With Mass Effect, BioWare has once again redefined the video game RPG with its epic masterpiece.
You take on the role of Commander Shepard, a special forces marine whose heroic exploits have made him (or her) a prominent figure in the human Systems Alliance military. And by taking on the role, I mean that everything about Commander Shepard is yours to change, from the character's sex and appearance to background and profession choices. I spent hours playing with the multitude of appearance options, making my Commander Shepard everything from a Terminator look-a-like to a pale goth chick. This has got to be the deepest character creation system to date in terms of appearance.
There are three main classes, soldier, engineer and adept, and three hybrid classes to choose from. The soldier is a straight up combatant, the engineer specializes in tech skills, such as overloading the weapons and shields of enemies, and the adept uses biotic powers to manipulate reality, lifting, throwing, freezing or warping enemies with psychic energy.
As Commander Shepard, you are thrown into the forefront of a galaxy spanning conflict against a rogue Spectre named Saren. Spectres are exceptionally trained and experienced soldiers, shadow operatives who answer only to the Citadel Council, the ruling body of Citadel Space, which spans most of the Milky Way. Saren has gone rogue, and has an army of Geth, a machine race, at his disposal.
Throughout the 20+ hour adventure (not including an estimated extra 15-20 hours in sidequests), you will gain allies (and possible romantic interests) as you attempt to track down Saren and stop him from unleashing an ancient destructive force on the galaxy. It is an epic adventure, spanning a galaxy fleshed out with so much background detail, it almost rivals Star Wars with the sheer amount of information given in the Codex entries and planetary information.
There are several key moments in the game that you will have to make. Those decisions will affect how the game ends and whether you choose to play as a paragon (a nice guy) or a renegade (a bad ass) will affect the ending, as well as which of your partymembers will potentially be dead.
The combat in Mass Effect is a mixed bag, and probably the weakest element of the game. You play in a third person perspective and engage your enemies along with two partymembers, who you can command by issuing orders with the D-pad. There is a cover mechanic in Mass Effect, similar to Gears of War, but it is not implemented as well as Gears, leading to several instances when you order your team mates to take cover, only to have them stand next to cover and continue firing in the open. You always have four weapons to choose from, as do your companions: an assault rifle, which does decent damage, but tends to be inaccurate and overheats often, a shotgun, which does heavy damage at close range, but also has overheating problems, a sniper rifle for precision firing, and a pistol, which surprisingly is your best choice for an all around weapon, as it has good damage and accuracy, and rarely overheats. These weapons can be augmented with mods that you find throughout the game, which affect the weapon's damage, give bonuses to damage certain enemy types, penetrate shields easier, and give the weapon more accuracy or heat efficiency.
Using weapons and powers in combat is easy, thanks to the skill and weapon wheels pulled up by the left and right shoulder buttons on the controller. When you pull up the skill or weapon wheel, the action pauses and you can either change weapons or select which skills you and your partymembers will use. When you use skills, they begin a cooldown timer, so use them wisely, as several major battles in the later stages of the game are very tough if you fail to use your party's talents efficiently. You can change your partymember AI when the game starts or in the options menu to allow them to use skills automatically, only in defensive situations or not at all. I highly recommend that you set the party AI to not use skills at all, as you will find that your partymembers use their skills poorly at best and waste their powers if left to their own devices. Speaking of AI, the enemy intelligence in Mass Effect ranges from plain dumb to frustratingly good. Most basic Geth and human opponents will charge right at you or stand and fire without bothering to use cover. These opponents are overcome easily, however the specialized Geth units and the few boss fights that you have to deal with can cause you to pull your hair out. Just have patience and use your party's skills wisely and you will prevail.
Mass Effect has great visuals, but BioWare apparently has not yet perfected their rendering skills, because like in KotOR the rendered layers on the character models pop in during gameplay. Not a game killer, but it definetly distracts from the gameplay. In addition to the rendering problem, the game tends to freeze for a second or two when new areas are loading, and the frame rate tends to dip in combat as well. Once again, not a game killer, but it could have been avoided by giving players an option to save area information onto their hard drive, much like a PC game, in order to lessen or eliminate area loads while exploring. The shining achievement in the visuals department are the digital actors that you interact with during the game. The different humans and aliens you encounter all appear believably lifelike, and their facial epressions as they converse with you make them seem real.
The sound in Mass Effect is great, and the voice acting top notch. BioWare lined up some Hollywood talent for the voice work, with Keith David, Seth Green, Lance Hendrikson and Marina Sirtis giving excellent performances. The weapons and explosions in the game sound good, and the ambient sounds of the areas you explore immerse you in the world, whether you're visiting the night club Flux in the Citadel, or fighting Geth on Ferros.
The music of Mass Effect is a mix of orchestal themes and dark, synth-heavy background music reminiscent of 80's sci-fi movies such as The Terminator and The Thing. It seems like those two musicl styles would not mesh well together, but they both effectively convey the mood of the game when present.
Replay value is high, as you'll want to start up a new character and try different things once the end credits finish rolling. There is also a new game + mode, which lets you start the game again with a character you finished the game with, allowing you to max out your skills and gather more cash in order to get the best gear in the game. Depending on how you play the game, no two playthroughs will be the same, as each character in the game has multiple dialogue options based on the choices you make.
In conclusion, whether you are an RPG fan, a science fiction fan, or just a video game fan, Mass Effect has something for you. It will not disappoint.