Mass Effect

Bioware's space-opera in RPG form is, on the whole, a magnificent piece of storytelling and a thoroughly absorbing, playable and re-playable game that goes out of its way to accommodate newcomers to the genre but doesn't lack depth. Here I'll concentrate on the more 'filmic' qualities of Mass Effect, on the assumption that if you want a review that focuses on gameplay you'll go to a gaming website. Suffice to say I've enjoyed playing it through multiple times (on the PC); one could pick holes in various bits of the implementation, such as the AI in combat and the inventory system, but the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses in gameplay terms.

Mass Effect is, up to a point, what you make it. Commander Shepherd, the protagonist, can be selfless, principled even to the point of being holier-than-thou, or unsentimentally pragmatic; he/she can explore the blurry boundary between patriotism and xenophobia, or hold out for species-blindness; there are politicians to be mollified, tolerated or deliberately alienated, as well as a crew representing five different species, none of them straightforward quasi-racial caricatures, whose inner lives Shepherd can discover (or not), sympathize with or mock. He/she may find herself falling for one or two of them, but there are also sacrifices to be made. It's testimony to the quality of the writing, character design and animation and (not least) voice acting, that most of this feels supremely persuasive. One can feel really guilty about some of the choices one's forced into.

Technically, the game is often miraculous. Something it manages really well is the focus on nuances of character, helped along by a magnificent facial animation system, and some first-rate voice acting in most of the primary roles. Special nods go to the always excellent but never better Jennifer Hale as the female Shepherd; lovely, characterful work from Raphael Sbarge (Alenko), Kimberly Brooks (Ashley) and Brandon Keener (Garrus), and a fine performance from Fred Tatasciore as Saren, no one-dimensional villain. Not all the squad-mates are as well-written or performed, and neither Tali nor Liara quite comes to life as a character; their line readings tend to sound less spontaneous, but the actresses really do have much less to work with. (Edit: but Liz Sroka is quite wonderful in Mass Effect 2, given much better material and delivering it with terrific dramatic power.)

There are limits and compromises to the game's self-conscious feminism: when the female characters aren't tough soldiers they tend to be a bit feeble, and the exploitative character design for Matriarch Benezia should have been sent back to the drawing board (she's voiced by an uncomfortable-sounding Marina Sirtis). On the plus side, supremely solid support comes from the likes of Keith David as the compassionate, experienced Captain Anderson, and the unmistakable voice of Seth Green is very well cast as Joker. He gives a subtle, variegated performance that steals a few scenes without ever seeming to be doing so on purpose.

There are two fundamental tensions which Mass Effect has to disguise, if we're to suspend disbelief. The first and less important is pacing. In a race against time to save all civilization from an ancient foe, there's always time for a long chat, a side quest, a shopping trip. I'm happy to accept that as a necessary fudge; it's the price you pay for replayability. More serious is the tension between choice and linearity. For all the nuance with which you can create and develop 'your' Commander Shepherd, you gradually discover on multiple playthroughs that most of your choices are less meaningful than you think. Whatever you choose, the consequences are much the same in terms of plotting, and have only limited ramifications at the level of personal relationships.

This is one of those moments where a technical necessity starts to become a philosophical tenet by accident. Mass Effect presents itself as a morality, a story about choices and their consequences, but the more you play the game, the more you become aware that those consequences are locked down in advance. Of course they are: just imagine the inefficiency otherwise - the amount of dialogue, cut-scenes, character relations and plot developments that would branch off. Mass Effect simultaneously flatters and explodes the heroic illusion that every choice one makes changes the universe. That at least is a provisional conclusion: it'll be very interesting to see how, and how far, the sequels work out the consequences of choices made in the first game. And I for one will certainly be playing.

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.

OK, first off, I just want to say that I am very fascinated by space to start with, but this game will amaze anyone who likes video games. Mass Effect is so masterful that it's hard to pick where to start. OK, I guess I'll start with the character creation.

If you're a fan of customization, that's already enough reason to buy Mass Effect. The creation goes so deep, that it's almost annoying.

The graphics in Mass Effect are indescribable. As i said before, I'm obsessed with space, and it's almost like I was there. When you land on Earth's moon, and you drive up a steep incline, Earth rises billions of miles away. If you've ever seen a picture of Earth from space, you know how beautiful it is. When I saw this, my jaw almost dropped. It was like they used a real life picture!!!!! That goes for the entire rest of the game too. Best graphics ever for years and years to come.

The story telling in Mass Effect is stuff of legend. The imagination in this game is incredible. Think of Star Wars, only yes, I'm about to say it........better.

If you're a fan of games at all, you will pick this up, and love it. Mass Effect is so convincingly real, you actually begin to think to yourself if the future 200 years from now will contain the things that Mass Effect does.

The aliens in Mass Effect are so amazingly detailed and unique, you are actually sad you can't pick your species. Lets just hope that you can in Mass Effect 2.

If you hate space and aliens and sci-fi, still get Mass Effect, because it does an amazing job of not only being a great RPG, but also a great 3rd person shooter!!!

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.

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.