Mass Effect Review

It's without doubt in my mind that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the best RPGs of the last generation, beating out many of the best RPGs on the RPG-packed PS2 and beating out the rest of the Xbox competition.

Pretty much everybody was disappointed when it was announced a sequel was coming without Bioware at the helm - people saw it as bad news. KOTOR 2 was okay, but it didn't capture the magic of the original.

Have no fear though, for between then and now Bioware have been working on Mass Effect, a game undeniably inspired by the popularity of KOTOR but set in a universe all of Bioware's own.

The game takes its name from the 'dark energy' of the universe that has been used to propel human kind's technology forward hundreds of years in a mere few, allowing them to join a galactic society consisting of several different races living in harmony.

In true Bioware tradition the most important aspect of this game is the story, and front and center for this title is an epic space opera where you'll have to decide if characters and even entire species live and die and ultimately build your own unique persona within the Mass Effect universe.

Mass Effect is conceived as the first of a trilogy, and your end save game from Mass Effect will carry over into the second title in the series - all decisions you make, your custom character design, deaths, survivals and skills - they'll all carry over into the second title in the series. Bioware are truly dedicated to making you attached to this world - and they're damn good at it.

While avoiding spoilers, it's fair to say that you'll be making choices that change the path of the galaxy forever and some of them are none too easy. Dark and Light sides are replaced by Paragon and Renegade, but often in Mass Effect it's not as simple as in KOTOR.

More than ever before I felt compelled to make decisions for myself rather than just to go down the 'good path' or the 'evil path', because in Mass Effect you're never really a bad guy - Renegades just do things in a different way, and are more willing to sacrifice the lives of others to complete their goals.

The dialogue system has been streamlined, with each option represented by a general gist of a response. This two or three word option will then be spoken by your character but in a fleshed out way. This makes it easier to pick dialogue options on the fly without having to read entire lines first and makes the game cinematic thanks to the fact that every line of dialogue you hear is being heard for the first time, not a reading from a line you've already seen.

The voice work in Mass Effect is nothing short of sterling with a great range of NPC voices and the lead Commander Shepard equipped with both Male and Female voices, depending on which gender you play. Shepard is in no way a silent hero, and what you say in Mass Effect is just as important as what you do.

The character creation suite isn't the most detailed we've seen, but being allowed to customize the lead in an RPG is rare as it is. There's more than enough tools to create a satisfactory face and you even shape Shepard's past in the character creation, editing dialogue options and quests open to you in the game. An earth-born Shepard will have different quests to a space-born one.

Everything about the presentation of Mass Effect screams that it was made by perfectionists - beautiful, inspiring art direction, impressive graphics, great voice talent and an immensely engaging plot.

The only complaints I can level at it are some hardware issues like texture pop-in and screen tearing and some rough lip-sync on the models. Sometimes characters just stand unusually still while they talk and animations during talking are repeated often, but for some reason these things didn't draw me far enough out of the experience to complain about it - it's just that engaging.

As the storyline progresses you will be rewarded a ship and from there the game is surprisingly open-ended. You can visit the storyline planets in any order you fancy, though some are more difficult than others.

Side quests are a bit hit-or-miss, some fantastically written while others are uninspired, requiring you to land on desolate planets that all look far-too similar and pilot the difficult to control Mako, your all-terrain landing craft, to a marked point on your map. It becomes repetitive and tiresome, and just isn't too fun - ignore those sidequests.

Most of the best side quests actually take place on storyline planets, where there's plenty of NPCs to give you quests. Some side quests require fighting and violence, while others can be resolved entirely in conversation.

When you do have to fight, Mass Effect becomes an interesting mix of an RPG and a Third Person Shooter. It's refreshingly different, and as you level up you'll become more proficient with different weapons depending on the class you chose at the beginning of the game.

Early on, it's difficult to snipe - Shepard is shaky and his breathing effects his aim - but once you've leveled up your sniper ability, he'll be smoother and calmer and be pulling off headshots with ease. Each type of weapon - Pistol, Shotgun, Rifle and Sniper all have a level discipline associated with it, and you choose what to level up.

You'll also have access to biotics, the Mass Effect equivalent of magic. Biotic powers can do everything from increase your accuracy to throw enemies across the room or even deal out insane amounts of damage. Some classes are like mages, and rely on Biotics more than guns.

Party members are the same, with each member better at certain things than others. On each planet you'll be given the choice of who to take with you, so you can decide on party members who compliment the class of your custom Commander Shepard.

Party members are controlled by basic AI profiles that allow you to decide if they're aggressive ore support in battle, but you can also micromanage them by temporarily pausing the action and queuing up orders for them. One of the most satisfying things you can do in combat in Mass Effect is successfully mastermind a three-way attack between you and your two AI buddies.

The combat system can be frustrating at times - sometimes Shepard won't stick to cover, AI allies won't listen and the game really doesn't give much instruction at all - it throws you in at the deep-end and offers nothing even resembling a lifeline - you have to work it all out yourself. Once you do it's a blast, and there's enough combat options that it doesn't become repetitive or boring.

Like any RPG loot is everywhere in the Mass Effect universe, and while there is a wide variety of customizable armor, weapons and items the terrible menu system may well keep you from making use of it.

In truth, Mass Effect has a lot of technical issues and a lot of slight but cumulative gameplay flaws. In spite of this it's an amazing title and has come out in the end as one of my favorite RPGs of all time. Even in the areas with flaws everything about it is incredibly polished.

For every lacking, lazy sidequest there's an amazing one, and for every moment of texture pop-in there's a stunning technical display of what the 360 can do in environments or cutscenes. This is a title where the good always far outweighs the bad.

Once you combine the ability to customize your character, the amazing characterization of your allies and enemies and the simply wonderful world and lore Bioware has built up Mass Effect becomes an incredibly irresistible package, regardless of technical problems.