Mass Effect

"Mass Effect: Proper name."

Mass Effect is one of those games I waited until it dropped down to 20 dollars to pick up. It's not that it was bad or looked awful, I am just not a science fiction fan. However, everyone was raving about this game so I absolutely had to give it a chance. Worst situation is I was out 15 dollars for a used game, no big deal.

Let me start off with what I said prior to this, I am not a science fiction fan. This game though was incredible. The graphics, story, characters, gameplay, everything was damn near flawless. Minor complications do not hinder this game, while they can become distracting, it still is not game breaking. With that said, shall we start the review?

Putting the game into the console and starting, you are prompted to either use an existing pre-made character which will give you a basic- though huge story. Personally I like the idea of customizing so I made my own character. The game allows the option for a background story which will play heavily into the game, your reactions, and just how you interact with certain key figures of the game elements. You also get the ability to customize your characters appearance, anything from pre-set facial appearances, down to the angle of the brow, or even the size of his lips. You really get almost full customizing over his or her appearance as you see fit. Then after customizing, you get to complete your character by picking how you want your character to fight. Let me tell you this, there is multiple classes, eight if I remember correctly, and all are different in their own ways. I recommended starting as a Solider first, mainly because this game has huge replay value and you will want to replay a new character.

But let us move onto the real reason you are reading this, or one of the many reasons. You want to know how is the story and gameplay? Some consider them into two different categories, I do not because in this game, they go hand and hand.

From the beginning moments you get into the game, you start off by hearing about your past and how you should run the galaxy. This beautiful cinematic leads into your gameplay where you are set right on a ship, interacting with how you choose. This is where the game becomes interesting. You are in control of your dialogue. Do you choose to be supportive and polite, or arrogant and strict? Perhaps neither and take a neutral reaction? That choice is yours. I will not reveal much of the story because it is something you truly need to experience; though you will be led into investigation, which will have an already shocking surprise this early in the game.

The combat and way your characters work is interesting once in combat. You get full use of your character, whether using the Solider class and using full blown guns and shields, or the Biotics class which enables the use of a type of magical properties almost. Perhaps you chose a route that enables Tech use, or a class mixing them? Either way, now is your chance to figure out how you want to play. Take the time to explore your options. Now I mentioned this was interesting for a reason. There is a range of sorts of guns from pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and along with them is a huge amount of upgrades for them. What upgrades? They can range from attachments such as better accuracy, shield bypass, cooling down your weapons [which I will explain shortly] and other properties. There is also a range of types of ammo, which will inflict burn damage or toxic damage, or even amplifying damage on a certain kind of enemy. Really you can prepare for any situation as you see fit.

Remember the cooling down weapons? You have unlimited ammunition. But you ask yourself, what is the fun in that? It not only is so much more fun, expandable, and unique, it's a challenge. Depending on the gun, attachments, and ammo, your gun can overheat very quickly or slowly. When this happens, you are unable to shoot for several seconds. It makes you pick your shots much more carefully, but also disables the use of being stuck without a weapon. Melee is hardly a valuable choice in combat, so I suggest refraining from it. Now I also mentioned Biotics, which is essentially a manipulation of the environment. You can lift enemies into the air, keeping them from harming you or your team. If you are a Solider, always have a Biotic user in your group. Soldiers lack the ability to use this form of combat, so you need to have someone who can. Tech use is, while useful, more so a waste of time for using as a main. You can disable shields, overheat your enemies weapons, and other useful techniques, but you also lose the ability to really effectively dismantle them. Your teammates can, but really, do you want to sick back and let them have all the fun?

With combat out of the way, the characters of this game are incredible. I won't say who, but sometimes you are given a choice of life or death, but here is the trick, you chose who lives and who dies. Never get too dependant on one singular person because they might not make it. That is how great the cast is though, when someone is unfortunately killed, you feel remorse for them. Instead of going, oh well! You actually feel at a crossroad, struggling to choose who will live or die, and it can impact the game also. The impact of your choices is what makes Mass Effect such an amazing game. Certain things can be opened or lost just by your choices in discussion.

If you were worried too that you would have to follow a single path through the game, only getting little breaks to do what you will, you are wrong. Mass Effect allows you to travel through galaxies, worlds, to your whim. Nobody is controlling you, well that is not always the case which I will leave to you to figure out by playing. But you can do whatever you want in the world of Mass Effect. This game has great combat, amazing choices, the sound and quality of graphics is on par with the best of them, and with a scheduled sequel coming out, I can only wonder how they can begin to improve.

As I mentioned in the beginning though, there is one little issue that prevents this game from a perfect 10, and that is the graphics...kind of. You'll sometimes notice the graphics look horrible, but they start filling out and making a beautiful scene. This can become distracting, but trust me when I say, you will be so wrapped up in the incredible beauty and gameplay, along with the story and characters, you'll hardly even notice.

If you ever had doubts about this game like I did, go buy it and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. This is one game worth a chance, and honestly, had a lot better story than most games out to date!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/09

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