|| REVIEW || Mass Effect (PC)
Developed By : BioWare Published By : Electronic Arts
Category : RPG, Action, Shooter Release Date : May 28, 2008
A long while ago, a co-worker and good friend of mine introduced me to this great space game series. I'd never heard of it but figured what the heck, I like games so why not try another one. Believe me, my meager collection was nothing compared to what it is now. I never dabbled in RPG's before so when I stepped into this one I didn't really pay much attention. Just mashed some buttons, got into the game and quit before I got very far. Some time passed and I tried it again, eventually making it through all three games, but not really enjoying them.
Lately though, I'd been wanting to try them again. For one, despite all the negative attention it gets I had never tried Mass Effect : Andromeda and figured the whole series was worth trying to approach again. On top of that, one of the earliest streamers I started to follow on Twitch is a huge fan of the series so it was always talked about in high regard and on display.
So recently, I decided to give them another go. They are the games I'm focusing on for the majority of my games in May (Mass Effect May...sorry Ivy but if you see this I borrowed it!). Before starting them, I wasn't feeling super stoked to play through them again, but after that first night sitting back into the original game, I could tell I was ready to have a ton of fun.
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| A map of the Mass Effect galaxy featuring all the systems you can travel to through the game |
A Galaxy To Save
If you haven't played this or any of the games before, everything starts as you step into the role of Commander Shepard, sent to a human colony on Eden Prime. A Protehan beacon has been uncovered and the Council has tasked you with recovering and returning it. On their way to the beacon site, they discover that Saren, a member of an exclusive and elite group of agents who are highly respected and personally chosen by the Council to protect the galaxy, just might be entwined on the wrong side of things. Before leaving the colony, Shepard gets too close and unknowingly triggers the beacon, receiving a vision by doing so.
Upon returning to the Council, Shepard tells them of the situation that played out on Eden Prime, which is met with disbelief that a Spectre would be involved in such a thing. Adamant that he knows what he saw, Shepard goes around gathering the evidence he needs to prove his case and gain the trust of the council. They not only grant him the right to track and take down Saren, but welcome him into the ranks as being the first ever human Spectre. From there, you must track Saren down all over the galaxy, traveling from system to system and uncover his plan, while hopefully catching up to him enough to prevent it.
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| Mixing and matching your party members can be fun! |
Carve Your Own Path
One of the great things about Mass Effect is you can literally go through the game however you want. There are a small sampling of required main quests for you to undertake, but as soon as you get out of the prologue the first three of these open up and you can go to them in any order. While they are small in number, they can be quite big in size, so expect to spend a little bit of time with these when you jump in.
Between these big missions though, there is a lot of side missions you can keep yourself busy with. This is where you'll get a lot of backstory for the characters and the galaxy, the perfect distraction for lore nerds. The side quests themselves can vary, with some of them being a series of material or items to scan and recover, while others are little self-contained stories that can either help flesh out something in the big story, or uncover a bit more about someone or something on the sideline.
Whether you stick to the main story or go off on the side, you won't do it alone. Shepard recruits up to half a dozen teammates who each have their own personal investment in wanting to bring Saren down. Between all of them, they offer varying strengths in combat, biotics, and tech. While you won't necessarily need to find a perfect balance of these abilities to get you through missions, it can effect how many doors and options are opened for you.
Your party members have their own special quests you can undertake as well. Doing these is completely aside from the main story, and aims only to advance your personal relationship with that member who you help. Completing these opens up the chance to pursue romance options, or it could have heavier consequences later in the game. Without spoiling who, completing one party members quest will determine if they trust you in a certain situation very close to the end of the game. And if they don't trust you, they will die in that moment.
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| If you know this scene, you know the importance of some side missions |
Getting Sidetracked
Back when I first played through these games, I was not the kind of person to do anything off to the side. I hated anything that wasn't the main story and flat out ignored it all. However, this time I came into the game with spoiled eyes. As far as the main trilogy goes, I know what happened. And I don't know if it was knowing where everything was going, or the fact that I was approaching this second playthrough with a want to play it instead of someone telling me to play it...but I wanted to experience it all.
Maybe not so much with the collectibles, because those are so numerous and exhausting. Some of these are pretty short : find three of this or five of that. One of these requires you to scan resources, meaning gases and metals. Combined, there are about 70 items in total between the four categories of light/heavy/rare materials and the gas. There are a ton of planets, some which can be scanned from the ship and others which can be landed on and explored. It's quite simple to complete, but extensive and tedious if you are one to commit to such an assignment.
It's the storied missions which are a lot more entertaining and involved. These will take you to a lot of planets, most of which you wouldn't have a chance to explore otherwise. Again these won't be directly connected to the main Saren story, but hey have the potential to tie in at least a little bit. At the very least, you'll enjoy some nice and short gunfights along with some easy XP points and items for your arsenal.
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| In the middle of battle, you can bring up this dynamic that let's you order your squadmates to attack, defend, or use specific powers of theirs. |
Getting Properly Equipped
Mass Effect at it's core is an RPG, so you'll be doing a lot of levelling and finding the best gear for not just yourself but your squad as well. You're in charge of filling out the skill trees for you and your six party members, but if you don't care as much about this aspect of the game, there are "Auto Level" options that can be turned on, either to level everyone up automatically, or you can level your squad automatically and focus on Shepard's skills personally.
Equipment is a much different matter. Everyone can use the same four types of guns : Assault Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, and Sniper Rifles. Each one of these classes has a handful of different named guns, which the names only serve to differentiate stats like damage output and shots before overheating.. There is no ammo in this game, so your guns are energy based and will take X amount of shots before they overheat, which can be a huge difference maker in the heat of a good battle. Further, the named guns also have different ranks that come with them, which marks a raise in the base stats for each gun.
The universe of Mass Effect sees a lot of people making use of biotics. These are powers that some races possess which allow them to use special abilities, such as shielding themselves, dampening the powers of those around them, or even picking an enemy up and throwing them like a ragdoll. In the case of Shepard and other humans, hey use a biotic implant that grants them some of these abilities but not all. Regardless, everyone on your team will have some range of these abilities and will gain them through leveling.
Your final piece of equipment you'll get to make use of as you play are your mods. Mods are extra buffs that can be applied to everything including weapons, armor, and even the biotics of some part members. These mods will give you that final pinch you'll need to feel extra powerful out in the field. Armor mods can give you extra shields more make you more resistant to a certain type of damage, ammo mods can give your weapons extra strength against specific types of enemies, and weapon mods can help you shoot longer before overheating, or provide more accuracy. These also have ranks just like the weapons so if you find a mod you really enjoy, you can upgrade it if you find the right piece.
A Well Deserved Second Chance
As I mentioned, my first time playing through the main trilogy, I was not a fan at all. At least not an extreme one. I enjoyed my time while playing through it, but I was looking forward to the end as I went through. I didn't feel invested in anything...I didn't care about the characters, or even the story, I was just playing through to shoot things.
That is definitely not the case on this run through the games. Before I even finished the prologue, I was fully ready for everything this game was going to throw at me. Well, almost everything. I attempted a little bit of the mineral collecting but I wasn't that committed to the scans. But everything else has fully sucked me in and having now completed the first game, I can't wait to be starting the second.
If you haven't ever played these games, I absolutely recommend it which isn't something I would have said a decade ago. It's not something I would have even said a month ago. One thing is for sure though, I'm finally in love with these games and I'm happy to be playing them again. The benefit of it being so long since my first playthrough is that I hardly remember anything. So while I don't get to go through with completely fresh eyes, I also don't remember every single detail so I get at least a little bit of that mystery.
