Mass Effect

"Combat flaws and goofy vehicular segments mar excellence"

Bioware has long been associated quality RPG's, and with good reason – some of the studio's more recent hits include Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and the Neverwinter Nights franchise, not to mention their classics such as Baldur's Gate. With their newest intellectual property, Bioware has done what they do best; create an engrossing story complete with its own universe and intricate back story.

Mass Effect takes place in the future, in a universe where man has discovered artifacts left behind by an extinct race known as the Protheans. These artifacts have helped human technology increase by leaps and bounds. Foremost amongst these discoveries are the mass relays, essentially gateways that can rocket ships across vast stretches of space in the blink of an eye. On the tail of this discovery, man finds out that there are plenty of other intelligent species in the galaxy, and is soon incorporated into a form of intergalactic government loosely run by the Citadel Council, a coalition of three other alien races.

The main story of Mass Effect revolves around a rogue alien known as Saren, who up until his traitorous actions revealed him, worked for the Council in a sort of secret agency known as the Spectres. His ultimate goal is initially unclear, but he has made contact with a synthetic race (robots) known as the Geth, who gained sentience and proven themselves to be a threat to organic life long ago. The Council quickly makes Commander Shepard (the main hero) a Spectre and gives the mission of finding and stopping Saren, whatever his goals may be.

It's safe to say that for a newly established property, Mass Effect has one of the richest and most fleshed out universes I've ever seen. I'd even go so far as to say that it comes close to some of the science fiction heavy-weights such as Star Wars. The history of man's ventures beyond Earth and first contact with alien life are well detailed and there is plenty of other ancillary information for sci-fi nuts like myself to absorb. Even better, the game has its own database that players can access for information on a variety of topics.

Given how important the story is to the game it should be no surprise that there is a lot of talking and text to deal with. Anyone who has ever played a Bioware game before should know that this is pretty much par for the course. However, if you're the sort of person who likes less talk and more action, let there be no mistake – this probably won't be your type of game. Anyway… with the story being as important as it is, it's a good thing that the writing is so fluid and natural.

The burden of so much text is eased by the fact that it is all completely voiced. And with a game this reliant on conversations, bad acting could have completely ruined the experience. Luckily, that isn't the case. In fact, the voice acting is some of the best I've ever heard. Voice actors bring their characters to life, making them completely believable in the process. While I'm on the topic of sound, I might as well address the music. The overall style is consistent with the futuristic space odyssey atmosphere of the game, with the music being a hybrid of orchestral and electronica. It is an odd mix that just so happens to be very compelling.

Conversing with others is accomplished a bit differently now than it has been in other Bioware games. In previous efforts, players typically talked to another character, and when it came time to respond, they were forced to read through all their responses in full. Obviously, this could become a bit tiring and the remedy is simple, but brilliant. Instead of scrolling through options, players use an analog stick and rotate between different options. Each option is not a full description, but rather a couple of words that convey the gist of what will be said.

Of course, no matter how great the story is, standing around talking to people all day does have a tendency to get boring. Thankfully, Mass Effect does afford plenty of opportunities to put the hurt on people. But prior to that, players will have chosen a character class that closely reflects some classic archetypes. There's the self-explanatory soldier who has access to a whole arsenal of weaponry, and can wear damage absorbing heavy armor, the Adept who serves as the mage, capable of using Biotic powers to hurt the enemy and the Engineer, a support class able to mess with the enemy by disabling weapons and sapping shields. There are three additional classes which mix the base three for greater flexibility.

Once in battle, the game controls much like a third person shooter. Players can even use a cover system, although it isn't very much fun because Shepard will routinely attach to things even without meaning to. Gunplay is fairly intuitive, as it also resembles a shooter. However, the controls aren't always precise (remember, this is actually an RPG), there's no reloading due to a cool back-story element that negates the need for magazines, and weapons have a set amount of shots before they overheat.

Shepard isn't alone in fighting as there will always be two companions to help. Unfortunately, “help” is a relative term because their AI isn't the best I've ever seen. They seem to be completely unable to take care of themselves, often going down in the opening seconds of a fight. This could be due to their inability to properly use cover, or not making the best use of their abilities. Enemy AI is similarly moronic, although it often works to their favor as they eschew any semblance of tactics and simply mob the player position guns blazing.

While combat isn't the best, it is tolerable. However, another gameplay element doesn't fare so well. The Mako vehicle segments just so happen to be among the worst I've ever encountered. The Mako is basically an APC with a big gun on top. The controls are loose and wacky, the weapon is weak and inaccurate. The goofy controls make any strategic maneuvering in combat impossible. To make matters worse, using the Mako is necessary on every main mission world and during every side quest.

Speaking of side-missions, there are plenty to be had in Mass Effect. They're constantly given out or received through random transmissions and it's unusual for there to be less than five to choose from at any given time. It's just too bad they're no fun to do. Side missions typically take place on random planets, and players will touch down with the Mako, make their way to the objective point and kill everything there. These missions are repetitive to the point of agony, and eventually most players will give up trying to complete them, simply because the rewards pale in comparison to the tedium required to get through them.

There is a whole mess of other minor problems that plague Mass Effect. In combat, the main method of healing has to recharge between uses (an excruciatingly long period, I might add), many load screens are thinly disguised as painfully long elevator rides and the autosave features is as good as worthless.

These problems don't change the fact that Mass Effect is a great looking game. Character models and facial rendering are very realistic and many of the environments possess that classic science fiction semblance, but don't seem overly cold and mechanical – it all feels like places people would actually design and live in. The planets that are visited during side missions aren't of the same quality, as they're mostly barren rock of assorted colors, and the installations on these planets are typically recycled over and over. The graphical prowess does come with a price though – there is a ridiculous amount of texture fill-in. However, this typically tends to happen when entering a new location, or after loading a save game, so rarely becomes a problem while in the midst of something. There are a few instances, such as when the game transitions between cutscenes that it does become irritating.

THE VERDICT
In the end, it's a bit hard to make a judgment call on the quality of Mass Effect as a whole. The amazing story, universe and writing are completely at odds with the iffy combat, terrible Mako segments and dumb AI. However, in the end, combat plays a lesser role in the grand scheme of things and therefore the good does win out over the bad. Still, Bioware could have done a much better job ironing out these issues.

HIGHS
- Great writing
- New conversation model is excellent
- Amazing graphics and realistic facial models

LOWS
- Mako vehicle segments
- Vacant AI
- Lame side-missions

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/09

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