TOO LATE REVIEW!!!

Alright, self-righteous glory-seeking gamers of un-disputable power... just shuddap. I KNOW, I KNOW, this game is what...? 3 years old now? SO WHAT? Some of us gamers can't afford to get the newest and the best right when it comes out. Because guess why? I don't get fucking food stamps. My money feeds me and I can't spend $60 on a video game the very DAY it comes out. I have to wait a year or two until the price drops to like $10 on the USED shelf at the local trade-in gaming store. So just stuff it and enjoy yet another TOO-LATE REVIEW!!!

Mass Effect is an amazingly well-constructed, full-throttle adventure/action RPG. What does that mean? Well, it's an RPG with levelling of characters and a points-based system of upgrading characters, as well as a method of upgrading weaponry and using new spells (called "biotics" in the game). And yet this isn't your standard RPG; it's not turn-based, there are no battle-screens (battles are real-time in the open environment), and it's largely action-based. Cool, huh?

Actually, since Mass Effect comes from Bioware, it's quite similar to Knights of the Old Republic, that MOST FUCKING AWESOME of RPG adventures for the PS2 and original xbox. It seems like a lot of the mechanics of gameplay, battle, and structure of quests is built from pre-existing KOTOR templates and game structure. That's OK with me, but gamers looking for something radically different from Bioware's other RPG fare might find a bit lacking. One example of this is the "light side/dark side" meter found in the game, which tracks your decisions through the plot and tells you whether your character is a good or bad dude. This also plays out in how other characters react to you later on in the game... again, much like KOTOR.

QUESTS! There are so many damned quests and minor plot lines to finish that I swear, I could play this game until my grandkids have grandkids and I probably still wouldn't be finished! There are multitudes of galaxies and planets to visit in Mass Effect, each having their own histories, environments, and pleasant surprises waiting for you to find! Add to those a HUGE amount of minor quests and you're ready to spend upwards of 100+ hours getting through the game.

YOU DECIDE! I really like the ability to design (to the last detail) your own character. You can make it an alien, a human, a woman, a man... choose facial features, etc etc... VERY customizable! It's the same with job classes and skill sets. Basically, you can be whatever you want to be in this game, though personally I'd recommend running through the game once as the pre-designed Commander Shephard. Hey, you won't see the special sex scene otherwise, right? ;)

The only real drawback I found in this game is the lack of awesome music. Yeah, there's some scifi sounding background music, but that's all it ever is. Elevator crap. There are no stunning scores for huge battles or catchy "planet exploration" tunes while you're... errr... roving around exploring a planet. I guess this may be a minor inconvenience for most, but I like to enjoy music when I'm playing a game, and I definitely noticed a lack of it in Mass Effect.

Well, that's all I have right now because I'm getting tired of typing and to be honest, I haven't even finished the game yet. AND I'M TOO CAUGHT UP TO SPOIL IT FOR MYSELF BY LOOKING IT UP ONLINE! Oh well. Call me back in about 100 hours and I'll tell you more about the ending and how I fixed things and saved the galaxy by killing Saren.

He DOES lose, right?

Right?

----Blind Prophet