Yeah it's been a little too long since my last update, I know, and I apologize about that. I place complete blame on Commander Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy. For those of you that don't know, Shepard is the main character in "Mass Effect" and the Normandy is his ship. I had yesterday off of work, which was good timing, since I got to the point where I was able to beat the game yesterday afternoon. I really can't say enough about this game. Maybe it was a little shorter then I liked, but I still managed to get almost 50 hours of gameplay out of it, and that was with completing every side quest I had access to.
Before I get to what what made this game an all-time classic, I have one complaint. The inventory system was kinda tedious. Whenever you tried to sell off some of your old or duplicate equipment you had to scroll through the entire menu. And when you can hold up to 150 items, that can take a while. But considering the rest of the game, that complaint is just a pebble on the beach. What a game. The story could have been pulled right from a Hollywood movie, and with some of the voice actors they had on "Mass Effect" it basically was a movie. A couple of the voices I was pretty sure I recognized right off the bat with Seth Green and Keith David voicing two of the characters. What surprised me when I read the credits is who some of the other actors they had on the game, most notably Marina Sirtis of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame, and Lance Henriksen who has been in a ton of movies. But what a story it was.
One thing I remember hearing about this game was Fox News having a problem with this game, and while I don't remember the complete news story and I don't have time to look it up, it had something to with a naked alien. After playing through the game and getting to see what the fuss was about, all I have to say is seriously? That was it? You see more skin on prime time television and that is free of charge. This is something that has an "M" rating so you need to be 17 to purchase it anyway. So Fox News needs to get a grip.
I did start a second playthrough already, mainly so I can hit the level cap. You get capped at level 50 the first time you play through the game, and that gets bumped up to 60 on your second palythrough. There are also some other things I want to do, most notably being a jerk, and maxing my "Renegade" points. On the first playthrough, I maxed my "Paragon" points, which means I was a good guy. The "Renegade" points mean I will be a big jerk at times.
Time for work, but if you read this blog and like games like this, go out and buy "Mass Effect" today. I promise you won't be disappointed.
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If I remember correctly, that's the one where they implemented the "conversation" system such that all the "types" of responses are consistently keyed into the directional-pad-interface so that responding "positively" or "negatively" always requires the same input right?
ReplyDeleteIf that is the right game, I think that's fantastic...it frees players from having to be stuck in the "read all the menu-choice-responses before choosing" that every other RPG is stuck in (including FFXI! LOL) That is such a great idea...it makes people feel they are part of the story and react at a natural speed rather than the speed at which they can read text (and sometimes very tedious, wordy text if it was created by SE...or very obscure and poorly-written if it was created by Sonic Team of PSO fame...) :p
Anyhow...glad you enjoyed it so much! And hope you got your mack on wit' dose freaky aliens...woo hoo virtual Captain Kirk! Or maybe more like Dr. Who's Captain Jack? ^_- Speaking of which, are you allowed to get it on (in a responsible "M" rated sort of way) with any of the crew, including the aliens? :p I know that sounds so adolescent to ask, but given that FOX News story, they did make it sound like it was "Leisure Suit Larry" in space. ^_-
At least Mass Effect 2 lets you create a female lead if you like, I hear. Good to know good games like this are following the "Harvestmoon" pattern of making storylines (with elements of action, development, and romance) that are appealing to anyone.