This game is now available on Steam. I actually found it looking through Game Banshee's walkthroughs because they only do specific games and I thought i might find a title there worth playing.

Essentially this is done in KOTOR style with MUCH better graphics and much better dialogue options. You also can customize your player character, which I personally really like doing.

UNLIKE KOTOR...this is MUCH more of a shooter, and a more demanding one. If you're not great at shooters, play it on the easiest mode, and save often.

I'm still very early into the game, and I'm absolutely loving it. It was also released on the xbox. I didn't recall why I wasn't into this game on release, but then saw they had a horrific DRM w/ a 10 day repeat registration. It was quickly removed, but that would explain why I probably would have initially given it the middle finger.

I personally recommend buying via STEAM...you never have to worry about finding disks or activation codes (both of which are the bane of my gaming).

I'll write up more once I beat it, though that may be a bit as I don't have much time to play it. But just based on what I've seen...I'd say it's well worth the $20.

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PS: The guy that voiced Carth Onasi is voicing one of the chars. in this game. I hated Carth so very much. He's less annoying as this character though. So maybe I won't have to find a way to kill him.

I replayed KOTOR as Dark Side just to kill Carth. It was so rewarding.

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does the camera in the steam version still suck? I remember pre ordering it for 360 and when I got it home I spent all of an hour playing before I had to stop because of the headaches it gives me.

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For some reason people dog this game, but i really enjoyed it. It's not often that you find an original game like this. It has some issues, but overall I really enjoyed it. I'm replaying it now in the 360. The biggest problem is the crappy voice acting by the main character. Totally flat, the entire game.

Not at all, I've had no camera problems. What specifically bothered you? I've only played it with the innate camera (3rd person behind my avatar hovering), and had no problems at all. I played initially w/ low graphic settings, realized they were on low and said 'hey fuck this noise' cranked 'em to max and left on film grain. It's gorgeous.

Outside of combat all the dialogue stuff is like a cut scene almost, with you choosing avenues on the circle at the base of the screen (which isn't what your character will voice which is nice. It's stuff like 'Why X?' and then she'll say it appropriate to the tenor of the conversation. So if it's a nice conversation she'll say 'So why did the Alliance choose to do X in that manner when they could have done Y?'. If it's nastier, she'll be nastier about it; 'It makes no sense to have done X! Blah blah'.

Anyhoo, let me know what the camera problem is and I can tell you if it's doing it...but I'm highly sensitive to motion stuff like that and I've had no problems. The only problem I have in combat is that I'm an adept, and not specialized in my weapons and I can't hit for shit.

There's also screen shots on Steam, if that will help show you where the camera angle is.

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The female character is a little flat too, but not bad at all. She just comes off very business-like, no fucking around. I'd prefer more emotional range, but it's not bad. It's not sexy though at all, at least not so far.

I haven't heard the male voice, which is the one I'm assuming sucks.

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the whole 3rd person over the shoulder camera bouncing around when you ran or maybe even the motion blur going on was just getting me super sick, It seems to happen on certian games. I get really sick playing GTA as well I noticed, something about it just gives me super headaches and makes me want to hurl lol.

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Awesome game, beat it 3 times, going for the 4th time now =).

This game is up on my list after I beat Fallout 3, Bioshock and Vampire: The Masquerade. Been wanting to play it for a while.

Yeah, this was a fun game. Two things that annoyed me were driving the Mako, and there was this one fight with an alien (being vague to avoid spoilers) that I had problems with and I kept having to go through the preceding cut scene every time I reloaded. IIRC it was because you couldn't save when enemies were nearby. Inventory could've been better too.

The male pc voice wasn't bad, it wasn't spectacular either.

Maybe I'll play this through again as renegade if only just to punch that one crazy guy at the beginning.

Played it a while back on the 360. Definitely a great game, I love most of the dialogue in the cutscenes. Like Salam I hated the Mako levels, very boring and linear. Other than that though, it's a lot of fun just tinkering around with different abilities and team setups.

What's with Tarot and Steam, anyway? It's good, but it's not the only service to buy non-DRM games with! =p

I think I know the fight you are talking about. It took me about 5-6 tries before I figured out how to approach it, such a pain in the ass. Not skipping cutscenes was about my only big issue with that game. Otherwise is kicked ass. I need to go back and finish some of the achievements after I finish with Fable2.

Trying not to give anything away also so I'll phrase it this way: Are we talking about the fight with lots of soldier adds in 4 corners? I had some issues with that as well, though I heard the fight was easier if you weren't a telekinetic like I was. But GOD that spec was a fun one =) I love throwing people around with my mind~

On that note, really looking forward to ME2 =)

Ya, thats the fight. The cutscenes were so long with that one too. It was "toss the controller on the sofa and get another beer" type length.

I just want to say I really appreciate you guys not spoiling it, since I'm playing through the first time. Very cool of you.

I've laid out some time tonight to play, really looking forward to it.

I was also told by someone (who was also trying to avoid spoilers) to not do TOO many of the side planet stuff or I'd get easily bored. To do some, but stay on the main mission...did you guys find that to be true?

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You will want to play it through twice to see both endings, so ya, I'd say keep fairly close to the main story and split the side missions between each playthrough.

I'm a bit of a 360 achievement whore though so I did everything on the first run through and stuck to the main story for the 2nd and 3rd runs.

I did every single possible mission and didn't get bored. Got all minerals and medals and beacons. Just missing the last high level achievement, need 1 more level...

Some of the side missions are actually cool, so don't skip too many of them. Remember, the more levels you have the easier and more fun it will be to be fighting the end boss with all your powers upgraded close to the maximum.

Driving around sucks. I hope they make it more interesting or remove it completely in 2.

I did all of them first time through on my 360 as well, but I started getting bored for the last few, felt like it was a check list getting them done. Not one that I particularly wanted to finish that badly, but I did it anyway.

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Marauder Harabakc Goat

Played Mass Effect through at least five times immediately after buying it.

One of the few games that has actually held my attention long enough to complete.

Just came across this post and checked out Steam. D/L'ed this one last night, and tried it a bit this morning. I absolutely suck (died 3 times so far on the very first mission), so I'm hoping my skills improve soon or I'll be in some serious trouble later in the game :p
But otherwise, it looks like a great game. Glad you posted about this, Tarot. Mass Effect reminds me a bit of another old favourite, System Shock 2, with the zombies, biotics, guns, etc. Looking forward to taking a MMO break and tearing into this game

System Shock 2 in 3 player co-op was awesome. You and 2 of your friends each being one of the 3 classes.

Hmmm i wonder if it's playable without too much bugs in Win 7 x64...

Question about games on Steam ... do you purchase/download the actual game and then you're all set, or do you need to remain connected to steam while playing said game?

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Depends on the DRM the game has built into it. Most games you can play in offline mode via steam, but there are a few where you must remain connected to the internet to play. It's pretty easy to spot those, it's the Windows Live feature that games 'offer' that make you stay connected.

There are also games that must connect to a security server before starting up, but it's usually not through steam itself.