The DLC was a perfect blend of the elements we fell in love with in Mass Effect 1, and the high octane intensity we've come to appreciate in Mass Effect 2. It had an engaging narrative with several compelling twists. It had witty, snappy, and often humorous dialogue that truly drew the player into the character's experiences. It played to fanservices and characters emotions (be it romantic or nostalgic) like a master violinist. It perfected gameplay mechanics through intelligent level crafting and the creation of a very strategic biotic power, and FINALLY, and perhaps most importantly of all, it delivered memorable AND challenging boss fights.
It seems clear to me that Bioware's just getting into the groove of things, and the overwhelming success of the Lair of the Shadow Broker is a stark indicator of that. That being said, I hope the Bioware Developers really take this message to heart: LotSB is the perfect model to which Mass Effect 3 should be build.
STORYLINE:
The biggest problems with ME1 and ME2's storylines are that the several subplots brought up in the game are incoherent, and have little to no relevance to the main plot. While it may be a stretch to say that Lair of the Shadow Broker handled this situation MUCH better (being that Lair of the Shadow Broker's story was a lot shorter), I still submit this to be true.
LotSB had a clear plot- get to the Shadow Broker, and kill him. Never once did the focus of this storyline falter. It provided a ton of mystery and intrigue, along with a twist right from the get go to encapture the audience (Liara, the character you're supposively doing this for, goes missing within the first few minutes after a failed assassination attempt by a mystery figure).The plot followed a storyline progresison that makes sense and doesn't seem stilted or pulled out of nowhere:
We identify the problem (Finding SB's location, then Liara goes missing), we go to solve such problem, we then determine our true enemy, and, through eventually capturing and defeating this enemy, we gain more information about the main enemy's whereabouts, we find the enemy, we gain info on this enemy and his true purpose, then we defeat such enemy. End the story with a plot twist and you have a fantastic structure for a compelling narrative.
Perhaps the best part of the narrative though was an overall sense of urgency that never ceased. From the building explosion, to the car chase, to Liara's obsession blocking out your concerned words, to the SB's hull fights, there was never one moment where I felt I could afford to spare time, even if presented with the option.
DIALOGUE:
LotSB included a lot of back and forth between Shepard and Liara that should be continued into Mass Effect 3. It was the right amount of humor and wit to truly engage the players with the experience, and well as provide the true feel of an "RPG Shooter" as opposed to just a "Shooter". The inclusion of conversations mid-fight also added to the depth of the characters, and made me feel the interaction/interplay between characters like never before. Additionally, the romance scene was fantastic--it had great VA, and was truly moving.
While the writing throughout was storng and concise, perhaps the best bit of work concerning dialogue involved their treatment of the "Interrupt System" introduced in ME2. Before, the interrupt system felt like a tacked on feature that provided shortcuts to the best probable outcome of many situations. Furthermore, there'd only be ONE interrupt per conversation, so after a while, it became a game of memorization for when the interrupts popped up, instead of me truly immersing myself in the conversations.
LotSB remedied this by adding MULTIPLE interrupts to a conversation, and had them pop up at brief, spuradic moments. Never before have I found myself more engaged with the dialogue, as for one, I couldn't let the option to assert myself slip by and, for two I just wanted Liara to freakin' listen to me! The way the Devs worked with the interrupt system in this DLC felt real, and added to my emotions as I became continually more frustrated along with my character at Liara's one-track drive.
GAMEPLAY:
The environments finally felt real. In ME1 & 2, there were usually supply boxes everywhere, scattered in random places for no real reason. They were clearly there in level creation solely to provide the player cover. In LotSB however, none of the spots for cover felt contrived: it was behind building debris from an explosion, or part of the ship's exterior hull, or part of the column corridors of the ship. It really forced me to be creative and actually SEARCH for cover, as opposed to just running up to the nearest conspicuously placed box.
Gameplay also introduced a new mechanic in the taxi cab chase portion of the DLC. This gameplay worked two-fold: not only did it provide for fun, fast paced pod-racing chase action, but it added to the urgency of the story, and more importantly, gave the player a sense of expansiveness. It's an often overlooked quality in gaming: ME2 lost the sense of how expansive the planets should be, and instead opted for planets with 3 to 4 rooms that can be navigated end to end in under five minutes. By providing something like a simply 3 minute chase sequence, the devs have not only provided us with another mechanic, but have broadened the player's sense of the world and shown the player how truly big it is.
Finally, the boss fights. Bioware FINALLY did them right, as they not only provided a huge challenge, but forced players to rethink the old "duck and cover, fire when you can" strategy that's so prevalent throughout the game. By providing the Bosses with moves that force players to leave cover (Vasir's Shockwave and Charge, SB's shield and ability to break walls), you force the player to leave the realm of a true "shooter" and lead them to your desired hybrid of "RPG shooter". At times, the fights seemed Legend of Zelda-esque, with me scrambling to find the right combination and tactic to bring down the boss.
CONCLUSION:
In short, I have no doubt that Bioware knows what they're doing. They've provided good gameplay for us in the past. However, they've proven on multiple occasions that they do listen to their fans, and improve the game to our praise and complaints. Therefore, I find it necessary to tell them that I, as an avid Bioware find, truly believe that this DLC greatest thing they have produced in the series, and that they would be wise to use it as a basis for developing Mass Effect 3.
MINOR COMPLAINTS/SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT/OBSERVATIONS:
*More crewmate dialogue and interaction is a must. It was a major disappointment to get nothing from Garrus or Tali in particular. It was the only thing detracting from my immersion into the DLC: "Why the hell did Garrus, an old friend of Liara, have absolutelynothing to say to her?"
*Better controls for parts like the taxi cab chase portion of the mission. Including a feature to make the car move on a vertical access would've been a nice touch
*ME2's Love Interests are put to shame by Liara's--hers is now clearly superior to the others. It has so much more depth and implications to the story than any of the other romances do. A Romance Pack for the other LIs, or at least more inter-personal depth within Romances in ME3, would be wise, for equality's sake and maximizing player choice diversity.
*Throwing in the ME1 LI music to Liara's romance scene was a brilliant touch. It played to player nostalgia and showed that Liara's romance is a completely different entity from ME2's romances.
Modifié par FlyinElk212, 08 septembre 2010 - 08:51 .
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