BioWare have announced that the fourth game in the Mass Effect series, Mass Effect: Andromeda, will be due for release around spring next year. Okay, if you’ve followed the game series, then you’ll know that the newest instalment wont be directly related to the previous ones, but instead will be the beginning of a new trilogy that is set in the Mass Effect universe. I’m looking forward to the new release, although slightly apprehensively, because I enjoyed the previous three so much and I feel they’re too hard to beat. Anyway, I decided that now would be a good time to do a Flashback Review of the original game and have a look at what made it great.
In the Mass Effect universe, there is a mechanical race called the Reapers that invade the galaxy every 50,000 years to exterminate any and all advanced organic life. You play Commander Shepard (male or female and customisable), and your job is to guide your squad across the galaxy in order to try and stop the Reapers from causing the extinction of multiple species. Obviously, there are many things that try to get in the way of your duties, but the main objective is not just to save a planet, but save the galaxy.
Gameplay
One of the main elements of the game is the ability to influence the story and missions through your dialogue choices. When Shepard interacts with a character, you get given a choice of dialogue options; these paraphrase what your character will actually say and each option will have an effect on how other characters respond to you. In some cases, your dialogue choices can add to your Paragon and Renegade (i.e. Good and bad) score, which also influences the characters in the world around you. Another aspect of Mass Effect’s character interaction is the ability to form friendships with your crewmembers, and also relationships. I never put my Shepard through the turmoil of having a relationship through the game, thought she had enough to deal with having to save the universe and all that, but some people found it fairly fun. I imagine that focusing on that part of the game would turn Mass Effect into a sort of Sims on steroids.
In combat, Shepard and the squad have the ability to use weapons and powers. Usually, you are only able to take two squad members with you on missions, meaning that you should think strategically about which ones would provide the most benefit to the current challenge. It’s always good to choose two that have a variety of skills between them; such as one that’s good with a rifle and one that has better powers etc. My choices were usually Garrus and Liara.
It’s Always Fun to Explore
Mass Effect had the feel of being an open-world adventure game when you decided that following the main mission needed a break. You’re able to go on various side missions throughout the game; some depend on the dialogue choices you’ve made and others can depend on the character choices you made during customisation. It reminds me slightly of Fallout 3, but in a spaceship or another planet and where you actually have people fighting on your side. There are some bugs that I encountered when trying to complete certain side missions. Such as when I completed half of a mission and the dialogue wouldn’t come up when talking to a character, so I couldn’t progress. Although, I can’t decipher whether I encountered this problem on Mass Effect 1 or 2. But still.
It is a sci-fi game, but it generally feels more like a fun adventure game, with a lot of action, death and it’s set in space. This has a refreshing appeal, as other sci-fi games (like Fallout 3 or Halo) don’t have as much of a light-hearted feel to the overall gameplay. You also have the whole galaxy available to you, so you can explore using faster-than-light travel through the mass relay network. It’s nice to know that when you’re bored, you can just go to another planet to have a look around.
The sound design is quite good, but occasionally sounding a little clichéd with 80’s sounding synthesisers and that overused ‘sci-fi’ sound. Although hats off to the voice actors. The dialogue throughout the game is very well done and all the voices suit the characters. That might be a weird statement to make, but dealing with fictional alien species’ voices can be harder than it seems. Plus, female Shepard always sounds like a badass (and she’s made an appearance on my other article: Awesome female gaming characters – Part 2).
Overall
Mass Effect provides a fun action/adventure game that’ll appeal to many. It relies on your choices and you have the freedom to explore other planets and side missions, while still saving the galaxy. There is plenty of combat involved in nearly every mission, and the ability to use guns alongside powers makes things all the more interesting. Mass Effect is also a game that you get addicted to very quickly, with tons of exploration opportunities and characters that you really get to like. It’s fairly easy to see why the series took off as well as it did, and lets face it, we’re all looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda. Although, as it’s in a different galaxy, I’m going to miss the lot from the previous games, but lets hope BioWare keep up the good work.
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