Mass Effect
NS
When my friend first introduced me to this game a few years ago he mentioned that it has the best voice-acting he ever heard. And as soon as I started my adventure as Commander Shepard I understood why. Everything in this pioneer BioWare game is trying to complete the atmosphere of a space adventure with a greater purpose.
History
Mass Effect was developed by Canadian developer BioWare who previously created 2003 title Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As the development team was already experienced with the Xbox console, they decided to develop the game originally for its successor, the Xbox 360. A total of 130 people were involved in the development of the game and the first six to eight months were spent conceiving how the game would look. Mass Effect uses the Unreal Engine 3 as a groundwork, but on top of that, the team developed additional components for advanced digital actors, space exploration, and squad combat, resulting in BioWare's largest programming project at the time. During the game's four-year development cycle, most of the time had been devoted to the development of these technologies.
Star Wars, Alien, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner, Starship Troopers, and especially Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, were major influences on the atmosphere and artistic qualities of the game.
Mass Effect was released for the Xbox 360 on November 20, 2007, in North America. A Microsoft Windows version ported by Demiurge Studios was released on May 28, 2008. This version features optimized controls designed specifically for personal computers, high-resolution graphics, a new user interface, and other minor changes.
Plot and Setting
Mass Effect is set in a fictional future, where humans found ruins of the ancient race of Proteans during research on Mars. Interstellar travel was made possible by mass transit devices. They enable mass-neglecting, and as a result, phenomena of artificial gravity and faster than light traveling (well, from the physical point of view, it is obviously not possible, though it at least looks persuasively).
A conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council controls a large percentage of the galaxy and is responsible for maintaining law and order among races of the galactic community.
Every race (or rather, species) in Mass Effect is unique and has its quirks.
- A mono-gender race, the asari are distinctly feminine in appearance and possess maternal instincts. They have a unique physiology, expressed in a millennium-long lifespan, and the ability to reproduce with a partner of any gender or species.
- The salarians are warm-blooded amphibians native to the planet Sur'Kesh. Salarians possess a hyperactive metabolism; they think fast, talk fast, and move fast. To salarians, other species seem sluggish and dull-witted.
- Turians are best known for their military role. They are respected for their public service ethic but are sometimes seen as imperialist or rigid by other races.
- Savage krogans suffering from the genetic infection, quarians driven from their home by self-created artificial geth are all interesting and provide exciting plot twists and stories.
Characters
The main excellence of Mass Effect though is in its characters and the interaction between them. BioWare built them based on vivid archetypes: turian officer Garrus wanting to bring justice and truth to the world but disapproved by his father; quarian mechanic Tali'Zorah, who is looking for a way to help her species recover from geth attacks and many others. Every companion has an interesting backstory and believable motivation in their pockets, though they will let you into it if you spend time talking with them.
The secondary cast is also amazing: matriarch Benezia, Joker, ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson are rememberable and add depth to the story.
The protagonist of the game is Commander Shepard, a graduate of the Systems Alliance special forces program and a candidate to become the first human member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance (Spectre) force, agents given broad authority by the Citadel Council to protect the galaxy. Shepard's gender, appearance, military background, combat-training, and first name are determined by the player before the game begins. This flexible approach helps to give the player freedom of choice while also making sure the integrity of the fictional universe is conserved.
The main story revolves around Shepard and the menace of returning of the infamous race of mechanical creatures Reapers which seemingly drove Protean race to extinction. Shepard tries to save the Universe from the hazard which no one believes really exists.
Gameplay
Mass Effect is a single-player action role-playing game in which the player takes the role of from a third-person perspective. There are six different character classes for the player to choose from and each of them has different talents that provide enhanced combat capabilities. For example, the Soldier class is trained in weapon damage and has improved health, while the Sentinel class is trained in protecting and healing allies. At one point in the game, players may evolve their base class talent into one of two specializations, which depend on the class chosen by the player. Although any class can use any weapon type, each class is only effective with the weapons they are trained in.
The game's overworld is a galaxy map that the player can explore to find and complete quests. Most of the quests that progress the story consist of combat missions, while optional quests generally involve the player gathering items or interacting with non-player characters. Sadly, side quests are repetitive and mostly feel repetitive
As the player progresses throughout the game, six squad members become available, each with their own talents that can be developed. Three of the members are romanceable (romance scenes played a role in controversy around the game when it was released). Experience points are gained in multiple ways, such as completing quests, defeating enemies, or finding and collecting items around the environment. Each time a sufficient amount of experience is obtained, the player "levels up" and is awarded a number of Talent Points that can be used to develop talents for both Shepard and the members of the squad. Each talent has 12 ranks that can be unlocked, with each rank costing one Talent Point.
The player's primary mode of transportation is a starship Normandy which serves as Shepard's base of operations. Normandy serves as a home base where you interact with your companions and choose where to go next. Some parts of the game take place on Mako - an armored buggy designed to easily traverse hard terrain. Though I've heard many complaints about it, personally I adore it.
Combat in Mass Effect is squad-based and two squad members accompany the player on the battlefield. The player has direct control of Shepard while the squad members are controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. Battles take place in real-time, but the player can pause the action at any time to calmly target enemies and select different talent abilities for the squad members to use.
Weapons range from pistols to shotguns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. Although all of them have unlimited ammunition, they overheat if fired continuously for prolonged periods.
During conversations with characters, Mass Effect employs a radial command menu, called Dialogue Wheel, where the player's dialogue options depend on wheel direction. The left side of the wheel is normally reserved for options that will continue the conversation in-depth, while options on the right side tend to move the conversation towards completion. Responses at the top are generally more polite and selfless, while those at the bottom are more aggressive and hostile. Dialogue choices impact how others react to Shepard and affect the player's chosen morality. Morality is measured by Paragon (charm) and Renegade (intimidate) points. These points allow the player to develop talents that affect the availability of new special Paragon and Renegade dialogue options with significant impact in the game. Interestingly, over 80 percent of the players chose the Paragon path and the main director complained that most gamers haven't even seen Renegade cinematic emotional scenes BioWare put a lot of effort into.
Visuals and Audio
The graphics do not look much fancy but still have not dated a lot from the release. A lot of mods that improve textures have been released. The cinematic movements of characters look fine but the facial expressions of characters sometimes lack emotions.
The voice acting is, as my friend mentioned, stellar. Every character is believable, all alien races are distinctive and feel natural. The musical score is also breathtaking and enhances the most emotional moments and is even good to listen to on a daily basis. The main theme still gives me chills when I hear it.
Downloadable Content (DLCs)
Mass Effect features two downloadable content packs.
The first pack, Bring Down the Sky, was released as a free download for Microsoft Windows on May 28, 2008. Bring Down the Sky introduces a new mission where the player must explore an asteroid using the Mako and prevent it from striking an Earth-like planet. It also includes a new alien race and additional side-quest content. It is as beautiful as the main game though it lacks narrative weight and reuses outpost maps that are also available in the base game.
The second pack, Pinnacle Station, was released as a free download for Microsoft Windows on August 25, 2009. The pack introduces a training facility where the player can compete in eight virtual reality combat scenarios, divided into four different game types like Deathmatch and Capture the flag. It is uninspiring and is just a typical loot arena in an RPG game.
Synopsis
Mass Effect is an epic space adventure with great characters that feel alive and tremendously enthralling and detailed universe, though with fairly repetitive secondary quests. - (8.3)
Pros:
- the detailed universe and its lore;
- believable and interesting characters;
- stellar voice acting and very atmospheric score.
Cons:
- repetitive and boring sidequests;
- planets not featuring in the main plot are empty.
