Mass Effect - To own or not?

Let's start with the good points:
1) great voice acting and lipsync
2) great storyline and moments of 'epicness'
3) fun, challenging fights - It's great how you can pause the action and plan your moves. It actually becomes very necessary as the fights get more challenging.
4) interesting open-ended galaxy - go anywhere and explore every system. you never know what you'll find.
5) RPG level-up elements are balanced
6) good visuals - not great compared to today's standard, but still really good.
7) the ATV is the most AT I've ever seen - It makes driving and exploring worlds really fun (especially with a good sound system).
8) The music score fits the moods really well. Some of them go overboard actually. Really good music for moments that don't really deserve it. My opinion on that one.

Now for the bad points:
1) Shadow rendering stinks - turned it off
2) 5.1 surround sound disabled - you have to manually inable it through the ini.
3) A lot of diversity, but can definitely seem to get repetitive and predictable.
4) The AI in fights works very well for close combat. Stinks at distance combat (sniping, long range canons)
5) You have to set it to "veteran" and "low" targeting assistance for a decent challenge. Any less and it would be fairly easy for the average gamer.
6) Not like "Gears of War" but about half way there. If the action moments were coupled with elements of GoW and Resident Evil 4, this game would be excellent, but you can jump over boxes, through windows, and the like. You can take cover easily enough, but no quick dodges and rolling across the floor make for some pretty lacking action scenes.


It's always easier to pick apart the bad stuff, but all in all, it was worth the money I paid for it. Be sure to enable 5.1 speakers if you have them, disable dynamic shadows, and enjoy your game.

Great but not perfect.

This is possibly the best game I've played in recent years. The role-playing experience is fantastic, all NPCs have full personalities, and I don't mean your teammates (although some of them do too; more on that later). Every person that you can talk to is different from the next one. The combat system is great as well, especially for me as I'm not all that great at full on shooters. You can seamlessly pause the game during combat and give your two teammates commands, although sometimes their AI can leave you wanting. However, they can turn the scales in your favor in a seemingly hopeless battle. You just need to use them right. A lot of games tend to let you down a bit when it comes to the ending. This game does not. It ends very well and although this is only the first in a trilogy it also has a definite ending to a singular story.
On to the bad. The graphics, while beautiful, do not mean a thing when the animators can't make humans look like humans. The lips (as in all Bioware games) do not move like human lips which detracts quite a lot. Plus the way NPCs end a dialog is so unnerving, it's looks as if they have to excuse themselves so they can use the toliet. And to me the most horrifying experience is this: I love when there is a romance in games. Baldur's gate and KOTOR got it right. Mass Effect did not. Sure they had a sex scene (and I'm not for or against this; it is simply part of the game to me), but really there was no lead up to it. You can only really have four or five conversations with your love interest before all of a sudden you're in love or lust or whatever and then you get down and dirty. This was an unforgivable atrocity and BioWare should be ashamed. I felt a greater connection with the Hanar who wanted to preach about the Enkindlers (a side quest NPC) than with any of the love interests (main NPCs). Normally my favorite character in RPGs is the love interest because they actually have character. Jaheria and Viconia in Baldur's Gate, Bastila in KOTOR where my favorite characters from their respective games, simply because I felt I knew them. Not so in Mass Effect. Wrex was by far the coolest character in this game, which is not a bad thing as he was fraking awesome! However, my point is there wasn't enough time to get to know the love interest to actually care. And we'll end that there.
Despite my cons taking up more space, I still give Mass Effect an excellent score. I have never, ever played a game through twice in a row. I spent almost five days straight playing this game through twice and I doubt I'll ever find another game like that. Unless Mass Effect 2 is better, cause Dragon Age certainly doesn't look like it. So yes, this game is awesome. Buy it. Love it. And if you don't, you're probably not even human. Maybe a Krogan.
Oh and on a psuedo related note to BioWare personnel should they read this: Mass Effect 2 better be a direct continuation with the same main character with the ability to import old characters a la the old Quest For Glory games. KOTOR2 pissed me off something fierce. (These two sentences actually correlate if you've played this game. You might not agree but it does make sense;)
Thanks for reading, and support more great games by buying this one! ie, don't try to justify the pirating of this game because it has a ridiculous three time install only and an activation thingy (not a real activation thingy, by the way). Oops, I'm about out of space.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360) Awesome!

Mass Effect for Xbox 360 impresses on every level and stands out as one of 2007's best games – if not THE best. This deep and emotional role-playing game plunges you into a universe wrought with turmoil and forces you to make decisions that'll shape numerous lives. What you choose, and your resulting actions, will either save mankind, or annihilate it.

The main protagonist is Commander Shepard, a human soldier who has seen his fair share of action. He receives admiration for his actions over several military operations, even by alien races that normally look down on humanity. As a result, he's at the forefront of an investigation involving a treacherous alien figure who's out to resurrect a dangerous enemy force that, at one point in time, wiped out the entire galactic population. At the very beginning of the game, you're able to either use the default Shepard figure that Bioware has on hand or put your own cosmetic touches on him. If you want to change his eye shape to make him appear more intimidating or touch him up with some lipstick, the option's yours.

Throughout the game, you'll find that Shepard has hard decisions to make. Missions and side quests pop up frequently, with side characters approaching you with dilemmas while the main galaxy-saving mission stays in sight. It's up to you which path you take, but somewhere down the line you'll find that your decisions aren't always for the better. If you help one colony, for example, another may get wiped out.

The combat is enjoyable, nothing outstanding by any means but still solid and well balanced between gunplay and applying biotics (shielding, energy revival) to your advantage. You can level up and use new armor and weapon types as well, keeping this battle system reasonably fresh.

Balancing your party involves some thought. You'll find several characters to select from throughout the game, including the gritty intergalactic bounty hunter Wrex, one of the coolest side characters ever; the tough but caring soldier Ashley, who can easily blossom into a potential love interest for Shepard; and many others. They have their own dilemmas as well, some of which can clash with yours if you're not careful. Again, it comes down to some hard decisions. The scope of these choices really shapes the game into magnificence.

How you react makes all the difference to enemies and fellow characters. You can either treat people like a pompous, overconfident ass or let your heart do the talking, showing enemies just how easy it is to break you.

Best of all, this does wonders for the replay value. A quest can take several hours to finish, depending on what order you complete each mission and the side quests. At the end of it all, you're able to simply jump back in and do it all over again. Even the smallest of changes, like the decision to leave a party member behind or the way you react to questioning, shifts the tempo of the game almost in an entirely different direction. Your end goal is the same, but new missions arise that weren't on the galaxy map before and people you thought you knew look at you in a different (but not altogether better) light.

Visually, Mass Effect comes through in spades.

Gameplay: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Graphics: 9.5/10

You know this game is excellent, but here's my review

Bioware. Amazing. Real-time 3rd person shooter Sci-Fi RPG. If the mention of that description has you intrigued, buy this game right now.

Graphics:
The graphics are amazing, if your computer can support the requirements. I have an 8800GT and it plays on highest settings with no hitches.

Sound:
Great ambiance, scores and sound effects are well done and fit the theme of the game.

Gameplay:
If you like shooters or RPGs, give this game a look. The combat is reminiscent of Gears of War style 3rd person game play, and is actually quite in depth. The RPG aspects are what defines this game. This isn't a shooter with RPG elements, its and RPG that uses a shooter combat system. True to their other RPGs, there are countless possibilities, customization, side quests and mini-games to supplement the main story line, and trust me, the main story line is really quite good on its own.

This game is for everyone who enjoys shooters and RPGs, if your PC can handle the system requirements.

Simply great!

Mass Effect comes from BioWare. The creators of Knights of the Old Republic. Because of that, it goes without saying that Mass Effect feels very similar in its RPG like approach. This is no clone of Knights of the Old Republic, though. Mass Effect is its own game and it's a very fantastic game at that. This review is pretty long. If need be, you can look to the bottom for a list of pros and cons.

You're John Shepard. The game takes place in the year 2183, and humanity has come to explore the Galaxy like never before. You'll discover a series of races throughout the galaxy and there's a sense of injustice afoot. Tensions between races are also high. You'll come across people who hardly trust a certain character because of their race. Just the same, a Turian (one of the many races in the game) named Saran has betrayed the Galactic council and its up to you to stop him and bring justice to the Galaxy. Mass Effect has a pretty intriguing storyline that grips you from the moment you begin. It's also well written with some fairly interesting characters.

The storyline is told through fantastic cut scenes and some fantastic voice acting. The quality of these scenes is movie like in its execution. The game also looks fantastic. Some of the character models look almost lifelike. In terms of eye candy, Mass Effect is sure to delight. It also sounds really good. There's a lot of great music here. Again, it sounds movie like. Hardly any game sounds better. The music always manages to fit the mood and situation at hand.

You begin by making a character. Much like Knights of the Old Republic, you're allowed to customize what he looks like and here you're also able to give your character a back story. As the game goes on, you'll participate in several conversations. These conversations have a direct impact on the storyline as well as shaping your character. Most times they'll also have an effect on the outcome of certain situations. Not always, but often they do. There's also a light and dark attribute going on much like Knights of the Old Republic.

In terms of Gameplay, Mass Effect is a pretty complex game. It plays a lot like a third person Shooter, but at its core it is definitely an RPG. As you traverse the field you'll have a squad at your command. You control Shepard and can give orders to your troops. Either you can send them ahead to attack, rally them or tell them to keep their distance. You can give these kinds of commands any time you want. Just because it plays like a third person shooter, though doesn't mean you treat the game as such. Mass Effect is not a very easy game. It is important to add strategy to a situation rather than go in with guns blazing. Your enemies have some attacks that can take off a lot of health at any given time. The AI of your characters is sometimes questionable, though. For the most part, they help in battle, but sometimes you'll feel like a one man army.

Throughout the adventure you'll also gather Medi-gels and Omni-gels. Medi-gels heal you while Omni-gels are for using decryption or electronics on devices like locked doors or containers. Speaking of locked doors, you'll come across some of those too. As well as locked containers and other things you'll need to override. You'll do it by entering a series of button presses. This is actually a pretty annoying mini-game. Screw up even once and you lose your chance to override and you'll have to result to using Omni-gels.

There is also a lot of customization to