REVIEW - Mass Effect (XBox 360)

I've been playing BioWare's latest RPG title over the past couple of days, thanks to one of my flatmates being kind enough to let me after he'd finished it with his first character (since I don't own a 360...). And I have to say, the game is absolutely stunning.

I'll try not to spoil anything plot-wise if I can, but this game deserves a lot of praise. If you're familiar with BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, you'll have a fair idea what the style of this game is, but at the same time that only scratches the surface. And I'm not really sure where to start, because this game is really quite massive in its scale.

I guess the setting needs to be established for those unfamiliar with the title. You start off as the commander on a ship, and unlike most games where you're a nobody who becomes famous at the end, you're already famous in the galaxy for your previous actions. What those actions are I can't say exactly, not for spoiler reasons so much as they vary depending on what backstory you choose. From the fighting war hero to the orphan on the streets, right from the start you set your place in history. From there the game begins as you're sent on a mission that starts the events that will make you even more famous, for bad or for good.

In a way, Mass Effect takes a lot from all the great sci-fi movies and series' and at the same time remains very original and does well to paint a unique and interesting universe. As you travel through you'll see shades of Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Aliens, Firefly/Serenity, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Dune... hell, if you can name it, it's there in some form, either visually, with the plot/universe, with the creatures, and even in the music. In fact, one could say that, thus far, this (along with the fantastic Half-Life 2) is the game that really does feel truly like an interactive movie. If Half-Life 2 is the game that throws you into an action epic you ride along with, Mass Effect is the action epic you write along with.

The game is very impressive before you even really begin. Aside from getting to choose your own basic history that will follow you throughout the game, there are neat options to make the game appear more cinematic. And as great as the game looks when it's in standard game mode, it immerses you far more when you overlay your visuals with the cinematic graining and lighting effects. This not only makes it appear like a movie overall, but the camera lens flares, and uses foreground of background blurring when appropriate.

That aside, you also get to customise your appearance far, far more than any previous BioWare RPG. Gone are the set face options of KotOR and Jade Empire, for now we're into the realms of the likes of The Sims 2 and Oblivion, where you can fully customise your face in pretty much every way possible, either male or female, including eye and hair colour, as well as scars, make-up, and the like. Your last name always remains as "Sheperd", but you can choose your first. There aren't quite as many fine-detail face-changing options as in the two games I just mentioned, but they are more than enough for you to make unique and distinct characters, and in fact it provides a lot of variation and doesn't need as much fine-tuning to get a good looking character as Oblivion does.

Then there's the classes system, somewhat similar to that of KotOR in some ways. There are three basic genres of skills: Fighting, Biotics and Tech, and six classes to choose from. Three are basically pure classes, while the others are cross-classes. Your party members along the way will cover all bases for the game, but you must choose wisely for yourself, since they can't be controlled directly and your class determines what you can and can't learn and use. Fighting is pretty self-explainatory, while Biotics are best described as being what "The Force" was in KotOR, while Tech is for Hacking, Opening, Healing, Repairing, etc. I've found it's good to mix, since (for example) a pure Techie will basically be meat when it comes to combat.

Once the game itself starts, it really consists of two main seperate styles: RPG and Combat. This was a stable in the other BioWare games too, but here combat is far more prominent and can't be taken as lightly as the odd lightsabre fight or martial arts scuffle. For a start I thought the combat outweighed the RPG elements a little too much, but it really is a nice balance after playing it for a good amount of time. It's really an art of careful planning, and your teammates (of which you can have two, just like KotOR) are really essential here. Battle is far more real-time here, and you won't always get a warning. What sets it apart from just being annoying shooting filler is the technique and style of the combat, whereby you can effectively issue your party members basic commands, as well as effectively use cover. With good planning, you and your party members will be an effective fighting force.

That's not to say the great RPG elements aren't overshadowed. In fact, they've been improved in many ways since KotOR and Jade Empire. The missions and characters are fun, and the party members consist of the same style of interesting characters BioWare is famous for, but there's more. For one thing, your actions have more of an effect here than in the previous games. The standard Charm and Indimidate dialogue options are there (which you need to spend points in well if you even want to use them in many situations) but there are also situations that can be completely different depending on your party members, as well as the chance to interrupt people mid-dialogue in order to make yourself more intimidating or let them know how serious you are. And while KotOR has a single scale of Light to Dark and Jade Empire had its Open-Hand to Closed-Fist gauge, Mass Effect has two different scales. Rather than tipping a single scale, positive actions will add to one scale while negative add to the other. It's a little like Oblivion's Fame and Infamy scales, but is far, far more involving and critical. Being a famous person means news travels fast, and your actions on one planet can influence characters on another. There's no tipping the scale one way after heading in a different direction first, so a bad character who turns good can't suddenly be seen as a saint for a bunch of good deeds. Your past can't be erased, and I find it a far more realistic and interesting way to handle your character's alignment.

That's the basic mechanics, so I'll get to the technical gameplay elements. Firstly, the controls. I have to say, they're actually very, very good. I'm not even much of a console player, but these came rather naturally to me. The aiming when in combat (yes... the automatic targeting system of KotOR is not present here) can be a tad sensitive, and the camera-relative controls when driving vehicles can be a bit confusing, but overally, it's rather well handled. I'm hoping a future PC version will make good use of the mouse when it comes to these aspects. Dialogue also now handled via a dialogue wheel, rather than the more familiar list. Sometimes these can lead to sub-menu's for dialogue too, but otherwise they're the basic same idea as in BioWare's other RPG's. And, of course, there's the occasional Simon sez style repeat the pattern parts that come into play, mostly when opening locked containers. A word of advice though, particuarly during combat: Save often! Don't rely on the autosave to keep you around.

The graphics are marvellous, using the Unreal 3 engine that recent games BioShock and Unreal Tournament 3 employ, making Mass Effect one of the most graphically impressive games I've seen. Lighting and shadows give the world and characters depth, and lighting is used fantastically. It even uses motion blur effectively. All the cut-scenes in the game are in-engine, mainly because your character has to be inserted flawlessly into them, which also means transitions from gameplay to cutscenes and back feel natural. Some worlds look a little samey, but the details and look of everywhere you go is very 70's - 80's sci-fi and wonderful.

Graphics also really enhance the gameplay, since character expressions and body language are a huge part of deciding who you should trust or align with, and alien races can be particuarly tricky to figure out. Unfortunately, for all its beauty, the great visuals sometimes result in lag, particuarly in battles, as well as delayed texture loading. This is never anything major, and rarely disrupts gameplay, but just serve to pull one out of an otherwise incredibly immersive universe. Whether it's the limits of the machine or final bugs, I don't know. Maybe patches will improve things, and maybe a PC version will be able to handle things a little better. In either case, it's not game-ruining, just... distracting and a tad annoying.

Sound is excellent. You'll hear familiar voices, such as Keith David, Seth Green and Marina Sirtis, as well as BioWare stables such as Cam Clarke (various roles in pretty much all BioWare's games), Jennifer Hale (Bastila in KotOR) and Raphael Sbarge (Carth Onassi in KotOR). Not only is the game fully voiced by all the other characters, but this time your character speaks as well, adding to the absorbsion. So, voice-acting is top notch. The music is great too, and you'll hear little snippets of homages to the likes of Dune, Blade Runner, Star Trek and Aliens throughout.

And the game is addictive. It really just pulls you in and refuses to let go. Aside from being graphically and audibly engrossing, the game is huge, spanning entire systems, each with several planets, many of which host major settlements. These are, of course, filled with many interesting aliens, from the round, mole-like Volus, to the armadillo-like warrior Krogans, and the jellyfish-like Hanar, each race has its own traits and histories, and how they view each other and humanity provides interesting settings and situations. I won't go into the storyline itself for spoiler reasons, but suffice to say, it's very interesting, intruiging and open, as well as providing some great twists along the way. Not to mention a good helping of side-quests and sub-games you can choose to do along the way. Your party members are interesting and varied, meaning you'll talk with them whenever you can, and will often be disappointed when you have to leave them behind sometimes. And like all BioWare RPG's it even has the romance subplots, which provide a male interest if you're female, a female interest if you're male, or a third interest for both genders that is an alien of no particular gender who can mate with either male or female (though are definitely female in appearance, and even referred to as "her" or "she"). The biggest and coolest aspect has to be the fact that the game is not just a one-off, but really the first part in a trilogy, making it merely A New Hope with an Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to come, if you'll excuse the comparison. Though I haven't got to the end yet, apparently once one completes this story their character is saved, recording all their skills and past experiences, exploits, decisions, friends, enemies, etc. and come game two, can be imported to continue where you left off. Or, you can instantly import it into a new Game Plus mode, where you start again with your character leveled and skilled. It not only provides a challenge and allows you to play to use and get better skills, but opens dialogue options regarding Charm and Indimidate that you'd never be likely able to use previously.

Overall, a fantastic game so far, probably the best I've played all year, and that' saying sometime considering I've played Half-Life 2, KotOR 2, Jade Empire and several other greats for the first time this year too. Aside from some minor graphical glitches, a few samey moments and the odd piece of unfair combat here and there, this truly is a masterpiece of gaming, and if I could give it a definite genre I would throw RPG and Action Shooter aside and simply say Interactive Movie. I'm crossing my fingers for a PC version (and given BioWare's rep and dedication, I'd actually be surprised if there wasn't) and have to recommend that if you own an XBox 360, you go out there and buy this game RIGHT NOW! It's not so much a game as an experience, and one that truly has some replay value.

Graphics: 9/10 - Fantastic visuals with a great sci-fi feel, only let down by some small framerate and rendering issues.
Sound: 10/10 - Immersive music that sets the mood, along with full-voiced characters... including you.
Playability: 9/10 - Slightly iffy in areas, but once you yet used to things, it's an easy system to use.
Lastibility: 10/10 - Great replay value, and interesting story in a great setting, and so many options and ways to play.

Overall: 9.5/10

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