Because the last one was HUGE... Mass Effect 2
Have been playing ME2 lately, when Rio's not that is. ;p
All in all, it's very pretty. There's a few things though where it's kinda... irritating.
1) Ammo. The first game didn't use ammo, it used "overheating" to regulate how long you could fire. Now you're forced to scrounge for "thermal clips" and can run clean out of ammo in a potentially deadly situation. Also, the "burst fire" that all assault rifles and machine guns seem pre-set for is a bit tedious to say the least. I can't choose single shot or full-auto but I've now got to scavenge for the bizarrely universal ammo clips and power cells?
2) No customization. You can look like your first character or change it up, but outside of your skills, you really have no customization. Plus, with only 4 "levels" of a handful of powers, it doesn't take long before everything is maxed. One of two "more powerful" versions of the power doesn't actually make it better.
3) Weapons. There's apparently only 2 or 3 (unless it's heavies, there's five of those) different kinds of weapons in the universe. Which is significantly different from the first game and not in a good way.
4) Credits. Why is there credits everywhere? I get that folks thought the inventory system was kludgy and wanted something better, but credits everywhere? Why not plans for something new? There's something bizarre about opening a locker and finding a wad of cash or hacking a PDA and getting 4K creds instead of a blueprint of a weapon upgrade or something.
5) Experience. It's quest related. Quest related! You can bust your butt killing scores of baddies, but you'll only get 1000 or 750 or 125 experience each time. For the really minor side quests it's only 40. No matter what you go through. No bonuses. Nothing.
It's a fun game and all, and I'm enjoying it, but really... in a lot of ways it's such a letdown from the first game. Yes, it's pretty. Yes, it sounds lovely. But, to be honest, there's nothing in the story that makes me care about saving the galaxy. I mean, who cares? Yeah, yeah, colonies are being gobbled up by Collectors. I have no reason to care and if you look around the galaxy, no one else cares about it either.
All in all, it's very pretty. There's a few things though where it's kinda... irritating.
1) Ammo. The first game didn't use ammo, it used "overheating" to regulate how long you could fire. Now you're forced to scrounge for "thermal clips" and can run clean out of ammo in a potentially deadly situation. Also, the "burst fire" that all assault rifles and machine guns seem pre-set for is a bit tedious to say the least. I can't choose single shot or full-auto but I've now got to scavenge for the bizarrely universal ammo clips and power cells?
2) No customization. You can look like your first character or change it up, but outside of your skills, you really have no customization. Plus, with only 4 "levels" of a handful of powers, it doesn't take long before everything is maxed. One of two "more powerful" versions of the power doesn't actually make it better.
3) Weapons. There's apparently only 2 or 3 (unless it's heavies, there's five of those) different kinds of weapons in the universe. Which is significantly different from the first game and not in a good way.
4) Credits. Why is there credits everywhere? I get that folks thought the inventory system was kludgy and wanted something better, but credits everywhere? Why not plans for something new? There's something bizarre about opening a locker and finding a wad of cash or hacking a PDA and getting 4K creds instead of a blueprint of a weapon upgrade or something.
5) Experience. It's quest related. Quest related! You can bust your butt killing scores of baddies, but you'll only get 1000 or 750 or 125 experience each time. For the really minor side quests it's only 40. No matter what you go through. No bonuses. Nothing.
It's a fun game and all, and I'm enjoying it, but really... in a lot of ways it's such a letdown from the first game. Yes, it's pretty. Yes, it sounds lovely. But, to be honest, there's nothing in the story that makes me care about saving the galaxy. I mean, who cares? Yeah, yeah, colonies are being gobbled up by Collectors. I have no reason to care and if you look around the galaxy, no one else cares about it either.