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Mass Effect Impressions

Could Mass Effect be the deepest role playing game for the Xbox 360 yet? Yes. Yes it could. The developers demoed a bunch of actual in-engine gameplay and in-game cutscenes for us earlier today, showing off just how far they've come since the last E3. We were impressed. And we can't wait for November.

Let's go over quick notes before we get to impressions.

• There is vehicular combat
• You explore on foot in squads of 3
• You can collect all the characters in the game (or just some) in one play through.
• Getting certain characters won't prevent you from getting others.
• Your vehicles have guns and jump jets for getting around
• Space travel is just for travel—there isn't space combat

That said, everything looks fantastic. The framerates are totally smooth (with occasional stutters that we'll chalk up to it being almost done, but not quite), and the characters look gorgeous. All those trailers you've seen are actually of in-game footage, and when you zoom close in on alien characters, they look just as good as any of the Unreal Engine demos we've been seeing for years. If not better. This makes sense, since it uses the Unreal Engine.

Traveling from planet to planet is simple and quick, and you do so by a galaxy map that you zoom in and out of from solar systems to nebulas to the entire galaxy. This zooming, and the galaxy itself, looks as good as any special effects on say, the show Battlestar Galactica. You can also do stuff like scan a planet from orbit, but if you want to do anything you'll have to land. The ship you're riding out in is also explorable. You're the Commander of the ship, so you call the shots.

As for going on missions and advancing the plot, you take a team of 3 crew members you pick up along the way. You have the choice of denying people from joining your crew if you want, which actually cuts out whole swaths of the storyline and changes encounters. It's KOTOR-esque, in the sense that who you take on missions actually matters. (A few key designers from KOTOR also worked on Mass Effect).

Dialogue is totally smooth, in that you have dialogue options that pop up on the screen while other people are speaking. Select an option in time and the in-game cutscene will actually seem like an interactive cutscene. Did we mention that the character models look great? They do. Especially in dialogue scenes. The action was very smooth and very cinematic.

They demoed a certain scene, which we won't spoil for you here, that actually had you making life and death decisions based on your dialogue choice. You can play the game as a good character, a jackass, or anywhere in-between, based on which dialogue options you select. Again, similar to KOTOR, but much more refined.

Combat is in third person, and you have the option of using either weapons or special skills you pick up. A lot of things can be customized in terms of weapons, skills, and vehicles, so you'll have breadth in the way you want to take on fights. You can even control your teammates and send them in first as a distraction (or as cannon fodder) while you sneak around and flank. The skills you use are kind of like magic, or dark force powers in KOTOR, and should supplement or complement your regular attacks depending on how you want to play.

The game's due in November, and judging from the completeness level of the demo they've got now, there's no doubt that the game will be fantastic when it's released.

11:48 AM on Thu Jul 12 2007
By Jason Chen
12,278 views
90 comments

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