Ahh, my first 360 game review. Playing games only on the PS3 until about a week ago, I missed out on a lot of great RPGs designed by Bioware…the two that come to mind are Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. I got my first taste of Bioware when I played through Dragon Age: Origins FOUR times (I did get a nice Platinum trophy for that one, too), and I loved it. So when I received my 360 last Thursday, I quickly popped Mass Effect onto the top of my Gamefly queue. I’ve had a few days to check it out, and so far I am totally loving it.
What Mass Effect does is that a fast-paced third person shooter and add to the gameplay possibilities by making it into an RPG. The story is basically about a human who is drafted into an intergalactic organization and must stop an alien from unleashing terror across the galaxy. First off, the main character, last name Shepard, can be a male or female, and there are a variety of different classes to choose from. Like an RPG, the classes are all distinct, ranging from warriors (the soldier, with automatic weaponry and heavy armor) to the “mage” characters, who are able to manipulate machines or create force fields. You can create a party of three out of seven characters (three human, including the main character, and four different alien species), but you can only directly control the main character. However, you are able to bring up a menu during combat to order your allies on which action to take. So it’s basically your typical fantasy RPG in a sci-fi environment, and the combination is pure awesome.
Since the story takes place in space, there is no huge country to explore, like in Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls. Instead, the main hub is your flagship, the Normandy. From there, you can access the galaxy map and determine where to travel to. There will be side quests to take, which will give you the name of the system to go to, but you have to explore the planets of that system in order to find the right one. Generally, there are between four and seven planets in a system, and one of those are typically the one you can land on. The other planets can be quickly scanned right there from space to see if there are any resources available, which will only give you some XP and cash. This process of exploring different system, scanning uninhabited planets, and landing on them all gives you this great feeling of exploration, and you will feel like you are on the bridge of the Enterprise, giving out orders.
When it’s time to land on a uninhabited planet, you start off in a heavily armed lunar rover of sorts. This tank can then travel across a limited section of the planet where there are “anomalies” that are detected, and require you to go over for a closer look. These can range from crashed probes to extinct civilizations to pirate hideouts, so it is generally a fun time to go exploring outside of the main quest.
Now let’s talk about combat. Each character can carry four weapons with them into battle: assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, and pistol. As you level up, you can give each character proficiency in particular weapons, so that even though all characters will have four weapons equipped, you will only use the ones that you have leveled up. One of the great things about the combat is that there is no ammo to worry about, since all the weapons are energy based. However, these weapons will over-heat if fired too quickly, so that’s something you will have to keep an eye on. Also, since it is the future, characters have energy shields, which will take damage and be depleted before any health is lost. On the other hand, the enemies have these shields too, so it kind of goes both ways. Some characters will also be able to use special abilities while in battle. For example, characters with a proficiency in particular weapons can unleash powerful attacks, and other abilities allow for other actions, ranging from lifting and tossing opponents to turning robotic enemies on each other.
This game, while it feels like a sci-fi shooter, is in fact an RPG. Some parts of the game are tedious, as you have to wander around large cities going from point A to point B. There are quests, from the main one that drives the story forward, to the side quests where you help out the little people, whether you are getting someone’s data backed up out of their computer, or you are talking to a hooker’s customer (who happens to be a military general) so he stops spreading rumors about her because she doesn’t love him and does not want a true relationship with him. Also, like many RPGs, there is quite a bit of voice-acting and dialogue to sit through. The voice acting is pretty nice, and the story is very well-written, so I enjoyed it all. If you like a good RPG, you won’t mind this too much (I sure don’t), but it’s just a warning that the intense combat comes with some mundane questing in between.
One of my few complaints about the game is the downtime. For starters, the load screens are long…very long. To make matters worse, when you take an elevator to get from one area to another, there is no load screen, even though that’s what is going on. Instead, you have to stare at the screen for about thirty seconds as your party travels the elevator in silence, and does not move. Secondly, I have noticed quite a bit of lag in the game, where at times it will become somewhat choppy. Granted, this is a tad-bit older game, so I’m hoping that some of these simple cosmetic problems are better in Mass Effect.
Mass Effect is a great RPG. It successfully melds role playing into a sci-fi universe, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun to go about and explore the galaxy. The engaging story is well-crafted, and your influence on it allows for several playthroughs. Another interesting concept to note is that the character from this game can be ported over to Mass Effect 2, meaning that certain aspects of the game (choices you made, your character’s biography, and personal relationships) will be right there from the start to shape Mass Effect 2. My only regret is getting to check out this gaming marvel now, because I am so excited to jump into Mass Effect 2 that I will not be giving this one a second run-through.
