I went in unfettered by spoilers; I hadn’t read a review (post release) and my only discussion was with a game fellow saying it was so good, he played it for a week straight.   My new pink controller and I sat down to check it out, and 3 hours later, we came up for air.   I’m not very far yet, just 3 missions, but here’s my thoughts thus far. 

The senses of a game and all it’s characteristics meld together to gives us a unique experience.  From it’s soundtrack to the fluidity of the graphics and the minuet behaviors of each action.  This is so matter of fact, that without effort, we form symptomatic impressions based on fine attributes.  It is such a treat when I play a new game that takes on the best characteristics of several really great titles to create an awesome gaming experience, and that is exactly what Mass Effect does.  It’s a lil’ of bit Halo having fun, a lil’ of bit rainbow in the sun…a lil’ bit of Bioshock all night long (that’s a little Lou Bega ditty for you!)…  

First of all, the write you’re own story element threw me for a bit of a loop, along with the complex, although fairly well designed, inventory and on screen display systems.    It took a little while to figure it all out, but by the time I did I was entirely absorbed in it.   I’ve never been one for the cut scene story. in fact, if the truth be known, if its skip-able I usually do so I can get back to the action.  Mass Effect makes it too good skip.  The story is super rich, and its depth along with the you decide play mode makes for some really engaging entertainment and more deeply invests you into the missions. 

The quickie:  Your character customization is pretty good, lots of details like facial features, eye and hair color, and of course your class which offers the familiar scale of warrior, tech, and magic abilities.  The real kicker is that you all select your personnel history which shapes your personality and character and is referenced in the game.  Examples of this are wether you grew up on earth, are you an orphan, where your parents killed, were you a combat hero or a sole survivor beating all odds. Throughout the game you’ll get to pick two members from some pretty cool characters to go through the missions with, each with their own class combination of skills and inventory that you control.  Combat is good and the fights are fun, I spent a solid 5 minutes back and forth with one assassin and somehow didn’t get bored.

That’s enough for day one, and ill get back to you when I finish the game for a wrap up review.  But so far, if your looking for another game to dive into - Mass Effect delivers!

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 10:54 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.