Since I have only recently had a working 360 I am doing some catch-up with games I’ve played. Here I give you Mass Effect, to me this is truly a step in the right direction towards a truly immersive gaming experience. I think the majority or RPG and TPS fans will be very pleased with this title and only cynical, nit-picky assholes like me would find things to bitch about.
The game plays quite a bit like the venerable Knights of the Old Republic for the xbox. It is a BioWare creation after all. So that said, let’s get right into it.
Forward thinkers at BioWare have upped the ante in terms of storytelling and adult themes (girl-on-alien-girl love scene anyone?). The familiar conversational choices are streamlined to keep the dialog moving but after multiple play-throughs, the good/bad choices you make really only affect the your next line of dialog and not the conversation as a whole. First time through though, the story really grabs you and unless you’re like me and get sidetracked with every little side mission, never lets up on the tension. It is clear that BioWare plans on this being a multi-game series it is unclear how they plan to work the story elements out between the titles. Will you need a saved game from ME1 to play ME2? Will they take a cue from the disappointing KotoR2 and change characters completely? Only time will tell but I have my fingers crossed.
The gameplay is fluid with little or no break in the transition from story to exploration to combat. The days of actual gameplay graphics being inferior to cut-scene graphics are finally being left behind. The game does use the hell out of your console though. It seems like the programmers use no cached memory so your drive is running continuously as you play. This leads to some minor frame-rate lag and texture pop-in that can take you out of the story. Hopefully the folks at BioWare work that out by the time ME2 hits.
So that said, let me say this, the game plays like a mash-up of KotoR and Resident Evil 4. The third-person , over the shoulder perspective is easy to get a handle on. It plays like KotoR in that it may look like a simple shooter on the surface but underneath the action are a complex set of calculations going on that are based on your character’s stats. As you level up you add earned skill points to categories that range from active combat skills and first-aid, to passive buffs and proficiency with the game’s four weapons categories. Pure RPG.
I know that this is a futuristic story but one of the few gripes I had was the complete lack of melee weapons. There were skills that upped melee damage but in combat all you get in terms of hand-to-hand is a pistol-whip or bash with your weapon’s stock. Weak. I know guns make more sense but who said games had to make sense ALL the time?
Graphically this game is beautiful. The character animations are nearly flawless and the facial expressions are subtle and allow for more nuanced conversations. The sheer variety of people to interact with and places to explore were a treat for the senses. The only real problem I had with the presentation was the score, it was bland, it wasn’t bad, just not as exciting as the story deserved .
So all in all I highly enjoyed this first offering in what will hopefully be a great series. I’d say that for BioWare fanatics and serious RPG fans this one is a must buy. Over 30 achievements that require multiple play-throughs, and promised downloadable content make this one worth your money. Everyone else, rent it from GameFly it’s definitely worth playing.
The Gamer Hero
Gamer Hero Score: 9/10
p.s. Thanks to Sean for posting his review of this game on the forums, it is still there is you want to read it.