Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a sprawling Space Opera wherein you play the role of an elite operative named Shepherd who has the uncanny ability to inspire people to talk to him. No matter where you are, be it a remote asteroid or in the center of a satellite metropolis, random strangers are compelled to ask for your advice, your aid, or to just marvel at how cool you are. Being something of a celebrity myself (I really can’t go to the local mall without running into students or parents from my school) this quality didn’t seem as odd to me as it must have to some other players.

First Impressionsby Tanx - Video Game Reviews by a Very Busy Math Teacher

The commercial for Mass Effect touts this game as being full of difficult choices. I’m talking about damnably difficult choices here, harder even than “what kind of toothpaste will I use next?” or “should I eat that several year old Twinkie that will probably make me sick but man will it taste good.” While Mass Effect was a satisfying experience with a lot of well-implemented ideas, I was disappointed that it never achieved this level of challenge in the moral questions it poised. As a determined do-gooder there always seemed to be an obvious choice to make in each scenario… and as a determined evil twin my nefarious cousin always knew his path as well.

Yes, my cousin, whom I shall refer to as “Cotx” from here on, has a very different playing style from mine. I’m that guy who watches every cut-scene, always deeply involved with the characters and their world and determined to help these fine folk out with their virtual dilemmas. Just because every NPC in the game is a bit on the ugly side doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a happy life (this visual impediment is a current consequence of building all NPCs from a customizable character generation engine… although to Mass Effect’s credit the characters were leagues prettier than their hairy Neanderthal friends in Oblivion.) I explore every corner of every new location, savor NPC dialogue and pause to enjoy impressive visuals whenever they appear. Cotx, conversely, skips every bit of “story” whenever possible, rushes through the fastest route to the end and tends to leave a trail of carnage and destruction in his wake.

Cotx and I selected widely disparate options on almost every important decision Mass Effect entailed. Without offering spoilers, let me enumerate a few differences in our approach. Mass Effect implements a moral measure much like previous Bioware games like Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire. In this incarnation it is Paragon points or Renegade points, each gained by embracing certain choices throughout the story. By the end of the game I was a 100% Paragon… Cotx a 100% Renegade. This means that where I always saved lives, reinforced galactic law and bestowed second chances, he always opted for violence and deceit, cheating and bullying and generally acting like a reprehensible heel at every occasion. I would love to see a role-playing game made one day where Cotx and I could throw down against each other… he would rise to the status of “Gleeful Evil Warlord of Chaos” as I became the “Champion of Light and Puppies” and the world would quake under our competing campaigns. Cotx tends to be a good Bowser to my Mario.

But back to this game. To some degree Mass Effect is a little too accomplished for its own good. By literally reaching for the stars it showcases just how far we truly are from them. While the vast majority of worlds you visit have some difference in color scheme and degree of surface irregularity, in terms of game-play they are noticeably self-similar. You drive your indestructible drop tank Mako up and down jagged cliffs until you reach an anomaly. If it is the type that doesn’t fire back you play the same little button pushing game over and over to harvest a little bit of equipment or mark a mineral supply. If it is something that fights, you drive around and shoot at it until it doesn’t anymore. Then you revert back to button pushing again. Side-quest buildings are of three uniform types, and resolving difficulties is either a matter of an easy firefight or a quick check against your diplomacy or intimidate skills.

I am also reminded of the way in which the Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights games created a world that felt bigger than you… your hero was only ever occupied with one tiny part of the Forgotten Realms, and you had the definite impression that the rest of the world was also full of stories unrelated to your quest. Mass Effect doesn’t achieve this aim, feeling instead like the Galaxy is a small place and that you are the only important person in it, knowledgeable about everything and everyone once the game is complete. The idea of downloadable expansions could have helped I suppose, except that for some unknowable reason these Expansions can’t be accessed unless you start the game over from scratch. No thanks.
In the end Mass Effect fails to be as deep as it is touted to be, while still providing an engrossing play experience. You won’t get the kind of detail and realism in this game that would require the Normandy to come equipped with a galley (or a head, for that matter.) Neither do the people you encounter achieve enough reality that you would care about them or be surprised by how they would react. You will have a great deal of fun driving the Mako like a maniac and hearing the satisfying click of experience gained for your character. And you certainly won’t feel like you missed anything when your character makes it across the finish line.

Played For: some endless number of hours