BioShock GOTY Breakdown - Part Three: Mass Effect

So to save us time, this is our third installment of Select Start's breakdown on why BioShock won the Spike 2007 Game of the Year Award. This next game was recently released and, in my opinion, didn't have enough time to really establish itself in the gaming community. I'm a prime example since I have yet to receive my new Xbox 360, and the only 360 game time I have had was when my buddy brings over his. Pushing that aside, today we'll be tackling Bioware's Mass Effect.

I know some of you might be wondering, how can I possibly review it for the breakdown if I have never played the game? I have taken the time to research different reviews of Mass Effect and I have tried to come up with a clear understanding of what Mass Effect brought to the gaming industry. Besides, I always promote my readers to input, so feel free to fill in any of my mistakes. Now that that disclaimer has been announced, let's start our breakdown of Mass Effect.


STORY MODE
The storyline of Mass Effect is quite simple; the universe needs saving and only you, Commander Shepard, has the slightest chance of actually doing it. The reason why many gamers have been waiting for Mass Effect to be released is because it mimics the same formula that Bioware's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic had - a decision-based gameplay that determines the future outcome of the story. To further explain this, if you have ever played KOTOR, where your decisions determine your character's personality and role in the story, Mass Effect also provides this and thus guarantees it's replayability.

GAMEPLAY
What makes Mass Effect something unique is that it's also a third-person shooter, and that is one of the ways you can gain experience in the game. Side-quests implemented in the game help to merge the role-playing aspect of the game into the shooter, such as through the use of levels requiring you to take control of a lunar-rover type vehicle and explore planet surfaces. What many reviews state is that these side-quests come in lots and give the player multiple chances to stray away from the main plot line, interact with new people and ultimately prolong a great game.

GRAPHICS/SOUND
Mass Effect has an amazing display of graphics and sounds. From the environments to the characters, Mass Effect made sure not to be stingy with the 360's power. Character faces have the most amazing and realistic expressions and each expression differs that, if you spent the necessary time during your character's creation, you'll be watching a near-perfect rendition of yourself die and that's disturbing and impressive at the same time! Where Mass Effect's graphics lack or slip up, is during the loading of it's environments. When your character enters a new environment, the backdrop will render slowly and it gets increasingly noticeable and annoying at the same time. Luckily, the game is so good that the layering skips can be tolerated, but when you get the impression that you bought a triple-A title, you kind of expect better fluidity.

Mass Effect is made more enjoyable through the use of talented and convincing voice-acting. The game adds that extra bit of realism and just plain ol' geek-fan feeling by including popular actors like Seth Green (Family Guy, Robot Chicken and Austin Powers), Keith David (Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick and Halo 3's Arbiter), Lance Henriksen (Aliens and Alien 3) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi of Star Trek: The Next Generation). Each character is portrayed so well that there will be times when you will find yourself so immersed in the game that you feel for the characters you may lose in battle. You may even cry ... it's OK, it's considered manly now.

OVERALL
Mass Effect has so much to offer for player's of all genres that there shouldn't be any disappointments at all. Most of the reviews that I searched mentioned how the texture rendering was Mass Effect's weakest point, but each also said that the problem was easily forgivable for such a well-developed game. Any game that offers more than 20 hours of gameplay and the ability to replay the game with a different outcome is well worth giving a chance. Can I recommend Mass Effect as a purchase? I won't say and that's only because I haven't had enough time to sit down and really make the decision, but (and that's a huge BUT) this game brings to the 360 something that we needed - a new kind of RPG for a shooter dominated system. Mass Effect brings to the table the RPG-style of gameplay most FPS fans have been waiting for, a shooter that allows us to become more bad-ass the more time we spend doing it. No more starting off from the beginning as an unstoppable force that plows through the opposition with ease, instead we have to work for it. And I can say that that's the type of "work" I can appreciate.

That's all for our Mass Effect breakdown. Catch up with us on Saturday (I will be out Friday since I will be graduating from college and need to celebrate) when we take on the BioShock and finally explain why it was worthy of game of the year. I promise it will be worth it, the game was outstanding and it paved the way for future console shooters, but that's for another day. Until then, feel free to bash away if I missed anything in my overview, you guys are gamers and your insight helps.

- R

Images: http://www.wallpaperez.net/wallpaper/games/Mass-Effect-643.jpg
http://www.totalvideogames.com/screenshots/Mass_Effect_71525.jpg
http://mm.consolas.com/%2FEspa%C3%B1ol%2FOcio%2FConsolas%2FXbox360%2F31010/mass-effect.jpg
http://www.dignews.com/admin/screenshoot/mass_effect_21.jpg