Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:47 am
(Thought I had a review up for this already, but it might've been lost in the crash.)
Mass Effect is the latest RPG from Bioware. The storyline is actually pretty decent and can be nicely summed up here. Obviously, that's a major spoiler, although it's more a spoiler about the intentions of the villains.
The real issue here is that Mass Effect is two separate games. There's the game with the phenomenal storyline that you could complete in a day and there's the game that has tons of side missions and world exploration that has no affect on the main storyline.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way...
The graphics and sound are what you'd expect from a Bioware RPG. The gameplay is exactly like Knights of the Old Republic...for the most part. Your main character might not be a Jedi, but he might as well be.
The main storyline, as stated, is good enough to grab any Sci-Fi fan's interest and provides enough options that different things can be seen or experienced through a second play through. The storyline could've easily have been a movie or the overarching theme from a Sci-Fi based TV show for an entire season or the whole show's run. You are playing a highly decorated human military officer. You get sent on a mission to secure an artifact at a remote outpost and things go to hell. Soon you're wrapped up in the main storyline and you're jumping from planet to planet trying to stop the bad guy.
The problem comes in the side quests and exploration. The side quests range from boring messenger/Fed Ex missions to very quick assault missions to geological surveys (you don't get out of your ship and it's a simple one button push to be done...). The universe here is made up of about a fifteen solar systems. Within each system there is usually a planet you can land on, the rest can be geologically surveyed. For the planet you can land on, the formula is simple: There will be 4-5 geological items of interest that must be found, a downed satellite, a building with hostiles, and potentially a large dragon that burrows from specific points and shoots acid. As you can imagine, this gets very monotonous. Oh, and if you like physics, do yourself a favor and just never play this game as your head would explode. (Picture a Jeep. Now picture it going ANYWHERE on Earth. That's what it's like driving on these planets.)
The side missions just sucked. Sure the combat ones are fun, but some of the missions were horrific. I did enjoy that you'd get some missions by simply listening to the radio during elevator rides. Still, all of the stuff outside of the main storyline was just missing character, charm, and a point. I think Bioware spent so much time perfecting the main storyline that the side stuff was just thrown in to give the game some length and it shows. You can beat the game without touching any of this stuff.
Overall, Mass Effect is a great game whose side missions actually bring it down a peg. I think Bioware really needs to examine it's style of design for RPGs as it's starting to show its limitations. There are too many other good RPGs that aren't as "linear" in terms of exploration which do a much better job of putting side missions "in" the story.
Recommended for any RPG fan, just be aware that the main story is as stellar as the side missions are cookie cutter.
7 out of 10.
Mass Effect is the latest RPG from Bioware. The storyline is actually pretty decent and can be nicely summed up here. Obviously, that's a major spoiler, although it's more a spoiler about the intentions of the villains.
The real issue here is that Mass Effect is two separate games. There's the game with the phenomenal storyline that you could complete in a day and there's the game that has tons of side missions and world exploration that has no affect on the main storyline.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way...
The graphics and sound are what you'd expect from a Bioware RPG. The gameplay is exactly like Knights of the Old Republic...for the most part. Your main character might not be a Jedi, but he might as well be.
The main storyline, as stated, is good enough to grab any Sci-Fi fan's interest and provides enough options that different things can be seen or experienced through a second play through. The storyline could've easily have been a movie or the overarching theme from a Sci-Fi based TV show for an entire season or the whole show's run. You are playing a highly decorated human military officer. You get sent on a mission to secure an artifact at a remote outpost and things go to hell. Soon you're wrapped up in the main storyline and you're jumping from planet to planet trying to stop the bad guy.
The problem comes in the side quests and exploration. The side quests range from boring messenger/Fed Ex missions to very quick assault missions to geological surveys (you don't get out of your ship and it's a simple one button push to be done...). The universe here is made up of about a fifteen solar systems. Within each system there is usually a planet you can land on, the rest can be geologically surveyed. For the planet you can land on, the formula is simple: There will be 4-5 geological items of interest that must be found, a downed satellite, a building with hostiles, and potentially a large dragon that burrows from specific points and shoots acid. As you can imagine, this gets very monotonous. Oh, and if you like physics, do yourself a favor and just never play this game as your head would explode. (Picture a Jeep. Now picture it going ANYWHERE on Earth. That's what it's like driving on these planets.)
The side missions just sucked. Sure the combat ones are fun, but some of the missions were horrific. I did enjoy that you'd get some missions by simply listening to the radio during elevator rides. Still, all of the stuff outside of the main storyline was just missing character, charm, and a point. I think Bioware spent so much time perfecting the main storyline that the side stuff was just thrown in to give the game some length and it shows. You can beat the game without touching any of this stuff.
Overall, Mass Effect is a great game whose side missions actually bring it down a peg. I think Bioware really needs to examine it's style of design for RPGs as it's starting to show its limitations. There are too many other good RPGs that aren't as "linear" in terms of exploration which do a much better job of putting side missions "in" the story.
Recommended for any RPG fan, just be aware that the main story is as stellar as the side missions are cookie cutter.
7 out of 10.