[HEADING=3]Mass effect trilogy part 1: The beginning[/HEADING]
To say that the Mass effect trilogy was a good series of games is one thing. Saying that it's been one of the stories of this generation of gaming is another. Bioware's sci-fi space opera was the source of constant love, joy, sadness and even controversy. How does one trilogy can manage all of this? First off, it started with the original game: Mass effect. Many love the first game and there are a lot of vocal fans that prefer the RPG-rooted gameplay rather than the action-oriented one of the latter games. Is the first game worth its praise? Let's find out.
Note* I decided to divide this review in spoiler tags in order to make it more easier for you guys to read. You're welcome.
Mass effect starts with Commander Shepard. You have the options of making a male or female protagonist, choose an origin story and a story of accomplishment during a time before the game's story. Choosing these options will make characters react a bit differently, but not by much. It's a fun way to build up your own story. Although, I prefer the method used in Dragon Age: Origins where you played your origin story, but I digress. Next up on the to do list is choosing your class. You have the choice for the gun-ho soldier, the engineer who can cripple the enemy, the powerful biotic or choose variations between these classes. While this paragraph seems a bit unnecessary, we need to point out the groundwork. These options will stick with you for the entire trilogy.
Once you have chosen these options, the real story starts. You, Commander Shepard of the human alliance, have received a distress call from the human colony planet of Eden Prime and you've been ordered to recover an artefact. The mission, of course, doesn't succeed since a SPECTRE agent called Saren and his army of geth coordinated the attack. It's up to you to find out what happened, why Saren and the geth are mixed up in this and what's going to happen in the near future.
In pretty much any Bioware game, the player is expected to make choices in the game that will influence the story. In Mass effect, this takes a different whole meaning because the choices you make affect the whole trilogy. There are two schools of thinking in Mass effect: Paragon and Renegade. The former is making sure everything is done by the book and also trying to get the most for everyone in a situation. The latter is more of a "get the job done by any cost" philosophy. If there was one criticism that I could think about Mass effect 1, it's the fact that there's barely any middle ground between the two. It's often one or the other. It also makes Commander Shepard feel like a "pen and paper" character rather than an actual character. Is it a bad thing? For some, it won't be. However, a lot of you might find this distracting and difficult to keep a certain level of immersion while the story progress.
Speaking of story, there's a lot of attention brought to the big set pieces. However, it doesn't mean that the little side-stories don't have their moments too. Those stories are fun to learn, however, most of them are boring to play through comparing to their big brother counterpart that is the main story. You're often required to explore similar dungeons with some different cover layouts and enemies. If some of you remember the major criticism of Dragon Age 2 where every dungeon is the same damn thing, you could also remember that Bioware already did that with Mass effect?Although, the Internet didn't make it a big thing back then. (More on that in a later review). However, the major shining parts are the main story segments where you're expected to make big choices and the characters you meet along the way. Often, you'll will either be asked between saving something or get the mission objective done. However, both options have interesting conclusions. Therefore, you won't regret your choices. As for your companions, you'll be happy to know that Bioware hasn?t lost most of its touch with characters. Although, some aren't that even interesting and they seem to have a cult following for some reasons while other will probably be permanent members of your squad?
This is Garrus. Chances are you'll either love him a lot or hate him a lot.
But enough about the story, it's been too many paragraphs. It already looks like a giant wall of text and we haven't talked about the gameplay and the design yet! Let's start with the gameplay. Aside from the multiple RPG elements, Mass effect plays like a third person shooter. Depending on the class you chose, you'll have a particular set of abilities at your disposition to affect the battlefield. Your companions offer other powers and abilities that help fix the weaknesses of your class. It's a good thing to check which companion is better for you. However, be warned. Your companions have a poor AI and will often act more as meat-shield in combat rather than be actual help. You could lose some precious medi-gel that could've replenish your health-bar on them instead. Since Mass effect 1 doesn't follow the rules of health regeneration of many shooters, you have to be careful. Another rule that Mass effect doesn't follow is the ammo-clip. Your guns can over-heat in Mass effect 1. You'll lose your ability to shoot with a certain gun for a while and those precious seconds can mean life or death for you. Although, you can modify things in order to make things better for you.
If I had major complaints about the shooter aspect of the game, it would mostly be focused on the Mako, a tank that you control during the game, and the fact that the combat is a bit awkward. Combat is not bad. Although, I did have moments where I died because the game decided that my shotgun wasn't effective during certain moments. Since that you can't count on your allies to save the day, it can be frustrating. However, the definition of "frustrating" now has a section describing the Mako in it. This "tank" is supposed to be an all-terrain access vehicle in which you can almost climb any terrain. It would be fine it the damn thing had good control and it wouldn't go on a spaz attack each time I try to use the jetpacks on it. While the former complaint is mostly a personal experience, the latter will grind your gears if you don't have the patience for it.
Another part of gameplay is the RPG aspect and mostly customization. You'll receive an enormous amount guns, armors and other to boost your character's effectiveness. You can customize your armor and every gun that you carry so you'll be more effective in combat. However, my main complaint about this is the menu in which you take care of all of this. As your character levels, you get new versions of upgrades and the surplus many new items can be hard to manage. You also got a limit for items that makes thing even more complicated. Much like your apartment during the first year of college, it's a big giant clusterfuck in which you often of have to keep an eye on if you want to keep some ideas of the word "order".
ARGHHHHH TOOO MANY OPTIONS!!!! PEOPLE LIKE THIS !?!?!?
To be honest, I couldn't find a decent photo smaller than that...
Last, but not least, let's talk about the design of this game. The game looks stunning. You'll often be struck amazed on how much it can look good. The design of the locations and the aliens are pretty much the best consistent thing in the whole trilogy. Much hasn't changed that much during the three games in that regard. The one design that's been weird during the first two games has been the human character models. They don't look bad, but they are sure weird looking though. Maybe it's just me, but I can guaranty you that humans in Mass effect 1 won't look the same in the other instalments. But again, I digress. If there's one thing that Mass effect 1 had problems with graphics wise, it was the pop-in texture. Often during a conversation or a cut-scene, the texture isn't fully loaded. While not game-breaking, it can often result in funny moments or in disturbing ones. In other words, the visual aspects shouldn't be a worry.
What should be a worry are the framerate and buggy moments in the game. I bought the Mass effect trilogy pack on the PS3. I'm not sure if it is the PS3 version or it's always been that terrible. Some moments in the game can be downright difficult to play through. Your character often ends up in places he's not suppose to be or you're downright stuck at some moments. It sure is the most annoying aspect of the game. I often rage quitted my game because of buggy important boss-fights. If the other versions of the game don't have these bugs, I recommend getting those versions before the PS3 version. They aren't always there, but they are sure rage inducing while they are...
In conclusion, is Mass effect 1 worth your time? The answer is yes. The bad may looks to outweigh the good. However, the strengths of Mass effect 1 lies in a strong main story, loveable characters and the fact that it's also the start of a trilogy that influenced a generation of gaming. The bugs and the clunky gameplay might turn off some people. However, I would advise to stick around for the other games if these are your worries. Mass effect 1 can be completed in somewhat 20 to even 40 hours. It can satisfy those who just want to clear the main story. Although, those who want to explore everything might be annoyed by the lackluster secondary objectives.
Next time, RAM will be reviewing Mass effect 2! Will he take your criticism into account and write a better review for it? Will he try to make a more personal approach so therefore you'll feel more connected to the experience?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON PART 2 OF THE MASS EFFECT TRILOGY REVIEW: LA SUITE!
Queue to Kyle Hebert's voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWOQ5JRiMCA
Next time, RAM will be reviewing Mass effect 2! Will he take your criticism into account and write a better review for it? Will he try to make a more personal approach so therefore you'll feel more connected to the experience?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON PART 2 OF THE MASS EFFECT TRILOGY REVIEW: LA SUITE!
Queue to Kyle Hebert's voice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWOQ5JRiMCA