11391 réponses à ce sujet

[ElitePinecone]

LPPrince wrote...

Arcadian Legend wrote...

LPPrince wrote...

Yeah, Cerberus got absolutely WRECKED in Retribution. Hence this making even less sense.

Cerberus is ALWAYS getting wrecked/terrorised in some way.

Yeah but Anderson and Kahlee wrecked them harder than Shepard EVER did.

Until ME3, I imagine.

I've given up expecting the ME writers to handle Cerberus realistically. The organisation lurches from disaster to triumph half a dozen times in half a dozen tie-ins and novels. The fact that we don't know the true extent of their resources means any writer can just say "lol sekrit resources" and have them pop up in the next book with a new space station. 

It was clumsily retconned from an Alliance black-ops group to begin with (something that had *MUCH* more scope for drama, in my opinion, given the tensions in the Alliance hierarchy we could've played through), something that Dietz still treats as canon, weirdly, but Karpyshyn and Walters don't seem to want to ascribe any tangible limits to its assets. 

That they can lose so much in Retribution, then fund everything they do in ME: Invasion and ME3, is pretty nonsensical. Not to mention the incredible speed with which they build an entire space station beyond the Omega-4 relay, and construct a fleet and an army in the few months between ME2 and ME3. 

It can be hand-waved with 'Reaper magic tech did it', or "TIM has deep pockets and donors", but I'm slightly skeptical that an organisation that doesn't manage to do much on the galactic scale for three decades happens to create and destroy so much in the space of less than a year. 

[roflchoppaz]

levannar wrote...

Nick said importantly.

God, what the hell.

"Man, that's terrible." roflchoppaz said annoyedly.

[LPPrince]

Yeah, I hate how Cerberus is handled.

Then again, I never thought they should've been turned into a major enemy in the trilogy.

I preferred them as the side quest buttplugs they were in ME1.

[LPPrince]

Mass Effect Galaxy was written better than this. And its a mobile game.

[Relix28]

I used to like Mass Effect novels, then I.......read the excerpt from Deception. HA!

[levannar]

roflchoppaz wrote...

levannar wrote...

Nick said importantly.

God, what the hell.

"Man, that's terrible." roflchoppaz said annoyedly.

"I feel your pain, man," levannar said feelingly.

[LPPrince]

Relix28 wrote...

I used to like Mass Effect novels, then I.......read the excerpt from Deception. HA!

I was gonna give you the stink eye if you even THOUGHT about saying it.

[ElitePinecone]

LPPrince wrote...

Then again, I never thought they should've been turned into a major enemy in the trilogy.

I preferred them as the side quest buttplugs they were in ME1.

Interesting terminology aside, I thought TIM's writing in ME2 was far more nuanced than the brief flashes of Cerberus we got in the first game (where it was just "ooh, evil sadistic scientists and supersoldiers").

If he'd been an Alliance defector (which I guess he was, in a roundabout kinda way, from Shanxi) with active contacts in the military and parliament, it would've added a really interesting domestic human politics angle to Cerberus' role in ME2. 

As it is, they're the generic baddies, especially in Deception (TIM's insipid nature-inspired quoting had me giggling) - we get none of the nuances of internal divisions in the Alliance, and the book even clumsily refers to a Citadel-listed terrorist organisation as having negative polling numbers with alien species. 

[string3r]

I'm beginning to wonder wether this book was just a massive troll attempt at BSN.

[ElitePinecone]

levannar wrote...

roflchoppaz wrote...

levannar wrote...

Nick said importantly.

God, what the hell.

"Man, that's terrible." roflchoppaz said annoyedly.

"I feel your pain, man," levannar said feelingly.

ElitePinecone retrieved his drink from the place where it was ensconced, and typed horizontally: "This is hard to stomach."

[ddv.rsa]

I wonder if Bioware will give Dietz more work after this.

[CrazyRah]

I got no idea what to say anymore

[didymos1120]

ddv.rsa wrote...

I wonder if Bioware will give Dietz more work after this.

In the sequel, Kai Leng tragically dies after mistakenly eating some turian cereal.

[Kidd]

Why haven't I finished this turd yet? I've had the book for days and I usually plow through these books real quick.

[roflchoppaz]

ElitePinecone wrote...

levannar wrote...

roflchoppaz wrote...

levannar wrote...

Nick said importantly.

God, what the hell.

"Man, that's terrible." roflchoppaz said annoyedly.

"I feel your pain, man," levannar said feelingly.

ElitePinecone retrieved his drink from the place where it was ensconced, and typed horizontally: "This is hard to stomach."

Dietzism - the new literary trend.

[LPPrince]

KiddDaBeauty wrote...

Why haven't I finished this turd yet? I've had the book for days and I usually plow through these books real quick.

You're not stupid.

Modifié par LPPrince, 30 janvier 2012 - 02:13 .

[LPPrince]

CrazyRah wrote...

I got no idea what to say anymore

There's plenty more to say, and plenty of time to say it.

Especially tomorrow, since its the date of the book's official release and we can post spoilers.

[LPPrince]

didymos1120 wrote...

ddv.rsa wrote...

I wonder if Bioware will give Dietz more work after this.

In the sequel, Kai Leng tragically dies after mistakenly eating some turian cereal.

Archango's?

[xentar]

That errors link was quite useful. Should save me some time and let me just go on with my ME1-2 playthrough marathon knowing I wouldn't miss anything important when starting ME3.

[BiO]

LPPrince wrote...Yeah but Anderson and Kahlee wrecked them harder than Shepard EVER did.

Technically, it was Grayson who "wrecked" Cerberus, by giving the information to Kahlee.

[Grand Wazoo]

Dietz actually got paid for writing this? There are people who actually need jobs.

[ElitePinecone]

The PLC wrote...

I can't wait to receive this book in the mail! I paid for it, you guys! With money! REAL MONEY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cries*

I think what gets me most is the sheer... pointlessness of the novel. 

Nothing actually happens to the wider narrative of the IP.  

Revelations showed us Saren's ruthlessness and the research of Shu Qian on Sovereign. It also gave us an excellent insight into the Systems Alliance, Council politics and the work of the Spectres. All good lore building. 

Ascension introduced us to the Illusive Man, gave us more information on quarian culture and hinted at some of the state of the galaxy post-ME.

Retribution gave us even more info on Cerberus, indoctrination, the Reapers' methods and introduced us to Kai Leng. It specified a Cerberus-Aria connection, had Anderson resigning from his post and set the groundwork for ME3. 

Deception?

I get the feeling Bioware handed it to Dietz with no particular story in mind, nor any hooks they wanted for ME3. Practically nothing happens in the story. From start to finish, we get no insights into any new characters, no new story hooks for future novels, and nothing changes in the state of the universe. 

The *only* thing that has any relevance is we find out Kai Leng gets cybernetic implants and that Cerberus is building an army - facts that are, respectively, trivially unimportant and ridiculously self-evident. 

Deception accomplishes nothing except brutally finishing all of Karpyshyn's plotlines in a completely unnecessary fashion, in the end of the book. It adds absolutely nothing to the canon of Mass Effect literature, and instead only butchers characters.