Weapon Load-out: Mass Effect 3

The Mass Effect series has been the target of both criticism and praise for its narrative focused approach to game-play. So much so that we've lost focus on the great systems at play in the most recent title: Mass Effect 3. New and refined options in the character weapon loadout and skill tree systems create a balance that encourages players to experiment with the different options available to them.

Trying to find the balance between Biotics, Tech powers, and the Weapons System has been an ongoing effort for Bioware. Much like Square Enix, Bioware has greatly changed its designs between the games in its star franchise. But the solutions to these issues implemented in Mass Effect 3 were based around the cooldown timers of the Biotic and Tech abilities. Every weapon has a weight value which affects the recharge time for that character’s powers. Characters carrying too much weight will have their cooldown times extended. Conversely players that opt for lighter weapons, which usually do less damage, will have their cooldowns shortened. This tug and pull between weapon diversity and ability cooldowns makes players consider what they really want out of their Mass Effect experience.

Another noticeable change from the previous games is the removal of class based weapon restrictions for Commander Shepherd. Players have access to every weapon type in the game but this is balanced through the weight system. Players can choose to run a balancing act between firepower and abilities or entirely disregard one for the other. For my play-through this resulted in me picking a set of weapons and powers to test in each mission. I spent a lot of the early game figuring out how I wanted to play my Commander Shepherd.

Once I knew what I wanted to do the weight system allowed me to succeed in that choice. The avenues it opened up by granting me access to every weapon type being balanced by how often I could use my super powers really made me think about my approach to the game. This system when combined with the diversity afforded by branching power trees brought a feeling of individuality to my Commander Shepherd. More than that I now have another reason to go back and play Mass Effect 3, because I can still run my Vanguard Shepherd and have a different experience by changing up how I played in combat. Which I did.

I played Vanguard two ways: first by prioritizing Pull and then prioritizing Biotic Charge on the next play through. When I used the Pull focused build my Shepherd relied on cover, combining powers for chain reactions, and sharp shooting. This changed dramatically when I switched to the Biotic Charge build. I allocated points on my skill tree to allow Shepherd to recharge his shield and increase weapon damage when he used Charge. This resulted in me bouncing around the battlefield with a super charged shotgun. Which is just as silly as it sounds. But the variance in options and tone was made possible through the Weight system. My cooldown for charge was about 1.5 seconds. This allowed me to succeed with a silly character and power set.

I believe that this system truly allows players to make their own Commander Shepherd and use him or her in a style that works for them. The Weight system and branching skill trees work together to get players thinking. Overall I'd say these system contribute to Mass Effect 3 being a successful game.

Sol Exodus: Combat Systems and Mission Types

Sol: Exodus is a space flight simulator; a genre that was very popular ten years ago but steadily fell off. Sol uses new features of today’s computers to improve on old systems and borrows from other genres to create new features. The end result is very interesting and this post will critique the unique combat hacking system and enemy fighter design.

The game’s combat is standard dog fighting for the most part but for larger enemies there is an interesting new system: Hacking. Ships too large to attack directly can be weakened by hacking their computers to expose sweet spots that are vulnerable to the player’s weapons. Hacking takes the form of a memory mini-game that goes on while the player is still flying through space. The hacking window shows an ever changing grid of letters and numbers that gradually fade while the correct characters will glow one by one in sequential order. After the key has been revealed the player just has to pick it out of a list of similar looking keys. The Hacking window is well sized and placed to allow players to hack and dog fight at the same time. In game I found having to do both at the same time was manageable and gave a sense of intensity to the character matching mini-game.

Hacking - Lower Left Corner

The enemy design is where the game falls down a bit. Enemy fighters and frigates are all very dark in their color scheme which lets them fade into the blackness of space. On one hand this is realistic but on the other hand it doesn’t make for good fun. Even large enemies can get mixed up in the background when the player is moving at max speed. The targeting computer compensates a little in this regard but I’d rather be able to see brightly colored space ships (see Battlestar Galactica’s Viper design).

The biggest issue I had with the game was its most used mission type and the enemies associated with that mission: the escort quest. Most of the missions will require the player to protect an asset from various types of enemies. The most frustrating of which are the leech ships which are tiny, dull colored, do massive damage, and latch onto the sides of friendly ships. They don’t target the player but the assets the player is trying to protect and this is where the frustration comes from. Making strafing runs against an enemy cruiser is one thing but strafing a friendly ship looking for little grey-blue bulbs to shoot off is another thing entirely. This wouldn’t be as large an issue if this enemy and mission type weren’t always reappearing.

As a whole the game is competent and has some potential. For now though its mission selection and enemy design are holding it back by creating frustration instead of engagement. 

Final Fantasy XIII - Command Synergy Battle System

Final Fantasy games have been changing combat systems between each game in the franchise. Taking this into consideration; the combat of XIII is probably the most divergent and ambitious system to date. It still adheres to basic conventions of the series such as turn based combat, 3 character teams, et cetera but it takes a drastic step back in terms of player-avatar alignment. Players no longer directly control 3 characters in combat: two are left in the hands of competent computers while the player has control of the party leader. This and other leaps the combat system takes are interesting choices which have substantial results on the gameplay that, in my opinion, work against player engagement.
The Command Synergy Battle (CSB) system emphasizes speed and precision. This is reinforced in many different aspects of the game. Damaging enemies will fill their chain gauge which causes them to take more damage. After the initial strike the gauge will empty itself increasingly quickly which teaches players to do as many attacks as possible in small amounts of time. Also the score screens at the end of each battle will rate players on damage done, damage taken, and time length of the fight. Even performing Paradigm Shifts, the act of changing the collective roles of your team (called Paradigms), at the right time will make the ATB gauge fill faster thus allowing the player more actions over less time. All these systems encourage players to act quickly in the game’s strategic environment. This isn’t an inherently bad concept but the CSB’s shortcomings really show when the required speed begins to clash with the required precision and other game system’s styles.

Precision in combat execution is just as important as speed. Many enemies react strongly to certain attack types whether they are magical, physical, or have an elemental type to them. Some enemies are naturally resistant to all types of damage until they have their Chain Gauge filled entirely which makes every attack cause devastating amounts of damage. It becomes important to spend actions to “Libra” an opponent which will reveal the targets weaknesses allowing AI partners and the auto-battle option to be more effective. I found that I used Auto-Battle more than any other command available from the menus. All of combat centered around two turns of Libras to thoroughly know an enemy type and then auto-battle to victory.
I found that navigating the menu to select my desired ability proved more arduous than I anticipated because of the speed required to make my actions effective. For example: timing AOE attacks to hit multiple targets while they are grouped together or selecting specific spells to exploit a target’s elemental weakness in conjunction with AI partners. These issues recur throughout the game which discouraged me from using anything but the auto-battle button.
The battle system’s prominent feature, Paradigm shifts, didn’t engage me as a player. The act of shifting paradigms boiled down to pressing three buttons and selecting an item from a menu. Admittedly there is a lot of pre-battle preparation to make this system work but time spent organizing a chart of roles wasn’t fun or engaging for me. The combined elements I mention streamline gameplay down to where I, as the player, didn’t feel necessary to the game. I wasn't involved in the combat so much as I guided the characters through their enemies.