Bonus Stage - Mass Effect

Due to the importance of narrative continuity in the series I decided analysing the Mass Effect trilogy was more appropriate then a single game. Mass Effect is a sci-fi epic made by Bioware who are known for the freedom of choice which they imbue into the player throughout their games, with Mass Effect being no different. This focus on story has crafted some of the gaming world’s most memorable characters from the Mass Effect series and due to the freedom the player has, how their character (Commander Shephard) interacts with them is upto them.

Though initially sceptical of Mass Effect as a generic sci-fi game as soon as I started the first of the trilogy I realised how wrong I was. Though the gameplay in the first game has its fair share of rough patches, including a particularly outdated looking GUI the story and characters manage to hook the player right from the beginning. Though inevitably the dialogue trees available to the player inevitably revolve around the familiar good, bad and neutral choices the freedom comes from the way the player needn’t pick one route in particular. Though my paragon Shephard was a clean cut hero in the first game, I felt by the second game I had been jaded by the goings on in the games universe and this reflected in my Shephard character. Though remaining good, occasionally I would choose the renegade paths to get the job done or if the character involved legitimately drew rage from me. Therein lies the true beauty of Mass Effect, perhaps more than any other game I felt myself developing different emotions for the characters within the universe. The players Commander Shephard is in the truest sense of the word the player’s avatar within this fantastic world, though nowhere close to true freedom the interactions in Mass Effect do at least emulate a real social interaction for the player.

The finales of the second and third games drew a real emotional bond with me, within each game the players and their allies are faced with threats which can literally cause the death of the allies you’ve interacted with for so long. After 100+ hours of game-play I had built a rapport with these characters and I felt the resolve to perform as well as possible in order to save them. Though the wording of this may sound a tad melodramatic I have several friends who played through the game and found themselves drawn to different characters then me and their experiences changed for it.

Though the engrossing and epic narrative would suggest the gameplay of the game would suffer, in execution Mass Effect is still an enjoyable third person shooter / action RPG. Though many believe with the stripping down of the RPG style micro management in the latter 2 games the game-play suffered, however it has always seemed to me this was more of a method of streamlining the gameplay into a more fluid experience. The popularity of the multiplayer mode added in the third game is a testament to the quality of the gameplay itself.

In conclusion I think Mass Effect is a shining example of how effectively narrative and gameplay can combine to create an exciting and atmospheric experience which is memorable and very enjoyable for the player.