By Nathan Grayson on July 18th, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
We live in a terrifying world of constant change. You might, for instance, neatly tuck each of your games into bed a night and gingerly kiss them on the cheek, safe in the knowledge that – when you awake – they’ll be there waiting, same as always. But honestly, who knows? They could just suddenly update and transform into strange, multi-tendriled monstrosities. You could awake from your dreams right into a living nightmare. Or, you know, you could just get some Earth-bound levels in Mass Effect and – oh gosh – Aquaman in DC Universe Online. OK, yeah, I’m sticking with the nightmare thing.
So, first up, Mass Effect 3. I already took a closer look at it last week, but in short, you’re getting three new levels, six new playable characters, three guns, and a crushing Platinum difficulty mode. And hey, look, BioWare saw fit to toss out a hyper-dramatic trailer. You should give it a watch… or die trying.
DC Universe Online’s latest update, meanwhile, is a bit more substantial. Titled “The Tides of War,” it sadly has nothing to do with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness – which is what I immediately thought of when I read the title. But it’s got Aquaman! Specifically, because “Ocean Master, Aquaman’s conniving half brother, has rallied a force of mutineer Atlanteans in an attempt to usurp the throne of Atlantis! Their civil war has breached the waters of Metropolis, a crucial piece in the plot to rule the sea.”
So then, what does that actually mean? Well, you get a slew of open world missions in which you can choose whether to join Aquaman or his brother, a new boss battle, and the chance to nab an Atlantean Suit – which I assume refers to Atlantis and not the capital of the state of Georgia. There’s also a new PVP map set on the moon for some reason, and it has the greatest description of any map ever: “You’ve won victory on Earth, but can you survive the moon?” Probably not, given the whole “no air” thing, but anyway!
So then, Mass Effect’s Earth needs saving, and Aquaman’s is the most lonely of existences. Who will you choose? This, er, probably won’t be a difficult decision for you.
18/07/2012 at 14:28 Tom Walker says:
Eek, I just ‘promoted’ all my ME3 classes back to level 1.
Of course, this does offer the immeasurable benefit of making the little arbitrary number next to my name go up a bit, so, you know, swings and roundabouts.
18/07/2012 at 15:58 obie191970 says:
We all know that your N7 rating is the most important aspect of your build.
“Dude, this Adept is toting the Valiant and a Revenant. WTF?”
“Yeah, but their N7 is 4,000. They must know what they’re doing.”
18/07/2012 at 14:33 wodin says:
Neither, thats because I found ME to be overhyped. Though i did enjoy the first I never finished the second and tried the third at a friends and really didn’t like it at all. Not only did it bore me it also looked mighty odd and the animations seemed even odder.
As for the other game I don’t own it. Also the only superhero I really like is Batman. Always has been always will be. He aint got no super power, he just hard!! Sorry not sure why I spoke like that then. I also like the vigilante aspect to Mr B aswell.
Still if I were to choose, or had to choose I’d go for the super hero deal, as content is king if done to a good standard.
18/07/2012 at 14:39 Dominic White says:
I reinstalled DCUO yesterday to have a look at it. It’s rather more polished and runs smoother than I remember. Fun, popcorn gaming, really – best played with a gamepad. Chunky combo-and-block based gameplay, rather than number crunching.
I think I’ll buy the current wave of DLC once Sony do another of their 50/66% off sales on Station Points. You could get *everything* (four addons) for $20 when they’re doing a triple point sale, and still have a third of that left over in change. Microtransactions indeed.
As for the problems inherent in fighting on the moon:
http://i.imgur.com/0e79P.jpg
It’s one of the few MMOs where I’d recommend playing on an open PvP server. Swooping down and flattening villains never gets old.
18/07/2012 at 14:43 Subatomic says:
The new ME3 classes look rather interesting, I just hope they aren’t too rare in the much too RNG-dependant unlock system the multiplayer uses.
18/07/2012 at 15:48 Alevice says:
They are in the Rare tier, sadly. They will be as rare as a Cerberus Defector or a Vorcha or a Geth. :/
18/07/2012 at 15:55 Jesse L says:
I played the multiplayer a lot for about three months, and now that I’ve quit, it’s a relief to see new classes coming out and not have to worry about grinding the credits needed to randomly unlock even a couple of them. I liked the multiplayer very much, I appreciated the free DLC, and I even found some fun in the random unlocks…but DAMN if you don’t sometimes just WANT to be ABLE to UNLOCK A DAMN NEW CLASS ALREADY, geeeeez! Like any form of gambling, it gets under your skin. Not enough, in my case, to make me pay actual money for a spin at ME3′s slot machine, but enough to make me spend too many hours playing the game to earn credits, rather than to have fun. In short: strongly ambivalent.
18/07/2012 at 16:11 Alevice says:
To be fair, I get loads on credits by just beating a silver match gives you enuff credits for 2 spectre packs, and lets not mention gold. Its still tedious, and I would prefer a better way to sorting what loot you have won (specially when you get plenty of Class Appereance and Weapon Tier upgrades and very few new unlocks).
18/07/2012 at 17:16 Jesse L says:
You make 120,000 credits per silver match? Dude, they give out 30,000. Are you soloing the levels? For me, it takes two silver matches to afford one Spectre pack. Playing with randoms, like I do, those two matches take 50 minutes. I would estimate, on average, that I get something new or fun every four to five Spectre packs I buy. So that’s about four hours of playtime to earn something good or “worth it” (in my experience). Sometimes much longer, if the random number gods aren’t with you.
*credit reward reference: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/343/index/11464270/1
18/07/2012 at 17:52 Alevice says:
My bad, I was on drugs. I mixed Veteran packs and Spectre packs.
EDIT: Not literally on drugs.
18/07/2012 at 14:55 x1501 says:
I really hate where they went with the ME3 DLC model. ME2 received about 9 pieces of singleplayer DLC within the first 4.5 months after its release, with 5 of them containing new areas, characters, and missions. In the same time period, excluding the frantic attempt at damage control (the Extended Cut), ME3 only received a single day one SP pack, and a bunch of lazy MP maps, weapons, and character skins. I’d much rather have another Lair of the Shadow Broker than something I can easily get from almost any modern FPS/TPS on the market. Highly disappointing.
18/07/2012 at 16:02 obie191970 says:
I will guarantee you that it’s coming. I think the Extended Cut really screwed up their schedule. But, there’s no way that there won’t be two or three substantial SP DLC’s.
18/07/2012 at 16:12 Alevice says:
Secially considering thye havent made money for these DLC.
18/07/2012 at 16:43 Zenicetus says:
I was surprised they didn’t release any more DLC after that first one, and I wonder if they’ve missed the window of interest for any future DLC beyond this multiplayer stuff.
That ending in ME3 — especially the extended version — is a definitive closure for the series, which could limit the appeal of any singleplayer DLC that involves Shepard.
I don’t know how other players feel, but after finishing ME3 (twice) and seeing the extended ending on the second playthrough, I removed the game and wiped my save files. For me, that story is over and done. I’m not going back for any side missions involving Shepard and crew. It would just feel too weird. With the first two games in the series, there was a much stronger incentive to keep save games around for plugging in DLC side missions, because the story wasn’t over. Now that incentive is gone. I might be tempted to re-install the game by a really good DLC that involved the other crew members as central characters, but my Shepard story is over.
18/07/2012 at 16:53 obie191970 says:
LotSB came out 9 months after ME2 and was arguably the best DLC for the game. I’m betting that one of DLC’s will have to do with retaking Omega. But I agree that it would be sweet if they do something that is central on one of the other characters and not Shepard. Specifically, Garrus and Palaven.
18/07/2012 at 17:58 Alevice says:
I think that by Garrus and palaven, you actually mean all the Elcor and retaking Dekuuna (in a real mission)
24/07/2012 at 21:41 Alceste007 says:
I will admit to enjoying the multiplayer aspect of Mass Effect 3, but LotSB was simply a great DLC. That level of DLC is what I want from Bioware for Mass Effect 3. I am saving my second play through for the incoming DLC.
18/07/2012 at 17:25 Vinraith says:
Yeah, I’ve been really disappointed by the lack of post-release single player content, especially given the quality of some of the ME2 DLC (Lair of the Shadow Broker, in particular), not to mention how great From the Ashes was. The DLC focus on the idiotic MP mode is one of many reasons I wish they’d left the game single-player only.
18/07/2012 at 15:06 syndrome says:
Big Ben almost made it…
btw, the amount of meh surrounding this game is truly awesome
they should’ve renamed it to Meh Effect
19/07/2012 at 07:38 BobbyDylan says:
QFT. I’m honestly surprised anyone is even still paying the multi-player. I guess some folks have a higher tolerance for repetition.
18/07/2012 at 15:18 TsunamiWombat says:
I like the multiplayer but it still doesn’t make up for that ENDING
19/07/2012 at 00:08 darkath says:
That ending is the Origin of all ME3′s problems.
18/07/2012 at 15:48 Alexrd says:
DC Universe Online has been a positive surprise.
18/07/2012 at 16:19 Dominic White says:
It’s great fun with friends. Make a bunch of ridiculous superheroes and just fly around doing superhero stuff. Simple, accessible controls and character progression. It’s a light snack of a game, but fun.
18/07/2012 at 16:37 Iliya Moroumetz says:
I enjoy ME3′s mutliplayer, yet, I can’t help but wonder how long they’ll keep the MP servers up.
I mean the Battle For Middle Earth games are unplayable now because EA shut them down, which is a shame, and I can’t help but wonder when a similar fate will happen here.
18/07/2012 at 18:51 Dominic White says:
While EA can and will shut down multiplayer servers the moment player-counts start to dip, they at least have a decent excuse with Battle For Middle Earth. The lost the LOTR license, so can’t even sell the game anymore, I don’t think.
18/07/2012 at 20:38 Iliya Moroumetz says:
Ah, now the part where they didn’t have the LoTR license anymore was something I wasn’t aware of. Thanks for letting me know,
18/07/2012 at 19:22 niuqqdd says:
http://is.gd/PFQQs4