Mass Effect

"Game of the Year!"

What can I say about this game that hasn't been mentioned already? I could not fathom such a beautiful, entrenching piece of entertainment that expands beyond what one could do with videogames. This is the RPG of the Year and the Game of the Year, in everyone's eyes. You all are in for a treat if you haven't picked up this baby!

Story - 10/10

Take Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate Atlantis, Bioshock, Halo and Battlestar Galactica... combine all these and add a new, unique storyline with unique characters and you get Mass Effect and then some. The choices you make affect the story and the way you play. The decisions you take leads to breathtakingly exhilarating moments that will make you want more and to come back for more. Never since KOTOR did anyone top Oblivion and Final Fantasy...until now. You have to play, see and hear it to believe it. I won't say more. The ending...oh boy. It's that good and I've only seen one of them so far!

Gameplay - 9/10

Other than technical issues with texture pop-in and the occasional chugginess and weird glitching (ala KOTOR), this game's mechanics are superbly flawless. You will simply love how the real-time combat action rivals that of any other 3rd person shooter of its kind. The fact that you still can pause the game to set up biotics is amazingly executed. Being able to travel to dozens of distant planets and collect items may be tedious to some, but fun to me. The Mako rover is really fun to bounce around in and to destroy enemies with. Character customization is crazy good, better than Oblivion and Saints Row. The body is the only thing you can't change however, but they didn't want an overweight or underweight person running around in their cutscenes I guess. I really enjoyed the weapons and the upgrades, although I received too many items over the limit and had to get rid of most to accommodate newer, better ones. Nothing went beyond level 10 weapons or armory the first play through however. The vibration of the controller was put to good use, except there is none during fixed cutscenes (a stable of Bioware I suppose).

Graphics - 10/10

If you think the videos were good, you haven't seen nothing yet. They don't give this game justice; you have to see it yourself to be awe-inspired. I played with film grain turned on and no motion blur for the first play through, giving me a cinema-like experience. The grain does affect the entire game except for the menus and character screens. I don't know if it actually slows the game down a bit or not, but so far it doesn't seem to make a difference. It usually runs between 30 to 60 fps, but when you think about KOTOR, this is way beyond that game as far as polish goes. The fact is, the details are simply amazing. The character's faces, every single one of them to include NPCs, have super sharp resolution and texturing. The game boasts colorful arrays on each and every planet you land on. Even the structures and mountainous terrain are all differently constructed and textured. The sight of any planet's sun(s) are absolutely incredibly bright like the real thing. I love the way all the lights in the game glow in fact, with a streak of horizontal light swiped across, as if it is your eyelashes bending the light, not a camera lens like in other games. The fires could have used a motion blur effect but other than that they look realistically done and are very bright. The animation is top-notch, everything appears motion-captured. As well, with enemies and the like, you'll notice that they all have ragdoll physics! This is especially obvious when you use the throw or lift biotic against them when it turns into slow motion. The scenery is simply astonishing, makes you believe you really are there.

Audio - 10/10

The sound is superbly haunting and dramatic. The emotions you get from listening to the musical soundtrack blows away anything you've heard in past games. The score is so good that there is a separate soundtrack for the game! The sound effects are unique and new, as well as scorchingly loud when it comes to weapons. It feels right, sounds right. The voice acting is fantastic, as each character does an excellent job of portraying emotion and mannerisms for that particular character. The game is voiced by major talents. One will notice that Dwight Schultz (of the A-Team, Star Trek: TNG and Pauli Franchetti in The Darkness videogame) is in the credits; he is a master at many voices that you won't recognize him off the bat. A bunch of KOTOR voices are in the game such as the ones who played Carth Onasi and Bastila. The only problem is that the Carth Onasi guy did Alenko Kaidan's voice too softly, IMO. Other than that, everyone did a fine job indeed. It's very atmospheric, from the ocean waves to the humming of the Normandy, and from the button and electronic beeps to the weapons engaging. I cannot test 5.1 surround but it allows for it.

Replayability - 9/10

This game has high replay value due to all the tough decisions you must make each play through! What you do and say are integral to the core game's plot and twists, as well as how each character reacts towards you. It's not as deeply intertwined per se as in KOTOR but that's only because with that game you can become completely evil whereas in Mass Effect you are a Marine for the Alliance, so you're not evil, but you can be a jerk if you want and you can make decisions that ends up killing someone. The first time through I played as a male Vanguard getting the best of both soldier and sentinel in one. I made my character look like John Sheppard of Stargate: Atlantis fame, since his default name in the game is John Shephard (spelled differently but that's okay). I'm going to be a "baddy" this time with a female I created, or I can choose to use the same guy I had before to obtain the rest of the awesome long list of achievements!

Overall - 10/10

This game is set up for 2 more sequels. With EA buying out Bioware, we as fans hope Bioware doesn't get pushed around with schedules since Mass Effect took 4 years in the making. If it takes that long again, I don't care, just keep the beautiful and exciting game intact for our next adventure! Thank you Bioware for creating my Game of the Year that I can play over and over again! It's way more than worth the money, and a must have.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/27/07

Game Release: Mass Effect (US, 11/20/07)