Mass Effect

I recently purchased MASS EFFECT, a science fiction roleplaying video game that Bioware made for the Xbox 360. I’ve anticipate this game since hints were whispered about it when the 360 launched. It’s been a really long wait.

I'm a little more than half way through the game, and I'm enjoying it so far. There's a number of little quirks that annoy me, and I'm aggravated at Bioware for the mistakes, because they're not the kind of goofs I'd expect from an established veteran of the RPG genre.

They're just little things... so little that I almost feel foolish when I complain, but they do add up after awhile.

I've been playing RPGs since AD&D First Edition was still on the shelves. I remember when Dragon Quest for the Atari was the closest you could get to a console RPG.... I've been a fan of the genre for a long time. I like RPGs for a few reasons: the story, character customization/development, exploration, and loot.

Story

Mass Effect has a great story, with TONS of back story and little details that really make the world memorable. I'm scratching my head over a couple potential plot holes, but I can't say for sure since I haven't finished the game yet. Perhaps it will make sense in the end. All in all, I'm very impressed with the story and game world. The voice acting is rendered well. Facial animations and lip synching are some of the best I've seen. The game shines in this area.

Character Building

Character customization and development are OK, but the system isn't as free as I'd like. I understand why the main character must be human for the story to work out right. I can dig that. However, I don't like how they've confined character abilities to specific classes. I wish they'd have used a point or slot based system to allow greater tailoring of character skills. I also don't like the way you must get certain skills to a certain level to "unlock" other skills. The whole system reminds me of the D20 system they used for Neverwinter Nights, and I really detest that system. Now, with all that being said, within the confines of their character classes, there is room to customize a character to your playing style.

Exploration

I was really excited, and consequently really disappointed in the potential for exploration in Mass Effect. It's true that you can travel to many solar systems through out the galaxy, but in any given system, there's never more than one planet you can land on, and once you're on the planet, you have a very small sandbox to play in.

The planetscapes are varied and so beautiful. I enjoy roving around the environments in the Mako troop carrier and finding things. (Although I do wonder why we can't have a little flying machine as well as a tank. Some of these planets would be so fun to fly around in, doing nape of the earth runs and weaving through canyons...)

Unfortunately, the interiors are ALL THE SAME. Boarding a derelict ship? It has the exact same floor plan as the last one you boarded, and all the enemies are waiting for you in the same rooms as the last one. The same holds true for research labs, mines shafts, and smuggler hide outs. I think they really dropped the ball here. All of their interior "dungeons" are totally cookie-cutter.

Thus far, I've been disappointed by the mundane nature of exploration and discoveries. I've yet to stumble upon anything that reinforces the vast unknowns in the galaxy. It would be great to find a ship or abandoned space station of unknown technology and origin - something unexpected and unexplained to show us there's more out there we don't know.... So far I wish in vain.

ARRH! TREASURE IT BE!

Last of all, let me mention loot. The good news is that there's a TON of loot. Weapons, armor, upgrades, OH MY! It's AWESOME! But there's also a problem. The menu system is clunky, clumsy, and annoying. There's no way to sort items or to view stats of two items/characters at once. You can't completely unequip characters. They always have to have one of each weapon type and some sort of armor equipped.

Shopping can be a pain as well. For some reason, many merchants have their merchandise split into "Upgrades," "Alien Armors," and "Regular Items." If you want to look at "Regular Items," you choose that in the dialog options. Then, if you want to look at "Upgrades," you have to exit completely out of the conversation, start a new conversation with the merchant, and pick the "Upgrade" dialog option. It gets annoying very quickly.

There's one other goof up with loot. When you select upgrades for your armor and weapons, the item's stats aren't visibly modified to reflect the change. If you have a gun that does 100 damage and equip it with ammo that increases damage by 10%, you'd expect the stats to change to DAMAGE: 110. But they stay the same. Every stat on every piece of gear remains fixed. Maybe they're applying the bonuses in the background, and maybe they aren't. It' not always easy to tell. The glitch is aggravated even farther by Bioware's inability to use consistent terminology. For instance, weapons have recoil and damage. These traits are mentioned many times in many places, but there's an ammo type that grants 30% increase in weapon force. Is force the same as damage? Force isn't used anywhere else in the game. Likewise, some items grant a percentage of recoil reduction. Then you find items that increase weapon stability. Does that mean it helps the recoil? Well, we can't tell, since the stats don't modify when you equip upgrades. What's the point of playing with all the gear and upgrades if you can't tell what it does?

It's aggravating, because I have to wonder if they were actually so dense that they overlooked these things, or if it's a ploy to make the blasted tip guide essential reading.

Now, I know I just laid down a rant, but I want to point out that all of these things are really minor problems. I'm so glad I bought the game. It is a lot of fun, and the battles are a blast (pun intended.) I expected a little more from Bioware, but I'm not unhappy with the game. I play it every spare second I get, and when I beat it, I'll start over. I'll probably still be playing it when Fallout 3 comes out next fall.