What bothers me is all the mountain climbing that is done when driving the Mako looking for resources. Some of those were a pain in the neck. Of course looking for resources is optional.
Eletania is the worst in that regard. Resources and that orb are stuck in very difficult-to-reach places! 
First of all, this forum is for "What bother of ME3"; Second, the exploration, the elevators, and the ability to get/feel lost are some of the beauty's of ME1; they feel REAL.
The sense of exploration and discovery are a beauty of ME1; the actual driving of the mako... not so much.
I found the exploration to be more of a flaw than a strength in ME1, but that's mainly because it clashed very heavily with the actual story of the game, and there was not that much to do or see either. I would have liked the Citadel more if there were more points of interest, but for the most part, it felt a little lifeless.
Star Control 2 had a "race against time" plot that actually had implications within the mechanics of the game. If you took too long to win, the Ur Quan Kohr-Ah would begin their death march across the galaxy, wiping out everyone species by species. Once they got to earth, you lost. This would probably be harder to to do in the context of ME1, though. Because the Reapers are so badass that their entrance into the galaxy signals guaranteed doom for all, you can't have that gradual progression towards the failure state: If Sovereign hasn't activated the Citadel relay yet, you can still win, but once he does, you lose. There's no way to implement the race against time mechanically except as a global timer that, once it expires, signals automatic critical mission failure. Not particularly satisfying.
As far as space exploration goes, I agree that it wasn't that successful in ME1, mostly because it wasn't essential as a game mechanic. Exploration within hubs like Noveria and the Citadel, however, worked much better than it did in later installments IMO. The size of these places added some much-needed verisimilitude to the proceedings, and you didn't have every combat zone flagged by the presence of chest-high cover. I think later installments could have benefited from having a smaller number of more fully realized locations, rather than having a large number of missions on one-off locations like Aite, Zorya, Haestrom, Palaven, etc.
At least in ME1, you could crouch, and to enter cover, all you had to do was press up against it; Sprint and Interact were separate keys like they should be.
At least in ME1, you could crouch, and to enter cover, all you had to do was press up against it; Sprint and Interact were separate keys like they should be.
Cover for me was by far the best in the first game.
Yes you didn't have the awesome button but you could make use of cover without the need to be pressed up against it.
I actually prefer the mechanic of having to press a button to take cover in ME2; I found myself taking cover when I didn't want to in ME1, which was an especially big problem when you were trying to deal with enemies who were close to melee range or had already gotten to a flanking position beyond your cover. On the other hand, I do like that the design of combat zones in ME1 was far less reliant on cover.
Remember the fight with the Krogan mercenary in that circular room at the end of Therum? That type of level design would have been inconceivable in ME2, where cover just seemed a bit too important. If you were in cover in ME2, then nuclear bombs could go off in your vicinity and you'd be fine. But if you spent any appreciable amount of time outside of it, every enemy bullet seemed to track unerringly on your position until you were little more than Swiss cheese.
I liked the idea of it, it just needed a bit of improvement in the implementation.I found the exploration to be more of a flaw than a strength in ME1, but that's mainly because it clashed very heavily with the actual story of the game, and there was not that much to do or see either. I would have liked the Citadel more if there were more points of interest, but for the most part, it felt a little lifeless.
Ha! In ME3, I keep "taking cover" when I am trying to revive a teammate.
ME2 had the "I don't want to stay in cover" Shepard! I am Arnold! Arnold doesn't need cover!
I liked the idea of it, it just needed a bit of improvement in the implementation.
Honestly, the biggest improvements that I felt would have really helped something like exploration would be to have a story that is more fitting for it. While I don't expect something like the race against time to impose strict limitations on the way one plays the game, it'd be nice to not have game mechanics that oppose the story so much that it takes a bit of detachment from logic in order to truly immerse myself in it. For all the guff ME3 gets for this kind of thing regarding the reaper invasion, I felt that was even worse in ME1. It was only really ME2 where it would fit the most, of course, that game has a plethora of other logical faults that I don't care to get into right now.
Fair point. I think that there will always be some conflict like that though in a focused story-driven game where you're not playing an individual making his own way through the world.Honestly, the biggest improvements that I felt would have really helped something like exploration would be to have a story that is more fitting for it. While I don't expect something like the race against time to impose strict limitations on the way one plays the game, it'd be nice to not have game mechanics that oppose the story so much that it takes a bit of detachment from logic in order to truly immerse myself in it. For all the guff ME3 gets for this kind of thing regarding the reaper invasion, I felt that was even worse in ME1. It was only really ME2 where it would fit the most, of course, that game has a plethora of other logical faults that I don't care to get into right now.
I never really felt like ME1's planet roving was exploring. For the most part all that stuff was marked on the mission log and when you landed on the planet everything was laid out for you. It was just another series of side missions that took a while to complete because you had to drive to the next waypoint on the map. The reused building assets didn't help either.
ME2 had the "I don't want to stay in cover" Shepard! I am Arnold! Arnold doesn't need cover!
Hey, get some armor made out of the same stuff those crates are made from, and Shep could do exactly that!
I mean, they can take concentrated fire from hand-held railguns and not leave so much as a dent!
I found the exploration to be more of a flaw than a strength in ME1, but that's mainly because it clashed very heavily with the actual story of the game, and there was not that much to do or see either. I would have liked the Citadel more if there were more points of interest, but for the most part, it felt a little lifeless.
I thought ME3 had the best version of the Citadel. No long empty hallways to run through, just hop into an elevator or taxi and skip to another section. Also the Silversun Strip alone felt more alive and populated than the entirety of the Citadel in ME1.
@Greeno Shot First, that's only because 1.) in ME1, you're wandering where the more-economically uplifted people live, and 2.) the ME3 Citadel is overrun with refuges.
The good thing about the ME1 Citadel is that it felt less like a series of isolated sections, but the much better populated ME3 Citadel, particularly the Silversun Strip, probably gave a better impression of what it would really be like. Both Flux and Chora's Den looked like really dull places to be, even by my standards (i.e. someone who doesn't like lively much).I thought ME3 had the best version of the Citadel. No long empty hallways to run through, just hop into an elevator or taxi and skip to another section. Also the Silversun Strip alone felt more alive and populated than the entirety of the Citadel in ME1.
Does anyone else miss the various forms of cheesy sci-fi music that is heard everywhere in ME1? The Normandy has one, the Citadel has half-a-dozen at least, and Noveria (the HUB) has at least two, and so on and so forth.
When I first played ME1, I thought I could get sick of it, but when I played ME2, I started missing it.
I miss the ME1 eezo core. That thing was cooler looking than that orb thing which looks like those Prothean artifacts (are Prothean artifacts made up of element zero?).
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