will shape humanity's future in the galaxy.

At its core, Mass Effect is story driven RPG. You pick a class, level up, spend points on skills and powers you'd like to develop, and spend a lot of time exploring both uncharted regions of space and busy space ports. A cool addition is that not only can you change your character's gender and appearance to your liking, you can actually pick a personal history for him, which will have repercussions later in the game. For example, as an earth born orphan, you might have run ins with snobby aliens who look down on earth as a blighted world or with members of street gangs you ran with as a youth.

The gameplay twist is that action is handled more like a tactical third person shooter than a traditional, turn based rpg. While there are unseen statistics determining things like how well your character can aim his shotgun--protip: don't use weapons you're not trained with--the feel is action oriented. There is a tactical element introduced in that you can give instructions to team mates, but I found it far more fun to just them let do their own thing. I've seen a lot of criticism about the shooting sequences and I really don't know what these walking vaginas are complaining about. Use cover, use your powers, and remember to heal your team mates and it's really not all that tough. A few of the boss battles might require a few replays but that doesn't seem entirely too much to ask.

As far as story goes, Mass Effect delivers a delicious piece of space opera in which your character hunts down a rogue Spectre named Saren, whose true goals and motivations are revealed with each mission you take. The story is helped by the incredibly detailed and thoughtful universe the team at Bioware has come up with. The aliens in this game all have unique histories, physiologies, and motivations. Every single planet at least has some description of its geology, ecology, and atmosphere. One can only imagine there is a Silmarrion-esque tome kept hidden deep in the BioWare complex.

So what are the problems with this rad game? Well, while the graphics are nice, the textures load slowly enough that often times when you enter a new area or initiate a conversation you're looking at some strange mess of clay sculptures for the first few moments. It doesn't affect gameplay but it is annoying. The menu system is screwed; it's slow and unintuitive. Buying new items is a hassle because you can't just decide to look at a shop's items in like groups, you have to scroll down through a bunch of stuff you don't care about. Also, why can't they just pair human armors with alien armors? The side quests start to feel like chores and offer little variety. Every derelict space ship, every mining camp, every warehouse, looks exactly the same and often share an identical floor plan. Even landing down on barren planets begins to feel like a chore when all you're doing is surveying raw materials and recovering items from crashed probes.

All that said, Mass Effect is great in spite of its flaws. Hopefully, a sequel will address those problems.