Mass Effect

I recently realized that even though I am by no means even decent at shooting games, a large majority of my 360 backlog is taken up by shooters. Well, it's time to make a dent in this group. First up came Mass Effect, a third person shooter made by Bioware in 2007- a game that conveniently enough has a sequel coming out at the end of the month. I won't bore you with many details about the game play. It's really not much you haven't seen already in the Halo and Gears of War series, but that's not the reason people loved this game. The truth is, I can only recommend playing Mass Effect on the strength of its highly customizable plot. Not only do you design your character's face and body at the beginning of the game, but you can also select from several personality types and backstories, all of which are subtly brought up at several points throughout the game. The customization continues throughout the game, most notably in the conversations. Almost everything your character says can be chosen from a list of responses, and they have real in-game consequences as well. For instance, when you're given orders to destroy a lab that may house a cure for a notorious disease, one of your team members demands that you go against your orders. What do you do? Try to reason with him, and see if he reluctantly falls in line? Perhaps agree with him and leave the lab alone? I chose neither and demanded his cooperation. When he drew a gun, I shot him, and just like that I lost one of my six team members. Situations like this popped up all the time, and I found that depending on how many people were watching me play the game, I acted very differently. When alone, I often did the right thing and would be more passive. When a friend watched me play, I was much more aggressive and chose the "asshole" options. It made for some interesting plot development, and I honestly found myself hoping the action sections of the game would finish up so I could have more of these conversations. Of course, I have to finish up this review with a mention of the often hilarious relationship sidequest. After each mission, you're given the opportunity to talk to the members of your crew, and the questions can often delve into the personal. At first I hit on the human, but then tried to have an alien woman on the side- big mistake! I was caught and forced to choose between the brash human soldier or the shy alien researcher. The alien and I were from two different worlds, it just never would have worked out. After going with the human, a sex scene was shown shortly after. I am both curious and scared of what would have happened had I chosen the alien. Well, I guess the reader can find out for themselves if they really want to play it, but something tells me the sequel's just going to improve on the original in every way, so I'd hold off until then. A fun play, but hardly a must-play.