Mass Effect: World, meet Command Shepard. The Action RPG Reviewed
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/201/1/Mass-Effect-World-meet-Command-Shepard-The-Action-RPG-Reviewed/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 01/16/2010
Commander Shepard is tagged to serve the Citadel Council as a Spectre, the most elite of all agents. The Commander's first assignment is to track down the rogue Spectre Sauren. How will you handle the mission Commander?
System: Xbox 360
Title: Mass Effect
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Circa: 2007
Intro
With its sequel just weeks away, it is important to take a look at what proved to be a promising start to a series. Mass Effect, made by Bioware, offered many things not too commonly seen in video games and build itself a solid reputation as one of the better RPGs for the Xbox 360, at a time when it had very few good ones. As an early title, it worked to set a higher standard than what had previously been seen in other games. Its promotions also talked about all the choices that you could make in the game.
Story
You play as Commander Shepard, a troop for the Alliance Military sent to Eden Prime to investigate an attack on the settlement there. A Prothean beacon, those many attribute the creation of Mass Relays to, has recently been uncovered. It is here you encounter two Spectres, a pair of Tuarians. By the end of the mission, Sauren has killed the other Spectre and you have been given a vision of untold coming destruction. You make your way to the Citadel, the center of Galaxy. Here, you are given the chance to prove yourself a Spectre, the first human to be granted this honor. Once you are, you may work to track down Sauren and seek out the nature of your vision.
Spectres themselves are creatures of note. A group of peace-keepers, the run the gambit being skilled mediators to well trained assassins. They are very individual, answering only to the Citadel Council. They are above many galactic laws and are given the freedom to resolve their given task by any means necessary. This gives the player an incredible level of freedom in just how they will resolve the various issues and tasks set before them.
Gameplay
At its core, it is easy to see Mass Effect as a third person squad based shooter. That just covers the rough basics of combat though and does the game no justice at all. It offers many choices with its dialogue trees, skill system, universe and squad. This game is nothing as simple as its general description. The squad based battle lets you access the abilities of all your squad-mates, change weapons easily and keeps the pressure on in most cases.
Shepard can take one of a few classes to start, each with two specializations available after completing the “Rogue V.I.” mission. Every class offers something different in how the character will handle things in combat as well as different situations that arise in the game. Each class also has different Techs or Biotics which they can use and improve over the course of the game. It usually is to the benefit of the player to keep a well-rounded squad so they can take on virtually any opponent. Some classes are more oriented toward simply shooting, while others focus more on the Tech or Biotic powers to gain the upper hand. The classes of your team-mates will affect just what you can do immediately in battle and how you would work to overcome your opponents.
Every member of the squad will level up about the same time. With each level up, they receive skill points that can improve their abilities. These can go into things like Electronics or Hacking, allowing for increased ease in opening many locked containers or First Aid, a shared skill that increases the amount of healing done with Medi-gel.
Multiplayer
None.
Controls
Moving and shooting are fairly simple. It took a bit longer to get the hang of the Tech/Biotic system in the game. These powers can only be accessed through one menu that is called up with a shoulder button while the other weapons your character can equip are called up with the other. The action comes to a pause while you are in these menus, making it easier to deal with. There seem to be a few issues around the run command though, cannot seem to get full speed all that often actually.
Graphics
The game lives up to the potential of an Xbox 360, or high end computer, can do. While it sometimes took a moment for everything to load, it was generally worth that bit of waiting.
Sound Effects & Music
This game shows what voice acting can be like in a game. I found it to be quite well done and at least somewhat appealing. The weapons effects remain very believable as well, even though the game states that weapons have changed a lot since our present point. The music can get a bit stale honestly as there is not a whole lot of variety in the game.
Obscurity
This game is hardly obscure, especially with its sequel just around the bend.
Summary/Author’s Take
I got this mostly on impulse and because I had heard and seen a good bit about how the dialogue system worked. As I played though, I found more than just a nifty set of dialogue options to work with. As often as diplomacy could be a solution, so could violence, just as easily and effectively. Still, knowing that the sequel is just around the corner is definitely affecting how I am playing the game. The two will tie together and those people you dealt with in the first will remember what you did to them in the second.
Story: 96% A lot of little things can change here.
Gameplay: 83% Good mix of things to do, some variety in missions.
Multiplayer: N/A None.
Controls: 77% Takes some time to really get used to.
Graphics: 82% Very Pretty, very well done.
SFX & Music: 75% Voice acting, good. Music, okay.
Obscurity: 40% I know it man.
Overall: 82% A solid new age RPG.
Title: Mass Effect
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Circa: 2007
Intro
With its sequel just weeks away, it is important to take a look at what proved to be a promising start to a series. Mass Effect, made by Bioware, offered many things not too commonly seen in video games and build itself a solid reputation as one of the better RPGs for the Xbox 360, at a time when it had very few good ones. As an early title, it worked to set a higher standard than what had previously been seen in other games. Its promotions also talked about all the choices that you could make in the game.
Story
You play as Commander Shepard, a troop for the Alliance Military sent to Eden Prime to investigate an attack on the settlement there. A Prothean beacon, those many attribute the creation of Mass Relays to, has recently been uncovered. It is here you encounter two Spectres, a pair of Tuarians. By the end of the mission, Sauren has killed the other Spectre and you have been given a vision of untold coming destruction. You make your way to the Citadel, the center of Galaxy. Here, you are given the chance to prove yourself a Spectre, the first human to be granted this honor. Once you are, you may work to track down Sauren and seek out the nature of your vision.
Spectres themselves are creatures of note. A group of peace-keepers, the run the gambit being skilled mediators to well trained assassins. They are very individual, answering only to the Citadel Council. They are above many galactic laws and are given the freedom to resolve their given task by any means necessary. This gives the player an incredible level of freedom in just how they will resolve the various issues and tasks set before them.
Gameplay
At its core, it is easy to see Mass Effect as a third person squad based shooter. That just covers the rough basics of combat though and does the game no justice at all. It offers many choices with its dialogue trees, skill system, universe and squad. This game is nothing as simple as its general description. The squad based battle lets you access the abilities of all your squad-mates, change weapons easily and keeps the pressure on in most cases.
Shepard can take one of a few classes to start, each with two specializations available after completing the “Rogue V.I.” mission. Every class offers something different in how the character will handle things in combat as well as different situations that arise in the game. Each class also has different Techs or Biotics which they can use and improve over the course of the game. It usually is to the benefit of the player to keep a well-rounded squad so they can take on virtually any opponent. Some classes are more oriented toward simply shooting, while others focus more on the Tech or Biotic powers to gain the upper hand. The classes of your team-mates will affect just what you can do immediately in battle and how you would work to overcome your opponents.
Every member of the squad will level up about the same time. With each level up, they receive skill points that can improve their abilities. These can go into things like Electronics or Hacking, allowing for increased ease in opening many locked containers or First Aid, a shared skill that increases the amount of healing done with Medi-gel.
Multiplayer
None.
Controls
Moving and shooting are fairly simple. It took a bit longer to get the hang of the Tech/Biotic system in the game. These powers can only be accessed through one menu that is called up with a shoulder button while the other weapons your character can equip are called up with the other. The action comes to a pause while you are in these menus, making it easier to deal with. There seem to be a few issues around the run command though, cannot seem to get full speed all that often actually.
Graphics
The game lives up to the potential of an Xbox 360, or high end computer, can do. While it sometimes took a moment for everything to load, it was generally worth that bit of waiting.
Sound Effects & Music
This game shows what voice acting can be like in a game. I found it to be quite well done and at least somewhat appealing. The weapons effects remain very believable as well, even though the game states that weapons have changed a lot since our present point. The music can get a bit stale honestly as there is not a whole lot of variety in the game.
Obscurity
This game is hardly obscure, especially with its sequel just around the bend.
Summary/Author’s Take
I got this mostly on impulse and because I had heard and seen a good bit about how the dialogue system worked. As I played though, I found more than just a nifty set of dialogue options to work with. As often as diplomacy could be a solution, so could violence, just as easily and effectively. Still, knowing that the sequel is just around the corner is definitely affecting how I am playing the game. The two will tie together and those people you dealt with in the first will remember what you did to them in the second.
Story: 96% A lot of little things can change here.
Gameplay: 83% Good mix of things to do, some variety in missions.
Multiplayer: N/A None.
Controls: 77% Takes some time to really get used to.
Graphics: 82% Very Pretty, very well done.
SFX & Music: 75% Voice acting, good. Music, okay.
Obscurity: 40% I know it man.
Overall: 82% A solid new age RPG.