Well, I finally got on the ball and took some time out of my busy WoW raids to play the game everyone was talking about when it came out… Mass Effect.  I think the thing that finally sent me over into full tilt to play was finding out it was from the makers of KOTOR, which was one of my favorite games of all time.  So, on my last stint to Game Stop I picked up some gift cards and grabbed the nomination for game of the year, and bunkered in my room to play.

I absolutely love that you get to create your own character instead of just playing the main title character. Well, you have to use his last name because the voice-overs call you by it, but at least you get to change your first name AND your looks. It’s really amazing how your character is in all the cut scenes looking exactly as they do while playing the game.  Of course, I created a female character, and Valkyrie Shepard was ready to kick some butt.

You are required to make a selection of three primary classes to play: the solider, the engineer, and the biotic user, as well as hybrids of all three.  This will determine how you fight, what abilities you use to fight, as well as the types of weapons you will specialize in. I was confused by all the class choices I was given, and since I am lazy about research.  The combat system takes a bit to get used to, and if you are not a soldier really focus on the fact that it is an RPG and not an FPS when you are in combat.  Those abilities have to be used at all times!  When I finally figured it all out and started to remember to save often, I got into the groove and breezed on.

The story was the best part about this game. Just like KOTOR, it pulls you into its web and is amazingly detailed. The game’s Codex logs all the info and it is extremely well done. It’s informative and can help you understand the different races you will be encountering and how to respond to them.  In fact, the game has such racial undertones through it, that it turns the human problem of racism into a super galactic species form of bigotry.  Hopefully, some people learned some lessons there!

Of course, I completed the game as good as I possibly could. I declined any obviously evil objectives, but otherwise completed all the objectives I came across. I thought the love scene was a bit steamy as well; it showed my character’s butt, haha… it was quite a nice butt after all.  Anyway, for those holding off buying or renting this game, don’t be like me. You’ll absolutely love it, and it’s extremely worth it. I highly recommend it for any gamers out there!