Mass Effect Review

Edge/Next Generation isn’t quite as impressed by BioWare’s Mass Effect as most other reviewers, deeming the game “disappointing” and giving it an overall score of 7/10.

In other words, it’s KOTOR all over again, but without the license. As either a user- or pre-defined character, you march towards destiny with absolutely everyone talking about you, focusing on your every move. Your backstory, a selectable tale of either privilege or woe, determines much of what is said and done. The plot, naff as it is, casts you as the first human inductee into the elite Spectre organization (no cats on laps, sadly), tasked with tracking down a rogue agent with a deadly interest in the Reapers, a forgotten race of mind-controlling robots.

The game’s a real plate-spinner and unfortunately it shows. The combat, limited to basic squad commands and gun types (shotgun, pistol, sniper and assault rifles) engages, but never electrifies. The biotic attacks, which typically stun the opposition or repair the squad, are so bland you’ll opt for maximum firepower, which dominates the enemy if logically upgraded. An ill-advised ‘˜normal’ difficulty setting, by which only bosses scale to the player’s level (and still can’t compete), betrays the fact that there are two genres here, stats-based RPG and frenetic shooter, which don’t really get along.