Mass Effect

"In Space!"

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to play most of BioWare's previous games which have gotten massive critical acclaim like Jade Empire or Knights of the Old Republic, but I had always heard really good things. Plus, I definitely loved the company's Baldur's Gate games so I was very excited when I heard about their latest title which sounded like a combination of Gears of War and Oblivion…in space! Taking two of the Xbox 360's greatest games and meshing them together look good on paper…and the final product definitely delivers as well!

While some fans of more traditional RPGs will be turned off simply by my comparing the game to Gears of War, others will definitely loves this approach to the genre. However, there a ton of other shooters that Mass Effect draws inspirations from including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Combat plays out pretty much like Gears of War with cover being your best option for survival. There are a wide variety of weapons at your disposal and each weapon can be customized to an insane level. There are upgrades you can apply to these weapons that add special effects to them. From sniper rifles to shotguns to grenades, Mass Effect definitely has the shooter fan covered. Weapons don't use conventional ammo but instead utilize a cool-down system.

But what about the upgrading system? In order to level up your abilities you have to, obviously, gain experience points. You can gain experience points by killing enemies, completing mission objectives, or having conversations with people. I liked this system since it was simple enough for gamers new to the RPG genre but complicated enough so long time RPG fans wouldn't be disappointed.

Just like in most other RPGs there are people that help you during your adventure and they join your team similarly as in other RPGs as well. Your teammates you come across throughout the game each of them have their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses. If you want, you can upgrade your partners yourself, but you can also set it so they upgrade themselves which can save you sometime in the pause menu. You can issue simple commands to your teammates (ala Ghost Recon), but it's the AI is good enough that you probably won't have to help them out that much except for reviving them.

Another reward for completing mission objectives is, obviously, money. You can use this currency to buy upgrades for various items like upgrades for your weapons or armor, but there are so few merchants around the massive world (or worlds) of Mass Effect that the currency really doesn't matter that much. Plus, you can just pick up most of the weapon upgrades and armor by completing mission objectives.

A big part of Mass Effect is carrying on a conversation with the insane amount of NPCs that appear in the world. The way you carry on these conversations alter people's opinions on you and these conversations are usually how you can get mission objectives. This is where Mass Effect gets a little annoying since the game usually leaves you as the player in the dark about where you need to go and what you need to do exactly, causing a lot of confusion especially since the environments are so massive.

You have a map that appears on the corner of the screen similarly to the Grand Theft Auto games except BioWare has no idea how to run the damn thing. Plot objectives appear as exclamation points, points of interest appear as x's, enemies appear as red dots, partners appear as blue dots, etc. However, where BioWare goes wrong is that when you're done with objectives sometimes they don't disappear off the map which can just cause some confusion and there's no way to find out if an objective is above you or below you…which can also cause confusion.

Back to the combat, the game definitely impresses with its variety of ways that you'll want to take down enemies (not to mention the wide variety of enemies to battle). Melee is available by getting up close and nailing them with your gun, but most gamers will do the more conventional Gears of War way of getting behind cover, taking shots only when needed. This seems to be the most effective way of battle and thankfully Mass Effect doesn't ruin the cover system popularized by Gears of War. Magical abilities are also available to use.

What? Magic? Well, there is a big science-fiction name for them, but yeah, they're basically magic abilities. Now you're wondering how this game is anything like Oblivion (besides the obvious RPG parts) and that's with the amazing character customization system in place. You can make your character look very unique and you can assign certain abilities to them that will affect their powers throughout the game. You can make them a soldier who has high health and is great with weapons or some smart guy that can hack cases and has access to extensive magical powers. I was very impressed with the level of customization in Mass Effect and I do have to say that it almost succeeds the one found in Oblivion.

How can you have a science-fiction epic without awesome spaceships and sweet vehicles? Well, Mass Effect DOES have some very awesome vehicle designs and some cool ideas implemented, but driving the vehicles is so difficult that you'll feel like a drunk. Seriously, even if you are tilting the control stick straight forward the freaking vehicle goes all over the place. It's too bad that more time wasn't spent on the vehicles because they are very cool. However, there aren't too many vehicular missions found in Mass Effect and the missions that do use them aren't very long.

You can pretty much save whenever you want to and there is an auto-save system in Mass Effect so you won't feel the need to save constantly, right? Wrong. Definitely wrong. Cheap deaths can put you far back enough to drive you crazy and it's only amplified by the fact that you'll have to repeat a bunch of the long conversations you've already completed. This means that you'll be nervous enough to save a little too much.

Traveling to different galaxies and planets was one of the main reasons why I became so interested in Mass Effect when it was first announced, but traveling to different galaxies is more of a hassle than it is a pleasure. First you'll have to get back to your ship, the Normandy, go through a long loading screen (disguised by claiming that you are being “sterilized”) run to the end of a hallway and go through an annoying map system that just introduces more loading screens. On a positive note, the way out of the Normandy doesn't take nearly as long to load and this is where you get to pick which of your teammates (out of three) will join you.

Just like you'd expect from a science-fiction epic from one of the masters of the RPG, Mass Effect has a brilliantly written story with a cast of characters so massive that you'll be immediately immersed in its world. Each character, down to practically every NPC, is unique in their own way and will give you that much more reason to talk to them. Basically, you are Commander Shepard who has recently discovered that an influential figure named Saren has revived a lost species called the Geth and plans on taking over the galaxy. Sounds simple, but it's actually very immersing and extremely involving.

There wasn't a single time during Mass Effect where I felt the graphics were even a smidgen below breath-taking. Each level is so cleverly detailed (though sometimes repetitive) and each world is unique in its own way. You know how pretty games look during FMVs? Well, Mass Effect looks that good throughout pretty much the entire game. I am not even kidding. Character models are extremely impressive as well and would make George Lucas jealous. The only problem is some minor pop-up but that disappears after you've got the game booted up for a while.

With a soundtrack that is brilliantly created backing Mass Effect up, the game also excels in the audio department. Not only is the background music great but every sound effect is spot-on and sounds just like you would imagine it would. There is some brilliant voice-acting in Mass Effect that rivals the acting in Hollywood blockbusters, so it's good to see the video game industry taking great strides in trying to improve the storytelling aspect of gaming.

Another area where Mass Effect definitely doesn't falter is in its replayability. Just like in Oblivion there are hours upon hours of gameplay to consume for the main campaign and a ton of side quests for you to check out as well. There are some extras to check out and there is a bounty of achievements for you to unlock as well with some encouraging multiple play-throughs.

Fans of BioWare's previous games will definitely find plenty to love in Mass Effect and I definitely encourage more action-oriented gamers to give Mass Effect a try—they won't be disappointed. Microsoft is definitely taking actions to make sure that the Xbox 360 won't be dry of RPGs and so far it has proved that the system is fully capable of providing engrossing, entertaining, and extremely fun RPG experiences. Add Mass Effect to the list of exceptional Xbox 360 RPGs and pick up this great science-fiction adventure as soon as possible.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/16/08

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