Gaming Podcast 111: Squeaky Wheel Gets The Kick

This week we’re flashing back to Star Wars, an arcade classic from 1983. We’re looking back at the history and forward progress of ArenaNet, co-founded by some Blizzard folks. In the news, we’re looking at:

We also learned that Don’s got some issues with not sucking at Mass Effect.

0 thoughts on “Gaming Podcast 111: Squeaky Wheel Gets The Kick”

  1. Okay, Don – low level characters in Mass Effect are hampered in combat, partly due to the fact they’re underpowered, and also due to the fact the combat isn’t well-designed. The key to surviving early combat is this:

    1. Use biotic and engineer powers a lot. Biotics goes a way towards crowd control, while engineer powers weaken. Make sure you get the weapon abilities that allow you to rapid-fire without the weapon overheat, too. Remember to restore your shields when they go out.

    2. Be a coward for a while. Don’t try to wade in. A good example of this is the bar – after you kill Fist, you have an entire bar of hostiles. You should make sure you have full health and shields, then run for the exit, healing and restore your shields when they are almost depleted. Your teammates will be downed, but if you make it far enough, they’ll get up and follow. When fighting the giant Geth, run and hide and take out the smaller Geth before you duck-and-shoot the giant Geth.
    3. The toughest battle you’ll have is when you’re attacked by a group of Krogan and Geth when rescuing Liara. Make sure when you rescue her, you have an engineer and a biotic so you can crowd control them. You’ll probably deal with that a few times before succeeding.
    4. Always upgrade your items as much as possible.

    At some point, your characters become so powerful, they mow down enemies easily – usually, this involves the Spectre’s ability to revive downed teammates. It also involves the uber-weaponry and armor as well, to the point that the only way you die is if you do something stupid.

    The good news is that when you start a new game, you can use the character you just finished with — and they’ll start at that high level, so you won’t have to deal with weak characters from the start.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 580: Virtual E3Episode 580: Virtual E3

Publishers are doing their virtual E3 announcements, such as Ubisoft Forward and ID@Xbox’s Indie Showcase. There’s other wild news going on, and some not even in the official news items below.

Said news items include:

  • Ubisoft executives quit over misconduct allegations
  • Microsoft has stopped making the Xbox One X
  • Blasphemous gets free Stir of Dawn DLC on August 4

Let us know what you think.

TD Gaming Podcast 199: Now In QuadTD Gaming Podcast 199: Now In Quad

This week we’ve got four folks on the show, including Jonah Falcon who will soon take over the reins from Don as the third host of the gaming podcast. This week we’ve got a bit of user comments (a few didn’t make it as they were stuck in my queue, hopefully next week) and we’re flashing back to Food Fight while hitting up news:

Question of the Week: What did you buy on Black Friday?

Episode 297: Intendo With An IEpisode 297: Intendo With An I

[Note: Due to a mic issue, some of the podcast is slightly distorted.]

This week’s podcast was recorded a day early due to schedule conflicts, but we make up for it with an actual Gaming Flashback this week of one of the most famous recent RPGs, Knights of the Old Republic.

In addition, there’s a ton of news:

  • Brad Wardell states RTS’s aren’t dying – just waiting
  • Microsoft considered buying Sega at one point
  • UK: Wii U sells just 34,000 pieces of software in January
  • Next World of Warcraft update to arrive in the “coming weeks”
  • thatgamecompany had been bankrupt when Journey shipped
  • Report: Next-gen Xbox will feature Siri-like voice recog
  • Ubisoft plans new Assassin’s Creed game for 2013/14, set in a new time period

All that plus Reader Feedback and a Question of the Week: “What was the first roleplaying game you enjoyed?”