Mass Effect series Review + Retrospective #1: Mass Effect
I’ve had a rollercoaster of a relationship with the original Mass Effect. I first played it during my formative years as a teen around a decade ago, shortly after the release of ME2 and years before ME3. I remember falling in love with Bioware’s earlier sci-fi RPG, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and seeing a new sci-fi IP by the company during a Steam sale. I made my (second ever, possibly?) purchase on Steam and added both ME1 and ME2 to my library.
I loved it, enjoying every second in this richly detailed, imaginative, and creative new sci-fi universe, finishing it and moving on immediately to ME2. As the years went by and I would occasionally go back and replay the trilogy, I felt ME1 lacking more and more on each replay. Eventually, it fell out of the trilogy replay circulation, opting to go for the Genesis recap DLC for 2 instead of actually playing 1.
Something clicked for me out of nowhere sometime in the last couple years, and after deciding to finally play ME1 again after so much time, I just instantly fell in love with it again. Maybe it’s an appreciation for a simpler plot after the chaos that unfolds in 2 and 3, maybe it’s the smaller cast of more well-defined characters, or maybe it’s just the absolutely impeccable vibe that ME1 gives off. I’d say ME1 is my favorite in the trilogy nowadays.
While obviously not as vast or detailed as something like a Star Wars or Star Trek, Mass Effect packs a metric ton of world-building, interesting lore, and creative alien species, planets, and technologies into just its first outing. As the trilogy expands in scope and gives more insight into its universe, it’s honestly grown on me as one of my favorite sci-fi universes in general. It leans a lot further into the space opera side of things like Star Wars, while preserving an optimistic tone found in classic Trek. The Turians being avian space Romans is cool. The Geth being a sentient artificial race that rose up against their oppressors is cool. The Krogan being giant space viking frogs that are so powerful that they had to be literally neutered to avoid taking over the entire galaxy is cool as hell. The ideas of the Mass Relays, the Citadel, the Reapers, even the way the “bullets” are actually individual specs of metal that are blown off using mass effect fields are just so cool, it’s impossible to not have a great time in this universe.
Now uh, on to the actual game part.
When it comes to the third-person shooting, even in the Legendary Edition, ME1 is not great. It feels slow and clunky, weapons feel inaccurate and overheat too quickly, and skills and powers often bafflingly miss targets dead center on your reticule. Squad management adds another layer of control to the combat, but the whole thing feels so clunky that you usually just feel like you’re bullshitting your way through encounters. AI is particularly stupid, and often requires babysitting them or watching them die in an instant on harder difficulties.
The RPG elements are at their strongest here, and are very rapidly lost in its sequels. ME1 actually features randomized loot as opposed to the couple dozen or so unique guns in ME2. I think this is a blessing and curse, as it gives the player actual rewards for exploring and doing side quests, but at the same time, the weapons lack any individuality. Every pistol looks and feels like every other pistol, etc. However, I really appreciate the ability to craft your build to your playstyle. Classes feel incredibly similar in the later games, whereas two separate Sentinel/Engineer/Adept/whichever builds in ME1 can feel pretty different. ME1 feels fresher to replay than the other two games because of this I think.
Combat’s only a third of the game in Mass Effect, however, and the game excels in its other two main gameplay areas. You’ll spend a good 50% of your initial playthrough engaged in conversation with various NPCs throughout the galaxy. While the 2007 models aren’t particularly great to look at nowadays, even with the remaster, Mass Effect is brilliantly acted and the voiceover artists do a fantastic job of bringing the galaxy’s characters to life. Great voice acting will be a staple of the series, and with a few minor exceptions (MaleShep’s voice actor learning how to emote in the second game), basically everyone is perfectly performed. Combined with the great writing of Drew Karpyshyn, they help make the game’s extended dialogue and conversation scenes feel worth paying attention to and not skipping.
The dialogue wheel popularized by this game is fairly controversial, but strictly within the setting of Mass Effect, I think it is effective. You can always count on the top option being the Paragon choice, with the bottom being for Renegades. The left options are used for getting more info or asking more detailed questions and these are usually worth the time to listen to. Getting the most out of every conversation and reading the extra Codex entries really help illustrate and flesh out the universe. It’s really quite immersive. The only issue I have with the dialogue system is sometimes it’s a bit unpredictable with what is actually said. The game uses a shorthand version of what’s to be said for the dialogue prompts, so it can be a little surprising to see Shepard come off as a bigger boy scout/asshole than intended. I’m sure many players accidentally started a romance they didn’t want to, or pulled their guns on a random NPC and came off as a total psychopath. On one hand, the choices allow for complete player control over what kind of person Shepard is. On the other, it sort of falls victim to the typical Bioware take on morality – oftentimes choices come down to being Space Jesus or Cartoon Villain, with very little nuance in between.
Finally, I consider planet exploration the third major gameplay area of the original Mass Effect. Though admittedly the uncharted worlds offer very little to actually explore outside of gathering collectibles for a handful of assignments and fighting a few enemy types in pre-fabricated, identical buildings, something about the exploration in the Mako is incredibly charming to me. Some of ME1’s best visuals are present on the uncharted worlds, and driving around an unknown alien planet while the absolutely outstanding score by Jack Wall plays is genuinely a great time. Those moments are incredibly memorable and nostalgic for me, despite them really being quite shallow in practice. I don’t really mind them as the Mako is entirely optional apart from a couple required sections in story missions, but those too are very short. The uncharted worlds are there purely as optional content, and I’m honestly glad they’re there for those who want to experience them. I wouldn’t recommend exploring each and every one, but I’d definitely suggest checking a few out.
I acknowledge ME1 is most peoples’ least favorite for a reason. It’s far from perfect. For every great thing the game does, it does 2 mediocre things. But I love it, I think it’s a beautiful mess. I love the characters, I love the story, I love the universe, and I love the soundtrack. I’m really glad the release of the Legendary Edition has gotten more people to play the original, as it captures a very specific feeling and vibe that the sequels slightly miss the mark on.
Anyway, if you let Wrex die you didn’t beat the game.
I’ve had a rollercoaster of a relationship with the original Mass Effect. I first played it during my formative years as a teen around a decade ago, shortly after the release of ME2 and years before ME3. I remember falling in love with Bioware’s earlier sci-fi RPG, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and seeing a new sci-fi IP by the company during a Steam sale. I made my (second ever, possibly?) purchase on Steam and added both ME1 and ME2 to my library.
I loved it, enjoying every second in this richly detailed, imaginative, and creative new sci-fi universe, finishing it and moving on immediately to ME2. As the years went by and I would occasionally go back and replay the trilogy, I felt ME1 lacking more and more on each replay. Eventually, it fell out of the trilogy replay circulation, opting to go for the Genesis recap DLC for 2 instead of actually playing 1.
Something clicked for me out of nowhere sometime in the last couple years, and after deciding to finally play ME1 again after so much time, I just instantly fell in love with it again. Maybe it’s an appreciation for a simpler plot after the chaos that unfolds in 2 and 3, maybe it’s the smaller cast of more well-defined characters, or maybe it’s just the absolutely impeccable vibe that ME1 gives off. I’d say ME1 is my favorite in the trilogy nowadays.
While obviously not as vast or detailed as something like a Star Wars or Star Trek, Mass Effect packs a metric ton of world-building, interesting lore, and creative alien species, planets, and technologies into just its first outing. As the trilogy expands in scope and gives more insight into its universe, it’s honestly grown on me as one of my favorite sci-fi universes in general. It leans a lot further into the space opera side of things like Star Wars, while preserving an optimistic tone found in classic Trek. The Turians being avian space Romans is cool. The Geth being a sentient artificial race that rose up against their oppressors is cool. The Krogan being giant space viking frogs that are so powerful that they had to be literally neutered to avoid taking over the entire galaxy is cool as hell. The ideas of the Mass Relays, the Citadel, the Reapers, even the way the “bullets” are actually individual specs of metal that are blown off using mass effect fields are just so cool, it’s impossible to not have a great time in this universe.
Now uh, on to the actual game part.
When it comes to the third-person shooting, even in the Legendary Edition, ME1 is not great. It feels slow and clunky, weapons feel inaccurate and overheat too quickly, and skills and powers often bafflingly miss targets dead center on your reticule. Squad management adds another layer of control to the combat, but the whole thing feels so clunky that you usually just feel like you’re bullshitting your way through encounters. AI is particularly stupid, and often requires babysitting them or watching them die in an instant on harder difficulties.
The RPG elements are at their strongest here, and are very rapidly lost in its sequels. ME1 actually features randomized loot as opposed to the couple dozen or so unique guns in ME2. I think this is a blessing and curse, as it gives the player actual rewards for exploring and doing side quests, but at the same time, the weapons lack any individuality. Every pistol looks and feels like every other pistol, etc. However, I really appreciate the ability to craft your build to your playstyle. Classes feel incredibly similar in the later games, whereas two separate Sentinel/Engineer/Adept/whichever builds in ME1 can feel pretty different. ME1 feels fresher to replay than the other two games because of this I think.
Combat’s only a third of the game in Mass Effect, however, and the game excels in its other two main gameplay areas. You’ll spend a good 50% of your initial playthrough engaged in conversation with various NPCs throughout the galaxy. While the 2007 models aren’t particularly great to look at nowadays, even with the remaster, Mass Effect is brilliantly acted and the voiceover artists do a fantastic job of bringing the galaxy’s characters to life. Great voice acting will be a staple of the series, and with a few minor exceptions (MaleShep’s voice actor learning how to emote in the second game), basically everyone is perfectly performed. Combined with the great writing of Drew Karpyshyn, they help make the game’s extended dialogue and conversation scenes feel worth paying attention to and not skipping.
The dialogue wheel popularized by this game is fairly controversial, but strictly within the setting of Mass Effect, I think it is effective. You can always count on the top option being the Paragon choice, with the bottom being for Renegades. The left options are used for getting more info or asking more detailed questions and these are usually worth the time to listen to. Getting the most out of every conversation and reading the extra Codex entries really help illustrate and flesh out the universe. It’s really quite immersive. The only issue I have with the dialogue system is sometimes it’s a bit unpredictable with what is actually said. The game uses a shorthand version of what’s to be said for the dialogue prompts, so it can be a little surprising to see Shepard come off as a bigger boy scout/asshole than intended. I’m sure many players accidentally started a romance they didn’t want to, or pulled their guns on a random NPC and came off as a total psychopath. On one hand, the choices allow for complete player control over what kind of person Shepard is. On the other, it sort of falls victim to the typical Bioware take on morality – oftentimes choices come down to being Space Jesus or Cartoon Villain, with very little nuance in between.
Finally, I consider planet exploration the third major gameplay area of the original Mass Effect. Though admittedly the uncharted worlds offer very little to actually explore outside of gathering collectibles for a handful of assignments and fighting a few enemy types in pre-fabricated, identical buildings, something about the exploration in the Mako is incredibly charming to me. Some of ME1’s best visuals are present on the uncharted worlds, and driving around an unknown alien planet while the absolutely outstanding score by Jack Wall plays is genuinely a great time. Those moments are incredibly memorable and nostalgic for me, despite them really being quite shallow in practice. I don’t really mind them as the Mako is entirely optional apart from a couple required sections in story missions, but those too are very short. The uncharted worlds are there purely as optional content, and I’m honestly glad they’re there for those who want to experience them. I wouldn’t recommend exploring each and every one, but I’d definitely suggest checking a few out.
I acknowledge ME1 is most peoples’ least favorite for a reason. It’s far from perfect. For every great thing the game does, it does 2 mediocre things. But I love it, I think it’s a beautiful mess. I love the characters, I love the story, I love the universe, and I love the soundtrack. I’m really glad the release of the Legendary Edition has gotten more people to play the original, as it captures a very specific feeling and vibe that the sequels slightly miss the mark on.
Anyway, if you let Wrex die you didn’t beat the game.