Mass Effect | Very good, but be careful!

Mass Effect | A breathtakingly epic sci-fi adventure...

pc & video games:

Mass Effect

	Mass Effect Windows \| Electronic Arts, 2008 average customer review:based on 205 reviews view larger image
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Very good, but be careful!

I first played this game for Xbox 360 and enjoyed it inmensely, then, when my Xbox died (they tend to!), I decided to get it for PC. If your computer (not to mention laptops) doesn't meet the minimum requirements it won't work, no matter what you tried. EA customer care sucks and it's really a shame that they do this to customers, still a great game but read the requirements before buying and read other reviews, you'll find them helpful.

A breathtakingly epic sci-fi adventure...

Mass Effect might be the first truly cinematic video game experience. Everything from the electronic score to the optional film grain applied to the visuals to the top notch voice acting talent make you believe that you are the lead in a mid-80s classic science fiction film (think Blade Runner or Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan).

The plot is epic. You command a state-the-art starship (the Normandy, which is not unlike the Enterprise) in the twenty-third century with a crew of intersting and well-developed characters some of whom can join you on away missions and others who you can consult from time to time on board the ship. There is a vast galaxy to explore. When you land on a planet you take the Mako (a cross between a shuttle craft, a rover, and a tank) out for a spin. The main story revolves around the remergence of an ancient mechanical threat that will, unless stopped, wipe out all organic life. You, of course, are the only one that can stop it.

Combat is real-time third person with the ability to pause and give orders to your squad. Its fast and furious and tons of fun.

My only criticisms of the game would be its frame rate which drops like a rock during some of the more intense action sequences, especially in the more elaborate locations. Side quests, which to me are essential to achieve a high enough level to slice through the later plot, can get a bit repetitive, but they are generally short enough not to become boring. I only wish the game were longer. I remember days when playing Bioware's Baldur's Gate II, with every side quest, took me six-months. It was like a Biblical odyssey. Mass Effect took me two weeks, again like an extended movie, but there are two sequels in the works.

In spite of these minor problems, Mass Effect is a beautiful and engrossing game. Its a must play.

On the DRM: The mass of negative reviews piled on to this game and others are the result of activists. DRM cana be objectionable, but 99% of the people who buy this game will have no idea what they are complaining about.

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Immersive fun universe

One of the best RPGs of the year. This game is incredibly imersive. There is a long deep main story line that really keeps the game moving along and tons of side quests to bring the universe to life. With any RPG its the details that kill games. Not Mass Effect. The developers focused on every aspect of the game play and really polished it to a high shine. The biggest downfall is that it was developed for the Xbox and so the graphics aren't as good as you would expect from a game this incredible well put together.

Battle Scenes:
Overall the scenes are a lot of fun. there are so many different ways to approach battle that its hard to get bored too quickly. The two problems I had were first in all the side quests the building layouts are incredibly repetitive. Its almost exactly the same except that furniture has been moved around. Second the AI can be a bit annoying and aggressive. The easiest tactic to win any battle is to sit back and wait for them to come to you. That's fine and all but i expect more out of my battles then sniper frag fests.

Side Quests:
there are tons of side quests and tons of places to explore. the side quests even intermingle among one another and some of the moral choices are very ambiguous making the decisions you make much much more interesting. The only problem is that unless your physically writing down where you have explored you often get confused and end up revisiting the same planets over and over again.

Main Story:
The funny thing is for the most part I completely ignored the main story line and just had fun traveling the universe and doing side quests but when you get bored its always fun to go back and continue along the main story line

Unit Selection:
This has got to be the most annoying thing about the game. I tend to choose two people for every single mission. I wish it was somehow more interactive and more were each member is needed for different kinds of missions.

Graphics:
My biggest sore point with the game. There are some very pretty scenes but for the most part things can get a little bland and blocky.

Copyright protection:
Beware this game is highly encrypted and requires a internet connection to work. Also i have heard endless horror stories about EA's customer support.

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Great Game, Messed up my computer though.

This is by far one of the best single player experiences I've ever had. The graphics are incredible, I maxed them out on a Intel Core 2 E8400 3.0GHz CPU, 2Gb of RAM, and an Geforce 8800GT (512Mb) 1600x1050 resolution. The models, the textures, the lighting, everything looks great. I'd go so far to say that this looks better on the Unreal 3 engine than Unreal Tournament 3 does.

While I am a first person shooter fan, it was easy to adjust to 3rd person and over the shoulder views. I ended up turning off the "film grain" effect, for a cleaner picture. I also turned off the assisted aiming, as I wanted a more shooter like experience. I was also able to customize the controls and configure everything to my liking easily, something most console ports don't do to well. Upgrading the armor, weapons, and customizing my stats is nicely detailed and pretty complete. The journal and quests are detailed and offer back info on races, governments, and other history in general that adds to the sense of being in the Mass Effect universe. Selecting dialogue is also easy with a simple movement of the mouse and a click. Hearing your character actually speak your intentions is a plus over the Knights of the Old Republic series. The reactions of people to you are genuine, right down to tone and facial expressions. Cut scenes are interact-able, you will have to speak dialogue and sometimes choose an action; it feels like you are playing a movie. This game also has six classes to choose from, each with unique abilities. You can cross class some skills and stats.

The Story line is great. Think of every Sci-Fi movie and you have it in one great game. You can play as a Paragon (good guy) or Renegade (bad guy). Your choices will effect how your crew interacts with you and give you different options down the line. Each of your crew has an interesting back story and your party members have side quests in a round about way. Some of the side quests are mind numbing to say the least. While the Mako is a sweet vehicle, the low gravity on all the planets gets annoying after awhile. Some planets only have Mineral deposits or wreckage on them. To make it worse, often times you'll be annoyed to find that you don't have enough skill to survey the mineral or salvage.

All this said and done, I love the game and have had a many a late nights playing it.

Unfortunately, this game has a HUGE draw back. I bought it not knowing it even had DRM on it let alone how the DRM works. I'd have never bought it had I known about limited activations. Would I have missed out on a great gaming experience? Yes. Activation Limits aside, this game has done something WORSE to my system that makes it NOT worth purchasing. Shortly after installing Mass Effect, I found my computer could no longer play DVDs. Seems SecuROM doesn't like certain DVD drives, which isn't surprising given all the trouble that KotOR had with Combo drives.

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