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[MC Safety]

I enjoyed the series, but it had more than its share of missteps.

I never felt less like an explorer than I did driving the crapmobile to nowhere in Mass Effect.

I never felt more like a useless cog than I did fighting a hopping spider at the end of Mass Effect. (The ending was a complete ripoff of KOTOR's ending, too, only in KOTOR you fought a real enemy while a giant space battle was raging around you.)

I never felt less like a spaceship captain than I did mining junk in Mass Effect 2.

I never bought a story element less than I did Shephard's working with Cerberus in Mass Effect 2.

And, of course, I never felt more let down by a game's ending than I did the extra-yappy version of Mass Effect 3.

 

[shinobi602]

I have never played mass effect

You should remedy this asap sir.

 

[Sanctuary]

I never felt less like an explorer than I did driving the crapmobile to nowhere in Mass Effect.

Same.

I never bought a story element less than I did Shephard's working with Cerberus in Mass Effect 2.

Not really sure how implausible that really is, especially if you were playing a Renegade. Even if you weren't, Shepard owed his life to them and he could at least give them the benefit of the doubt until they started doing things that were against his moral compass. Besides, if you look at what Cerberus is really all about, they aren't really that different from Spectres. They simply focus on humanity above all else though. I think Shepard was using them though as much as they were trying to use him. He had all of their resources at his disposal to accomplish his mission. The council in the first game basically ignored him, and history could have just repeated itself again, even with the human led (canon?) council. Also, it's been a while since I played the second game, but I thought no one else was bothering to look into the disappearances at the colonies. Why wouldn't Shepard work with them since it could be considered a common goal?

Spectre

They answer only to the Council, and in some cases the Council prefers not to know the exact details of how a Spectre accomplishes their mission. Spectres act in any way they see fit, either with careful diplomacy or ruthless force, being officially above any law.

Cerberus

Cerberus is a human-survivalist paramilitary group led by the enigmatic Illusive Man. Cerberus' core belief is that humans deserve a greater role in the galactic community, and that the Systems Alliance is too hamstrung by law and public opinion to stand up effectively to the other Citadel races. Cerberus supports the principle that any methods of advancing humanity's ascension are entirely justified, including illegal or dangerous experimentation, terrorist activities, sabotage and assassination. Cerberus operatives accept that these methods are brutal, but believe history will vindicate them.

 

[APZonerunner]

I never bought a story element less than I did Shepard's working with Cerberus in Mass Effect 2.

I think they do a fairly good job of justifying this. To the Alliance and to the Council Shepard is dead, killed in the opening. Even if Shepard left Cerberus and the Illusive Man, the encounter with Anderson and/or the Council proves that he wouldn't be able to walk back into the Alliance. He would, at the very least, be held and interrogated for weeks, possibly months, as they try to verify his identity and probably cover up his return.

The Illusive Man makes a compelling case - he asks Shepard early on to just go to that one settlement with Miranda and Jacob, to hear him out. Shepard owes him that for saving his life, so he goes. What he sees then is the sort of thing that, to a man like Shepard, is a call to action: he can't ignore the collectors, he has to get involved, he has to do something.

Even as a Paragon, by leaving Cerberus and going back to the Alliance he risks a drag of months, potentially, where settlements can be raided by the Collectors, and Shepard wouldn't do that. He can't strike out alone, either, as he has nothing (and he can't even steal the Normandy, as early on, EDI is programmed in such a way where she can lock out the ship and return it to Cerberus - it's only when she gets unlocked during the Collector attack that she can finally rebel against the Illusive Man, and then she quickly does.

So -- I think the game justifies it pretty well. As soon as it's convenient - as soon as the immediate threat has passed - Shepard has the option to very flatly terminate that marriage to Cerberus.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

The first Mass Effect was so awesome. So disappointed that the series in the 2nd and 3rd games became one of the leagues of scifish cover shooters that dominated last gen.

 

[shinobi602]

The first Mass Effect was so awesome. So disappointed that the series in the 2nd and 3rd games became one of the leagues of scifish cover shooters that dominated last gen.

I think you'd have to really diminish and simplify Mass Effect 2 and 3 in order to say they're just one of the many 'sci-fi cover shooters' that dominated last gen. Sure at their core you controlled your character in third person and shot things, but the narrative, the lore and universe building of everything from the species to technology, organizations etc, the wonderful dialogue and conversations you could have with characters, the comedic sequences, the excellent voice acting and performances, some highly memorable missions elevated far above just being "another sci-fi shooter". I don't think that's giving them near enough credit.

 

[Sanctuary]

I think you'd have to really diminish and simplify Mass Effect 2 and 3 in order to say they're just one of the many 'sci-fi cover shooters' that dominated last gen. Sure at their core you controlled your character in third person and shot things, but the narrative, the lore and universe building of everything from the species to technology, organizations etc, the wonderful dialogue and conversations you could have with characters, the comedic sequences, the excellent voice acting and performances, some highly memorable missions elevated far above just being "another sci-fi shooter". I don't think that's giving them near enough credit.

Completely agree. On a side note though, I hope they actually improve the squad member AI. The party aiming in the first game was atrocious; lets shoot a wall, or a box for hours instead of the ENEMIES EVERYWHERE! And, the commands rarely seemed to work other than mashing attack or move (but even that sometimes required an air lift!). They sucked at taking cover and firing too.

The second game improved upon them taking cover for the most part, and their aiming was also quite a bit better, but if you played on any difficulty higher than Veteran, more often than not they would get destroyed pretty fast by any type of rocket launcher. If they were crouching behind cover and stood up when a rocket was en route, it would usually hit them and push them back slightly. The AI would be confused though and still think it was in the same cover range that it previously was and would instead crouch behind nothing, or on top of something instead of behind, which ended up getting them killed. That shit was infuriating on Insanity.

Not wrong. It's easily the most replayable (not counting MP).

 

[djtiesto]

I remember seeing the video where they were in the club and hearing minimal techno on the soundtrack (this was 2007 after all and that sound was EVERYWHERE) and being pissed off that "mnml is still around 200 years later"*. Also I saw it came out from the creator of Jade Empire, which I got suckered into the NeoGAF hype for and thought was awful, so I put it aside. Later got it at a firesale price, right before 2 came out, and somewhat enjoyed it. Mostly due to the story, music (aside from the club song!) and exploration, and less due to the awful combat mechanics/inventory management. But enough to soldier on with the franchise. 2 fixed most of the issues I had with combat, but felt extremely linear and confined, and the less said about 3 the better.

*luckily nowadays nobody outside of Romania cares about it anymore.

 

[Gillian Seed]

I played this game so many damn hours. I visited every planet and drove the Mako(sp) 100% on every planet I could land on. It was such a fantastic and unique game. I loved the RPG elements better than the sequels, which still were good, but to me the original was the best.

Exactly how I feel. The sci-fi atmosphere is perfection in Mass Effect!

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

I can't begin to imagine the damage the sex scene has done on all of us.

 

[blackjaw]

Love it, would reeeeally like an HD version. The sci fi scenery was so good

 

[nortonff]

One of the most epic games ever made.

 

[GreyWind]

Currently re playing ME2 The memories!

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

ME2 was one of the best last gen games for me. Can't wait until the next game is unveiled at E3 next year.

 

[Josh5890]

I think I've played through Mass Effect about 8 times. That is unheard of for me with today's games. I think I played through Super Mario Galaxy three times and that is the closest. Mass Effect has a special place in my heart.

 

[Nephtes]

I honestly remember being very underwhelmed by the initial trailers and release materials for Mass Effect... Granted, I had just lost recently lost my home and job after Hurricane Katrina a few months prior, so I was a bit jaded about most things at the time...

Heck, the store where I preordered my Xbox 360 was underwater and they weren't going to even have an Xbox for me (not that I could afford it at the time...).

I'm not sure when my opinion swung on Mass Effect...possibly after the first reviews came out and insisted it would be a classic, but I'm not sure.

All I know is the Mass Effect series became my favorite new series introduced during the Xbox 360/PS3 generation without a doubt. Even with the color coded ending to the third entry.