Mass Effect

Few games deserve the word "epic". This fantastic sci-fi, role-playing shooter is one that does.

There are also a few small frustrations and peculiarities we were surprised to see in such a major game. Organizing, comparing and managing your inventory is a huge mess. One particular cavern map is reused over and over on different planets. You spend far too much time standing in elevators and run too slowly. It often places potentially plot-changing conversations directly after boss battles. And it's glitchy - twice, we had to restart our 360 because the game had completely locked up, and two other times we encountered critical doors that refused to open, forcing us to reload our saved game.

All that said, any weaknesses are handily overwhelmed by the game's amazing strengths. When we finished Mass Effect the first time, the very next thing we did was start it all over again. It's clear that this is the beginning of a fantastic franchise, and we're already salivating over the possibilities for Mass Effect II.

You'll love
  • Fantastic story and characters
  • Caters to both shooters and RPGers
  • Nice sense of scale - feels big
You'll hate
  • Rough edges around combat
  • Could be longer, more open-ended
  • Clunky inventory system
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The Knowledge
Mass Effect
Mass Effect

Genre: Role Playing
Release date: Nov 20, 2007
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: BioWare
Franchise: Mass Effect
Features: 16:9 Widescreen, HDTV: 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Multiplayer Modes:
Offline
1 player SOLO
9 AWESOME
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Few games deserve the word "epic". This fantastic sci-fi, role-playing shooter is one that does.
Xbox 360 Review  -  Nov 19, 2007