Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a third person RPG (Role Playing Game) /shooter set in space, 200 years into the future.  The player becomes a character named Commander Shepard.  At the beginning of Mass Effect, the player customizes Commander Shepard to be how he or she seems fit.  The player can pick what background the Commander came from and can also pick what type of skills the Commander will have in battle.  Mass Effect also features a huge amount of character customization.  The player can change Shepard’s gender and can also customize Shepard’s facial features such as eyes, nose, even hairstyle.  Skin tone can be changed as well as the makeup on Shepard’s female character. 

            Shepard is never alone fighting off evil by his or herself.  The Commander always has two squad members to help aid in the battle.  Some squad members start at the very beginning of the game and others join in later as the story progresses, and as long as the player accepts them into the squad.  The squad members can also be customized to help the player be better equipped for battle.  The player can customize each squad member’s skills and abilities as well as his or her armor and guns.

            Mass Effect not only allows the player to control the movements of Shepard but also enables him to direct what the Commander says.  When entering a conversation with a character, there is what the developer BioWare calls a conversation wheel.  This feature allows the player to choose what is said by Shepard.  By using this option, each player can have a different experience through each play through of Mass Effect.

            Mass Effect is a great game but it does have some items that need to be improved.  After the game is done loading, the level or cinematic experiences huge texture pop-ins.  This is a glitch that needs to be corrected the game. Another improvement should be how the Mako handles.  The Mako is a space-jeep vehicle that takes a little while to get accustomed to.  Even after a player is used to the controls it can sometimes be a cumbersome to drive in tough terrain or in a firefight.

            This past January, Fox News criticized Mass Effect for having full digital nudity and graphic sex, as well being marketed to young kids and teenagers.  It was sad to see this beloved game being trashed by arrogant, lazy journalists who obviously do not competently do their jobs.  Mass Effect does have a sex scene that is not even two minutes long.  The episode does not show graphic sex or full frontal nudity.  To say that Mass Effect is marketed to kids is just another scare tactic by the media to scare parents into thinking that the video game industry is trying to corrupt the minds of their children, this notion is completely false.

            Mass Effect is a great game and I recommend it to anyone with an Xbox 360 console.  It is one of the greatest games to ever be released, and is one of the most powerful stories in Sci Fi history.  I cannot wait for the sequel