VGM Fusion

Review: Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

There have been few times in my gaming lifetime that I’ve been truly salivating while waiting for a game to come out. BioWare had succeeded in doing just that with Mass Effect. Showing it off to me for the first time at E3′06 was cruel, as the game nearly blew me away even then and almost made me overlook many good games actually out at the time. Now, just in time to be released around all the other great games this fall, Mass Effect is in some very stiff company, but I think BioWare likes it better that way.

For the sub-rock dwellers, Mass Effect is a 100% original sci-fi RPG developed by those guys at BioWare (the KOTOR and Baldur’s Gate guys), and has wowed gamers for the last few years by leaking out videos showing a depth in conversations and battles that we rarely see in other RPG’s. The game is also just the beginning of the Mass universe, and we’ll probably see a trilogy out of this (cliche yet?) too.

The game pretty much sets you off like this. You’re a commander of a ship called the Normandy. You are a Human in a galaxy where Humans are not overly liked. We’re a little uppity you see, and we think we deserve everything we ask for, and darn quick. I guess that’s what happens when we only have about 80-90 years to live while the other species can go on for about 500… urgency sets in.

Anyways, space travel and technology, as we and everyone else knows it, is basically all derived from the ruins and artifacts of the Protheans… a long dead (50,000 years) race that just, well, disappeared.

Everything is going fine in the universe until a cybernetic species called the Geth starts attacking Human colonies aided by a Turian named Saren. And until you play the game you’re going to be very confused… I’m like a Star Trek nerd trying to explain the intricacies of Vulcan/Romulan relations to their uncle at this point… so I’m just going to drop it. The story is as involving and deep as any (good) sci-fi book/movie/tv show you ever seen (Battlestar Galactica included).

The game itself is slathered with some of the most breathtaking visuals this side of Assassin’s Creed. Think that game, but in the future — there may not be as much denseness in the cityscapes as in AC, but they still pack a punch, and the character models just may make you do a double take.

Speaking of the models, this game relies on them so much because they’re integral to the story telling method. Mass Effect is one of the first games to be spot on with their voice and character acting. Every character you can interact with has something meaningful and emphatic to say (great writing!), and when you get involved in an in-depth conversation, the camera will zoom in to their face so you can see by their eyes and subtle facial movements if they’re lying, pissed off, flirty or whatever. It really does work. Speaking of the conversations, Mass Effect changes the way that you’ve interacted with characters in the past. Instead of picking from a response to their inquiry you now get a “gut reaction” list that will pop up whilst they’re talking. You pick the response, then you will seamlessly respond back with the general tone you chose. It makes the conversations flow in a way that really pulls you further into the game than you usually get.

Your conversations (and subsequently actions) also have a direct effect on Mass Effect’s system of Good vs. Evil ™. In this universe good is called Paragon, and evil is Renegade. Some of the choices you’ll have to make are hard to bare, and will paint a picture of you as a cut-throat killer who gets the job done at any costs, or a diplomat who always tries to resolve things before, you know, things get to blowin’ up. The edge that Mass Effect likes to tread though is one of combined morality. Everything you do is a combination of good and evil… Paragon and Renegade. You aren’t just one or the other, the combination of both makes up your character, and it is really a better reflection of real life than that of the Jedi or Sith zero-sum mentality used in KOTOR. In the end, your choices result in the way people react to you, and help change the story, but don’t have an immediate effect on combat or gameplay.

Another way that Mass Effect tries to innovate is by allowing you an action-oriented combat system. It really allows you to set your tactics, or just go in complete action-style and blast away (although that’ll likely get you killed pretty often). The combat works for the most part quite well, but I found that the reliance on quick reflexes in quite a few moments can be overly frustrating, because after all, we’re not talking FPS style fluidity and controls… this is still a good system, but making you fight furious battles can get hectic with the control scheme.

The rest of the game is also fairly well done. The inventory and equipment configuration is fairly intuitive, though mapping the B button to get you out of almost any screen in the game can sometimes be frustrating. The act of leveling up your character is also done well, with many different areas that you can specialize in to create just the right kind of fighting force for the mission at hand. And actually at the beginning of each mission you get to pick a team of 3 that would be best suited to the job.

You’ll be finding that you’ll be picking your characters quite a bit. There are tons of worlds and side missions to explore. Some very involved… some searching monkeys to find data cards. Each one begins pretty similarly, by you traveling to a star system in the Normandy, investigating the planets there, and then landing in your Mako tank and driving (bouncing…) to your destination. The result of all this is pretty satisfying, and the side missions should keep you pleasantly diverted from the main story, while adding to it at the same time.

That’s a good thing too, because the main story (not counting the side missions which can easily fill up about 15 hours themselves) doesn’t seem to be that lengthy… now don’t bite my head off. I just think that compared to some of the other epic RPG’s I’ve played like the Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests out there, that this story has as much length to it. That doesn’t mean it’s not good though, and you’ll be dying to find out what BioWare has coming up next.

In the end, like I’ve been saying, Mass Effect is worth the hype, and is a great game. The short(ish) story, the occasional graphical glitch and a somewhat cumbersome battle-system shouldn’t dissuade you from picking this game up. I’m giving this game a rating that is weighted on this high side of the number, as I really feel that it transcends its genre, and other people who aren’t just RPG fans should check it out as well. It’s that good (it’s just not perfect). Now go kill off those Geth!

Game Details:
Available: November 20, 2007
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: BioWare Corp.
Genre: RPG
ESRB: Mature 17+
VGM Rating: 4/5

Reviewer’s Notes: There are some final things I wanted to say that don’t need to be in the core review. There some fit and finish problems with the game, and those coupled with some other issues I had factored into the final score of the game.

There were several instances where I became “captured” in a wall, or by a cliff… this really took me out of the game, and forced me to ultimately load a saved game to resolve it.

When I referred to graphical glitches, almost every time you enter a scene, the textures in that area slowly roll in, and create a somewhat jarring effect for the first few seconds. Also there are multiple cases of clipping issues with your and the enemies AI, with some enemies granted the ability to walk right through walls. Definitely creates some interesting battle tactics.

With the story I’m sure you’re going to be wondering why I deemed it short — Like I said, it’s in comparison to other full-course RPG’s out there. Final Fantasy VII is a game, complete unto itself. Dragon Quest VII is a game complete unto itself. This day and age where we the gamer are forced (forced may be a strong word) to play through a game only to see that the story continues always makes you groan. Yes, it’s cool that we get to play more in the future, but why can’t I just have my experience all in one!? Trilogies or sequels in an RPG suck, in my opinion.

Finally, if you’re wondering about the 4/5, please check out the VGM Daily review scores rating system audio file below… it explains things nicely. - Ryan

 

 VGM Daily Review Score Rating System [1:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1163)