Mass Effect First Look Preview

Despite it not being the general consensus, I’m not completely convinced by Mass Effect’s merits. It certainly looks impressive, and many parts of the game are hugely enticing, but developer Bioware and publisher Microsoft Game Studios’ focus on Mass Effect’s conversation system and subsequent branching storyline has made me, and many others suspicious. We caught up with Bioware at Games Convention Leipzig to see how the game is shaping up.

The claims are that an innovative interface lets you hold real-time conversations with other characters, and that everything you choose to say can have a huge effect on your path through the game world. That all sounds fantastic, and it’s been a popular aim in interactive entertainment since the brilliant Choose Your Own Adventure children’s books that lead you through their pages in an order almost of your own choosing.

What is neat about Mass Effect’s conversation system is that as an NPC is speaking, your list of potential answers appear on-screen. Firstly, this allows you to keep the flow of the conversation smooth and natural, without having to endure unnecessary pauses, and it also lets you interrupt, which can have an effect on the mood and reaction of your fellow character.

So far so good, but cynics would say that we’ve just been presented with a nicely tweaked version of a system that has existed since the earliest days of gaming in the form of the text adventure and the point-‘n’-click. What is key then is how Mass Effect moves beyond systems like the one used in the Monkey Island series that essentially presented a huge number of routes through a conversation that almost always lead to the same outcome.

If a simple choice in any of the hundreds of conversations you will have can drastically affect the game, what is important is to get a sense of just how many different routes through the game there are, or at least how many endings are presented. Sadly the response from the Mass Effect team on this topic so far is in essence ‘no comment’.

The fact is that everything cannot be an option. In seeing the game I was treated to a demonstration of the branches the game can take. If every conversation you have has that kind of power, the game will have to be unfeasibly vast with storylines that splinter into a huge number of different directions.

The problem is that while there are some ambitious claims being made, the details of the depth of the plot branching have not been announced, making it very difficult to suggest how revolutionary it will be. The ability to lie or respond to words with actions sounds brilliant, and if this new interface is just a way of making in-game conversations seem more real and emotive then it is a superb refinement of a hugely dated gaming stalwart. However, a great number of gamers are expecting more, meaning Mass Effect is courting some enormous expectations.

Regardless, with the game nearing completion, there is plenty more here to explore beyond an unpredictable new direction for scriptwriting in games. Mass Effect is in essence a space exploration action-RPG game, and fans of Star Trek will be very familiar with its premise. Planet Earth is making fledgling steps into deep space and interstellar contact, meaning you get to assume the role of Commander Shepard, an elite Spectre agent. He is essentially an ambassador for Earth and a crime fighter who is establishing contact with alien species and representing humanity from the comfort of a huge flagship space craft named The Normandy.

From the outset customisation is core to the gameplay mechanic, and goes some way to demonstrating the impressive complexities underpinning Mass Effect’s vast universe. Of course, you can customise you avatar to a great degree, as has become the norm, and your weapons are equally adaptable, but you can also spend your time specialising your abilities and conversational skills, by assigning stat points to talents like charm and intimidation. Throughout the game more and more customisation options become available, meaning as you explore the universe you also develop and specialise both yourself and your NPC team mates.

The gameplay itself breaks down into exploring galaxies and solar systems in a quest to remedy and contain a malevolent entity that is threatening life across the universe; essentially this means landing on various planets and indulging in a spot of third-person-shooting heavily influenced by the current fad for cover-to-cover gunplay. A typical mission might see you dropped on a remote spot to carry out a daring rescue, which will see you clear the way for reinforcements by destroying AA guns and infiltrating bases.

To aid the squad-based combat, a easy to use command wheel has been implemented in-game to give you a vast number of combat options. Fundamentally it brings up a circle of orders on the HUD which can be selected on the stick, but what is curious is that its use pauses the game without freezing your aim. This will likely be looked down upon by hardened gamers, but it is a nice thought for newcomers to the genre. Some interesting combat vehicles and some fantastic AI is already in place too, and visually Mass Effect is unquestionably next-gen, if a little too shiny. In fact, Mass Effect’s world is so well polished it almost looks like you could see your reflection in a dusty cliff face.

As you drift through space aboard The Normandy, you’ll be distracted by distress beacons and countless other sub-quests, and there is no doubting Mass Effect’s size or quality of craftsmanship. But even considering the developer’s previous action-RPGs Jade Empire and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, there are nagging doubts and high expectations. Thankfully we’ll be playing the game very soon, so expect some of those questions to be answered in the near future.