When Star Wars released in 1977 George Lucas had unknowingly unleashed something that would go on to become the biggest sci-fi franchise in history. Since then, there have been a dozen sequel films, several TV series, and a truckload of books, comics, and games that expand on the universe established in that film. It would take decades to consume every piece of Star Wars content ever made, but you’ll be treated to a richly detailed and expansive story of a galaxy at war. Widely regarded as one of the best Star Wars properties, Knights of the Old Republic was a passion project of developer Bioware’s for a very long time. They’d always wanted to make an RPG set in space, and they loved Star Wars, so having the opportunity to create it was a dream come true, and they made a great impression. However, following the release of KOTOR, Bioware didn’t just want to make a sequel, they wanted to branch out on their own and create an original sci-fi IP that took what worked in KOTOR but built on it in ways that simply wouldn’t have been possible with the Star Wars license. That is the story of how Mass Effect came to be.
Following the discovery of alien technology on Mars, humanity has branched out to the stars and joined the Galactic Council, a collection of advanced alien races who work together under a unified banner for the betterment of all species. The years is 2581 and humanity are still newcomers to this society, having only joined thirty years prior after ending the war between them and another of the Galactic Council races.
Commander Shepard is part of the human Alliance Navy and serves aboard the Normandy SR1. The Normandy is sent on a mission to Eden Prime and upon arriving they discover that the colony has been attacked by Geth, a race of sentient machines, and are being led by a Turian called Saren.
Shepard discovers a piece of alien technology and when they interact with it, they are given visions of an invasion by machine creatures. Believing this to be Saren’s plan Shepard reports to the council who grant them Spectre status (the ability to act above Council jurisdiction) and begin their mission to track down Saren, learn what he plans to do with the Geth, and stop him at all costs.
This is the framework of what sets up Mass Effect’s main story, a story that will take you all across the Milky Way galaxy to exotic and alien worlds. You’re not just a soldier, you’re a diplomat, so you’ll spend most of your time investigating and liaising with members of the other alien races to learn more about Saren’s plans, or about other goings on in the galaxy which you can choose to become a part of.
Following the discovery of alien technology on Mars, humanity has branched out to the stars and joined the Galactic Council, a collection of advanced alien races who work together under a unified banner for the betterment of all species. The years is 2581 and humanity are still newcomers to this society, having only joined thirty years prior after ending the war between them and another of the Galactic Council races.
Commander Shepard is part of the human Alliance Navy and serves aboard the Normandy SR1. The Normandy is sent on a mission to Eden Prime and upon arriving they discover that the colony has been attacked by Geth, a race of sentient machines, and are being led by a Turian called Saren.
Shepard discovers a piece of alien technology and when they interact with it, they are given visions of an invasion by machine creatures. Believing this to be Saren’s plan Shepard reports to the council who grant them Spectre status (the ability to act above Council jurisdiction) and begin their mission to track down Saren, learn what he plans to do with the Geth, and stop him at all costs.
This is the framework of what sets up Mass Effect’s main story, a story that will take you all across the Milky Way galaxy to exotic and alien worlds. You’re not just a soldier, you’re a diplomat, so you’ll spend most of your time investigating and liaising with members of the other alien races to learn more about Saren’s plans, or about other goings on in the galaxy which you can choose to become a part of.
Mass Effect has such an expansive and sprawling narrative that is packed with detail and information. What Bioware have managed to do in a single game is incredibly impressive in setting up a sci-fi universe. To do the same thing, major franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek have taken decades to reach the same level of detail provided in this single game, and its mind blowing.
As Shepard, a character you can customise to your own liking, you will not only be constantly exposed to new things but take an active role in shaping the galaxy and the races that inhabit it. Do you allow alien races to preach their religious beliefs in shared spaces upon the Citadel? Do you stop a corrupt corporation from experimenting on various alien races for profit? Do you seek out more information about the races who came before you, giving you a greater understanding of what the technology you already have is capable of? It’s all up to you, and you can play it as a ‘good cop’ or a ‘bad cop’ with the Paragon/Renegade system that allows you to accrue points based on how you interact with people. The more you sway in either direction will either make you a force of good for the whole galaxy, or someone who only has humanities interests at heart.
As an RPG, Mass Effect gives you access to a deep progression system. You can choose from one of many classes that offer different abilities and playstyles. A Soldier will be proficient in all weapon types, whereas an Adept can utilise telekinetic powers known as ‘biotics’. An Engineer will be able to tinker will all kinds of machinery and gain an upper hand against synthetic foes. Or you could try a class that mixes some aspects of these three basic classes together.
As you complete quests and defeat enemies you’ll level up, allowing you to upgrade your abilities or unlock new ones. You’ll also be able to invest points into your speech skills to give you access to new speech options, which may give you the benefit of being able to talk yourself out of fights.
Your companions also have the ability to be upgraded and allow for playstyles to be tailored based on their personal strengths. Not only this but each companion has a wealth of information tucked away which you can converse with them about to learn vast amounts of knowledge about their race, and how they view the galaxy.
Combat is a big part of Mass Effect as well, and it can be a little clunky in comparison to a lot of action games. In 2007, Mass Effect was one of the first real-time RPG’s on the market, marking a significant leap forward from its predecessors Dragon Age and KOTOR which utilised turn based combat. However, in comparison to similar third person action games at the time in titles like Gears of War, Mass Effect felt very dated. In the 2021 ‘Legendary Edition’ of the game, the gameplay has been tweaked to be a bit more refined. Aiming weapons is significantly easier, as well as fine-tuned cover mechanics, and more responsive controls all around.
As such Mass Effect can take some getting used to regardless of whether you’re into action games, or RPG’s because of its occasionally obtuse mechanics. However, these mechanics are quick to learn and work for how Mass Effect plays, but if you can opt for the Legendary Edition then I would recommend it as the quality of life improvements made to the moment to moment gameplay are night and day in comparison to the original release.
As Shepard, a character you can customise to your own liking, you will not only be constantly exposed to new things but take an active role in shaping the galaxy and the races that inhabit it. Do you allow alien races to preach their religious beliefs in shared spaces upon the Citadel? Do you stop a corrupt corporation from experimenting on various alien races for profit? Do you seek out more information about the races who came before you, giving you a greater understanding of what the technology you already have is capable of? It’s all up to you, and you can play it as a ‘good cop’ or a ‘bad cop’ with the Paragon/Renegade system that allows you to accrue points based on how you interact with people. The more you sway in either direction will either make you a force of good for the whole galaxy, or someone who only has humanities interests at heart.
As an RPG, Mass Effect gives you access to a deep progression system. You can choose from one of many classes that offer different abilities and playstyles. A Soldier will be proficient in all weapon types, whereas an Adept can utilise telekinetic powers known as ‘biotics’. An Engineer will be able to tinker will all kinds of machinery and gain an upper hand against synthetic foes. Or you could try a class that mixes some aspects of these three basic classes together.
As you complete quests and defeat enemies you’ll level up, allowing you to upgrade your abilities or unlock new ones. You’ll also be able to invest points into your speech skills to give you access to new speech options, which may give you the benefit of being able to talk yourself out of fights.
Your companions also have the ability to be upgraded and allow for playstyles to be tailored based on their personal strengths. Not only this but each companion has a wealth of information tucked away which you can converse with them about to learn vast amounts of knowledge about their race, and how they view the galaxy.
Combat is a big part of Mass Effect as well, and it can be a little clunky in comparison to a lot of action games. In 2007, Mass Effect was one of the first real-time RPG’s on the market, marking a significant leap forward from its predecessors Dragon Age and KOTOR which utilised turn based combat. However, in comparison to similar third person action games at the time in titles like Gears of War, Mass Effect felt very dated. In the 2021 ‘Legendary Edition’ of the game, the gameplay has been tweaked to be a bit more refined. Aiming weapons is significantly easier, as well as fine-tuned cover mechanics, and more responsive controls all around.
As such Mass Effect can take some getting used to regardless of whether you’re into action games, or RPG’s because of its occasionally obtuse mechanics. However, these mechanics are quick to learn and work for how Mass Effect plays, but if you can opt for the Legendary Edition then I would recommend it as the quality of life improvements made to the moment to moment gameplay are night and day in comparison to the original release.
Mass Effect’s sci-fi art style is similar to the Star Wars prequel films in many respects. Lots of bight holographic lights, grand curvaceous architecture, and sleek ship designs. The game regularly showcases fantastic looking environments with lots of attention to detail, with almost everything in the game telling some kind of story even just by the way it looks. The original release does struggle to keep a stable frame rate and has regular issues with texture pop-in, but the Legendary Edition upgrades all textures to 4K, bumps the frame rate to a smooth 60FPS (that I never experienced a dip in when playing, or any texture loading issues), and even provides some subtle changes to the art direction to give things more life and detail than ever before. Facial animations do feel very still at times though, with characters often staring at you deadeye, or their mouths moving up and down like puppets without actually syncing up with the dialogue properly at times.
The game sound incredible too. The score is superb and one of my favourite sci-fi soundtracks of all time. Voice performances are also top notch, however I would recommend playing as a female Shepard over a male one, as the male voice actor is nowhere near as great as the iconic work done by Jennifer Hale for the female voice. There’s so much dialogue and voice talent in Mass Effect that you’ll spend a lot of time noticing the nuances in the way the voice actors deliver their lines and considering how many dialogue options there are it’s incredible to see just how much dialogue needed to be recorded for the game.
If you like sci-fi then Mass Effect is a must play. It provides perhaps the richest and most detailed sci-fi universe in video games to date, and rivals the big names like Star Wars for the amount of depth it manages to pack into just one game. A single playthrough, assuming you want to see as much as you can, will take you between thirty and fifty hours, but if you beeline the game from start to finish you can have it done in around fifteen.
Mass Effect is an incredible start to a great series of games and is without a doubt one of the finest games of the seventh generation.
The game sound incredible too. The score is superb and one of my favourite sci-fi soundtracks of all time. Voice performances are also top notch, however I would recommend playing as a female Shepard over a male one, as the male voice actor is nowhere near as great as the iconic work done by Jennifer Hale for the female voice. There’s so much dialogue and voice talent in Mass Effect that you’ll spend a lot of time noticing the nuances in the way the voice actors deliver their lines and considering how many dialogue options there are it’s incredible to see just how much dialogue needed to be recorded for the game.
If you like sci-fi then Mass Effect is a must play. It provides perhaps the richest and most detailed sci-fi universe in video games to date, and rivals the big names like Star Wars for the amount of depth it manages to pack into just one game. A single playthrough, assuming you want to see as much as you can, will take you between thirty and fifty hours, but if you beeline the game from start to finish you can have it done in around fifteen.
Mass Effect is an incredible start to a great series of games and is without a doubt one of the finest games of the seventh generation.
STORY: 10/10
GAMEPLAY: 7/10
PRESENTATION: 8/10
LIFESPAN: 9/10
SCORE: 9/10
You owe it to yourself to play this game, and if you have already played it, the Legendary Edition for eighth generation systems provides some very valuable quality of life upgrades that help to make it feel like a more modern game without outright changing what made the game so good in the first place.