Bioware has made a name for themselves over the years with their excellent role-playing games. Starting most notably, with the Baulder's Gate series and moving on to Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire and, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Then in early October of 2005, Bioware announced the first game in proposed trilogy that would have been exclusive to the Xbox 360. Mass Effect was revealed to be a game set over a century in the future, where humans have entered Galactic civilization after discovering technology from a dead space faring race. Similarly to Knights of the Old Republic you controlled a person who could be male or female, good or evil (or rather, paragon/ renegade) and would feature a diverse cast of NPCs would you could use to form parties of 3. How did this differentiate itself from Star Wars? By utilizing real-time combat instead of relying on the older turn-and-dice-based combat systems Bioware had used before. Finally in November of 2007 and with much hype Mass Effect launched on the Xbox 360 in the US, UK and, Australia (Japan would have to wait until May 2009)
As stated above, Mass Effect was the first in a trilogy of action-RPGs but even though they were originally planned to be exclusive to the 360, it was only a matter of time before the series was brought to the PS3. The Mass Effect trilogy was also released on PC and while Mass Effect 3 was a launch title for the Wii U, it's highly unlikely that we'll see any more Mass Effect titles on that console. A spin-off to Mass Effect called Galaxy was released to iOS devices and introduced the new companion character Jacob from Mass Effect 2. Additionally, three novels written by Drew Karpyshyn were released to further expand upon the lore of Mass Effect and Dark Horse released a few comics which also expanded on the lore.
While I haven't played the PC version, the PS3 and 360 versions of the game play nearly identically. While I didn't encounter any game breaking glitches, neither game seemed to have been completely optimized for the consoles I played them on. On both the 360 and PS3, there are instances where slow-down can occur if there's a lot happening on the screen. Another very common issue is texture pop-in, which seemed to run rampant on both consoles. I don't remember if this was true of the 360 version but while going through my PS3 runs of the games, I noticed a lot of sound errors too. There were instances of voices not syncing up and there was also the occasional instance of sound effects not happening at all where they should have.
[sub]Hell, you were always ugly Garrus[/sub]
Now that I've got that out of the way, let's talk about the actual story! Mass Effect is like Knights of the Old Republic in that you get to chose who you play as: male, female, light-skinned, dark-skinned, ugly as sin, pretty as a horse...the amount of customization you can put into Shepard was considered extremely extensive at the time. You can also give yourself a first name but no matter what, NPCs and companions will only refer to you as Shepard or, Commander. Commander Shepard can have one of several starting points, pinning him as either a sole survivor from a colony, a ruthless war hero from Earth or a few other options. These early choices don't just color your Shepard but they also manifest later on in the game where someone from your pre-game past catches up to you for a small quest. Shepard can also take on quests to help out his squad mates which can lead to romance in some cases but not too much else.
Aside from choosing how your Shepard appears and, acts there are also six character classes to chose from, each with its own unique abilities. Soldiers can effectively use all four types of firearms and gain the ability to use all three types of armor. Engineers can only effectively use pistols but are able to use tech powers like hacking and, dampening. Adepts are also restricted to pistols but can use powerful biotic attacks like lift, throw and, singularity. Infiltrators are like Engineers but with the ability to effectively use Sniper Rifles and eventually medium armor. Vanguards are like Adepts but can effectively use Shotguns and medium armor. Finally there are the sentinels who are like amalgamations of the Engineer and Adept and allows the use of several tech and biotic skills. While it's true that any class can buy, equip and use all four weapon types (pistol, shotgun, sniper and, assault rifle) you'll find that only the Solider can use them effectively. What this essentially boils down to is an inability to zoom in with a weapon you're untrained with.
Shepard and a small team are sent to investigate an ancient beacon found on a human colony. While on this mission, Shepard is blasted by a stream of information which gives him a grim, cryptic warning about a coming catastrophe. Also while on the mission, it seems like a Specter (an Elite law-enforcement type of person funded by The Citadel) has gone rouge and taken this recently discovered beacon for himself. Shepard must find Saren, the rouge Turian Specter and learn more about the warning he received, all while a machine race seems to have begun a deadly assault on human colonies. To help in his mission Shepard enlists the help of two members of The Alliance, a young Asari archaeologist, a Turian security officer, a wandering Quarian and, a Krogan Warrior.
[sub]This is probably the most balanced crew in the series[/sub]
It's only necessary for Shepard to visit a handful of locations to get through the main quest's narrative but one of Mass Effect's unique selling points is the ability to fly around The Galaxy and drop onto the surface of multiple planets. While most planets are very similar in that you're given a large square of freely explorable space, they offer subtle differences like unique quests and, resources. Main-Quest planets are a lot more fleshed out and feature larger, more winding vehicle paths, interior hubs with NPCs to talk to and shops to buy from and even location-exclusive missions you can take or ignore at your discretion. In terms of exploration and freedom, I just want to put out there that I consider this installment of the trilogy to be the most open in terms of exploration...at least until the Firewalker DLC in Mass Effect 2.
The main planets Shepard needs to visit are Eden Prime, Noveria, Ilos, Feros, Virmire and, Therum (not in that specific order with the exception of Eden Prime). Each of these planets hold clues as to what's going on with The Geth, Saren, The Reapers and other factions who could return in later games. Part of the appeal Mass Effect has is its open-ended nature, meaning if you really wanted to you could go to Therum last (before Virmire I should say) and thus leave Liara out of your companion pool until late in the game as a result. Speaking of the companion pool and just like with Knights of the Old Republic, there are a couple of choices within the game which lead to one or more of your companions dying. It's nice to see this tradition carrying on but unlike Knights of the Old Republic, there's no way around losing at least one character.
When you complete the game and the credits roll, you can begin a new game +. If you were able to make all of your companions happy and level up to a certain degree, it can allow you to use those pre-existing moves you've developed with a new character. Replaying the game is definitely encouraged as well because of the return of a moral choice system. Instead of being good or evil though, your choices are between Paragon or Renegade. No matter how you play the goal is clear: Shepard has to find and brings in Saren dead or alive, before he and his army of Geth can summon The Reapers. The main difference between Paragon and Renegade is akin to the difference between Samurai Jack and The Punisher. A paragon will try talking down a violent criminal whereas a renegade will demoralize or just outright shot a threat before any damage can be done. Since Mass Effect is more action oriented than Knights of the Old Republic, replaying the game is somewhat easier if you're not fond of the turn-based, dice style of gameplay.
[sub]Here we have a handful of WMDs[/sub]
In addition to the main missions and the various side missions, Bioware developed two expansive DLC missions which you will likely have to download separately since there doesn't seem to be a complete Mass Effect on the market (not for consoles anyway). For my latest playthrough, I used the Mass Effect Trilogy on the PS3 which I bought used so there's a chance Pinnacle Station is a redemption code that I didn't have. Bring Down the Sky appeared to have been on the disc itself however which is great since I consider that to be the more substantial of the two. Pinnacle Station (from what I remember after having played it a couple years ago) was basically a series of combat-oriented challenges.
Bring Down the Sky is a mission that brings Shepard and crew to Asteroid X57, which is being accelerated towards the capital city of the human frontier world Terra Nova. Despite being told that the asteroid will collide with the planet in a few short hours, there actually isn't a time limit imposed on you once you take on the mission. Your first priority will be to deactivate the three boosters which are propelling Asteroid X57 on its deadly path. As you deactivate the torches, Shepard is introduced to The Batarian race who otherwise is mentioned but never shown in the original Mass Effect. You also learn of survivors and other missing personnel who need to be found (the missing personnel being a side-quest while you're on the Asteroid). Once you deactivate the torches you'll need to infiltrate the main facility so as to apprehend the terrorist behind the attack. It took me less than two hours to complete but depending on difficulty I'm sure it can be finished more quickly and I would definitely recommend downloading it if you haven't played it.
Even if you're just playing vanilla Mass Effect, the game is absolutely huge and cinematic. All dialog is voiced and the variety of characters and creatures you can talk to helps to combat the common problem this kind of RPG has when it comes to recycled voices. In terms of structure, it's similar to Knights of the Old Republic which helps keep things familiar for fans of that series who transferred over. After completing main quest missions, you can talk to crew to learn more about them and, after completing a couple of these quest missions, addition ones are added. It's really easy to lose yourself in the narrative as it unfolds around you and thus really easy to spend a few dozen hours on this first installment of the trilogy because of all of the dialogues within.
Then there's the actual combat which as I stated previously is a lot more fluid and faster paced than previous Bioware RPGs. Mass Effect plays more like a particularly stiff third-person shooter. This game's stiffness likely stems from this being Bioware's first attempt at a cover-based third person shooter. It isn't that the game controls poorly but there's definitely a difference between the older Gears of War and Mass Effect in terms of fluidity. As you take damage your shields will recharge after time but, you'll need to use medi-gel to heal HP and also to revive felled squad members. Combat can essentially be paused at any time by bringing up either a weapons wheel or powers wheel. While these wheels are up you can micromanage which weapons or powers your squad use and even target specific enemies. I didn't find it too necessary on easier difficulties but it does help during hard or insanity runs.
Another unique feature to Mass Effect is using your established ranking as a paragon or renegade type of character within conversations to bring about a unique or more profound outcome with whomever you're speaking with. The effects can range from getting a discount at a store, being able to complete a side-mission or, outright murdering somebody. This system is used to great effect during the endgame in a way that I've never seen before or since which can potentially allow you to skip a portion of the final boss fight. As interesting a mechanic as it is, I would have loved to have seen it used more often. It's also upgraded to a great degree in the sequel. The only criticism I have with this system is how you can't really role-play if you want the highest paragon or renegade ranking. Once you decide how you want to play you might as well only chose to be nice, chose to always be mean or accept that you'll never see the more demanding paragon/renegade conversation options.
As I've said before Mass Effect is a huge cinematic experience and a great new addition to Bioware's stable of Role Playing Games. I've played Mass Effect to completion with multiple Shepards on both consoles and for well over 100 hours since the game launched yet, I still haven't seen all of the unique variations which are present on the disc. The variations may be minuscule but they're still waiting for me to unlock and experience. Mass Effect has flaws but they're minor and easily overlooked compared to how much good is on offer. It may not be the best of its series but it was one of my favorite new IP this generation and I would strongly recommend this to anyone who hasn't played it yet...assuming you have an interest of course. It has a good bit of micromanagement and menu-based stat-building but even if you don't like that kind of thing you can auto-level your Shepard and you can even skip past conversations to quickly get back into the action.
Like I said, I would strongly recommend playing through the whole Mass Effect trilogy. The original is not the best but it's still a solid entry. Since this is going to be a retrospective, look forward to reviews of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 soon. In keeping with my dislike of numbers I'm not going to give Mass Effect a numerical value but I will try to sum up the game with a strange metaphor. Mass Effect to me is the equivalent of ordering a pair of burgers from steak n shake with a large chili-cheese-fry. It's not my favorite but I'll gladly have my fill of it. It's a large meal that's satisfying (even if it is a bit much) but there are other large meals that I prefer. Maybe I should try hammering out the details of my food-based rating system...
[sub]Where the Hell are my fries!?[/sub]
[sub]You wouldn't believe how often I mistakenly typed Ass Effect[/sub]
As stated above, Mass Effect was the first in a trilogy of action-RPGs but even though they were originally planned to be exclusive to the 360, it was only a matter of time before the series was brought to the PS3. The Mass Effect trilogy was also released on PC and while Mass Effect 3 was a launch title for the Wii U, it's highly unlikely that we'll see any more Mass Effect titles on that console. A spin-off to Mass Effect called Galaxy was released to iOS devices and introduced the new companion character Jacob from Mass Effect 2. Additionally, three novels written by Drew Karpyshyn were released to further expand upon the lore of Mass Effect and Dark Horse released a few comics which also expanded on the lore.
While I haven't played the PC version, the PS3 and 360 versions of the game play nearly identically. While I didn't encounter any game breaking glitches, neither game seemed to have been completely optimized for the consoles I played them on. On both the 360 and PS3, there are instances where slow-down can occur if there's a lot happening on the screen. Another very common issue is texture pop-in, which seemed to run rampant on both consoles. I don't remember if this was true of the 360 version but while going through my PS3 runs of the games, I noticed a lot of sound errors too. There were instances of voices not syncing up and there was also the occasional instance of sound effects not happening at all where they should have.
[sub]Hell, you were always ugly Garrus[/sub]
Now that I've got that out of the way, let's talk about the actual story! Mass Effect is like Knights of the Old Republic in that you get to chose who you play as: male, female, light-skinned, dark-skinned, ugly as sin, pretty as a horse...the amount of customization you can put into Shepard was considered extremely extensive at the time. You can also give yourself a first name but no matter what, NPCs and companions will only refer to you as Shepard or, Commander. Commander Shepard can have one of several starting points, pinning him as either a sole survivor from a colony, a ruthless war hero from Earth or a few other options. These early choices don't just color your Shepard but they also manifest later on in the game where someone from your pre-game past catches up to you for a small quest. Shepard can also take on quests to help out his squad mates which can lead to romance in some cases but not too much else.
Aside from choosing how your Shepard appears and, acts there are also six character classes to chose from, each with its own unique abilities. Soldiers can effectively use all four types of firearms and gain the ability to use all three types of armor. Engineers can only effectively use pistols but are able to use tech powers like hacking and, dampening. Adepts are also restricted to pistols but can use powerful biotic attacks like lift, throw and, singularity. Infiltrators are like Engineers but with the ability to effectively use Sniper Rifles and eventually medium armor. Vanguards are like Adepts but can effectively use Shotguns and medium armor. Finally there are the sentinels who are like amalgamations of the Engineer and Adept and allows the use of several tech and biotic skills. While it's true that any class can buy, equip and use all four weapon types (pistol, shotgun, sniper and, assault rifle) you'll find that only the Solider can use them effectively. What this essentially boils down to is an inability to zoom in with a weapon you're untrained with.
Shepard and a small team are sent to investigate an ancient beacon found on a human colony. While on this mission, Shepard is blasted by a stream of information which gives him a grim, cryptic warning about a coming catastrophe. Also while on the mission, it seems like a Specter (an Elite law-enforcement type of person funded by The Citadel) has gone rouge and taken this recently discovered beacon for himself. Shepard must find Saren, the rouge Turian Specter and learn more about the warning he received, all while a machine race seems to have begun a deadly assault on human colonies. To help in his mission Shepard enlists the help of two members of The Alliance, a young Asari archaeologist, a Turian security officer, a wandering Quarian and, a Krogan Warrior.
[sub]This is probably the most balanced crew in the series[/sub]
It's only necessary for Shepard to visit a handful of locations to get through the main quest's narrative but one of Mass Effect's unique selling points is the ability to fly around The Galaxy and drop onto the surface of multiple planets. While most planets are very similar in that you're given a large square of freely explorable space, they offer subtle differences like unique quests and, resources. Main-Quest planets are a lot more fleshed out and feature larger, more winding vehicle paths, interior hubs with NPCs to talk to and shops to buy from and even location-exclusive missions you can take or ignore at your discretion. In terms of exploration and freedom, I just want to put out there that I consider this installment of the trilogy to be the most open in terms of exploration...at least until the Firewalker DLC in Mass Effect 2.
The main planets Shepard needs to visit are Eden Prime, Noveria, Ilos, Feros, Virmire and, Therum (not in that specific order with the exception of Eden Prime). Each of these planets hold clues as to what's going on with The Geth, Saren, The Reapers and other factions who could return in later games. Part of the appeal Mass Effect has is its open-ended nature, meaning if you really wanted to you could go to Therum last (before Virmire I should say) and thus leave Liara out of your companion pool until late in the game as a result. Speaking of the companion pool and just like with Knights of the Old Republic, there are a couple of choices within the game which lead to one or more of your companions dying. It's nice to see this tradition carrying on but unlike Knights of the Old Republic, there's no way around losing at least one character.
When you complete the game and the credits roll, you can begin a new game +. If you were able to make all of your companions happy and level up to a certain degree, it can allow you to use those pre-existing moves you've developed with a new character. Replaying the game is definitely encouraged as well because of the return of a moral choice system. Instead of being good or evil though, your choices are between Paragon or Renegade. No matter how you play the goal is clear: Shepard has to find and brings in Saren dead or alive, before he and his army of Geth can summon The Reapers. The main difference between Paragon and Renegade is akin to the difference between Samurai Jack and The Punisher. A paragon will try talking down a violent criminal whereas a renegade will demoralize or just outright shot a threat before any damage can be done. Since Mass Effect is more action oriented than Knights of the Old Republic, replaying the game is somewhat easier if you're not fond of the turn-based, dice style of gameplay.
[sub]Here we have a handful of WMDs[/sub]
In addition to the main missions and the various side missions, Bioware developed two expansive DLC missions which you will likely have to download separately since there doesn't seem to be a complete Mass Effect on the market (not for consoles anyway). For my latest playthrough, I used the Mass Effect Trilogy on the PS3 which I bought used so there's a chance Pinnacle Station is a redemption code that I didn't have. Bring Down the Sky appeared to have been on the disc itself however which is great since I consider that to be the more substantial of the two. Pinnacle Station (from what I remember after having played it a couple years ago) was basically a series of combat-oriented challenges.
Bring Down the Sky is a mission that brings Shepard and crew to Asteroid X57, which is being accelerated towards the capital city of the human frontier world Terra Nova. Despite being told that the asteroid will collide with the planet in a few short hours, there actually isn't a time limit imposed on you once you take on the mission. Your first priority will be to deactivate the three boosters which are propelling Asteroid X57 on its deadly path. As you deactivate the torches, Shepard is introduced to The Batarian race who otherwise is mentioned but never shown in the original Mass Effect. You also learn of survivors and other missing personnel who need to be found (the missing personnel being a side-quest while you're on the Asteroid). Once you deactivate the torches you'll need to infiltrate the main facility so as to apprehend the terrorist behind the attack. It took me less than two hours to complete but depending on difficulty I'm sure it can be finished more quickly and I would definitely recommend downloading it if you haven't played it.
Even if you're just playing vanilla Mass Effect, the game is absolutely huge and cinematic. All dialog is voiced and the variety of characters and creatures you can talk to helps to combat the common problem this kind of RPG has when it comes to recycled voices. In terms of structure, it's similar to Knights of the Old Republic which helps keep things familiar for fans of that series who transferred over. After completing main quest missions, you can talk to crew to learn more about them and, after completing a couple of these quest missions, addition ones are added. It's really easy to lose yourself in the narrative as it unfolds around you and thus really easy to spend a few dozen hours on this first installment of the trilogy because of all of the dialogues within.
[sub]For no reason: The Citadel[/sub]
Then there's the actual combat which as I stated previously is a lot more fluid and faster paced than previous Bioware RPGs. Mass Effect plays more like a particularly stiff third-person shooter. This game's stiffness likely stems from this being Bioware's first attempt at a cover-based third person shooter. It isn't that the game controls poorly but there's definitely a difference between the older Gears of War and Mass Effect in terms of fluidity. As you take damage your shields will recharge after time but, you'll need to use medi-gel to heal HP and also to revive felled squad members. Combat can essentially be paused at any time by bringing up either a weapons wheel or powers wheel. While these wheels are up you can micromanage which weapons or powers your squad use and even target specific enemies. I didn't find it too necessary on easier difficulties but it does help during hard or insanity runs.
Another unique feature to Mass Effect is using your established ranking as a paragon or renegade type of character within conversations to bring about a unique or more profound outcome with whomever you're speaking with. The effects can range from getting a discount at a store, being able to complete a side-mission or, outright murdering somebody. This system is used to great effect during the endgame in a way that I've never seen before or since which can potentially allow you to skip a portion of the final boss fight. As interesting a mechanic as it is, I would have loved to have seen it used more often. It's also upgraded to a great degree in the sequel. The only criticism I have with this system is how you can't really role-play if you want the highest paragon or renegade ranking. Once you decide how you want to play you might as well only chose to be nice, chose to always be mean or accept that you'll never see the more demanding paragon/renegade conversation options.
As I've said before Mass Effect is a huge cinematic experience and a great new addition to Bioware's stable of Role Playing Games. I've played Mass Effect to completion with multiple Shepards on both consoles and for well over 100 hours since the game launched yet, I still haven't seen all of the unique variations which are present on the disc. The variations may be minuscule but they're still waiting for me to unlock and experience. Mass Effect has flaws but they're minor and easily overlooked compared to how much good is on offer. It may not be the best of its series but it was one of my favorite new IP this generation and I would strongly recommend this to anyone who hasn't played it yet...assuming you have an interest of course. It has a good bit of micromanagement and menu-based stat-building but even if you don't like that kind of thing you can auto-level your Shepard and you can even skip past conversations to quickly get back into the action.
Like I said, I would strongly recommend playing through the whole Mass Effect trilogy. The original is not the best but it's still a solid entry. Since this is going to be a retrospective, look forward to reviews of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 soon. In keeping with my dislike of numbers I'm not going to give Mass Effect a numerical value but I will try to sum up the game with a strange metaphor. Mass Effect to me is the equivalent of ordering a pair of burgers from steak n shake with a large chili-cheese-fry. It's not my favorite but I'll gladly have my fill of it. It's a large meal that's satisfying (even if it is a bit much) but there are other large meals that I prefer. Maybe I should try hammering out the details of my food-based rating system...
[sub]Where the Hell are my fries!?[/sub]