Mass Effect is a sublime space opera bustling with stellar world building (or in this case universe building). The visuals are sanitized and surreal, the soundtrack is appropriately techno and thus stereotypically futuristic.
Prefacing the in depth review I would like to discuss the various versions. The mass effect trilogy's original release and the "Legendary Edition" are the two main versions. There are of course nuances in the various releases of the original Mass Effect as well. I will offer a cursory glance over those quickly. Mass Effect was originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2007 and later ported to the PC and finally to the PS3 in 2012. The PC and 360 versions of the original game are the only ones with the DLC pinnacle station as the source code of the file was corrupted and unavailable for the PS3 port or the subsequent remaster. I personally did not test Bring Down the Sky (which is available for all versions) or Pinnacle station so this will be a review of the base game. I have yet to play the remaster (Legendary Edition) but it of course polishes the visuals and gameplay most notably the Mako's terrible controls which somehow make Halo's warthog look precise in comparison.
Lets first touch on the visuals, and I will reiterate they do not disappoint. They ooze creativity at every orifice while maintaining a mundane sanitized feel at the same time providing a celestial feel to the game's art direction. The grain filter in the game mimics film and has every important choice feel cinematic by nature. The designs of the humans are basic with no real deviation from norms and one would say this helps create a dichotomy between the humans and aliens. Rather than lambast us with humans featuring cool cybernetic enhancements or lush stylistic decisions (colored hair, piercings, tattoos, and/or flamboyant clothing typically found in JRPGS) they put all the eccentric designs onto the aliens. You of course have the humanoid extraterrestrial beings that are truly a delight to behold, but you also have more bizarre beings that radiate science fiction's beloved tendencies. The environments are no short of miraculous, from the hyper clean futuristic citadel to the run down outposts this game packs a variety of interesting environments. My only complain here is the planets wilderness can feel barren at times and could use more activity.
As far as sound direction goes this game checks all the sci-fi-epic boxes and while it doesn't surprise you it is nothing short of spectacular. The voice acting is for the most part brilliant with female commander Shepard having the better performance in my opinion of the two options for your main character as popular sentiment reiterates. All the species provide a menagerie of various dialects that give a blissful listening experience.
The meat of the game is however the story and decisions you make. The game presents you with various dialogue choices and options on the curated experiment of a game this is. Some of your decisions can impact your companions throughout the game and even show up in the subsequent games following this one. It is a trilogy after all. While none of this is evident in the first game it provides an uncharted grounds of imagination for how the sequel will handle your decisions. Something the sequels failed at. This game can be enjoyed on its own or as part of the trilogy because it has a clear plot with a beginning and an end. The character selection screen provides you with backstory to your character and while its nothing amazing like Dragon Age: Origins was by Bioware it is still neat.
The gameplay of this game is more complex than it initially let on. On my first playthrough I never customized my character's weapons or armor. I just equipped the better weapons and armor and while you can play this way on casual difficulty like I did you are missing out. Many moons later I decide to play this game again for a trilogy run as I never played the third entry. I will say that adding upgrades into your armor and weapons and to each of your squad mates is very fun. Of course the game also has a stat based system where you level up and allocate the various points. If you put your points in charm or intimidate you get extra dialogue options that can boost your morality slider. To elaborate on the morality slider it is a feature where you get Paragon (good essentially) or Renegade points (bad). You can also romance different squad mates with some being gender locked to the female or male Shepard which culminates in a cutscene and while its not as robust as Dragon Age: Origins ( I feel like I should at-least give space gifts as a potential suitor but Commander Shepard is silver tongued I guess) its still fun.
The main downside to this game is the controls. Sprinting really only works in combat making traversing and backtracking through Mass Effect's environments cumbersome at times. Although its a fun world so its not too big of a deal. The cover system could use work but other than that the shooting mechanics are adequate. The most egregious sin this game commits is the controls on the previously mentioned Mako (the vehicle parts that are forced down your throat much like in the Arkham Knight games). With controls so bad that it froze my game due to the Mako being stuck on diving down and landing on the front down. No finessing with the booster pack or wiggling the analog could save my game and I had to reload a previous save.
All in all this is a phenomenal game quirks and all and I highly recommend it as an experience. It arguably offers the best experience of the three games albeit at a lower quality game.
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