Mass Effect ReviewBioware Corp. has already won the hearts of gamers through some of the best hit titles Role-Playing gaming has ever seen. With strong titles like the Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic series, and Jade Empire, it seems like Bioware can get just about anything right. But Bioware Corp. has done it again, this time with;
Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
Let's get started.
Mass Effect begins with you as Commander Shepard. If you don't desire to run the game with the default Shepard, you are given the ability to change your features and first name (your last name will remain as Shepard). Male or Female options run here, along with different slider-reliant facial features. Choosing Male or Female will offer some different dialogue in the game. Your background information and service history will also play a small role in what certain characters may say to you. The slider features include facial structure, hair, hair color, skin tone, eyes, and scars, among other things. After modifying your appearance, the most crucial character creation option comes into play. Selecting your class.
Mass Effect begins with you as Commander Shepard. If you don't desire to run the game with the default Shepard, you are given the ability to change your features and first name (your last name will remain as Shepard). Male or Female options run here, along with different slider-reliant facial features. Choosing Male or Female will offer some different dialogue in the game. Your background information and service history will also play a small role in what certain characters may say to you. The slider features include facial structure, hair, hair color, skin tone, eyes, and scars, among other things. After modifying your appearance, the most crucial character creation option comes into play. Selecting your class.
Engineers are great at fighting robotic enemies.
Here you'll find three main classes. Soldier (weapon specialization), Engineer (tech specialization), and Adept (biotic specialization). Three more classes are also listed, these classes are essentially hybrids of the main classes. Different weapon training and powers are available depending on what class you choose, and some have better advantages than others. Soldiers can input skills into every weapon, and may wear heavy armor after some skill points. Adepts are biotic specialists and use KOTR-esque powers such as Lift and Throw to sustain enemies in mid air, or throw them. Engineers are able to unlock secured storage containers, hack data consoles, recover artifacts and minerals, and are amazingly efficient at taking down synthetic (robotic) enemies in-game. All the classes vary well, and all are noticeably different in combat.
The combat in Mass Effect slightly resembles that in Knights Of The Old Republic, with a touch of first-person shooter. At first, combat may seem a little overwhelming. With a Gears Of War type of cover system, sometimes you'll find yourself stuck to walls unintentionally, leading to you being taken out in the heat of battle. Mass Effect's autosave system is no life-saver here, either, as it rarely autosaves, and you're better off saving manually. There is a squad system involved, where you use the D-Pad to control two squad mates which you will be able to choose later in the game. However, the squad system controls both squad mates, leading to AI response being clunky, and unhelpful at times. When powers come into play, you'll realize you can only hot key one of them, and for the rest, you'll have to hold the Right Bumper to temporarily pause the game and select them from the ability-wheel. Ultimately, Mass Effect's combat can be challenging and difficult, but more so due to the enemies' vast amount of firepower, as apposed to their artificial intelligence. There are times when enemies will just trample over you; Unfortunately, they'll just look like idiots when they do it. But once you adapt to the combat system, even with the minor drawbacks, it feels like home. You'll be flicking powers and switching weapons on the fly.
Enemy health and shields are leveled relative to yours, sometimes higher or lower, depending on the difficulty setting. Those playing on higher difficulties will find some bosses have immunities, and enemies will be reasonably harder to kill.
But take note, this is an RPG, after all. Not an FPS. The true gold of Mass Effect lies deep in it's core. The world, and the atmosphere all come together. Perfectly. There are many sights to be seen and alien races to be discovered.
The background and foreshadowing both are great here. There's enough information to immerse you in the world of Mass Effect, and enough to leave you wanting more and more. From the incredible voice acting, to the Codex (which is a database for everything you've come across, and also includes history of the human race), it all comes together perfectly. There aren't really any plot holes for you to run over, and everything seems so believable.
Popular with Bioware is the good/evil choice system, which also plays a role in Mass Effect. You are able to be Paragon (good), or Renegade (evil). Most dialogue has a positive Paragon response, and a negative Renegade response, along with a neutral response. Sometimes these decisions are forgiving, and other times, are high-impact, even enough to leave some heartbroken or feeling guilty. And your decisions play a pretty large role on how everything folds out.
Every line of dialogue is spoken, even Shepard's, leaving Mass Effect massively (Get it? Yeah!) engrossing.
The camera work and lip syncing are spectacular, and immerse you almost as well as if you were watching a movie. Various cinematic angles accompanied by some crane-type shots in cut-scenes will leave you wanting more.
The various bugs in Mass Effect, while small, may come to bother. Sometimes squad mates and enemies get caught in walls and objects. This is especially common when Lift is used. Framerate tends to be a problem, and textures are slow to load, making it seem like the visuals go from N64 graphics to Xbox 360 graphics. At times, buttons fail to register as well, leaving you slapping the controller out of frustration.
All in all, with bugs aside, Mass Effect is such an incredible experience that you'll be able to see past all of it's minor problems. This is no doubt the best RPG available on the Xbox 360 at this time, and it is said this is to be the first in a trilogy. Bioware Corp. has done it all over again, and they aren't stopping here. Mass Effect is a must-have for any RPG fans out there, with elements great enough to even attract some FPS fans.
The combat in Mass Effect slightly resembles that in Knights Of The Old Republic, with a touch of first-person shooter. At first, combat may seem a little overwhelming. With a Gears Of War type of cover system, sometimes you'll find yourself stuck to walls unintentionally, leading to you being taken out in the heat of battle. Mass Effect's autosave system is no life-saver here, either, as it rarely autosaves, and you're better off saving manually. There is a squad system involved, where you use the D-Pad to control two squad mates which you will be able to choose later in the game. However, the squad system controls both squad mates, leading to AI response being clunky, and unhelpful at times. When powers come into play, you'll realize you can only hot key one of them, and for the rest, you'll have to hold the Right Bumper to temporarily pause the game and select them from the ability-wheel. Ultimately, Mass Effect's combat can be challenging and difficult, but more so due to the enemies' vast amount of firepower, as apposed to their artificial intelligence. There are times when enemies will just trample over you; Unfortunately, they'll just look like idiots when they do it. But once you adapt to the combat system, even with the minor drawbacks, it feels like home. You'll be flicking powers and switching weapons on the fly.
Enemy health and shields are leveled relative to yours, sometimes higher or lower, depending on the difficulty setting. Those playing on higher difficulties will find some bosses have immunities, and enemies will be reasonably harder to kill.
But take note, this is an RPG, after all. Not an FPS. The true gold of Mass Effect lies deep in it's core. The world, and the atmosphere all come together. Perfectly. There are many sights to be seen and alien races to be discovered.
A Salarian, one of the many races in Mass Effect.
The background and foreshadowing both are great here. There's enough information to immerse you in the world of Mass Effect, and enough to leave you wanting more and more. From the incredible voice acting, to the Codex (which is a database for everything you've come across, and also includes history of the human race), it all comes together perfectly. There aren't really any plot holes for you to run over, and everything seems so believable.
Popular with Bioware is the good/evil choice system, which also plays a role in Mass Effect. You are able to be Paragon (good), or Renegade (evil). Most dialogue has a positive Paragon response, and a negative Renegade response, along with a neutral response. Sometimes these decisions are forgiving, and other times, are high-impact, even enough to leave some heartbroken or feeling guilty. And your decisions play a pretty large role on how everything folds out.
Dialogue options are immersive and dull responses are few and far between.
Every line of dialogue is spoken, even Shepard's, leaving Mass Effect massively (Get it? Yeah!) engrossing.
The camera work and lip syncing are spectacular, and immerse you almost as well as if you were watching a movie. Various cinematic angles accompanied by some crane-type shots in cut-scenes will leave you wanting more.
The various bugs in Mass Effect, while small, may come to bother. Sometimes squad mates and enemies get caught in walls and objects. This is especially common when Lift is used. Framerate tends to be a problem, and textures are slow to load, making it seem like the visuals go from N64 graphics to Xbox 360 graphics. At times, buttons fail to register as well, leaving you slapping the controller out of frustration.
All in all, with bugs aside, Mass Effect is such an incredible experience that you'll be able to see past all of it's minor problems. This is no doubt the best RPG available on the Xbox 360 at this time, and it is said this is to be the first in a trilogy. Bioware Corp. has done it all over again, and they aren't stopping here. Mass Effect is a must-have for any RPG fans out there, with elements great enough to even attract some FPS fans.
4 Out Of 5
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Audio: 5/5
Replayability: 4/5
-J. D.
1 comment:
Nice game, & nice post
Cheers!
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