Others say...

"The Best game I've ever played."
This is quite simply the best game I've ever played. I really enjoyed it, and have played it through four times already. I'll break down my review into multiple categories.

STORY- EXCELLENT. The best story I've ever seen in a game. Its a deep immersive story that draws me in right from the start each time. Its full of plot twists and other unexpected developments. It is believable and well thought out. The story has an excellent ending, something alot of games lack, and its conclusion also lends itself well to the already announced trilogy.

CHARACTERS- EXCELLENT. An rpg isn't very good if it doesnt have well developed NPC's. This one does. Each character has a deep back story, their own personality, and you really get to care for them. I like rpg's where your party characters have their own personality, morality, and agenda, where they will argue with you or each other, where they will join you or leave you based on your actions, and help you finish quests or try to stop you, and maybe even die. This game has all of that. Some might complain that the number of party characters is somewhat limited in this game, however given the quality of the party characters and the fact that this is part of trilogy and will grow, I think the number was perfect.

CHOICES- EXCELLENT. This is where Mass Effect really shines. Every good rpg game give you lots of choices. You have multiple choices for the main missions, but also for many of the side quests which unlike in alot of games, can be just as fun and immersive as the main quest. Your character actually speaks in this game, and you have multiple responses and ways of handling things. The best part is that Shepard doesn't simply repeat the line you choose, but says or does something along the jist of it. So you never really quite know what he or she's gonna do. This is unlike any other game on the market and really adds to the fun. Also the choices aren't always clear cut good or evil, in fact sometimes, its hard to figure out what the which choice is good or evil. Like real life there are difficult decisions to be made and they are complicated by many shades of gray. The varied choices also allow for some great replays of the game.

ANIMATION- EXCELLENT. Some of the best graphics I've ever seen in a game. facial expressions and body language are detailed and precise. The characters and scenes look so real you forget you are watching animation.

MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS- EXCELLENT. The music is original and well done. It has its own theme, and is perfect for the game. It is well edited into the game. Likewise the sound effects are top notch.

VOICE ACTING- EXCELLENT. This is another area where Mass Effect really shines. The acting is superb. Every character, not just main ones, but even side quests characters get first rate voice acting. In fact, the main character, Shepard, gets voice acted twice, depending whether you play as male or female, another first for a game.

LEVELING UP- EXCELLENT. Every good rpg allows your characters to grow and become more powerful as the game progresses. There are plenty of leveling and powering up choices to choose from, as well as numerous weapon and armor choices.

ACTION/GAMEPLAY- EXCELLENT. This is another area where this game improves over my previous favorite rpg KOTOR. You actually do fight alot in this game, both on foot and in a vehicle. its not the automatic fighting you seem in some rpgs. While first person shooter fans mught not be impressed, I thought the fighting and cover options were well done. The only improvement I can see being made here, is to allow the use and change of abilites and weapons without having to pause. But considering this is an rpg first, it is not an issue to me.

BUILDINGS/SCENARIOS- EXCELLENT. The main storyline's buildings and backdrops are original, detailed and well designed. Absolutely no complaints. The side quests maps and building are unfortunately a bit repetitive. Considering the sheer number or side quests, and the fact that they are all optional, I cannot fault them for reusing similar backdrops and structures. However this is probably one area that could use some improvement in future games. Another con includes repetitive maps for exploration in the mako.

If you like rpgs with immersive stories, compelling characters, and multitudes of choices you should love this game. Some other Great rpgs include, Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), (which is my second favorite game) KOTOR II, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights II, Mask of the Betrayer, and Baulder's Gate II

"One of the best games I've ever played. Another great one from Bioware!"
This game is incredible. If you haven't bought this yet do it NOW! If you liked previous Bioware games your in for a treat. The story is pretty cliche but the characters make up for it. By the end of this game I was attached to them all. Most of all Commander Shepard, who you can customize to really make him or her your own character. I enjoyed the combat also, though I have a few minor quibbles. The cover system is a little wonky, there is also some balancing isssues, and there's a few bugs, but all in all they are just that minor nothing game breaking. The dialouge is like most other Bioware games the only change is the dialouge wheel that tells you the gist of what your going to say instead of reading through three or four options, it sounds minor but it's pretty cool in that it makes the conversations seamless and makes it very immersive unlike in other RPGs where it takes you thirty seconds to read every option. The abundance of things to do will take you quite a while to do everything. The uncharted world segments are fun at first but get a little repetative. Even with those issues this game shines. This game like I said above immerses you in the story, in the combat, in the galxay that Bioware has created, it makes you genuinly care about your squad and the fate of the galaxy. That's what games, in my book, are supposed to do. A must buy for anyone.

"The most amazing game I've ever played!"
Like the title of my review says, this is the most amazing game I have ever played! As usual, bioware has created an excellent RPG.

The most important elements in a great RPG are storyline, character development and at least decent voice acting and Mass Effect delivers on all frongs. The story unfolds at a good pace, revealing just enough to grab your attention drive you discover what will happen next. The game has everything anyone could ever want for a story: action, adventure, mystery, suspense, betrayal, romance, loss/sorrow, everything! All of those elements are masterfully blended together throughout the game to create an amazing dramatic experience that feels almost like watching an amazing movie.

Character development is also a crucial part of any good RPG and throughout the game you get the chance to learn more about your crew and can even go on special missions for some of them. There is also the chance for romance, but it doesn't just happen, you have to develop the relationship and you can even choose between two different love interests. That relationship will finally culminate (IF properly nurtured) in the characters engaging in a passionate love-making scene. Though some people have complained about the brief scene, it is tastefully done and doesn't contain anything more graphic than most prime-time television shows.

The gampeplay is also good. Like any RPG you gain experience and levels and can customize your character and his/her skills while also arming yourself from a wide array of weaponry and armor. You even have the ability to issue orders to your teammates (although this function is somewhat limited). The player is able to switch weapons and powers/skills relatively easily thanks to specialized selection wheels that can be brought up on screen quickly. Perhaps one of the best gameplay features, however, is the use of a conversation wheel during dialogues. The wheel pops up before the other character is finished speaking to give the player time to choose from a list of abbreviated discussion options (rather than having to read everything your character might say) which makes conversations flow much more naturally and without excessive pauses.

The graphics are also generally very good. There are sometimes a few issues, for instance the texturing can be a little slow at times which causes everything to start off with very little texture and then after a few moments the textures are processed and added to the characters/environment. But overall the gaphics are impessive. Facial expressions are amazing and REALLY add to conversations. Even though the cutscenes contain essential the same level of graphics seen in normal gameplay, they are still very well done and impressive.

Overall this is an AMAZING game and is definitely at the very top of my list of all-time favorite games! When I first got it I was practically addicted to it and became immersed in the world and story of the game. I even began to empathize for the characters. This is a MUST buy!

"Elevators ... in ... SPAAAAAAAACE!"
When I first played Knights of the Old Republic (KOTR) I was enthralled. Here was a Star Wars game that was better than the latest Star Wars movies, full of engrossing characters, interesting plots, and aliens true to their roots from the Star Wars universe. At the time, one flaw popped up that really bothered my wife: talking to the aliens ad nauseum meant that certain sound bites were repeated by certain alien races over and over. So you had a lot of "ooka shishka jedi" stuff going on that, while it didn't bother me too much, certainly annoyed the heck out of anyone having to listen to it over and over as I talked to everything that was willing to carry on a conversation. Then I bought Jade Empire and to my horror, discovered that it was the exact same game engine. It's the same engine used for Mass Effect. And all that dialogue is starting to get old.

Allow me to deconstruct the myth that Mass Effect is a supreme role-playing game experience.

* SCIENCE-FICTION ROLE-PLAYING: PERFECTED. The setting is a combination of Star Wars' exotic worlds, Star Trek's ship interiors, and Babylon 5's battle to establish human dominance in an alien world.

Mass Effect uses conversational pathing. Generally speaking, the top choice is positive, the middle choice is neutral, and the bottom choice is negative. So if you want to be a jerk, you can always pick the rude bottom choice, and if you want to be a nice guy, you can always pick the positive top choice. Or if you're in a hurry, you click the button and move to the next chat menu. This is not role-playing, it's a game of multiple choice, and the majority of the time the choices are obvious.

This game has more in common with KOTR than the game engine. The customizability of equipment and characters, the level up system, it's all the same. So instead of the Force we have "biotics." You can also customize your character's appearance, which is neat. However, Xbox's new interactive menus allow the same thing - avatar customization. It hardly makes this a "perfect" role-playing game.

The equipment improvements come down to: Fire Ammo IV and Laser Rifle VII. There is a whole pile of scrolling text you can read about the history of the weapon, but the short of it is VII is better than VI which is better than V. You could get those kinds of power ups in a game of Diablo.

* THE VASTNESS OF SPACE BECKONS. Like KOTR, you have a ship that you can fly all over the universe. This is like the world's worst sandbox - it's hard enough to figure out what to do and where to go in a small city. Yes, there's lots of content, but it's not necessarily relevant or interesting. Almost all the quests involve "go here, get widget, return it to me."

Then there's the MAKO, a dune buggy-type roving cannon. Exploring the surface of worlds primarily involves shooting at giant crab things that you can run over. In this respect Mass Effect is reminiscent of the Final Fantasy games.

* LOSE YOURSELF IN A LIVING GALAXY. The graphics are amazing, the voice acting top notch, the character expressions just as nuanced as promised. It has Seth Green as a voice actor, which rocks.

But for reasons I will never understand, there are long elevator sequences. In the world of science fiction, where ships can travel through space and alien races intermingle, we have not yet invented a means around elevators. EVERY time you get in an elevator, your characters freeze, face forward, and you listen to the sci-fi equivalent of elevator Muzak. The only thing you can do is spin the camera around the characters while they stand there. You can't reload, check equipment, or anything else. It's useless downtime.

For some reason, the highly advanced civilizations still like to keep their belongings in boxes. The boxes can be hacked; I'm a sucker for these mini-games, so I confess I enjoyed them. But really, boxes? There might be other interesting ways of finding equipment, but since this is the same game engine as KOTR, boxes are everywhere.

There is also the romantic subplot. This subplot involves choosing between a sexy blue alien (reminiscent of Zhaan from Farscape) and a pushy human racist woman. It's pretty clear which woman the game would like you to hook up with (or man, if you play a female character, but the alien female retains her faux gender). This is hardly a deep romantic plot, and the ruckus raised over the intimate scene between the two characters is unwarranted; it's far tamer than anything on the Internet.

To save on memory, the majority of aliens are the same bodies duplicated multiple times, in the same way Star Trek tended to have every alien be humanoid since that meant less makeup was required. There are a lot of the blue female aliens throughout the game, and they all look similar. There's not a fat person among them. Even the ship's doctor, a much older woman, is a silver fox with the body of a twenty year old (where was the romantic subplot with HER?).

* LEAD YOUR SQUAD IN INTENSE, REAL-TIME COMBAT. Although your best bet in beating this game is as a soldier, Mass Effect is no Halo. The third person perspective is difficult to follow, especially when you fight many enemies at once. What this means is you're constantly pausing the game to give your squad commands, which completely ruins the "real-time" combat element. There isn't the nail-biting thrill of trying to reload a weapon perfectly like Gears of War, and the ability to use terrain as cover isn't nearly as smooth.

Mass Effect isn't a bad game by any means. The graphics are excellent and if you have the time, you can wander the world interrogating every single alien, reading and listening to every path of dialogue, and looting everything on every planet.

Mass Effect is ultimately a giant sandbox that's somewhat different from KOTR, only with none of the cachet of Star Wars. The main plot line, the one in which you save the universe, is a lot of fun and makes for an interesting game. But you'll have to sit through a lot of elevators to get there.


"Video Game Review for Parents"
Video game mom provides reviews specifically for parents. This is not an evaluation of the quality of the game or how fun it is. If you're a parent of a teenager who wants an M rated game for Christmas, here's what you may want to know about this game.

Reviews are based on an evalation of "SLARV" which is an acronym for:
S)exual content
L)anguage
A)dditional Coments
R)acial Insensitivity
V)iolence

Sexual Content:
Whether you choose to make your character "Shepherd" a female or male at the beginning of the game, the following sexual situations can occur:
You can go to Chora's Den which is essentially a bar where clothed female creatures dance seductively for you.
You can sit down and "watch", or have a private dance.
You can choose whether or not to be intimate with an alien female character.
If you choose to be intimate, you will see Shepherd's bare upper body down to his chest (if he's a male), the top of the creature's bare shoulders, her bare hips and a little bit of her bottom. The bodies are reclined and kissing.

Language:
B**tard, *ss, d*mn.

Additional Comments:
"Sit your sweet little *ss down and let's see where this goes" is said to a female creature in Chora's Den.

Racial Insensitivity: None.

Violence:
Violence is against both humans and creatures.
Most victims disintegrate when killed so there's not much blood.
Human's are impaled, stabbed and shot in the head at close range.