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. prossnip42
    Jul 29, 2018
    7
    Now before we begin i know i am very late to this but i recently purchased the Mass effect trilogy and i played through the entire thing. So let's start with the first one shall we

    Pros: -The atmosphere and the world building are top notch. Mass Effect works perfectly in establishing it's universe, the lore, the different species and the inevitable Armageddon coming your way to destroy    Now before we begin i know i am very late to this but i recently purchased the Mass effect trilogy and i played through the entire thing. So let's start with the first one shall we

    Pros:
    -The atmosphere and the world building are top notch. Mass Effect works perfectly in establishing it's universe, the lore, the different species and the inevitable Armageddon coming your way to destroy us all. Not at any point was i bored or disinterested. Hell even some of the more fetch based sidequests were very interesting

    -The story is phenomenal. People told me about how great the story in this franchise is and they weren't lying. Every decision you make can go back to bite you in the ass or even benefit you if you know what you're doing (Until Mass Effect 3 but we'll get to that). The voice acting is alos great for the most part

    Cons:
    -Now as much as i would love to say that Mass Effect one is a phenomenal game, it isn't. For one, the combat. It's awful. Like, really **** bad. The controls are slippery, using energy instead of ammo is pointless and cumbersome and the cover system is bar none the worst in the entire franchise.
    -The love interests. As i kept playing through the Mass Effect games i found out how important the love interests were. And Mass Effect 1's love interests aren't that great. There's Liara who's just amazing and then there's the boring space racist Ashley and the boring boring bucket of bore Kaidan. Seriously what do some of the fans see in Kaidan. He's so boring you might as well be romancing a stick with a gun

    In conclusion, all though flawed, Mass Effect 1 is a good start to what would become a great franchise    … Expand
  2. Sten-Bengt94
    Jun 4, 2014
    6
    I did not get immersed into this game and that is not the because of the story but it is because of the controls, hud and graphics of the game. It also got a bit repetitive so I couldn't continue because it wasn't fun enough to continue. Do not know why I bought it on sale because I regret it.
  3. Hambarr
    Jun 18, 2018
    7
    First of all, the main story of this game is fantastic. It is a really good introduction for the Mass Effect series which is one of the most iconic trilogy I have ever discovered in my video gaming experience. Each character is appealing in his own way, every companion has his own temper.

    However, there are some points that displeased me during my playthrough (maybe for some of them the    First of all, the main story of this game is fantastic. It is a really good introduction for the Mass Effect series which is one of the most iconic trilogy I have ever discovered in my video gaming experience. Each character is appealing in his own way, every companion has his own temper.

    However, there are some points that displeased me during my playthrough (maybe for some of them the reason is because I played this game recently and was disturbed by things that were considered good when the game was out) :

    - The side quests were really boring, most of the time they consist in exploring an almost empty planet then clearing a building which often looks like the one you cleared for the previous mission.

    - As I just said, the planets you will explore for the side quests are empty except for some resources and a building filled with enemies. This becomes quite repetitive after visiting some planets and makes exploration boring.

    - I personally disliked the fighting system with heating and weapon precision acquired through skill points, I found it very frustrating to wait until my weapon cooled to keep fighting.

    Nevertheless, I would still recommend to play the game for its main story and its character design which are his strong points.    … Expand
  4. AdamC
    Sep 2, 2008
    7
    An initially impressive game that is ultimately too short and too repetitive. I clocked a game time of less than 15 hours, and this included many of the side missions. While the main storyline and the core gameplay (think action FPS/RPG hybrid) are fun, the side missions are unfortunately mostly boring, generic, and repetitive and dont add much to the game. Since there are a couple An initially impressive game that is ultimately too short and too repetitive. I clocked a game time of less than 15 hours, and this included many of the side missions. While the main storyline and the core gameplay (think action FPS/RPG hybrid) are fun, the side missions are unfortunately mostly boring, generic, and repetitive and dont add much to the game. Since there are a couple lingering and annoying bugs, I'd wait for another patch or two and for this one to hit the bargain bin before picking it up.… Expand
  5. marto
    Aug 8, 2013
    6
    After I played for about 8 hours I finally surrender on the first planet outside the Citadel. Moving around is painfully slow, the dialogues are too long and most side missions are dumb as hell from the opening sentence. The inventory is so unpleasant that I don't look at it any more. Giving it a 6 because of the effort put into the game. It works. But it's so much behind Fallout.
  6. Ubermetalhed
    Sep 24, 2011
    7
    Over hyped and overblown, this game is not terrible but it isn't great either. It is good in the most average sense of the word. Great graphics aside, repetitive combat, dull characters, atrocious driving controls and a story which doesn't become interesting till the last 5th of the game make it distinctly average. It's functional but the game feels extremely shallow, surprising seeing itOver hyped and overblown, this game is not terrible but it isn't great either. It is good in the most average sense of the word. Great graphics aside, repetitive combat, dull characters, atrocious driving controls and a story which doesn't become interesting till the last 5th of the game make it distinctly average. It's functional but the game feels extremely shallow, surprising seeing it came from the makers of the exceptional KotoR.… Expand
  7. cunningmunki
    May 23, 2012
    7
    A great story, brilliant design and enjoyable gameplay is marred by an appalling inventory and user interface. The acting and dialogue is better than most RPGs, and the combat is good, although a little restrictive at times. The Mass Effect universe seems vast to start off with, and an overload of new characters, species and back-stories in the first part of the game can make you feel likeA great story, brilliant design and enjoyable gameplay is marred by an appalling inventory and user interface. The acting and dialogue is better than most RPGs, and the combat is good, although a little restrictive at times. The Mass Effect universe seems vast to start off with, and an overload of new characters, species and back-stories in the first part of the game can make you feel like it's going to take a lifetime to remember all the races, politics and history, but eventually you learn the important parts and the rest fall into place. Unfortunately, the poor interface takes so long to learn and get used to, it takes a while before you really feel in control of your character and their abilities and really start to enjoy the game.
    I'm looking forward to playing part 2.    … Expand
  8. JaydenPickens
    Feb 20, 2019
    5
    This game is a mixed bag. Sure, it has an interesting story, but what else? The gameplay is tedious, the speed of our character is a joke. I saw turtles running faster than Shepard. I played the game using a trainer, so I could run faster and guess what... did 100% of the game and finished it in 20 hours. I don't even wanna know how much time I would lose with that snail running the gameThis game is a mixed bag. Sure, it has an interesting story, but what else? The gameplay is tedious, the speed of our character is a joke. I saw turtles running faster than Shepard. I played the game using a trainer, so I could run faster and guess what... did 100% of the game and finished it in 20 hours. I don't even wanna know how much time I would lose with that snail running the game has. And most of the game is just about movement. Developers do not respect our time. Stop making games with slow running, because I'm tired of looking for solutions for this. The story kept me going and there were not many decisions to choose from as the game advertised. This is not Fallout New Vegas my friends. I won't call this a waste of time, because I really enjoyed the story, but it's not something I will play ever again by my own volition. I hope the second game is better. Pickens can't choose!… Expand
  9. davenbettridge
    Jul 11, 2011
    7
    Mass Effect is a mixed bag. On the one hand the conversation events, dialog, character and creature design, interior environmental design, its ambitious decision making ideas, some game play and RPG ideas are great and work well together but on the other hand the overall story becomes predictable, too much of the sci fi is cliche, the lack of tutorials means you dont understand how theMass Effect is a mixed bag. On the one hand the conversation events, dialog, character and creature design, interior environmental design, its ambitious decision making ideas, some game play and RPG ideas are great and work well together but on the other hand the overall story becomes predictable, too much of the sci fi is cliche, the lack of tutorials means you dont understand how the game works (even after finishing it), the shooting mechanics are crappy, the loot system clunky and the third quarter of the game becomes tiresome and repetitive. Mass Effect could also learn a lot of a game like Zelda Ocarina of Time for game pacing as there are large long sequences where the player finds themselves trapped in a non combat RPG environment for hours and hours rather then rewarding the player with new areas and action to break up the monotony. I found myself several times wanting to quit Mass Effect while playing and even found myself forcing myself to finish it. I dont want to seem over handed with my criticism as half of Mass Effect is good, but everything the game doe right, is then bogged down by issues. Mass Effect is a must play because of its superb sequel but as it stands by itself is only good, not great.… Expand
  10. KostasI.
    Dec 20, 2009
    7
    This game is flawed. Quite flawed. It has mediocre combat mechanics, boring and small sidequests, empty planets, a vehicle that as a necessary evil cannot be hurt even if thrown 1000 feet down from a mountain range and into a crater filled with natural spires and the game itself is as dumped down as you can get for "console" use. However these "problems" are as far as the negative This game is flawed. Quite flawed. It has mediocre combat mechanics, boring and small sidequests, empty planets, a vehicle that as a necessary evil cannot be hurt even if thrown 1000 feet down from a mountain range and into a crater filled with natural spires and the game itself is as dumped down as you can get for "console" use. However these "problems" are as far as the negative criticism can go. The space opera that Bioware has created is for the most part an excellent piece of making something from nothing. From this point on the game "sucks" you in. The characters for the most part are interesting and the conversations between them realistic. It helps that your own character talks and acts (though the female protagonist is notably better than the male one) with enough believability for you to not feel detract from the experience. Musical score is excellent, visuals are sharp though they perform a little unreliably and the low res textures show their ugly face in a lot of places (like characters cloths and bodies). Its too bad that the game lasts only 20-25 hours and another good 10 or so with the sidequests counted in but its enough to satisfy. Overall the game can use a lot of improvements here and there but its a testament to the rest of the work done with this game that it feels as such. Dragon Age origins on the other hand....… Expand
  11. ultraviper
    Mar 22, 2012
    7
    Great graphics (for its time), great story, and fun gameplay. It's a great game with a few flaws. The biggest flaw is the publisher. EA Games has completely stopped supporting this game. If you install it from scratch now, you can no longer get the (free to PC players) bring down the sky DLC as the webpage to download it no longer exists. You can't even add the cd-key of the game to EA'sGreat graphics (for its time), great story, and fun gameplay. It's a great game with a few flaws. The biggest flaw is the publisher. EA Games has completely stopped supporting this game. If you install it from scratch now, you can no longer get the (free to PC players) bring down the sky DLC as the webpage to download it no longer exists. You can't even add the cd-key of the game to EA's Origin service without help from a support representative, as the page to do so will tell you the registration was successful but then not add the game to your library. As for flaws in the game itself, skipping conversations is hard to do without accidentally picking a dialogue option sometimes because the skip key is the same key used to select an option. Also there is way too much loot in the game for the low inventory limit you have. You will tire of the "you are getting close to the 150 item limit" message very quickly. Other than that, the game is pretty short for a RPG but it's enjoyable, and the dialogue system adds to replay value because of the different options you get depending on whether your character leans toward good (paragon) or evil (renegade). And you'll definitely want to play this game just to get to its sequels if you haven't played it already!… Expand
  12. karmasleeper
    May 30, 2011
    5
    Otherwise decent story and characters diminished by lackluster combat, cookie cutter environments, cumbersome AI, and black and white morality system with virtually no impact on the characters or game outside of final decisions made at the end of the game.

    Mass Effect has a cover system which at first leads you to believe you'll be needing to use it. Using cover is almost always a    Otherwise decent story and characters diminished by lackluster combat, cookie cutter environments, cumbersome AI, and black and white morality system with virtually no impact on the characters or game outside of final decisions made at the end of the game.

    Mass Effect has a cover system which at first leads you to believe you'll be needing to use it. Using cover is almost always a disadvantage since the terrible AI will almost always bum rush you in large numbers. Staying OUT of cover is an advantage in these situations as you have more camera control and are able to protect yourself from their suicide rushes. This reduces the vast majority of encounters to simply running around wildly. Additionally, while Mass Effect boasts a number of character classes to choose from, there is some overlap between abilities with certain classes, making the game seem more varied than it really is.

    Environments, outside of the main story missions, are almost entirely identical. Mass Effect allows you to explore a wide variety of planets, but the terrain differs little and often only in color pallet. While exploring or doing side missions, you come across many structures with identical layout and rooms. Side missions are plentiful, but differ little in structure. Go here, kill this, find that, come home. There is little incentive to explore the galaxy and partake in content outside the main story line. The morality system, if you want to call it that, changes little beyond Shepard's responses. Acting like an avatar of virtue and justice versus an impatient killing machine carries no serious ramifications nor does it alter the course of the narrative in any meaningful way beyond a few encounters in the main storyline. Mass Effect's interface is another weak point. The menu system was obviously designed for consoles. No effort was made to create a more streamlined and user friendly interface for the PC port. When shopping, there is no way to compare what you currently have equipped with what you are looking to buy. The game requires you to exit the shop, open your inventory, memorize the stats of the item in question, talk to the shop owner again, click through his dialogue, open his inventory, and scroll through the list until you find the item you were trying to compare. The story is good but you'll get the feeling you've heard it somewhere before. The characters in your party are generally interesting each with their own unique backgrounds. Some of the most fun I had with this game was wandering around the ship and getting as much background info out of the various characters that I could, even if a couple of them are somewhat flat. The universe is well fleshed out and there is a lot of interesting glossary material to read through for those interested in lore.    … Expand
  13. Sirik_Matak
    Jan 11, 2016
    6
    The first Mass Effect is the best from all three, but it doesn't mean it's actually something to write home about. Well, at least to someone who read anything in his life beyond pornographic fan-fics and pretentious novels of 2000s. Unfortunately, the big chunk of post 2000 playerbase is made of the illitarate defined by the lowest possible denominator.

    Mass Effect is a mediocre third    The first Mass Effect is the best from all three, but it doesn't mean it's actually something to write home about. Well, at least to someone who read anything in his life beyond pornographic fan-fics and pretentious novels of 2000s. Unfortunately, the big chunk of post 2000 playerbase is made of the illitarate defined by the lowest possible denominator.

    Mass Effect is a mediocre third person shooter with little character customization that offers 2 ways of playing the game. Shoot everything and shoot everything with space magic. Bare bones, if you add a typical HOT pop-a-mole combat philisophy implemented in this game, that doesn't even tries to cover (pathetic pun intended) itself.

    One thing bugs me after my second playthrough. This game looks half-baked, or aborted in an early production phaze. There are parts of the game, where it seems that there was a creative spark somewhere, someone had a vision of a great s-f/space opera game, that wouldn't just make money, but will offer all s-f tropes and classics from all over in one place for everyone to enjoy. Then the writing started, art-direction department attempted to do something with style, aaaand... few weeks later they had to say "eh - ♥♥♥♥ it". And left the game with few interesting places to visit, few Codex (in-game lore encyclopedia) entries and a whole lot of filler content probably made by unexperienced interns. I do believe that most of the content in the game is a work of unexperienced hacks, just look at the Mako part of the game. I don't believe it would be passable even for a student. It boils down to disattachment between the lore part of the game, and the actual gameplay. The lore, places and characters are giving you a premise of varied experiences, but at the end of the game it all boils down to TPS action in a terribly designed locations. C&C boil down to occasional speech check (and since no one will play without these skills maxed out, everyone will get that option) that will end all filler quests non-violently with absolutely cringe-worthy dialogue lines. Just listen to the final dialogue with Saren. I couldn't help myself but laugh while listening to it. It's like taken straight from a terrible 10 years old s-f writer on the Internet. Just terrible.

    For a buck it's worth checking out. Just prepare for some cringe-fest and a lot of autism-inducing activities.    … Expand
  14. DW
    Aug 22, 2008
    7
    A decent but not great game that has been overhyped in the media. Granted, it is a Bioware title so you can be assured of some good degree of quality but unfortunately, as with Mass Effect--Bioware's homebrew game universe--the quality and depth of the game play has become progressively shallow in Bioware's RPG games of late. Having said that, Mass Effect is an excellent game A decent but not great game that has been overhyped in the media. Granted, it is a Bioware title so you can be assured of some good degree of quality but unfortunately, as with Mass Effect--Bioware's homebrew game universe--the quality and depth of the game play has become progressively shallow in Bioware's RPG games of late. Having said that, Mass Effect is an excellent game for those who enjoyed the Kotor games as Mass Effect mimics the style, narratives, and mechanics in many ways. On the downside, the overall campaign is fairly short and somewhat predictable even the first time through, leaving replay ability to suffer. This is further compounded by the shallow character system and mostly linear nature of the campaign and campaign options. Graphics, sound, and overall ambiance are what you would expect from a Bioware title and the game is truly a visual treat from start to finish. Equipment and character customization is a little tedious and woefully underdone for a game pronounced as an "RPG" but fits the bill for the style of the game offered. In all, if you're looking for an RPG with depth and engaging character development, look elsewhere. If you want an action-centric RPG-lite in a sci-fi and Star Wars like setting, this game was made for you. Once you've played it, If you think Mass Effect feels like an RPG designed for a casual console gamer, you'd be right--a mild learning curve, generally low difficulty factor, shallow game mechanics, and tons of action and eye-candy; these all describe Bioware's Mass Effect succinctly.… Expand
  15. Ghoster
    Jul 23, 2012
    6
    Great story, characters and overall whole world created around this game. Decent graphics for time period.

    Now the bad stuff. You should play this part only for story line. Game play is totally wrong and annoying. To be forced watching 5 min. Cut scenes without option to skip each time you die in boss fight is something i don't understand. So, must play just because of story and    Great story, characters and overall whole world created around this game. Decent graphics for time period.

    Now the bad stuff. You should play this part only for story line. Game play is totally wrong and annoying. To be forced watching 5 min. Cut scenes without option to skip each time you die in boss fight is something i don't understand. So, must play just because of story and preparations for part 2 and 3 which are pure 10. They fixed most of bad things in next parts.    … Expand
  16. SoManyGames
    Mar 11, 2012
    6
    Gameplay: Walk slowly down hallways, aim slowly at bad guys, press a button to take cover as they slowly walk and aim at you. Like every other console third person shooter, only especially slow.

    The story; you are a space marine fighting an alien force bent on destroying life. Sound familiar? It should, and I shouldn't have to list the HUNDREDS of examples. The definition of    Gameplay: Walk slowly down hallways, aim slowly at bad guys, press a button to take cover as they slowly walk and aim at you. Like every other console third person shooter, only especially slow.

    The story; you are a space marine fighting an alien force bent on destroying life. Sound familiar? It should, and I shouldn't have to list the HUNDREDS of examples. The definition of average.

    The one thing this game has over similar titles is the duologue options and customizations that allow you to feel like your game is special. It's not, but at least they pull off the ability to make you feel it is.    … Expand
  17. Joe
    Jun 5, 2008
    6
    Another HYPE game, like Crysis. Mass Effect has all the makings of a good game, but it is just simply awful to play. It has massive consolitis, as well as having the worst action sequences ever. As many have commented, the weapons are simply unusable and ineffective. Battles appear out of nowhere, and you get killed 1000 times, before magically, you don't. Very console like. The save Another HYPE game, like Crysis. Mass Effect has all the makings of a good game, but it is just simply awful to play. It has massive consolitis, as well as having the worst action sequences ever. As many have commented, the weapons are simply unusable and ineffective. Battles appear out of nowhere, and you get killed 1000 times, before magically, you don't. Very console like. The save system is insane, you can only save when you're NOT in an action sequence. Which means you start a battle, and cannot save during it, which means you make no progress. The storyline is decent, the voicing decent, and the overall Sci Fi feel is nice. But the action is simply terrible. It is NOT a shooter, nor a real RPG. Its like an interactive movie, which is cool, but it is grueling to get through scene after scene. The most disappointing part, is that beside Bioware releasing a game with massive technical problems and bugs, they delete posts on their forums from frustrated users asking for help. Sounds like a shenanigans to me.… Expand
  18. ChauncyB.
    Jun 21, 2008
    6
    Overhyped. A lot of fun stuff but at its heart it's a bland shooter mixed with a bland driving game mixed with a bland rpg. Imagine three games from ten years ago mixed together. I think all the positive professional reviews are because the beginning promises more than it delivers if you take the time to grind through it all. Bioware peaked with Knights of the Old Republic and has Overhyped. A lot of fun stuff but at its heart it's a bland shooter mixed with a bland driving game mixed with a bland rpg. Imagine three games from ten years ago mixed together. I think all the positive professional reviews are because the beginning promises more than it delivers if you take the time to grind through it all. Bioware peaked with Knights of the Old Republic and has not been able to recapture that level since.… Expand
  19. DylanB
    Jan 14, 2010
    5
    For such a high budget game, Mass Effect doesn't really offer not even average gameplay. The story is cliched and the pacing is beyond horrid during the beginning of the game. However, there are some great moments, Sovereign is pretty traditional in his goals, but the game manages to have its moments. If you can get past the mediocre gameplay, choice that doesn't change For such a high budget game, Mass Effect doesn't really offer not even average gameplay. The story is cliched and the pacing is beyond horrid during the beginning of the game. However, there are some great moments, Sovereign is pretty traditional in his goals, but the game manages to have its moments. If you can get past the mediocre gameplay, choice that doesn't change anything, and a somewhat predictable plot, you will have a good experience. It just feels like we've done this before.… Expand
  20. BruceH
    Jul 18, 2009
    5
    Great story ... at least from what I can tell from the constant crashes. If you own a quad-core forget about playing this game until BioWare gets around to patching the game. Countless people are complaining about the same thing. Great game, but virtually unplayable due to a plethora of bugs. It constantly floods the HyperTransport of the quad processor and locks the game. It sits on my Great story ... at least from what I can tell from the constant crashes. If you own a quad-core forget about playing this game until BioWare gets around to patching the game. Countless people are complaining about the same thing. Great game, but virtually unplayable due to a plethora of bugs. It constantly floods the HyperTransport of the quad processor and locks the game. It sits on my desk now as a paperweight until (or if) Bioware fixes it ... one year after it has been released for PC.… Expand
  21. ChristopherJ.
    Jun 25, 2008
    6
    This game is fun but not great. Things I liked: the non-linearity of the crucial missions, the optional missions were nice, the relationship building with all your crewmates (including lame romances), the depth of the information about the alien races and the history of the galaxy, the RPG character diversification, the sky was pretty in the various worlds, the final cut-scene, the music This game is fun but not great. Things I liked: the non-linearity of the crucial missions, the optional missions were nice, the relationship building with all your crewmates (including lame romances), the depth of the information about the alien races and the history of the galaxy, the RPG character diversification, the sky was pretty in the various worlds, the final cut-scene, the music during the credits. Things I didn't like: the computer partners attacking inanimate objects, having to re-watch looooong cut-scenes when replaying a difficult boss, the lack of physics-engine-related interaction (you basically just push buttons--you can't even jump! Half-life 2 is on another level because it brought real-life physics into the actual gameplay), I'm not sure the paragon/renegade points had any effect on the game, the lack of multi-player anything, the cumbersome process of omni-gelling items I didn't want in my inventory (this was soooo painfully dumb!), the optional missions got repetitive because the rooms have one of two lay-outs every damn time!--the designers obviously got lazy, and the steering on the vehicle seemed off. That's just about all I can remember liking and not liking in the past 2 minutes. I'm going to try Bioshock next week.… Expand
  22. ChrisB
    Apr 21, 2009
    6
    In typical BioWare fashion, they try to put in a bunch of conversations in the game to fill up a rather basic and simpleton plot point, or plot hole based on your viewpoint. Graphically beautiful, the graphics still don't make up for the fact that the story stuff tends to drag down the rest of the game on average. The game is also fairly short, and unfortunately, the replay value is In typical BioWare fashion, they try to put in a bunch of conversations in the game to fill up a rather basic and simpleton plot point, or plot hole based on your viewpoint. Graphically beautiful, the graphics still don't make up for the fact that the story stuff tends to drag down the rest of the game on average. The game is also fairly short, and unfortunately, the replay value is less than stellar because even though they have a hidden achievement system in the game, there really isn't a major desire to go back through it all to see it again just to see an alternative ending or text dialogue that doesn't really influence much else in the over all story.… Expand
  23. timtalosi
    Jun 5, 2009
    6
    This is a b movie. If i want to watch a movie instead of play a game i will go to the video store/ netflix and rent one. there are far better movies that dont require me to click my mouse to advance the movie. Though i know games will continue to evolve, and im getting older and more out of touch everyday, i wouldn't call this a game. I do love the visuals and the fact that they triedThis is a b movie. If i want to watch a movie instead of play a game i will go to the video store/ netflix and rent one. there are far better movies that dont require me to click my mouse to advance the movie. Though i know games will continue to evolve, and im getting older and more out of touch everyday, i wouldn't call this a game. I do love the visuals and the fact that they tried to make a story, but i have to stick with old rpgs like fallout 3, wow and such.… Expand
  24. AlanT.
    Jan 1, 2010
    6
    I was really excited to purchase this game from steam a couple months ago. Thinking it would become one of the best RPG games I would be playing and considering the high ratings people has been giving it but sad to say, it's not really enjoyable. This game certainly deserves a a better score if you can suffer through the long but confusing story of mass effect that has hours of I was really excited to purchase this game from steam a couple months ago. Thinking it would become one of the best RPG games I would be playing and considering the high ratings people has been giving it but sad to say, it's not really enjoyable. This game certainly deserves a a better score if you can suffer through the long but confusing story of mass effect that has hours of gameplay is extricating. The gameplay is fun but gets absolutely boring and excessive and most of the skills u are unlocking becomes one sided because u would be using the same skills over and over again. I recommend watching a few videos before purchasing this game. I love RPG games but this game doesn't suit my style. Graphics are decent but character designs need some more spicing up. I rate it a 6 for good voicing acting, huge environment to work with, and good story dialogues.… Expand
  25. AndreasH.
    Jan 29, 2010
    6
    Surprisingly weak game, considering the hype surrounding it. Lackluster graphics. Slow and repetitive combat. The Inventory. Level design. The saving grace for this game is the great character design and the interesting dialogue trees. I'm really surprised this game was so mediocre. Did not expect that. Well, there's hope with the second one.
  26. Surumbu
    Mar 20, 2011
    6
    ME is an ok game, not my favorite Bioware title but playable. The dialogue wheel created a huge disconnect for me as an RPG player, which hindered my overall enjoyment. But there's a lot to do in the game and it is very expansive, and has some nice "ooh" moments story-wise. IMO it's worth the time and money to play at least once.
  27. Nicotine
    May 1, 2011
    5
    Mass Effect: when X-treme Intergalactic Offroading is your flavor of the month. Mass Effect has a cult following rabidly defending this game with tooth and limb, and for good reason. The storyline becomes epic, the voice acting is stunning, and the sheer scope of the game is awe inspiring. You play as Commander Shepard, a space grunt with a few guns, some nifty tricks and an unwaveringMass Effect: when X-treme Intergalactic Offroading is your flavor of the month. Mass Effect has a cult following rabidly defending this game with tooth and limb, and for good reason. The storyline becomes epic, the voice acting is stunning, and the sheer scope of the game is awe inspiring. You play as Commander Shepard, a space grunt with a few guns, some nifty tricks and an unwavering urge to curbstomp whatever so much looks at him funny. It's an over the shoulder shooter, in which a lion's share of the gameplay involves you blasting your way past waves of enemies to reach an exit to advance the plot. The ability to outfit my weapons to evolve them, which seemed like a good idea at first, ended up becoming a race to see how many damage modifiers I could staple onto my shotgun, regardless of heat generation. A shotgun with enough damage boosters pretty much one-shots 90% of the games enemies. The controls are tight and responsive, regardless of the class you pick, though it bears mentioning that some classes are much more overpowered compared to others. Playing as a Solider class fit my play style best and helped take some of the edge off of the game's difficulty. Shepard's squadmates, the heart and soul of the game, are engaging and can be surprisingly complex if you let them. The main plot is largely linear, with a few branches for you to pick and explore and seventy tons of side quests which serve, largely, as busy work. If you're as obsessive about having a clean mission log as I am, you'll spend hours on the side quests which serve no real purpose in this game, which makes for a very tedious experience. The release of Mass Effect 2 means that the decisions you make in this game carry over, whether through brief cameos or minor storyline changes. If you enjoy ME2, then playing through ME1 exactly how you want is the best way to get the character and events in the second game set up, which means playing all the side missions, and making all the "right" choices. Like most Bioware games, the Karma system is in full swing. You can play as a Renegade, which means you place your own needs, and the needs of Planet Earth, before anything else, or you can play as Paragon where you try to be the nice guy, rewarding people for their trust in you rather than betraying them, and save as many folks, alien or otherwise, as you can. For the more indecisive of us, playing as something the middle is also fully possible. Who you chose to kill and who you chose to save carries over into ME2, resulting in shifts in the storyline reflecting these changes. It's sad to say, but unless you play ME1 to completion and carry over your save file to the new game, your experience in ME2 will be slightly diminished, especially if you enjoy a Paragon route. The graphics were stunning for their time, though they may seem slightly dated by today's standards. I found the main storyline to be rather dull, until the last few sets of missions, where things ramped up resulting in a powerful and breathtaking climax that you take part in. While many folks seem to have taken a shine to ME1's music, most notably those guys from Penny-Arcade, I found the 1980's retro space synths to be dull and repetitive. Speaking of dull and repetitive, the side quests involve you visiting the same half dozen locations, shooting things, hopping back into your tank (called the Mako) and scaling a mountain to reach yet another location. The amount of time you spend in your tank scaling rocks is tiresome and takes away from all the space-badassery. Granted, most of these side quests can be skipped all together, they still could have done a better job varying locations up. If you've been to one transport/abandoned research facility/space mine you've been to them all. Lastly, there is the issue of the alleged romance scene. Let me spoil this for you: it's about as risque as an episode of Family Guy. Fifteen seconds of kissing with a single butt shot left me rather disappointed, considering all the hoopla that was churned up over it. Standing by itself, Mass Effect does many things right, but its repetitive nature dulls much of the excitement. Playing Mass Effect just to set up Mass Effect 2 just the way you want it is akin to pulling teeth. Mass Effect had several moments of clarity and an ending that was supremely satisfying, however the repetitive Mako missions, uninspired action sequences building up to the climax and impotent combat permeating the core the ME experience leaves Mass Effect wanting. Unless you dig the ME lore, you're interested in developing a world different from the default setting in ME2, or if spending hours in a tank trying to navigate impossible mountains is your cup of tea, then skip ME and go right for its superior younger brother: Mass Effect 2.… Expand
  28. JimCorbett
    Jan 27, 2014
    6
    I found Mass Effect to simply be an average game. Though, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt since i never played it when it was originally released. The story was easily the highlight of the game. It's just unfortunate that it was so confusing for the first 5 hours of play. The gameplay is pretty stale, it's imply a cover-based shooter with some magic powers to use as well. ReallyI found Mass Effect to simply be an average game. Though, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt since i never played it when it was originally released. The story was easily the highlight of the game. It's just unfortunate that it was so confusing for the first 5 hours of play. The gameplay is pretty stale, it's imply a cover-based shooter with some magic powers to use as well. Really nothing new there. The vehicle segments are completely boring and i experienced a strange bug where all characters in the game world, friendly and enemy, turned to solid black pixels in several levels. I'm going to attribute that to this being such an old game and not made to run on current hardware. Also in the game there were tons of side missions and other planets to explore but there really wasn't any reason to do so. I never felt i was under-powered as I strictly followed the main quest line. In retrospect, i feel that if i did do all those side missions, then i'd be woefully overpowered for the storyline fights. Mass Effect is full of good ideas, none of which are fleshed out enough to make it a game worth playing unless you are a die-hard Space fan.… Expand
  29. birdman3
    Dec 11, 2013
    7
    I play this game having been an avid fan of the 2nd and 3rd installments in this trilogy. After having played through both games multiple times, I finally bought this game and played it. This game is much more like KOTOR than it is like Mass Effect 2; the influences of the KOTOR series are clearly evident. The first thing that struck me as odd was the sheer number of items in the game. InI play this game having been an avid fan of the 2nd and 3rd installments in this trilogy. After having played through both games multiple times, I finally bought this game and played it. This game is much more like KOTOR than it is like Mass Effect 2; the influences of the KOTOR series are clearly evident. The first thing that struck me as odd was the sheer number of items in the game. In Mass Effect 2, you handle only so many items (e.g. only a few different SMGs, Pistols, Assault Rifles, and a few sets of armor). In this game, inventory management is a necessity because you pick up items left and right. It's not bad, it's just different. It personally wasn't my thing.

    2nd point- the graphics in this game are quite dated, as is the combat system and AI. The graphics and textures are fuzzy at best, even when played on max settings. The combat system feels much more turn-based, like KOTOR, than free-flow, like Mass Effect 2. The biotic and tech powers don't have the level of depth that is presented in Mass Effect 2, and the weapon systems is very biased. I played as a Sentinel for the first time in my Mass Effect career, and I was mostly unimpressed. At the beginning, when I only had a few tech/biotic powers, battles were very boring because I could only use my abilities once every other battle because of the long cooldown. I relied heavily on my pistol, which was the only weapon I was allowed to use because of my character class. For the rest of the game, the only other weapon I fired was my shotgun on the rare occasion that I felt that it would be useful. This rarely ever happened. Once I leveled up high enough to have multiple powers, I felt unstoppable because I would blow all my cooldowns in every battle and destroy all my enemies. This was more fun, but I was still stuck using a pistol. Finally, the controls (especially while in cover) were very finicky. I found myself rarely ever taking cover, and mostly just ran around with my gun pointed out to shoot down baddies.
    Every thing that this game does right is continued in the future games in the series. Luckily, the things that just stand in the way of fun have been removed.    … Expand
  30. stern
    Dec 8, 2013
    6
    I have played many Bioware games: Baldur's Gate, Kotor, Dragon Age: Origins, Swtor... I came to play Mass Effect a long time after release due to a recent fascination with scifi books and movies, and a sudden free time in my life. So I consider my review somewhat mature and balance, and I'm not a Bioware hater neither a stupid fanboy.
    First, one of the reasons I think so many reviews are    I have played many Bioware games: Baldur's Gate, Kotor, Dragon Age: Origins, Swtor... I came to play Mass Effect a long time after release due to a recent fascination with scifi books and movies, and a sudden free time in my life. So I consider my review somewhat mature and balance, and I'm not a Bioware hater neither a stupid fanboy.
    First, one of the reasons I think so many reviews are high about this game, is because it fills a very empty niche. It's a clear fact that the scifi and space opera themes aren't much represented in the rpgs, and when it comes a game that let's you explore remote planets, imagine humanity future, dwell in galatic politics with different species... Well, this game is going to a thirsty and numerous audience who grew up with Dune, Star Trek, Star wars, etc, and always hoped to experience the same thing in a game.
    And Mass Effect delivers what it promises: it has great concept art, great graphics, a great feel, an eletronic and 80ish soundtrack, an average to good lore... But suffers from the same problems of many others BW games. One wonders how much they spend with writers while the company grows. Is the writing an underfunded sector? Are the writers few? Because their plots, dialogues and (some) characters, are as bland, immature and immerson breaking as one can get. And it's the same old formula of any BW rpg since Kotor, you always have a bulky, angry, agressive companion who worked as a mercenary and who tell plenty of stories of his battles; the protagonist is always a stupid manicheist characte, being either a perfect stupid and law abiding paladin or a ruthless monster who doesn't care about anything at all, withou grey tones between these two poles; the romatic relationships are always dealt with a complete lack of sublety and maturity; etc.
    What actually most surprised (and disappointed) me was to see that Mass Effect main plot is an exact copy of Kotor: an ancient space faring civilization built powerful stuff which is buried in several planets, a villain is after these artifacts and you are in a race against this villain, with all the universe hopes and future on your shoulders, but, ironically, the very own governments and political entities leading this universe you try to save doesn't recognize the threat.
    As you can imagine this leads to very bland experiences where no question is proposed to the player, where no though and conflicting choices need to be made, where you feel sometimes as banging your character head in the floor, only to be able to answer or react to things diffferently. Oh, but if you did that you would be acquiring "evil" points... And after you reach the half of the game, it's basically pure grinding and repetitiveness until reaching the end, and being interesting again. Add this to a worse combat system than Kotor or Dragon Age, where you can even change whom time member you control and this it.
    But Mass Effect isn't only bad points, as I mentioned is amazing to imagine humanity future, colonies in Mars, wars against others species, psionic powers... The Quaranians for example are very interesting and give many food for thought, specially as a reflection of real world politics.
    So, as a tl,dr: Play Mass Effect without expecting too much or a big deviation from your average BW rpg. Just be advised that this isn't like the first Deus Ex and there isn't any mind blowing event or amazing writing, just the overbeated "epic" story of good against the evil.    … Expand
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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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