Mass Effect

[HueyLong]

So, as a result of my little brother breaking Fallout 3, I've been using my unoccupied time playing Mass Effect again.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, its an epic sci-fi RPG built in an original universe, with the developer's goals being to revisit the sci-fi of the 70s and 80s.

It presents perhaps one of the most interesting and well thought-out setting in sci-fi in a long while. And while it cribs from various sources to do so, its certainly an achievement.

To the hard SF fans, I will warn that it does use its own made up element to achieve some things: Element Zero. But unlike some sci-fi that does this, it doesn't use it however it feels. Element Zero has specific applications. (It allows manipulation of dark matter and object's gravitational fields, and they rather painstakingly set out its properties through in-game codices.)

However, the game certainly shows it work as well as it can in real science, taking entries and dialogue to explain "blueshifting" in normal FTL and even examining an alien race's alternate amino acid structure. It even examines what ship-to-ship combat would look like, and seems to explain it fairly well while accommodating its fake science.

For Star Trek fans, I'm certain you'll get vibes of the Federation in the Citadel Council. (I did) Of course, it has a lot of the later idealism of Roddenberry and ilk ripped out and spit upon. Humanity still hasn't entered the Council, something that certainly provides an interesting view of intergalactic government.

And then there is the alien design. About the only design I would say is lacking is that of the asari, but its really hard to accommodate their reputation with beauty without keeping a humanoid structure. They basically look like blue-skinned, hairless human females (all of them, one should note, as they are technically a hermaphroditic race)

Of course, they still do keep to the time honored tradition of a basic humanoid structure in all of their races. (Excepting the rachni, an extinct race that looked like Cthulhuan insects and who were never fully understood)
Was going to write more on it, but petered out. maybe later.

Anyone else enjoyed this game?

[Alex]

I have to say it is probably my favorite Science Fiction RPG thus far (including "lighter" Science Fiction like Star Wars and the like), as good as Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) series were. Then, since it is made by the same people as KOTOR, it is only a given.

Excellent classic SF plot, good characterizations (even though they don't avoid cliches, they actually play along with them), and interesting alien design. True, we have an almost-human Asari (to the point where the player character can have, ahem, relations with an Asari character - whether you are playing male or female character, at that!), and "men in rubber suits" such as the Turians, the Salarians, the Krogan, the Quarians, the Volus (more like space dwarves in pressure suits), and the Batarians (who only show up in the bonus content)... but you also get the Elkor and the Hanar, both of whom are non-humanoid, the latter not even remotely so. As for the Rachni, well, it's already been covered. And I should probably also mention the Keepers, who are also non-humanoid.

All in all, I can't wait for the second game - thankfully it's already been announced and seems like a work in progress.

[Bulgaroktonos]

I thought it was an incredibly entertaining game, with a lot of replayability. My big gripe is that sometimes, no matter which dialogue choice you selected, whether, it was virtually identical conversation. I mean, how hard would it be to record "Kiss my ass."?

In any case, it was a fantastic game.

[GBW]

All in all, I can't wait for the second game - thankfully it's already been announced and seems like a work in progress.
Early 2010.

[HueyLong]

I thought it was an incredibly entertaining game, with a lot of replayability. My big gripe is that sometimes, no matter which dialogue choice you selected, whether, it was virtually identical conversation. I mean, how hard would it be to record "Kiss my ass."?

In any case, it was a fantastic game.

Part of that was revamping the morality- you're almost always working for the same end, you are just using different means.

Unless I'm misunderstanding you.

[HueyLong]

I meant to say main races Alex. The turians, salarians and asari are at the center of things, the krogan and rachni are weapons in the struggle,a dn everyone else was on the sidelines.

As said, petered out by the middle of the post, but I meant to mention the hanar and elcor. The Keepers don't really count, as they are just as artificial as the geth.

[Brendon]

Ah, man, loved Mass Effect, but I got the game for Christmas along with the Orange Box and shortly thereafter Bioshock... so I never got to finish the game. Hmmm, might have to replay it, then.

The Hanar were definitely the coolest race, I'll have to say. I would have them featured in a hard sci-fi universe any day. Here's hoping for a Hanar character in the next game!

[Admiral Canaris]

Mass Effect really suffers from hybridization and the need for "a cinematic experience", which tends to screw up the dialogue parts (I want to see what my options are, not just get a lame-ass "Ask about X!" line to choose!). The combination of shooter and RPG was left lacking - it wasn't very good at either, just as we see in other similar attempts (Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, or Fallout 3). Also, 99 per cent of the sidequests were crappy as hell.

Good parts - story mostly (with some glaring stupidities - what kind of morons set up their government on a space station they aren't in control of? and so on), and the universe was fairly well designed. It's a little pretentious how they try and depict their universe as hard SF when it incorporates most every old SF cliché (including having Space Elves and Dwarves), but I can stand it. And I loved the elcor - "Genuine enthusiasm: Those guys were fun."

Pretty good, probably among the better SF RPGs there've been (not that there have been many), but far from what it could've been.