As some of you might know, Mass Effect is one of my favorite gaming franchises. Of course, when I say that, I am looking at the franchise as a whole (I will not dwell on what happened to ME 3). However, for those gamers who primarily play on PlayStation consoles, playing the original Mass Effect was not in the cards. This changed once the game was finally released for PlayStation 3 at the end of 2012. Finally, PlayStation fans were able to play the whole series through. I was one of those fans who got the original for digital download. Here is what I thought:
Mass Effect is a science fiction third-person RPG developed by Bioware and published by Microsoft originally, but is now being published by EA. It originally was released for XBox 360 only, but eventually was released for PC and then Playstation 3. It uses the Unreal 3 engine. The game was applauded for its in-depth universe. To me, the game is the Holy Grail of RPGs, since most do not have the Science fiction twist that Mass Effect does.
The setting puts the game far into the future where the human race discovers alien technology that allows them to travel faster than light (the “mass effect” field). They have also found mass relays that allow them to travel significant distances in space in short amounts of time. The human race expands throughout the galaxy, meeting other alien races. They create the Human Systems Alliance that becomes a rising power among the other, older races.
The game follows Commander Shepard, an elite soldier who is picked to head a secret mission on a experimental ship, the SSV Normandy. He is also in the running to become the first human Spectre, a black-ops division of the Citadel counsel, a governing body of the “civilized” parts of the galaxy. As the story continues, the player begins to delve into the richly-designed universe that is Mass Effect and discovers that there are some very sinister things lurking in the galaxy.
One of the fun things about this game is the ability of the player to go where they want to go in the galaxy. Sure, there are some parts that you don’t get to decide, but there is a lot of freedom in traveling, allowing the player to go to some really cool planets. Another interesting aspect (that I’m sure you may have heard about) is the ability to have Commander Shepard have a relationship with some of the characters. You only get a few options in this game, but it still keeps things kind of interesting.
There’s a lot going on in Mass Effect. It’s an RPG with XP, leveling up, and different skill-sets you can go through. However, it is also a third-person action adventure shooter. It employs a duck and cover system of fighting but also incorporates vehicle battle as well. It SHOULD be a very diverse game play. For the main missions, that is correct; the actual main quests are a ton of fun. It’s the side quests that are a complete bear to play. They are tedious and difficult in some spots, something that I wasn’t used to from playing Mass Effect 2 and 3 originally. Because of this, I will have to knock the game play down quite a bit.
There are other aspects of the game play that I would like to cover, however. The first being the class system. Players get to choose at the beginning the type of class they want their character to be. This also includes being able to fully customize the Shepard character: male or female, default or customize completely. I recommend being on male default because Shepard is sexy. Besides customizing the character in that way, there are six classes to choose from: Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, and Vanguard. Each class has its own special perks. I typically play as soldier. Each of the classes also have their own special combat abilities.
Another interesting aspect of game play is dialogue and morality system. As the story unfolds, the player is given options for dialogue. One is typically the “good” option. Another is the “neutral” option. And the third is the “bad” option. Depending on how good or bad you want Shepard to be will depend on how you answer. However, sticking with one side opens up special dialogue conversations not available otherwise.
This particular Mass Effect game focuses very heavily on upgrading weapons. The player can upgrade pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, as well as grenades and armor. Mods to weapons and armor can also be found as well. Upgrades are collected while exploring and in battle when an enemy is killed, but it can be a pain keep track of all of them. Many times, I would have to stop game play because I had accumulated too many upgrades and had to either apply them or convert them into omni-gel (an all-purpose tool that helps with everything for fixing damage on vehicles to hacking locks). This did get a bit annoying at times.
For the time that the game came out, the graphics were pretty darned slick. And not only that, but the game has actually aged well. It is still playable without the graphics seeming to be annoying. They certainly do not cause me headaches like Final Fantasy VII, for instance. The in-game graphics are great, but the cut-scenes are really were the money is.
Unfortunately, even though the main parts of the game are a lot of fun, all of the side quests are a pain. They are such a pain that I almost stopped playing the game. They are tedious and repetitive. Technically, I would give the fun-factor of the main game a 10, but I would give the side quests a 1. Also because of this, I will probably not be revisiting the game, despite the awesome storyline.
As a whole, this game is great. It’s got some issues; however, if the player just focuses on the main mission, the game is a lot of fun to play. I’m also a bit picky because I feel Mass Effect 2 is a much better game overall. Then again, considering that you can get the whole trilogy pretty cheaply and just the original even more cheaply, it’s definitely worth your time.