Mass Effect (Xbox 360, 2007)

The game takes place in the future, and you control Commander Shepard of the Alliance Military. Before you begin gameplay, you create and customize your character, right down to facial details. You even customize your characters backstory, whether he lived in outer space, on a colony or Earth. You choose their motivation and character type from a wide array of choices. Once the character is completely set up you're thrown right into action and dropped onto a planet being attacked by somebody trying to steal the object you were sent to recover. Since I don't want to get into too much spoiling detail (too easy to give away spoilers better left for you to discover!), I'll skip the plot line.

As you advance through the story there are TONS of side quests to do; almost all of them require being dropped on an uncharted planet in your vehicle called the Mako. You pick up party members along your way, and your party helps you with missions.

Mass Effect is one of the best (if not THE best) action games I've come across for the Xbox 360. It has few flaws, though I did have some issues with slow loading times and the controls for the Mako could use some improvement.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The game could be considered inappropriate for pre- and early teens, because there is a "sex scene" in a later part of the game. It's not overly graphic, but I think it's one of the things parents should be warned about before making the purchase. The scene did not have to be added; it adds nothing at all to the basic gameplay, though it does indicate that the game marketing was largely aimed at the teenage male game enthusiast (to put it in polite terms :) ).

The best game I have ever played. Period.

Fans of RPGs rejoice, for BioWare continues to set the bar high with Mass Effect.

This game is as close to an interactive movie as I believe a game can get. The dialog is hyper-realistic, with a cinematic presence not found in other games of the genre.

Controls are fluid, intuitive, and original. The first person combat, makes for intense gameplay. Even I, who was a big fan of Knights of the Old Republic's turn-based combat, loved the switch to real-time. The characters and story are riveting and keep you glued to your couch for hours just to uncover the next block of the story.

Mass Effect will be the most unproductive week of your life. I'm pretty hardcore about my RPGs; as I spent nearly 8 hours a day for five days to play through everything in the game.

It is a must own title for Xbox 360. And as it is the first game in the trilogy BioWare is planning its place in your game library should already be reserved. BioWare is also planning downloadable content for Mass Effect in the coming months.

A 100% Must Own title for the holidays! Thanks for reading my review!

Well Done BioWare!!!

Mass Effect for Xbox 360 impresses on every level and stands out as one of 2007's best games – if not THE best. This deep and emotional role-playing game plunges you into a universe wrought with turmoil and forces you to make decisions that'll shape numerous lives. What you choose, and your resulting actions, will either save mankind, or annihilate it.

The main protagonist is Commander Shepard, a human soldier who has seen his fair share of action. He receives admiration for his actions over several military operations, even by alien races that normally look down on humanity. As a result, he's at the forefront of an investigation involving a treacherous alien figure who's out to resurrect a dangerous enemy force that, at one point in time, wiped out the entire galactic population. At the very beginning of the game, you're able to either use the default Shepard figure that Bioware has on hand or put your own cosmetic touches on him. If you want to change his eye shape to make him appear more intimidating or touch him up with some lipstick, the option's yours.

Throughout the game, you'll find that Shepard has hard decisions to make. Missions and side quests pop up frequently, with side characters approaching you with dilemmas while the main galaxy-saving mission stays in sight. It's up to you which path you take, but somewhere down the line you'll find that your decisions aren't always for the better. If you help one colony, for example, another may get wiped out.

The combat is enjoyable, nothing outstanding by any means but still solid and well balanced between gunplay and applying biotics (shielding, energy revival) to your advantage. You can level up and use new armor and weapon types as well, keeping this battle system reasonably fresh.

Balancing your party involves some thought. You'll find several characters to select from throughout the game, including the gritty intergalactic bounty hunter Wrex, one of the coolest side characters ever; the tough but caring soldier Ashley, who can easily blossom into a potential love interest for Shepard; and many others. They have their own dilemmas as well, some of which can clash with yours if you're not careful. Again, it comes down to some hard decisions. The scope of these choices really shapes the game into magnificence.

How you react makes all the difference to enemies and fellow characters. You can either treat people like a pompous, overconfident ass or let your heart do the talking, showing enemies just how easy it is to break you.

Best of all, this does wonders for the replay value. A quest can take several hours to finish, depending on what order you complete each mission and the side quests. At the end of it all, you're able to simply jump back in and do it all over again. Even the smallest of changes, like the decision to leave a party member behind or the way you react to questioning, shifts the tempo of the game almost in an entirely different direction. Your end goal is the same, but new missions arise that weren't on the galaxy map before and people you thought you knew look at you in a different (but not altogether better) light.

Visually, Mass Effect comes through in spades.

Gameplay: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Graphics: 9.5/10

One of the best RPGs in the future setting that has ever been made. What I like the most about it is that you get a chance to create your own character whose facial features actually look like they belong to a human (Hi, Fallout 3!) + you have a great variety of weapons and armors. On the other hand, both the game setting and the locations/levels look too generic. So, it's a 9.5 out of 10.

Great graphics, story, and characters. Choose what your characters say, customizable characters. MUST PLAY

Great buy if you are into mission based sci fi kind of games. Very addictive so make sure you have plenty of time to play!

Absolutely the best game I've EVER played! I can't stop playing when I start. It is an excellent mix of action and RPG.

"Mass Effect is an amazing game; but in the sequels is where it will truly shine."
After waiting almost forever for Bioware's next generation introduction; Mass Effect, for the Xbox 360 is finally here. Mass Effect takes place One Hundred years into the future; in a milky way galaxy where Humans are united with alien alike. Humans are somewhat new to the new found galaxy, and some of the alien species are not fond of them. Humans are arrogant, determined and strong; their stay in the galaxy will bring them some unwanted beef with the wrong races.

This is where you come in.

You play as Commander Shepard of the Normandy crew; allied with a ship full of humans at your side. The humans are becoming more and more popular by the minute, and you are to help them by doing your military duties and meeting with the intergalactic council for meetings. (Which consist of a Turian, an Asari, etc.) Humans are struggling in the universe; growing too rapidly. What even makes things worse is that 'Saren', the main enemy in the game; goes rogue and goes around looking for ancient artifacts to wipe humanity out.

He has a Geth at his command; and he won't stop until he has wiped humanity off the face of the galaxy!

Before jumping into the game, you get to modify your Commander Shepard. You choose background information and important events which happened before the current incidents you are in; which can affect the storyline. You choose his first name, and get to modify what he looks like. Now I wont lie here. The customisation is weak, no doubt about it. For the most part, your Shepard will look great. But until you begin to edit the eyes and nose, as soon as you jump into the game, you will wish you changed them.

There are few sets of eyes in the game; half of which look Asian. The other three eyes which look like they belong to caucasion or African American are either too big or too squinted. The eyes will tick you off for most of the game; due to the limits. The nose customisation is great, but what really gets me is the camera angles you are presented with whilst you are creating Shepard. You only get to move his head to the side, or up and down; when you boot up the game, and see him from a proper side on angle, you will realise you made another mistake.

But these small flaws are not enough to ruin the game!

The story, as said above, is very deep and obviously I will not say any more about it to prevent spoiling it. The conversations are fun to be in, as you can blatantly interrupt someone whilst they are talking or pull of a kick ass line due to your renegade or paragon points. Each conversation involves you; you choose what you want to say, when you want to say it. Also to say, each action contributes to the storyline, so you are looking at an awesome storyline.

The graphics are amazing; probably the best on the 360. Their are some minor bugs but when you get into the game, they become overlooked. It is amazing that a game with this much content can fit on such a small disc; and for this, I really couldn't care about the frame rate.

The sound is amazing as well. The music not so much, but the sound effects literally blew me off my seat. I sometimes even turned my volume down to how much the games sound immersed me. The sound makes you feel like you are Commander Shepard, and you are in the game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10

Game Release: Mass Effect (US, 11/20/07)

Started playing. 8 hours later i realized i needed to eat and do hw for the class i have tm. im probably going to just keep playing anyways. enjoy it

Stunning Graphics
Next Gen RPG character speech selection.
Deep storyline
Astounding Maps.
Astonishing .......biotic and netgen weapons
This is a sci-fi enthusiasts dream shooter/Arpg


1.Dislike . Can do very litte with the vehicle. Can we fly back to the ship please in mass effect 2?

The game is awesome! Hours of game play. The best way to describe it is, Knights of the Old Republic mixed with a First Person Shooter, and they pulled it off great! The only complaint I have about the game, is some of the side quests are very repetitive, and the variety of armor and weapons is questionable as far as which ones do you really use, and finding the same ones over and over, but that is just my opinion. Great game, definitely worth the money!

The video game came in new packaging and was delivered quickly. It was also quite affordable. I would definitely recommend this seller

First look it made me cry in pure awesomeness and I became blinded by its coolness. Imagine you can choose to be a bastard or a saint (or be both) in this game and be free to choose how to ditch up opponents, like burning them to ashes with a incendenciary shotgun or microwave them with a radioactive pistol (YUmmy!)
or my very most favorite... use a THROW ability or LIFT then shoot them with a sniper rifle mixed with FROST BITING chemical. :D
All in all, this game is for people who likes space voyages and stuff (coz it includes a lot of voyaging!!! viola! Bonvoyage! hehe)
oh well, just get some bucket to place below your chin coz trust me...
You're going to drool all over the place while playing this.
Kyahhoooo.

I borrowed this game from a friend and not to long after that, I felt I should obtain my own copy of this wonderful game. The setting of the game is the not-so-far away future. Humanity has found a way to travel from our solar system to other planets when it unearthed ancient technology on Mars. The humans find out that they're not alone in the galaxy. You start the game as Commander Sheppard as the human colony of Eden Prime is under attack. I won't say more, so as not to spoil the story.

The game has a lot of dialogue and the conversations are deep, with good voice actors for all the characters. The fighting isn't like your typical RPG. It's like a third-person shooter with sci-fi weaponry. If you enjoyed the Knights of the Old republic for the original X-Box, this game is a no-brainer.

...games I have ever played. If you like RPG's and FPS in an outer space theme (i.e. Halo, Knights of the Old Republic, etc.) you should LOVE this game. I find it more of an RPG than an FPS so far (I've been playing about 8 hours) but I'm only playing on the first BASE and am just now taking my ship into the rest of the galaxy and I think there is A LOT more shooting to come! This game is absolutely HUGE and VERY detail oriented. Not in the gameplay persay, it's actually quite easy to learn, but the DETAILS of EVERYTHING (planets, different races, weapons, etc.)is mind-boggling. Buy it, and say goodbye to HOURS of your life everyday! Especailly if you have a 1080 TV, it looks absolutely STUNNING!

I recently purchased the game, Mass Effect, the game is amazing, you design your facial appearance and it has many dialogue features allowing you to create your own character in attitude too. The shipping for this game was quick, everything was included and game's condition was great! I recommend this buyer!

This game succeeds at drawing you into a strong storyline. And playing in 1080i HD makes the whole experience very life-like especially in front of a 56-inch wide screen television. You will have a hard time setting down the controller as the gameplay continues.

I have always been a fan of Bioware(the producers of this game and Knights of the Old Republic I & II for the Xbox). They always seem to make games with incredible A.I. and high replay value. This game is great, I have played it through 3 times already just to try different angles and test my skills to the new difficulty settings that you can unlock.
Yes it does have some adult sensual themes included within the character relationships that you build, but regardless of what Cooper Lawrence says about it, there is no frontal nudity. Although keep this in mind if a teenager is playing, it is rated M for Mature, 17+. But beyond that, the game is incredible and Bioware undeniably impresses me once again.

Very involved gaming. I could play for hours, but I do have to work, and sleep.
I love the interaction, and the various courses in the game you can choose. For instance, choosing to be an honorable person, trying to do what is in the best interest of most everyone, or you can be self-centered, and do what you feel like doing regardless of others around you. You can of course choose paths in between these as well.

This game is nearly perfect...awesome game play, gripping storyline, and some nice graphics. The game is basically however long you want it to be. If you want to be it in 15 hours, just play the main quest. If you want the game to draw out for a good 60+ hours, do every single side quest. Either way, the game is great.

My only complaint is that often times in the game there would be some frame rate issues, causing Mass Effect to run a little slower than one would want it to.

Its still an enjoyable game, just it would have been a great rather than good one if it weren't for its frame rate problems.

Mass Effect is a storyline game, from the very beginning you create your character, male or female, choice of background.
In this game, there is a lot of dialogue, mission and side mission objectives. If your familar with the "Longest Journey" game, its similar. If you like a good story and good even pace this is a great choice.

However if your looking for achievements, the achievements are far, wide and distantly in-between. I usually play a game in six hours or so and rack up a lot achievement points but this game, Ive been playing it for a while and only got 2 but thats not my concern, it has a large map to explore in. Right now, Im doing a lot of side missions sniffing around for boo-coo karma xp points and right now Im more of a Renegade than a Paragon.

Storyline game, mellow change of pace and there is a lot of dialogue. It has a lot of shooter elements in it but overall its a storyline game, just know that before you buy it and you wont be disappointed.

Really Quick Summary:

It's a good game with extremely high replay value. But if you/someone thinks it's 100% R.P.G. or 100% F.P.S. you will be HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED! It's 1/2 and 1/2 of both.

My Personal Opinion:

Graphics: They are superb in every single possible way.

Sound: Great in surround sound with incredible detail - even the foot steps.

Plot: For people who have played RPGs they’ll think a 7 year old wrote the simple story. But for everyone else, it should be okay.

Replay Value: Relatively high, you can play this game 2 or 3 times for maybe up to 100 hours.

Price: Worth it. $59.99 + Tax

Problems: Blatant cover ups of loading screens for uselessly large areas.

Overall Opinion: The graphics are beautiful on a HD TV, the sound is great, and obviously, I have played through it. I recommend this game for the holidays.

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