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Mass Effect by Bioware is believed by many to be the greatest game of all time. Is it? The answer is no. But this isn't calling the game mediocre. After all only a select few are titled as the greatest game of all time. However opinions will never sync up and they'll always vary. In this review I won't treat Mass Effect as the greatest game of all time, but simply a game on the XBOX 360.

Graphics

Graphic wise the game is astounding, but with beauty always comes a price. If you leave your ship and dock for land the textures will take a long, LONG time to load. This degrades from the immersion factor, as a flaw like this reminds you that this is only a game. In my personal opinion the graphics are at their best when the camera does a close up of one of the characters. It gives whoever is getting the close up a real emotional value that I believe is essential to any game. Games back in the 8-bit days had a more difficult time with this, because the developers only had text to create and develop characters.

Story

The story revolves around Commander Sheppard (you), and the crew of the SSV Normandy (your ship). You have to stop a race of machines called the Geth from reviving an ancient threat which they worship, the Reapers. A man by the name of Saren is the prophet for their return. Like my other reviews I won't reveal so much of the story that your gaming experience will be spoiled. It's very reminiscent of novels such as Lord of the Rings. You're on a huge journey to stop an immenent doom from changing your world for the worse.

Gameplay

Combat is done through a cover and shooting system. Like Gears of War's, except heavily downgraded. You don't have as many options in cover as you do in other games. There's no blind fire, switching from one position to another, climbing over objects or anything that you'd expect from a game with a cover system that came AFTER Gears of War. Also, instead of having to reload guns they all magically don't have to be reloaded. What you have to deal with instead is overheating. I have to say this is even more annoying then having to reload, because if your gun does overheat then its rendered unable to shoot for several seconds. You predictably have your standard Regular running around can at times feel tanked, as in Resident Evil 1 tanked. It isn't a huge problem and is in fact minor so I don't even know why I brought it up Moving on!

Conclusion

Mass Effect is said to be the first of a trilogy of games based around the adventures of Commander Shepard. This is a pretty bold statement on Bioware's part because this will most likely require more work then any other videogame series ever created. While playing you come across occasional stupid choices, poor enemy placement, and confusing level design but overall this is one of the best games on the XBOX 360 and I anxiously wait for the next two games for this promising series.

Learn more about this author, Thomas A. Polymath.
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