Mass Effect Reviews

The launch of Mass Effect has spawned another large batch of mostly favorable reviews for the sci-fi RPG. The first is at 1Up with an overall score of 9.0/10:

The game does, however, lack a certain overall polish. Inventory management is often painful and tedious, and this hinders one of the most important aspects of an RPG: customizing your character’s weapons and armor. Money is nigh useless — making it even more annoying that I frittered away so many hours questing for cash I’d never spend. The autosave points are badly placed, too. Why make me watch unskippable cut-scenes before a tough battle where I’m going to die and then have to watch the scenes over and over again? I also experienced balance issues; I was able to easily defeat the final boss when playing as a Vanguard, while my Sentinel struggled mightily and had to replay the battle literally dozens of times. I suppose the brilliance is that, however many times I watched a scene or fought a battle, Mass Effect never truly lost its magic.

The second is at IGN UK with an overall score of 9.1/10:

Mass Effect is a giant leap forward for videogames in terms of storytelling and it’s probably the biggest, most sophisticated game on Xbox 360. But with combat requiring you to dip into menus every few seconds, it isn’t likely to win over the Halo brigade – and with this much dialogue, it’s not going to be your bag if you’re the guy who hits ‘˜start’ every second in an effort to get characters to stop talking.

The third is at IGN AU with an overall score of 9.0/10:

All of this is hardly enough to dull the radiant sheen of the rest of the game. For most gamers, it will hardly register at all. You’ll be too captivated by the setting and likely the gradual upgrading of your gear; you’ll be too busy exploring the strange escalating love triangle you can tinker with. You’ll be collecting medallions, scanning planets for elements, metals, minerals, and gases. You’ll talk a Krogan out of shooting you, charm your way through some conversations, flex your muscles in others. Heck, you’ll even have to deal with a couple of nuclear devices before the game wraps up. BioWare has once again shown why they still stand at the top of the RPG tower, as Mass Effect does deservingly wear the ‘epic’ moniker.

The fourth is at Planet Xbox 360 with an overall score of 9.8/10:

As we completed Mass Effect for the first time it left us a bit sad, sad because such a great video gaming experience was over and it will be some time before we get to live it again (Mass Effect 2). This game is one that anyone out there, who can legally purchase it, should experience whether you own an Xbox 360 or not. The universe in Mass Effect is so huge that gamers will spend countless hours just exploring and checking things out. Everything is available to interact with and Bioware has set few limits to hold back the curious player. Other than the AI issues, graphical glitches, and insanely confusing equipment screen Mass Effect is the perfect video game. The storyline is right up there with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and we are can barely hold back our excitement to see what happens in the next two games. Unfortunately when pushing the envelope as far as Bioware did there are bound to be a few consequences, thus keeping it from a perfect score. Every minute of Mass Effect was a joy to play and we will play through it another 5 times before the sequel comes out. There are no movies or screenshots on the internet that do this game justice; you have to see it moving on your television to really appreciate it. We also recommend you read the Mass Effect book before playing the game if you have time as it really helps give some background to the massive storyline/characters. Bioware has outdone itself and created a brand new game/IP that is even better than their previous games; it will be hard not to vote for Mass Effect as the sure winner of (game of the year).

The fifth is at PALGN with an overall score of 9.0/10:

Mass Effect is undoubtedly one of those games that will be talked about for a very long time. BioWare have set a new standard in storytelling, and if you have even the faintest interest in RPGs or science fiction, then this game simply demands to be played. While there are some technical issues and awkward gameplay decisions that are hard to ignore, when it comes down to it, Mass Effect is so compelling that most people will be able to push the issues aside and immerse themselves in one of the most detailed game worlds every created. A story of this quality should be experienced by all Xbox 360 owners.

The sixth is at ZTGameDomain with a perfect score of 10/10:

All of these elements blend together perfectly to deliver the most cinematic gaming experience since Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne. MGS was the only other game that I have played that I felt like I was actually playing a movie. I really can’t say enough good things about Mass Effect. If you liked KotOR then you owe it to yourself to check out Bioware’s new benchmark. If you like science fiction movies, or political dramas, then you need to play this game. You won’t be disappointed!

The seventh is at GameTap with an overall score of 9/10:

Mass Effect continues BioWare’s evolution in storytelling. The plots in the Baldur’s Gate series were solid, but a bit uninspired; KOTOR was a huge step forward, thanks to its characters and the central twist; and Jade Empire was a glimpse of BioWare being a bit more creative when not constrained by a license. The dialogue in Mass Effect is the strongest in a BioWare game to date, thanks to all of the good voice acting and the unique characters and alien races you run into. I especially like Wrex, who tends to voice a humorously aggressive opinion on everything, and I also have a soft spot for Ashley, a female Marine who mixes a no-bulls— attitude with dry sarcasm. Another example of the how the writing has grown in Mass Effect is its absence of the obvious good/evil approach. Instead, you have separate paragon and renegade meters, and those indicate that many times, there is one solution to a problem, but you can arrive at that solution either via intelligence and grace (paragon) or, conversely, with a ruthless disregard for collateral damage (renegade). As mentioned earlier, hard decisions range from the fate of your own party members to the fate of an entire species. In fact, in a nod to Fallout, you can actually use dialogue to significantly alter your experience with the end boss.

And the eighth is from Matt Peckham of PC World, who gives the game a lowly 6/10 in a not-so-eloquently formatted review:

This summer at the big GCDC games conference in Leipzig, Germany, I attended a session where design vets Ken Ralston and Bob Bates talked storytelling in games. When Ralston said that he hated the way game stories tease deeper subtext, and then fail to pay off on all the choices, I wanted to stand up and cheer. This is a problem in Mass Effect, where talky sections unfold like dull, flat sine waves, punctuated by sawtooth-style segments of manic action. On the one hand, the system’s been nicely refined to allow more natural pacing by letting you choose a conversational approach before someone else finishes speaking. But it’s still like playing the weird descendent of an old choose-your-own-adventure book, with spurts of action inelegantly sandwiched between exhaustive dialogue trees that don’t change the game to speak of. Smoothly paced or no, your conversations don’t shape your experience in Mass Effect so much as shuffle you along like a weirdly glib FedEx operative.

I should point out here that Matt Peckham is a somewhat controversial figure best known for writing a really lame review of Neverwinter Nights 2 at 1Up (which has since been pulled). Considering he can’t even do enough research to spell Ken Rolston’s name, you might want to think twice before taking his opinion seriously.