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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: RPG Developer: BioWare Publisher: Microsoft |
With talk about BioWare’s newest release, the expectations have been set extremely high for “Mass Effect,” the developer’s first release
on the Xbox 360. Players will want to play this game more than once, but during the journey there are a lot of bumps, but they are worth
every second of the game play.
The game begins with the creation of the player’s individual Commander Shepard. Players are free to use a model that has been used
in all of the marketing campaigns of they can create their own character, male or female, with a variety of background and visual
options. The decisions that the player makes at this point in the game already has a substantial amount of pull on what happens in the
game. Dialogue between characters may change if players are playing as a woman, background will change the way people talk to
Commander Shepard, and the class that players choose is one of the most important decisions to be made.
There are three primary character classes for players to choose from, soldier, engineer and biotic user. Hybrids that mix various
aspects of each of these classes are also available. Each class plays very different from the others when it comes to combat.
Depending on the class chosen, players will have access to various powers, technical skills, weapons and armor. The biotic class can
use every power, but can only use light armor and pistols. The soldier only gets a single biotic power, but can use any weapon and
heavier armor. The engineer, normally an afterthought class in many other games of this type, steps up in “Mass Effect” to be a force to
be reckoned with. The player can hack locked consoles for info or loot, but can also be a powerhouse in battle. Many of the enemies in
“Mass Effect” are mechanical in design and the engineer has skills geared specifically for shutting them down.
The game presents a new way of looking at the morality system that has become a staple in BioWare’s games. Rather than offering
players options that are either good or evil, the game takes on the position that everything that is done is able to be justified as good in
some way. Players are on a mission to save the galaxy from destruction, so how could any move be considered bad? The choices
players make have an immediate and direct impact on the game overall. It’s not just for show, how players behave will change the way
quests are completed, how fights are created or avoided, how people view Commander Sheperd and more. Humanity is a new
member to the galactic community and players are seen as an ambassador and the game never lets players forget this fact. By
presenting players with tough and sometimes impossible decisions, players are presented with a series of small climaxes that occur
throughout the narrative of “Mass Effect.” The story arcs are as powerful as they are well constructed. This is a game that has to be
played more than once so that players can see the different ways each scenario can be played out.
When players first take control of the Normandy, an interstellar spaceship and the base of their operations, there are only a few star
clusters and are able to visited and explored. More become available as players learn of them through information gathered from the
world and given to players through quest instructions. Through the use of the galactic map players can travel from system to system
and look at various planets and satellites. Each place that players land on follows a similar pattern. The areas that are able to be
explored are barren wastelands and mountains. Sometimes it will be snowing or it can be a green field with colored rocks placed
throughout. Pulling up a map will show players a handful of points of interest and there usually will be at least one dungeon like area to
access where the majority of side quests take place. There are a few things, such as mineral deposits to scan towards the completion
of a side quest, that aren’t always on the map, but there was never anything significant missing. Players will find that a lot of this
exploration will be a repetitious job, almost more of a chore than anything else. However, driving around the Mako, a cannon equipped
buggy that players use to drive around the barren surfaces, keeps the game a lot of fun. Driving and bouncing around each planet
proves to be quite fun.
As with any game, good, great or terrible, there are always going to be issues and flaws, bugs and glitches that pull the game down a
little bit. Clipping through the scenery is a regular occurrence, especially when players use the singularity biotic. Also, players will
notice the Commander Shepard tends to get stuck in objects quite often and can be very frustrating, especially when in the middle of a
battle. This also happens to all of the other characters in the game as well. Occasionally the game stops registering buttons during
this time of being stuck. These issues can be wiped out with a simple reset, but it can be awfully annoying.
“Mass Effect” is a game that is great as a whole, but hurts when broken down into individual parts. There are tons of technical issues,
but the majority of the game is delivered in such a way that players can look past these flaws. “Mass Effect” is a game that must be
played by anyone who enjoys playing games. Then is must be played again and again. Those who do take their time with this game
will be affected greatly by this game.
on the Xbox 360. Players will want to play this game more than once, but during the journey there are a lot of bumps, but they are worth
every second of the game play.
The game begins with the creation of the player’s individual Commander Shepard. Players are free to use a model that has been used
in all of the marketing campaigns of they can create their own character, male or female, with a variety of background and visual
options. The decisions that the player makes at this point in the game already has a substantial amount of pull on what happens in the
game. Dialogue between characters may change if players are playing as a woman, background will change the way people talk to
Commander Shepard, and the class that players choose is one of the most important decisions to be made.
There are three primary character classes for players to choose from, soldier, engineer and biotic user. Hybrids that mix various
aspects of each of these classes are also available. Each class plays very different from the others when it comes to combat.
Depending on the class chosen, players will have access to various powers, technical skills, weapons and armor. The biotic class can
use every power, but can only use light armor and pistols. The soldier only gets a single biotic power, but can use any weapon and
heavier armor. The engineer, normally an afterthought class in many other games of this type, steps up in “Mass Effect” to be a force to
be reckoned with. The player can hack locked consoles for info or loot, but can also be a powerhouse in battle. Many of the enemies in
“Mass Effect” are mechanical in design and the engineer has skills geared specifically for shutting them down.
The game presents a new way of looking at the morality system that has become a staple in BioWare’s games. Rather than offering
players options that are either good or evil, the game takes on the position that everything that is done is able to be justified as good in
some way. Players are on a mission to save the galaxy from destruction, so how could any move be considered bad? The choices
players make have an immediate and direct impact on the game overall. It’s not just for show, how players behave will change the way
quests are completed, how fights are created or avoided, how people view Commander Sheperd and more. Humanity is a new
member to the galactic community and players are seen as an ambassador and the game never lets players forget this fact. By
presenting players with tough and sometimes impossible decisions, players are presented with a series of small climaxes that occur
throughout the narrative of “Mass Effect.” The story arcs are as powerful as they are well constructed. This is a game that has to be
played more than once so that players can see the different ways each scenario can be played out.
When players first take control of the Normandy, an interstellar spaceship and the base of their operations, there are only a few star
clusters and are able to visited and explored. More become available as players learn of them through information gathered from the
world and given to players through quest instructions. Through the use of the galactic map players can travel from system to system
and look at various planets and satellites. Each place that players land on follows a similar pattern. The areas that are able to be
explored are barren wastelands and mountains. Sometimes it will be snowing or it can be a green field with colored rocks placed
throughout. Pulling up a map will show players a handful of points of interest and there usually will be at least one dungeon like area to
access where the majority of side quests take place. There are a few things, such as mineral deposits to scan towards the completion
of a side quest, that aren’t always on the map, but there was never anything significant missing. Players will find that a lot of this
exploration will be a repetitious job, almost more of a chore than anything else. However, driving around the Mako, a cannon equipped
buggy that players use to drive around the barren surfaces, keeps the game a lot of fun. Driving and bouncing around each planet
proves to be quite fun.
As with any game, good, great or terrible, there are always going to be issues and flaws, bugs and glitches that pull the game down a
little bit. Clipping through the scenery is a regular occurrence, especially when players use the singularity biotic. Also, players will
notice the Commander Shepard tends to get stuck in objects quite often and can be very frustrating, especially when in the middle of a
battle. This also happens to all of the other characters in the game as well. Occasionally the game stops registering buttons during
this time of being stuck. These issues can be wiped out with a simple reset, but it can be awfully annoying.
“Mass Effect” is a game that is great as a whole, but hurts when broken down into individual parts. There are tons of technical issues,
but the majority of the game is delivered in such a way that players can look past these flaws. “Mass Effect” is a game that must be
played by anyone who enjoys playing games. Then is must be played again and again. Those who do take their time with this game
will be affected greatly by this game.
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