A short but thrilling action packed ride from start to finish.
Story:
I won't give away any spoilers about the story in this review but suffice to say it's amazing and stays interesting throughout the game. There are some major changes in the plot several times which will make you go "no way!". This however brings me to, probably the only downside of Mass Effect. The main story line is relatively short. It took me about 18 hours to finish the game for the first time and I probably even did half of the side quests. If you'd speed run the game you'd probably be able to complete it within 12 hours which is simply quite short. This doesn't make the story less amazing of course, in the end you'll only wish there was more.
Graphics And Artistic:
Mass Effect looks absolutely amazing, my machine is only a few month's old so I was able to run the game on the highest settings without experiencing any FPS drops. Everything from textures to light effects just looks great, and although it might require a high end machine it's definitely worth it. I agree with the Gamespot review that from an artistic standpoint Mass Effect has some minor similarities with Halo but it's nothing that really bothered me. One thing that did stand out was that most of the armors and weapon categories only have a few models. when you find a better weapon it usually looks exactly the same with a minor color difference.
Sound And Voice:
One of the biggest features that makes Mass Effect so amazing is the voice work and soundtrack. All dialog in the game is spoken and lip synced which just adds so much to the feel of the game. Great voice casting also makes all the characters feel so much more alive. The game's soundtrack follows critical moments in the story and adds to the overall atmosphere and feel of the game.
Combat:
Allot of RPG's have a great story but their combat engine is usually not quite as good. In Mass Effect this isn't the case. The combat makes for some intense moments in the game and never starts to bore. Because of the ability to pause combat at any moment and assign your squad mates different orders the combat feels really tactical which I personally like allot. Besides combat on foot there's also the Mako, your all terrain vehicle. It's been improved allot since the Xbox360 version and now combat with your Mako works just fine.
Replay Value:
As I mention before, the biggest downside for Mass Effect is simply that the main story is so short. The game does however have a high replay value, because there's so many important decisions to make during the game. You'll definitely be making a second (if not 3th and 4th) run through the game to see how things would have turned out if you had made other decisions.
Mass Effect skyrocket's itself to be one of my all time favorites and although the game is short you'll enjoy every minute of it. It's like a great blockbuster movie experience which stays on your mind weeks after you've played it. Even if you've never enjoyed RPG's before this is the chance to try the best of the best this genre has to offer.
9.5
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Lone_Warrior_66