Mass Effect Review

I recently bought Mass Effect at Game Stop. My hopes weren't terribly high, although I knew of its excellent reviews when it came out. Game reviews have a tendency of giving high scores for popular games (for example, GTA IV and very recent Madden games). So was this game worth my time and is it worth yours? The answer is a resounding yes.

From the first couple of hours, I was engulfed in a story of galactic rouges and the volume of the worlds within the game. From the beginning, I knew this was the game's greatest strength: storytelling. The voice acting is some of the best I've heard for any video game, the movements of the characters were fluent and realistic, and the lip-syncing is straight out the best I've ever seen, and yes I've played GTA IV and Fallout 3. The story took me on a ride once I stepped foot on Eden Prime, a human colony in space, and even now I want more.

But the story becomes so much more. Galactic peace and galactic extinction hang in the balance with your actions. And yes, they are your actions. You choose how to go about things, when to go about things. Your actions matter, from getting other characters killed, to saving aliens thought extinct, to the death of one of the supporting characters. Your actions have resounding effects and are bolstered by nearly flawless storytelling.
Variation among weapon and armor upgrades also shine for this title. Dozens upon dozens of upgrades for ammo, heat, aiming, weapon stability, and extra shields for your armor are just a few of the many upgrades. And this does not even speak of the many types of armor and guns themselves.

I only had two problems with the game, one minor and one moderate. The minor one that I had was, once in a while, there was noticeable slowdown in the game. Normally it was smooth and fluid, but sometimes in battle it would slow down, or quickly flash a "loading" at the bottom of the screen, momentarily stopping the game. The moderate problem I had was the way battles were executed. You lead a squad of three, you control yourself and the other two are NPCs. Unfortunately, the NPCs are not always the brightest people, many times shooting blindly at walls in front of them, or even you. Also, the battles can end in the blink of an eye... with your death. Sometimes battles can be quick and hectic, so make sure you save often.In the end, this was an excellent game. I am quite happy that there is a planned trilogy, and I cannot wait to play the next one. So, a used game of Mass Effect is only fifteen bucks (used) at Game Stop, go pick up a copy.

The Final Verdict: 9.25/10, Nearly Flawless