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Imagine controlling a major motion picture...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Mass Effect was the most cinematic experience I've ever witnessed in a game. Stunning doesn't begin to cover it.

I wouldn't call the game an FPS, RPG, or anything similar. Mass Effect is an epic "choose your own adventure." One of a relatively new genre of high-quality, semi-open-world events (similar to Oblivion, but the story is vastly more solid). Playing will feel like you are writing/directing a science fiction film. There are combat elements, but those moments are secondary to the event. Additionally, I find the combat is best after reaching a high level. Once you hit levels greater than 40, you will become almost invincible (imagine John McClane in Die Hard). Cranking up the difficulty brings back the challenge (the high difficulties are very difficult), but I don't like breaking up the story with endlessly reloading. Mass Effect has just enough difficulty to be challenging without frustration of repeatedly trying to beat the same area. I also played many side quests and reached a high level before I began the primary campaign (it's much more satisfying to reload a side-quest than get distracted from the primary one).

The character interaction is fantastic. You have a full range of options. You can be good, renegade, or indifferent. For example, there is a scene when you get cornered by a TV reporter. You can give an interview, be diplomatic, evasive, or shove her to the ground and tell her to get out of your face. Every conversation has a similar range of options. You want to tell your commanding officer to leave you alone? Fine, go ahead. You want to talk a character out of starting a fight? You can try doing that too.

The casual dialog between the characters is also exceptional. It gives them a sense of being multi-dimensional and having relationships outside of what happens between you and everyone else. The only drawback is their behavior gets thin on side-quests, but that isn't so bad given the richness of the main story (I would have liked to have seen a few thousand lines of casual conversations randomly used anywhere in the game). Some of the lines are also hilarious. For example, one of your team members is a huge, alien, and not-so-tactful mercenary. You'll be surrounded by embassies, standing among beautiful ponds, trees, flowers, and suddenly he blurts out, "I'm hungry, I wonder if there are any fish in there?"

The end of the game was phenomenal. I don't want to spoil the plot, but the music was heroic, the action was non-stop, and the game will cut several times between you and your allies. The entire sequence lasts about 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes will solidify the game as one of the most cinematic ever produced. This is groundbreaking new territory. We've reached a point where the hardware can deliver an experience similar to high-quality animated pictures. I can't wait to see what the future holds. I really hope they deliver on their promise of a trilogy, I'd like to see yearly releases (like Lord of the Rings) until they are finished, but I doubt they had parallel development (hopefully they did).

Mass Effect has some technical problems, but those can be resolved with a patch. A terrible story can't be fixed with a download, which already puts this way ahead of anything else I've played... Normally I would deduct points for technical faults, but this game has a brilliant story. Occasionally reloading (twice during my campaign due to bugs) is a minor annoyance, but I gladly accept a few problems given the quality of everything else.

One *very* important note... You *are* playing a motion picture. As a result, once the credits roll, the game is *over*. Don't expect to come back and work on side-quests after finishing the main plot. RPGs may allow you to wander aimlessly after "finishing", Mass Effect does not. You can however come back with your same character (skills and inventory intact) and make another attempt at the plot. This makes life easier since your effort isn't wasted if all you want to do is examine alternate choices (playing a "win at all costs" character instead of an idealist). However, starting another "career" (new character, class, skills, etc) requires going back to the basics.

My advice... Keep a separate save before starting every main-quest item. When you realize you committed yourself to winning, you can easily branch-off from your prior save and explore more of the universe. I'm sure that seems self-explanatory, but normally I only use a few saves per game. I ended up blocking my character out of several quests I was hoping to re-examine. You will commit yourself to the ending before you think you've actually done it.

Pros:
+ I thought I was watching a movie. The fact I was controlling it was even more grand.
+ Character creation/management, leveling, is quite good. Better than Oblivion.
+ Combat is exciting. It isn't as rich as a true FPS, but is meant to be dramatic and continue the pace of the plot.
+ The music is fantastic. I enjoy orchestral soundtracks and classical music, and this is the first videogame score where I needed to buy the CD.
+ Voice acting is terrific, none of the drama seems forced, and the actors voiced their lines perfectly with the situation presented.
+ Lots of replay value, but this exists as an opportunity to do similar events completely differently. There are not "thousands of things to do" as in an "open world" like Oblivion or something online like World of Warcraft.

Cons:
- Side-quests aren't as richly produced, but I think that would be impossible with a rational budget and time-constraints.
- There are some technical quirks, which I hope get patched (save often and treat the game as if the auto-save feature wasn't included).
- This is not a real RPG. You'll be disappointed if you go into it thinking the environment is as open as others. As I've already said, it plays more like a cinematic experience. You have to follow the basic plot, but you have quite a lot of freedom how you choose to do so.

Other notes:
- If you can find the special edition, buy that instead. It's worth the extra $10 (if available). I ended up ordering the SE after playing for a few hours and Ebaying my "standard" copy. I really want the behind-the-scenes DVD.
- Don't buy this game if you want an FPS or squad-based shooter. There are better games if that's your genre of choice.
- I really wish they included a cut-scene viewer. It would have been nice to re-watch the scenes, uninterrupted, as you had originally played them.
- This game is not suitable for children. Every parent needs to judge what's best for their kid, but there are adult themes present in this game beyond violence and mindlessly shooting things (I'm not just referring to "romance", but the game forces you to make life and death decisions and I personally don't think a child can grasp these concepts). I'd buy this for my teenager if they were 16 or 17, but not 12 or 13. The developers were morality "agnostic", they allow you to do whatever *you* want, as a result you can do some pretty far-fetched things (the game probably contains at least one thing that can offend everyone, however it's your choice if you make those decisions).

Mass Defects?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 24
Date: December 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let me get this out of the way. I am a Bioware fan and an avid RPG player. I loved both Baldur's gate and Kotor. However, I thought Jade Empire was decent at best. I rate Mass Effect moderately higher than JE.

Many Amazon reviews in general come in at the very high end of the range or conversely, at the very low end. You'll find more objectivity here. I'll also try to be as brief possible. Lastly, keep in mind that this review is written mainly for RPG fans.
On to the review.

The Good:

-The graphics and voice acting are superb. Wrex (a party member) looks insane. The Normandy (your ship) looks highly polished. Some reviewers complain that this game simply talks too much. I didn't find this to be a problem, in fact, I wouldn't mind more talking from party members. More on that later.
-The storyline for the main quest is well thought out and highly enjoyable. In addition, I appreciate the time Bioware put into the codex, it creates a more immersive experience.
- The conversation system adds a bit of suspense because you never quite know what Shephard will say next. Nice touch.

The Bad:

I am surprised that Mass Effect has an many technical problems as it does. A lot of reviews mention the abundance of technical glitches; maybe my 360 is on roids because I did not experience any technical glitches except for an occasional Thresher Maw spawning directly underneath the Mako.
-The preponderance of reviews mentioning technical problems leads me to believe that they do indeed exist. I would urge Bioware to address these ASAP.
- The player interface and inventory management system is awkward.
- Not enough interaction with party members. The romance sub-plots are weak.

The Ugly:

There are far too many entries under this category. I was expecting much better from Bioware. In no particular order:
- The side quests are beyond boring and highly generic. Most planets seem virtually identical. The enemy lairs on most planets are highly similar if not the same. The main storyline, with its well crafted areas, is simply too short to overcome these defects.
- Getting to most lairs requires the use of the Mako. I kid you not when I say that you will spend what seems like 40 percent of your play-time in this ridiculous vehicle (assuming you do the side quests). It steers and shoots terribly. More importantly, I simply do not want to spend that much time in a friggin vehicle. This ain't Gran Turismo.
- The weapons and item selection lacks imagination. Your weapon choices are highly limited. You may only choose amongst shotguns, assault rifles, pistols and sniper rifles. Aren't these weapons in use today? Is this Call of Duty? Some creativity is in order.
- There is only one major city. Thats it folks. I'm not joking. Bioware should have designed 4 to 5 highly detailed planets with their own unique cities.
- The game-play is weak. The firefights, many a time, felt unsatisfying. Enemy AI is quite unintelligent. Also, I'd love the opportunity to use futuristic melee weapons. I do like the engineering and biotic abilities however.
- I also want the opportunity to select and choose from various character attributes like intelligence, agility, wisdom etc..

Conclusion:

Mass Effect in many respects is a significant step down from Kotor. I really wish I could have given it a better score. Bioware needs to spend less time hyping it's titles and instead pour in more time/resources into game development. Stop trying to make an "accessible" RPG. Stop trying to be a shooter and an RPG. Kotor was a huge seller and not nearly as diluted and dumbed down. Despite all of Mass Effect's many flaws I still eagerly await the next installment. 3.5 stars.

Nice try, but not cutting edge,and not fine tuned

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 16
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is OK. It's not terrible. It's got a good story and a lot of content. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of positives in this game, but that you can read about them in any number of reviews in any game magazine or website. So I'll just name some of the negative that annoyed me. I am mostly comparing this game to TES:Oblivion, since to date, that RPG is king of the mountain so to speak.

First, after playing Oblivion for more than 300 hours, I've become accustomed to a large amount of interactivity and openness. In Oblivion, you could go in every building talk to every person, pick up any object, eat food, rob stores, etc. You could do just about anything you could imagine. In mass effect, it's very closed and directed. 90% of the people you see, you can not even say hi to. There aren't many buildings you can go in, even in the Citadel. The main city(Imperial City) in Oblivion had about 60 differnt shops and building you could go inside. And in each one you could go into different rooms, move chairs around, steal things if the owner wasn't looking, even read books on the shelves. In the Mass Effect main city(Citadel) there are about 10 places you can go inside. No object can be moved or interacted with. Even when "Viewing computer screens" you don't actually do it. It just says you viewed a screen and give you some XP. It all feels like unalterable scenery.

The Mako is terrible. The controls are clunky and not like any other vehicle in any other game, like the Warthog in Halo for instance. Also, the guns don't always shoot where the reticle says you're aiming. So even if you're aiming at an enemy, plan on more than a few of your shots being way off. Seems like a glaring programming error to me.

And the big claim of "A whole galaxy to explore". Not really. You can travel to a bunch of differnt systems, but can only look at most of the planets on your map. The planets you can land on are all the same. You get dropped in your Mako into a large rectangle area. You care confined to this area. And every plant is some variation on a barren mountainous landscape. No desert planets, no jungle planets, no water planes. Just mountains. Sometimes grey mountain, sometimes orange. But always mountains. You are given 3-5 points of interest. You drive to one, scan the crashed probe. Drive to another, pick up a lost artifact, travel to the last one, go inside a bunker and kill some bad guys. Leave the planet, repeat about 30 times, roll credits. No traveling in between differnt cities learning stories and helping people. No real economics either. You find so much weapons and mods in the same crates on every planets, you never have to buy anything. And you can fine about 30,000 credits worth of loot on every planet. So all you gotta do is sell it. Prices are fixed. In Oblivion, there was a whole haggling mini-game to try to sell stuff at higher prices or buy lower. You could sell stolen good at secret pawn shops, or even buy at one shop and sell at another for a profit. Not so in Mass Effect. Every shop is the same, all prices are the same, and all of the items are just minor variations on the same thing. In my clunky hard-to-navigate inventory I have 50 mods that are all variations of "Increase armor 20". Or "Increase damage 15%". In Oblivion there were swords that set people on fire, arrows that paralyzed them, cloaks that made you invisible or able to see at night. Boots that made you faster or able to walk on water. Rings that allowed you to breath under water, or help you cast more magic. Gloves that increased you ability to carry heavy objects, or necklaces that helped you control minds.

Oh yeah, and either savegame every 5 minutes, or plan on redoing hours of gameplay every time you get killed. There are no checkpoints and autosave.

Also, depending on what kind of character you pick, certain things are always off limits to you. I picked Vanguard, so I will never be able to use an Assault Rifle or Sniper Rifle effectively. That's ok. But I would like to be able to unequip those weapons. I am forced to carry around weapons I can never really use. Sure I can pull them out and wildly spray bullets, but since you remained untrained, it's pointless. You should be able to unequip items ao you don't have to see them on your back. And wy would a soldier not be able to learn how to use different stuff? In Oblivion, you picked your class, and it made you naturaully better at certain things. But you always had the option of training yourself to go beyond those limits. And if you didn't want to learn how to use a bow, you didn't have to carry a bow. In Mass Effect, you HAVE to carry a pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle, and assault rifle on your back at all times, and depending on what class you pick, you never get to use some of them. They're just there.

There's also no real character appearance moding. You can make your character's face in the beginning. You can't change their body at all, and there are no clothes or anything like that. Only the same kind of armor you always wear. You can pick black or gray amour, sometimes camouflage. But you can't take the armor off and wear normal clothes. In Oblivion you could change your boots, shirt, pants, gloves, hat/helmet, necklaces, rings, etc all independently. You could wear armor, dress cloths, skirts, peasant clothes, cloaks, even your underwear. You could match and mismatch everything. Wear a dress and a nice necklace that was charmed to make you more likable when talking to a city's king. Need to go into the wilderness and fight, change into some heavy armor charmed to make you resistant to sword attacks. Or if you prefer magic, a cloak that makes you swift and hard to see and some rings that increase your fire spells. In Mass Effect you got armor, better armor, and even better armor. You got guns, and some more guns. Want to be quick and stealthy? Too bad. Want to blend in the with civilians by wearing normal clothes? Too bad. Want to set yourself on fire wearing nothing but your underwear and a ring that keeps you safe from being on fire and run through the city like a madman(you can do this in Oblivion)? Too bad. The key to a good RPG is how free you are to test the limits of what you can and can't do. And in Mass Effect, there's a lot you can't do.

Mass Effect is an OK game. It would be an amazing game if this were 2004. But it's almost 2008. We've seen games like Oblivion with a playable area that's 16 miles across and take literally half an hour to cross manually, with trees, plants, rabbits, rivers, deer, mountains, plains, marshes, lakes, cities, villages, people, roaming bandits, knights, ghosts, caves, ruins..and ALL of it is completely interactive and playable. If playing Oblivion was like living life, Mass Effect is like watching that life on TV. It just doesn't have the same depth and interactivity. I never got the feeling that I was unlimited in Mass Effect. Oblivion was like that the whole time.

I just don't understand why a company like Bioware, seeing the example Oblivion set a year ago, made a game with years out-of-date game play.

One of the best Games ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game is beautiful, the storyline is gripping and gameplay is fun, what more can you ask. It is like playing through a movie you are creating yourself. You actualy get to choose the outcomes, and the game changes every time you play becuase of the amount of options there are. This game is a must have for any player!~

I can honestly say that playing Mass Effect has been one of the defining gaming moments of my life so far.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: November 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing Mass effect since 11-16-07 (yeah, I got it early) and I can honestly say that it has been one of the defining gaming moments of my life so far. Mass Effect is simply phenomenal!

The presentation in Mass Effect is quite simply the most amazing I have ever seen in any game. The graphics during exploration or combat are among the top tier of modern games--somewhat better than Gears of War, in my opinion. But during conversations...oh my...they are without compare among video games--not far behind pre-rendered CG films! The music too, is simply beautiful and helps create the strong atmosphere of the game.

The story hooked me right from the beginning and only gets better as it goes along. A few reviewers have criticized Mass Effect's story of being derivative and unoriginal. However, that criticism is completely baseless and unwaranted. Of course there are some familiar elements in this game--no game, movie or book can be completely original. Star Wars, for example, is derivative of Japanese bushido, Westerns, earlier Sci-Fi stories, etc. and yet it is one of our most enduring Sci-Fi classics. Criticizing Mass Effect for having elements in common with other Sci-Fi stories is moronic, since it is those very elements that identify it as a Sci-Fi and not some other genre. A Sci-Fi without any Sci-Fi conventions would not be a Sci-Fi at all. As a life-long fan of Sci-Fi I can honestly say that Mass Effect offers some surprisingly unique twists and perspectives on the tried and true Sci-Fi themes. And more importantly, the story is exceptionally good--truly moving and memorable. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is one of the very best game stories of all time.

I really enjoyed the leveling up and development of my character and party members. The game offers a really nice collection of abilities, weapons, weapon upgrades, and armor. And exploring uncharted worlds in the Mako or on foot is a blast.

The combat is always exciting and offers nearly unlimited ways to combine your party's abilities. It is as exciting as the combat found in Gears of War, but of course offers much more depth. I can only guess that the few reviewers who had complaints about the combat simply don't understand its possibilities. It is dynamic and real-time when you want it to be, but offers surprising depth and strategy as well.

The conversations in Mass Effect blow away anything else seen in an RPG. The A.I. characters in Elder Scrolls 4 are stiff, un-emotive automatons by comparison. The characters in Mass Effect show emotion and intent through gesture and facial expressions. And the lip-syncing, although not perfect, is definitely a step up from anything we have seen in an RPG before. The conversation wheel really does help to keep the conversations flowing and makes them more believable and engaging at the same time. And now, our own character finally expresses him/herself through voiced dialogue, so we can hear the whole conversation, not just half of it.

There are so many great things to say about Mass Effect, I could just go on and on. But it is the way all of these seemingly disparate elements come together that makes Mass Effect truly special. The story, characters, conversations, presentation, combat, and exploration all weave together to form one of the most astonishingly fun and engrossing experiences in the history of gaming. To experience Mass Effect is to experience the pinnacle of interactive entertainment and should be experienced by any and all who wish to see where this medium is going. Truly exciting stuff indeed!

Horrible.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 27
Date: December 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game's riddled with loading screens, the characters are prone to freezing themselves to the ground, the combat's loose and tedious, there are only 4 dungeons repeated 100 times for every quest, 3 humans, 2 ways to solve any situation, and 1 galaxy to explore.

But damn if I don't love some woman/alien woman loving and committing genocide.

Best game ever.

Game of the Year or maybe tied for it with Bioshock

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is just beautiful. It's like playing the cut scenes and the way the text trees are set up you really get drawn into the game. The fighting is excellent, think Rainbow Six Vegas in third person. It has a somewhat the same cover system. I love it, Game of the Year.

Could have been more Mass...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was a real fun game and I can't remember the last time I had so much fun playing a game that was strictly 1 player (no co-op or online modes). The characters were likable, the story was pretty engrossing and to top it all off, when you make decisions in the game, you actually feel what you did or said made a difference on the outcome of conversations and situations... something RPGs usually don't pull off very well. My only problem with the game was how quickly it took me to beat it. I was able to complete the game in less than a week and that was while only playing 2 to 3 hours a day. In my game I did the majority of the side quests as well. An average gamer who only plays the main quest will beat this game in a solid 5 to 10 hours... Kinda disappointing. The first time you play things can be rather confusing as you're forced to learn how to do everything on your own (distributing talent points, assembling your team, choosing their weapons, making them use their talents, upgrading everyone's guns and ammo) which can be a bit overwhelming at first. Despite the lack of tutorial and the short play time, its one of the best 360 games of the year. 3rd person shooter and RPG fans will be in heaven.

Unexpectedly awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I'm very surprised to be reviewing this game -- let alone giving it five stars. When my husband received "Mass Effect" for Christmas, I thought I'd be spending a lot of time rolling my eyes and reading a book while he was shooting stuff, not fighting him for the Xbox controller!

So, I'm not a hardcore gamer, and I'm not going to review this game pretending I'm one. I'm writing this from the perspective of a 31-year-old wife and mom whose interest in Xbox games has mostly been limited to "Oblivion" and "Guitar Hero" until now.

The graphics in "Mass Effect" are unbelievable, even better than "Oblivion," I think -- particularly when it comes to the characters. One thing I didn't like about "Oblivion" was that it was nearly impossible to make a female character who didn't look like a man. Maybe that seems like a minor thing to other people, but when I spend a lot of time playing a game (about 30 hours in this case), I want to be happy with the way my character looks. My "Mass Effect" character came out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! (One of my husband's friends was over once when I was playing and said, "Whoa! Who's she? I haven't met that character!")

In addition, the alien worlds that you visit look great. There are tons of them, and there's a lot of things to explore on each one (including stuff that doesn't show up on your map.)

The controls were easy for me to use. Normally, I hate "shooting games" because it's too hard for me to aim (I'd just rather hack away at something with a sword), but after a little practice, I was doing pretty good. By the end (with upgraded weapons), I found I was actually taking out guys with one shot. Sweet!

The way the weapons and armor were displayed also made it easy for me to figure out which was the best choice for my character or other team member. In some games, particularly "Neverwinter Nights" for the PC, I've had to ask my husband to help me figure out which one will do the most damage. Not a problem here. One small complaint: In the screen where you switch which weapon you're armed with, it'd be nice to have them labeled with the TYPE of weapon (pistol, assault rifle, etc.) -- I'm not gun-savvy enough to figure out which is which based on the little sketch.

I really liked the RPG aspects of the game. At times, it was a little talky, but I really liked that the focus wasn't 100 percent on combat. I also liked the option of incorporating romance into the game. (So sue me, I'm a chick!)

The plot -- about a rogue Spectre (sort of a special agent) who's trying to bring an ancient power back to the galaxy -- kept me interested, too. I guess it's just a variation on the standard RPG plot of "cult tries to take over the world," but it's done well.

The end does seem to leave the game wide-open for a sequel -- and I think that's a good thing. I'll definitely be fighting my husband to play that one, too.

All Encompassing World

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I do not consider myself a hard core gamer but after I purchased this game on the 21st of November, I found myself playing it almost non-stop. I purchased it not really knowing that much about it. After I beat the game the first time, I didn't want the fun to end so I immediately created a new character and started playing at the hardcore level. I'ven been playing video games most my life but I have never done that before on any game. I even thumbed through the achievement menu at the beginning screen and found myself making goals to get some more achievement medals.

GRAPHICS A+, STORYLINE A+, GAMEPLAY A+
There were many instances when I would just stop and marvel at the detail in the graphics (I'm using a HDMI cable running from my XBOX directly to my 52" flat screen). Whether it's a lightning bolt in an alien sky or simply marveling at the beauty of the Earth while I'm cruising on the moon in my MAKO. In addition, they put soo much detail to mesh the beautiful graphics with the storyline to create a truly believeable world. For example, on my second time around I noticed in the distance while I was driving to Exogeni Headquarters that they actually had put the enemy (Geth) alien ship attached to the side of the tower as the story said complete with with landing gear puched through the building when I entered it.

Minor Flaws
- The unsteadyness of the sniper rifle makes it almost worthless.
- Need better abilities for biotek (magic) characters. The first time around I used a biotek character and found myself relying mainly on my pistol due to the lack of offensive capabilities/spells with my character. When I went to play the hardcore level, I used a Soldier and found gameplay to be easier because I had the assault rifle.
- Need a larger instruction manual to address some gameplay questions. My second time around, I was able to 'buyback' weapons from merchants that I had sold to them from when I played the first time around. This meant that as a relatively beginning character, I was able to get some very advanced weapons/armor at 1/3 the cost. I would not have known that unless I didn't happen to stumble on it.
- Teammates are not exceptionaly helpful due to their poor AI

All in all, it is quite simply the most entertaining game that I've ever played. I love to read epic Fantasy novels with some Sci-Fi because I can immerse myself in other worlds. This game has soo much detail that it accomplishes the same feat but also lets you particpate in the outcome. It is almost like a pre-cursor to Star Trek's virtual reality Holodek. Although, there are some annoying little flaws, the great things about this game far outweigh the bad. KUDOS to the host of individuals (writers, graphic designers, programmers, etc...) who came together to create this great game.

P.S. Do yourself a favor and use renegade responses when you talk to the overly eager reporter at C-Sec Academy....hilarious.

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