Story
Mass Effect is an epic space opera, set in the distant future after humanity discovers ancient ruins on Mars, greatly advancing the space faring technology. After some struggles and wars, humans eventually find their place alongside other alien races on a massive space station called The Citadel. As the newest members of this galactic society, humans must carve out their own niche in the universe. Among such humans, there is you, Commander Shepherd.
Starting aboard the U.S.S. Normandy, Shepherd sets out on his first mission. Searching for another ancient artifact, Shepherd finds more than expected when Seren, a respected agent of The Citadel, has gone rogue. Allying himself with a hostile race of robots, Saren is determined to wipe out humanity, and anyone else that gets in his way. And its up to Shepherd to stop him.
While I could go on, I’ll stop there to avoid spoiling anything. Let me just say that the story in Mass Effect is incredible. The plot is deep and thoughtful, touching on everything from politics to ancient history of how the universe as we know it was created. It’s paced like a great sci-fi movie, with tons of intrigue, spectacular action, romance, and humor. And absolutely none of it feels forced or out of place. It’s fantastically written from the opening scene to the amazing conclusion.
The story is also heavily character driven, with every single character you encounter (yes, even very minor ones) having a deep motive, history, and richness to them not found often in games. Even Shepherd feels this way, any way you decide to play him/her, with the fantastic dialogue system (I’ll get to that in the gameplay section). The characters build relationships with each other as the game progresses, and you can really relate to all of them, no matter what species. By the end, you feel like you’ve been through something with these people, and feel attached and emotional about them. At one point I found myself yelling at my TV screen as Shepherd yelled at Saren. I was that attached.
The story in Mass Effect is the perfect example of why people play RPGs. It’s a great example to take games seriously as a creative medium along with books and movies, and can show just how powerful the interactive element can be. From start to finish there isn’t a dull moment, and you will be tied in, wondering what will happen next.
Story: 10/10
Gameplay
At its core, Mass Effect is a role playing game. You start of by creating your own Commander Shepherd. You get options like first name, class, skills. All your standard RPG fare. However, there is also a very in-depth and detailed face customization system. This allows you to literally make a character look like you, or whomever you want. Of course, you can also select from several presets.Also when creating your character, you will get to select options to build a background for Shepherd, which will affect how people react to you throughout the game. You select an origin (spacer, colonist, or Earthborn) and a psychological profile (war hero, sole survivor, or ruthless). You can make any combination of the two, allowing for some variation in play-throughs. For example, I chose sole survivor, and people offhandedly referenced my amazing abilities and resolve at fending off an attacking force alone, or comment on my amazing luck. These just come up in simple conversation, and although they don’t directly affect the gameplay, they do add a nice touch to further make the character feel like yours.
Speaking of conversation, dialogue plays a major role in the gameplay. There is so much story and lore to the Mass Effect universe that Bioware has created, and that shows in the shear amount of dialogue in this game. And it’s not just your standard RPG dialogue scene either. You actually control everything Shepherd says. This is done brilliantly with a slick communication wheel that comes up during conversation. Along the wheel are several paraphrase options of what Shepherd can say in the situation. They aren’t directly what he says, just the concept or the thought. For example, select “Why’s that?” and Shepherd will say something like “I see, but why have the Krogen entered human space without warning?” This works really well since the wheel actually comes up a few seconds before you have a chance to speak, so you can select what you want to say before its time to say it, giving the conversations a fluid and realistic feeling. Another reason this works so well is it gives you a chance to ask a lot of questions to learn about the universe you are playing in, without the main character sounding like he’s never been there before.
And in conversation, you had better watch what you say. Your words have consequences, with certain options giving you either paragon or renegade points. These are similar to a morality system of good and evil in a lot of games these days. However, keeping with the story and character, you can’t actually be good or evil. It comes off more like being a just and fair upholder of the law, or being a downright jerk who does what it takes to get the job done. So instead of saving a box of kittens or letting it burn, it’s more like saving the box of kittens by talking things out and arresting the offenders, or killing all of the offenders without hesitation, while still saving those ungrateful kittens. In Mass Effect the choices aren’t always so clear cut, with the game doing a great job to make the situations morally gray, facing you with tough decisions. Either way, it’s important to strive for the paragon or renegade points, because when you get them, you’ll also get some experience points.
As an RPG, you’ll be gaining experience points and leveling up in Mass Effect. When you do score that level, you gain a few points you can put in your skills. From weapons skills, to powers or abilities, these are essential to becoming more powerful as the game progresses. A nice touch is, when you level up, everyone levels up as well. Even the characters you aren’t using in your party at the time. Having only two other party members at once, this is helpful if you wish to shuffle up characters between missions.
Missions are also something that is done well. At The Citadel you can acquire quests from people, or terminals. These are essentially side quests, but they have a story all of their own, and are well done. Some are simple, having you go to a planet and rescue some hostages. Others are more drawn out, sending you across the galaxy to several planets tracking down criminals.
After a certain point in Mass Effect, you will be able to go to any planet your heart desires using a detailed and interactive planet map. If exploration is your thing, this is for you. Each region has several solar systems, and each solar system has several planets. You can scan each planet (or asteroid or moon) to try and find minerals or wreckage to salvage. However, you can usually only land on one planet per system. When you select land, you are blasted down in your tank like vehicle, the Mako. When you get your way around the awkward way the Mako drives, you can cruise around and explore for minerals or wreckage, facilities (dungeons) to explore for items. It’s a lot of fun to go around and explore everything. However, I wish that there was some variation in this. After a while every planet starts to feel the same, and it gets repetitive. Luckily it’s optional.
Combat in Mass Effect plays somewhat like a third person shooter. You have four types of guns to choose from (Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, and Pistol) and your ability to use them depends on your class and the points you may or may not have spent in the weapon skill. This only really affects your accuracy with the weapon, but it can mean a lot in a large firefight. For the most part, it’s easy to shoot what you want and feels like an average third person shooter. There is a cover system for the gunplay, move up to a wall or object and you kinda stick against it and can shoot around. This is really hit or miss, with you either not being able to get into cover like you want to, or you being stuck in cover when you want to get out of it.
Depending on your class, you may also be able to use biotic powers. These work by holding a button to bring up a menu during combat (which pauses the game), selecting the power you wish to use, and releasing the menu button. Each power has its own cooldown, so you can use several without worrying about mana or anything like that. It actually works very well, and can be a lot of fun to hurl an enemy into the air and then shoot them as they float around helplessly.
Mass Effect does a lot right with its gameplay. While the gunplay is a little loose, and the exploration can get very repetitive, the combat can be tons of fun. Where Mass Effect really shines is its dialogue. If you have trouble sitting through a lot of dialogue and story, this game is not for you. However, if you love learning about the interesting characters, setting, and world this game has to offer, it’s really top notch, especially with the innovative conversation system.
Gameplay: 8/10
Presentation
Mass Effect’s graphics are gorgeous, when they load. Characters are incredibly detailed, with the main characters looking even better. The environments look great, with detail everywhere and little touches that make them feel like a real part of the universe. At least, story involved environments. Planets which players can explore that are off the beaten path or used for side quests generally all look the same, barren rocky wastelands with nothing interesting to see. The main problem with the graphics is the texture pop-in. It’s horrible! Constantly throughout the game when a scene changes, you’ll see the basic renderings of the characters, and then the finished textures will pop onto them. This can be very distracting, especially during a scene that is pivotal to the story.Animations are great, though. The way the characters stand and move is completely believable. And facial animations are spot on, delivering dialogue with emotion. The way the characters eyes shift about realistically, not constantly looking straight ahead, really brings the characters to life.
The sound is fantastic. Sound effects are unique and sci-fi, while still being identifiable. The music is great, providing a solid soundtrack of classical inspired electronic music that really fits the space opera game. Lastly, the voice acting is amazing. Every character is well acted with emotion and professionalism that really draws you in, and holds you through the conversation. Even the side characters are well acted.
The menus are for the most part pretty slick and accessible. They meet the feel of the game. The only complaint is that the inventory is terrible. To see what you have, you have to equip it. There is no way to sort your items, or bring up any kind of list without going to your character, going to the item slot, selecting what he has equipped, and scrolling through what you can replace it with. Of course, that only shows what you have for that slot. This is a minor annoyance though, and still works for what you need to do.
Aside from the inventory and the annoying graphical texture pop-in, the presentation of Mass Effect does a good job. The graphics looks gorgeous when they load, and the sound work is fantastic. The animation and voice acting really bring life to the amazing characters of the game.
Presentation: 8/10
Summary
Mass Effect is an amazing game. Its story is incredible, with fantastic characters fleshed out through great writing, facial animation, and voice work. The gameplay is fun and exciting, while only being repetitive while exploring on your own. If it wasn’t for the annoying graphical pop-in, the presentation would be near perfect. Mass Effect is a game where the story takes center stage. If you are looking for an action heavy game or something with a quicker pace, it isn’t for you. But if you are looking for a game that competes with movies and books for character driven storytelling, Mass Effect is not to be missed.Final Score: 9/10
(Average of Story, Gameplay, and Presentation)
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