Official Mass Effect Thread

Mass Effect
Developer: BioWare Corp
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Website: Official site



For videogames addicts like myself, it could almost be said that we are completely spoiled for choice at the moment. Game after game is being released or announced which is promising to be the absolute best of its kind. And that brings us to the latest offering from Bioware. Mass Effect is a game in the vain of Star Wars: Knights of the last Republic. That game being one of the very few Star Wars games released that was actually an absorbing and satisfying way to spend your spare time. This game comes with the baggage of expecting to create a franchise that will live on for as long as the Xbox360 is being developed for. Expect two sequels and episodic content. In short, expect to hear loads about Mass Effect very soon for a very long time. IF it sells.



So, why the high hopes? What can you expect this game to deliver that none of the other games from BioWare like Jade Empire and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II have? Well, no idea. From what I have managed to scour from the many, many articles written about this game, you can expect a back to basics approach with this game. Just as before, every decision that you make in this game, will have some sort of effect on your characters development, the way that they interact with other characters. The way you interact with the characters has also changed. Now you don't really choose . your response from a set of choices. Oh no, now you choose how you talk to them. Do you bully? Do you bribe? Do you interrupt them when they are talking? It remains to be seen whether that will be actually a worthwhile evolution.



Customisation is the main thing that you can expect in this game. Should your character be male or female? Born on earth or in zero-gravity space? Come with excellent military pedigree or be a military noob? The choice is yours. And after that is done, a la Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, you have a choice of six classes your character may be. Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel and Vanguard. Whatever class you choose will allow you to tackle the game easier in a certain aspect. Prefer shooting and killing? Be a soldier. Enjoy tinkering and building gadgets? Be an engineer and so forth. So far, so good. But will it be fun? And that is where this humble reviewer starts to have doubts. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, the trend for games now seems for you to have a completely non-linear experience in a game. The freedom to do what you want, when you want. Go here, go there, go everywhere. But that level of freedom, with no set of clear objectives leaves you completely perplexed as to how to carry on. And that is where I think that Jade Empire and Knights of the Old Republic II fell down. Played them both for ages and I was either constantly asking myself what to do next or came to a point in the game where I had 7 possible things to do, which would take at least 30 minutes each, but only one of them was vital to the mission with no idea which objective it was until they were all done.



But that is only my opinion. So far, the game looks awesome, seems huge in scope and all the things it wants to achieve. Not long to go until it is with us and hopefully it will promise and deliver on all that it sets out to do. In the meantime, I'll keep my hopes up and try and not let the fact that BioWare has been bought by EA scare me too much. It may yet still become a good game.

And there was no need to worry. This game is stunning. If you have it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It was a christmas present from my little cousin and I am grateful for the sleepless nights that she is causing.

Oh yeah, if you haven't already, you jave to switch the grainy film option off in the display options menu. The game looks very different with that option switched off.

I've no details, but there has been dlc annouced for this. The first of 3 expansions. this being 400 points giving roughly another hour and a half.

If I find a bit more info will notify.

Official Press Release wrote:

The Epic Journey Continues with the Release of the First Downloadable Content for the Sci-Fi Blockbuster "Mass Effect"

LONDON - 6th February 2008
To date, over 1.6 million gamers have explored the engaging sci-fi universe of "Mass Effect." Beginning on 10th March, fans everywhere will be able to expand the "Mass Effect" experience with the release of the first ever downloadable content for the award-winning saga.

The "Bring Down the Sky" downloadable content pack will be released to Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Monday, 10th March at 10am, and will be available for 400 MS points. This is the first in a series of planned downloadable content that further expands the "Mass Effect" universe and continues the adventures of Commander Shepard and his crew of the Normandy.

"Bring Down the Sky" includes a new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians. A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.

"Bring Down the Sky" contains approximately 90 minutes of heart-pounding action and a new Achievement worth 50 Gamerscore points.

"Mass Effect" is exclusively available on Xbox 360.

I just dipped my feet into this earlier today. Wow... WOW. I know everyone hyped it like mad. But I often have a tendency to ignore hype and find things out on my own after there has been a general consensus of awesome. Holy Effin Cow!