The word epic is tossed around allot today. I for one have been reluctant in the past to use epic when describing video games. Well today I choose to use epic for a video game. That game is Mass Effect. The shear scale of this game is pretty amazing. I feel I must start this by saying that I am not the biggest RPG fan out there. Yea I loved KOTOR, but that was Star Wars and I like me some Star Wars. Besides KOTOR I’ve never played a RPG I loved until Mass Effect. I really wasn’t even all that stoked on this game in the first place, but in the spirit of equal opportunity I gave Mass Effect a chance. I sure am glad I did.

The game centers around the character _____ Shepard. His first name is whatever you choose. There is a rogue SPECTRE agent named Saren who is up to no good looking for things called conduits. You receive command of the best ship in the fleet the Normandy as you chase him across the galaxy trying to find out what he is up to and his end game. You’ll face many foes including some that seem to be allies. You build your team as you go, picking up some alien teammates.

The games story is really where it shines. It is very engrossing and pretty deep. At times maybe a bit hard to follow it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you choose you can read most of the back stories in the codex in the pause menu. I’m not much for reading so I skipped allot of the reading.

While creating a character you also choose your back story and your military specialization. Each class has different abilities and will have different level up options. I choose to play through as an Infiltrator. Basically a sniper. Choosing this class made it so I could only be trained on pistols and sniper rifles. This was a bit of a drag because it pretty much made me go through the game using just a pistol. It’s not that I couldn’t use the assault rifle and shotgun they were just pretty ineffective for allot of the game. I would have like to have had the chance to train on these and biotics. Biotics are the use of brain impulses to manipulate the physical world.

Just the choices you can make with your character will change the way you play through the game. Be sure to be savy when choosing your team for missions as it will greatly effect your play. I was a fan of having a strong biotic teammate with me. When they use their lift ability it renders the enemy useless and you can move on to another enemy.

The level up system is solid. Although I’ve heard some complaints about the notification that a level up is available is to small and easy to miss. I found no problems with it. The thing to remember is, each time you start a mission with a new teammate is that you can level them up to. Don’t waste those level up points by not using them.

The game really meshes the RPG with a 3rd person shooter very well. It really makes it feel like 2 games in one. The interaction with your team, both in the ship and in missions does nothing but suck you in. The voice acting is really really good. It makes you feel like your really in a conversation.

Alright well it isn’t a perfect game. It does have some flaws. The most notable for me was that at times the graphics were pretty weak. While most of the scenic panorama views are great it just seems to lack a bit of graphic punch. The other big complaint I had was the cover system. It was hard to latch on to cover and your constantly latching on to the wrong things. Also your own teammates can push you from cover if they decide they want it more. As with most RPG’s it is easy to get lost in some places, the worst is the Citadel. The game could use a little better directions. I also was a bit angry with the Mako also. That’s the all purpose vehicle you pilot for parts of most levels. It is pretty hard to drive. I will tell on myself here, I didn’t realize that the Mako had a cannon on it for a couple of missions. Once I figured that out the Mako battles where much easier.

So with all that said I have to say, buy this game. While I chose to focus on the main story only you can play many side missions that will extend to game. I got through the game in about 20 hours just playing the main story. The game has no really good places to stop so you’ll find yourself playing for hours at a time and prepare to get engrossed in the game once you start. Also you get the chance to bed an alien for a little inter-species love making. Of course the lack of online play sucks but you can forgive that after you play the game. All in all this is a great game. The boys at Bioware really got it right again with this one.