Product Description

A Spectacular New Vision of the Future

The galaxy is trapped in an endless cycle of extinction. Every 50,000 years, an ancient machine race invades the galaxy. With ruthless efficiency, the machines wipe out all advanced organic civilization. They leave behind only the scattered ruins of technology, destroying all evidence of their own existence.

Few believe this ancient legend. You, however, know it to be true. The fight to stop this extinction event has become the most important mission in the galaxy.

"You must act without remorse, without hesitation, and outside the limits of the law."

It is your mission. As Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy, you will take your elite recon squad across a galaxy in turmoil, in a desperate race to stop the return of an enemy without mercy. To stop this enemy, you must act without remorse, without hesitation, and outside the limits of the law. Your only imperative is to preserve the safety of civilized life in the galaxy - at any cost. You must become the tip of the spear of humanity, for you alone know the full extent of what is at stake if you should fail.

Science-fiction Role-playing: Perfected

Mass Effect allows you to create your own customizable version of Commander Shepard (or jump in and use the pre-created character) and plunge yourself into the center of an epic science-fiction story. Choose your squad-mates, your weapons, skills and abilities, and customize your vehicles, armor and appearance - you are in complete control over your experience.

In the course of your mission to stop the machine invasion, you may choose to follow the path of the soldier, the tech-specialist, or the biotics-specialisteach of which brings an arsenal of unique yet equally powerful abilities to use against the enemy. Wield a multitude of weapon types with precision accuracyutilize your technical skill to turn enemy war machines

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1410 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2007-11-23
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Mass Effect is a science-fiction action and role-playing game (RPG) created by BioWare, the commercially and critically acclaimed RPG developer of Jade Empire and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Mass Effect delivers an immersive, story-driven gameplay experience with stunning visual fidelity. As the first humans on the galactic stage, players must uncover the greatest threat to civilization. Their job is complicated by the fact that no one will believe the truth, but the world must be convinced of the grave threat at hand.

Players will travel across an expansive universe to piece the mystery together. As they discover and explore the uncharted edges of the galaxy, they come closer to an overwhelming truth learning that the placid and serene universe they know is about to come to a violent end and that they may be the only people who can stop it.

On a distant planet an amazing discovery is made. Players must determine the fate of humanity as they lead an elite tactical strike force in an effort to stop an entity so malevolent that it threatens to tear apart the very fibre of galactic civilization. Mass Effect will take players to new depths for an action-RPG, where, unlike in most RPGs, they will be faced with morally complex decisions that have significant impact on the fate of all life in the galaxy. Players must succeed in their quest no matter what the cost.

In addition to the main story arc of the game, players will be able to visit a large number of uncharted, unexplored planets that are side quests independent from the main story. At any time during the campaign, a player can choose to explore one of these planets and have an opportunity to discover new alien life, resources, ruined civilizations and powerful technologies.

Mass Effect features a real-time, squad-based tactical combat system. Players will enjoy intense, challenging and exciting third-person action and squad-based combat. Players and their squad-mates will be able to engage the enemy with ranged weapons and covering fire, biotic powers and science-based magic, and technological powers all of which will be accompanied by amazing visual and physics effects that will add tremendous excitement and drama to the battlefield. Whether they use powerful biotic powers or the latest in military hardware, players will be well-equipped to take on whatever comes their way.

Mass Effect will feature a huge cast of incredibly realistic non-player characters, enemies and party members. Each of the characters encountered will have realistic facial and body movements. A revolutionary advanced dialogue and AI system gives them engaging personalities, creating individuals so realistic they will seem like the first true digital actors ever seen in a video game. The resulting experience is one in which players will feel as if they are part of a rich, living world.

Players will be able to choose from and customize a variety of stunning, photo-realistic character appearances at the start of the game, and can increase various statistics that will affect their performance during gameplay. The reward system in Mass Effect is deep, well-integrated and extremely engaging. New equipment, weapons and armour that are acquired during the course of the story will change the appearance of the characters. Mass Effect will give players a huge breadth of additional customization options for their characters, weapons and vehicles. Talents and abilities will be upgradeable, and advanced talent options will become available at higher levels. Weapons and vehicles will be customizable to include various effects, abilities and upgrades. Each character class will have unique talents and abilities that will increase in power as players progress through the game.

Mass Effect takes full advantage of the hardware of Xbox 360, providing players with exciting new experiences, including photo-realistic, high-definition graphics on an epic scale, and amazingly realistic characters who bring the world alive. Players will be immersed in a massive universe of unbelievable scale, meet characters that feel real and, most important, interact with them in ways that have never been possible before. As the future of gaming goes online, premium downloadable content and recognition of achievements will be available via the Xbox Live online game service.

Developer Information:
BioWare Corp. is a developer of computer and console video games focused on rich stories and memorable characters. Currently in development are Mass Effect (for Xbox 360) and Dragon Age (for PC), two brand-new intellectual properties created and owned by BioWare, with Mass Effect to be published by Microsoft Game Studios. BioWare's new studio in Austin, Texas, has begun work on a new massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, BioWare's first entry into the MMO space. BioWare's Technology Architecture Group is also developing the cutting-edge, next-generation BioWare Eclipse Engine technology for multiple platforms. Other previously published projects include the action-RPG of 2005 for Xbox, Jade Empire, the 2003 Game of the Year currently in development for the PC, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for Xbox and PC, the award-winning Neverwinter Nights series, and the genre-defining Baldur's Gate RPG series for the PC.

Customer Reviews

Epic, varied and engaging
Mass Effect is a terrific game. It balances RPG and action/shooter elements with a gripping and intelligent story, strong characterisation and a beautifully conceived universe. Whether undertaking the main story missions or the many side quests, Mass Effect provides hours of gameplay. I've just completed it (having done all of the side missions) in 33 hours. And the replay value is good too - new modes unlock first time through and, because of the paragon/renegade paradigm of developing your character, a whole new way through the story is possible.

The only negative is the capacity for the game to freeze, requiring a reboot. This happened maybe a half dozen times, but as long as you save frequently, it isn't too much of an issue. Other than that, the control system is good and intuitive, the dialogue engine is remarkably sophisticated and the whole experience is deeply satisfying. I'm already looking forward to Mass Effect 2.

mass effect = mass entertainment


Good

* story. engaging from start to finish with thoroughly convincing characters. absolutely superb.
* real tangible ramifications with decisions made mean multiple endings and outcomes. a breath of fresh air.
* impressive scope and freedom.
* good balance between combat and story.
* excellent replay value and longevity. First run through took me 24hrs.

Bad
* occasional glitches. my character got stuck in the environment several times meaning i had to reload and it also froze once.
* loads and redraw are a constant reminder that this is just a game.
* you cant go back and explore the universe/ complete side quests post completion a'la GTA so you better see all there is to see pre Ilos mission. shame.

This is the future of gaming...
Ladies and gentlemen, I must admit, I am very disturbed. To know why anyone could give Mass Effect a negative review is beyond me. A game as good as Mass Effect deserves better than to have people babbling on, claiming that it's boring, that there's too many technical issues, and so on and so forth. Mass Effect is far from boring, in fact it's far from exciting, it's even beyond that. It would be impossible for me to explain how hooked I was playing this game, and how memorable some of the experiences I had on it were. It's more than JUST a game. It's no surprise really that people are now instead of calling it a game are calling it interactive storytelling. It's unforgettable plot line, mesmerizing characters and beautiful graphics are only a small fraction of what the game has to offer.

If you disagree with me with what I said then, I suggest you stop reading, because I'll only carry on with how good a game Mass Effect truly is. The conversation system for instance, feels so much more advanced than previous Bioware games, that it puts disgrace on all other RPG's on the market (Yup, that also includes Oblivion, which had a rubbish dialog system anyway). I think the reason for why the dialog system works so well in Mass Effect is that you're never too sure what shepherd's going to say, even if you have the basic idea, and that you're character (shepherd) speaks. This is a breakthrough in gaming, never in any RPG's I've played on (except for the witcher), can you hear you character speak. It's so simple but it works very effectively. All the emotional moments now have you talking, and sometimes cause a tear in your eye.

There are some bad points in Mass Effect, but they're hardly noticeable. Yes, there are some technical issues, but nothing too serious, and nothing that hasn't been included into any other game. The textures take time to load, but don't worry, it's never too slow, and sometimes some irritating jams happen. But these Jams only happened twice with me. I dunno, maybe I'm lucky. But the main problem with Mass Effect is that it's too damn short! For a game as good as this, why did it all have to end so fast?! It took me 15 hours to complete the main plot line, and a couple more hours to do some of the side quests, come on Bioware! It's just not enough!

But just because it's short, it doesn't mean that the plot doesn't reach the standard. Like I've mentioned before, the story is beyond brilliant. And the ending for me was just WOW!!! Oh, and if you think that because I said it's short, that it's not worth the money, think again. It's got high replayability value since you can change your choices you've made before the second time you go through Mass Effect. The game also includes some absorbing music (no surprise, since Bioware always delivers with this point), that just suits the game perfectly. The decisions you make in the game feel huge, and sometimes, it can take a couple of minutes for you to make your mind up about something.

Mass Effect is an emotional masterpiece, and was obviously difficult to make. It includes the best story, the best graphics and some of the best gameplay (I haven't mentioned about that, but I don't want to make this review too long, so I'll just say that it's really good once you get the hang of it) that ever included in a game. Just because there's a couple of technical issues around in this game, people shouldn't give bad reviews because of it. I mean, name one game that hasn't got technical issues. There are none, and as for these slow texture loading times, there'll surely be a patch to sort this out soon enough. So if you thought nothing could beat Star Wars, and that no game could make you weep, play this game. It WILL prove you wrong.


And with that, I can assure you.