Mass Effect

ME combines the spectacle of Space Opera with the explorative spirit of Science Fiction.

The game is laced with little touches to make us fans smile – casting genre legend Lance Hendriksen (Bishop, from Aliens) as Admiral Hackett, presenting narrative parallels between Prothean beacons and the monoliths in 2001, and let's not forget the Thorian. Sci-fi has often explored the concept of plant life that challenges our ideas of what a plant's characteristics are. Oh yeah, and the Thorian has the ability to control people … an indirect nod to Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The makers of ME knew their genre.

And how about weapons named after Chess Champions? Don't make me break out my Karpov ...

In addition, ME's world sports little spices of realism that makes this future feel like a genuine possibility for our world. For example, the alliance uses naval terminology for interstellar travel even though the setting renders the words obsolete ("shore" party?). There's also a consistent naming scheme for Alliance vessels (named after significant battles). Our ship? The best in fleet? It gets named after the most significant battle in human history – The Normandy.

The universe is populated by some colorful alien races like the Elcor who speak in an eternal monotone, Solarians with an upside-down blink (the lower eye-lid is the more articulate lid), the Volus completely enclosed in space suits due to the living on low pressure worlds, the insect-like Rachni deliver a delightful homage to the Alien franchise while exploring Novaria.

Then throw in a codex where, if a player cares, they can find explanations that approach HG Wells levels of detail – things like why you never run out of ammo, to history of the various alien races, to stupid little pieces of trivia. If the player does not care, they can safely ignore it. There will be no quiz later.

While the setting is firmly established in the realm of Science Fiction, the story and presentation is distilled Space Opera. You take control of Commander Shepherd, an established hero in the human world about to make his mark on the intergalactic stage. A newly inducted "Spectre", you're charged with hunting down the traitorous rogue, Saren. The odds are stacked against you, and the fate of all sentient life hangs in the balance. May the force be with you.

As for the gameplay: you wander around the outposts racking up Mission Objectives and Side Quests ala any other RPG in existence. Mass Effect contains barely a handful of friendly outposts (located exclusively on Mission worlds), which is a plus in my book. I never liked needle-in-a-haystack RPGs. The combat side of the game is divided between the landrover vehicle named "Mako" (which the controls and the camera do not like) and battles on foot. Both take place in pause-able real time.

It's not that the Mako is unplayable, but it very noticeably lacks the precision you would expect. A simple task like driving out from behind cover, firing, and returning to cover is far more difficult than it needs to be. Also, when you have the main cannon's scope engaged, it's not uncommon to drive into an obstacle, nearly flipping the whole Mako over while Geth Armitures bombard you. Can't someone else drive while I aim and fire? I mean, c'mon Bioware, in this same game I can get Ashley and Garrus to charge into an ambush, Ashley lay down suppressive fire and use her Immunity ability to soak up more damage while Garrus Sabotages the enemy's Weaponry rendering them temporarily useless all while I bombard them with Singularity fields from a distance … can't we get some basic coordination going in the Mako?

Anyway, Mass Effect lacks the flashiness of, say Final Fantasy's magic and summons, but there is a certain charm to "Lift" which simply elevates an enemy into the air so you and your allies can fill them full of lead. "Just call me Darth Shepherd." And there's something satisfying about using "Throw" to push two Krogans over a railing to their deaths when you're standing 20 feet away. Or use AI Hacking to turn drones against each other.

As much fun as I had with Biotics and Tech abilities, I most enjoyed taking out a Mercenary Camp from a distant hill with the Sniper Rifle. A close second would be standing in the middle of a field with said Sniper Rifle while zombies (Thorian Creepers, whatever) raced towards me. "Run Forest!" Kaboom! "Aw, so close …"

On the negative side, inventory is a royal pain in the ass. Like other games in the genre, you outfit not just yourself but the rest of your team, and the amount of loot you acquire can make this a tedious and time consuming task made worse by some downright stupid menu behavior. For example, let's say you open a crate and find out you've exceeded the 150 item limit. Well, you're stuck in that window until you reduce that loot to omni-gels (essentially, destroying the items you just acquired.) Why can't I waste older, cheaper, and less effective crap? Or here's an idea – why can't I leave this new crap in the crate where I found it and come back later?

Also, while the main objectives take place on unique world with their own specific landscapes and features, all of the side quests feel like copy and pastes of one another. All the worlds have painfully similar terrain, the only difference being the color of the sky and the color of the ground. Same goes for the explore-able structures on the worlds – exact same building, exact same furniture … only the furniture is in different places. Hello monotony.

Oh well, minor complaints. It wasn't enough to stop me from immediately replaying it … and I haven't done that since Chrono Trigger thirteen years ago. Take that for what it's worth.

This game has to be one of the best games to be released in the recent past hence all the praise that is flowing towards it. Although not a RPG fan I was enthralled by the sheer power and beauty of it right up to the very end. It feels more like a movie that you are involved in, all disguised in a game's body. You will have the experience of your life time with this game. The developers have gone into great lengths to provide us with a brilliant and captivating story that will have you at the edge of your seat till the heart stopping finale. If you are not overwhelmed by the action in the game you will be once you see the breath taking graphics in store for you. The characters feel life like as if they have jumped right out of the screen of a wonderful adventure movie. The action is nail biting stuff and done in a grand scale just like a futuristic drama.

This is out and out game of the year material but it isn't without its shortcomings. There are a few graphical glitches and some game stuttering, the side quests could have had a bit more weight and should have been rewarding towards plot development but after all is said and done if you can over look these minor problems you will have a really good time.

It will take pages and pages to truly capture the pure awesomeness of this epic journey. It is best left unwritten because this is an adventure you will want to experience for yourself, again and again. This is hands down the must buy game of the year.

I would have given it a 10, but 10 is perfect and this game isn't perfect. But with it's slight flaws the game is still amazing. This game's story is very gripping and draws you in. Few games can do this. I like RPGs and shooters, and this game really appealed to me. I guarantee it will appeal to the die hard RPG fans and the shooter fans.

The acting is VERY good. When you play this game you feel like you are watching a movie, but you are directly involved. The mystery, the thrill feel is all there.

Even when you are not in action, but talking and interacting with people it's very interesting and compels you to continue onward with the story.

The game is excellent after you've finished it, and almost seems more fun the second time around. You get to maintain your level and experience after you finish the game.

Just a fun fun fun game overall. My favorite game of the Xbox 360 thus far.

I disagree with the previous post about this game being similar to Elder Scrolls IV. There was no glitchy combat system, no repetitive storyline of 'run in this thing and destroy it', and much unlike Oblivion Mass Effect has actual character development.

The voice acting in Mass Effect has one of the best casts I've seen in a game. Nothing is over exaggerated or monotone, and the character's movement goes along with that. Bioware has introduced another great game with a fantastic storyline as they did with KOTOR. The combat system takes some getting used to if you want to play on the hardest difficulty, but you can play the game like a 3rd person shooter if you have it on easy.

The only reasons I give this game a 9 out of 10 is because sometimes you can get stuck in the geometry of the game whether you are walking or more often when you are in the MAKO vehicle, and need to finagle your way out. Also while the character classes were varied the character customization left something to be desired in my opinion. All in all i found Mass Effect t be a very enjoyable game to play and found myself becoming immersed in the beautiful graphics and intense storyline. A definite must have for an role player who has Xbox 360.

You are commander Shepard, a war hero, or a sole survivor or a ruthless & notorious cutthroat who knows how to get the job done. You will get to pick your background. Shepard is called on a mission to salvage an unearthed Prothean beacon uncovered at the remote human colony of Eden Prime. It turns out that this mission isn't that simple after all. The colony has already attracted the Geth, a synthetic race who have formed an alliance with what they consider their God and have seized control of the colony. Saren the principal antagonist, a member of an elite, peacekeeping squad called the Spectres has gone rogue, by siding with the Geth. He plans to find and activate the Conduit which will allow Sovereign to signal the return of the Reapers, an enigmatic civilization which recycles all life in the galaxy every 50,000 years. Shepard is on Saren's trail to stop him. In order to accomplish his mission he must assemble a team of diverse & talented individuals, each one experts in their fields and essential to the mission, scour planets to acquire intelligence, form alliances or go to war. It always seems as though Saren is one step ahead of him though. Will he manage to succeed and how will his choices affect the future of the galaxy?

The player decides how the plot will unfold. If there's a game in which you feel that your choices do matter it is this one. It's not just minor or secondary objectives, you actually get a say on many major outcomes of the game. You will explore and make decisions that will shape the future of a planet, or colony, in ways you cannot begin to fathom (play all 3 games and all DLCs to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes; save games carry over to the ME2 and ME3). Bioware has made all players interactions with NPCs so realistic, due to its cinematic design to conversations. Character development is off the chart, and second to none (except the sequel Mass Effect 2). You will love meeting new squad members and talking to NPCs everywhere. Depending on species, race, gender, personality everyone feels totally different, in fact each one is unique. This level of realism is in part attributed to the perfect voice-acting and lipsync of all characters and to the vast lore that has been meticulously crafted for each location the plot takes place in the universe. 5+++/5 for the lore & story (best one EVER in a video game)

To learn more about the overwhelming new amounts of information on this universe you can can visit the Codex menu which gets automatically updated with new entries as you progress through the game. I found myself reading and listening to everything in the Codex because i wanted to learn as much as i could about this amazing world. Never again have i felt like i wanted to read inside a game (i was never interested in books and the lore in Skyrim, or Oblivion, but that's partly because i prefer sci-fi to fantasy). Everything seems so real and likely to occur in real life, in the future. In fact it's all taken from real life and you can use it to expand your own knowledge. This game has got me interested in science and technology and i now have a Bachelor's degree in computer science. In this game your choices matter deeply. 5/5 for characters, direction & impact

What i consider a negative aspect of the nearly perfect plot is that it sometimes feels overly dramatic, like it is leading you to the next part by very unlikely scenarios. For example ((SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH)) you originally learn about Saren because of a lazy soldier who was sleeping behind the crates before the Eden Prime attack started. As such he was able to hide from the Geth (who along with Sovereign have super advanced tech and as such would be most likely able to id everyone in the colony) when everyone else got wiped out AND he happened to stand on the best spot to listen when Saren killed Nihlus. If that soldier wasn't there, there was no way that Shepard would find out about Saren. This one simple act of his, simply created the entire Mass Effect story arc, involving Shepard. I'm sure the developers could find a more believable reason to track down Saren, but anyway, i am nitpicking here. Pacing isn't the best either, but that's not necessarily bad, because you are simply given plenty of freedom to explore the galaxy between main quest missions (even when a lot of things are pressuring the continuity of the primary quest, which breaks immersion a bit; but anyway). 4.5/5 for the plot

The graphics are fantastic. I noticed very few graphical glitches every now and then. The cutscenes are fantastic (somewhat dated for 2018). The system requirements for PC aren't that high, especially for a modern PC. The score is phenomenal. The main theme rivals that of Star Wars (which was composed by the legendary John Williams) and that says a lot. I personally got the soundtrack separately and listen to it whenever i feel like it. It is so soothing and transports you into space whenever you hear it. No other major technical issues that i noticed. Even mods are possible now if you are an advanced computer user (if so check out "Mass Effect Explorer" program). 5/5 graphics & technical achievement, 5+/5 for Audio & Soundtrack

The combat system is very good as well. Bioware has expanded on the old system they use in KOTOR, primarily RPG focused and modified it such that it is more fluid and fast paced like an action game. Combat is faster, yet tactical, as you get to pause the game during combat and tell your squad members who to shoot, where to go/cover, which abilities to use. Everything can be micromanaged, or if this distracts you from the action, you have the option to let the AI automatically make these decisions. You won't be disappointed either way, because the AI is decent. I rarely felt the need to micromanage everything, unless i was playing in max difficulty, or was in a very difficult or boss fight. Overall the combat system isn't great though and could certainly be improved by various alterations to the system. For example sniper rifles are wielded like the player has Parkinson. It would be nice if the squad management was simpler, or if the AI was a bit better. Most of these negatives are fixed in the sequel. 4/5 in gameplay.

The secondary objectives give you an opportunity to explore new planets and star systems. Some of them are actually quite good, but unfortunately most are repetitive and are a go there - kill that, or fetch that kind of missions. They aren't as varied as i would like. Nevertheless you'll still want to complete them all. This drawback in side quests is pretty much the only significant one (which is thankfully also fixed in Mass Effect 2). 3.5/5 for length.

I played Mass Effect for PC in 2008 when it was released. I remember after seeing the epic trailer i thought it was some Star Wars offshoot. It is my favorite science fiction universe ever, even better than Star Wars, yes even better objectively speaking. In fact, i will go as far as to say that the Star Wars universe is childishly explained in comparison to this. Star Wars lore involves more fantasy than science, ie. less emphasis given on scientific explanations, technology and more in fantasy. Mass Effect universe and the lore is very mature, it is an expansion of our own universe (in fact it is set ~170 years in a -very possible- future). Bioware did not simply create a game but an experience. After they crafted the universe they wanted and the laws that govern it, they conceived the storyline, which is unfolded through the eyes of Shepard. 5/5 for enjoyment/entertainment & impressions

Finally you can find value in replaying the game with new character classes. There are 6 to choose from and each one has 2 unique specializations. Each player class plays drastically different, with unique talents, abilities and personalities. The combat and progression is linear, but you can replay to explore many different scenarios because of the choices you make which can be completely different on a new playthrough. 4.5/5 for replayability

The Mass Effect franchise is in my top 3 video games of all time, and it is my No1 fictional universe of all time.

To sum up: Do not miss Mass Effect. Grand, epic story. Deep universe of unprecedented scale. Cinematic feel and intense cutscenes. Living, breathing characters. Choices that impact the future of the universe and carry on to the sequels.

Rating 9/10 - Amazing