Mass Effect

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3921 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,338 out of 3921
  2. Mixed: 443 out of 3921
  3. Negative: 140 out of 3921
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  1. Piruz
    May 30, 2021
    4
    Let's say that it's just not the worst game ever. It's kinda bad in everything, but better than 2 and 3. Give it 4, because today i'm generous
  2. MatthewT.
    Jan 7, 2009
    3
    This game should be getting a 8+. The game is fun, and I like the style. The story is not the greatest ever, but it keeps the game moving. The characters are not annoying, but not terribly complex either. Why a 3 then? Video Driver Lockups. Now I have a Core 2 quad core cpu (2.5GHZ), 3GB ram and a GeForce GTX 260. We are not talking low end system here. I updated drivers and direct x. I This game should be getting a 8+. The game is fun, and I like the style. The story is not the greatest ever, but it keeps the game moving. The characters are not annoying, but not terribly complex either. Why a 3 then? Video Driver Lockups. Now I have a Core 2 quad core cpu (2.5GHZ), 3GB ram and a GeForce GTX 260. We are not talking low end system here. I updated drivers and direct x. I turned down the settings on the card and the game to minimums and still got lock ups. Sometimes I would play for 3 hours and have no lockups, sometimes I'd play for 10 minutes before locking up. I finished the games main story arc, but gave up on trying to run ANY side missions. I got sick of rebooting. Let me explain. See when we lock up we don't just crash, oh no. We get into a loop and trash the video. Then we constantly (every say 5 seconds) request focus to the window. This has the effect of preventing you from being able to use the task manager to shutdown the game. Or the windows menu. Or anything else. The only way is to hard boot. That is hit the power button. Now if your lucky, like me, your computer will notify windows and shutdown properly...if not then good luck on not messing something up. Over all I'd say take a miss on this just because of the crashes.… Expand
  3. Outsdr
    Mar 23, 2012
    2
    Mass Effect: A console port with bad controls, a tutorial that tells you to do things that then don't actually happen when you follow the steps shown, dialog that goes ON and ON and ON and ON, spoken by characters with mouths that don't even attempt to sync with the words being spoken, just flap up and down like a muppet, but with even LESS expression; and on top of that ... great googlyMass Effect: A console port with bad controls, a tutorial that tells you to do things that then don't actually happen when you follow the steps shown, dialog that goes ON and ON and ON and ON, spoken by characters with mouths that don't even attempt to sync with the words being spoken, just flap up and down like a muppet, but with even LESS expression; and on top of that ... great googly moogly is it BORING. Run here ... talk to someone for 15 minutes. Run somewhere ... shoot something. See something to loot. Open it; there's guns, ammo, armor, and an option to turn it all into med gel. Select "Loot All" ... get med-gel. Talk to someone for 15 minutes. Watch a cutscene .... for 15 minutes. Honestly, out of the 3 hours I spent on it last night, I think I actually PLAYED for 20 minutes.… Expand
  4. SteveP
    Oct 15, 2008
    0
    This game will only run after you complete an internet activation - no internet connection, no gameplay. You are limited to 3 activations - the product description does not clearly explain this - customers are being cheated. Beware, the game secretly installs the copy-protection software SecuROM which many people consider to be malware. It is likely to cause problems with your computer This game will only run after you complete an internet activation - no internet connection, no gameplay. You are limited to 3 activations - the product description does not clearly explain this - customers are being cheated. Beware, the game secretly installs the copy-protection software SecuROM which many people consider to be malware. It is likely to cause problems with your computer and is almost impossible to remove.… Expand
  5. SethEvandor
    Jul 12, 2014
    0
    I've always called this game **** Effect" because really it's empty, devoid of interaction with environment, linear (the one exception is when you're supposed to pick the first mission because it's easier - I don't know why), and just basically a shooter with skills and items. It's not really an RPG. Your decisions are not important and you won't care. There are planets you can "explore"I've always called this game **** Effect" because really it's empty, devoid of interaction with environment, linear (the one exception is when you're supposed to pick the first mission because it's easier - I don't know why), and just basically a shooter with skills and items. It's not really an RPG. Your decisions are not important and you won't care. There are planets you can "explore" but really they're massive open areas with barely anything on interest. The game doesn't make you want to use the skills, it makes you want to just shoot. This game could of been a great RPG, but instead they went along a similar route as KOTOR, where action is the focus and anything time consuming just make the game feel like a chore. This game wasn't designed for PC, so I have to give it zero. It was the worst RPG I have ever played.… Expand
  6. PaulC.
    Jun 14, 2008
    4
    I can't get my head around the controls on the PC at all/ I'm stuck behind a wall, I can see enemies, but my character can't(or won't) look around to see them..I strafe (slide) closer to the edge of the wall...still no luck..a bit closer..I get eviscerated. My 2 buddies keep telling me they con't go places that they clearly can. The terrain is very artificial, i.e I can't get my head around the controls on the PC at all/ I'm stuck behind a wall, I can see enemies, but my character can't(or won't) look around to see them..I strafe (slide) closer to the edge of the wall...still no luck..a bit closer..I get eviscerated. My 2 buddies keep telling me they con't go places that they clearly can. The terrain is very artificial, i.e you try and go places and because of a bollard or a 4 ft drop the game has invisible "barriers" that stop you - Once you land on a planet it's all "on rails". But the combat system, while we are told it's better than the 360, certainly isn't up to the normal standard of PC games. Even NWN2 has a better combat system than this. To sum up, if you want great dialogue, great characterization, but console style gameplay frustrations and the sort of limitations PC's gave up in the 1990's, then Mass Effect might be for you. It's not as good as KotoR - and that's really sad. Sort out the awful unintuitive console control system and I'll have another look.… Expand
  7. LuisFrancisco
    Apr 23, 2016
    4
    This game is not a shooter and not also a RPG. Your choices, even though varied, lead always to a linear plot. For those who are familiar with good shooting games, this is extremely tiring and with limited resources. Each time you die of sudden form is bound to retrace huge paths and tedious dialogues. The game does not allow you to save during this huge dialogues and not during fightingThis game is not a shooter and not also a RPG. Your choices, even though varied, lead always to a linear plot. For those who are familiar with good shooting games, this is extremely tiring and with limited resources. Each time you die of sudden form is bound to retrace huge paths and tedious dialogues. The game does not allow you to save during this huge dialogues and not during fighting in any creature that kills you with a touch.… Expand
  8. OberiousLocke
    Aug 19, 2017
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Edit: Due to BioWare's recent middle finger to the fanbase, announcing it's focus on books and multiplayer and telling the people who wanted single-player DLC and content in Mass Effect: Andromeda to **** off, I will be changing all scores for my ME series reviews to 0.

    Mass Effect is the beginning of the original Mass Effect Trilogy (1/2/3). A science fiction third-person shooter/RPG, our journey takes place in the relatively distant future of 2183. You are Commander Shepard, an enlisted member of the Systems Alliance, Humanity's face to the Galactic community, who becomes the very first human Council Spectre, the elite of the elite, who answer to nothing but the Council, the ruling committee made up by 1 representative of the 3 major species of the Milky Way, The Turians, Asari, and Salarians.

    You start out with character creation, choosing your class, personal history and military service record, and customizing your face down to any scars you'd like. You also gain access to a repertoire of weaponry and armor that you can customize, with things like First-Aid systems in armor to slowly regenerate HP to specialized rounds that will rip through Organic targets for weaponry. On top of all this, each class comes with an expansive talent tree that you can fill out however you please. My only gripes with this gem are twofold. A) The inventory. It starts off slow, with maybe an item or two, and occasionally you'll get some after killing things, but as the game progresses, it begins a lootstorm of annoying proportions, to the point where I just mod my game to unlimited inventory and omnigel, and sell/destroy anything I don't need. B) The Talent Tree, while good, is disproportionately big to the amount of points you actually get without aggressive sidequesting.

    The game itself opens up after this to reveal a huge world for the player to explore, and codex entries to fill out even the seemingly unimportant bits in the background, even to how the weapons work. Worlds to explore in the Mako (a ground vehicle with a drunken rhino somewhere in its family tree, given how it handles) and side missions taking you from planets where you get ambushed by giant, angry space worms, to stations to rescue a man from extremists.

    Throughout your journey, you will meet people and recruit squad members to fight by your side, through thick and thin. An Asari politician who hires you and tricks you into killing her pirate sister, and a Krogan mercenary you recruit who also wants the head of someone you're after are just two examples of the unique people you will encounter, not to mention the romance you can build by conversing with squad mates in between missions.

    You also need to be conscious of your choices, as they can have minor repercussions or massive ones down the line, and affecting your Paragon and Renegade scores, to shamelessly steal two lines from Mass Effect 2's loading screens, lead to you either becoming the ultimate hero, or the ultimate badass. Will you choose to save the mind controlled innocents of Zhu's Hope, or try to save time, gun them down, and hope for the best after you kill the one controlling them?

    Last we touch on the Music. While a fair bit of it is synthetic, to keep with the futuristic tone, doesn't lessen any impact of anything. From the background music as you fight long and hard against the forces of Saren, to the epic orchestral tracks at the end, as the Normandy flies off into the cosmic Horizon to fight forward, it does amazing work at adding to the already deep world you fight in.

    An honorable mention purely because it's one of my favorite things in video games, the Save import. When you have concluded your Journey and move onto Mass Effect 2, you can use the config tool to copy your saves over to the ME2 directory, where you can import your Shepard into 2, then onto 3 later. Including all your choices, and the consequences.

    tl;dr - Mass Effect is the beginning of a trilogy that truly lives up to the word "Epic" with music to match the futuristic tones, beautiful locations and memorable people each with a personality and history of their own, despite iffy inventory management and talent tree's you could choke an elephant with.    … Expand
  9. 7ShadesOfEffort
    Apr 18, 2017
    3
    It's funny to see how after Andromeda's miserable fiasco the rest of the series started to look much better and the first one even strted to seem like something good and classic, especially taking into account «Mass Effect: RGB»'s fail . Well, if we're talking about game developers' stagnation and degeneration, then yes, it's the most classic example.
    I'm fine with characters although    It's funny to see how after Andromeda's miserable fiasco the rest of the series started to look much better and the first one even strted to seem like something good and classic, especially taking into account «Mass Effect: RGB»'s fail . Well, if we're talking about game developers' stagnation and degeneration, then yes, it's the most classic example.
    I'm fine with characters although BioWare never stopped to exploit same archetypes over and over again, I like how the universe is pretty elaborate and well-written. Graphics looks good even years later after release. What a wonderful foundation for a great game. But the GAME is bad. This scrappy incoherent mix of Gears of War-like shooting range arcade and rudimentary RPG elements is really unpleasant to play. BioWare have not only abandoned any attempts to come up with interesting and exciting gameplay mechanics, they also did not bother themselves polishing it. Abilities are all same and boring, guns' variativity is depressing (especially for biotics who are doomed to carry only a pistol for the entire game), teammates barely affect the fight, all side quests (outside The Citadel and DLC) are just boring grindfest of same outposts on same lifeless planets. Equipment and inventory are rather obstacle than something adding any gameplay depth, stats and skills are just atavisms from BioWare's RPG developer's legacy. So-called «choices» finally decayed to just «always click red vs always click blue». It's not like good vs edgy answers in dialogues is a big issue for me, the real issue is that at some point BioWare just stopped caring about anything else and started to forcefully shove these «HARD MORAL CHOICES WITH CONSEQUENCES» down player's throat. This worked pretty well in KotOR due to dualistic nature of The Force in SW universe, this worked fine in Jade Empire because it was well-incorporated into the lore inspired by eastern culture and philosophy. The only purpose «CHOICES» serve in ME is to convince players that their choice WILL have real consequences somewhere in further games. Bioware forced people to invest in their game, waste their time on side quests grinding, help crew members with their daddy issues, choose your allegiance and so and so on just because this SHOULD pay off somewhere in the future when the trilogy is over. But they lied. They didn't manage to do that and now I doubt that they even had any plans to. Same goes for story. This game presents itself as a story-based one but it actually doesn't even have a story to offer you. Only promises.

    2 out of 7: into the trash it goes.    … Expand
  10. ZenXianDi
    Aug 4, 2012
    1
    Good cut scene,charactors and decision element, unfortunately,the combat which makes up bulk of the game is hilariously awful.If you are spoilt by fun combat,this game will Make you **** BRICKS.

    Exploration is interesting for an hour until you realise you,re doing the same thing,seeing the thing which is identical 90% of the time and of course DAT MAKO and stupid terrain. Control    Good cut scene,charactors and decision element, unfortunately,the combat which makes up bulk of the game is hilariously awful.If you are spoilt by fun combat,this game will Make you **** BRICKS.

    Exploration is interesting for an hour until you realise you,re doing the same thing,seeing the thing which is identical 90% of the time and of course DAT MAKO and stupid terrain.
    Control during combat is clunky as hell,Shepard is a dumb **** who hump onto random object,stop firing for no reason(not overheating) and of course stop dead in his track for no reason(probably map issue XD).The combat is seriously THE WORST and will never be surpassed,PERIOD.

    Only to add to the stupidity of the combat,your teamate are just statues who just stand and shoot and die,on top of it the animation for all Enemy and teamate are god awfully stiff and unnatural.(Sprinting animation for enemy)

    The enemy AI,s intelligence is for some reason,is light years ahead of your brain-dead teamates.But they still bum rush into your face too often.

    If you,re new,you will die a thousand time,then all of a sudden you become so overpowered that you just steamroll over everything,it is either tedious or bland and never fun.

    If you can withstand **** combat,the game is quick to reward you with unpredictable glitches and bug,and lack of autosave will force you to go through hell repeatedly

    Avoid this game like plague ,start with Mass Effect 2 instead.    … Expand
  11. Mr_Fabulous
    Jun 11, 2014
    2
    Years after its release, I decided to give ME a go after several peoples recommendation. Things started out great, it was interestingly complex and very different from anything else I had played. This feeling quickly faded after just the first mission. The voice acting is what got me first. It was laughably bad except for Joker who was voiced by Seth Green. The story is what got me nextYears after its release, I decided to give ME a go after several peoples recommendation. Things started out great, it was interestingly complex and very different from anything else I had played. This feeling quickly faded after just the first mission. The voice acting is what got me first. It was laughably bad except for Joker who was voiced by Seth Green. The story is what got me next and was the most disappointing. I was always told that ME was a hallmark in story telling games but I found this story to be generic, bland, and slow. Couple this with bad AI, less than stunning visuals, engine problems, and the commanders slow jogging and this turned out to be one of the absolute worst games Ive ever played.… Expand
  12. Jingernut
    Feb 13, 2011
    4
    From all the reviews, I was looking forward to playing this game. What a let down though. Found the whole squad and inventory management to be cumbersome and tiresome to use. Didn't feel like I knew where I was going or what I was meant to be doing a lot of the time. And the combat was just awful. Can't see what all the fuss was about and won't be getting ME2 or ME3 on the PS3 if they areFrom all the reviews, I was looking forward to playing this game. What a let down though. Found the whole squad and inventory management to be cumbersome and tiresome to use. Didn't feel like I knew where I was going or what I was meant to be doing a lot of the time. And the combat was just awful. Can't see what all the fuss was about and won't be getting ME2 or ME3 on the PS3 if they are anything like this... which I imagine they are. What a disappointment.… Expand
  13. EliasO.
    Aug 18, 2008
    0
    The story is about the only thing that makes up for the rest of the games flaws - Riddled with bugs, weapons overheating and staying overheated etc! And the downloadable content package is just one mission, and I doubt the other packets that come out will be free..It's just not the style of EA Games, they'll probably push out a lot of content for pay. CONTENT THAT SHOULD BE FREE!
  14. Tpiom
    Jan 7, 2011
    4
    I was HUGELY disappointed when I got this game, there's so much exposition that you want to puke and the level design is uneven - some worlds such as "The Citadel" looks polished while other planets (Noveria) looks like it was finished in an afternoon. Also, I did not even find the main villain intimidating and it was more of a FPS than a RPG game: imagine a FPS game with RPG settings andI was HUGELY disappointed when I got this game, there's so much exposition that you want to puke and the level design is uneven - some worlds such as "The Citadel" looks polished while other planets (Noveria) looks like it was finished in an afternoon. Also, I did not even find the main villain intimidating and it was more of a FPS than a RPG game: imagine a FPS game with RPG settings and you get Mass Effect. Also, you have almost your full party two hours in... and they join you with no real reasons. I found the combat system also broken... Stay away from this (and its sequel?)!… Expand
  15. TheYeIIowDucK
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    Generic cover-based shooting, **** vehicle sections, irritating inventory system, pointless and annoying side quests, stupidly useless leveling system, and a novel-worth of dialog in a dire need of editing. I don't see why people love it so much. It's a padded piece of **** It took me almost 30 hours to complete it, and for no damn reason. The story isn't deep or interesting at all, itsGeneric cover-based shooting, **** vehicle sections, irritating inventory system, pointless and annoying side quests, stupidly useless leveling system, and a novel-worth of dialog in a dire need of editing. I don't see why people love it so much. It's a padded piece of **** It took me almost 30 hours to complete it, and for no damn reason. The story isn't deep or interesting at all, its background is. The game literally forces you to go through 4 planets (each with around 3 hours of gameplay) for no damn reason besides lengthening the playtime.… Expand
  16. J.N.
    May 31, 2008
    0
    Not sure what systems the professional reviewers used, or were they possibly supplied by Bioware? Why do I ask? Because the game is HIGHLY UNSTABLE, with problems ranging from FPS Crawl, GPF's, Crashes, OS REBOOTS, unexpected termination of other background tasks, and even in one instance I saw a potential case of OS Filesystem corruption (likely due to another unexpected reboot). It Not sure what systems the professional reviewers used, or were they possibly supplied by Bioware? Why do I ask? Because the game is HIGHLY UNSTABLE, with problems ranging from FPS Crawl, GPF's, Crashes, OS REBOOTS, unexpected termination of other background tasks, and even in one instance I saw a potential case of OS Filesystem corruption (likely due to another unexpected reboot). It would be good advice to wait at least 3-6 months until they and/or Nvidia (or ATI, as they're having problems too) get out enough patches & fixes to get the game stable. As it stands, I gave it a rating of 0 (zero) as I can't even get into the game itself to sample the gameplay. ASUS P5N32-SLI w/Intel C2D E6600 @ 2.4GHZ, 2GB Corsair RAM, Creative Labs Xtreme Gamer audio, 2xNvidia 7950 GX2 (Quad SLI), Windows XP Professional SP2. Naturally the sound and display drivers are the newest available.… Expand
  17. StephenY.
    May 18, 2008
    0
    Normally I would never consider rating a game before it comes out but in the case of Mass Effect for the PC I already know everything I need to know about this game to come to the conclusion that no one should purchase it. This is a real shame because my reasons for this are not because I think the game will not be fun, but because Bioware/EA has chosen to encumbered this game with Normally I would never consider rating a game before it comes out but in the case of Mass Effect for the PC I already know everything I need to know about this game to come to the conclusion that no one should purchase it. This is a real shame because my reasons for this are not because I think the game will not be fun, but because Bioware/EA has chosen to encumbered this game with â??Digital Rights Managementâ?… Expand
  18. CelestianC
    Jan 6, 2010
    3
    The game itself is interesting but the cinematic+combat scenarios formajor battles was not optimized for the non-standard character. My main and 2 side kicks would get 1 shot, forcing me to run through each of these 20+ times till I managed to not get 1 shot. Reminded me of the old coin games that were made simply to eat our cash. Was terrible. The world itself was stunning.
  19. JohnM.
    Jun 21, 2008
    0
    The most unstable game I've ever had the misfortune of installing. It really destroys all confidence in the reviews that the 'professionals' have posted concerning this game (and any other game for that matter). How they can hand out 9/10 and 10/10 reviews for this pile of steaming turd is beyond me. I think it demonstrates quite clearly how the 'review' industry The most unstable game I've ever had the misfortune of installing. It really destroys all confidence in the reviews that the 'professionals' have posted concerning this game (and any other game for that matter). How they can hand out 9/10 and 10/10 reviews for this pile of steaming turd is beyond me. I think it demonstrates quite clearly how the 'review' industry really operates. Don't waste your money on this half-finished, bug ridden rubbish.… Expand
  20. Patrick
    Jun 8, 2008
    0
    This game will not let you save most of the time (even out of combat). So you can not quit playing when you want to do something else or have to use your computer. Customer support told me this is not a bug and will not be fixed. Game went back to the store.

    Not usable by people who have a life or use their computer for something other than Mass Effect.
  21. PaulT.
    Sep 6, 2008
    0
    Limited to 3 activations. Nothing is said about this on the product labeling and descriptions. Consumers are being cheated. How will you install this game in the future when they turn off the activation server?
  22. LeeW
    Apr 5, 2009
    3
    This game is not only bad in the form of DRM "protection," but the fact that it's incredibly glitchy and barely anything in it is absolutely nothing special. Mass Effect is a big bag of mediocrity spanning a galactic 12 gigabytes of hard drive space. It's a big game, but the characters have terrible lines and voice acting, which makes for an incredibly unrealistic experience. This game is not only bad in the form of DRM "protection," but the fact that it's incredibly glitchy and barely anything in it is absolutely nothing special. Mass Effect is a big bag of mediocrity spanning a galactic 12 gigabytes of hard drive space. It's a big game, but the characters have terrible lines and voice acting, which makes for an incredibly unrealistic experience. The player ends up having to choose every single line he or she says, knowing that they all will be disastrous to one's ears. The story is blatant plagiarism from various science fiction TV shows and movies being mashed together for an outcome that sounds a lot like Star Wars. The action sequences have no flare, with only four weapons (except for those useless magic attacks) and little to no AI. You fight the same enemy, and they do the exact same thing. The graphics are less than expected for 12 gigabytes. It's based on the Unreal Engine, so expect tons of lag anyway on an HD4870 with 3 GB of RAM and a 3.01 GHz clock. The lens flares are possibly the ugliest things I've ever seen and the texture detail level varies incredibly. One of your partners probably has a 2048*2048 face, while another has possibly a 512*512, making for a massively unreal effect (god I'm that good with puns). There are so many light sources that the ugly fake projected shadows of the charactes jump around like they're doing a dance. And then there are the bugs. One of the missions has absolutely no textures. Another time I had to play through the game with a sniper rifle with no zoom. You have to save before going into an elevator because half the time you won't be getting out. The sound is a problem from the Unreal engine again, where sometimes every single one plays at once, even the ones in places in the levels like a mile away, with no volume difference. Oh, and quicksaving while walking crashes the game. Have fun.… Expand
  23. JamesH
    Aug 10, 2009
    0
    This game fails to ever run on vista until you preform a work around and Bioware is too freaken lazy to even produce a patch. The game has cheap graphics and predictable plot. The only saving thing about this game is its creative dialog which becomes boring after an hour or two of game play.
  24. OrenI.
    Aug 3, 2008
    3
    As an intense PC gamer, I naturally thought a game with a 90 would be an excellent choice... WRONG! With decent graphics, this 3rd person shooter is neither fun nor exciting. I tried to get into it 3 times....all have failed. For a game that has components of star wars games and gears of war, I have never been so disappointed.
  25. AnonymousMC
    Sep 12, 2008
    0
    There's nothing special about the story and I can name at least 100 games with better storyline than this crap. The shooting is extremely boring and requires no skill at all, because the creators tried to make it look more like an RPG, but I can hardly classify this game as an RPG, it's more like a third person shooter with customatisation of the character. Another extremelyThere's nothing special about the story and I can name at least 100 games with better storyline than this crap. The shooting is extremely boring and requires no skill at all, because the creators tried to make it look more like an RPG, but I can hardly classify this game as an RPG, it's more like a third person shooter with customatisation of the character. Another extremely overrated and overhyped game.… Expand
  26. thefnord
    Jul 9, 2009
    0
    Never have I played a game in such a state of disrepair as this. Not only are there bugs around every corner, but the enemies are stupid, the acting is bad (though some good people make starring appearances, they are very few), and the story is pried directly from the frozen dead hands of the amazing science fictions of old, such as Star Trek and Star Wars, among other less-renowned Never have I played a game in such a state of disrepair as this. Not only are there bugs around every corner, but the enemies are stupid, the acting is bad (though some good people make starring appearances, they are very few), and the story is pried directly from the frozen dead hands of the amazing science fictions of old, such as Star Trek and Star Wars, among other less-renowned series and films. I didn't find many plot holes, but everything was predictable and generic. Add to that cinematic effects and you have a gaming masterpiece. This is my first and last BioWare purchase.… Expand
  27. JoeyV
    Nov 3, 2009
    3
    I was severely disappointed with this game. I am a huge fan of RPGs, so I had high expectations since this was coming from the almighty RPG gods, (BioWare.) but instead I found bad acting, lock-ups galore, and awful gameplay. It's just boring. There is nothing fun about it. It doesn't make you feel like you are a role-playing a space commander. And yes, I have a $1,500 gaming I was severely disappointed with this game. I am a huge fan of RPGs, so I had high expectations since this was coming from the almighty RPG gods, (BioWare.) but instead I found bad acting, lock-ups galore, and awful gameplay. It's just boring. There is nothing fun about it. It doesn't make you feel like you are a role-playing a space commander. And yes, I have a $1,500 gaming desktop with an Intel Quad Core and a NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX, and I found several lock ups, which are very frustrating in an RPG. I'm sorry BioWare, but this sent a Mass Effect of despair through my body.… Expand
  28. AdamL
    Dec 24, 2009
    4
    Although this game had potential, I wasn't able to play through very far into the story before getting frustrated with it's slow play. I tend to play games on the mid-to-low graphical output levels so I can get the peak performance from my computer which can handle most recent games at fairly high levels. Mass Effect looked foggy on any setting below max. The gameplay was Although this game had potential, I wasn't able to play through very far into the story before getting frustrated with it's slow play. I tend to play games on the mid-to-low graphical output levels so I can get the peak performance from my computer which can handle most recent games at fairly high levels. Mass Effect looked foggy on any setting below max. The gameplay was sluggish and unexciting I would love to play this game on a machine capable of handling it with the outputs maxed but I would still feel disconnected from the characters, the action and the story.… Expand
  29. eroeru
    Feb 25, 2017
    3
    Mass Effect effectively killed off a legendary game developing company, by becoming what EA sees and wants to see as a sort of standard or staple in gaming. And it's a streamlined and boring staple at that. I'll allow myself a small rant on ME in general, after seeing what potential Bioware has wasted (played through both Bioware classics and the new, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ games - they don't compare inMass Effect effectively killed off a legendary game developing company, by becoming what EA sees and wants to see as a sort of standard or staple in gaming. And it's a streamlined and boring staple at that. I'll allow myself a small rant on ME in general, after seeing what potential Bioware has wasted (played through both Bioware classics and the new, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ games - they don't compare in quality, the new ones are frankly an insult to a player of expectations over fetch-quests and xeno-sex).

    ME takes away most all player agency, just letting the player click on inconsequential stuff and run through halls, doing tedious tasks, only to shoehorn in some superficial sex scenes with space jocks -and cheerleaders. Characters are not smart (even "scientists" are just appropriated and shallow image of the real thing here, they actually make no sense at all), the plot is not at all plausible nor involving, making the whole thing not believable in any way.

    No need to use logic by the user or find meaning in anything, just need to run through corridors and fantasize over appropriated alien species, buff Mexicans etc. No limited resources, or risk, everything is handed to the player for visual stimuli and the comfort of clicking mindlessly. As long as the player can envision themselves as a stupid yet happy and successful (well-endowed) space-Jesus wannabe without whom everything would be annihilated and whom everyone needs and loves.

    Truth be told, that's the gist of the ME series. Shame they destroyed DA so easily after Origins, just to make all their games "like ME". I'd be surprised if anything half-decent comes from EAoware in the future. Even moreso because ME did not appeal to anyone as a shooter, nor did DA2 or DAI appeal in its gameplay (whilst DA:O did so for many).

    Go play DA:O or the Witcher series instead. Those are games made out of love, not for easy money in the short term granted by appeal to some low low denominators.

    Traditional scoring systems fail here. The game watered down RPGs and expectations for them in general.

    Make it rather a negative five.
    Yet, for many people overall liking it, femshep being decent (though I'd much prefer if we'd play our own story, not hers, via a silent protag whose lines we can actually choose), I will compromise for a 3. : )

    It is a decent even if overdramatized and unoriginal space opera. And more importantly, an original space dating sim. : )    … Expand
  30. theNILE
    Mar 14, 2013
    1
    Catastrophe, linear game-play, the one time you do get a choice in missions, one is ridiculously harder which is pretty much the embodiment of developer idiocy. Weapons are imbalanced and taking the harder route doesn't make the game much more entertaining. The storyline is just pointless, you are up against an unknown enemy and all of your missions are pointless in the end, you just killCatastrophe, linear game-play, the one time you do get a choice in missions, one is ridiculously harder which is pretty much the embodiment of developer idiocy. Weapons are imbalanced and taking the harder route doesn't make the game much more entertaining. The storyline is just pointless, you are up against an unknown enemy and all of your missions are pointless in the end, you just kill your enemy and the game is over, nothing is really answered and you don't feel any satisfaction. Level design is terrible as well. If you enjoy real games with real value, this game is to be avoided. ME is just a game created for visuals and people suck it in.… Expand
  31. escograu
    Dec 13, 2015
    2
    AI of your teamates and fight is really awful, REALLY AWFUL. Story probably was written in 1-2 nights, cuz is completely not interesting and short like a chinese dick. Story seems like from some old, sci-fi book which costs 1$ and nobody knows that it is even exists.
  32. Shmorgan
    Mar 20, 2017
    4
    Mass Effect is one my favorite games. Fantastic writing and gameplay.

    Pros + Storytelling + World + The way looting is done in this game is fun. + Planets that are big to explore and the planets are even big enough that you get a vehicle you can drive to explore the planets. Cons - Dialogue wheel, I prefer to see texts in sentences to select. - The item management    Mass Effect is one my favorite games. Fantastic writing and gameplay.

    Pros

    + Storytelling

    + World

    + The way looting is done in this game is fun.

    + Planets that are big to explore and the planets are even big enough that you get a vehicle you can drive to explore the planets.

    Cons

    - Dialogue wheel, I prefer to see texts in sentences to select.

    - The item management in your inventory is a bit terrible.

    - Gunplay is not that good, combat engagement seems stiff.    … Expand
  33. Wineneeder
    Sep 30, 2019
    1
    This is the effing game everyone liked in 2007? It looks like **** for the time, the textures are that xbox 360 low res crap and the gameplay is horrible. No wonder RPGs are all horrible now.
  34. EptaEpt
    Sep 13, 2022
    1
    Sorry, but positive feedback is not available in your region. At least until your leadership changes the two-faced policy in their actions and statements.
  35. MillersWeeb
    Nov 16, 2018
    4
    Игра полно говно. Герой чурбан, единственное что норм, это азари. Выбора нет.
  36. Gorbunov2004
    May 18, 2021
    3
    Стрельба убогая, карта и мини-карта полная фигня. Интерфейс убогий и не понятный. Напарники тупые болванчики которые умирают от пары попаданий. В этой игре только сюжет более менее!
  37. KIrillooss
    Dec 9, 2021
    4
    "Легендарная игра", которая стала моим самым большим разочарованием. Из плюсов в ней это хороший сюжет и интересные персонажи. Всё остальное либо очень среднее, либо плохое. В начале игра кажется классной и интересной. когда ты попадаешь в Цитадель и бегаешь по ней, разговариваешь с персами, то игра кажется очень интересной, но как только ты начинаешь делать боевые задания, то игра сразу"Легендарная игра", которая стала моим самым большим разочарованием. Из плюсов в ней это хороший сюжет и интересные персонажи. Всё остальное либо очень среднее, либо плохое. В начале игра кажется классной и интересной. когда ты попадаешь в Цитадель и бегаешь по ней, разговариваешь с персами, то игра кажется очень интересной, но как только ты начинаешь делать боевые задания, то игра сразу превращается в пресное говно. В ней зачем-то много планет, которые отличаются лишь цветом и немного ланшафтом, в остальном это пустые локи, которые не заполнены вообще ничем. На них есть какие нибудь 3 точки, большая часть из которых это какие нибудь разбитые кораблили или что то типо это. Побочные задания это вообще ужас. Они все одинаковые и состоят в том что ты прилетаешь на планету, ездиешь на ней, выходишь, стреляешь. На этом всё. Никаких интерсных ситуаций. Все здания в побочках одинаковые. Они почти не отличаются друг от друга. Ctrl+c Ctrl+v. Боёвка отвратная. Я взял себе снайпера и в начале игры ты вообще не можешь стрелять из неё, потому что гг как будто пьяный, прицел водит просто пиздец как. Только когда ты прокачиваешь перса, тогда становатся хоть немного терпимо, но всё равно стрельба плохая. Укрытия реализованы плохо. Зачем то надо таскать за собой всё оружие из игры. Ты не можешь выкинуть оружие, которое твой гг не умеет использовать. Классная реализация. Управление неудобное. Ролевые элементы практически отсутствуют. Билдостроения нету. Доп статов на оружии и броне мало. В игре нету классной брони и оружия. А так же в игре есть баги, после одного из которых я и дропнул её окончательно. Там была побочка, где надо было отрубать какую то хрень. И если ты отрубишь её раньше чем убьёшь всех врагов в комнате, то квест не застичивается.
    Первый Ведьмак, вышедший в том же году, что и это недоразумение, ставшее культовым, просто в десятки раз круче и интересней геймплейно и сюжетно    … Expand
  38. RomeoOreo1
    Apr 11, 2022
    3
    Doesn't like it. Because a stupid bug stopped me from playing the game after 5h I don't think my opinion is that important but the 5h I could actually play it were terrible

Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best PC Game of 2008
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
5
#5 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 45
  3. Negative: 0 out of 45
  1. GameSpot
    90
    Whether you're a seasoned Spectre looking to suit up again, or a newcomer who has never set foot on the Normandy, the refined PC version is your best choice for experiencing this excellent game.
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  2. PTGamers
    95
    Mass Effect PC wasn't rushed, this version has clearly been thoroughly thought-out to exploit the advantages of this platform.
    Read full review
  3. G4 TV
    100
    Computer owners are getting everything found in the Xbox 360 game, including achievements and online leaderboards, but with better visuals, smoother action, and a more streamlined interface. That the game rings up at a lower retail price and offers the first expansion pack as a free download is simply icing on the cake.
    Read full review
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