Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a single-player action role-playing game in which the player takes the role of Commander Shepard from a third-person perspective. Shepard's gender, appearance, military background, combat-training and first name are determined by the player before the game begins. There are six different character classes for the player to choose from and each of them have different talents that provide enhanced combat capabilities. For example, the Soldier class is trained in weapon damage and has improved health, while the Sentinel class is trained in protecting and healing allies.

At one point in the game, players may evolve their base class talent into one of two specializations, which depend on the class chosen by the player. Although any class can use any weapon type, each class is only effective with the weapons they are trained in.

Mass Effect is set within the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2183 where interstellar travel is possible through the use of mass transit devices called Mass Relays, a technology believed to have been built by an extinct alien race known as the Protheans. The term "Mass Effect" is defined as a form of mass-negating technology, allowing the creation of physics phenomena, like artificial gravity or FTL travel. A conglomerate body of governments known as the Citadel Council controls a large percentage of the galaxy and is responsible for maintaining law and order among races of the galactic community. Races that belong to the Citadel Council include humans, asari, salarians, and turians.

Other alien races seen in the game include the reptilian krogan, the environmental suited quarians, and a hostile race of networked artificial intelligences called geth. Humanity is represented by the Systems Alliance, an organized body that joined the galactic community in 2157.

Mass Effect was developed by BioWare and directed by Casey Hudson, who previously directed BioWare's 2003 title Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Preproduction of the game began in early 2004, shortly after the Microsoft Windows version of Knights of the Old Republic was released. As the development team was already experienced with the Xbox console, they decided to develop the game originally for its successor, the Xbox 360, due to its improved processing power and development tools. A total of 130 people were involved in the development of the game and the first six to eight months were spent conceiving how the game would look.

Mass Effect uses the Unreal Engine 3 as a groundwork, but on top of that the team developed additional components for advanced digital actors, space exploration, and squad combat, resulting in BioWare's largest programming project at the time. During the game's three- to four-year development cycle, most of the time had been devoted to the development of these technologies.

Upon release, Mass Effect received critical acclaim from video game publications. The game's interactive storytelling and cinematic design were highlighted very positively, while the combat and vehicle navigation were generally seen as the game's weakest features. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot described Mass Effect as "a great game with moments of brilliance and a number of small but significant obstacles that hold it back from reaching its true potential." Similarly, IGN's Erik Brudvig considered it greater than the sum of its parts, stating that although Mass Effect features numerous technical issues, most of the game "is so expertly delivered that it can transcend its weaknesses."

Writing for Game Informer, Andrew Reiner said that the game's interactive storytelling encourages replay and that its detailed story "makes the relationships feel real—you care about your crew, and you really feel like you have a voice that resonates throughout the galaxy." Alex Dale of CVG stated similar pros, stating that "never before has storytelling been so competently ingrained into a videogame, and never before has a player had so much freedom to dictate the course of a linear storyline." Similar praise was given to the game's detailed character models, facial animations, and voice acting. Jennifer Tsao of 1UP.com felt the digital actors evoked real-life expressions, but admitted that the lip sync had some issues. Although the visuals were credited for their dramatic set pieces and evocative soundtrack, critics noted the game's inconsistent frame rate and long loading times.