Space ain't usually my scene, but in this case I'll make an exception To say I approached Mass Effect with caution would be a surefire candidate for Understatement of the Year. I've never been one to buy into the whole "space opera" aesthetic, you see. I've never sat down and watched a Star Wars movie or an episode of Star Trek, and it's primarily because the galactic setting doesn't really hold any appeal for me. If anything, my tentative first steps into BioWare's interstellar action-RPG were ones taken out of necessity rather than choice. It's one of those games that I felt almost obliged to play, because everybody raves about how damned awesome it is. Reluctantly, I ordered myself a copy of the game from Amazon back in April, intending to get around to at least giving it a chance before the year was out. It earned its chance earlier this month, and I've spent the best part of the last two weeks working my way through the game. After seeing the credits roll this morning, I'm writing this blog while devouring a sizeable slice of humble pie. Mass Effect is an incredible game, and that has nothing to do with the fact it's set in space - it could be set in inner-city Sheffield and it would still be brilliant. So, if it's not the alien races and rocket ships that make Mass Effect stand out from the crowd, then what exactly is it? How's about you read on and find out, eh?
 
Like I stated above, Mass Effect is one of those games that everybody seems to have played. As a result, I'm not going to harp on about its graphics, its story, or its gameplay - I'm sure you're all already familiar with the game's gorgeous aesthetics (as well as its texture pop-in issues), the galactic game of cat-and-mouse between Commander Shepard and rogue Spectre Saren, and the incredibly satisfying mix of exploration, combat and character interaction. Instead, I'd just like to focus on two aspects of the game that took it to the next level for me - its Paragon/Renegade morality system, and its ability to provide an experience completely tailored to the individual playing it.
 
 My Shepard may not have been particularly polite about it, but he always got the job done Chances are, anybody who's played their fair share of games this generation will be well-acquainted with the concept of morality in video games. You know the drill - you make decisions in-game that are considered morally good or bad, and those decisions have some kind of effect on either your character or your story path (or both). Going into Mass Effect fully aware that it boasted a morality system, this was the kind of thing I was expecting. What I got, though, was something pretty different from anything else on the market. Rather than making good and bad the focus of the system, Mass Effect's mechanic is more concerned with shaping Shepard's attitude towards other individuals. Ultimately, Shepard is always going to be the good guy. The morality system simply reflects his preferred method of getting the job done. The two sides of Shepard's personality are labelled Paragon and Renegade, wholly appropriate names considering what they represent - a Paragon Shepard is much more polite and amicable in conversation, while a Renegade Shepard tends to be offensive and selfish. It's true that most of the game's big plot-related choices boiled down to traditional good and bad decisions, but most of the less influential dialogue was focused much more on this gentleman/badass dichotomy, and I really loved that. I feel like it's worth pointing out that when I've played games with moral decisions in the past, I've invariably gone down the saintly route. In Mass Effect, though, I found it much easier to go down the Renegade path, simply because it was a reflection of Shepard's personality and attitudes rather than his actions.
 
It's the little choices that make everyone's Mass Effect experience totally unique Probably the biggest thing that sold me about Mass Effect was the fact that I felt like my playthrough was just that - mine. Mass Effect is a game that's hinged upon offering the player a lot of choices, some being pretty major, and a lot being pretty minor. While the big choices are the ones that seem to dictate the flow of the plot, it's the little choices that really seem to contribute to the character of Shepard that the player builds. Furthermore, the myriad little choices end up adding a lot of weight to the big choices, making them seem like really important choices and not just arbitrary options that will result in slightly different end-game scenarios. Making all those little choices, and feeling how they eventually influenced my big choices, was probably the thing about Mass Effect that got me wrapped up in it more than anything, and made it feel like my own personal experience. When the game's closing scenes were playing, a brief thought flickered dimly through my mind - while everybody who's played Mass Effect has experienced the same overarching story, there's a very distinct possibility that nobody else has had the exact same experience with Mass Effect that I've just had over the last thirty-five hours. It's a feeling I last had around four months ago playing Far Cry 2, but in the case of Mass Effect I felt it much more strongly. I really look forward to seeing how all those choices, big and small, filter into my eventual Mass Effect 2 playthrough, and contribute towards making that just as much a personal experience as the first game.
 
Let's be honest, this screenshot could be from any planet  It wasn't all sugar and rainbows with Mass Effect for me, I'll admit. I took major issue with the game's liberal copy-pasting of interiors not related to the main storyline, for one. I appreciate that developers are working with a limited budget, limited resources and limited disc space, and I realise that recycling assets is a good way to get around these issues. However, I spent a significant chunk of my playtime hopping from planet to planet and doing side quests. The variety of explorable worlds was impressive, but I was heavily disappointed when I realised that all of these varied planets were going to feature the exact same interior locations. I'm not even talking the same art style here - I'm talking the exact same interiors, room-for-room identical in their layout, differentiated only by their occupants and the occasional locked door. I was also incredibly frustrated by the absence of any kind of checkpoint system, and the inability to skip cutscenes, which made any series of persistent deaths pretty irritating. I think it's safe to say that Mass Effect's pros definitely outweigh its cons, though. As an experience driven and shaped by player choice, and in terms of its alternate take on the all-too-familiar morality system, I really don't think there's anything else quite like it on the market. I've already ordered my copy of Mass Effect 2, and I'm looking forward to taking my custom-moulded Shepard through another adventure.
 
With Mass Effect finished, the next game set to make its way into a console is Silent Hill 2. It's a recent purchase chosen not by me, but by my girlfriend, after Resident Evil 5 failed to get her even the tiniest bit scared. I have it on good authority that Silent Hill 2 is one of the scariest games ever made, so I'm a little apprehensive going into it, but also a little excited at the same time. Besides that, of course, I'll also be continuing my playthrough of Final Fantasy VII (and by extension, the accompanying serial blog). The start of my next (and final) year of University is still over a month away, meaning I've still got a lot of game-playing and blog-writing time on my hands before I have to knuckle down and shift focus back onto my studies. I'm looking forward to finding out what September brings. In the meantime, thanks very much for reading, and I'll see you around.
 
 
Dan
 
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Currently playing - Final Fantasy VII (PSP)