gutty47 wrote...
Arijharn wrote...
..I want Shephard to struggle...
A lot of this discussion is dependent on how the council would interpret the datapad on reapers that Shepard is holding at the end of ME2. If they believe its still nonsense then the whole idea of the possible indoctrination of Shepard would subsequently need to be played out. I agree that Shepard should struggle but story-wise the struggle should've occured in ME2 so that ME3 could be about Shep re-emerging as the hero. Maybe Shepard could make some difficult decisions in ME3 regarding lives of squadmates or the future of species.
You know, I'm baffled at the existence of the datapad in the first place really, it's only in the Mission Complete screens I think that harbinger was mentioned in 'gameplay' was actually the Reaper and not the Collector General. Honestly though, I doubt the Citadel Council would be all to willing to accept it at 'face value.' I guess it really depends on how much the Council actually believe in the Reaper threat compared to how much they've dismissed it as a means of political control.
Personally I favour the second option if only because it portrays the Council as being less of a jackass as we have so far been led to believe. That said, I also believe that story wise if the council did believe that Shephard has gone off the deep end, then we'd be seeing a richer story experience because of it.
I mainly would like to see ME3 having Shephard emerge as a true hero simply because it reads like a classic 'cavalry rides in at the last moment' sort of situation. I also see the differences between full paragon and full renegade based largely upon these principles:
1) Full Renegade is about humanity emerging as the true dominant force through absolute massive firepower superiority. Relatively low (human) casualties suffered in defence against Reaper invasion.
2) Full Paragon is about overcoming interspecies issues and suspicion. Myriad of races working together to save off Reaper invasion. Relatively high casualties suffered in defence of this situation.
The more crossover between Renegade/Paragon choices (especially the big ones such as all-human alliance or saving the Collector base) has tangible results, as does whether the Krogan can recover enough to perform in defence of humanity (lets face it, Earth is going to play a large role in ME3, perhaps even as the final setting) if Wrex is alive due to his strong ties of friendship to Shephard. Alternatively, if Wreav took over, Shephard would have an uphill battle to persuade him, maybe even with the cure for the genophage offered as a bribe. Compound this whether you saved the Rachni Queen or allowed the Geth to reharmonize with each other.
Of course, I want the Quarian and Geth situation to be solved only via perhaps underhanded tactics because I think this is the only you could get them to play nice. Far too much bad blood has been shed... so to speak.
gutty47 wrote...
Arijharn wrote...
...I certainly don't see them as an 'evil' organisation.
I completely agree with you regarding Cerberus though I'd rather have the 'mission complete' screen done away with. Its too arcade-y for me. I would've prefered a more in-game, in-character version of it... for example: Miranda was always writing reports, she could've either emailed me the reports about the mission or (my prefered method) actually talk to me about the events. Having Miranda as the XO was never really impressed on during the game and this was one way of showing her importance to the running of the ship and the mission.
I thought the Mission Complete screen was completely jarrign as well. Having said that, unless it was tangible (as in, building the relationship or something) I think if Miranda just talked to me after every mission then I'd probably be tempted to just skip the way through it.
gutty47 wrote...
Arijharn wrote...
*snip* More Akuze stuff... (take Fear 1 for example)
I can now see how a level could work. Having Shepard in an empty colony being subtlety guided by the sounds of gunfire, radio chatter, blood trailers/splatters. Even have Shepard see thresher maws rear up and be spotted over the prefab buildings. Still not sure how combat could be implemented without making it easy to identify where battle zones were (large open areas... unless we count destruction of buildings as possible new battle zones).
I'll take the easy way out and say that it'd be up to the level and gameplay designers to work out the most atmospheric areas to put Thresher Maw emergence holes etc. What I'd like to stress for the level though is that the idea is that no area is perfectly safe. Yes it's 'survival horror' but it's not built around the 'survival horror' genre (i.e., no new gameplay mechanics included just for the sake of a single (or couple of) missions). Remember how the prologue mission of ME2 thrust you thick into the game while still suspending you in a sense of awe? Like that - but with Thresher Maws. I.e., Pregnant Peril around every corner (almost). The eerie sense that you could die any minute (although obviously you know you don't).
I would also like to think that Shephard could find inventive ways to take out Thresher Maws, since he isn't going to necessarily have a X-98e Widow lying around, or a Collector Beam Weapon etc... perhaps the tanks mass accelerator cannon still works? Perhaps that service crane is actually as heavy as it looks? Perhaps I can get the Threshers to attack each other?