Customer Ratings & Reviews

The release of Bioware's latest RPG, Mass Effect, has set a new standard by which to compare all other games, role-playing or otherwise. From the moment you are faced with seemingly endless customization options at the beginning of your quest to the bittersweet ending, Mass Effect creates more than just ambiance; it takes you to a universe you will care about deeply and not soon forget. The story, augmented by phenomenal voice-acting comprised of a host of big name celebrities, is wonderfully told with a plot that surpasses many of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. What makes the story so intriguing is that you get to interact and choose how it unfolds; changing the outcome based on the dialogue and action choices you make. In fact, there are often so many choices that you have to play through the game at least twice to experience all of them. Further bolstering the story and gameplay is the aural treat fed by the original score. Subtle and ethereal, it blends wonderfully with the varying emotions presented throughout the game. Depending on your playing style the game can last anywhere from 30 hours and up, but that is just the first time around. Replay value is added by playing the same character multiple ways and, if you switch the gender of your character, an entire new voice actor speaks your lead character's part. Even a near-perfect game such as this is not entirely without flaws. All of the complexities that make this game so amazing occasionally slow the frame rate and cause the screen to momentarily freeze or judder. Also, there are certain instances where the controls simply do not feel right, such as when you are driving your All Terrain Vehicle across uncharted worlds. If you have not yet experienced Mass Effect, this is one piece of software you cannot afford to miss. It will play for hours, but you will remember it for months.

Wow, for $20 this is one of the best deals out there for Xbox 360 gamers. This game was groundbreaking when it came out. The story, dialogue system and combat system were all new and refreshing as well as a lot of fun and incredibly well done. Sure, the drawn out conversations can be mind-numbing at times and the teammate AI has its moments but for the most part this game delivers with good quality entertainment. The story is epic and the characters are unique and varied, each having their own story and personality. The graphics hold up really well almost two years later as well. Their are tons of customization options as well. You get six character classes to choose from, four weapons, armor, five teammates, and you can even customize your ammo and grenade type. The combat is a near-perfect balance of RPG and tactical 3rd person combat, however most battles are over in no time. My only major complaint with this game is the consistently repetitive side missions. The buildings and environments aren't very unique and you'll notice early on that most of them are just cookie-cutter and not very unique. That said, the story missions are very well done and not repetive at all. Also just one small complaint against the alien romance plot you can explore if you choose. I couldn't help but laugh when these characters are acting all serious as if there's nothing at all weird about a man (or woman) having a romantic and even physical relationship with a slimy blue alien chick. But whatever, this game rocks, and for $20 it's a great deal for someone wanting a fun entertaining experience with tons of replay value and a good story. 4 Stars and a Recommendation go to Mass Effect.

This is a great game. The main story is fantastic and the numerous subplots and storylines only enhance the main story line. This is a real-time role playing game that feels like a third person shooter. However, if you try to go through the game as if it were a third person shooter you will be met with frustration because you will die, frequently, especially on the harder levels. The amount of customization that is allowed with you character is decent. You can customize your characters face to a certain degree and pick from a variety of character histories that will affect how NPCs react to you in the game. There are four different weapons' classes in the game: Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, and Pistol. Each class has a variety of weapons to choose from, but like most standard RPGs they only vary in strength and not it how they play. However, there are various weapon and ammo upgrades that can increase accuracy, range, damage, etc. The best part about the combat however is the use of techs and biotic. These give you all kinds of powers such as the ability to lift your enemy in the air, throw them across the room, cause there weapons to blow up in their hands and many, many more. This is where the RPG element comes into play. When accessing the menu the game pauses and allows you to assess your current situation and allows you to map out the course of action you want to take. This all plays very well without really breaking up the game. The major downside to the whole game is the Mako. This is the vehicle you drive around in while exploring all of the worlds in the game. Driving can become frustrating because the controls are not as responsive as one would like. The use of the weapons on the Mako is even more frustrating. While it appears that the turret can move up and down, the ammo only lands on the same level your vehicle is on. This means that any enemy that is above or below you is untouchable. This will become really frustrating when you think you have a clear shot at an enemy, only to see the explosion of your cannon shell land no where near your enemy. This would not be that big of a detractor, but the use of the Mako is heavily emphasized in some parts of the game. However, the rest of the game is so good it is easy to overlook this part. If you are a fan of western RPGs, then this is a must have game.

Mass Effect is a great game. Developed by Bioware, the same developer who made Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, it is easily one of the best games of 2007. The gameplay is very tight, mixing elements of RPGs and Tactical Shooters very well. Combine this with the very deep Character customization and almost countless choices you can make in game it has almost infinite replay value. The story also is very good and could rival a few TV series in quality. I took me about 20 hours to play though the game, but I did not do very many side quests. The only problems are a few AI gliches (why is my teammate standing in the open?), the load times, and a few texture problems ( they only last for a couple of seconds after you enter a new area). Mass Effect I an awsome game that I would recommend to both RPG and shooter fans.

Mass Effect produces a storyline that rivals even Star Wars. The story is epic, the character customization allows every character you create to be completely unique. The combat system can play similar to Gears of War, or a Star Wars game depending on the character class choices you make. There are thousands of lines of dialogue and your choices reflect your upon your character and change the story. Mass Effect plays as a decent third person shooter, but shines as one of the best Role Playing Games for the Xbox 360.

Before I played Mass Effect, I had no idea what type of game it was. As I loved Bioshock due to its Karma system, a friend of mine recommended me Mass Effect and now that I have played through Mass Effect 2, boy am I glad that I was recommended this game. So what is so special about Mass Effect..... CHOICES/KARMA SYSTEM: In this game, you will have to make so many at many different levels and each choice you make will give you positive, negative or neutral karma and will have MAJOR impact on the game's story, missions and gameplay experience. You can be a paragon of justice or a renegade who gets the job done with whatever means necessary. Best part, you don't have to be either good or evil throughout the game, should you choose you can make both positive and negative karmic choices throughout the game. A lot of these choices will be made by simply having conversion with plethora of people in the game; however, you will also make choices by your action and type of character you choose. MAKING YOUR OWN CHARACTER: In Mass Effect, you can be male or female of any ethnicity or color. In a lot of games you are stuck playing a character that you may not like. Not in this game. In this game, you can be any type of character you want to be. Furthermore, you can also choose class of your liking for your character. For example if you love different types of weapons, you can be a soldier. If you like sci-fi psychological powers, you can be biotic. You are a hacker, then you can be tech. And again, what you become will have great impact on your gameplay experience. CREATE YOUR OWN TEAM: Along with your main character, you can also controller two other characters. Again, you can choose who those two characters can be. You can have a good looking female soldier, a tech specialist quarian, a violent krogan, a tactical turian, a biotic asari or a cyborg. Again who you have on your team will greatly affect how much you get out of your mission and outcome of your mission. WEAPONS AND POWERS: As mention in above section, yourself and your allies can be from various classes and each weapon, armor and power you can use is upgradable. Throughout the game you will come across plenty of variety of weapons and armors (depending on how much you explore), each with their unique advantages. OPEN WORLD GAMEPLAY: In this game, you have plenty of galaxies to explore. You can travel from galaxy to galaxy, landing on different planets as you wish. Plenty of missions and exploration. Just loved it. VEHICLES: You have a vehicle for different planet exploration. So along with third person shooter gameplay, you also have access to this vehicles to search different planets for resources and blow your enemies into bits. GREAT RPG EXPERIENCE: Leveling up can become addicting, especially since you have control over what particular traits you want your character or allies to have improved. AMAZING STORY: It is possible to get side tracked by side missions, but the main story is freaking awesome and somewhat suspenseful. GREAT REPLAYABILITY: The game was about 50-60hr long the first time around for me. If you play as paragon, you would want to play it again to experience the story as a renegade and vice versa. Especially if you decide to go after the achievements, you will be playing this game over and over again. As for cons, the game does have some glitches and combat doesn't feel as smooth as I would like, but that will not bother you as this game has so much fun to offer you. If you like RPG, star wars and shooters, this is the game for you.

Adding my review from the limited edition since the other reviews for the normal edition are short. There is another excellent review for the limited edition as well by TButler. BioWare hits another home run with this title. It is an excellent RPG with a great action game built in. Story: The main story is classic Sci-Fi with excellent dialogue. Lots and lots of side missions become available and most change on how you choose to deal with the choices, providing lots of replay value for your money. Incredible amount of data you can read if you take the time. The universe is fully fleshed out. Graphics: Beautiful almost realistic in most scenarios. I can describe it as watching a movie that you affect the plot. Characters move and interact very much like real life. Gameplay: Walking around and speaking to characters is half the game, the other half is navigating using the beautiful galaxy map and conducting combat operations against enemies. The combat is well done and compares to Gears of War's over the shoulder perspective. Bugs: The party AI can be disappointing at times and there are some issues with graphics loading somewhat slowly after starting from a saved game. Driving the Mako can be frustrating. Total: There is so much to explore and so many ways to do it. It really is like you are in your own movie. In my opinion the best RPG on the Xbox360.

Must play game. It has insane graphics(if you have an hd tv), that make it feel as if your playing a movie. There's great voice acting, immense customization, and improved combat system(compared to KOTAR). Any fan of KOTAR should buy this game.

Wow - I love this game. I've played BioWare's Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, and this takes those games to a whole new level. It can best be described as FPS RPG: the best of both worlds. As usual, the story is better than most sci-fi movies or TV out there with inventive new twists to keep you guessing what's really going on. You don't always know what the right or best choice should be. Your team is interesting and balanced. Shepard is nicely customizable both in look and ability (I always appreciate being able to play as a girl). The combat system is fluid and inventive. The controls are intuitive. On the negative side, it does take some time to get the ball rolling and into combat - there can be a lot of wandering around required. The buying system can be a little tedious and could use better structure. After playing Oblivion, I'd expect an RPG to have more random, non-main quest side missions too. The engine also can slow down in the larger battles and there is the occasional freeze. And elevators will apparently move at the speed of molasses in the future. The positives so outweigh the negatives though. This is one of the best game experiences I've had since KOTOR 1, and that includes Oblivion, Halo3 & Gears. You should buy this game. Just click the "add to cart" now! You'll thank me later.

This game is amazing. There are many different reasons to buy this game. The graphics alone are a best-seller. Not to mention the dialogue and freedom the player has in the game. There is a great story line and the ability to level up your character and create your own character and class is reason alone to replay this game over and over again.

When I first heard about this game I knew it was going to be great. When I bought it and booted it up for the first time I knew I was right and I was in for a gaming experience of a life time. Mass Effect does a lot of things right. Starting with the graphics to game play and the incredible story. Mass Effect the best graphics I've seen so far on the 360. A lot of detail was put into the characters and environments. The textures, although slow to load at times, are nicely done. The characters are eerily realistic and very believable. All of this makes Mass Effect a very unique and enjoyable game. Without spoiling anything, I will say the story is great and it will pull you in. The world of Mass Effect is filled with characters and worlds with their own stories. So while you will watch your character evolve and his/her story unfold, you will watch the world and other characters evolve as well. Simply magnificent and beautifully executed. Interacting with other characters has never been so intriguing. I can go on and on about all the positive reasons why anyone should play this game. But I think you should just get it and see for yourself.

I bought this game back in November and it is one of the best games I have ever played. The unreal engine powered graphics look great although there is the occasional "texture loading" but it does not get in the way of the gameplay. The storyline gets you really involved and you actually care about a lot of the characters; the voice acting is one of the best. The game tries really hard to not be linear in progression and it mostly suceeds. There are a lot of side quests which you can open up by talking to NPCs and getting some from computers. The shooting segments are mostly sucessful although there are some collision detection issues, it is mostly smooth and similar to gears of war except you can issue individual action commands to one of 2 other squadmates. Driving the Mako (planet driving vehicle) is smooth except when climbing up mountains and cliffs which can get frustrating as it can be difficult and tedius. Despite those complaints this is still one of the best games I have played ever. Definitely a must buy for either the PC or XBOX 360.

This game is a next generation classic. With great character animations and overall great graphics this game can be really easy on the eyes. The combat does take a while to get used to due to the fact that all weapons have infinite ammo but overheat to compensate. The game does make up for this with the many chances to improve your skills with a wealth of side missions. The best feature of this game for me would be the story. Not only does the storyline have a scale not seen in other games it also has a malleable plotline so the player can choose to alter the way the game is seen. Overall I think the game is a great game fo RPG fans though shooter fans would have trouble adapting to the combat.

Overall this game was great. The story was very good and it's dependent on the dialog choices you pick during the game. There are so many choices to pick for shepard when you first start out, and each one will change the game drastically. The controls were a little tricky, but you'll get used to them after about 5 minutes. My only problems were the delay in the graphic processing, but it's understandable considering the graphics are so good. The love scene was a bit too much, but thankfully you don't see anything except for maybe someone's posterior. Other than those two things this game was money well spent, and this is the best RPG for the 360 so far (until Knights Of The Old Republic 3 comes out), I highly recommend it.

A large, finely crafted, space opera in an original universe. Amazing story, great character development, and most importantly, fun. The kind of game you'll be playing until your eyes get all blurry at 3AM. However, it must be mentioned there are technical issues. Bad inventory management, and more jarring, the graphical issues. While the game looks great, there are many instances of frame drops, texture popins, load times out of the blue, and slow elevator load screens. Even with the aforementioned issues, Mass Effect is a great game that you should try, especially if you were a KOTOR fan.

this game is great because you can custimze not only yoursquads skills but you own to yo can give every person in your squad a specific command according to their specialty. the storyline is great and the diolouge is awseome. every thing you say changes the storyline.

This game has a solid feel to it. Its easy to loose track of time while playing it. The story is in depth and enriching, the combat has just the right feel to it. The game can last as long and as short as you want to with it. There are many subplots and side quests that you unlock along the way while dealing with the main story. Noted this game earned its M rateing, and if this was a movie, its rateing would border on R. The swearing is tame, and the blood is minimal, though the plot gets darker at times. the main thing is that theres a sub plot for romance, with out getting in depth about it, it gets detailed enough that children you wouldnt want watching a pg 13 movie shouldnt see. though nothing is actually shown in this, it is graphic enough. though this is a sub plot and can be skipped. Like i said the cut scene for it shows nothing special, but it is something to be noted. All in all, the game is enriching and detailed, and will last you a very long time.

This Game is fantastic, with its superb sci-fi story great grapics and solid gameplay, it kept me going for days. The only negative i have against this the side quest keep you going to side planets that are all the exact same just with different colors. Which can get quite tedious but you do not have to do the side quest if you do not want to.

When i first watched all the trailers for this game i thought it would be boring since there is so much talking involved, but i was wrong. All the cut scenes, and the ability to choose what your character says really makes the game interesting. I love the fact that depending on what you say the outcome of the game will change. The in this game is awesome, upgrading your weapons and customizing your characters really add to the game. All the power ups you can use also greatly add to the game play, making it a lot of fun to defeat your enemies. The only thing that is faulty with this game is the vehicle controls. When you first start playing it is impossible to make your vehicle drive straight, but after completing a few missions with the tank you really get a feel for it. Overall this game is a must have for any 360 owner, it's a great RPG that will give you MANY hours of fun.

I really didn't what to expect off a game some weird alians on the cover so I never got the game until a few months because a friend recommended it to me. My first 20 mins of gameplay were some what okay, getting use to the controls. Then after the 20 mins. the story kicked in strong. It really kepted me going. The game is not too difficult, but the story is epic and its not a walk in the park game either. I also like when its your turn to speak or say something, your chraracter actually speaks with emotions or additude witch really got me into the too beacuse I hate to read it myself. The game also has level ups for your player and stats that you can use to make your character how you want him or her. I truely recommend this game, and please do not judge this game by it cover.