Mass Effect Review
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Space... is big, really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is. It is this wide open playing field that is without doubt the main draw of Mass Effect, thus letting you paint your own elaborate story in a much larger and more complex way than Bioware has ever let us do before. So, with sights set on such grandeur it's hard to admit that Mass Effect is not everything it could have been. In fact, if you look past that big draw a huge amount of limitation has been placed upon what was once thought to be a thriving galaxy. Indeed, the universe that has been created could very well make a lot of people very angry, and even be widely regarded as a bad move. Don't panic though, Mass Effect is not a bad game, in fact it is far from it. It could even be argued that it is the exact opposite, as after some solid time playing it's clear to see many of the wrongs have been righted that people had with the slightly off-kilter Jade Empire. However, with a collection of bugs, texture pop-in that rears it head every time a cut scene loads, and the repetitious nature of the planets on show it is hard to have complete reverence for what Bioware have accomplished.
However, if you look past the surface imperfections without even digging very deep it is blatantly obvious there is still a great game on show. The core third-person action orientated gameplay thankfully works very well, and even though some action aspects seem to lack the visceral impact of most of today's shooters it's still solid enough to remain satisfying throughout the 30-or-so hour lifespan. Initial choices are interesting, with the option to pick and choose from a selection of distinct classes. There are three main choices on show as to how you initially start of your character - Soldier, Engineer, and Adept - each offering a different extreme on how you will approach the game. However, there is also Infiltrator, Vanguard and Sentinel choices are available, which is a mix of two or more of the above options, thus making the game a bit harder due to the limitation that puts on you. Still, it is hard to label the game as a very difficult one, as the AI is prone to rush attacking you, thus meeting an untimely end from your weapon of choice. However, what they lack in smarts they certainly seem to make up in number, so there is still a bit of a challenge there as you face the hordes of enemies on show. Of course, when not fighting you can upgrade all of your squad's stats, making them anything from top notch shooter with max skills from a selection of your four main weapons, a master of adept skills, letting you use '˜lift' and '˜throw' to clear groups of enemies, or even up your main character's charm and intimidation to give you extra options when conversing with other characters in the game.
