If you have any comments about the game or want to learn more about it, read this thread. The thread will be a sticky until the first week of December.
I had an opportunity to go to the home of Mass Effect's creator Bioware in Edmonton. Mass Effect will be available on 20 Nov 2007 in North America and is published by Microsoft.
Bioware is well known for their dialog type games where gamer decisions change the game’s outcome. They are the creators of such games as MDK2™, Baldur's Gate™ and Neverwinter Nights™.
Mass Effect, a futuristic time in the 23rd Century, is capable of single player campaign only. The game is interesting as the character's skill evolves depending on the type of character initially selected and the experiences/decisions/choices by the gamer while playing.
The gamer cannot get all the Xbox Live Achievements the first time through the game. Multiple passes with different characters types will be necessary to get all the Achievements and receive 1000 Gamerscore.
Mass Effect uses the Unreal 3 graphics engine which allows for huge maps with highly detailed environments. Attached to the Unreal engine is a newly created RPG (Role Playing Game) package. The combination of both parts makes for a great RPG game in a stunningly beautiful environment.
Mass Effect was created as a single player game, thus there was more focus on the development of the single player campaign. Even the most inspired gamer should enjoy a lengthy game experience. Elite gamers will also be challenged while going through the advanced campaign.
Profiles
When a new game is started three types of characters are available:
Spacer: Both your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years. Following in your parents’ footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen.
Colonist: You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol and you enlisted with the military a few years later.
Earthborn: You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned eighteen.
Once the character is chosen, you must choose one of three Psychological Profiles:
Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless.
You then must select a Military Specialization:
Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel or Vanguard.
At this point you will be able to customize the look of your new character; Male or Female. The faces can be customized dramatically and the changes can be previewed in real time. The only drawback I see here is that you cannot import your own face as in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 Vegas. The details that can be changed are astonishing though.
Once the character is customized, the game starts and an introductory video is shown.
Take a look at the E3 Video on YouTube.
For more details, see the Bioware’s Mass Effect web page.
or the Xbox.com Mass Effect web page.
About BioWare (wikipedia.org)
About Microsoft Game Studios (wikipedia.org)
Happy gaming!
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