Post by Abby on Mar 14, 2008 14:52:56 GMT -5
HK, Crystal, you knew this was coming. 
Mass Effect is a science-fiction action role-playing game being developed by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which, according to BioWare, will be the first installment of a trilogy. It was released in 2007 on November 20 in USA and Canada, November 22 in Australia and New Zealand, and on November 23 in Europe. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player taking on the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard. The story revolves around the quest to stop a rogue SPECTRE (Special agent of the Citadel) from unleashing a threat that will wipe out all known life in the Galaxy.
Your mission is to stop the advancing armies of Saren, a legendary Spectre agent gone rogue, who intends to eliminate the entire human race using Prothean technology and an army of subservient Geth (partially due to the death of his brother during the First Contact War, though it is hinted that Saren's genocidal objective has something to do with the coming storm from the mysterious portal). Shepard will lead an elite team across hostile worlds and discover that the real threat is greater than anyone imagined.
In addition to the Mass Effect planned trilogy, BioWare promises to release episodic content that will available via Xbox Live Marketplace.
Details:
Project Manager Casey Hudson explained the term “Mass Effect” as follows:
“ Inside the game universe, mass effect is a newly discovered (for humans anyway) physics phenomenon that has properties along the lines of other physics forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. It’s what physicists in real life are currently calling “dark energy”, as an explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe — which has only recently been discovered and flies in the face of the previous notion that the universe’s expansion should be slowing down because of gravity. ”
Hudson explains that certain beings are able to sense and manipulate mass effect much like some real-life creatures (such as sharks and electric eels) can sense and manipulate electromagnetism. These abilities will be augmentable via implants, and the manipulation of mass effect is referred to as Biotics.
Mass Effect is set in the year 2183 AD. Thirty-five years prior, humanity discovered a cache of technology built by a long-extinct race. Studying and adapting this technology, humankind has managed to break free of the solar system and has established numerous colonies and encountered various extraterrestrial species within the Milky Way galaxy. Utilizing alien artifacts known as "Mass Relays", the various space-faring species are able to travel at faster-than-light speeds.
The game takes place primarily in two locations: the frigate SSV Normandy, and the Citadel, a gigantic space station purportedly built by the Protheans and which currently acts as the center of galactic civilization. Throughout the game, however, the player may navigate the Normandy to various planets, moons and other destinations.
Within the game, humanity has formed the "Human Systems Alliance", one of many independent bodies that make up the collective of "Citadel space". Citadel space, as a whole, is ruled by a body of government known as the "Council", which is made up of the three prominent alien races: the asari, salarians, and turians.
(Commander Shepard can be either male or female, depending on the player's choices. This article will refer to Shepard as a male)
The game begins aboard the experimental SSV Normandy, commanded by Captain Anderson and his executive officer, Commander Shepard, the playable character. The Normandy is being sent to the human colony world of Eden Prime to recover a beacon built by a technologically advanced, but extinct race, the Protheans. To assist in recovering the beacon, the Citadel Council, the main government for most of the galaxy, have sent one of their top agents, a turian "Spectre," named Nihlus. Nihlus is also there to evaluate Shepard to see if he is fit to become the first human Spectre.
Nihlus, Shepard, and a small team discover that the Eden Prime colony is under attack by alien synthetic life forms known as the geth. Nihlus encounters and is then killed by another turian Spectre named Saren Arterius, who is working with the geth. After the battle ends, Shepard discovers the beacon, but it suddenly activates. Shepard receives a vision of biological creatures being slaughtered by machines before the beacon explodes.
The Normandy and its crew are summoned by Ambassador Udina, Earth's representative to the galaxy, to the Citadel to report. Shepard is unable to convince the Citadel Council of Saren's treason until he discovers a recording of a conversation between Saren and one of his allies, an asari Matriarch named Benezia, discussing their victory on Eden Prime. The recording also mentions the return of a force known as the "Reapers," as well as an artifact called the "Conduit." Confronted with this evidence, the Council revokes Saren's status as a Spectre, and makes Shepard the first human Spectre so that he legally can hunt down Saren.
The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, a veteran soldier[16] who can be customized by the player. The character's appearance also varies based on the weaponry and armor the player uses. In addition to customizing Shepard's appearance, players can also choose a back story for the character, which influences dialogue throughout the game, as well as which side missions will be available to the character.
In addition to Commander Shepard, the player can have two additional characters following along and contributing to battles and dialogue. These characters are not created by the player and are only partially under the player's control. There are six characters met in the game who will join the fight; each has a detailed back-story and their own reasons for wanting to help. Two of the characters are human and the other four are aliens.
While playing Mass Effect the player will encounter a number of sentient alien species. While human characters are present, much of the time will be taken up interacting with the other species in the game. Aliens include the reptilian krogan, the frog-like salarians, the raptor-like turians and the asari, a race of aliens who physically resemble human females.
Although most of the game's screen shots and concept art show the same "default" male Commander Shepard, it is possible for the player to fully customize his or her character's appearance, gender, abilities, and even military background.
The game includes six character classes. Each class contains several talents; as each talent is leveled, the character either gains stats (extra health, stamina, etc), unlocks new abilities (leveling the Shotgun talent unlocks the Carnage ability, which allows the character to fire a concentrated blast from the Shotgun), or unlocks other talents. Each class also possesses a unique talent with the same name as its respective class; the characters may also have talents tied to their background. Characters who have reached level 20 will unlock a "Rogue VI" side-mission on Luna (Earth's Moon) in the Sol system, in which upon completion, allows the player to choose one new specialist class. This unlocks one new "bar" of talents which can be earned. The specialist classes the character is offered depends on the base class.
When characters are first created, six classes are available: Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, and Vanguard. Soldiers are the most skilled with weaponry, Engineers make use of the omni-tool and tech-abilities and the Adept are the best at using the biotics. The other three classes are combinations of the first three. Infiltrators are a combination of Soldiers and Engineers, the Sentinel is a combination between the Engineer and the Adept, and the Vanguard are a combination of the Soldier and the Adept.
Players also have some control over their character's back story. They are able to choose either to have been a "spacer" (born and bred in space), a colonist or an "Earthborn". They also choose whether they have been the sole survivor of a terrible battle, a war-hero or a ruthless soldier. These backgrounds have only a small effect in the game, although many characters reference the player's chosen background when talking to Commander Shepard and these can also affect whether some side-quests are available. Except in a few situations, the player's background does not affect the player's dialog choices.
Previous BioWare titles such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire employed a conversation system where the player chose from several responses after non-player characters (NPCs) had finished speaking. Mass Effect introduces a new system in which responses to NPCs are displayed as the general tone of the message, rather than a word-for-word transcription of the message.
The 1UP.com preview states that "the dialog system is a refined, more dynamic version of what you've seen in previous BioWare games. You'll no longer read the lines and select which one you want to say; now you use a dialog wheel to choose the approach you want to take (bully, bribe, or be nice, for example), and your character takes it from there."
A radial command menu, divided into six equal sections like a pie chart, is shown at the bottom of the screen when a conversation is initiated. Each section is assigned a brief preview of the response, usually a short phrase such as "What's going on?". The response is selected by moving the analog stick in the direction of the desired response on the circle and pressing a button. The command menu is organized such that each section is assigned a particular inclination (being nice, aggressive, etc.), so that after players have become comfortable with the system they no longer have to read the menu, and are able to respond appropriately, immediately, if desired. BioWare hopes that the innovative system allows the game to be more cinematic and frees players from reading large amounts of dialog, as would be required with the commonly used system of simply having the player choose from complete, sometimes long, written statements.
Combat in Mass Effect takes place in real time, though much like a previous BioWare game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the player can pause at any time to give orders to other squad members. The player and his allies use firearms (modifiable with various upgrades throughout the game), Tech abilities (to interfere with enemy equipment and abilities), and Biotics (similar to magical attacks or Force powers in other games) to fight their enemies. Players directly control all of their own character's actions as well as utilizing their squadmates personal attacks, but cannot take direct command of their squad mates. They can, however, issue commands using the directional pad, allowing the player to tell other characters to get behind cover, regroup, attack a specific target, or to scout ahead. The player can also use the talent wheel interface to control which of their abilities or special powers squad mates use.
The abilities and special powers that characters have at their disposal are determined by the skill sets assigned to them at the beginning of the game and how further earned experience points have been allotted since then. Some special abilities include a telekinetic lift that can be used to pick up objects and enemies, and a tech ability that reduces the shields of enemies. Dialog and commercial abilities such as charm and intimidate are dependent on points, storyline progression, and the amount of paragon or renegade points the characters attain.
Tech abilities are support powers used against enemy weapons and technology, as well as biotics. They are activated through the OmniTool, which three of the main classes can use: Engineers, Infiltrators, and Sentinels. These abilities include destroying enemy shields, sabotaging enemy weaponry, and hacking robotic enemies to fire on their own squad. Tech abilities also have passive uses, such as the Electronics talent, which allows the party to open locked crates or salvage components from wrecks.
Included with Tech abilities are the First Aid and Medicine Talents, which boost squad-wide healing when the First Aid ability is used.
Biotics are powers accessed by the characters using implants that enhance natural abilities to manipulate dark energy. These abilities include hurling enemies around with the mind, raising shields that are resistant to enemy fire but still allow the player to fire through them, and creating small singularities that cause destructible parts of the environment to fly at enemies. Three of the main character classes are able to use these powers: Adepts, Vanguards and Sentinels.
Mass Effect features four classes of conventional weapons and a variety of weapon and armor upgrades. The player can pause the game at any time and change the equipment used by the members of the party. This is a major strategic aspect of the gameplay, as choosing the correct equipment can mean the difference between a quick victory and defeat. Equipped items are visible on the characters; the armors have different appearances and all weapons fold up into compact versions that are stored on the character's back. Weapons can be retrieved by using a weapon wheel similar to the talent wheel.
Ammunition is unlimited; instead of needing to reload, a weapon will build up heat until it overheats, and cannot fire until it has sufficiently cooled down. In-game, the reasoning for this is that weapons are loaded with "blocks" of ammunition material, and each round fired is sheared off from this central supply of ammunition. The rounds themselves are described as being the size of a "grain of sand" and are launched through "mass accelerator" technology at extremely high speeds. Firing a weapon continuously or using a weapon that one is untrained with will result in decreased accuracy, represented by an expanding targeting reticule. The more Talent points that are spent on a weapon type, the greater the weapon type's accuracy and damage.
The characters wear hardsuits which serve as combat and EVA suits. These suits provide a seemingly limitless supply of oxygen. The method for creating this is unknown. They offer protection against incredible temperatures, and can take multiple mass accelerator rounds before failing. The suits also come equipped with Kinetic Barriers, which act as shields that stop most weapons fire. There are three classifications of hardsuits: light, medium, and heavy armor.
The side story and the number of character interaction choices in Mass Effect are affected by the player's chosen morality. Unlike in BioWare's previous titles, emphasis on becoming a pure "good" or pure "evil" character is lessened. Some characters may not like the player or leave the player's squad if the player's moral direction differs from their squad mates. The overall story is also affected by the player's personal choices. Project Director Casey Hudson of BioWare has said "[the player's] style of play throughout the game will result in diverging endings that determine the fate of humanity itself", affecting not only the first installment, but also the planned sequels. Morality is mostly determined by the player's choices during conversations.
Hudson has further stated that instead of the "good" and "evil" approach that past BioWare games have taken, Mass Effect morality is based on giving points as a "Paragon" for choosing more polite and professional military actions, or as a "Renegade" for taking a more ruthless and take-no-prisoners approach. "Paragon" and "Renegade" points are scored on two separate scales (i.e. taking a "Paragon" option does not negate a past "Renegade" option), as opposed to other BioWare titles such as Knights of the Old Republic in which morality points were scored on a single scale so that making a "Light Side" choice negated the morality change characters underwent for making a "Dark Side" choice. NPCs react differently to a character depending on their past morality choices.
The SSV Normandy, the player character's ship, and a technological marvel in the setting of the game, serves as the primary mode of transportation.
Since the game spans the galaxy, many trips have to be made from planet to planet. Players choose destinations by selecting them through a galactic map of the Milky Way. The galaxy is divided into numerous levels of organization, shrinking in scale from star clusters, to star systems, and finally down to planets.
Travel through the Mass Effect universe is aided through the use of Mass Relays, which are technological artifacts that are capable of transporting vessels nearly instantaneously between star clusters and systems. There are two types of Mass Relays, primary and secondary. Primary relays are "linked" with a twin, and so are one-directional, but can span as many as a hundred thousand light years — according to the game's "Codex". Secondary relays are omnidirectional and can send ships to any relay within its limited range of about a hundred light years.
Once the player decides on a system to visit, several options are available. Some planets are simply there to complete the system. Others can only be surveyed for valuable materials. Some astral bodies such as asteroids, moons, and small space freighters are also available for survey. Finally, some planets can be landed on and explored. The player can move about on foot or using an all-terrain armored personnel carrier called the Mako. Some segments of the game feature combat requiring the use of this vehicle. Most main story segments (and many side missions) are geared toward on-foot shooter action.
Although the game follows a main story, Mass Effect includes a large number of side missions and free-roam "unexplored planets" that can be reached by selecting them through the galactic map.
Basically? The best game EVAH, in my opinion. Each big and small choice makes everything more real. Bioware really has outdone itself this time.
Mass Effect is a science-fiction action role-playing game being developed by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which, according to BioWare, will be the first installment of a trilogy. It was released in 2007 on November 20 in USA and Canada, November 22 in Australia and New Zealand, and on November 23 in Europe. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player taking on the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard. The story revolves around the quest to stop a rogue SPECTRE (Special agent of the Citadel) from unleashing a threat that will wipe out all known life in the Galaxy.
Your mission is to stop the advancing armies of Saren, a legendary Spectre agent gone rogue, who intends to eliminate the entire human race using Prothean technology and an army of subservient Geth (partially due to the death of his brother during the First Contact War, though it is hinted that Saren's genocidal objective has something to do with the coming storm from the mysterious portal). Shepard will lead an elite team across hostile worlds and discover that the real threat is greater than anyone imagined.
In addition to the Mass Effect planned trilogy, BioWare promises to release episodic content that will available via Xbox Live Marketplace.
Details:
Project Manager Casey Hudson explained the term “Mass Effect” as follows:
“ Inside the game universe, mass effect is a newly discovered (for humans anyway) physics phenomenon that has properties along the lines of other physics forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. It’s what physicists in real life are currently calling “dark energy”, as an explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe — which has only recently been discovered and flies in the face of the previous notion that the universe’s expansion should be slowing down because of gravity. ”
Hudson explains that certain beings are able to sense and manipulate mass effect much like some real-life creatures (such as sharks and electric eels) can sense and manipulate electromagnetism. These abilities will be augmentable via implants, and the manipulation of mass effect is referred to as Biotics.
Mass Effect is set in the year 2183 AD. Thirty-five years prior, humanity discovered a cache of technology built by a long-extinct race. Studying and adapting this technology, humankind has managed to break free of the solar system and has established numerous colonies and encountered various extraterrestrial species within the Milky Way galaxy. Utilizing alien artifacts known as "Mass Relays", the various space-faring species are able to travel at faster-than-light speeds.
The game takes place primarily in two locations: the frigate SSV Normandy, and the Citadel, a gigantic space station purportedly built by the Protheans and which currently acts as the center of galactic civilization. Throughout the game, however, the player may navigate the Normandy to various planets, moons and other destinations.
Within the game, humanity has formed the "Human Systems Alliance", one of many independent bodies that make up the collective of "Citadel space". Citadel space, as a whole, is ruled by a body of government known as the "Council", which is made up of the three prominent alien races: the asari, salarians, and turians.
(Commander Shepard can be either male or female, depending on the player's choices. This article will refer to Shepard as a male)
The game begins aboard the experimental SSV Normandy, commanded by Captain Anderson and his executive officer, Commander Shepard, the playable character. The Normandy is being sent to the human colony world of Eden Prime to recover a beacon built by a technologically advanced, but extinct race, the Protheans. To assist in recovering the beacon, the Citadel Council, the main government for most of the galaxy, have sent one of their top agents, a turian "Spectre," named Nihlus. Nihlus is also there to evaluate Shepard to see if he is fit to become the first human Spectre.
Nihlus, Shepard, and a small team discover that the Eden Prime colony is under attack by alien synthetic life forms known as the geth. Nihlus encounters and is then killed by another turian Spectre named Saren Arterius, who is working with the geth. After the battle ends, Shepard discovers the beacon, but it suddenly activates. Shepard receives a vision of biological creatures being slaughtered by machines before the beacon explodes.
The Normandy and its crew are summoned by Ambassador Udina, Earth's representative to the galaxy, to the Citadel to report. Shepard is unable to convince the Citadel Council of Saren's treason until he discovers a recording of a conversation between Saren and one of his allies, an asari Matriarch named Benezia, discussing their victory on Eden Prime. The recording also mentions the return of a force known as the "Reapers," as well as an artifact called the "Conduit." Confronted with this evidence, the Council revokes Saren's status as a Spectre, and makes Shepard the first human Spectre so that he legally can hunt down Saren.
The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, a veteran soldier[16] who can be customized by the player. The character's appearance also varies based on the weaponry and armor the player uses. In addition to customizing Shepard's appearance, players can also choose a back story for the character, which influences dialogue throughout the game, as well as which side missions will be available to the character.
In addition to Commander Shepard, the player can have two additional characters following along and contributing to battles and dialogue. These characters are not created by the player and are only partially under the player's control. There are six characters met in the game who will join the fight; each has a detailed back-story and their own reasons for wanting to help. Two of the characters are human and the other four are aliens.
While playing Mass Effect the player will encounter a number of sentient alien species. While human characters are present, much of the time will be taken up interacting with the other species in the game. Aliens include the reptilian krogan, the frog-like salarians, the raptor-like turians and the asari, a race of aliens who physically resemble human females.
Although most of the game's screen shots and concept art show the same "default" male Commander Shepard, it is possible for the player to fully customize his or her character's appearance, gender, abilities, and even military background.
The game includes six character classes. Each class contains several talents; as each talent is leveled, the character either gains stats (extra health, stamina, etc), unlocks new abilities (leveling the Shotgun talent unlocks the Carnage ability, which allows the character to fire a concentrated blast from the Shotgun), or unlocks other talents. Each class also possesses a unique talent with the same name as its respective class; the characters may also have talents tied to their background. Characters who have reached level 20 will unlock a "Rogue VI" side-mission on Luna (Earth's Moon) in the Sol system, in which upon completion, allows the player to choose one new specialist class. This unlocks one new "bar" of talents which can be earned. The specialist classes the character is offered depends on the base class.
When characters are first created, six classes are available: Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, and Vanguard. Soldiers are the most skilled with weaponry, Engineers make use of the omni-tool and tech-abilities and the Adept are the best at using the biotics. The other three classes are combinations of the first three. Infiltrators are a combination of Soldiers and Engineers, the Sentinel is a combination between the Engineer and the Adept, and the Vanguard are a combination of the Soldier and the Adept.
Players also have some control over their character's back story. They are able to choose either to have been a "spacer" (born and bred in space), a colonist or an "Earthborn". They also choose whether they have been the sole survivor of a terrible battle, a war-hero or a ruthless soldier. These backgrounds have only a small effect in the game, although many characters reference the player's chosen background when talking to Commander Shepard and these can also affect whether some side-quests are available. Except in a few situations, the player's background does not affect the player's dialog choices.
Previous BioWare titles such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire employed a conversation system where the player chose from several responses after non-player characters (NPCs) had finished speaking. Mass Effect introduces a new system in which responses to NPCs are displayed as the general tone of the message, rather than a word-for-word transcription of the message.
The 1UP.com preview states that "the dialog system is a refined, more dynamic version of what you've seen in previous BioWare games. You'll no longer read the lines and select which one you want to say; now you use a dialog wheel to choose the approach you want to take (bully, bribe, or be nice, for example), and your character takes it from there."
A radial command menu, divided into six equal sections like a pie chart, is shown at the bottom of the screen when a conversation is initiated. Each section is assigned a brief preview of the response, usually a short phrase such as "What's going on?". The response is selected by moving the analog stick in the direction of the desired response on the circle and pressing a button. The command menu is organized such that each section is assigned a particular inclination (being nice, aggressive, etc.), so that after players have become comfortable with the system they no longer have to read the menu, and are able to respond appropriately, immediately, if desired. BioWare hopes that the innovative system allows the game to be more cinematic and frees players from reading large amounts of dialog, as would be required with the commonly used system of simply having the player choose from complete, sometimes long, written statements.
Combat in Mass Effect takes place in real time, though much like a previous BioWare game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the player can pause at any time to give orders to other squad members. The player and his allies use firearms (modifiable with various upgrades throughout the game), Tech abilities (to interfere with enemy equipment and abilities), and Biotics (similar to magical attacks or Force powers in other games) to fight their enemies. Players directly control all of their own character's actions as well as utilizing their squadmates personal attacks, but cannot take direct command of their squad mates. They can, however, issue commands using the directional pad, allowing the player to tell other characters to get behind cover, regroup, attack a specific target, or to scout ahead. The player can also use the talent wheel interface to control which of their abilities or special powers squad mates use.
The abilities and special powers that characters have at their disposal are determined by the skill sets assigned to them at the beginning of the game and how further earned experience points have been allotted since then. Some special abilities include a telekinetic lift that can be used to pick up objects and enemies, and a tech ability that reduces the shields of enemies. Dialog and commercial abilities such as charm and intimidate are dependent on points, storyline progression, and the amount of paragon or renegade points the characters attain.
Tech abilities are support powers used against enemy weapons and technology, as well as biotics. They are activated through the OmniTool, which three of the main classes can use: Engineers, Infiltrators, and Sentinels. These abilities include destroying enemy shields, sabotaging enemy weaponry, and hacking robotic enemies to fire on their own squad. Tech abilities also have passive uses, such as the Electronics talent, which allows the party to open locked crates or salvage components from wrecks.
Included with Tech abilities are the First Aid and Medicine Talents, which boost squad-wide healing when the First Aid ability is used.
Biotics are powers accessed by the characters using implants that enhance natural abilities to manipulate dark energy. These abilities include hurling enemies around with the mind, raising shields that are resistant to enemy fire but still allow the player to fire through them, and creating small singularities that cause destructible parts of the environment to fly at enemies. Three of the main character classes are able to use these powers: Adepts, Vanguards and Sentinels.
Mass Effect features four classes of conventional weapons and a variety of weapon and armor upgrades. The player can pause the game at any time and change the equipment used by the members of the party. This is a major strategic aspect of the gameplay, as choosing the correct equipment can mean the difference between a quick victory and defeat. Equipped items are visible on the characters; the armors have different appearances and all weapons fold up into compact versions that are stored on the character's back. Weapons can be retrieved by using a weapon wheel similar to the talent wheel.
Ammunition is unlimited; instead of needing to reload, a weapon will build up heat until it overheats, and cannot fire until it has sufficiently cooled down. In-game, the reasoning for this is that weapons are loaded with "blocks" of ammunition material, and each round fired is sheared off from this central supply of ammunition. The rounds themselves are described as being the size of a "grain of sand" and are launched through "mass accelerator" technology at extremely high speeds. Firing a weapon continuously or using a weapon that one is untrained with will result in decreased accuracy, represented by an expanding targeting reticule. The more Talent points that are spent on a weapon type, the greater the weapon type's accuracy and damage.
The characters wear hardsuits which serve as combat and EVA suits. These suits provide a seemingly limitless supply of oxygen. The method for creating this is unknown. They offer protection against incredible temperatures, and can take multiple mass accelerator rounds before failing. The suits also come equipped with Kinetic Barriers, which act as shields that stop most weapons fire. There are three classifications of hardsuits: light, medium, and heavy armor.
The side story and the number of character interaction choices in Mass Effect are affected by the player's chosen morality. Unlike in BioWare's previous titles, emphasis on becoming a pure "good" or pure "evil" character is lessened. Some characters may not like the player or leave the player's squad if the player's moral direction differs from their squad mates. The overall story is also affected by the player's personal choices. Project Director Casey Hudson of BioWare has said "[the player's] style of play throughout the game will result in diverging endings that determine the fate of humanity itself", affecting not only the first installment, but also the planned sequels. Morality is mostly determined by the player's choices during conversations.
Hudson has further stated that instead of the "good" and "evil" approach that past BioWare games have taken, Mass Effect morality is based on giving points as a "Paragon" for choosing more polite and professional military actions, or as a "Renegade" for taking a more ruthless and take-no-prisoners approach. "Paragon" and "Renegade" points are scored on two separate scales (i.e. taking a "Paragon" option does not negate a past "Renegade" option), as opposed to other BioWare titles such as Knights of the Old Republic in which morality points were scored on a single scale so that making a "Light Side" choice negated the morality change characters underwent for making a "Dark Side" choice. NPCs react differently to a character depending on their past morality choices.
The SSV Normandy, the player character's ship, and a technological marvel in the setting of the game, serves as the primary mode of transportation.
Since the game spans the galaxy, many trips have to be made from planet to planet. Players choose destinations by selecting them through a galactic map of the Milky Way. The galaxy is divided into numerous levels of organization, shrinking in scale from star clusters, to star systems, and finally down to planets.
Travel through the Mass Effect universe is aided through the use of Mass Relays, which are technological artifacts that are capable of transporting vessels nearly instantaneously between star clusters and systems. There are two types of Mass Relays, primary and secondary. Primary relays are "linked" with a twin, and so are one-directional, but can span as many as a hundred thousand light years — according to the game's "Codex". Secondary relays are omnidirectional and can send ships to any relay within its limited range of about a hundred light years.
Once the player decides on a system to visit, several options are available. Some planets are simply there to complete the system. Others can only be surveyed for valuable materials. Some astral bodies such as asteroids, moons, and small space freighters are also available for survey. Finally, some planets can be landed on and explored. The player can move about on foot or using an all-terrain armored personnel carrier called the Mako. Some segments of the game feature combat requiring the use of this vehicle. Most main story segments (and many side missions) are geared toward on-foot shooter action.
Although the game follows a main story, Mass Effect includes a large number of side missions and free-roam "unexplored planets" that can be reached by selecting them through the galactic map.
Basically? The best game EVAH, in my opinion. Each big and small choice makes everything more real. Bioware really has outdone itself this time.
