Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3901 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2007-11-23
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Platform: Xbox 360

Manufacturer's Description

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.

Customer Reviews

Special Edition Features
This is from Bioware's official website, hope it helps

Limited Collector's Edition
The limited collector's edition will be offered through participating retailers, and will include the following bonus materials:

A Mass Effect fiction book titled "Galactic Codex: Essentials"
A 36-page guide to the Mass Effect universe, including a Citadel timeline and a guide to all non-human races, biotics and the key locations in the Perseus arm of the galaxy
An additional Mass Effect art book titled "A Future Imagined"
A 36-page collection of BioWare's concept art for the game
A bonus DVD of exclusive Mass Effect background material and additional content including:
"The Vision of Mass Effect documentary
"The Making of Mass Effect documentary
"Interactive Storytelling" documentary
"Inside BioWare" documentary
18 Mass Effect themed gamer pics (three unique sets of six)
16 dashboard themes (four unique sets of four)
Ten songs from the Mass Effect soundtrack
Five historical Mass Effect trailers from X05 through E3 2007 and the official TV trailer
A demo for "Blue Dragon" and videos for "Lost Odyssey," "Halo 3" and "Halo Wars"
Design galleries featuring 600 concept images fully commented by the Art Directors
Exclusive Pre-Order Bonus Disc
The exclusive bonus disc will be offered to consumers who pre-order either edition of the game at participating retailers and will include the following contents:

A short documentary on DVD introducing the game
12 Mass Effect themed gamer pics (two unique sets of six)
Eight dashboard themes (two unique sets of four)
Three songs from the Mass Effect soundtrack on a CD
Four historical Mass Effect trailers from X05 through E3 2007 on DVD
A demo for "Blue Dragon" and videos for "Lost Odyssey," "Halo 3" and "Halo Wars"

Mass Effected!!
Finally, a game that actually lives up to the hype!!

Ive seen a few dodgy reviews of this game, and must admit, and after watching a few videos was a bit sceptical as to whever this would actually be any good. Having the choice between Assassin's Creed and this, I chose to buy Assassin's Creed first and regretted the decision every minute (OMG Steven Neupert ive slagged this off again!! Quick, buy more copies of this so it stays at number 1!!).

Without giving too much away, Mass Effect is set in the far future where humans maintain an uneasy alliance with a race of aliens aboard the Citiadel - a political seat of power where all the universes troubles and conflicts are resolved through a council.

The game kicks off after your space patrol answers a distress call from Eden Prime - a far flung human colony under attack by an unknown enemy force. Upon landing your team discover the planet being invaded by an ancient race of android life forms known as the Geth - a living machine race dedicated to the complete destruction of all organic life in the galaxy. And so the game begins.

As an RPG, Mass Effect is probably the best of this genre on the XBOX. Featuring some of the best graphics around (finally, true next gen quality), this game features an excellent blend of squad-based shooting and exploration that had me hooked for hours I couldnt put the pad down. I found exploring the galaxy an absolute joy, and with plenty of stuff to do I didnt find this game boring or a chore at all. (Again, this is where assassin's creed fell up on - take note there stevie-baby).

However, Mass Effect is not without its faults, and hopefully, these will be ironed out for Mass Effect 2. Technically, it is let down slightly by its boring repetivie level design (some levels look exactly the same as early ones). Alot of textures and level design is reused again and again, and you can only land on one planet in each solar system, limiting the overall amount of exploration you can do. The combat is also cumbersome and canny bad, as you automatically hug walls in combat which leads to getting stuck and dying during hectic situations.

However, all these niggles do nothing for the game, and Mass Effect still makes a brillant addition for the XBOX, and is a giant leap towards true next gen gaming. Although I completed this game within 18 hours I would gladly play it again, and would recommend this to future gamers. Cant wait for the sequel.

Game of the year? Too right!
My eyes hurt, they do. I've just finished Mass Effect, racked up something like 35 hours and I don't think I've blinked for the last 2 of them.

Without dwelling too much on what has come before, I loved Jade Empire. It was without doubt my favourite game on the Xbox. This, however, surpasses it. Easily.

OK, let's get this straight before I go much further. This games frame rate is poor. Some of the collision detection is way off. There are parts where you'll walk your character into a spot you can't get out of, and saving and reloading doesn't help. But you know what?

None of that matters a jot.

What Mass Effect does wonderfully is pull you in make you a part of its universe. The voice acting is spot on, the quality of the cut scenes is awesome (given the niggles above), the interface is intuitive and if you're a sci-fi fan, the throwbacks to old films will keep you smiling from start to finish. This is a game with real atmosphere, at times I felt like applauding before realising there's something a little weird about clapping a video game in a darkened room at 2 in the morning.....

The interaction between characters has been pitched brilliantly. The power struggle between the Captain and the ambassador I found particularly amusing. My only criticism of this aspect of the game would be the slightly odd romance subplot. Not sure why it was needed, or if it really works.

If you're a fan of role play games, sci-fi games, action games, whatever, buy this. Buy it now. This is the most engrossing slice of video game pie I've eaten in ages.

Now I'm going back for seconds.