Some minor graphic and combat issues don't hold back this outstanding RPG.
Outstanding story and setting; amazing graphics and sound; lots of character customization.
THE BAD:
Frame-rate and performance issues; no tutorial; hit or miss AI; clunky inventory system; combat and skills are too simple; more action and less RPG.
Mass Effect has been hyped for years as being one of the 360's most wanted RPGs. From the same company that made KOTOR and Jade Empire, a lot was expected of this game. For the most part, it lives up to these expectations, but it's not without it's flaws.
Mass Effect takes place several hundred years in our future. After discovering alien ruins on Mars, technology advanced drastically, allowing for faster-than-light travel. This let humans join alien races in the galaxy, and quickly gain membership on the Citadel, the political capital of the galaxy.
You play the role of Commander Shepard, a human special forces operative out to solve the mysterious return of the Geth. The Geth are a race of highly intelligent machines that haven't been seen in 300 years. Now they're back, and out to cleanse the galaxy of organic life.
GAMEPLAY – 8
From the start, you're given nearly full control of your character's development. Although you must be a human character, this is easily over-looked as the story focuses on the human species and their role in the galaxy. You can customize your characters looks, class, and background. One very nice touch is the background info, which will actually be commented on by other characters.
Once you choose these options, you're tossed into the game with very little in the way of an introduction or tutorial. If you have no clue what a Spectre is, you'll need to consult your Codex for more information. Once your first mission begins, the occasional pop-up window will appear to tell you about various options and abilities in combat. But for the most part you will need to discover your skills and abilities on your own. This can lead to some frustrating moments early in the game.
Speaking of the combat, ME does a different take on combat from some of their past RPG's. While the combat is fun, the focus is more on 3rd person action similar to Gears of War than RPG number crunching like Knights of the Old Republic. Biotic powers are the equivalent of spells in ME, but you'll need to play around with them to discover how they're best used.
Like most RPG's the skills vary from the very useful, to skills you'll just dump extra points into at level up. Most of the tech skills are useless, and biotic skills are little more than utility spells. In fact, there are only a couple biotic skills that deal direct damage. Most of the damage you do will come from your guns.
This means that certain classes, like the biotic or tech classes are going to rely heavily on your AI teammates for damage. This is less than effective because the poor AI means that your team will likely be firing at enemies that are behind cover, and thus making you waste your skills. Therefore you'll likely want to have a character that has some soldier skills for gun damage.
Also of note is the clunky inventory system. You can only carry 150 items, but you aren't given any kind of screen that can actually tell how close to that limit you are. It does give you some nice side-by-side comparisons of equipped items versus inventory items, but equipping upgrades on your weapons and armor is a pain. You need to go into the upgrade menu to actually see what upgrades you have. Then if you decide not to upgrade an item, you must scroll back to the top of the list and select none, or the previous item. It's just a pain when they could have easily mapped a cancel to the B button.
The combat controls are also a little odd. You use the X button to draw your weapon, and the B button to put it away. While you're in combat the X button has no use, so it's basically wasted the both actions could have been mapped to the game button. The shoulder buttons are mapped to your weapon and skills. Press it for a quick cast or weapon change. Hold it to open a radial menu, which pauses the game. This lets you choose what skills and weapons to use for all party members. The directional pad allows you to issue movement commands to your party, but this is done for both party members. Therefore, if you tell your tougher character to flank an enemy, the weaker one will go with too. This means that you'll be doing most of the legwork in combat. Again putting emphasis on the soldier class.
GRAPHICS – 9
Visually, the graphics are among the best on the 360. ME is a game that really shows what the 360 is capable of. The human characters look very realistic, and varied. Their facial and body expressions are outstanding, and do a lot to move away from the "talking head" problem of past RPG's. The aliens however aren't as varied, and some species look completely identical from one to the next. The texture resolution is very high across all characters.
The environments also look outstanding, and very detailed. Although linear in design, the game does a nice job of masking this by adding very detailed backgrounds. You'll frequently notice things like moving ships and smoke in the distance.
The downside to the visuals is the performance issues. Although the graphics are great, you'll frequently encounter texture pop-ins, and frame rate drops. These problems aren't show stopping, but they do get annoying. But perhaps the biggest performance issue is the loading. Even when you're in a level, the game will still occasionally pause in mid-frame for a few seconds while a loading message is overlaid.
SOUND – 9
The sound on the other hand is nearly perfect. The game is fully voiced, and the actors sound great. I couldn't help but get excited waiting for the next dialog screen. The in-game reference guide, called the Codex, is also voiced for the main topics. The sound effects are also well done.
The music is nicely done, and helps pull you into the epic feel of the game. The only problem is that there apparently isn't any combat music. The music, although it does a good job of setting the mood, it's particularly memorable.
VALUE – 9
The main story of ME will take the average player about 15 hours to complete. That's a little short for an RPG, but there are a ton of side quests to occupy your time. ME also encourages multiple play-through. Once you complete the game, you can take your character and use them in a new game. Complete with all their items, credits, and skills.
You also wont be able to unlock all the achievements in one play. In fact, there are several achievements specifically for beating the game multiple times. There are also skill, weapon, and party member related achievements that are impossible to get with just one character.
Mass Effect is sure to please fans of the RPG genre. Although it has graphic performance issues, and the combat isn't as good as it could have been, these issues don't hold back the game much. Mass Effect is trying to simplify the genre to open new players to RPG's. While it isn't as number crunching heavy as other RPG's, it's still a little too complex for the average gamer.
Therefore, some elements are bound to not please long-time Bioware fans. But these problems are easily over looked. The grand scale of the setting, and epic story are some of the best Bioware has ever done. Mass Effect is an easy contender for RPG of the Year, if not Game of the Year. Here's hoping that the next Mass Effect will be even better.