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Mass Effect

Published: Wed 21 Nov, 2007 | On:

MASS EFFECT REVIEW:

By a pure stroke of luck I managed to pick a copy of Bioware’s Mass Effect a whole 4 days early due to a certain store's (I wont mention any names) break of the street date, and after heftily playing the main story for a while, heres a review of what is potentially the final release for the 2007 Game Of The Year:

PRESENTATION:
Mass Effect is simply beautiful a game to look at, there's hundreds among hundreds of character models, and while you cannot talk to ALL of them, the detail that Bioware has put into this is astounding. This is even more so true for when you can talk to the various characters of Mass Effect, the lip syncing is superb, even with your Commander Shepard, who could be expected to look a little disjointed from reality what with the amount of customisation you, the player, can put into his/her looks, which I can tell you is huge, you can change almost anything at all about your Shepard‘s looks, from iris colour to the scars on their face etc. This really helps the player feel like its really their persona in the game, not just some face you‘ve never met. Another area in which Mass Effect is spectacular in presentation is the landscapes and surroundings of all the planets you visit (and trust me, there are PLENTY). The different main quest missions involve you to scour planets that range between great metropolises to barren snowfield planets resembling something off Lost Planet to dirt encrusted, almost mechanical planets. The only area where Mass Effect lacks in prettiness is that it seems almost as though the side quest planets seem detached from the beauty of the main quest planets as they often come off as different skins of each other, and you'll find yourself replaying one dirty sand planet after another dirty sand planet. Although this is a tad of a put off, it is wholly redeemed by the fact that the rest of the side missions don't feel like the category that their name is generally put under, a 'side' mission, as many of these 'side' mission feel vastly more detailed that so many other games (see The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion). Now that I've left Mass Effect completely dripping in praise for its looks, I can go ahead and sucker punch it in the face, because Mass Effect's presentation may be one of the best of any game yet this generation, it is far from perfect. The game's main problem is that it can NEVER keep a steady frame rate. You'll find yourself entering areas and loading the textures all around in a similar way that you got with Halo 2's cutscenes, or various occasions at the beginning of missions in Gears Of War, the only difference with those was that they actually loaded fast, Mass Effect doesn't quite have this talent, sometimes taking 5 renders before it comes out looking as shiny as it should. Also, you'll get spectacular frame rate dips when just too much is happening on the screen, the game simply cannot handle it with the thousands of enemies it launches at you. It is disappointing to see a game with such promise lack in this area. But at the end of the day all of this doesn't matter because even with all these little flaws, Mass Effect comes out, as mentioned before, looking beautiful. Another great aspect of Mass Effect is the soundtrack, the ambience that it creates is indescribable, every song fits the situation right on the mark, and submerges you even further into the intense story. Make sure the volume is up to 11 (Spinal Tap reference).

STORY:
The story line of Mass Effect is possibly one of its strongest points, it follows a very generic Sci-Fi plot, giving you the position of one Commander Shepard, of whose back story you get to choose before starting the game, but basically consists of you having a.) escaped from slave traders a la Star Wars Sand People at 18 and joined the Alliance military, beta.) growing up in the metropolis that is now Earth, and managing to run away and join the Alliance military at 18, or 3.) Having two parents as Alliance military soldiers, and following in their footsteps by, as you might've guessed, joining the Alliance military at 18. But this is all well and good because everything you choose in Mass Effect's story affects how your the plot and your character develop. Although the story does follow the cliché 'save the universe from imminent threat of destruction' Sci-Fi method, Mass Effect manages to get by this by reducing the amount of cheesiness that is thrown in its general path. Without revealing too much, if you didn't already know, you are Commander Shepard who is sent to investigate a beacon from a lost species that helped boost technology in the universe "almost 200 years" last time something like this beacon was found. But once arriving on the planet, you find that a rogue operative of the high government's "Council" is determined to get to the beacon first so he can keep it for himself, accompanied by a friendly army of super evil, super intelligent space robots called the Geth, who believe that the beacon will allow them to reactivate an even more lost, even more evil species of synthetic life forms called the Reapers, who will in turn destroy all natural life in the universe, and now it is up to you to stop this from happening (obviously). The way Bioware has managed to keep the amount of cheese down is greatly appreciated as the story could’ve easily take one wrong turn and sent it right down to Crapsville, population; Mass Effect, and possibly some of the Mario series is still down there too. But overall the main story is brilliantly displayed, with very in-depth characters who make the player really believe in them and their personal traits, as well as the huge amounts of side missions that you actually want to do, so you can fully appreciate the hell out of Mass Effect, and the way the story can unfold so differently under your power of being a complete ass, or a right suck up, and some sort of middle ground, toward certain characters really makes you feel as though you are controlling what is going on, not that there is any straight path to develop the plot. If you were to be really anal about finishing Mass Effect’s main quest, I predict there would maybe be 20 hours of gameplay before you finished, but then I would probably call you a complete idiot, because there is so much to savour in your first play through of Mass Effect, that you should really attempt a huge amount of side missions, giving the game a good 10 or so more hours at the least. Bundled with the fact that you’ll want to play it a second time through because of how diverse the story can turn out, Mass Effect’s story will grapple your attention by the throat and happily not let you go untill you are finished at least two times, so if you were planning on finishing ANY other games this holiday season, either do that first or prepare to let them wait just a little.
(As a side note I’d also like to mention that I enjoyed the fact that everyone in the entire universe seems to hate the greedy, non-trustable, dirty, dirty human species for once. Apparently we multiply too much for other alien species.)

GAMEPLAY:
Phew, this is going to be a big one;
Many people were ready to compare Mass Effect to Bioware’s earlier game, Knights Of The Old Republic, which remains simply one of the best original Xbox games to date. And the similarities ARE clear in many places, but at the same time, so many things are changed that Mass Effect does feel like a completely original game. For example, now you have a big, shark named, impossible to control car. And the Force is called Biotics. No but in all seriousness Bioware has done a lot to change the formula that Knights Of The Old Republic ran on. Possibly the most clear change is the complete removal of a turn based fighting system, instead being replaced with real time combat against many enemies, requiring a general strategical approach. Mass Effect was originally labeled a AATPSSBRPG…IS, or for people who aren’t savvy with lots of letters, Action Adventure Third Person Shooter Squad Based Role Playing Game…In Space. And surprisingly enough the game manages to pull this off pretty successfully. For the RPG elements, you get your general pick of class, and you can choose between a specialist of combat (Soldier), meaning specialising in weapons and armour for the people who like to run the hell in, and kill absolutely everything. A specialist in Tech (Engineer), meaning specialising in manipulating machinery, disabling enemy weapons and healing the squad. Or a specialist in Biotics (Adept), who specialises in affecting the physical world, including enemies and objects, this class focuses on the power to use a sort of magic to lift and push enemies with your mind, tearing enemies apart or creating a barrier to stop oncoming firepower as a few of the available abilities. Even the hybrids of these three classes (the Vanguard, the Infiltrator and the Sentinel) all feel original in how they play, so being one of them is not a turn off if you like a bit of variety. The conversations with the AI in Mass Effect is also great, with the conversations feeling smooth and completely under your control, you even develop relationships with various members of your squad that can lead to a rather naughty part of the game, but if you’re expecting to see flailing nipples, prepare to be disappointed, Bioware has managed to pull off this certain section of the game very professionally and mature, so only a mild amount of nudity is actually shown. The shooter elements of Mass Effect do have a small bit that is left to be desired. Unless you are a full Soldier class, a general run ‘n gun approach wont work, and untill you get to grips with the learning curve for the combat, you will find yourself dying a fair amount in the game, and having to strategically combine all your abilities to overpower your enemy. Bundled with this problem is your squad’s habit of running in and dying, leaving on your own to die, or taking ALL the available good cover, leaving you in the open to die. I can’t say that this is particularly enthralling an addition to the game. GameTrailers.com have said that even if you stripped Mass Effect of all of its aspects apart from the combat, it would still make a competent shooter, I don’t agree there, I believe that there is a bit more work left to do in that particular area, and I sometimes find myself wanting to actually avoid the combat, which is generally not a good sign for a game which calls itself part shooter. So with mixed feeling about the combat it is fair enough to say that it is not nearly direct enough for a general shooter player, and not nearly strategical enough for a squad based/turn based player. It is fun to be able to shoot a sniper from a thousand or so yards with a shotgun though. The range of different abilities, upgrades and armour is impressive, the weapons are expected of your average shooter, you get a shotgun, pistol, sniper rifle, assault rifle and grenades, but along with those comes so many different upgrades for every one, including different rounds to use on different guns which can be more or less effective on certain enemies, and mixes up the formula a bit. The abilities and their upgrades are controlled by the level up system, giving you points to use on yourself and your squad that are spent on upgrading Biotics and Tech abilities, or weapon strength and accuracy, plus your class’s unique abilities. The controls for the game are also sometimes a little iffy, with almost all of the Xbox 360 controller’s buttons being used, you’re going to have to get used to reaching for the back button to throw a grenade, and the game only lets you hotkey one Biotics or Tech ability at a time, so you have to manually change it every time you want to use a different one, luckily, Bioware was smart enough to make the game pause while you decide which weapons and biotic/tech abilities your squad is using at one time. So although the combat could’ve been improved in my opinion, you are generally able to miss most of it if you are so inclined, but apart from that, Bioware really hit the nail on the head when designing Mass Effect’s gameplay system, and it shows.

CLOSING COMMENTS:
Mass Effect is an awesome game, it is fun, and involving, while making the player really feel that the fate of the universe is at his hand, not many games manage to really pull you in in the way that Mass Effect does, it’s a great experience, with the visuals being to the standard that you actually want to show people how the gaming world has developed over the past 25 or so years. Put aside its flaws, as every game has them, and just enjoy it to the fullest.

OVERVIEW:
Graphics - 8.5/10,
Beautiful game, beautiful scenery, beautiful characters, beautiful on HD, icky frames.
Sound - 9.5/10,
Creates a fantastic atmosphere, sometimes a little to quiet to appreciate, but that’s hardly a complaint.
Story - 9.0/10,
A lack of twists and the sort kept Bioware on a safe track when deciding on the story, but this is simultaneously a praise and a bit of a let down.
Gameplay - 8.5/10,
Generally a great experience, but the combat, as mentioned, is weak, and Mako is a bit of a *insert naughty word here* to drive, plus, Penny Arcade is right, why IS it that the elevators are soooooo slow? Makes me want to cry.
Replayability - 9.5/10,
Yes. Over and over and over and over… with the gigantic variety of options you wont get tired of this game for a long time to come.
OVERALL - 9.0/10,
Truly brilliant a game, even with its itty-bitty flaws one has to experience it to judge it. Reviews do not give it justice, go play it, just go. Now.

By Greg Grassi aka. The Oreo
XBL Gamertag: The 0reo
Please, feel free to come tell me my stupidity on reviews via email at gregezra@yahoo.com