Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a game with some really revolutionary ideas, but not the best execution. It's a hybrid RPG/shooter, but the RPG elements far outweigh (and outperform) the shooter elements. For the most part, this game plays much like Bioware's previous RPG space epic, Knights of the Old Republic. In fact, shooter combat aside, much of this game's structure is nearly identical. The fact that ME is based on that tried-and-true formula helps it greatly, but the newer elements almost entirely fail.

In Mass Effect, set 270 years in the future, you play as Commander Shepard, the first-ever human selected to be a "Spectre" (sort of like a cross between a commando and a Jedi). Shepard traverses the galaxy searching for a way to stop Saren, an insane Spectre who is attempting to bring apocalypse upon all sentient life.

Most of the gameplay revolves around traveling to different planets, exploring various areas, talking to people, and occasionally getting into some fights. The real crux of the game, though, is the focus on choices.

Choices that the player makes in the game affect whether he gains "Paragon" or "Renegade" points. Paragon is generically good or diplomatic, while renegade is aggressive and self-serving. Gaining more points in one or the other will yield various rewards. Separate from the Paragon/Renegade meters, however, the choices you make in the game yield incredibly powerful results. Major characters will live or die depending on the choices you make, and by the end of the game, the galaxy will be forever changed because of you.

Dialogue is probably the biggest and most important aspect of the game, as that's where the decisions are made. Mass Effect's dialogue system has a dynamic camera that makes cuts that mimic the shot/reverse shot technique used in film, allowing for much more engaging dialogue. As if that weren't enough, the entire game is voice-acted, leaving nothing to the imagination as far as voice is concerned.

The Mass Effect universe is great. It's got a wonderfully sleek visual aesthetic, with a great deal of thought put into the background of each and every character, alien race, and new technology. There's even a codex of information put into the game's menu just in case you feel like learning everything there is to learn about the universe, regardless of its actual importance to the plot. It's that kind of detail that really makes this game feel like it's something special, despite its flaws.

Speaking of those flaws, there are many. The shooter mechanics are flat-out abysmal. Everything from a barely-working cover system to completely ineffectual controls over your squadmates plague this game. As if that weren't enough, the RPG mechanics of the game overtake the shooting to such a degree that it doesn't even make sense as a shooter. For example, there are four separate accuracy stats for weapons: your personal accuracy skill stat, your accuracy skill stat with that weapon, the weapon's built-in accuracy, and your actual skill as a gamer. Shockingly, the last of those four is seemingly the least-important. You can have your reticule aimed squarely on an enemy's head, but if you don't have all your stats in the right place (which it's almost guaranteed you won't until late in the game), you will miss a great many of the shots you fire. So, essentially, you're playing as a supposedly-amazing hero who can't aim correctly, can't take cover correctly, and can't interact with his teammates effectively enough to make up for any of that. While being extra-careful in combat can help you greatly, that doesn't make up for the fact that the game basically takes control out of your hands when, as a shooter, complete control is exactly what you should have. It feels as though Bioware designed the game to be a traditional real-time turn-based game, but tacked on shooter mechanics. So instead of combat being fun, the shooting only makes things more difficult than necessary.

There's also an issue in that you spend a ridiculous amount of time picking up loot, including all types of weapons, armor, and upgrades. The problem with this is that you can literally pick up thirty different versions of the same gun, all with slightly different stats. This means that you end up doing a lot of organizing and cleaning out your inventory, as well as maximizing your stats just to make sure your gun works correctly.

The graphics are both great and problematic. The Unreal Engine 3 is used rather well here, not looking at all like other UE3 games. There's an optional film grain filter that's put over the game by default, which really adds to the cinematic feel. The aforementioned sleek style of the ME universe looks great, with vivid lights glistening off metal surfaces. Details like player movement are also more realistic, with Shepard having a bit of inertia to deal with as he moves throughout the game world. On the negative side, the texturing is a bit simple and bland, making characters' faces look a bit overly smooth. The framerate in the game is also pretty bad, hardly ever reaching 30 FPS, and usually staying down in the 20s at most. As if that weren't enough, there are a ton of glitches, many of which require you to revert to a previous save.

That's another thing: the save system. There's an auto-save system, but it doesn't save often at all. If you don't constantly save manually, you'll spend a lot of time replaying the same sections over and over again. It's very frustrating.

Another problem is the oddly dispassionate story. While the overall plot is very good, there's not very much genuine emotion in it. The characters don't generally have much of a personal stake in the events; they're just "there." While Mass Effect's story is definitely interesting and at times astonishingly epic, it's sometimes hard to care about.

The characters are all well-realized, but there are definitely some oddities. First of all, three of the characters can be pursued as romantic interests, but this comes off as being a little abrupt. Although you're supposed to have formed some kind of deep bond with the character you decide to be with, you can romance that character after literally two or three conversations. Unlike KOTOR, where you could have a dozen different conversations with every character, getting to know his or her backstory and developing a relationship that seemed somewhat genuine, here relationships seem to spring out of nothing, and feel shallow.

Despite all these flaws, there is one gigantic saving grace: the ending. This is where all the problems with the game seem to melt away. The story gains a bit of emotion; the gameplay feels tighter and more responsive; the overall package is just better. It's easily one of the best finales in gaming history, and even worthy of being put alongside the best Sci-Fi film finales.

Mass Effect feels a bit like a prototype of a different game. It's got a lot of bugs, design flaws, etc. However, all in all, Mass Effect is a game with a ton of promise, and though it doesn't always live up to that promise, few other games even attempt to reach the levels that Mass Effect does. For that reason, while Mass Effect definitely stumbles along the way, it's still something truly special.

8/10