wrex

3 weeks ago or so, my attempts at completing all achievements for Dragon Age: Origins were halted when the Return to Ostagar DLC was first made available, as the accompanying patch rendered my game temporarily unplayable. At first, I was obviously annoyed, but then I decided to reward Bioware for this only recently fixed bug by buying Mass Effect off XBLM. In the weeks that followed, I have discovered a new favorite franchise, having now completed the original game in full twice, only putting off my third play-through in order to pick up Mass Effect 2.

The first Mass Effect was pretty awesome. I don’t often whore myself out to achievements, especially when it comes to difficulty-based things. Yet, somehow the game demands it from me. It remains rewarding on multiple iterations through the story, while posing an increasing challenge with each unlockable difficulty. The story is communicated through strong characters, really strong emotional choices, and a general drive for the hero’s success, as I find is the case with many Bioware games. Yet, unlike games such as Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect allows you to step into the shoes of a pre-existing character, our noble Commander Shepard. You guide his actions and speech without defining them, which allows him to surprise you fairly often with his intelligence and wit. Without writing a full review, suffice it to say I’m quite fond of the game. It is definitely one of the best I’ve played. (More after the break)