Mass Effect 1 (PS3) Review

2007's Mass Effect was the first in a series of cinematic, character-driven, RPG's, but it had only just arrived on the PS3 in December of 2012. With the release of Mass Effect 1 on the the system, PS3 owners can now experience the full scope of the space odyssey. The game is nothing short of grande. The scale of Commander Shepard's first outing is quite epic. From the various star systems and the numerous planets throughout them, it comes as no surprise that I finished the game in over 30hours.


The scale of the game--even if it is padded with retreaded planet and interior skins--is still impressive. It injects a sense of wonder and discovery. The star systems can be charted at your own pace. You can stick to the main storyline and focus on your quest to bring in a rogue Spectre, or you can find the time to save a group of scientists or two, from there own experiments gone wrong. There is, again, a bevy of side questing to be done. They vary in the type of activities that they require. Some missions call for a bit of subtlety, in the form of quick negotiations via the dialogue wheel. Some missions may begrudgingly require you to fetch certain gadgets or devices. Some missions may layout options for you, sometimes resulting in story altering conclusions. Regardless of what kind you're doing,  missions can feed into your characters morality. 

Far Cry 3, Mass Effect and the Importance of Character

 Characters In games, what makes us care?

Mass Effect 2 (EA) and Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)

Necessary for what, one might ask? Well, for things such as an engaging narrative or the obvious creation of likable characters. Is Nathan Drake, from the Uncharted series of games, a character one roots for because of an earnest empathy or care for his well being? or is he merely likable because of the supposedly everyman player-self-identifiable character design of which he sports? I think we all claim to like characters for the layered, multi-self persona that they sport in games, but is that necessarily what may make me care about my Mass Effect series Commander Shepard, I'm not so sure. In the case of Mass Effect, Commander Shepard can be, at times, schizophrenic; in as far as coming off ultra-paranoid( and strange), to the point of appearing--more accurately sounding--as if Shepard has lost touch with the realities of his/her situation.

For a rough example: the player could possibly choose to utilize the dialogue tree, and with certain choices, portray a Shepard of a calm even keel and reasonable persona. But if that same player deviates from the path of sainthood--in Mass Effects case: Paragon choices--then they show a complete shift in personality, with too great a change in self to be regard as a mere natural shift in either status earned or the role played, by  Shepard in the society of the game. Thus the dichotomy of Paragon and Renegade meters( which simultaneously represent,respectively, "Good morality and Bad morality") creates a dysfunctional, in-coherent split personality character that nonetheless is still beloved by many. Some players have a very engaged relationship with there Commander Shepard, but how is this explained? It is simply a matter of taking the RPG (role playing game) element to its most stripped, simplistic and acrimonious resolution ; namely disregarding modern and classic notions of role-playing. Choosing instead--with complete inhibition and contempt for other standards--to focus on the merging of the player and their avatar/interface to the narrative. Thus, creating an experience where, regardless of the dissociative dialogue trees and choices, it is the player who feels empowered by the dearth of predefined choice sequences and the bevy of-- ambiguous/hidden--predetermined outcomes. The player, thus, gives up some, or all, of the cynicism associated with outside perspectives and inferences that would--in normality--serve to distance the gamer ,farther and farther away, from the heart and mind of the creative works at hand.