Giving Mass Effect Another Chance

I guess I’m not the only gamer on this planet who isn’t very fond of Mass Effect, as a new entry on 1UP’s The Grind blog explains why the author has hesitantly picked up the game again in preparation of the impending sequel.

I kicked off yet another game of Mass Effect this past weekend. This is my third attempt to figure out why everyone seems to like this game so much, the first two attempts having ended due to a busy schedule and a lack of interest. With the sequel due at the end of the month, I’m hoping to speed through in time to transfer my character. The odds probably aren’t in my favor, but at least it’ll give me enough of a grounding in the story to be able to jump into the next game.

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Mass Effect also opts for the old “League of Planets under threat” approach, which was more-or-less perfected by Babylon 5 a decade ago. In both Mass Effect and B5, humans are the young and arrogant race, which some of the other races see as a threat. In B5, humans are a major power despite having been nearly wiped by the ancient Minbari a mere decade earlier. In Mass Effect, humanity manages to pick up an embassy much earlier than usual, over the objections of certain other races. In both instances, FTL travel was achieved by acquiring technology from alien races (the Protheans in ME, the Centauri in B5). And, of course, both feature an ancient threat that can only be defeated by rallying the races.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to hammer through the game again, too. Since the 360 version of Mass Effect was released first, that’s where my level 60 characters are. But now that we’re looking at a simultaneous release this time around, I’ll definitely be opting for the PC version of the sequel.