The Mass Effect Trilogy, One Game at a Time

During my winter break off from university, I had something of a short-sighted insight, and decided it would be a good idea to bring my 360 back with me, games and all. It was hard being away from gaming during the fall semeser, and the 360 seemed a better option than lugging my PC across the country. I figured it would at least satiate me during that period before Friday night begins but after Friday morning classes end at the very least.

Fortunately, I've pretty responsible so far, and haven't played anything while work/midterms/homework stands in the way. Unlike some friends I know, I haven't ditched classes or gone to bed late--at least not past "college late," which around here is about 3 am-ish.

Sadly, though, the network here does not allow for wireless 360 internet connectivity, and while I've heard there's various workarounds and such, I really don't have the energy. I've never been a huge online gamer anyway, preferring to enjoy the game at my own pace in a single-player environment.

This left me in a bit of a quandary as I looked through my game collection, though, as suddenly a lot of the games I had seemed a lot less appealing without the internet portion available. I looked for a good, single-player game in which I could sink a lot of time, and stumbled across my old copy of Mass Effect. It took me a while to really sit down and play the game, mostly because I was worried that the game would pale in comparison to the second and third games, the latter of which I had beaten the prior summer. I figured I knew the ending of the series anyway, so why play what is nominally the worst quality game? But, I yielded, mostly due in part to a desire to see the trilogy through in a shorter span than I had waiting for each game to release.

So, I popped it in, and suddenly became engrossed. I had forgotten just how well the first game draws you into its lore. It probably helps that I'm pretty big into sci-fi, but the series opening rivals that of Star Wars in terms of how easily you become invested in Shepard's plight. Yes, the character customization is a bit dumb in hindsight--Udina and Anderson immediately discuss whichever "background" you pick for Shepard at the game's opening--but I remember thinking that that was really cool back when back-story for your character was game-defined.

Besides an accessible universe, Mass Effect also features the most exploration, the reduction of which in successive games I feel was a mistake. This Citadel is the most explorable one of the series, and you're able to stroll from one area to another if you so like. As someone who's a huge fan of futuristic city-scapes on DeviantArt, I found this to be just so cool. You saw the arms of the Citadel stretching off into the distance, and saw futuristic lakes and shrubbery dotted throughout the Presidium. Sure, by the second or third visit to the Citadel I began to use the Rapid Transit (probably like everyone else), but the fact that you had this explorable hub world is just awesome to me. If my memory serves me correct, the following games only allowed travel to certain areas, without the in-between filler.

This notion of explorability manifests itself throughout other parts of the game as well. You can travel anywhere throughout the galaxy, land on most planets, and drive your Mako--the verticality of which I had forgotten--to find resources and complete side missions. Sure, all the side missions were the same in environment and layout, and sure, the Mako sections were a bit unbearable, but the fact that there was this sense of a wide universe just floored me in my original playthrough. I'm glad the side missions improved throughout the series, but I think this came at a loss of explorability. Didn't they also get rid of the equipment customization? If they did, that was a mistake too.

I've started Mass Effect 2, and though I like it, and remember liking it, I don't think it has the grandeur of the first game. The introduction of the clip system and the streamlining of other features sort-of dumbed down what was, to me, a flawed but customizable system. The first game was undoubtedly clunky, but I think this clunkiness was removed without care as to the nature of what the Mass Effect series seemed to be.

I'll try to remember to write something on the second game when I finish it. Till then, thanks for reading!

I've always thought that if ME 1 had the gameplay of ME 2 or 3 it would absolutely be the best in the trilogy.

I played through the original Mass Effect on the 360 twice and both times it was particularly hard. Not in game difficulty, but just because of the framerate. It's so jerky and hard to look past for me, it's one of the games that made me want a gaming PC.

But I did play through it twice and I did enjoy it. I have it on PC now and have played about halfway through it. I do agree that Mass Effect 2 lost a little something in exploration, but I think it made up for it in sheer polish. A lot of the original Mass Effect's systems are just really obtuse and add little to the game. It would be excusable if the actual gameplay was better, but Bioware needed a lesson in third person shooter level design before they could make a good game.

It's definitely worth getting past all those systems to see what Mass Effect 1 does that other games just don't do. It's a huge and open game, and I especially appreciate the Citadel. In ME2 and 3, the Citadel doesn't really feel as much like a place. I remember firing up ME2 and thinking "...that's it? They've pared the Citadel down to this?" The actual levels of Mass Effect 2 don't feel that much more linear than 1's, though.

Out of all three games, Mass Effect 2 is my personal favorite.

But there's no denying that the first Mass Effect is a fantastic introduction to the trilogy.

I love this whole series, one of my favorites of all time

@oscar__explosion: That's not a crazy thought. ME 1 had some awesome stuff and my favorite overall story arc. But the frame rate sucks and it's pretty janky (at least on consoles). Hasn't aged super well.

Some people say to skip it, but as the blog says... it really immerses you into the lore. In many ways, I prefer it to part 2.

As it stands, 3 is still my favorite and in my top 10 games of all time.

I think the first game is far and above the other two. Not only do I think that the story is much more well made, I also think it gets the space setting right. Much more so than both Mass Effect 2 and 3. Yeah, the gameplay improved but to me pretty much everything else deteriorated. The biggest offender going forward was always that they went from something that felt like a huge universe to small sections that consisted mostly of hallways. Yeah the Mako parts weren't great, but why is the alternative to remove them completely and not improve them? I personally enjoyed them as they added to the feeling of actually exploring a galaxy, landing on planets never knowing what to find. Neither of the sequels has any of that, which is a damn shame. I also really felt that the story became too convoluted in the sequels.

I really cant believe more games did not explore how your actions in one game effected the next game in the series. Though you have to be at least be successful first. ME is one of the best and knowing the talent they have, cant wait to see where it goes next.