Mass Effect: a gushing retrospective.

Lift

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Dec 18, 2008
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I'ts hardly a new game, I'm just trying my hand at reviewing, feedback is appreciated.


Games often focus too much on one thing. Games like most of the Call of duty Franchise focus on Combat without much care for story. While many jrpgs focus only on story, not on giving the best game play experience. What Mass effect does better than any other game I have ever played, is balance.

It doesn't have the best game play, and that's not to say its bad, in fact its quite good. The cover system isn't as polished as gears of war but the RPG elements allow you to make a sniper riffle into a cannon capable of ripping a hole the size of a tennis ball through the baddest of bad asses. You might think that would break the game but shockingly is doesn't! Because once you move up to the harder difficulty, the same boss killer barely takes down the low level grunts.

So, as I've described it now you might not think it to be all that interesting, after all its a game about an armored space marine trying to save the universe, you may have a strong mentality of Starship Troopers, or Halo. But I'd like to remind you this is Bioware, the company that made Baldurs gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and the upcoming, and much anticipated, Dragon age Origins. Bioware is well versed in the RPG, and so you should actually put more into your head, a Sci-Fi Lord of the Rings. In making this comparison you can actually draw out many parallels.

Saren - Saruman
Sovereign - Sauron

"Not with ten thousand men could you do this."
"A Fleet cannot stop one man."

I could go on but have a feeling I would get flack from fantasy geeks.

The combat is good, the story is good, the soundtrack is good, the voice acting is good, and the visuals are good. I think the only reason it isn't as respected is that nothing in particular was worlds above. However you cant say its, bad. Theirs nothing wrong with the game. Its just Bioware doing something they've never done before, and in that way its more stunning than anything else. Not to mention it sounds to me like all those things are being improved in Mass Effect 2.

Speaking of Mass Effect 2, its good to see a developer pay such close attention to customer feedback. I mean the three things that I wanted them to improve in Mass effect was the graphics engine, the combat, and I wanted them to make exploration feel more rewording. So you can imagine my delight as those are the three things they mentioned their improving in Mass Effect 2, and its those three things that make January seem so far away.

If you have liked other Bioware games, or enjoy RPGs and want to play as something other than a effeminate teenage boy, or have killed 2 trolls to many you should definitely buy Mass Effect. Otherwise give it a rent and see what you think.
 

Vrex360

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Mar 2, 2009
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Well done, a great review.
I too, loved this game, felt that the story had plenty of well known sci fi cliche's but it presented them so well that it still felt great.
 

Emilie Diabolica

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May 26, 2009
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Good review :)

It took me a while to warm to mass effect, thinking it a bad purchase after my usual battle tactics failed dismally (rush in rambo-like and kill all the ridiculously weak enemies) so i couldnt get past the first spectre mission.

However, i picked it up the other week and gave it another go, and i'm really glad i did. For one thing, in combat i actually have to use my brain (which is refreshingly different to most games). Then there's the incredible depth and attention to detail in the game, such as the weapon stats and other stuff (i'm only 5 hours into it so far, so forgive me if i'm missing something really super awesome..). Although it's confusing and very time-consuming to compare and organise equipment, that depth and complexity makes it feel so much more real than other RPGs.

Although i'm still finding my feet with the game, i cant wait to delve deeper into it. I dont think i've ever been so eager to continue a game before... well, maybe i was for Oblivion a few times. but still, freakin' cool game :D
 

Lift

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Dec 18, 2008
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Thanks for the feedback.

Emilie Diabolica said:
Although it's confusing and very time-consuming to compare and organise equipment
I think thats partially down to the equipment interface, and thats another thing their improving in Mass Effect 2!
 

Lord_Durin

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Aug 3, 2009
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good review. Personally, i never thought of doing a ME/LotR comparison.

Lift said:
Thanks for the feedback.

Emilie Diabolica said:
Although it's confusing and very time-consuming to compare and organise equipment
I think thats partially down to the equipment interface, and thats another thing their improving in Mass Effect 2!
God i hope Bioware finally figures out how to streamline their inventory system.
 

Flishiz

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Feb 11, 2009
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I felt "eh" about the game when it came out after I played it, but a year later I bought the PC version and now I'm a diehard Mass Effect fan.
 

EclipseoftheDarkSun

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Sep 11, 2009
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I liked Mass Effect, but there were some bad elements to it, namely - largely pointless side exploration of planets - nothing worth exploring for generally - couple of minor bonuses and a pirate base or two. Weapons were boring - sniper rifle mark 1 - 9, assault rifle mark 1-9, pistol mark 1-9. Worst mission of all was taking out that rogue A.I. on the moon - drive around and shoot at 3 or 4 identical turrets and run into each base and shut off a computer core in exactly the same boring way with the same enemies - seemed like a wasted opportunity.

Other than those issues, I liked the main storyline, the character creator, the npcs, the psionics and driving around in that buggy shooting things.
 

ekimekim

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Dec 12, 2007
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Loved it, but when I went infiltrator I expected some stealth gameplay.
Also, Sniper Rifles are inaccurate to the point of uselessness - I used pistols all game. Don't say to put more points in, because by that point my options were to waste all my hard earned levels on pistol training I wouldn't use, or waste NONE of my hard earned levels to keep using something that was already working.
I would have expected that the "secondary" weapons, that need level 6 (I think) in another to unlock, would be balanced to be just as good at lvl 1 as the others are at lvl 6.
 

LongAndShort

I'm pretty good. Yourself?
May 11, 2009
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Good review. Very little else I can say.
Just that the pace seemed a little off, a little fast, making it seem a little rushed. Might be slightly improved with longer sentences broken by commas instead of short sharp sentences like you were using.
Aside from that (and it is a very minor "that"), twas a good review.
 

Lift

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Dec 18, 2008
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deadman91 said:
Might be slightly improved with longer sentences broken by commas instead of short sharp sentences like you were using.
Interesting, as I was writing it I was worried that I was making the sentences run on. Much appreciated.
 

Allan53

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Dec 13, 2007
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Eh, not a bad game, but the story was kind of weak ie holes so big you could fly a fleet of killer spaceships through them. A little better when I found out it was part of a trilogy, but it still seemed like lazy writing to me.

I did enjoy the combat system, and the roleplay side wasn't the worst I've seen (that said, I'm a RP purist, so it's very difficult to impress me).
 

ae86gamer

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Mar 10, 2009
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Good review. This game turned me into a fan-girl. I think I've played through it over ten times. :/
 

Thesreyn

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Jul 18, 2008
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The story line is quite excellent and the games depth can really draw you in if you let it.

For extra fun, unlock Hardcore mode and DON'T continue your old character. Make a new one. Really makes you have to think about combat.