Ars Technica Review: "Mass Effect is a flawed gem" (Verdict: Buy)

Frank Caron reviews Mass Effect for Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs. His conclusion:

"I'm going to do something I rarely do and conclude with a personal message. I love Mass Effect; I'm a sucker for BioWare games, and this particular one won't leave my disc tray for very long over the next six months or so. Part of me loves this game to no end for providing such an immersive world, one that not only warrants multiple playthroughs but demands them. But part of me can't get over the many problems. I love it half the time; I hate it half the time.

Many people I've talked to regard this game with an unrealistic level of respect, and I feel the need to deflate that hype a bit. The game is unrivaled in so many capacities that the flaws are all the more apparent. Some have chosen to completely, perhaps irrationally, ignore these flaws. I still give a hearty recommendation that you buy this game, you need to go in with the right mindset: Mass Effect is a flawed gem."

Verdict: Buy

[Douchebaggery]

The only problem with this game is that now I can't wait for the sequel.

[razer]

agree!!! It's going to be a long wait for ME 2. :(

[Leathersoup]

I was late for work today because I was searching monkeys for a data module. ;)

[Padre]

Poor Mass Effect, didn't live up to the hype. (But still Xbox 360 GOTY)

[CrashSharc]

that's no surprise in this media driven industry

[power of Green]

Who's hype? as a fan of the flatform this title is on I say it pasted the little hype there was and then some! by alot!. Makes all the other games I play seem less appealing.

I have to play it, I can't stop thinking about it, when I burn my eyes out of my head and take a break I wan't to play only after an hour.

I convinced myself it was time to turn off my 360 3 times last night but found reasons to play it two more times after I quit the first time.

[dale1]

it bombed in europe

[power of Green]

Thats too bad. lol

[Wotbot]

did you hear that???

Or was it something you made up? Thought so.

It was only released last Friday.

[Greysturm]

But by the way 360 fanboys were talking about it, some of them must feel outright dissapointed its a shame it hasnt receive much media attention it could have sold a lot better.

Edit: I didnt say it needed to be a blockbuster i just said that the quality of the game deserves to be apreciated by more people. I thinks its a great game not the second coming of Mario but a great game.

[PS360WII]

Not every game needs to be a blockbuster. Some have more prestige as an underdog.

[PS360WII]

Oh for sure. I was one of those people saying Mass Effect probably won't be any good. Psh how wrong I was! I got it on Wednesday and put as much time as I could in the holiday weekend. I finished the game as a 42 biotec and I'm now playing on Veteran and already up to 23 tech/solder (can't remember what it's called)with a whole lot more side quests done.

So sorry for misreading your comment this game should be regarded as a top notch story with an epic tale and will be a great franchise.

[aggh im on fire]

Considering it was only released on Friday in Europe i think its a bit early to say it bombed. I think it went in at number 2or something.
Im playing through it now and i have to say even though i have COD4,HALO3,Assasins creed,bioshock and Uncharted, Mass effect is my favorite. My game of the year.

[skagrerrrr]

i love mass effect

[PS360WII]

That statement actually hits it right home. Mass Effect is awesome and I will play it a lot more but the errors and mis-steps make it more of a test run for it and not the polished golden game. With that said it also means that Mass Effect 2 can greatly exceed the first with just the task of fixing those few flaws of this entry of the series.

I beat it once and now I'm playing it again on Veteran and will probably play it again on Insane, but I'm looking forward to the continuation of this tale... It's gonna be a long wait as razer said. Hopefully the Sonic RPG will be fun too ^^

[Douchebaggery]

I have to admit sometime it's as if the game world is being drawn as I'm playing, those pop-ins can get ridiculous.

[PS360WII]

lol yea those pop-in's it happens to often for it to have been overlooked. They knew it was there but just didn't mind it I guess.

[greenenvy]

i'm sure "final fantasy" will have its own bugs too, so who really cares..............

everybody loves this game and by the way mass effect is still at number 2, assassins creed number 1 in europe?

it bombed?!? LMAO!!!!!!!!

it did way better than RPGs normally ever do, and since this is europe it sold very high and so has half life which has crept up on million status..............

every kotor game had a few bugs, games usually do and it was still..................a masterpiece I didn't stop :-D

[skagrerrrr]

you will love this game.

[power of Green]

I has the most BULLSHIT bug of them all.

I was a level 24 had all kinds of weapons and amour IV etc the other day and yesterday I fired up the game and I was level one no stats or high end items and my rover was gone on a level where it should have been there(rover level). They need to patch this sucker up.

[AllroundGamer]

now when some xbox fanboy starts with PS3=framerate issues etc. then all you need to write is "Mass Effect" and that will hopefully shut him up :D

[toughNAME]

although its pretty sad when a game with this many issues can still be THE best game on any console right now

[DJ]

damn, that's painful.

[greenenvy]

i totally agree with u the rover glitch on level 24 was insane, what the hell happened that the rover automatically spawned!?!?

even still that was one awesome level.....need to go back.

flawless games like halo 3 have a few bugs here & there too, i just dont mind bugs in my games but do wish they'd just slap out an update on release like they do with the naruto games...

that way the bugs just sort of dissapear without any attention paid.... btw this reminded me of going on an epic space journey...

i would love to go to the stars like that, man would that be sweet but here's the thing......every game needs to be polished more regardless of platform...if you've got the time, polish the game to brilliance

thats my motto man :-D

[Myth]

So let me get this straight. You can see the textures generate as your playing through the game?? That sounds like a fast write agp issues. Thats what happens to your pc when you disable fastwrite.

[Slayer OP]

I dont think people are going to not buy mass effect because of 1 review.

[Maddens Raiders]

the 360 faithful w/i the confines of the U.S. right? I mean this is the same crew that will take RROD, towels, refurbs, scratched discs and floating crates, and turn it into a cornucopia of "good fortune." No one outside the U.S. cares. Not surprised anymore at all. I'm not saying that ME is a bad game; it's the abundance of hypocricy that sickens really. Whatever is not on the PS3 is a candidate for GOTY to the lot of them.

[sak500]

@maddens: I suggest you give it shot before shooting it down. Not all sites praising it sky high are paid by M$. If so many people in the industry like the game, there must be something to it. I personaly can't wait to get my hands on it. Damn game is still not come to dubai. Speaking of which, COD4 has been banned in UAE. Hv to buy it on ebay now.

[power of Green]

My file could have been currupted. Anyways I was a level one on a level you would not be able to survive on being a LV 1 with no high end weapons etc had to start over with JANE.

For best graphical results set the game on default contrast, blurr effect: NO and grain filter: No and make sure you go to the bottom of the options and confirm it.

EDIT: @Myth Not at all the game looks its best without black fuzz and being able to move quikly without seeing blur. In my opinion this is better looking and the default contrast looks the most natural.

Myth: Just helping people out that might have overlooked it. I was just giving advice to folks on a pure graphical note. They'll have to wait for the patches on the subject you're trying to mock/bring up.

[Myth]

So let me get this straight you have to turn down the game settings so your 360 can play it right? You all need to stop making excuses for all the bugs this game has. You keep accepting games that get released like that, then expect more to come.

[PS360WII]

oh calm down. no game will ever be flawless. this game is just to good to ignore do to the errors of it

[Myth]

Sure no game is flawless but come on, the glitches that people keep talking about seem out of the norm to me. Most games don't have all the glitches being reported by Mass Effect.

[Daxx]

The only thing that I don't like about Mass Effect is all the elevators. D:

But everything else is just stellar. :D

[Big Jim]

Wow. I guess something is wrong with me, because I thought that every single aspect of this game was an akward, frustrating chore. I've never been more frustrated with a game in my life. I also have to be honest and say that I found the graphics to be horrible. Also, no matter what settings I put my TV on, this game is just way too dark. I can't see a thing anywhere.

[PS360WII]

The only thing that did that for me was the equipment menu. That took me forever to fully grasp and exploit.

[SJL480]

I don't consider myself a fanboy just one who prefers Playstation. I have both systems and I grabbed this game up. The story left me speechless. The game had glitches but to me it was a 10. Having both systems is awesome this and Uncharted will keep me happy for awhile.

[BLACKJACK VII]

Bugs ? Glitches ? No xbox 1, PS2, 360 or PS3 game has EVER had ANY bugs or glitches (end sarcasm)... for me, it's easy to look past these minor annoyances when my first playthrough was 37+ hours (more than 3 "next gen" titles combined), the story is BY FAR the best this generation, the graphics are excellent, the replayability surpasses every game to date (with the exception of some MP games) and as an RPG (which is what it is by the way) Mass Effect is completely UNMATCHED.

Thank God this game has some issues, because without them, it would blow EVERY "NEXT GEN" TITLE OUT OF THE WATER.

Mass Effect 2 is gonna be SICK - can't wait to load up my level 60 Vanguard - so cool how Bioware is making this Trilogy where all your choices & all your character levels from the first game will transport to the next installment. Can't wait for the DLC either.

MASS EFFECT FTW !!!

[PS360WII]

"so cool how Bioware is making this Trilogy where all your choices & all your character levels from the first game will transport to the next installment" and after multiple playthroughs you'd be able to see a lot of different begins of the installments as well. That would be gravy on the replay value

[RelloC]

Great game, small complaints, overall winner.

[greenenvy]

"No one outside the U.S. cares. Not surprised anymore at all. I'm not saying that ME is a bad game; it's the abundance of hypocricy that sickens really. Whatever is not on the PS3 is a candidate for GOTY to the lot of them."

no one outside the USA cares about mass effect or bioshock, even though they're still in the top european charts?!?!?

LMAO!!!

you've never played the games dude, that's a sign to me...

they are seriously near flawless. just be glad you're getting your final fantasy games...

we 360 only owners are going to be in HEAVEN with the likes of lost odyssey, mass effect 2, FABLE 2, dark messiah: elements, spectral force 3 and more RPGs such as kingdom under fire: circles of doom next year.........

we "ALL" love 360 the best, because the games are really that good bud....they truly are...

and then next year is going to be even better.....too human comes.. :-D

alot of us just don't like your "playstation 3" games since they aren't epic, we don't like final fantasy for the most part......we enjoy metal gear but might as well wait for sloppy ports...

also, we think the system has serious design issues and can't make games anywhere near as good as gears of war.........

why not go cry about it elsewhere maddens raiders?

seriously, 360 fans just like the top western games alot better than your eastern garbage, i dont get why thats hard to understand......we just do.

which is why we'll probably grab that PoS when its a bargain and comes with the like of doom 4 or something rated 10 or above so it can be used for fun when its $60..............

as much as some of u playstation fans would hate to admit it, the 360 is just as good as your piece of crap and even better to those who prefer the western games.......

so i dont see what the big deal is seriously, every game has bugs...we just enjoy games by looking past their pointless flaws, and download an update.....

no game can please everybody

[Antan]

Really enjoying it at the moment! I can forgive the flaws, though only the texture pop in that bugs me.

[367 To Your Ass]

dose anyone have mass effect.

i'm literally picking out the people who played or owned mass effect.
some people are saying that mass effect is the answer to poor frame rates.....why say that XBL gets up dates very frequently so that at least is fixable, fvck, even the creator of mass effect went out and said that there will be a patch for all this ( patch version 1.5).

i'm so happy with mass effect i stared the game with 2 different profiles, to test it's multiple choices out come.

btw ones the default character (john shepard) and the other one is a custom female character.

[Funky Town_TX]

framerate issues. V-sync issues. Why would any gamer buy a games with these issues. I would be happy to take a hit in the GFX to make the game run better. Look at Uncharted it has v-sync issues as well. Why do we take this crap. Don't get me started on Assassins Creed.

[gamesR4fun]

Great game and all but lots and lots of flaws good to see this guy did it right.

[Gahigiddy]

Already flopped in the UK, 360's second strongest market, outsold by Assassin's Creed and Super Floppio Flopaxy, in their second weeks.

Not even close to Bioshock, which struggled for 2 mil (if it ever reached that).

Europe sales, PS3 is THRASHING Wii and 360 in mainland Europe, multiplatform sales are higher on PS3, hardware sales are higher and in some places LTD sales are higher than 360 which has been out for a year+ longer.

[greenenvy]

if mass effect was flopping it would not be in the top charts thats for sure.........

if it seriously was a flop I'd have to see what final fantasy pulls over there when released.......

rpgs never sell as much as FPS and action games over there....its so RARE its not funny

lol...... u sonybots can't stand it when 360 gets a game like half life, which makes the 360 nearly impossible to find in europe......

its selling out like mad, thats why its going toe to toe with them....the 360 is alot harder to find now because of all the forza, halo, half life bundle deals and call of duty......

:,)

[okcomputer]

It does feel like it was rushed for the holidays, like its about 95% done and just needed a little more polish. Still an amazing game and one of the best rpg's I've played in the last couple years.

[Big Jim]

I don't even care about the framerate and loading issues. The real problem is that this game just isn't fun. Can you people just at least admit that this game has the worst inventory management system in the history of videogames? I know you won't admit that the graphics suck, but at least admit how bad the inventory is.

[razer]

I had no problems with the inventory system, actually I thought it was well done.

But I do agree this game could use a patch.. I really hope BioWare plans on this because some of the problems are obvious and you know their QA people noticed them in testing before release.

[PS360WII]

I agreed with you a few comments ago. The equipment menu is not fun.

[Jinxstar]

Try two worlds for a bad menu system... This one might be able to be improved slightly but anything can be. I hated ratchet and clanks inventory wheels too but what else can they do?

[The Only Truth]

Shut up, brainless fanboy !

Awful try.
Get some humor and try to bash again.

[Marceles]

I had so much fun beating this game. For anyone hating the inventory: what's wrong with it? You have armor, a pistol, an assault rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, nades, medi-gel...you can give them all upgrades, and you have your biotic spells. How simple can it get?

[PS360WII]

Well yea but for each item in your main inventory has 3 sub menu's each which hold different items each and just takes forever to get things straightened out. Along with the fact that you and your squad members can be using multiple weapons thru a level just takes way to much micromanagment to grasp early on the game. I needed to spend time on it to fully get what they hey I was doing. Still love the game thou I'm just saying

[Jinxstar]

Ok my 2 cents. For what they are worth since my bubbles keep disappearing for some reason...

Poss Spoiler follows.

The main complaint I have is no check points at all... WTF... I just put down the controller a few minutes ago. I was about to fight the chick thats Serins right hand dressed in red. With all the commandos. I run in guns blazing and kill a few... I die. Guess what it puts me all the way back about 3 hours worth of game play. Before I even say the first one of those arachnid things...

Spoiler over

apart from that I cant complain too much but due to that I just stopped and it will be a while if at all I return to the game now. That seriously pissed me off.

The vehicle driving I dont care for too much either but it works and I can tell they took their time.

Apart from some big framerate issues at times and other problems that can easily be overlooked I have no problem. The game needs at least a few checkpoints cause when I get really into the game I am not worried about saving all the time and on top of that you never know like in most RPG's where they have a specific save point that usually indicates "You might wanna save here just in case dummy" That would make the game really good for me. Apart from that I'm not a huge fan of the story and I have decided from the begining to be a jerk the whole way through. It has payed off pretty well honestly and made it much more enjoyable throughout.

This is just constructive criticism. I'm not knocking any console or anyones opinions. This is just the way I feel and think they needed to implement a few things better IMHO. I think they could not have made this type of gameplay or anything else better. Except checkpoints... It really reminds me of KOTOR and thats just awesome. If you cant accept the criticism thats fine but at least reply as to why please if your gonna take my bubbles...

[CNIVEK]

...has been an industry problem since HALO 2. That was the first AAA game to get a "free pass" by the reviewers, even though it was a VERY distracting, and ugly glitch; likewise, HALO 3 got a similar pass, with the horrifically ugly human character models/faces.
This gen, it seems every UE3=powered game has had a MAJOR problem with this....INCLUDING Gears of War. It could be one of the things that spurred Silicon Knights to sue Epic.
Regardless, Mass Effect is still GOTY material...as long as reviewers give it the same consideration that was given to HALO 2 & 3.

[Wotbot]

have seen more great reviews for it then poor.

I haven't played the game myself as it's a Christmas present. But did see someone playing the game and it looked very good. Some of the best Character models I have ever seen first hand.

For me this looks like it could be one of the best games this year.

Quote
"When it comes to a game presenting a fully-fleshed out world that exists before and after the player enters and exits, Mass Effect is in a class of its own". That one comment says it all really.

The many good points far out weigh the few bad points.

[Testo]

It took them how long to develop and release Mass Effect!?!?

It was being developed for the original Xbox was it not?

Lol, beautiful game but the wait is going to be killer!

Maybe for the 720 and the PS4.