Mass Effect does for gaming what Neil Armstrong did for space exploration: it advances the field in a profound, dynamic way that forever changes the paradigm of success. This is nothing short of a revolutionary title, one that brings together the disparate elements of role-playing game and shooter for a compelling, story-driven experience. Mass Effect lives up to the BioWare name.
As Commander Shepard of the Human Alliance, Mass Effect places you at the center of a galaxy embroiled in conflict. Humanity has just emerged as a player on the galactic stage and you're its best, brightest representative. Seeking a spot on a powerful consortium called the Council, mankind has placed enormous pressure on Shepard to forward the agenda for galactic peace. Threatening that tranquility is a mysterious race of sentient machines known as the Geth who will stop at nothing to eradicate all organic life in the universe. While their intentions are well-documented, Geth plans remain unknown. It's up to you to uncover their plot, dealing with space-faring pirate bands, shady corporations pursuing illegal research, and vicious alien wildlife on remote planets along the way.
Mass Effect combines the mechanics of a role-playing game with the action of a shooter. Full character development options, open-ended exploration, and a sophisticated dialogue system join straight-up shooting. The role-playing aspects succeed more than the shooter parts, even though both are still enjoyable. This seamless integration of real-time combat with traditional role-playing yields a highly unique game. There's simply nothing else like it that's ever been created and that alone makes Mass Effect worthwhile.
Relatively speaking, combat stands out as the weak link in Mass Effect. Aside brilliantly polished role-playing mechanics, the combat system's minor problems seem worse than they actually are. Shooting doesn't feel quite right, as though it hasn't been tuned properly to relate the impact of firing a weapon. Not every class even has access to each weapon or biotic powers (telepathic abilities gained by a neural implant; also native to one of the game's alien races), which is frustrating when you want to use a sniper rifle or combat biotics midway through the game and can't. Other issues include poor inventory management and lame weapon upgrades.
Enemy behavior is often unpredictable, but not necessarily in a good way. Most foes are intelligent enough to utilize cover and aggressively engage your party. Self-preservation sits low on the priority list, however, with many enemies stupidly rushing into your gunfire. This sort of behavior should be expected of simple life forms, although you witness it from sentient beings like humans as well. Opponents are either wildly confrontational or docile. In rare situations, enemies will stand around lackadaisically until you begin shooting at point blank range. You just never really know when an enemy is going to press your for a fight or will go quietly. Even when an enemy aggressively counters your attacks, it usually isn't too hard to win. Death comes as a consequence of silly mistakes rather than at the hand of a tough foe. Mass Effect features a few challenging boss battles, but for the most part the confrontations that frequently occur when traversing the galaxy aren't too difficult.
It's quite fine that the combat tends to lie on the easy side since blasting away Geth and other enemies rewards you with experience used to tailor your party. Shepard gains up to six companion characters in the course of his adventure, which all gain equal experience and level up at the same time. Six classes mix abilities and attributes related to three discipline areas: tech, biotics, and combat. Each class grants access to specific abilities in these disciplines and leveling up gives you points to enhance the power of those abilities. Gain enough levels and it's possible to acquire a second class that expands your skill set. It's a remarkably straightforward development system, but it works well.
Experience also comes from exploration. Locating ancient artifacts, answering distress calls, and roaming the galaxies numerous uncharted worlds yields plenty of optional experience. As you explore new planets, you meet new characters with whom you can converse using a sophisticated dialogue system. Questions can be posed and responses issued with a flick of the left thumbstick. Characters realistically react to your words; in fact, your conversation choices shape your game from the missions you're offered to enemies you make. Benevolent decisions are given paragon points, whereas a more lawless approach to situations earns you renegade points. Killing a smuggler instead of quietly arresting them, for example, would net you renegade points. A fun little mechanic to be sure, but one that doesn't have a too big an impact on the overall picture.
