I'm one of those players who's loved Bioware. I've been playing the majority of their games since Baldur's Gate and Shattered Steel, but I wasn't really aware of the cosmic power known as Bioware since Neverwinter Nights and especially, later, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. So, of course, I was really looking forward to Mass Effect, along with everyone else with a pulse. Now, a couple weeks after release, Mass Effect is a great game. It depends on your opinion, but on my side of the scales, it's a fantastic science fiction space odyssey; but that's not to say that it doesn't have its problems, along with my own personal complaints. Hey, what are blogs for?

First, but not most prominent issue, would be the framerate. Mass Effect is an absolutely gorgeous experience. The first time I crossed the bridge on the Citadel and turned to face the artificial lake, along with the rest of the Presidium Ring curving off into the distance, I was taken aback. Every ripple accentuated by a glimmer of light from above, objects in the distance just as clear as those in closer proximity, the metal of the Ring glowing with a pristine quality befitting an ego the size of the colletive Council's (depending on your politics, I suppose). Then you discover that the framerate hangs up fairly regularly, along with some seemingly random loadtimes. I've heard a few explanations for this, something about the game getting all of its resources from the CD, but I don't know. That doesn't stop it from being just a little annoying. However, it can be ignored just fine.

Next, the uncharted worlds. I enjoy the MAKO, I really do, I just wish I had some more varied terrain to bounce it around in. Maybe some grass, rather than green-painted rocks. Some forests, some lava flows (the planet where you find Liara hardly counts, but it was pretty), some oceans (not necessarily of water), some natural weather phonomena; hell, throw ghosts at me. There's gotta be a ghost planet out there somewhere. Downloadable content ho!

Finally... how exactly does one play Mass Effect? Who knows, maybe we'll pick it up on the way. This game features practically NO tutorial/training whatsoever, aside from a tiny box that appears early on telling you that the right trigger does, in fact, fire your currently selected weapon. But how do we select different weapons? That's up to you, boyscout. I've been playing this game for a while, and I'm still discovering things that I didn't know I could do. For example, lastnight, I accidentally toggled the scope on the MAKO. I was shocked, it even took some experimentation to figure out just how I did it. I'm on my second playthrough, and I just figured that one out. Fortunately, this can also be overlooked.

Ultimately, one can ignore all of these things in favor of the game that is Mass Effect. It's not a perfect package - I find games rarely (or never) are - but it's good enough to overlook some faults and just enjoy everything else about it because, I guarantee you, there's plenty to be enjoyed.

/out