It is damn near impossible to go over everything that the Mass Effect disc contains. I ended up plowing through galaxy's main storyline in about 25 hours and I have to say that I'm more than pleased. What gets me even more excited is that I haven't even experienced the majority of this game, as proven by my lack of the "
completionist" achievement. During my first play through I stuck to being a paragon (good guy), constantly asking how everyone was feeling, talking things out instead of shooting up the joint, and never getting that kick back under the table. My Shepard is a survivor of a raid that killed her parents, and also a hero that held out against the blitz. While these parts of your back can come up from time to time they aren't a huge factor in the overall story. Your decisions really do effect the world that you are playing in. While not every decision has a great effect on everything or anyone, some can determine how a certain character will act will act from then on, or even how some will see all of humanity itself.
Mass Effect's body of work is truly greater than some of the little things it tries to do. The galaxy is massive in size and in the amount of information held within it. Each race has a history and culture that is very much its own. Many do not take too kindly to humans since they are seen as the sexy new girl in class by some of the powers that be. Just about anyone you talk to across the galaxy has a story, whether it be long or short, exciting or dull, a story is still there and to be told. It could be about being your biggest fan, starting a cult, or of course something like
erotic dance.
The game does have its short comings as well, but those mostly have to do with the side quests. Some side quests tend to suffer from what feels very rise and repeat. You land of a planet that is fairly barren, it has about three points on the map to go to, kill a few guys with your Mako, run inside to kill a handful of enemies or pick up item. This does not go for every planet that isn't part of the main quest, but it happens enough to where you get a little tired and just want to move on to something bigger and better. Which there is plenty of bigger and better in Mass Effect.
If you go into the game like me knowing what Bioware has done in the past, and expect a successor to KOTOR then I believe you're in for a treat. The game plays great, better than I ever thought a mash up of a shooter and RPG ever could let alone the first time out. At the same time if you're looking for something that is more along the lines of Gears of War you'll be disappointed only by the points in the game where the action slows down. I will be very excited to see a Mass Effect 2 during this generation, and will gladly download any DLC they put out there in the coming months. Mass Effect is a great start to what I hope is a franchise Bioware sticks with, they have a property and universe that is all their own to do with however they please.
For now I will play through the game again, completing more side quests, trying to be more of a bad ass, and seducing the rest of my crew.
