Mass Effect Preview
Xbox 360 (Bioware)
RPG, Release Date: TBA 2007 (Early)
Posted September 19th, 2006

KOTOR 3? Jade Empire 2? Nope and nope, at least not for a while. Bioware, who has quietly become the best RPG developer since Square, is finishing up work on it's next flagship title entitled, "Mass Effect", which arrives exclusively for the Xbox 360 sometime in early 2007. In Mass Effect you play as Commander Shephard, and your mission is to basically save an entire universe from destruction. Both KOTOR and Jade Empire were massive in sheer geographic size; Mass Effect on the other hand is simply ginormous. With your starship "Normandy", you'll have access to hundreds of planets to travel to and explore, and by exploring I mean the entire friggin planet; pole to pole.

While this is a massive RPG at its heart, the combat system is more along the lines of a Tom Clancy Rainbow Six game. Instead of a traditional turn-based combat system, Mass Effect utilizes a real time tactical squad-based shooter system that almosts turns this game into a FPS. Oh you can also modify any and all of your weapons to make every playthrough that much more unique. If you're reading this and feeling a little skeptical about the combat, chances are you either have never played a Bioware RPG (shame on you, btw) or you haven't liked any of them. With each new RPG they pump out, Bioware continues to push the envelope by introducing new concepts and ideas; this new combat system looks phenomenal and I can guarantee it will play the same way.



Like previous Bioware RPGs, morality and decision-making plays an integral role throughout the game. The dialogue system in Mass Effect was built from the ground up, and is intricately more advanced than that of KOTOR's. Now you have the option of cutting a non-player character off in mid-sentence, so conversations will flow much more smoother and without that awkward silence. As always, depending on which characters are in your party, you'll hear different responses to your decisions and actions depending on those character's respective moral beliefs. If you decide to piss people off in your party for doing too many immoral or evil decisions, then you can count on people leaving you and the other way around.

Mass Effect isn't slated until early 2007, so if you're looking for a solid RPG for your Xbox 360 you're just going to have to wait a little bit. This game will be worth it, I can promise you that. As more info comes down into the College Downtime News Room, I'll be sure to post it. Mass Effect has "Game of the Year" written all over it. You heard it hear first.


Mass Effect Screenshots:



Mass Effect Videos:
Trailer

- Back to the Gaming Portal.
- Back to the Main Page.