Mass Effect
Preview
Action RPG-ing the way you have never seen it before.
by Marko Susimetsä
previewed on X360
Progressing on one's career
Although the player is free to choose whether Commander Shepard focusses on being a soldier, or concentrates on other trades, such as becoming a tech-specialist or a biotics-specialist, it will be clear from the very beginning that the adventure that is ahead of him/her will be riddled with dangers. Therefore, it would be wise to remember the combat-related abilities as the character progresses through the story and his/her skills and abilities advance as (s)he gathers more experience. However, there's some choice here as well. The player can either focus on the use of regular weapons or practice the talents of an Adept ? a Jedi like profession, although instead of manipulating the Force, you will be utilizing biotic talents relying on the Mass Effect.
Unlike many pen-and-paper RPG's, Mass Effect allows the character to develop in real-time. As soon as there's enough experience gathered, the player can decide which skills or abilities to develop for all characters of his/her squad ? there's no necessity to wait for the next level-up or some other cumbersome mechanics. Or, if the player so wishes, (s)he can leave all the progression stuff up to the game itself and let it decide what the most important skills are.
Combat
You cannot really avoid this sub-section when you are talking about action RPGs. You always need to bring up the tools that can be used to slice and dice all those alien buggers and toasters that try to stop you from finishing your mission. In Mass Effect, no one will be disappointed in this respect. There are more weapons than you can count and many of them can be customised, or just used in conjunction with others for powerful effects.
When in battle, you may just concentrate on your own character and let the AI take care of your two other team members. The AI is good enough to keep them active and behind cover all through the battles, but if you really want to take advantage of the different skills and abilities of your team members, you will want some more control over them. And this is what Mass Effect offers. At any time during the battle, you can pause the action and the screen is overlaid with a square pattern (kind of like tactical display) where you can give orders to individual team members, telling them to run from here to there, duck behind this cover and go for that enemy. Then, after you unpause the game and the action continues, the team members will follow their orders as best they can (keeping in cover as much as they can even if you forgot to tell them to do so).
Graphics
Graphics is the area where the next gen consoles show what it means to be next gen. In Mass Effect, the graphics are really taken onto the next level where the character models consist of so many triangles and texture layers that one can hardly keep up with it all. To a non-professional, of course, the main thing is what it will end up looking on the screen. And, in Mass Effect, it truly promises to be spectacular. The graphics are really photo-realistic and the models show complexity that's never been seen before ? a true HD experience. The colours of the different settings vary from sterile spaceships to vibrant and lush planetary scenes and dusty plains and ruins. The various cinematic effects include the focus on the characters on the foreground while the background is left out of focus. All in all, as is often the case today, you must see the graphics in action to truly appreciate how good it looks.
Overall impressions
All in all, BioWare seems to be really focussed on making Mass Effect their best title ever if you happen to enjoy Action RPGs. The game will be coming out later this year ? some rumours place it for the summer, but there's no official confirmation yet. However, if you really want to get into the world as soon as possible, there's a novel out already that will allow you to do so.
