Mass Effect

So. Yeah. It's been a year. I know. Not like I have anyone reading or anything, but for some reason, this log of what I've done makes me happy. I've read a few books, and beaten a few games (ok, not really. I save games for as long as I possibly can) since the last time I was on here. I'm going to forget about all of them though, and skip right ahead to the game I just finished beating. Ironically enough, that game is Mass Effect (the game I was discussing in my last blog post from over a year ago). I don't remember having ever played it then, and I only played it now, because Jill was so gung-ho to play Mass Effect 2, and I felt like it would be a gimped, incomplete experience without a ME1 save game to continue from. I mean, why play the game, if you can't get everything out of it that you should be getting? That being said:

Mass Effect is a startlingly good game. I had heard that Dragon Age was merely a testing ground for the things they planned to add to the ME franchise. Judging from the amount of storytelling effort put into ME1 and DA:O, I would have to agree. DAO seems an afterthought almost. The storyline is good, but predictable and cliche compared to ME1. ME1 had a truly engaging storyline that drew me into it. I felt for the characters and their problems. I was upset when a character died, especially when it was as a result of my choice. There were other events...moving ones in the game that made me feel good about myself for the decisions I made, or badly for the characters involved if the situation was a poor one. I don't usually become invested in a storyline like that. Don't get me wrong, storyline is the most important thing in a game to me. I just manage to stay aloof from it during the course of a game. This one got to me though.

In terms of game play, ME1 blends a traditional RPG with aspects of a FPS. I, quite honestly, liked the blend. I'm not into FPS games, but that aspect was not the focal point of ME1, just a tool to play the game. The inventory management system blew horrible, horrible chunks. Instead of naming the gear upgrades something different that would evoke the imagination, every upgrade was named the same thing as the previous upgrade, just 'version 2' or 'version 3' etc. Don't get me wrong, there was a large range of items to choose from and customize your character. However, with the same few names for every item, it seemed more like upgrading the previous piece rather than getting a whole new gun or armor piece. Additionally, inventory management was horrible as well. A sorting procedure would have been nice. Ditto with the quest screen. Quests could be sorted, but it would have been nice if they had a more DA:O style quest list screen.

All in all, ME1 was a decent game, and I am so looking forward to ME2, that I am installing it as a I type. My future reviews will follow the same format as previous posts (as soon as I look at the blog and figure out what format I was previously using). Additionally, expect a review on "The High King of Montival", the book I am currently reading in the emberverse series. Also, I was playing LA Noire at the same time as ME1, so expect something about that before ME2.