Page 7 - Games Vol 1 No 1
P. 7
GAMES
games? Is Mass Effect 2 just an action game Suddenly, I was given the highest galactic
disguised as an RPG? Did Mass Effect 3's ending authority as a Council Spectre and was tasked with
Part 1 By Tom McLean really cause the death of 600 Labrador puppies? chasing a traitor across the galaxy. As I travelled
Read on to find out all you need to convince you
and followed leads, the crew on my ship began to
to play this series. Although I can tell you now, the swell with colourful characters that had their own
Labrador death-toll was in the low 200's. reasons for helping out. They all had reason to be
Acceptable. there, they weren't just tagging along because
that's what happens in games (right?). The closer I
Mass Effect (2007) got to tracking down the traitor; more layers were
revealed, showing the true threat to the galaxy.
First off, I have to mention that your character has Something much bigger was in the works and I
a voice! It's pretty standard in a lot of RPG's was the only one who had the power and the will
nowadays, but it was a big thing for people used to stop it from happening.
to traditional non-talking RPG experiences. Which
was pretty much every RPG ever made. It got
tiresome after a while. The fully voice-acted
Commander Shepard allows you to connect with
the character a lot more, which is an essential part
of the experience. The start of the game is a bit of
a slow-burn, like most RPG's produced around
that time. The intro is long and full of dialogue,
but you jump into some action eventually and the
story really starts to lay its foundations. The
combat system was like nothing I'd played with
before in an RPG, favouring 3rd person shooter Shepard and “Joker” – the pilot of the SSV Normandy
mechanics over the more traditional "Press attack
button. Fire burst. Weapon proficiency + Woven throughout the engrossing story is a
Character level = chance to hit. Repeat." I felt like I feature that greatly attributed to the success of the
had so much more control over the action series - decisions. Some might seem insignificant,
sequences. but will bite you in the ass at a later date if you
made a bad call. Other choices are huge and a
The game slows down again as you travel to the couple of them had me staring at my options on
galactic hub of organic life, The Citadel. Whilst not screen for a few minutes. A game hadn't really
lacking in culture or things to click on that fill up forced me to do that before; they were life or
your in-game information journal with long- death decisions. As the Commander of your ship,
winded descriptions, it starts to show it's age with you have to make choices that affect the livelihood
long loading times poorly disguised with elevator of your crew. As a Spectre, fighting for the safety
rides to upper/lower levels of the space station of galactic civilization, you have to make choices
and large areas containing nothing and that affect the whole galaxy.
switchback walkways purely to give the feeling of
scale. It was at this point that I put the game Along with these decisions comes a Paragon/
down originally after getting overwhelmed by the Renegade meter. Basically, Light side or Dark side.
quantity of quests that I picked up, the amount of This affects people's opinions of you and allows
story being jammed into my brain and the dated extra options in conversation. Paragon choices feel
feeling of major set pieces. good a lot of the time, but sometimes, just when
the gamer in you starts to take over, choosing
It's only after completing a few main story every "good" option to get the highest rating,
missions on The Citadel that the story shifts into you're confronted with a difficult one. Gamer says
the next gear and really starts to get exciting. "Yep. Choose that one!", but the real you says "Do
7 Independent Media Inspiring Minds Independent Media Inspiring Minds 7
games? Is Mass Effect 2 just an action game Suddenly, I was given the highest galactic
disguised as an RPG? Did Mass Effect 3's ending authority as a Council Spectre and was tasked with
Part 1 By Tom McLean really cause the death of 600 Labrador puppies? chasing a traitor across the galaxy. As I travelled
Read on to find out all you need to convince you
and followed leads, the crew on my ship began to
to play this series. Although I can tell you now, the swell with colourful characters that had their own
Labrador death-toll was in the low 200's. reasons for helping out. They all had reason to be
Acceptable. there, they weren't just tagging along because
that's what happens in games (right?). The closer I
Mass Effect (2007) got to tracking down the traitor; more layers were
revealed, showing the true threat to the galaxy.
First off, I have to mention that your character has Something much bigger was in the works and I
a voice! It's pretty standard in a lot of RPG's was the only one who had the power and the will
nowadays, but it was a big thing for people used to stop it from happening.
to traditional non-talking RPG experiences. Which
was pretty much every RPG ever made. It got
tiresome after a while. The fully voice-acted
Commander Shepard allows you to connect with
the character a lot more, which is an essential part
of the experience. The start of the game is a bit of
a slow-burn, like most RPG's produced around
that time. The intro is long and full of dialogue,
but you jump into some action eventually and the
story really starts to lay its foundations. The
combat system was like nothing I'd played with
before in an RPG, favouring 3rd person shooter Shepard and “Joker” – the pilot of the SSV Normandy
mechanics over the more traditional "Press attack
button. Fire burst. Weapon proficiency + Woven throughout the engrossing story is a
Character level = chance to hit. Repeat." I felt like I feature that greatly attributed to the success of the
had so much more control over the action series - decisions. Some might seem insignificant,
sequences. but will bite you in the ass at a later date if you
made a bad call. Other choices are huge and a
The game slows down again as you travel to the couple of them had me staring at my options on
galactic hub of organic life, The Citadel. Whilst not screen for a few minutes. A game hadn't really
lacking in culture or things to click on that fill up forced me to do that before; they were life or
your in-game information journal with long- death decisions. As the Commander of your ship,
winded descriptions, it starts to show it's age with you have to make choices that affect the livelihood
long loading times poorly disguised with elevator of your crew. As a Spectre, fighting for the safety
rides to upper/lower levels of the space station of galactic civilization, you have to make choices
and large areas containing nothing and that affect the whole galaxy.
switchback walkways purely to give the feeling of
scale. It was at this point that I put the game Along with these decisions comes a Paragon/
down originally after getting overwhelmed by the Renegade meter. Basically, Light side or Dark side.
quantity of quests that I picked up, the amount of This affects people's opinions of you and allows
story being jammed into my brain and the dated extra options in conversation. Paragon choices feel
feeling of major set pieces. good a lot of the time, but sometimes, just when
the gamer in you starts to take over, choosing
It's only after completing a few main story every "good" option to get the highest rating,
missions on The Citadel that the story shifts into you're confronted with a difficult one. Gamer says
the next gear and really starts to get exciting. "Yep. Choose that one!", but the real you says "Do
7 Independent Media Inspiring Minds Independent Media Inspiring Minds 7
