Mass Effect
Producer: EA Games
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Rating: Mature
Genre: RPG
Critical Mass
Written by Jesse Seilhan
There is a glaring lack of original games in this generation. Most big games are sequels, and with development, advertising, and post-production costs rising higher and higher, studios and publishers are less likely to take a risk on a new product. Luckily, Mass Effect came along and gave gamers a reason to stick with a franchise: the promise that not only your character, but the choices made and lives lost would continue on for the following five years. Mass Effect 3 is finally out and delivers on that half-decade-old promise.
The team at Bioware had a tough task of creating a deep RPG, normally fleshed out with fun side-stories and random romps to break up the gravity of the main story. The side-missions now help push forward the “Galaxy at War” mentality, with each battle representing one piece of the chessboard crossing the galactic frontlines. The storylines are engrossing, save for the random dream sequences and other departures. When the game gets into that nitty-gritty political discourse, the camera angles, lighting tones, and voice work push this game beyond almost all others. The ending has become a firestorm online, with fans expressing outrage at the perceived lack of choice during the games final moments. Without spoiling anything, I will say that having the ending sequences (all six of them) simply featuring different color schemes and split-second flashes of an altered cut scene is a terrible way to wrap up a franchise dedicated to the idea of individual choice. However, there is no way to create a million different endings that take every tiny permutation into account. With DLC and spin-offs in the future, the end of the Mass Effect saga may end up just fine but the final five minutes of this game is slightly depressing and not just because war is hell.
The older this series is, the less forgiving you may become at some of the glaring issues. Skyrim broke modern gaming last year because it connected so many dots in one package. Now all of those dots are near-expected by RPG fans and it may be another generation before those changes become incorporated. Graphics are stunning as usual, but slow-down and framerate hiccups happened more in this third entry than the prior two. This starts a series of gripes I have with the game, including a lack of a proper inventory, a beyond-basic quest log, constant disc-switching (on Xbox), and a map system that serves little purpose. When Mass Effect works, however, it works amazingly well. The combat variety and dialogue choices are maddening, giving fans dozens of playthroughs worth of unique content before every aspect is uncovered. Also, the squad-based multiplayer (new to the series) is addicting, with its own character progression, level-up system, and waves and waves of challenges to tackle with up to three of your friends.
As much as I (and millions of others) wanted this to be the greatest game of all time, it is definitely not. What it is, however, is the culmination of the most enthralling sci-fi franchise this generation and fulfills almost every promise given at the birth of the franchise. The ability to import a character created five years ago is an impressive feat unto itself, but it is that exact process that makes Mass Effectmore rewarding than almost all other franchises. Seeing my Commander Shepard go from humble beginnings to champion of the universe over a five-year span is not simply entertaining, it dwarfs nearly every other gaming experience I have ever had.