In light of the recent release of Mass Effect 2, I decided to revisit the first game in the series to see how it stacks up 3 years later. I figured that it would also be a great opportunity to create a fresh character to import to the sequel using ME2's import feature. Sadly, it has been harder than I thought to really get back into one of my favorite games of the past 5 years, as many gameplay elements just don't hold up.
For the uninitiated, in Mass Effect you play Commander Shepard of the Human Alliance military. Your character can be male or female, with plenty of options to adjust the facial features to create a customized Shepard to suit you. You are also given control over the type of specialty your character has, with specialties running from Solider (for the combat driven character) to Engineer (who hang back and use tech powers) to Adept (with "force" powers that need to be recharged once used) and classes that are combination of two (not as strong, but open to more abilities). You can also choose an origin story and military history, which have little effect on the gameplay outside of some dialog choices. The character creation is actually one of the more enjoyable parts of the game, and the number of different combination's available increase replayability.
By far the best part of Mass Effect is the story. As Shepard, you are tasked with saving the galaxy from a rogue Spectre agent intent on reviving a race of machines who plan to wipe out all organic life. The real beauty of Mass Effect, and Bioware games in general is the branching storylines. During dialog scenes, you are prompted to make choices for your character which can have a direct effect on the way other characters feel about you, or even effect the path of the story by the end of the game. It truly feels as though you are playing a digital version of a choose-your-own-adventure books I read as a kid.
However, as much as the story makes it worth repeated plays, some of the control problems threaten the experience at this point. First off, the Mako (your vehicle in the game) is a complete nightmare to control. I died more times than I can count because my damn vehicle was stuck on a hill or drove the wrong direction. Missiles can chip away at your shields slowly before you can even see where the enemy is! Also, autosaving is not nearly as often as it should be. Far too often I would find myself starting back 20 minutes because I died and didn't realize when I last manually saved. The inventory system is also a hassle, with limited slots available and no good way to compare the quality of weapons and armor to what you already have equipped. And if you run out of room in the middle of a mission your only option is to melt down current items in your possession into "omni-gel," which is used to repair your Mako. And finally, while graphically Mass Effect is beautiful, just wait until you find yourself in control of the game. At that point things tend to slow way down and the frame rate takes a hit, even when you are just walking around and outside of battle!
Overall, 3 years later the price of admission is just a little bit higher. The story and character interaction make this a must play, but you just need to be willing to put up with more than a few outdated RPG elements and some wonky controls to get to the really good stuff. Back in late 2007 when this game was released I'd have given it a solid 4.5 stars out of five. Today, I'd say it gets a 3.5, mainly for the too-good-to-miss story.
Tomorrow I'll be back with my review of Mass Effect 2 and we'll see just how much has been improved for the sequel!
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