Just played through twice (male warrior 2h, female rogue dual), PC version.
First impression...a giant wtf. And not a good one.
Now going into this demo (and game) I knew there were somethings i would as an rpg fan instinctively loath (and probably never reconcile with no matter how well they are delivered). Hawke (first off its a plain and simple stupid name that serves only to appeal to a backwards cap wearing crowd), and in a large sense he isn't mine, i'm simply borrowing biowares writers character and taking it for a spin. My brother/sister died. Honestly i just laughed at how the entire squad sat there and watched an ogre maul them, then go ninja bouncing around (seriously bioware you've been watching too much anime lately, fantasy setting granted, people cannot do that in full plate weilding swords that put most skyscrapers to shame, another layer of immersion blown as i watch hawke bounce around tapping 'zombies' (seriously..infection? you had a perfectly good 'catch females and make them spawn babies bit of fluff/boss going and then this is what you do to it? We all love our left4dead and dead rising, but wow....did not see that bit of poor, completely unnessecary (unless you count killing off a templar, who isnt even wearing proper armour) bit of wre-writing).
Knowing most of what made DA:O great was going to get smashed (and I really cannot think of a better way to describe DA:2, except removing the DA and 2 from its name. It strikes me more of the xbox's baldurs gates games), i still went into the demo with high hopes for some tasty scenery, curious about this new cinematic style, finely honed characters and some typical epic bioware writing. A 'demo' provides (and indeed is advertised by you as giving a taste of what is too come from the full game, only a few weeks away so little will change), most companies stick their absolute best in a demo, or at least hide the crumby bits, i can only assume you have tried (keyword) to do the same.
Graphics: Even on full (DX11 and all others checked just too make sure), the environment looks barren, I mean there's more extra detail in GBA's golden sun desert section. Lothering (and I use the name with disgust at what you've done to it) is now a purple mountain with random goat trails running along it? And kirkwall (which i wasn't allowed to explore..sincerely hope you guys forgot to add looting, exploring, reading random books/posters and listening to npc's repeat their tidbits of information in your demo) looks like it was rushed out of some college kids 3dsmax course, the texturework is basic and everything is blocky (and not tasteful blocky like orzamar, just unpolished alpha blocky). And then i threw a fireball...and was stunned as yellow confetti carressed some zombies and caused them too explode. Your flame effects are simply terrible, I mean in DA:O I set my dog on fire just too watch the heat trails gently distort the background and the orange glow on my parties backs bounce light off of walls....There is no detail to these flames (any of them and i redownloaded the official demo client too make sure it wasnt a glitch on mine), DA:O has better environments, better effects, the monsters aren't held together by stickytape and eddible paste (OK hacking a guy apart is cool and everything, but doing it occasionally made it feel like an achievement, that murlock got completely smashed, because exploding bodies is hard with bombs, grenades and conventional explosives (of which usually tear off some limbs, but the body is still largely a body), let alone a giant sword. When Hawke waves his little toe and does a backflip causing 4 enemies to simultaneously bathe the surrounding purpleside with 'gore'...well colour me unimpressed by my achievement.)
Character models are standard, armour is a tad more detailed than most in DA:O but some topnotch modders and even official dlc surpass hawkes attire. Isabella....****off. Whoever convinced you guys THAT was an intelligent move, well I hope he's off ruining some other game and stays the hell away from Mass effect and any other game. Tell him (and I'm 99% sure its a him) that maybe teamNinja are hiring for DoA:X3. Just wow bioware, respect lost for a cheap move to attact adolescent boys (putting aside pointless amounts of gore and exploding enemies). Hell even the camera in cutscenes (when they aren't loading midcutscene) barely focus on her face, just these 2 great barges barely covered by cloth hogging the screen. Not that you really want to watch her facial animations when she tries talking. See morrigan and maybe alistair for how you did DA faces properly (although trailer morrigan and leiliana had more character). Or even go take a peak at mass effect, Those are some faces you can watch mouth drama and stiring speaches, and not want to stick a crate on their head (if you had bothered too add any crates in the levels, maybe for this reason?)
As you can surmise, not impressed graphically, certainly didn't expect a sequal to go backwards, spend a little less time pre-rendering your trailers and focus on the game, or just copy paste your old game if you didn't have enough time.
Voices: Meh, nothing laughable, just not anything that engaged me with how it was delivered, sounds like everyone turned up for a slow day at work rather than their entire village just burnt down and their brother was just mauled by giant horned gluemonster. (granted I know we skipped alot of dialogue and maybe through sheer weight of being exposed to characters I might form some attachement, doubtful though, I'd probably just spend the entire time trying to get them killed. Also the conversation wheel is more misleading than helpful, and and you seem to have generic 'good option', 'insensitive dick option', and 'plain dick' option. Replace the middle one with some actual comedy, not 15 year old schoolyard wit.
Combat: Ok we all knew this was going to be dumbed down between alot and abit for those among gamers who have trouble concentrating if something isn't on fire or the world isn't ending. And that demo's aren't the most challenging of experiences. But when you're spamming 'Think like a general, fight like a spartan' every 2 seconds
(quick sidetrack..Does anyone even know how Spartans fought anymore? Some idiot in the media has turned them into solo badasses capable of butchering entire countries. Yes they were from all reports superb soldiers, they didn't charge off to engage in bloody melee, they held formation and fought as units better than Romans. Taking the latest spartan incarnation (ala Masterchief of Halo fame) HE's a spec op soldier specialised in hit and run terror tactics, neither are frenzied psycopaths charging in with a tree in each hand dealing bloody mahem too all and sundry. Please enough destruction to the Spartan's memory and legacy, they were professionals, you want psyco's go for the gauls or a few of the more mental samuria.)
you expect something a bit more complicated than watch your guy and buddies tear the zombies too pieces. The most tactical thing i did (on hard difficulty) was run around in circles so when they stopped too attack i was out of range, then go poke them, if i was feeling bored (which I was) I could press f2 and chuck an instant area confetti attack, which causes unknown zombie gasses too ignite and self destruct everything. The ogre was pathetic and was either lobbing stones where i was 10minutes ago or determinedly trying too headbutt boulders into submission (yes i was surprised too see some scenery). The camera angle merely serves to focus on the current characters mess making activities, leaving your ai too fend (ala kill everything) for themselves if you happen too face the wrong way or enemies spawn behind your lines and engage the ranged chaps (a dwarf with a rapid firing rocketlauncher/crossbow????) No attention is needed too party formation as soloing enemies as a mage is handled through simple kiting, stopping whenever a cooldown is off too lob a fireball at them (I use both fire and ball terms loosely). Even if I want to keep everyone alive, punching the health potions and running them next to the tank ensures i can watch as the entire room attempts to hit 1 person, and failing that just stand their and then self destruct when i drop some confetti on them. Pretty sure 'generals' need more tactical foresight and planning than "if enemies near range guy stand range guy next to shield guy" as opposed too say another game like....DA:O where blocking chokepoints (also known as use of environment, party organisation and formation) covering mages and disabling groups of enemies that you didnt have the rescources to deal with (yes you had more aoe spells to play with, but back in the old days we had cast times and the bigger the explosion the more finger waggling it took, which required some frantic kiting from the tanks both too keep the baddies interested and then get them into the firezone (which was actual fire) whilst dodging it themselves (or having an immunity spell placed on them before hand, or holding them inside it so they take no damage), My point? In my country I hope our generals do more than say "right chaps muck in". Or do you hold so little faith in your military leaders?
All in all I realise this probably wasn't your best representation of what will probably at worst be a top end B game, But considering it is in the trail of top teir Agame in a genre sorely lacking cutting edge AAA games, from probably THE most respected company in that genre, for me all those other factors (and simply the knowledge that the same people who gave us its predesessor created and thought this game was ready and the descisions made were sound) only leaves me desperatly hoping Mass effect is led by different people who know how to smack creative people around the head when they do dumb things. Maybe your writers can still deliver their normal excellent writing and worlds, but I've seen no evidence of that sofar, (Isabella, zombies, another persons memories too deliver the game in episodic context rather than bothering to create a path for us to get from pointA to B in the timeline (hell even zelda made you pull a sword out of a stone, rather than just spinning the interogation forward, the game could be ended by the seeker simply punching him in the face and getting a mage to drag the information from his mind).
As I said earlier, most companies put their most explosive, beautiful setpieces in their demo's, or some of the smaller but lovingly detailed pieces in their demo's too wow audiences, and at least try to cover all aspects of a game (ie not locking inventory and other skills, and skipping friendly NPC exploration). Do it right or not at all. And if it aint broke don't fix it, you'll only make it worse.
No I'm not buying this game, DA:O was and is superior in every way, this is simply a shoddy DA:O knockoff stuck in an irritating camera angle to draw attention too its lacklustre effects and tiresome gore. This is probably the first game from bioware I've disliked, let alone hated with a vehemence, as my brother said, "I'm just going to ignore it and pretend it never happened while I wait in blissful ignorance for ME:3." And the worst bit? This game will be raved about, loved and adored by the masses, who cannot say no too the shiny carrot of a new game to say NO, we will not accept sub-standard products masquerading as a diamond ring, either stick it in the bargain bin from the get go or create something worth the $100 new games cost.
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