Mass Effect

Available on: Xbox 360 (originally exclusive) and PC
Played it on: Xbox 360
Played it for: 45 hours

RATING: 9/10

Mass Effect is fantastic combination of sci-fi, RPG, and third-person-shooter elements. The story is riveting, and the game is very hard to set down until finished, which, unfortunately, should take quite a while. If you planned on doing other things when beginning the Mass Effect trilogy, prepare to be mistaken.

There's not much to say about the hero, Commander Shepard, as he or she is whatever the player decides to make him or her. So perhaps a little rundown of what Shepard can be is necessary. There is a basic morality system in Mass Effect consisting of Paragon and Renegade choices. These choices map out how Shepard is known throughout the galaxy, and how Shepard's life will change.

Paragon:
Paragon Shepard does whatever is necessary to save lives and befriend people. He or she enjoys the company of all his or her shipmates, regardless of whether they are Human, Asari, Turian, Krogan, Salarian, Quarian, or otherwise. This Shepard will never leave a man behind, and will never give up until all possible scenarios have been attempted.

Renegade:
Renegade Shepard, on the other hand, does whatever is necessary to finish the mission. Anyone in the way is an enemy, and will be disposed of. This Shepard is a hardened soldier, and is wary of anyone who isn't Human Systems Alliance Military. Uncompromising to the last, he or she doesn't care about personal image or public opinion, only service record. (BioWare says Renegade isn't evil, but this Shepard is definitely still a jerk.)

Regardless of morality or gender choice, Mass Effect is very engaging. Right from the opening cut scene, the player is given dialog choices and a barrage of information from all sides. The game doesn't nurse players into the world of the Milky Way, they're just thrown in right before a critical mission with a Spectre, a sort of galactic secret agent, and expected to perform at their best. This isn't bad, though, it actually adds greatly to the believability of the game. A commander wouldn't be stopping in the middle of a mission to go through a practice firing course, and then a tutorial about how to command squad members, that just doesn't make sense. And by not babying the player, the game comes more alive. Combat scenarios aren't meant to be easy in real life, so Mass Effect reflects this.

The way that the Mass Effect world is constructed is beautiful as well. There are two senses that permeate the game: adventure, and realism. It's not very far fetched at all to believe that in the twenty-second century, humanity will have encountered an entire galactic civilization stretching across the Milky Way, making the game very believable. While Shepard can't explore every planet in every solar system, the ones that can be explored give just enough of a taste for the galaxy to make players want to adventure, and want to believe in the Mass Effect universe. On top of that, the lore behind the game is incredibly well written, completing an already impeccable design. It's not just fun to play Mass Effect, it's exciting. It's addicting. It's everything that a good game should strive for.

The only place the game needs work is in the combat system. It doesn't work like normal shooters, more like an RPG. Which, well, it is, but this was a source of complaint for some, so I'll outline it anyway. Guns do health damage based on the gun type and location of the shot. Head shots do more than body shots, body shots do more than limb shots. When the enemy runs out of health, it dies and awards some experience. Fairly simple really, but none of the guns are memorable in any way. The combat stays a rather static element in a game that is changing constantly. All the armors look different, all the planets look different, all the characters are unique, but the guns are all the same. Damage and accuracy changes, but not the actual feeling of the gun. It's a rather small incomplete area, given the scope of the game, but it is worth noting.

What balances this out, though, are the powers. There are 6 classes that Shepard can choose from, 3 of which are pure physical, tech, and biotic powers, and three of which involve combinations of the aforementioned alignments. Every one of Shepard's abilities can uniquely influence a combat situation, and classes are geared towards fighting one type of enemy, which is where good squad judgement comes into play. If Shepard is a soldier, good for fighting living opponents, then the giant Krogan warrior, Human soldier, or Turian sniper wouldn't be good squad mates. For that, Shepard should have the engineer Quarian for fighting robots, and biotic powered Asari for support to keep balance. And because each individual power recharges separately after use, there are multiple ways to combine the powers of Shepard and his squad to overcome enemies. The combat system feels very well planned out, and works great for what Mass Effect set out to do.

The first game in the Mass Effect trilogy is staggeringly good. Excellent writing, a well thought out combat system, and stunning visuals accompany one of the most believable sci-fi universes ever imagined. And that easily puts Mass Effect in the running for the best game ever made on the 360.

Mass Effect 3 Beta

Available on: Xbox 360 and PS3
Played it on: Xbox 360
Played it for: 20 hours

Mass Effect 3 seems to be striving for that Game of the Year award, just as it's predecessors dared to do. And you know what? It does not disappoint.

The beta takes you through the prologue of Mass Effect 3, as well as a second mission later on that gives you access to more weapons, armor, and abilities. The show it puts on for you is quite impressive, as the set pieces offer untold beauty and awe-inspiring views onto the newest Mass Effect world(s). The guns work really well, the physics work really well, the dialogue is great (as you can expect from any BioWare game...), and the level of interactive story is impressive. I was longing for more after I finished up the single-player, as the beta doesn't give you nearly as much as will satisfy your needs (which comes with any demo, to be honest). But thankfully, the demo offers itself for play-time that extends much further than just a single-player romp.

The second half of the beta is multiplayer. This is the first time Mass Effect has attempted that genre, and it does so quite swimmingly. I don't know what all will be included with the actual multiplayer, but the demo offers a survival game type that pits up to 4 players against ten waves of enemies across 2 very different maps. Some of the objectives vary from wave to wave, switching between assassinating targets, downloading data, disabling security stations, and just plain killing all enemies. The 6 classes offer a wide range of skills both long and short range, and the player can choose 2 of the 5 weapon types (sniper rifle, assault rifle, SMG, shotgun, or heavy pistol) to carry around in a game, along with 2 missiles for the big enemies and 2 med packs for reviving yourself when nobody else can, all of which are unlocked or acquired via support packs, accessed from the main menu's store. 5,000 credits will get you a recruit pack, good for upgrading or hording basic materials, and 20,000 credits will get you a veteran pack, good for hording lots of materials and gaining more firepower. Each mission wins you around 15,000 credits, so it's a choice between saving up and spending it all at once. The level cap (in the beta, at least), is 20 for each separate class, and of the 5 skill tiers, 3 can be maxed out before that cap is hit (you could do 4, but that means no points into tier 5, and that's a horrible idea). The multiplayer is fun and engaging, and I can't wait to try out the full deal upon the release.

Mass Effect 3 looks to be the best RPG of the year, and with the release of the epic beta, I can't wait to test that theory. Mass Effect 3 hits shelves on March 6, so fill up those wallets and get ready to spend.