(Disclaimer. This is my first review, so helpful comments and suggestions for the future are welcome. Flames and spelling corrections are not. That's about it really)
Okay. In looking at some of the reviews for Mass Effect I have noticed that there seems to be a remarkable amount of variety in the feedback Mass Effect has been getting. This is probably not a surprising thing, but it cheered me up immensely, since it has demonstrated to me that the human race has fallen into neither unrepentant fanboy-ism or inflexible flamers. Okay, now onto the actual game.
Very first impression: WOW. Even having watched every trailer made for it EVER I have to say that the visuals really impressed me, and then came my first taste of dialog. It was a real enlightening experience when I could tell my smart-ass pilot either 'good job' or 'shut the hell up'. The lip-sync in particular really impressed me. I do have to say, however, that I was wondering WHO exactly I was talking to and why I cared.
Later, when we finally get to the planet to shoot some stuff it was rather intuitive. No messing around with 20 billion different weapons, and no being saddled with one weapon you don't like. You have the four weapon classes on you from the beginning. You may be shit with a weapon if you chose a certain class, but on the whole I like the weapon system.
Later, after what is quite possibly the ONLY timed segment in the game, I found myself on one motherfucking huge space station doing errands for various aliens, and this is where the game separates the FPS fanboys from the RPG buff. No matter how fast you try to do things it takes you at least 30-45 minutes to get off the damn thing to blow more stuff up, with only a couple of piss-easy fights between then. Unless you are as anally demented as me and actually force yourself to complete all the quests (and its not easy to do) you:
a) are going to be quite disadvantaged in the final boss fight, and
b) you will have some hope of reclaiming your soul from the depths of The Nerd inside you.
Moving away from extremely lengthy RPG segments, the action is quite enjoyable. It is a bit hard to accurately target enemies sometimes, since the stick sensitivity seems to shift from snail-like to twitchy caffeine addict, but blowing stuff up is very intuitive. The grenade feature is utterly retarded, however, as hitting the BACK button is as unnatural as all hell, and you can only carry a finite amount and cannot purchase more. You have to rely on blind luck when searching containers. The game never actually hints at this at all.
//SPOILER: When tasked with taking out the population of Feros with gas grenades in order to accumulate paragon points, my first play through I got off two grenades and then nothing. I didn't understand at all, and it wasn't till my third playthrough I actually had enough grenades to bother doing it, and by then I was playing as an evil character anyway so it didn't matter. //END SPOILER
Now, focusing on some negative aspects. One thing I will say right away is that while Mass Effect looks spectacular, texture popping is horrendous sometimes, taking several seconds to render the Normandy properly. Another problem is that characters generally won't move if you push them, so NEVER, EVER take cover in a dead end, because your team mates will heard you into a corner and stay there. The Mako vehicle sections are also annoying. It's fun the first few times, since the Mako is obviously made out of rubber . . . filled with helium, and will bounce and jump given the slightest angle. Sometimes you just think "Ugh, yes that's fun sometimes, but I just want to get from A to B fast, without all this retarded bouncing around.
Story-wise, there's almost no game as deep as Mass Effect, even if the designers sometimes did sacrifice gameplay for story, and hours can be spent unlocking it's many levels of interest. One problem, however, is that in a game where you create a unique Commander Shepard and are under no obligation to respond to the many story critical missions until you are quite through fishing on planet A of galaxy X, and a complex light/dark morality and companion response system that gives you endless choices, there are really only two endings, one to represent your transcendence into Mother Teresea, and one where you are a remorseless badass. Bit jarring, that.
On the whole, despite all the bad things I've said, and all the positive aspects I've left out, I highly recommend Mass Effect for it's stellar RPG basis and interesting plot. I've completed 3 playthroughs and am working on my 4th and 5th. A sequel would be a waking wet dream for me.
Okay. In looking at some of the reviews for Mass Effect I have noticed that there seems to be a remarkable amount of variety in the feedback Mass Effect has been getting. This is probably not a surprising thing, but it cheered me up immensely, since it has demonstrated to me that the human race has fallen into neither unrepentant fanboy-ism or inflexible flamers. Okay, now onto the actual game.
Very first impression: WOW. Even having watched every trailer made for it EVER I have to say that the visuals really impressed me, and then came my first taste of dialog. It was a real enlightening experience when I could tell my smart-ass pilot either 'good job' or 'shut the hell up'. The lip-sync in particular really impressed me. I do have to say, however, that I was wondering WHO exactly I was talking to and why I cared.
Later, when we finally get to the planet to shoot some stuff it was rather intuitive. No messing around with 20 billion different weapons, and no being saddled with one weapon you don't like. You have the four weapon classes on you from the beginning. You may be shit with a weapon if you chose a certain class, but on the whole I like the weapon system.
Later, after what is quite possibly the ONLY timed segment in the game, I found myself on one motherfucking huge space station doing errands for various aliens, and this is where the game separates the FPS fanboys from the RPG buff. No matter how fast you try to do things it takes you at least 30-45 minutes to get off the damn thing to blow more stuff up, with only a couple of piss-easy fights between then. Unless you are as anally demented as me and actually force yourself to complete all the quests (and its not easy to do) you:
a) are going to be quite disadvantaged in the final boss fight, and
b) you will have some hope of reclaiming your soul from the depths of The Nerd inside you.
Moving away from extremely lengthy RPG segments, the action is quite enjoyable. It is a bit hard to accurately target enemies sometimes, since the stick sensitivity seems to shift from snail-like to twitchy caffeine addict, but blowing stuff up is very intuitive. The grenade feature is utterly retarded, however, as hitting the BACK button is as unnatural as all hell, and you can only carry a finite amount and cannot purchase more. You have to rely on blind luck when searching containers. The game never actually hints at this at all.
//SPOILER: When tasked with taking out the population of Feros with gas grenades in order to accumulate paragon points, my first play through I got off two grenades and then nothing. I didn't understand at all, and it wasn't till my third playthrough I actually had enough grenades to bother doing it, and by then I was playing as an evil character anyway so it didn't matter. //END SPOILER
Now, focusing on some negative aspects. One thing I will say right away is that while Mass Effect looks spectacular, texture popping is horrendous sometimes, taking several seconds to render the Normandy properly. Another problem is that characters generally won't move if you push them, so NEVER, EVER take cover in a dead end, because your team mates will heard you into a corner and stay there. The Mako vehicle sections are also annoying. It's fun the first few times, since the Mako is obviously made out of rubber . . . filled with helium, and will bounce and jump given the slightest angle. Sometimes you just think "Ugh, yes that's fun sometimes, but I just want to get from A to B fast, without all this retarded bouncing around.
Story-wise, there's almost no game as deep as Mass Effect, even if the designers sometimes did sacrifice gameplay for story, and hours can be spent unlocking it's many levels of interest. One problem, however, is that in a game where you create a unique Commander Shepard and are under no obligation to respond to the many story critical missions until you are quite through fishing on planet A of galaxy X, and a complex light/dark morality and companion response system that gives you endless choices, there are really only two endings, one to represent your transcendence into Mother Teresea, and one where you are a remorseless badass. Bit jarring, that.
On the whole, despite all the bad things I've said, and all the positive aspects I've left out, I highly recommend Mass Effect for it's stellar RPG basis and interesting plot. I've completed 3 playthroughs and am working on my 4th and 5th. A sequel would be a waking wet dream for me.
