Set in the not-so-distant future, Mass Effect (an action/RPG) see's players taking on the aged old saving the galaxy quest from utter distruction yet again. This time however, it's a whole lotta' different. You play as Shepard; gender, appearence and back story customizable, commander of the SS Nomandy and the first human to be allowed entry into the Spectre's - an elite policing force used to bring law and order to the galaxy. As the first human spectre, your actions (or inaction) will have a diverse effect on how the other alien races, populating the universe, percieve both you and humanity. Described as Jack Bauer in space, you will be faced with many moral discisions which could see you choosing to allow many thousands to perish for the greater good. This is your story...
What's so good? Where to begin? Graphically, well, I have not seen a game rival these kinds of graphics. When I first got my 360 and popped in Gears of War I thought, how can anything be any better? The fact Gears of War came out relatively early in the 360's life, boded well for future titles, and now we have evidence to support that; Mass Effect.
Bioware.
Bioware is also a reason why it's looking so good. In an age where many publishers are dumbing down their franchises to be accessed by the masses (see Splinter Cell: Conviction) you can better your bottom dollar that Bioware know what they are doing. Primarily this is an RPG. You fight, you gain experience, you use that experience to increase a skill or skills and continue on your merry way. We've had little or no gameplay footage of RPG and experience pooling, and that may be a worry for hardcore-RPG'ers but I would not worry. They will be there and they will be sound. You only have to look at Biowares previous titles for evidence of this; Baldur's gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights - all tremendous RPG titles. Mass Effect will be packing with RPG features, have no doubt about that..
Action.
What's even more impressive is the action elements of this game. As a fan of the tactical shooters (GRAW 2, Rainbow 6: Vegas and so on - although, granted, these newer versions are a dumbed down version of the original classics...) the promise of controling your party members, ordering them to take cover, use specific skills etc, is almost as exciting as the game itself.
Conversations.
Now, my thoughts on the conversation system keep fluxuating. At times I think it looks beautiful, inovative and original. Other times I think it looks difficult, fiddly and poorly planned. However at this moment in time, I do thnk it will be a plus to the games never ending positives;
Instead of choosing from a list of responses and then watching your character reiterate them back at you, it will work a little more like this. Once engaged into a covnersation you will be presented with several emotional responses. So instead of a bunch of lines of conversation to read you'll have a more watered down, basic direction which you'll be able to choose from. Many of these options are one word choices, based on the current conversations direction. Another, even more innotive, feature in the ability to jump into a conversation while another character is speaking to impose yourself, cut them off, knock them out or any combination thereof.
E3 Update: Release date!! Oh yes, we finally have one. During Mass Effects presentation at this years E3 we were finally given a release MONTH. Ahem, yes, well it's better than nothing. The month in quesiton is November and although many are enraged at it being so damned long away. At least we have something to look forward to. Bioware have been very careful not to release a date until they could be sure that they could deliver. I'm 99% certain that Mass Effect will be in stores sometime in November!
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