Mass Effect was first released in the winter of 2007, so why am I reviewing it now? First of all I only recently gained access to an Xbox 360, and second of all, western RPG’s in general seem to sit very low in my video game queue. In my experience we westerners just cannot seem to write fiction nearly as engaging as some of the geniuses of the east. Bioware has proven me wrong, and in a big way.
When it comes to RPG’s, I consider myself a bit of a snob. I was there for the golden ages, I experienced the birth and development of the genre into what it is today. Lately though, it has felt as if I’ve already seen and experienced everything the genre has to offer. I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, wondering if I’m either getting too old for these things and they’ve lost their luster, or if developers just cannot seem to put forth anything unique and original. Enter Mass Effect.
Mass Effect isn’t just a great game, it’s a work of great fiction. Bioware has created a beautiful universe here, and then wrapped that universe into a vibrant and extremely engaging story. One of the things I love about this particular tale is its believability. It felt more real to me then most RPG’s. Like a series of events that could take place in the real world.
This is in part due to the method of storytelling that Bioware employs in its games. Mass Effect has a sort of “chose your own adventure” style of storytelling. What is amazing is the level of control they give your character over the games dialogue and story. You end up frequently making choices between life or death and being good or evil (or very VERY evil, but hey, sometimes you just want to shoot a guy in the face for the hell of it, right?). The style of storytelling is the very definition of a role playing game.
Don't be a dick, Shepard
Moving away from the story, the gameplay itself was not too shabby. This game feels like a first person shooter with role playing elements, you still upgrade armor, weapons, and your characters skills. But rather then the traditional turned based form of fighting, you get to run around and unleash the fury of hell in this fast paced battle environment. I was a little annoyed with driving the Mako around, as it seemed to be far more effective just to speed past everything shooting at you rather then taking your time and picking off each individual enemy.
Character customization is another great aspect here, you can choose pretty much everything with the exception of your last name (everybody is going to refer to you as “Shepard”) , and through several choices you can even develop your characters back story!
Graphically, for a game made in 2007, it is stunning, even some games put out this year don’t even look this good! The voice acting was superb, especially considering that EVERYTHING in the game is voiced over. I had no complaints about any of the actors, everything sounded fantastic. The music and sound effects for this game were also fantastic, I love how my house was shaking every time a ship took off or some massive explosion occurred. This is one game you’ll want to play with the speakers cranked as the sound is brilliantly handled and balanced.
not bad for 2007 eh?
My overall experience with this game was a fantastic one. I was completely hooked from beginning to end. Many complain that the game itself is too short, taking around 15-20 hours to complete the main story. I do not think these people have taken into account all the optional things you can do, and the replay factor of this game, you can have a very different experience depending on the choices you can make. Giving this game a second go around is something I will definitely do at a later date.
Its been about a decade since I’ve found an RPG of high enough caliber to rank a 10. Congratulations Mass Effect, you’re now one of 4 RPG’s I would rank a solid 10. Thank You Bioware for creating such a fantastic experience, and for also ending this RPG dry streak of mine. If you have not played this game yet, it’s pretty cheap to acquire, and well worth it, DO NOT DELAY!
For those who have, I’d gladly join anybody on a midnight release line party for the sequel this winter.
I agree 100% Mark. I had been having a hard time finding an RPG to jump into for a long time until I played Mass Effect last year. I also was never a fan of western RPG until that game. I enjoyed how it was open and linear at the same time. If it weren’t for this game I would have never tried Fallout 3 and god do I love Fallout 3. By the way did you play good or evil?
Good review, Mark, but I’d say our views differ slightly here. Mass Effect was a very good game, but it borrowed a lot of its success from the KotOR games. In fact, there were a couple indoor levels that were nearly identical to some in said Star Wars game. The indoor levels (and their tendency to blend into gray obscurity as the game progressed) are one of my two gripes about this game. The other is that if you actually do go out and explore the galaxy a little bit, the exploration (especially planetary exploration) becomes VERY repetitive. Granted, despite being repetitive, there were a few brightly shining gems in the gloom. The first time (and most of the subsequent times) a Thresher Maw popped out of the ground and rocked my world, I died thinking “Man, that was cool.” However, regardless of these relatively small gripes, I’d still rate the game a 9 for amazing story and characters.
a play a little of both.
the really annoying characters, i shoot in the face. but when it comes to highly moral decisions i tend to lear towards good more often then evil. my next playthrough will probably be more along the evil path though.. just for kicks
and i really wanna try fallout 3, i’m just waiting for the price drop first
It’s worth paying for the Collector’s Edition, Mark (if you can still get it). My Vault-Tec lunch box has a hallowed location on my mantle piece .
Keep an eye on Amazon they had it for $9.99 on the 14th. I tend to watch cheapassgamer.com after Gabe told me about it, I find a lot of good deals through there.
amazon had fallout 3 for 9.99? O_o PC or 360 version?
joe, believe it or not, i never played the KoToR games, i probably should have. Star wars is fun, i just havn’t touched anything star wars since i saw episode 3, haha.
What mass effect did for me was create one of the best “space opera” type stories i think i’ve encountered. Many developers tend to bite off more then they can chew and the plot and development of the story always tends to be extremely complex (see xenosaga… holy shit). Mass Effect was incredibly enjoyable, emotional, involved, and the story was an EASY (yet unique!) one to wrap your head around, which is incredibly rare for this genre! that coupled with its amazing production values is what earned the game a 10 in my books.
It was the 360 version. I picked it up for $40 a while back and I have also layed down another $20 on two download extensions to the game. (Even though I have yet to finish the main campaign) there are just to many enjoyable side quests.
I see you’ve been busting this out again lately. Gearing up for the sequel? I need to do the same. Somehow I had kind of forgotten just how good this game is.
yes, most definitely, you’ll want to cater your play through to how you want things to play out in the sequel, that and i feel i have to atone for the atrocities i committed in the last playthrough..haha
Oh, good point! I had forgotten about that. I think I’m mostly happy with my first playthrough. He was nice enough, except for punching that poor woman in the face. Haha. Oh well… these things happen. And yes, I’d definitely not want to take my second character onward. She was just a horrible person…
oh man, punching that poor woman in the face was this highlight of my evil playthough..haha
i just noticed the 360 collectors edition for mass effect 2 has already sold out. wow, wasn’t even up there for a month! glad i pre-orderd it