Mass Effect Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on November 19th, 2007

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While it's true that conversations can drag on a little bit when compared with your average videogame, the more you involve yourself in the events and actions in the game, the more you start to enjoy the characters in the game, and the less you resent having a little natter. A little investment of time in the Mass Effect world goes a long way, as it starts to erode the resistance you might have towards the cast, the storyline and the serious tone of the whole thing. Possibly the biggest mistake is that the game tries to throw you into that world too heavily too soon. For example, putting you in the confusing labyrinth of the Citadel early in the game doesn't help draw you in at all, with far too many non-plot-based missions offered to your before you've got a real handle of what the main game's all about.

You can literally spend hours just wandering around the central Citadel 'city' before it even dawns on you to get on with the main quest - and with so many characters to interact with, you may feasibly only have spent about 15 minutes of the first few hours of the game firing a gun in anger. With a bit more prodding from the game to move things along, it would have definitely helped draw more people into what it's really about, rather than just leaving you to your own devices, trudging around a space city chatting. As useful as the menu (and map) system becomes, at no stage does BioWare stop to explain this to the player. Players of lesser patience would surely give up, and that's a shame.

Mass Effect's greatest strength is the quality of the narrative. BioWare has a track record of producing amazingly engrossing storylines, but never before have you been presented with this level of meaningful interaction. You'll experience difficult and thought-provoking situations, including moral and ethical questions without a clear right or wrong answer. The Commander Shepard character is thus defined by player involvement, sublimely capturing the essence of role-playing.

The trappings of the medium do limit how free you are to pursue different approaches to in-game situations. Your ability to make the more interesting choices is tied directly to how many points you've dropped into the Charm or Intimidate talents, for instance. And as should be expected, different responses to the same issue will often lead to similar, if not exactly identical results. While some of the side-stories could have been explored to greater lengths and with more payoff than a paragraph of text, the main storyline is very strong.

As is expected, what you say in your conversations play a role in your moral alignment, winning you either Paragon or Renegade points. You gain Paragon points by performing heroic or kindhearted actions. Conversely, Renegade points are won by making callous decisions. This is a staple feature of BioWare's games and although it doesn't act as a hindrance at all, it doesn't come as a surprise either.

Freedom of choice has always been a mainstay of their games, and Mass Effect drives that point further than any of their previous games. Sure, you have always had the choice to say and do the right or wrong things. But the choice to pick from dozens of locations within the galaxy to explore is completely new. There are only a handful of places you have to visit to complete the game, but there are plenty of unrelated and uncharted locations ripe for exploration. Knowing this adds extra value to the game, because you realize the bare minimum wasn't the goal.

Combat Talents include various weapon and armor proficiencies, Assault training, Fitness, and Spectre training. Assault training increases melee and weapon damage, Fitness boosts your health and constitution, while Spectre training increases the accuracy and effectiveness of all attacks and powers. Tech Talents govern Damping, Decryption, Hacking, and Electronics. Damping makes your use of demolitions more potent and gives you the ability to suppress enemy tech and biotic abilities. Decryption allows you to use and override security systems. Hacking increases tech recharge speeds and will eventually allow you to control the AI of robotic enemies. Electronics further increase your ability to breach security systems and strengthen your shields while weakening those of your enemies. Finally, Biotic Talents equate to magical abilities. They tend to be related to telekenesis and allow you to throw, lift, and smash objects as well as warp space, create force field barriers, and entangle approaching enemies. The powers under the Biotic Talents are divided into Throw, Lift, Warp, Singularity, Barrier, and Stasis. There are additional Talents that anyone can use including Charm and Intimidate, as well as class specific benefits.

This may all sound like a lot, but this is a very straightforward and user-friendly approach that allows all players to role-play, relatively hassle-free. As a player, you can go ahead and take the time to analyze what character Talents to upgrade or you can take the easy way out and let BioWare choose for you. Furthermore, the inventory menus are easily navigated and the benefits and detriments of each piece of equipment you want to equip or upgrade are clearly demarcated. Players can take as much or as little time as they want and feel confident that they aren't missing out on anything.

Of course, video games have been allowing us to decide between right and wrong for years now. Indeed the KotOR games provided clear indications of what would earn you Light side points and what would earn you Dark side points. The moral decision-making in Mass Effect is not a revolution by any stretch of the imagination, and nor does it blur the lines between right and wrong, but it does force you to make some tough decisions and allows you to shape the story more effectively than anything we've seen before. A case in point - the game forces you to decide who should live out of two of your compatriots - characters you've spent a great deal of time levelling up and developing an emotional bond to. Most missions will allow you to shape the way in which you tackle them - either subtly with the least amount of death or gung-ho with no care for casualties. Most boss encounters will let you decide what to do with them once you've forced them into submission - whether it is murdering them in cold blood or setting them free, the choice is yours.

And there's a real sense that your decision making has an effect on the Mass Effect world and the people who live in it. In fact, one of the first things you need to decide upon if you dump the default Commander Shepard and create your own character is your early history (Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer) and your psychological profile (Ruthless, War Hero or Sole Survivor). These decisions will affect how the game's characters react to you. One mission presents an opportunity to kill off an alien race for good. If you do, your Codex, an evolving historical record of the galaxy, will mark that species as extinct. In another situation, a journalist asks you for a few comments on your mission to save the universe. Storm off in a childish huff and later in the game you'll be informed of how public opinion is turning against you back on Earth, and how a PR machine has been put in motion to smooth things over. And there are of course a few different love sub-plots which you can pursue. The decisions you make as either a male or a female Commander Shepard will either hinder or help your efforts to get your object of desire into bed (yes, there's nudity in Mass Effect boys). It's little things like that which give you a sense that deliberating over tough decisions is more than a consideration over Paragon or Renegade points.

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