My expectations were high. I won't lie. I mean KOTOR was awesome.
Right now, I'm about 25 hours into the game, and the New Game Crush has finally worn off.
First, let me say that I'm not a hardcore RPG guy, but I do like them. Oblivion and Morrowind are probably my top choices (I logged a ridiculously embarrassing amount of hours with those games).
Mass Effect on the whole is pretty amazing. The graphics make Halo 3 look dated. The conversation system is really engaging. The game forces you to make real trade offs; choices about who lives and who dies, how people respond to you, etc.
That's my biggest beef with Oblivion, the choices in the game didn't seem to matter all that much. Choosing something did not exclude other options. Well, Mass Effect is different. It has some pretty large choices.
Still, the game is mired with technical difficulties. As my buddy Rob told me it's gaming wonder wrapped inside a technical disaster.
The problems with the game:
- The biggest one for me is all of the waiting. You wait while a level is loading, wait while you're in the snail operated elevator, wait while you are driving across the barren surface of an uncharted world, wait for the next system to come up in the galaxy map, wait, wait, wait.
- The graphics are gorgeous, but quirky. The most impressive quirk is the progressive JPEG loading style for textures. The textures start out blurry when entering a new area, and are gradually replaced with more detailed ones (magically!) before your eyes.
- Exploring "uncharted worlds" is a bit depressing. I know it's mean to give the game an open-ended feeling, but the worlds are too empty. And yes, I have decided that driving the Mako (that's your ATV for exploring planets) is frustrating.
- The enemies are too few and too sparse. I frequently find myself want more battles (while driving across the endless, empty wastes of some world). Also, there doesn't seem to be that large of a variety of enemies.
- Equipping your characters is a bit cumbersome.
- Some of the controls, such as squad commands, don't give you enough feedback. Often, I'm not really sure what my squad mates are up too.
Good things about the game:
- As I said, the consequence of choice is excellent. Some of the best I've played. I really like that.
- Combats is neat-o; not perfect, but neat-o. I really like that I can press myself against a door frame and then peek around the corner.
- Conversation in the game is well acted, engaging, and consequential. The story and characters have a lot of depth. I actually got involved in a conversation when the npc began philosophizing on how their belief in God was not influenced by space travel. I then had the option to go theist, agnostic, or atheist. That impressed me.
- The character generation is sweet. I've played through the intro sequence just to show it off to friends four or five times now.
3 comments:
I've put some time into Mass Effect and your review is pretty accurate.
The only thing I disagree with is the "minigame" where you explore the uncharted worlds. I really liked this part of the game. Driving around in the Mako was fun for me and , the first time I ran into a thresher unexpectedly near a mineral deposit, I thought it was the coolest thing I've seen.
I agree that the enemies are a little repetitive, but I'm usually so far away from them, they only appear to me as red triangles at whom I shoot.
I do think that it is a worthy successor to KOTOR, without all those messy licensing issues. I want them to put out Mass Effect 2 ASAP!
I agree with most of your complaints, although I would've added a few more pros to your list of "good things" about the game.
And the story... by God, the story. It's incredible.
Good review, in any case.
@OremLK - yeah, I might have been a little overly harsh. My expectation were so high though. I think I'll post an update after I complete the game.
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