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You command a state-the-art starship (the Normandy, which is not unlike the Enterprise) in the twenty-third century with a crew of intersting and well-developed characters some of whom can join you on away missions and others who you can consult from time to time on board the ship. DRM cana be objectionable, but 99% of the people who buy this game will have no idea what they are complaining about. When you land on a planet you take the Mako (a cross between a shuttle craft, a rover, and a tank) out for a spin. I remember days when playing Bioware's Baldur's Gate II, with every side quest, took me six-months. Its fast and furious and tons of fun.My only criticisms of the game would be its frame rate which drops like a rock during some of the more intense action sequences, especially in the more elaborate locations. Mass Effect might be the first truly cinematic video game experience.
The plot is epic. It was like a Biblical odyssey.
Everything from the electronic score to the optional film grain applied to the visuals to the top notch voice acting talent make you believe that you are the lead in a mid-80s classic science fiction film (think Blade Runner or Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan). I only wish the game were longer.
Mass Effect took me two weeks, again like an extended movie, but there are two sequels in the works.In spite of these minor problems, Mass Effect is a beautiful and engrossing game. Side quests, which to me are essential to achieve a high enough level to slice through the later plot, can get a bit repetitive, but they are generally short enough not to become boring.
The main story revolves around the remergence of an ancient mechanical threat that will, unless stopped, wipe out all organic life. There is a vast galaxy to explore.
You, of course, are the only one that can stop it.Combat is real-time third person with the ability to pause and give orders to your squad. Its a must play.On the DRM: The mass of negative reviews piled on to this game and others are the result of activists.
the side quests even intermingle among one another and some of the moral choices are very ambiguous making the decisions you make much much more interesting. This game is incredibly imersive. there are so many different ways to approach battle that its hard to get bored too quickly. There are some very pretty scenes but for the most part things can get a little bland and blocky.Copyright protection:Beware this game is highly encrypted and requires a internet connection to work. I wish it was somehow more interactive and more were each member is needed for different kinds of missions.Graphics:My biggest sore point with the game. The easiest tactic to win any battle is to sit back and wait for them to come to you.
With any RPG its the details that kill games. I tend to choose two people for every single mission. One of the best RPGs of the year. Not Mass Effect. Its almost exactly the same except that furniture has been moved around. There is a long deep main story line that really keeps the game moving along and tons of side quests to bring the universe to life. The only problem is that unless your physically writing down where you have explored you often get confused and end up revisiting the same planets over and over again.Main Story:The funny thing is for the most part I completely ignored the main story line and just had fun traveling the universe and doing side quests but when you get bored its always fun to go back and continue along the main story lineUnit Selection:This has got to be the most annoying thing about the game. The biggest downfall is that it was developed for the Xbox and so the graphics aren't as good as you would expect from a game this incredible well put together.Battle Scenes:Overall the scenes are a lot of fun.
That's fine and all but i expect more out of my battles then sniper frag fests.Side Quests:there are tons of side quests and tons of places to explore. The two problems I had were first in all the side quests the building layouts are incredibly repetitive. The developers focused on every aspect of the game play and really polished it to a high shine. Second the AI can be a bit annoying and aggressive. Also i have heard endless horror stories about EA's customer support.
This game also has six classes to choose from, each with unique abilities. I'd have never bought it had I known about limited activations. I bought it not knowing it even had DRM on it let alone how the DRM works. Selecting dialogue is also easy with a simple movement of the mouse and a click.
You can play as a Paragon (good guy) or Renegade (bad guy). To make it worse, often times you'll be annoyed to find that you don't have enough skill to survey the mineral or salvage. I'd go so far to say that this looks better on the Unreal 3 engine than Unreal Tournament 3 does.While I am a first person shooter fan, it was easy to adjust to 3rd person and over the shoulder views. Your choices will effect how your crew interacts with you and give you different options down the line. Would I have missed out on a great gaming experience.
Cut scenes are interact-able, you will have to speak dialogue and sometimes choose an action; it feels like you are playing a movie. The models, the textures, the lighting, everything looks great. Shortly after installing Mass Effect, I found my computer could no longer play DVDs. Each of your crew has an interesting back story and your party members have side quests in a round about way. All this said and done, I love the game and have had a many a late nights playing it.Unfortunately, this game has a HUGE draw back.
Yes. Some planets only have Mineral deposits or wreckage on them. I was also able to customize the controls and configure everything to my liking easily, something most console ports don't do to well. This is by far one of the best single player experiences I've ever had. Upgrading the armor, weapons, and customizing my stats is nicely detailed and pretty complete. I ended up turning off the "film grain" effect, for a cleaner picture.
The graphics are incredible, I maxed them out on a Intel Core 2 E8400 3.0GHz CPU, 2Gb of RAM, and an Geforce 8800GT (512Mb) 1600x1050 resolution. Seems SecuROM doesn't like certain DVD drives, which isn't surprising given all the trouble that KotOR had with Combo drives. Some of the side quests are mind numbing to say the least.
I also turned off the assisted aiming, as I wanted a more shooter like experience. The reactions of people to you are genuine, right down to tone and facial expressions. Hearing your character actually speak your intentions is a plus over the Knights of the Old Republic series.
While the Mako is a sweet vehicle, the low gravity on all the planets gets annoying after awhile. You can cross class some skills and stats.The Story line is great. The journal and quests are detailed and offer back info on races, governments, and other history in general that adds to the sense of being in the Mass Effect universe.
Think of every Sci-Fi movie and you have it in one great game. Activation Limits aside, this game has done something WORSE to my system that makes it NOT worth purchasing.
Thanks to all who posted concerning the DRM. EA/MS.good job. I'll stick to those alternatives. After researching it, I'v edetermined that it's a suckers move to purchase this game or any game with SecuRom on it. There are plenty of really great games out there without this DRM hassle. You lost another paying customer.
The "sex scene" is avoidable if you don't get too close to the other charactors. Graphics were good, the main quest story was interesting, and it ran okay after I applied the patch. I was concerned about the limited number of installs allowed, but EA worked with me on that. I found the planetary missions to be a little repetitive, and even with the dowloadable content, entire game seemed a little short, but it is worth playing.
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