Mass Effect

Sep 17, 2007

Last week, BioWare invited the gaming press to Edmonton in order to get one last look at the company's forthcoming role-playing game, Mass Effect. By all accounts, this is the acclaimed developer's most ambitious project to date, and according to the team, this is its best game yet. That's saying a lot, considering that BioWare, headed up by Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, is responsible for Baldur's Gate, its sequel, as well as the fan-favorite Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic. Mass Effect is very nearly finished, otherwise the BioWare folks would be far too busy to host such a throng of journalists and field their many questions. During this final look at the game, we had the chance to explore the character creation options, play through many different areas, and get a better look at the nuts and bolts of one of the most highly anticipated games this year.

Captain Jean-Luc Shepard of the SSV Normandy

While we've been overwhelmed by a deluge of high-resolution Mass Effect images in the months leading up to this visit, we've primarily borne witness to the universe created by BioWare through the eyes of the default male Commander Shepard, a crew cut-wearin' space marine of ambiguous racial makeup with a tough-as-nails attitude, described by Muzyka as "Jack Bauer in space." After playing extensively with the character creation options, we found that the Shepard character can physically take many different forms, ranging from a bald, pale-skinned gentleman whose scars and wrinkles are a testament to years of experience, to a black lipstick-wearing goth girl with far too much eye makeup on and exaggerated features that could easily fit in a Tim Burton movie.

Character creation is a pain-free process that allows you to construct a face for your character that spans the spectrum of what's available for typical (and not-so typical) humans. No alien races here and nothing like pink or green skin to choose from. You also can't affect Shepard's body type at all. A male Shepard will always be strong of build, but never endowed with ungainly musculature from too many hours hitting the bench press. A female Commander will always wear form-fitting armor that reveals athletic, reasonably curvy proportions, without delving into unnatural-looking excess.

The cosmetic options are quite robust otherwise. You can affect the size and shape of the eyes, the depth of the brow, the character's complexion, and so on. It will be possible to make a great variety of characters based on real-life actors, like the Patrick Stewart look-alike we attempted, the only limitations being the lack of outrageous hairstyles and the aforementioned singular body type. The system works very much like that in Bethesda's Oblivion, with similar if not significantly better results. The default character appears to look slightly better than what you can make by playing with the sliders, but maybe we just need more practice making faces. In any case, your created character should blend in well with the rest of the game's cast, even when interacting with some of the brilliant alien character designs.

Regardless of what any given Commander Shepard looks like, it's the character's personality, the tangled formula of humanity, emotion, discipline and duty, that makes the Shepard character complete. The heart of the character comes from the player, and the difficult choices that must be made throughout Mass Effect will end up forming a personality for Shepard that will influence not only the characters that you interact with, but the fate of the galaxy.

Charm? Intimidate? Show me the Shotguns!

Character development will be a large part of the Mass Effect experience, as customizable and as important as in one of BioWare's Dungeons & Dragons-based games. Shepard begins the adventure as one of six different character classes. Soldiers are skilled in all manner of gunplay and can wear the heaviest of armors, while forsaking the use of biotics and advanced tech. Engineers are tech specialists, yet only wield pistols and don't bother with biotics. Adepts are masters of biotics, and can't be bothered to deal with the omni-tool or advanced weaponry. The Sentinel, Vanguard and Infiltrator are essentially dual-class options, for those who would prefer the freedom of mixing qualities between two of the primary class types. The advantage to playing one of the core class types, for those who are planning to maximize character potential, is that certain classes will have access to key abilities that won't be shared with their dual-classing brethren. So for you to gain access to every biotic power in the game, you'll have to play an Adept.

Leveling up your character is easy enough, as with each level you'll be granted a number of talent points that can be slotted into your class talents. Reaching certain tiers in the talents will unlock their respective special abilities, and from glancing at the achievements list, there should be at least sixty levels to plow through in your quest for personal advancement. With a limited number of talent points, it stands to reason that finding the key plateaus to strive for with each talent will be imperative when trying to build that perfect character.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Cheat

For the first time, we were able to get our hands on a high-level character and take the full combat abilities of a geared-up and multi-talented Shepard out for a spin. Our particular soldier wore some impressive-looking red armor, which not only boosted his damage mitigation to high levels, but also protected him from biotic effects. His tricked-out assault rifle sprayed cryogenically-laced laser fire with minimal chance of overheating, and froze enemies to boot, while his shotgun was absolutely deadly from close range, even if its firing rate was far less impressive. The number of different weapons and armor types in the game appeared expansive, and is sure to satisfy the loot-hungry power gamer that lives in all of us.

During combat sequences that took place at a human outpost, we were set upon by various forms of Geth, the robotic enemies that will figure prominently throughout the campaign. These enemies came in a few troublesome varieties. You have one type of soldier with a knack for dropping energy shields as impromptu sources of cover, which can either be destroyed by direct fire or circumvented by taking a more advantageous firing lane from an unprotected flank. Another type of enemy bore the attributes of one of gaming's more popular archetypes -- it was the agile sort of foe that scurries up walls and ceilings, attacking via misdirection and utilizing agility and stealth to its advantage. Then there was the usual detail of security turrets and mechanical foes that may seem like minor annoyances, but can sway the tide of battle when your party members aren't directed to eliminate them during a firefight.

Combat is generally managed by pausing the action using a shoulder button and bringing up the power ring interface. This menu is shaped like a ring cut into three sections, one for the protagonist and one for each of your active party members. This menu allows you to pan the camera around 360 degrees, to fully take in the environment and any hostiles. You assign actions from this menu, highlighting a target first with the camera, and then using the analog stick to select an action for each party member. You can set your allies to act out of their own accord, and there are various settings to choose from, such as a mode where they use all abilities available to them, and another where they'll use none. Your best bet is to micromanage your party actions, but with suitable party composition and skillful play, one could conceivably play through all of the game's combat sequences in real-time.

We were shown quite a few stirring out-of-combat dialogue sequences and story spoilers, but it would be a disservice to discuss these so close to release. Instead, we'll point out that much effort was clearly put into creating believable characters and presenting compelling, one might even say agonizing situations that will not only test the player's resolve, but also reflect on their personalities. How you play the game, and what decisions you make should really matter, something that role-playing fans often clamor for. The influence of games like Fallout and System Shock is easy to see from the get-go.

If there's a complaint to be made about the current near-final state of Mass Effect, it's that when you see the game first-hand, the visuals don't seem to have quite have the same crisp and clear definition that we've seen in some of the movies and screenshots released to date. There's a grainy filter, almost like a dithering effect that gives the game more of a hand-drawn look than we expected. This filter can apparently be removed, but it seems like an intentional effort to capture a particular feel. Some players may like this effect, but it has an odd effect on shadows, particularly those cast by features on player-created faces and character models.

I Shoot Magic Lasers Into the Darkness

The combat also tries to strike a balance between third-person action shooter gameplay and traditional turn-based mechanics. The result is in a shooter that doesn't feel much like one, as pressing the firing button doesn't so much take aiming into account, as it does initiate a hidden die roll that figures out your dealt damage, efficiency, and so on. It's a bit strange when you first notice your projectile fire tagging your foes with great accuracy, even when the reticle is far off the mark. This was an intentional design decision, as this is far from being a "twitch" based game, but the friendly aiming may make some players cry foul.

That being said, Mass Effect is easily one of the most exciting games we've had a chance to get our hands on this year. The production values are absolutely through the roof, with some of the most attractive alien character designs we've ever seen, putting the menagerie of space-borne miscreants from that famed bar on Tatooine to shame. The graphics are tremendous, but even if you set the visuals aside, the game appears to deliver on the high standards BioWare has set for itself. The universe and alternate future portrayed in Mass Effect appear well thought-out, complex, and should be unimaginably fun to explore. If you're a fan of role-playing games, you really shouldn't be thinking twice about checking out Mass Effect as soon as it cruises onto store shelves in November.