Which might be a review of a new PC game, or an essay on forbidden love…

I’ve been busy for the last week or so playing the PC version of a video game called Mass Effect, which got very good reviews when it was released on the Xbox360 some six months ago.  The PC version has slightly shinier graphics, better aiming controls, better inventory management, etc., so if your PC is less than 2 years old then this is certainly going to be your preferred version.

Mass Effect is a strange hybrid of a shooter game and an RPG.  It’s designed by some of the same people who did Star Wars – Knights of the Old Republic, so it’s not too surprising to find a very immersive role-playing experience with a lot of deep, detailed dialogue scenes and mutliple story options.  It’s not really a shooter in the Quake mold, but it’s twitchy enough that it might turn off some folks who are used to “turn based” combat.  However, you can tweak the game’s difficulty, even giving yourself a little extra help with aiming if that’s not your strong suit (the game was designed with the Xbox controller in mind, so aiming is certainly a lot easier with a mouse and keyboard anyway).

The Mass Effect universe is an “original” sci-fi setting in which humanity makes it to the stars sometime in the next 200 years with a lot of help from aliens and alien technology.  Humans are still considered the “new kids of the block” by the established races, but since the game was designed by humans it turns out that humans are still pretty awesome, have lots of potential, etc.  As you go through the game you will encounter thematic material stolen from all sorts of sci-fi settings and cliches – a little Star Trek, a little Star Wars, maybe a little Firefly, and certainly a good dose of Aliens.  The writing, dialogue, and voice acting keep the whole things flowing together well enough, to the point that you don’t really notice all the borrowing that is taking place.

When you start a new game, you are basically stuck playing a character called Commander Shepard.  However, you can choose whether that character is male or female, and you can edit your facial features in fine detail (choosing from a set of scar options, etc.).  You also get some choices involving character classes.  Soldiers wear heavy armor and get more weapon proficiencies.  Tech characters can “sabotage” enemy weapons and can also pick more locks and safes in the game.  Biotic characters use force-like magic powers to throw enemies across the room.  As you go through the game, you have some control over how you  level up and you can choose to micro-manage how your squadmates level up as well.  You have some control over two AI helpers at any time, from a roster of six total crew members.  The AI dudes aren’t great at taking cover in combat, but at least they shoot straight, and they resurrect themselves as soon as the fight is over.

Is the game any fun?  Well, once you get about five hours into the game it really starts to pick up, and you definitely find yourself wanting to play one more battle, or pushing to get one more level-up before bedtime.  It’s nice when you have multiple options for which story thread you want to pursue, along with lots of little side plots that you can explore at your leisure.  After a while you get beyond “exposition” and the dialogue gets more interesting and more intense, and you really start to care about the NPC characters that you interact with.  You will find yourself just wandering around your ship after an adventure actually looking forward to talking to your crew.

Then there’s the whole “alien nooky” thing.  It’s a little tantalizing to say that Mass Effect includes a steamy alien love scene, which might even be a steamy lesbian love scene if your Commander Shepard happens to be female (there are story reasons why the alien chick isn’t very particular about such matters).  Now, if you think you are going to play through the whole game just for the lesbian stuff, you might be a little disappointed.  I mean, you actually have to work through a lot of different conversations to get the game to that point.  It’s like you actually have to have a relationship with this blue-skinned alien chick before her clothes start to come off.  Even then, it really just amounts to a “PG-13” love scene – if you are completely shallow and classless, then you can cut straight to the good bits on Youtube.

Does Mass Effect push storytelling in video games in a good direction?  On the whole, the answer is definitely a yes.  The game has a nice balance between action shoot-em-up scenes and story-driven dialogue, and manages to do both reasonably well.  If you show up looking for the “gimmick” of a lesbian love scene, you will very probably stay for the quality of the writing and the voice acting, all of which do make for an immersive story.  It’s the little touches that matter, like the amount of effort that the designers put into your interactions with minor NPC “questgivers”, that make the game worthwhile.

So, let’s review the positives…

• Great storyline, good dialogue, and characters you want to care about
• Nice balance of RPG and “shooter” elements
• Universe provides a good deal of freedom for you to explore and handle side quests at your own pace
• Good graphics, and overall solid art design
• Sex with aliens?

Some minor negatives…

• Most of the side quest planets are built with a lot less detail than the core “campaign” planets
• Strange inventory system, and you can carry like ten sets of armor without any weight issues
• Squadmate AI could be better
• Driving controls for your explorer vehicle are a little wonky
• Not enough sex with aliens?

On the whole, Mass Effect is an excellent value for your gaming dollar since it is easily a thirty hour game even if you try to plow straight through the campaign.  There’s just enough replayability that you might even want to go through the whole game a second time, perhaps trying a different character class or seeing what happens if you constantly choose “evil” dialogue options over “good” options.

Excuse me, but I have to go back and finish playing the game now.