Welcome one, welcome all. In between my bouts of feverish writing, playing music and teaching, I like to play video games. I personally really dig point and click adventures primarily but I'm pretty open to anything that has a story. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare, but snappy writing, good characters and a solid framework and world always helps. I figured in my rare downtime when I would play games, it would be good to write up my experiences and personal reviews on this page (I apparently don't like free time, and am addicted to writing, you know what they say, the more you do it....) as a way to collect my thoughts and share my opinion on what is now one of the most widespread and lucrative forms of entertainment. So, not one to do things by halves, over the next few months I'll be writing up not one but FOUR reviews on the MASS EFFECT quadrilogy, a hybrid RPG Sci-Fi Action/Adventure series of games that I'm quite sure a few of you people might have heard of. I'll be examining the circumstances and memories of my original play through and comparing it to my recent re-play throughs leading up to my maiden voyage through MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA. All of the games were played on my trusty PC complete with a 2k monitor, i7 motherboard and a Nvidia GTX 1080 to ensure everything was set to MAXIMUM ;) So without further ado, let's cast our minds back nearly ten years and enter the world of MASS EFFECT. MASS EFFECT Back in 2008 I had actually "Retired" from Gaming. It's true, I swear. I had finished a little game called Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots and I wholeheartedly believed nothing could top the experience so why try? It was amusing since people who know me always associate me as a gamer, so when I announced to friends and family I was done, the statement was met with a mix of scepticism and flat out disbelief. Suffice it to say, I was determined to prove everyone wrong, and for a whole twelve months, I didn't play a single game. I had basically dropped that aspect from my life (Funnily enough that was the least productive year in my life thus far, go figure) I had seemingly left the gaming world behind. In that twelve month period I would get recommendations to play a new game and I would casually shrug off any suggestions. Sure they sounded interesting, but I was done. Sooooo done. One of the recurring recommendations was a game by the name of MASS EFFECT. Created by Canadian development team BIOWARE, It had been released originally on the XBOX but had now found a home on PC and by all accounts, it had a great story filled with interesting characters and great villains in a wonderful Sci-Fi universe that seemed to take the best parts of Star wars, Blade Runner and Star Trek and blend them into an epic RPG Action/Adventure. Admittedly, it sounded great; I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fanatic, but I enjoyed Star Wars as a kid, and I LOVE Blade Runner, so even though I kept declining, the name MASS EFFECT got stuck in the back of my mind and every now and again, it would pop up and I would shake my head and smile whilst thinking "Not today." Then one day by chance I found myself in a local game store, not an EB or JB HI FI, an honest to goodness game store by the name of Jack Of All Trades (At least that's what my memory brings up, so hopefully my mind is still in working order) wandering around looking at nothing in particular. I happened to spy a copy of MASS EFFECT on sale for the surprisingly cheap price of $10 brand new (Maybe that's why the store doesn't exist anymore) and I stood there holding the box and thought to myself, you know? Why not give it a go? If it's not great, $10 isn't a big loss. So after bringing it home and letting it sit on the shelf for at least a month longer, I finally got around to starting the game up and for the following two weeks I thought of nothing but this game. It was a wonderful experience; I was stunned by the scope of the story and fell in love with the wide range of characters that populated this dense and well realised world. In the end, MASS EFFECT did two important things for me, one, it gave me a kickass game to play, and second it got me back into the world of gaming. This love has led me to experience so many great moments in my life, from professional to personal, that I will always be eternally grateful for. So yeah, that was my first impression of MASS EFFECT. Pretty earth shattering, now that I think about it. So now, after all these years, how does this game stack up? Is it a nostalgia filled romp or does it still thrill me like it did all those years ago? First off let's delve into the story, just in case there are some gamers out there who've never heard of this series. MASS EFFECT tells the epic tale of Commander Shepard, a character who you can choose to be either male or female, along with one of three distinct histories for said Commander. For my play through, I chose a male commander, who was a soldier with a bloody past and went by the awesome name of Sheppy Shepard. You can also design the face of Shepard, and while it was fun screwing around with, I always went with the default face. Set in the Milky Way in the far future, where interstellar travel has now become possible through the use of mass transit devices called Mass Relays, a technology believed to have been built by an extinct alien race known as the Protheans. A conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council controls a large percentage of the galaxy and is responsible for maintaining law and order among races of the galactic community. Races that belong to the Citadel Council include Humans, Asari, Salarians, and Turians. Other alien races seen in the game include the reptilian Krogan, the environmental suited Quarians, and a hostile race of networked AI's called Geth. Humanity is represented by the Systems Alliance, an organized body that joined the Citadel Council in 2157. Commander Shepard, no matter what background or gender you assign, is a graduate of the Systems Alliance Special Forces program and a candidate to become the first human member of the Spectre force, agents who are above the law and answer directly to the Council. Shepard's squad members include Human Systems Alliance marine Kaidain Alenko, Human Systems Alliance soldier Ashley Williams, Turian Citadel Security officer Garrus Vakarian, Krogan mercenary Urdnot Wrex, Quarian mechanic Tali'Zorah and Asari archaeologist Liara T'soni. Other supporting characters include SSV Normandy captain David Anderson and SSV Normandy pilot Jeff "Joker" Moreau. During an initial test run on a routine spectre mission, Sheppy's handler is assassinated by a rogue Turian spectre named Saren Arterius and Sheppy himself comes into contact with an ancient alien device that literally beams images of the apocalypse into his mind's eye. Heavy stuff. These events send the commander and his team of misfits on a race against time in an effort to not only hunt down the evil Saren, but discover what his ultimate plan is and how it relates to Sheppy's visions. Along the way the crew will learn to get along, solve numerous mysteries and take on side missions while exploring the many different planets throughout the Milky Way. All in all, it's a wonderful setup for an exciting adventure which even in its most intimate slower paced character moments, you always feel forward momentum, you just know there will be a revelation or confrontation around the corner, and the tantalising thrill of chasing a war criminal across planets is addictive. Booting the game up I was greeted by the lovely dark synth, almost John Carpenter but not soundscapes that complimented the title screen. Its effect (no pun intended) instantly puts you into an adventuring frame of mind, it also brought a big grin to my face. Now before we get any further, I want to touch upon the style of game MASS EFFECT is. Although there's a bit of third person shooting and fighting, it's a game that puts story first, so for the majority of playtime, it's talking to characters and exploring and gathering resources. Yes it gets action heavy in the final sections of the game when the story comes to its climax, but you could easily go for an hour or two before having to shoot a weapon. The thing is, you won't notice, or like me, won't care. There are so many interesting things to check out or ask about that they could have made the game combat free and I still would love it. There are also times where you get to canvas planets with a ground vehicle called the MAKO. Apparently, there was a large deal of online grumbling about the wonky controls in these sections, but I didn't find them too annoying, I actually felt they offered a nice little alternative to the running talking and shooting sections, and It gave the game an even more wider scope as it really felt as if this galaxy was huge and filled with things to explore. The main draw though, is in its carefully structured choose your own adventure styled storyline. You see, throughout the narrative, Sheppy is presented with single shot choices that change the trajectory of storyline. Some are subtle, like deciding whether to help solve a random argument on the citadel to huge agonising decisions such as choosing which crew member to save or leave behind on a life or death mission. It's well implemented and sophisticated and lends itself to a multitude of play throughs. Couple that with changing Shepard's gender and history, there are so many different small and large outcomes that it almost gives you a sense that the possibilities are endless. They're not of course, but Bioware did a damn good job on making it feel that way. The graphics are another talking point; at the time of release they were revolutionary. Featuring stunning lifelike facial animations for the human characters and fantastical alien designs, along with the varied range of exotic environments and the stunning design of the main hub, The Citadel, MASS EFFECT was a true sight to behold. Playing through these landscapes nowadays, one can admit that some animations are a little stiff and age hasn't been kind to certain playable areas. This in no way is a mark against the game as a whole at all. It's the same as watching a classic movie from years ago with vintage SFX. They are of their time yes, but they used the technology available to the absolute best of their ability and focused on making each piece shine and fit together to form a cohesive whole. This, to me personally, makes the product feel more timeless in a way. Truth be told, graphics and game play to me are actually not that important to me in my final assessments (Sacrilege I know) as I touched upon earlier, my main interest is in the storyline. And boy, does MASS EFFECT deliver it in spades. I'm going to be heading into spoiler territory so If you haven't played any of these, go do so and come back later, this section will be waiting for you. I loved the flow of MASS EFFECT'S narrative, once Sheppy becomes a spectre and gets the green light to go after Saren, we not only uncover parts of his plan slowly, but we get to know the crew of the Normandy. Each one is brought to life with great voice acting, with standouts being the amazing KEITH DAVID as David Anderson, LANCE HENRIKSON as Hackett and SETH GREEN as Joker. For such a large cast I'm sure everyone has their favourite go to characters and mine are hands down Garrus and Tali. Garrus is a no nonsense, anything it takes to win type soldier who over the course of the game learns from Sheppy that it's more honourable to do things the right way, rather than the easy, more violent way....Unless you play Shepard as an asshole, I don't know how that affects the narrative because I can't help but make my Sheppy a hero with a strong moral compass. Tali is a wonderfully written and performed character, she's a Quarian who is on her pilgrimage, essentially a journey in where a Quarian leaves their home and must find a gift worthy for a captain who's crew they would like to join. Even though hidden behind a mask, Tali manages to evoke equal parts strength and fearlessness, with a slight sense of vulnerability, it's a joy to listen to her speak of the history of her race, and voice actress Ash Sroka has a lot to do with making her such a likeable character. Things get incredibly intense when Sheppy and his crew finally catch up to Saren, we realise that he's not the biggest threat, but just a cog in a much more terrible design, as Saren is looking to contact an ancient race of machine like monstrosities called Reapers. These free thinking ship sized beasts look like something ripped from the mind of HP Lovecraft and are an advanced form of AI that have one goal. The eradication of all species. The one Reaper that Sheppy talks to late in the game is named Sovereign and is equal parts awesome and terrifying. It's there you realise that Saren has actually been indoctrinated by these machines and even though he believes he is acting of his own accord, it couldn't be further from the truth. It's also there we have to decide the fate of one of Sheppy's crewmembers, do you save Ashley or Kaidan? It actually wasn't a big decision for me as I felt Sheppy had a shot with Ashley so I made sure to choose her right away (Such a charmer I am!) I've actually never went through and saved Kaidan in any playthough so I can't really say how that would change the narrative, If anyone who has played through that way, please feel free to comment below this review as I'd be interested to hear your different story outcomes. From there it's a literal race to the finish as Saren's goal is to bring Sovereign to the Citadel where they can communicate with the rest of the Reapers in dark space. What follows is a breathtaking action packed finale where you fight your way to the top of the citadel and engage in a final battle with Saren before destroying Sovereign, preventing him from bringing his army through the portal. Like I said, thrilling stuff. Once the credits ran I realised that I enjoyed MASS EFFECT more this time around than when I originally played through it, there were more character beats I discovered, I recognised more moments that foreshadowed events in the sequels and I generally had a better understanding of the world that was built for this game. I seemed to have a smile on my face throughout my entire week of playing and, like the last time, I kept thinking about what adventures Sheppy and the Normandy crew would be getting up to in between sequels. So, yes, I am happy to report that, to me MASS EFFECT still is great, if not greater. It is most definitely worth your time and still to this day is a milestone in gaming. $10 spent incredibly well. I'll be delving into my experiences on MASS EFFECT 2 soon; hopefully you will come along for the ride for that too! Until next time!
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About Elliott
Elliott Thomas is a native Sydney dweller who loves to write. No genre is off limits. That's all you need to know, carry on. Archive
March 2018
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