Story/Plot: The game is about Commander Shepard's first few endeavors. The time when she uncovered the beacon, became the first Human Specter, met the recognizable faces (Tali, Garrus, Liara, Ashley, Wrex, etc.), discovered about the Reapers and the ongoing eradication of organic life, and of course the first time as the player that we are introduced to the lore of Mass Effect. Since this is the beginning of what becomes to be one of gaming most enamoring Western RPG, the roots it came from deserves no less of a merit for what its sequel accomplished. Any game that goes through half a decade on the making always has its roots, so suffice to say, the first game is indeed noteworthy of a positive appraisal.
10/10
Gameplay: One of the things that I feared about replaying the original Mass Effect is that it won't be as enthralling as ME2 or ME3. So truth to be told, it's not as refined as the last two games. It went through some polishing and A LOT of scrutinizing; it was a heavily RPG based game from battle sequence to dialogue than the last two (especially the third). Looking at it from that angle, it seems as if the developers shaved off the RPG element and made it more of a shooter. While at some aspect, that could be bad, but truth to be told, the gameplay was indeed MUCH better on its final days. As it should be. But the one thing about the first game that is indeed what makes it a bit more fun in my eyes is the fact that IT HAS a HEAVY role playing aspect! Customization was a bit more free, dialogue seems to have more choices (a real feel that you are playing the role as YOU in a Mass Effect world), and then it seems that one REALLY has to know how to partner up and use each character to MAKE up a good team rather than just whoever won't matter as much (aside form insanity levels, putting whoever in your party doesn't have as much weight in the last two games).
Abilities aren't as easy to manage and 'one click use'. One can only map a single power which again, makes the feel a bit more RPG since one has to break the rhythm of shooting, duck and cover kind of ideal. While again, I don't mind that, I would rather still enjoy having three buttons for power usage rather than just one. Implementing actions are a whole heck of a lot more tedious and less fluid, but again, I'm not going to admonish them much since the game was the first adaptation in the series. This same critique of the past goes the same for the cover system! Choosing how to cover or what not was a bit more useful later on and not to mention, squad mates seem to be a bit more keen when it comes to taking cover(in the last two games), shooting, and durability seems to be a bit more dependent on their armor; which HAS to be maintained by the player!
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| The Mako! This part of the gameplay is a coin toss. |
Again, still a fun game. Replay value in my eyes is still off the roof! I won't shun away from the improvements that the next two games made, however, I was still able to step away from that standpoint and appreciate this game on its own even after years and years of being spoiled by 'so much better gameplay'.
8.5/10
Graphics: When analyzing games like this that has already gone through the years in comparison to its more recent sequels, I can't hardly say that it would be fair to judge the aesthetics on today's standards. Mass Effect 3's graphics of course is far superior, but again, that is the present! So suffice to say, at it's time, Mass Effect has a LOT of qualities about it that makes it great visual wise. For its time, it does its justice. Though again, I don't think I can give it proper score so I'll just end it there.
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| Still a good looking one despite it being a 'back then' graphics. |
Not Applicable
Difficulty: The one thing about ME1, the first time around is a bit more relentless on normal compared to the first two. Perhaps its the engineer class that I chose to be, but it seems that enemies are far more of a challenge in the beginning of the game. Of course once I started attaining stronger weapons, better armors, and better upgrades, enemies are easier to take down; going to go through it on Hardcore and see how that feels... But one thing about this game that is a bit more of a strenuous task is the fact that one has to pilot the Mako; now don't get me wrong, at times it had its fun zone or what not, but truth to be told, the amount of time one HAS to spent on that darn thing is rather annoying. Durability isn't exactly its forte and one can discern when playing on much harder difficulties that this damn thing will simply disintegrate with a few shots from Geth Colossus.
Armor and weapon upgrades in the first game makes MUCH more of a prominent affect and the player has to be a bit more prudent when equipping combinations or what not. Knowing what to equip on all of your squad mates(or at least those you bring into battle) is wise, suffice to say. Armor may have had some sort of factors wether or not battles in the last two would be easier or what not, one can TRULY say that upgrading the installments and putting on armor that may not be aesthetic but strong in attributes is what makes and breaks the game. Having a plethora of 'old' weapons is the norm for Mass Effect, which again, is clutter, but somehow it really makes 'equipment management' fun on it's own right. Again, it gave the whole game an RPG feel far more than the last two as well as having factors to whether or not the game will be tedious or close to a cake walk.
Still haven't really played it on harder levels. Just barely started on it so my opinion in regards to it might be updated later on.
8/10
Voice/Audio: It's pretty obvious to hear the VA's of Mass Effect at their 'younger days' when voicing their particular character. While I'm not going to take anything from their performance since they were still able to omit emotions, personality, and convincing duress, but what I am trying to point out is that their experience with their characters grew as the years went on. Their caliber is far more enticing when we finally reach the third game. Yet despite the fact that the difference is pretty obvious, seeing the characters again for the 'first time' and hearing the 'speak' is still nostalgia. The game itself still has a plethora of well talented voice actors to say the least.
And while the voice actors still hold a sense of nostalgia for me, the audio still remains as it was to me in the last two games. Not a terrible soundtrack, but again it falls a bit more in mediocre. I won't exactly put down the game because the voice acting and the audio was well into play so suffice to say, there isn't really much to talk about in that department. I am the type of gamer that merely 'hears' the music if it is something REALLY enamoring. Still, the 'world map' or should I say 'galaxy map' tune still brings for a reminisce through the years of 'gap' between the games...
9/10
Overall: The experience of Mass Effect in its early days is still as enjoyable as the later games. Honestly, it's a testament that this series is indeed what games should be about in my book. While far from a perfect game with all the obvious modifications in went through, Mass Effect was still the one that paved the road for one of bioware's most hard hitting games. I find myself still wanting to play this game sometime soon just to clean up on my 'road to platinum', but there little easter eggs here and there, the nostalgia, the feeling of being 'reintroduced' to some of the quirky conversations and each character's point of view through certain missions or what not... suffice to say, this game will always hold a special place in my gaming life and it has and it will survive the test of time.
10/10
