PvE in the World of Warcraft!

Hello to all my dedicated readers out there. I know the two of you are probably curious as to why I haven’t been posting lately, and if you haven’t, just shut up and let me have my fantasy. Recently I was hired by EA games as a Quality Assurance Tester. That’s just a fancy way to say that I test video games for a living. This means I might actually have a shot at making a career in the video game industry, or at the very least get some insider info on upcoming titles. Don’t expect anything top secret, but you can bet that I will have a few posts about the games I’m working on. Another ramification of my new job is less free time. This is not a bad thing for my personal life, but it does mean that this blog will not be updated as frequently as before. Worry not avid readers. Today, I will continue my series on the epic MMORPG: World of Warcraft.

Many WoW veterans would attest that the game changes once a player reaches the level cap at seventy. In the beginning players are focused on leveling up to receive new spells, abilities, and to explore new lands. With all the spells and abilities unlocked, the only thing left to do is to improve the effectiveness of a hero’s role in the Holy Trinity (see previous post for description), and to continue to investigate the vast lands of Outland and Azeroth.

For players who are serious about end game content it is vital to understand the various mechanics that create successful encounters. Players need gear, coordinated team work, and detailed knowledge of the dangers throughout the World of Warcraft. It isn’t necessary to be all knowing, especially if a guild has good raid leaders, but it is vital for players to know there role. The ultimate goal for PvE content is centered on a guild’s progression through the various high level dungeons or instances. There are dozens and dozens of dungeons. This website http://www.wowwiki.com/Instance will provide you with a nice chart of all the possible instances available at this time. Note that new content is continually added to this game, and this list will get bigger in the near future.

Dungeons progression is based on how powerful the rewards are, and the difficulty of the encounters. Upon reaching seventy players will have to access there own gear, and determine which dungeons will provide challenging yet not impossible experience. If a player has uncommon (green font) and rare (blue font) items, than they are probably not ready to attempt a twenty-five man raid. Do not worry. There are dozens of instances to experience and all dungeons in Outlands, and a few in Azeroth, can be experienced on a Heroic difficulty. This increases the difficulty and improves the rewards of the dungeon. Players can collect Heroic tokens that drop off bosses to exchange for epic (purple font) gear, and the bosses themselves can drop better than average loot. Even epic gear has its own progression system. Players can achieve various Tier sets to denote there current participation in high end dungeons. Do not get confused about the numbering system. Before the expansion was released, Tiers 1-3 were sets that players achieved when the level cap was sixty. These epic sets are now obsolete, and many players will not experience the dungeons they drop in.

Players at seventy often begin raiding with the ten-man dungeon Karazhan. This place is chalk full of unique encounters, and its completion is considered the first major milestone for guild progression. The first few pieces of the Tier 4 set are collected here along with other powerful rewards. I can remember the early days of the expansion when this place was THE challenge for my server. Now a days it is just a small stepping stone that shouldn’t be a problem for any decent guild. There are tons of unique encounters, and many of the bosses provide great experience for higher end content. Some of my personal favorites are the Opera Event, the Chess Event, and the fight against Shade of Aran. Like most end game content there is also a rich and detailed history that unlocks some interesting lore about the various inhabitants of Karazhan. Unfortunately, for me, Karazhan is the only high end dungeon that I have successfully completed. There are many reasons for this, but I will not bore you with my tale. Just know that the information to follow is simply observed and not played personally by me.

A good friend of mine plays a Warlock named Roors, and he got into the only competent raiding guild on the Drak’thul server: Eternal. I had the pleasure of watching him for four hours—yes raids take anywhere from two to six hours—as Eternal cleared the twenty-five man raid Hyjal Summit. This encounter rewards players with their Tier 6 set pieces along with other very powerful equipment.

Hyjal Summit is divided into three parts: the Alliance Camp, the Horde Camp, and the Tree of Life. Each camp faces wave and wave of invading enemies and two bosses. The last place is where players find the final boss Archimonde. There is a ton of lore that ties into this encounter that relates to events in both the World of Warcraft and the RTS Warcraft III. Also the amount of coordination necessary to succeed is simply amazing. Every player must know there role, and perform it flawlessly or else everyone dies. At any given time there where over fifty characters on the screen—both enemies and allies. The battle felt as huge as the any epic battle seen in movies like Lord of the Rings. Eternal was able to clear the entire instance with only two wipes. Impressive!

Many players will never see Hyjal Summit. This will either be a personal choice, or they will simply never find the other twenty-four competent players to be successful. This doesn’t mean that players can’t enjoy end game content. There are numerous dungeons with unique encounters that will often keep raiders busy seven days a week. Blizzard as done an excellent job of providing fun and challenging dungeons that provide months of entertainment. Finally new instances are consistently released providing the next challenge for the top guilds. With so much variety, potential, and fun the PvE content of World of Warcraft scores 5 out of 5.

World of Warcraft 1

For the past two years I have wandered the vast lands of Azeroth. I have slain members of the Alliance and other enemies of the Horde. Now I venture through the Black Portal, and patrol the Outlands on my flying Nether Drake. I ask no questions. I take no prisoners. I am the undead mage called Manasponge! A master of the Arcane arts! All those who oppose me will tremble in fear! Don't make me sheep you!

Anyone who understood any of the above may be familiar with the smash hit World of Warcraft aka WoW. This MMORPG (massive mulitplayer on-line role playing game) is the most successfully and lucrative game on the net. Players pay Blizzard $12-$15 a month, in addition to purchasing the game itself, to experience the many adventures this never ending saga has to offer. There has been one expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, and the second expansion, Wraith of the Lich King, is under development. The game world is consistently updated through various patches that introduce new content. I have personally been a part of this world for over two years. I have played as a Nightelf Druid on the Alliance pre-expansion, and I currently use two characters on the Horde: an Undead Mage and a Bloodelf Paladin. Don't despair if that last sentence didn't make any sense to you. This review will cover the basics of this fantastic world, and will be followed by a more in depth look into the two end game segments--PvP and PvE.

Everything begins somewhere, and like most RPGs, WoW begins with character creation. Players first choose a realm or server that they wish to play on. There are Player versus Player (PvP), Player versus Environment (PvE), and Role Playing (RP) realms. In PvP realms players are consistently flagged for combat making them attackable by players of the opposite faction in contested zones. PvE realms allow players to remain unflaged in contested territories, but stepping onto enemy controlled lands will flag you for combat. RP realms take the fantasy to the next level. Players take on the fictional persona of their character. Thus a player will be arrogant and stuck up as an elf, or crude and rude as an undead. I personally preferred the PvP realm over my experiences on a PvE server. It is a lot of fun to "pick on" other players as they travel throughout Azeroth.

After choosing a realm players join one of the two main factions in WoW: the Alliance or the Horde. Each has a dark history of hatred for the other that was developed through the popular Warcraft RTS games. When, however, a greater evil faces the land of Azeroth their differences are set aside and tentative alliances are forged. This doesn't mean that the two factions like teaming up, and many races have their own vendettas and agendas.

Five races are available for each faction. The Alliance consists of Gnomes, Humans, Dwarves, Nightelves, and Dranei. The Horde are a bit uglier, but way cooler consisting of Undead, Orcs, Trolls, Taurens, and Bloodelves. With the exception of Trolls and Gnomes, each race has a capital city that acts as a "safe" zone and trading hub. Each race also has a unique set of abilities. Nightelves can blend into there surroundings, and Dranei (hoofed space aliens) can improve a parties chance to hit. Undead can eat corpses for health, and Taurens (bipedal cows) can stomp the ground stunning nearby opponents. There are four abilities for each race, and they often complement the various classes available.

Not all races can be all classes. The classic example for this reasoning is a Tauren Rogue. It is hard to believe that an eight foot tall, three hundred pound, hoofed heifer could sneak up on you. There are a total of nine classes to choose from: Hunter, Mage, Warlock, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Druid, Paladin, and Warrior. Every class has there role to play in the wider world...of Warcraft (South Park joke go Youtube it now!!!). There are three main talent trees that dictate a class’s purpose, and there are unique quest lines that only a particular class can experience. Amazingly no two classes play alike. I would go into more details about each class, but that would take forever. I will, however, go into the basics of the "Holy Trinity" that is DPS/CC, Tank, and Healer. This will highlight the roles of various classes, and give an insight to what general combat is like.

I will begin with basic definitions that the experienced MMORPGer should be familiar with. DPS stands for Damage Per Second, and refers to just about any class that can deal out massive damage. Every class has a DPS talent tree, but the four best classes for this role are Rogue, Warlock, Hunter, and Mage. (Flame on WoW nerds...it's my blog.) CC is Crowd Control, referring to the ability to stop an enemy in their tracks for a small amount of time. Mages have polymorph that turns targets into a sheep. Hunters set freezing traps, and many classes can make enemies run uncontrollably with Fear. Most classes have a CC, but certain types are more dependable than others. A Tank, aka punching bag, tries to take on as much punishment as physically possible from enemies. They use high amounts of aggro (grabbing a targets attention), and have amazing defensive abilities in order to keep others out of harms way. Only three classes can be tanks--Druids, Paladins, and Warriors. Warriors are often the most preferred, but skilled/geared Druids and Paladins should not be underestimated. The last part of the Holy Trinty is healers. There are four classes--Druid, Paladin, Shaman, and Priest--with this ability, and many have dubbed them "hybrids." Hybrid classes are offered dps and/or tanking as well as healing talents and abilities. Like any other healer in the world their job is to keep everyone alive.

So you have tanks, healers, and damage dealers. In general combat you ideally have at least one of each. The tank charges in grabbing the bad guy’s attention. The healer keeps him alive, and the damage dealer rips him a new one. Rinse, wash, repeat, and welcome to teamwork. Things do get more complicated as characters level up, but the basics never change.

Everyone starts out in a designated starting zone. This area is generally safe from harms way, and allows the player to get a feel for the basics during their first ten levels. Don't worry. This is a user friendly MMORPG. A lovely yellow exclamation mark will indicate your first quest, and game tips will pop up to explain the controls. Throughout the game four main questing duties prevail: talk to someone, kill enemies, gather items, and/or escort a "friend" to safety. This seems dull, and it does get tedious at times, but Blizzard does an excellent job of making compelling and fun quests.

For many their first quest will involve talking to an NPC (non playable character) a few yards away for another quest. After that your second quest involves killing the local beasts patrolling the area. This unlocks more adventures, and before you know it you are level ten. As you move on up in levels more abilities, talents, items, and quests will become available. Don’t worry about dieing either. When you fall in combat—or off a cliff—your spirit will spawn at a near by grave yard. There are two options from here. The first is to take Resurrection sickness and have the spirit angel bring you back to life at the graveyard. Resurrection sickness increases the repair bill of your armor, and reduces all your stats and abilities by seventy-five percent. The second option is to run back to your corpse to re-enter your body. In both scenarios you do not lose any gear that is on your character. This game does an excellent job of easing you into the various layers of this delicious cake...I mean RPG.

Eventually beginning players will get a quest that leads them to a dungeon aka instance. This is a closed off area of the game that is played with a team of five or more. The Holy Trinity mentioned above is crucial in these situations. Enemies are stronger than the average non-instance NPCs, and bosses will test your parties’ ability to work as a team. The rewards, however, are often greater than anything found by solo questing. Future posts about the PvE aspects of WoW will look over some of the various instances available.

The other major component of WoW’s gameplay experience is PvP. This is when players fight other players in various locations. Encounters with the enemy can occur just about anywhere in the game world. Capital cities, small towns, transportation networks, country sides, and more have seen countless raids and can provide hours of entertainment. There are also five Battleground’s (BG) for players to participate in. Each one offers a unique game that pits the Alliance versus the Horde. Capture the flag, territories, kill the general, death match, and a combination of ctf and territories will test players gear and skill. Players earn honor for scoring points in these game types, and can spend “honor points” at specific vendors to purchase rewards.

The final aspect of WoW that this post will cover is professions. There are a total of thirteen professions that players can choose from. Each character is allowed to train in five professions, but three of them are universal—first aide, fishing, and cooking. The remaining two can be mixed and matched as the player wishes. Many professions, however, complement each other. Mining provides materials for Blacksmiths, Engineers, and Jewelcrafters. Herbalism allows Alchemists to create potions and elixirs. These professions offer various benefits that enhance your characters effectiveness in combat. The degree of effectiveness, however, varies from profession to profession. Crafters can often make high end armor, weapons, and trinkets. They also make silly “fun” gadgets like the Engineer’s flying helicopter or mechanical yeti.

As you quest and instance your way to the level cap at 70 you will meet some amazing people—and a few douche bags. Experiencing the various trials of WoW together will strengthen gaming bonds, and produce close knit groups of players that usually form guilds. These groups of people can display there logo with tabards, and many compete with other guilds to be the best of the best. Some players will discover new friends, and others will create virtual nemeses. I personally have made friends with people that I have never met in real life. One individual, who I only knew as Shadowmists or Sirred for years, has known me longer than his wife--who is pregnant with their first child. It is simply amazing how close you can get in this game.

With such a huge and engaging game it is easy to understand why so many people play this game. Over ten-million subscriptions have been recorded from across the globe. The gameplay experience is solid, there is a variety of things to accomplish, and there is a social element that can’t be beat. As a whole World of Warcraft receives a score of 5 out of 5. Look for future posts on the PvP and PvE end game aspects of WoW. Each will receive a separate score, and dive deeper into some of the more popular segments of this game.

Would You Kindly Buy Bioshock?

Game: Bioshock

System: Xbox and PC

August 2007

Would you kindly pick up a crow bar or some other blunt object? From the moment I heard those sweet words I was in love. Bioshock is one of those games that attempts to combine multiple video game genres and does so phenomenally. This game is a science-fiction horror first person shooter with RPG elements. The plot is shocking, compelling, and is destined to become a future blockbuster movie. Ken Levine creates a disturbingly vivid dystopian world influenced by the works of Ayn Rand and George Orwell. Take a deep breath boys and girls. We are about to enter Rapture.

The game begins in the year 1960 with you, Jack, in an airplane that crashes over the Atlantic. Strangely there is a nearby building that you can swim to, and inside there is an inviting diving pod. From there you run into your first human contact Atlas, and the adventure of a lifetime begins. Rapture is filled with all sorts of wonderfully amazing things. Stem cells from a sea slug have created the substance known as ADAM. This product has insane possibilities and eventually spawned the Plasmid Corporation. From in-game scenes and scattered tape recorders, you discover that this company provided everything from the cure for cancer to pyrokinesis—that’s setting stuff on fire in layman’s terms. Eventually a power struggle develops between two men; the founder of Rapture Andrew Ryan and the founder of Rapture’s blackmarket Frank Fontaine. Of course various things go horribly and disturbingly astray, and it is up to Jack to sort it all out.

Bioshock utilizes the awesome power of Havoc Physics for stunning environment and rag doll effects, and the gameplay is extremely smooth with the Unreal Engine 3.0. Movement is fluid, the environment is very immersive and interactive, and the sound is top notch. Players get a host of upgradeable weapons and special abilities brought to you by the Plasmid Corporation. Powers include pyrokinesis, telekinesis, electric bolts, killer bee swarms, and more. There are also passive abilities that make hacking easier, add bonuses to health packs, and provide a host of other useful talents. The offensive powers interact with the environment for outstanding encounters. My personal favorite was setting people on fire, and when they jump into a near by pool of water I let loose an electric bolt to finish them off. Yes...you read that correctly. The AI is smart enough to jump into a pool of water when it is on fire.

Enemies come in two styles: mechanical and human—if you can call these things human. All of these enemies are extremely smart, and will force players to stay on there toes throughout the game. Turrets, cameras, and drones will be consistent pains in your ass. Luckily you can attack, sneak, and hack your way past these obstacles. Hacking will also unlock various vending machine benefits, and is accomplished through a pipes mini game that resembles the popular PC game Pipe Dream.

Human enemies take on a variety of mutated forms. Splicers are very agile humans that wield two curved hooks. They move quickly, crawling across the ceiling and walls, and they will jump out of various hiding places unexpectedly. There are also deranged humans wandering Rapture in search of ADAM. They wield guns, pipes, monkey wrenches, and anything else they can get a hold of. Precious ADAM is derived from Little Sisters, who are helpless little girls that harvest dead bodies for stem cells. Big Daddies, however, make the Little Sisters a lot less helpless and a hell of a lot deadlier. Killing these monsters will reward you with the benefits of harvesting ADAM from the Little Sister.

How much ADAM you take from Little Sisters is up to you. Early on in the game you will be confronted with the ultimate choice. Harvest the Little Sister to death, or use the device Dr. Bridgette Tennenbaum gives you that extracts a portion of the ADAM and allows the girls to live. Pick one or the other, and stick with that choice. Each will result in a different ending, and trust me you will want to play this one more than a couple of times through.

Bioshock has won numerous awards for its overall presentation, plot, and gameplay. Many websites have given it the honor of Game of the Year for 2007. My own personal score will be no lower. Bioshock gets an amazing 5 out of 5. There was nothing in this game that I didn’t enjoy. The only issue I could possibly think of is a lack of multiplayer, but the balancing issues would be a huge deterrent. Fortunately this game doesn’t need a multiplayer mode to stand out as one of the best video games of 2007.

Mass Effect

Game: Mass Effect
System: Xbox 360
Release: November 2007

Very few companies produce high quality RPGs that make gamers tingle with anticipation. With my flame suit handy, I would like to unofficially pronounce Square Enix, Blizzard, and Bioware as the all time champions of epic RPG experiences. Don’t get me wrong. Lionsgate can rock socks with Fable, and Nintendo does have the original hit with Zelda. The top three, however, have a special place in my heart that cannot be ignored.

Tonight I will take a look at Bioware’s latest monster entitled Mass Effect. From the company that brought us the reward winning Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) and Jade Empire, this latest installment takes us to a galaxy far far away. Oh wait…this isn’t a Star Wars game!? That’s right there are no Jedi’s. Let that sink in…Space…Smugglers…Galactic Alien Governments…no Jedi’s.

Mass Effect places you in the shoes of Commander (insert name here) Shepard. With amazing customization abilities, players not only pick their gender and class, but personalize a back story and manipulate facial structures. The facial customizer allows you to choose premade characters, and manipulate their appearance in sometimes disturbing ways. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and more can be widened, shortened, stretched, and shrunk. There are two genders—for those of you who flunked Sex Ed.—six classes, three choices for your point of origin, and three choices for your infamous historic deed.

The last two options mentioned above really add a layer of personal depth to this game. You get to choose rather you are a Spacer with a military family, Colonist who lost their parents to a horrible attack, or an Earthborn raised on the rough city streets of Earth’s metropolis. Afterwards you decide if you want to be a Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless son of a bitch. These choices affect your gaming experience, and provide interesting reads for the avid RPGers. If you pick Ruthless, for example, than someone will recall your reputation for getting the job done no matter what the costs. Similarly, your birth place will unlock or determine certain events in the game. As a Spacer, I ran into an old friend of the family. He was down on his luck, and needed some help, but none of this was available as an Earthborn. Just like the Spacer is never contacted by a member of an old Earth gang they used to belong to. These options, along with the facial customizer, increase the replay value significantly, and ensure that players will make a personal connection with their character.

Classes are divided into hybrids and mains. Mains are Soldier (combat), Engineer (tech), and Adept (biotics). Hybrids are a combination of two main classes: Infiltrator (tech and soldier), Sentinel (biotic and soldier), and Vanguard (biotic and tech). In my humble opinion, the hybrid classes are a joke, but I’m sure someone somewhere enjoys them. I personally picked the Soldier and Engineer class for my two careers. Nothing beats the superb combat skills of the Soldier, and blowing stuff up with Tech abilities is a ton of fun. Tech talents also improve your ability to recover electronic debris, and will allow you to hack into crates, lockers, and doors with ease. Biotics are at first confusing, and may leave you thinking that you’re a gimped Jedi. At higher levels, however, these abilities really shine and can turn the tide of many encounters. Overall, there is enough variation to suit the taste of most RPG fans.

All of the classes and many other aspects of the game have a steep learning curve. You will die and not understand why until you figure out the combat system. All combat is live action, but players freeze the chaos to use their abilities. This takes a bit of practice to master, but once you do things go smoothly. It also seems that once you hit level 30 only full-on frontal assaults will kill you. That’s right no frontal assaults—unless you like death. Cover, shields, and guns dominate the play style. As I put my back up to a crate and returned enemy fire I found myself thinking of the N64 hit Winback a lot. The standard four guns—pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, and sniper—are available, but only the Soldier class can use all weapons effectively. The other classes tend to use the pistol and one other weapon that they can level up with talent points. Like any good RPG, increasing your skill with a particular gun will grant unique abilities. The shotgun, for example, has a rocket launcher attack that is unlocked to those who invest the points. Guns, along with other equipment, are upgradable, but unfortunately players will be able to pick up the best equipment rather early on in the game. This leaves oodles of pickups that end up being sold or reduced to Omni-gel—aka futuristic tech goodness. It would have been nice to have some infamous or ancient item that really stands out from the rest.

Overall the combat system for Mass Effect is average. It is engaging enough to keep the story moving—the best part of any Bioware game—but fails to capture the huge fun factor of other third person shooters and RPGs. Luckily the games plot is thick and delicious. Lead writer Drew Karpyshyn and his team have done it again. From the start Mass Effect’s universe is vividly brought to life, and by the end of the game it stands out amongst the great Sci-Fi series out there. It is amazing to me that a video game can present something as compelling as Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon Five, Dune, and more. I would go into some of the details about the plot, the alien species, planets, and other nerdy stuff, but that is best left for a post with a lovely spoil alert. I will, however, talk about how this plot was delivered.

First and foremost, this is one of the first RPGs that I have seen using 98% audio dialogue. That is right lazy non-readers of the world. You can sit back and listen in throughout the entire story. There are a few things that are not spoken, but this is limited to vendor actions and certain quest details. Delivering the dialogue is a host of top notch actors that have seen plenty of time behind a mic for the video game and/or movie industry. Jennifer Hale (Metal Gear, Metroid Prime), Mark Meer (Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire), Keith David (John Carpenter’s: The Thing, Requiem for a Dream, Disney’s Gargoyles), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Geneartion), Lance Henriksen (Bishop in Aliens, The Terminator), and Seth Green (Austin Powers, Robot Chicken, Family Guy) are just some of the names dropped in this epic adventure.

Almost every line is delivered well, and certain performances will tug at your emotions one way or the other. The dialogue wheel allows you to select numerous responses to any given situation. Keep in mind that certain people react better to charm than intimidation and vice versa. The typical black and white choices exist, but the writers also do an excellent job of including the grey. The fact that there are multiple outcomes for each encounter will ensure that you play the game at least twice. Players can even go through the game again using a character from a previously completed game. This allows you to see the other side of the tracks while keeping your perfectly created Shepard. The level cap is raised from 50 to 60, and you pick up right where you left off allowing you to kick major ass from the start. Raising the difficultly level is recommended, but I’ll understand if you just want to pwn face.

Now begins the other part of the review. I have to stop praising the game for now, and focus on some of the things that fall short of greatness. In combat the AI often charges out into open making them easy targets. If you can’t kill them, than your team surely will. Of course you will have to hope and pray that your squad doesn’t bug out after you give them an order. Thankfully, as mentioned above, this isn’t an issue once you reach level 30 and become the unstoppable killing machine that is Commander Shepard.

Technical issues aplenty exist in Mass Effect. I often found myself stuck after running into side railing on various maps. There is also the constant graphics upgrade about thirty seconds after each load screen. Things start off soft and fuzzy as details pop in slowly achieving the games full potential. Finally there is significant slow down during many events that a higher frame rate would have fixed. It seems like another round of QA testing would have smoothed out these issues, but thankfully they barely affect the overall game experience.

The last thing that prevents Mass Effect from becoming the perfect RPG for the Xbox 360 is its cut and paste planets. This game was suppose to be one of the biggest RPGs ever created for a console system. When you finally take control of a ship, and reach the Galaxy Map your jaw will drop. There are over a dozen nebulas with at least two star systems each. Each system as at least four planets, and many of them have asteroids and ships to investigate. This all seems great until you actually start exploring. Many planets are simply surveyed from space, and the few that you land on look remarkably similar. The orange desert planet with mountains. The red desert planet with mountains. The blue desert planet with mountains. The grey desert plant—aka Earth’s Moon—with mountains. Each one has an anomaly or two, fallen space debris, and a strong hold that is often related to a side quest. To be fair, there are a few planets that have unique features—one grassy world has a six legged cow. The replicated feel, however, made the side missions a bit tedious. It would have been nice to visit an alien capital city, or to see how Earth has changed over the years. Hopefully planet designs will be improved in future patches from Xbox Live.

Mass Effect is defiantly one of the best RPGs that I have ever played. The story has a deeper plot than hundreds of movies, and the overall presentation is simply fantastic. By the end of this epic adventure you will be screaming for more, and internet sites are sure to talk about this universe for years to come. The games audio holds up nicely with lovely instrumentals, great voice acting, and decent combat sound effects. Unfortunately, the gameplay could be better, and many environments are simply to similar in appearance. Uninspiring planet design, combined with predictable AI and a mediocre combat system will frustrate some and bore others. Many, however, will not let these minor inconveniences get in the way of this games awesome story telling abilities.

My personal score for Mass Effect is 4.5 out of 5.