Mass Effect Review

Peering through my visors, I imagine a galaxy far far away. Bioware, developers of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, released Mass Effect in 2007, and the trilogy concluded with the release of Mass Effect 3 in 2012. Released in 2012 as a digital title, Mass Effect on the PlayStation 3, developed by Terminal Reality is in top form.


The game is a science fiction tale colossal in proportions. Each scene jerks and chimes a different emotional chord. It shines like a combustible planet with a rifle in your face.

There's no getting around how expansive the game is. Gameplay mingles between role playing and third person shooter. Does selecting a background, back-story and specialty sound fun to you? Cut scenes are used to convey plot information. With side missions and plot twists, the game is auspicious. The game weaves its plot with a dialogue tree, which propels story-based dialogue . With so much variety, many races of aliens, the many planets to explore,  the thread is held together. Since weapons are customizable, throughout the environments, you can hack lockers for more swappable  parts. Depending on your specialty, you may be well equipped for certain classes of weapons but not others. Your weapons don't pack ammunition, rather they heat up, and need to cool down.

Saren, a rouge Spector is the antagonist . Saren is bent on unleashing the Reapers, which are a species of alien that systematically harvest sentinel beings, a vicious cycle that began many years ago. Shepherd discovers a greater threat in Sovereign. Who is a Reaper that will start the purge of all sentinel beings, so organic life can become omnipresent.  You'll also complete side missions, spanning many planets.

The story spans many locales. You'll be tasked with scavenging for parts to a robot, mining planets and assisting a man convince a guard to release his dead wife's body. The fates of your main characters in your hands, and these characters you've come to know intimately are expendable. Without giving too much away, depending on the choices you make, you'll either live out your existence as a paragon or renegade. Mass Effect does have its imperfections, but they don't curtail the experience. Not for too long anyway.

The character archetypes are leveraged against you in an attempt to secure empathy. I find this forced. Ashley Williams, Joker, Captain Anderson are splendid characters. Even defensive Wrex. And that infamous sex scene is uneventful, a lukewarm mini game. Bioware effortlessly dabbles in gluttonous filth and shock value. Additionally, load times began to feel like impediments to the pacing of the story. Regardless, I couldn't stay mad at this game for too long. It's a breakthrough in the video game story telling medium, few games have yet to emulate.

From the developers of arguably the greatest Star Wars game ever developed, the game is radiant. Embodying all the hall marks of the quintessential science fiction tale. By the conclusion, you sit there in awe. It boldly goes where few others dare to go.

9/10