Mass Effect 1 Review

Content Summary

We will examine Mass Effect 1, the first game of the Mass Effect series designed by Bioware in 2007 with sci-fi RPG elements.

I was the type who was only interested in classical and contemporary narratives in terms of video games, cinema and literature. I used to think that good stories couldn’t be full of fantasy or science fiction. Because for me the most important thing a story had to tell was human reality, and it was as if it could only be dealt with real human life.

a Teaser ımage from Mass Effect 1

However, when you think about it, it turns out that this generalization is not true. Because humanity has always been telling extraordinary things since the period of oral culture, when it started to tell stories to each other. This is true in the stories of the Greek Gods, and in the centuries when religious texts first appeared. One can only return to real life after the writing has been found, but the heroes depicted in it are always extraordinary. The story of the ordinary man becomes possible only with the Renaissance.

For this reason, I thought that it is necessary to look at narratives with fantastic elements, which are the first examples of the ancient storytelling tradition of humanity and which we have mastered because we have been telling them for millennia.

However, my inclination towards science fiction was with cinema. I was very impressed by the idea that a fantastic atmosphere set in a future was designed under the guidance of science and that the thought that this might actually happen one day resonates somewhere in our memory.

On the planet Noveria, we are trying to reach a secret facility that we do not know in a blizzard.

The first novels I started reading belonged to Isaac Asimov‘s Foundation series. Yes, maybe these narratives were still not as good as classical or contemporary literary texts, they had narrative patterns that repeat each other at some moments, but still, the political conflicts in a story set on extraordinary planets that are not from this world, with other climates and living things, give us a remote view of the developments in our own world. It offered a view.

Foundation cover from Del Rey

Writing science fiction was hard work. You had to produce a technically perfect work, describe non-existent environments, and keep the element of curiosity alive.

However, its structure was very suitable for cinema, whose narrative possibilities have increased especially in the last thirty years. We watched sci-fi movies and TV series that promise a visual feast as well as their intriguing content.

A poster of Christopher Nolan’s famous sci-fi movie Interstellar.

These features of the science fiction genre are also reflected in video games, which I think are still in their infancy even in the 21st century, and which are humanity’s last method of storytelling.

Before, I didn’t even play a game in which I saw aliens or creatures on its poster, but when I gave it a chance, I saw that the type of narrative, the possibilities of expression were of course important, but the most important thing was the way the story was handled, whether it was real or surreal, and in a science fiction game, the reality of life could be touched boldly.

The reason why I wrote such a long introduction is because I will be talking about Mass Effect, which is unique in terms of the story it tells. Now let’s take a closer look at the story of this game developed by Bioware in 2007.

The Story of Mass Effect 1

There’s something that sets Mass Effect apart from other sci-fi themed titles. In all the science fiction I’ve read so far, people are always at the forefront. It tells about a future that we have always reached with the technologies we have developed. But Mass Effect’s story isn’t just about the human species. It’s about the whole planet.

The game begins with people who advance their technology, mine from various planets, begin to colonize there, encountering more advanced alien races who started doing the things we did in space long before us.

Of course, these alien races do not happily welcome the arrival of a new species on the planetary order they have hardly established, but as a result of wars and negotiations, humans are finally able to integrate themselves into the balanced life on the planet and in life on the Citadel, which is actually a huge spaceship, which is of great importance for the entire planet.

Of course, we do not have as much say as other alien races in the decisions that determine the future of the planet, but our existence is still legitimately acknowledged. In order to have a say on the planet, we have to experience events that will prove ourselves. We find this opportunity as we face a threat that jeopardizes the future of the planet, and we prove that humans can have a say on the planet.

Here is Commander Shepard in the first game.

Throughout the game, we portray a soldier with special owers named Shepard, whom we can give our first name. Together with the ship and crew at our command, we are running planet-by-planet system to secure the future of the planet against a threat that comes once in 50,000 years and is a genocidal threat to all space races.

List of Mass Effect 1 Episodes

There are 8 chapters in the game that make up the main story. These

Prologue

In this episode, we get to know our ship called Normandy, which we will command throughout the game, and we encounter a device called the Beacon, from which we will obtain some uncertain images about the future.

Citadel

In this episode, we get to know the Citadel, which is actually a large space shuttle and the galaxy is governed, and gather our team.

Find Liara T’Soni

Let’s just say, without spoiler, one of the key people we need to find for the progress of the story.

Feros

We discover a secret investigation in a human colony and investigate what happened to humans in the colony.

Noveria

It has a similar structure to Feros. A company, undercover investigation and derailed business.

Virmire

When you come to this section, you cannot go back to the previous sections. The story now takes an irreversible path.

Ilos

A warning left by civilizations before us. In this episode, the tension rises to the highest level and the curiosity element of the gamer increases tremendously.

Race Against Time

And an epic finale.

General Evaluation of Mass Effect 1

If you are unfamiliar with the Mass Effect universe, you must make a little preparation in order not to miss the developments in the game. Because there are too many alien races, events they lived before humans, and features we need to know. Even if you don’t prepare, be sure to read the Codex section in the game.

Mass Effect is a game where we can even choose the background and appearance of our character named Shepard. You can even use this appearance and history you chose in the first game in other games of the series if you want, but I recommend you to use the original Shepard look.

Character development screen in the game

I tried so hard to create a similar Shepard for myself, but Shepard, who should normally be overly charismatic, became so clumsy and lame that I couldn’t identify with the character I created.

The things we can choose in Mass Effect 1 are not just about our appearance. Many of the decisions we make in the game also affect the progress of the game. The number of these decisions and the change in the progress of the game is enough for a game released in 2007 if you ask me. Otherwise, with Detroit Become Human, the bar has been raised in terms of our choices and its effect on the game.

In addition, since the game was released sixteen years ago, the walking of the characters is tiring, the feeling of hitting is almost non-existent, but it is necessary to finish this game in order to understand the other games of Mass Effect. Here, let’s answer a question that immediately comes to mind.

Which Game Should I Start Playing The Mass Effect Series?

You have to start from the first game guys. That’s because Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 are one narrative that moves chronologically, expanding and enlarging the same story.

Although Mass Effect 1 is a bit old for today, Electronic Arts has released it in the past years; Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, which combines Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3, has improved the graphics, sound and controls of the games. We find doors that we cannot open without listening to some dialogues and we spend minutes to find our way, but these do not reflect negatively on the connection we established with our team to the gamer and do not cause any disruption in the progress of the story.

Although Ashley’s racist attitude and anger towards aliens in our team made me laugh at times, I often warned her because I am a democratic commander.

In a nutshell, Mass Effect 1 is a must play for bone and quality game followers who love quality stories and sci-fi universe thanks to the story it presents, although its controls and hitting feel are obsolete today. However, if you’re a fun-oriented player who doesn’t like science fiction and can’t stand reading long dialogues, it won’t wrap you up.

Note

And whenever I play such a game, I think of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, dear followers. Although it came out 12 years ago, it is the king of RPGs with this kind of dialogue, although it is criticized especially for its ending.

References

https://reviewsofbook.com

https://masseffect.fandom.com