Who has two hands and has been doing WAY too much gaming lately? This chick right here. I kinda came up with this new rule for myself. I MUST finish all of my other games before I get anything new. This rule was made up after the release of Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinate. Soooooo. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
That being said, I figured it was time I played the Mass Effect trilogy. A whole two months of nothing but Mass Effect. I could have used my old save from ME, but I wanted to start fresh and with a Fem-Shep this time. Since I've finished all three games and have formed an opinion. You all guessed it. It's massive review time. Massive it shall be since I'm fitting all three games in to one review. I am going to assume most gamers reading this post by chance, have either already played or heard of Mass Effect. Since this review is already taking a lot of time to write, I'm going to skip over the mythos and an in depth look in to the storyline. As usual each game will have a short recap of the story and of course pros and con's.
Mass Effect
Bioware's first real success since Neverwinter. This is the game that started it all. Rich story, space opera. And who doesn't like a fucking space opera? likable characters, unlikable characters and mixing a shooter and rpg together? Recipe for epic awesomesauce!
Humans aren't the only life forms in the galaxy anymore. We humans have learned to live (but not exactly accept), with a number of other alien races. In order to show the other alien races that humanity has a bigger penis, humans formed the Alliance. This is a military force that serves not only as a human army, but they also explore the galaxy.
You will be playing as Shepard. A human Alliance hero (depending on what back round story you choose for your Shepard), who is human's only hope for survival. But we'll come back to that part in a minute.
Shepard's first mission (and somewhat of a tutorial), will be on Eden Prime. There is a ancient Promethian artifact here that must be found and protected. If this mission were easy, this would obviously been a very short game. The Geth (a race of Synthetics), also want this artifact too. They have nearly killed every single scientist and Alliance soldier on the plant in order to find this artifact. Must be some damn fine piece right?
The Geth are being lead by Saren, A counsel Specter, who isn't really a shinning example of justice anyways. Think of Saren as a bad Specter gone super bad. Shepard and friends are determined to bring Saren and the Geth down before the bring in the real threat to the Galaxy. The Reapers.
There is more to the story, but I really want people to play this game. I am so obsessed with this game that I named my male Leopard Gecko Shepard.
Pros:
The story. OMG. I can't say enough good things about the story. The different races there are in the galaxy, all the way to the backstories of NPC's are just fucking amazing. Shepards ongoing frustration with the Counsel is what pulled me in. I felt my Shepard's frustration with these important and powerful aliens who are more than willing to turn a blind eye on the real threat to the universe.
The choices you make can either screw you or help you. I really enjoy this in games. It makes me feel like I'm apart of the world I've already been sucked in to.
The companions are hit miss. You have the humans. Ashley and Kaiden. I really didn't care for either of them, but I decided to romance Kaiden, who is kind of a whinny douche. I only picked Kaiden because I couldn't fucking romance Garrus!
I LOVE Garrus and used him in all of my missions. He's gruff but lovable. He also doesn't judge you too harshly if you decide to kill someone for no reason....not that I ever would. Paragon all the way here homies! I just wish my character was able to romance him in the first game.
Liara is always handy and I love the dialogue with her between missions.
This isn't a popular consensus, but I really didn't care for Tali or Wrex. These two characters were kinda blah. I'm sure Tali would have been more interesting had I been playing as a male-Shep. Wrex was the typical chip on his shoulder alien. He has every right to be pissed off (You'll have to play the game to understand that one), but it did get a little annoying after hour 7.
Sidequests are plentiful here. Plenty to choose from JUST in case you get bored of playing the main storyline. Sometimes they are a little long, but I tend to like long sidequests. Plus they help with leveling. Also new guns and upgrades are always nice.
While the customization isn't as vast here as it is in Dragon Age, I do like that you get to build your Shepard's backround story and fighting class. I personally enjoy a war hero Vanguard. Whatever back story you choose, there is also a side mission that goes along with whatever backround you choose.
Cons.
Yes. Even in an awesome game such as Mass Effect there are cons.
Elevator rides is the first con that comes to mind. These elevator scenes could have been cut much shorter, or been blacked out and skip me to the next scene. I found myself picking up a book while my character had to use an elevator. It's anywhere from a 50 second to a minute scene. No one wants to watch someone ride in an elevator. Yes. Some of the side missions are found only through riding the elevator, but we come back to the whole NO ONE WANTS TO SEE AN ELEVATOR RIDE!
I loath Mako missions. I hate that fucking car with a passion. It takes a while to get used to the controls involved with moving this vehicle. Eventually it does get a bit easier, but the journey is what sucks.
There was some lag issues with this game on my xbox. It's really not a big deal, but it does get a bit annoying when I'm in the middle of a gun battle and all of a sudden the game needs to buffer itself. It's a year old xbox so I know it isn't the machine. It's the game disc. I've had three copies of this game and all three did the same thing.
I can't review any of the DLC yet, because I haven't exactly played them. I'll have to do that and write another review later.
Now On to Mass Effect 2
This is without a doubt and arguably the masterpiece of this series. I say arguably because some do have problems with this game.
In ME2 you have the choice of importing your Shepard from ME1. Which will transfer all of your choices within the first game. If you romanced anyone it will also transfer in to ME2 as well. No levels or weapons are transferred, but you do get a couple of extra upgrade points for porting your Shepard to this game.
Or you have the choice of starting off with a brand spanking new Shepard of your choice.
This game brings on a new threat, new companions and some new challenges. It takes place shortly after the end of the first game. The Normandy is being attacked by a new enemy. Nearly all the crew escapes (a few crew deaths here and there, but no one major). Oh. Shepard dies. So that's a bunch of sadness within the first 10 minutes of the game. But don't worry. Cerberus wants to bring you back. This is where you are able to either change how your ported character looks and class. Or if you start a new game, you'll build Shep from the ground up.
Once you have been rebuilt, you are thrown in to a tutorial. The facility is under attack by synthetics. You need to fight your way out. Along the way you gain some help, which makes escape from the Cerberus facility easy enough.
The new mission is to take down the Collectors. They are kidnapping entire human colonies. A huge downer right? Turns out these fucktards are also working with the Reapers. Dudes need to go. As per usual, the galaxy depends on Shepard to save the day. Heaven forbid any other race step up to the plate to help.
This time you wont be with the Alliance, because you are working with Cerberus. The Alliance is rather anti-Cerberus. Just remember, you are with them for the greater good, Shepard and a few familiar faces decides it would be wise to use the vast resources Cerberus has to offer. Plus they rebuilt Shepard from the ground up.
Pros:
Again with the answer story telling. ME2 is more of a character driven story. There are companion loyalty missions that can be done. I cannot stress enough how important loyalty missions are. They will save your ass come the last mission. Like side missions, loyalty missions also help with the exp build up.
I was a giddy little fan girl here. Garrus is back and witty! This was soon followed by disappointment when I decided at the beginning of the game that I would be faithful to Kaiden. Damn my faithfulness! I finally have the chance to romance my favorite alien and I don't even do it! The characters in this game are pretty solid.
I greatly enjoyed Maranda. She's strong, sarcastic at times, knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. She's a believer in the cause and sticks to her guns. Gotta respect that in a chick. She is also a romance option for male-Sheps
Jacob is a great addition to the cast of characters. He has a very touching backstory. He is also a romance option for fem-Sheps.
Legion isn't a popular character by any means. But I liked it. Legion is a original Geth who is programed to interact with organic life forms. Legion's mission is to restore order to the Geth, take down the Collectors and ultimately take down the Reapers.
Thane is a freaking assassin. How could one not like him.
Jack is a pistol. Raw and full of bad assary.
There really isn't a character here I don't like. Even Tali grew on me after a while.
Loyalty missions are not only helpful in understanding the backrounds of your squad members, they are actually fun to do. Some of them are heart wrenching as well as warming.
While most people didn't like the change to the combat system, the loot whore in me did like this change. Unlike ME1, Shepard does not get a infinite amount of ammo. Thermal clips are usually dropped by enemies and not that hard to find. Although, it does get rather frustrating when one runs out of Thermal clips when being swarmed by Husks (The single most annoying enemy in ANY ME game), as well as boss fights. It's still fun to keep a watchful eye out for shinny little clips lying on the floor.
The end. I wont go in to detail or spoilers about the end of this game, but it is tense and satisfying. This is where loyalty missions come in to play and are vastly important.
Aria isn't a companion in the least, but I still liked her. Bitch to her very core and power driven. Usually I don't like these chicks, but something about Aria made me like her. I really can't put my finger on it, so I've stopped trying to determine why and just roll with it.
The upgrade system is satisfying. At least it was for me. Yet there is a draw back to upgrades. I'll get to that in the cons.
I know I usually save DLC reviews for last, but let's talk about Lair of the Shadow Broker for a minute. This mission Set's a new bar for DLC in general. It's not only important to the story, but if you have romanced Liara there is also a bit of a bonus here for you. This DLC is tense. The Shadow Broker does not make taking him down easy. Rightfully so I suppose.
I wont ruin this wonderful DLC for anyone, but I will say the Shadow Broker is one tough son of a bitch. If anything play this for the story.
The Arrival was TENSE. I can not stress that word enough. Shepard is solo in this mission, which is never wrecking enough as it is. Half way through the mission you are faced with waves upon waves of enemies. You wont die, but it's not a wonderful feeling when you do get shot down. Once you reach the half way point in this mission, it will be timed. Who doesn't love timed missions? This chick right here doesn't. But the clock gives you plenty of time, but it's still tense.
All the other DLC is kinda blah, but not completely unplayable.
Cons:
Mining is tedious to say the least. This needs to be done in order to upgrade your weapons, armor and ship. All of which you will NEED to do to survive the end battle. You'll find it's a decent distraction when you're tired of doing the main story line, side quests and N7 quests. Other than that, it just not very fun. Plus I found my thumb becoming very sore by the time I got done scanning a planet. Although, there is one plus side to this mining business. Go scan Uranus. Edi (the Normandy AI), is a little disappointed at your scanning choice here. It's really kind of funny.
As I mentioned before, running out of ammo during a mass battle is kind of a bitch. More than that, the weapons themselves are kinda blah. I found myself using the handgun and shotgun more often than anything else in my inventory. Oh and powers. Use your own and squad powers.
I don't really have too many cons about this game. I'll add more if I can think of any, but atm I can't. So let's move on to 3
Mass Effect 3. This is where it all comes to a head. Again, you can transfer your character from both 1 and 2, or start a new game.
The Reapers are taking over. Now they have brought the fight to every organic life planet in the galaxy. Had the Alliance and Council listened to Shepard's warnings, the Reaper attacks would not have come as such a big surprise.
We find Shepard has been under "house arrest" since the events of ME2. This quickly comes to an end once the Reapers hit earth. Shepard and company leave Earth in order to unite the races before the Reapers destroy all organic beings.
Before I start with the pros and cons, lets briefly hit on the original ending controversy. Many fans were outraged with the lack luster ending. I was one of these fans. When a developer makes the promises of "Multiple endings that bring closure to Shepards story" and "Your choices throughout the series will greatly impact the conclusion", I tend to take these at face value. This ending gave us none of these promises. In fact, the ending made our decisions utterly and completely pointless. Good, bad, blah ending. It was all the same, just done in a different color shade.
I'm not going to go in to the whole controversy here, mainly because Bioware did listen to the fans. The released a free DLC which extended the ending. These new endings are overall satisfying and answer many questions the original did not. For this I thank you Bioware. Thank you to all who put in the time and money to give us all the ending we all wanted.
Ha. I say this as if anyone from Bioware is going to stumble across my blog.
Pros
Again with the storytelling. Just like ME 1 and 2, the story here is top notch. There are some deaths in this game that are heart wrenching.
The new skill tree is a welcomed change. It gives an rpg element to a gave that feels like a straight out shooter.
Not much has changed game play wise from ME2 which is a good thing.
You are given the option of finishing off the romance you may have started in either ME1 and ME2. Or you have the opinion to start a brand spanking new romance. There are a lot more choices this time around. There is a little something for everyone romance wise.
The new characters are awesome. The familiar faces are always a pleasure as well.
Cons:
This is actually a mix of pro and con. The changes to the mining is rather.....different. No more watching your bar of useful materials. Scan a planet, you are told if there is anything useful and your done. This is good and bad. Good because my thumbs can take a stress rest. Bad because now I actually have to do side missions in order to keep busy. Oh. Also, the more you scan the more likely Reapers will find your ship. Not sure if I like this or not. I'm going to go with not so much here.
Still dislike Tali. Not to the extreme I used to, but she still annoys me.
I haven't downloaded many DLC for the third game yet. I did download From the Ashes. It gives you a Prothean team mate. Of course you have to acquire him from the clutches of Cerberus first. Which is no easy task.
I've already downloaded and played through the extended cut ending
I just downloaded Citadel. Which is the last DLC for ME3. I have yet to play it, so I'll make an update to this review once I have. But I keep hearing it's really good, so I'm excited to play it.
Don't have any other DLC. I'm not big in to multi player. Mainly because I don't want other people I don't even know to have a ring side seat and actually see how much I suck at shooters. Maybe I'll get there someday, but for now we're going to go with a no on that front.
As far as the other DLC, it more has to do with a lack of hours in the day and a lack of mirosoft points. I'll be getting them eventually for sure.
This series isn't perfect, but it damn close to it. As a whole I give the Mass Effect series a 9/10. The weaving of the story is masterfully done. I went through these games feeling something or another for each character. I'm so sad to see Shepard's story end. Thank goodness there is a new Mass Effect game in development. I'm excited to see where they take the series, and who our new hero is going to be.
All three games have some massive replay value. At present I'm starting a new game as a renegade Adept. Cause that's how I roll.
The series is worth the money dropped for it. Wait for Bioware to put out a game of the year edition for all three. This way it saves you as a consumer from spending butt loads for DLC. If I were a smart gamer that is what I would have done. Of course there is the chance there will be no game of the year edition, in which case wait for a PSN or XBL sale. f
