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Mass Effect: return on the success of a series

As the release date for Mass Effect Andromeda is closer than ever, let’s take a look on the original series with an article on the first trilogy featuring Commander Shepard.

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Temps de lecture : 9 min

As the release date for Mass Effect Andromeda is closer than ever, let’s take a look on the original series with an article on the first trilogy featuring Commander Shepard.

For starters, let us remind you of a few dates, just like that, for info. So: Microsoft fans first meet the legendary commander and his crew in November 2007. Mass Effect was released on PC in 2008. It took five years for the game to be released on PlayStation 3 (2012).

Now it’s time for a little more detail.

Mass Effect 1 (2007): The beginning of an epic journey

mass effect 1.jpg

First, a few words about the story. You play Shepard (John, Joan, other, the choice is yours) on the ship Normandy in 2183. Wannabe Spectre, an intergalactic elite unit, you have a mission to perform on the human colony of Eden Prime under the supervision of Nihlus, a Turian. Because yes, first of all, Mass Effect represents a really rich universe, with lots of solar systems filled with many planets inhabited by lots of different alien races.

Let’s go back to business: before your arrival on Eden Prime, you see images of war and destruction.

At this point, we do not really know whether to put a warning for spoilers or not. Because on one hand, we could think that EVERYONE has already played Mass Effectat least once. And on the other hand, if everyone did play Mass Effect, we would not be writing this article ... So here it is:

Attention : Risque de spoiler

On Eden Prime, you inadvertently touch a strange machine that turns out to be a beacon left there by an ancient civilization, the Protheans. You see images of mass destruction. After that, you set out to fight the Reapers and try to warn the rest of the universe, all the while finding yourself a fine crew whose members will follow you to the end of ME3.

END OF SPOILERS ALERT

Of course, we talk about a game released in 2007 on Xbox 360 ??(the version that we played again and again and again). Sure, the graphics are not stunning considering the current possibilities. If we put Mass Effect 1 next to Andromeda... But let’s not compare what cannot be compared, because we certainly don’t play a ten-year-old game for the quality of its graphics. From the very first mission, you dive in a complete and complex world, and you can sense the possible twists. Mass Effect has been praised for its story, its writing, its characters. Even the gameplay remains quite good today, with some nice strategic possibilities depending on how you play and set your difficulty level. You can either ask the computer to direct your teammates for you or take care of it yourself. The only regret here was the repetitive side missions, which were corrected in...

...Mass Effect 2 (2010): The REAL Suicide Squad (you've surely heard that one, we didn’t make it up)

Mass Effect 2At the beginning of Mass Effect 2, a tragedy occurs: the Normandy, your beloved ship, is torn to pieces by an unknown force, and your carcass is projected into space. But don’t worry, it takes more to kill Shepard. He/she is fished from space by Cerberus (nota bene, you spent quite some time fighting them during secondary missions in ME1). They completely rebuild Shepard… with some improvements. They also make him/her a brand new ship, and here we go for new adventures (well, it doesn’t take place exactly like that, but we want to keep it spoiler-free). One more time, you surround yourself with a hell of a team to undertake an assault on your sworn enemies, the Reapers.

You can import your character from ME1 in ME2: you can keep your appearance and choices you’ve made (romance, friendships, side quests , etc.). And that is nice, because it allows for a truly personalized experience. You can also chose to play pragmatic or parangon, which not only changes your relationships with characters in the game, but also your physical appearance.

Of course, besides a clear graphical improvement, the gameplay of the second game is more flexible; teamwork is still present, and you can connect with the crew talking to them and following their quests. And, unfortunately, you can improve the Normandy, which means really too much time spent scanning planets for extracting raw materials. We didn’t like that. Few people did. But we did not find much else to complain about in ME2.

Mass Effect 3 (2012): The climax of an epic adventure

Mass Effect 3Oh, my God, what's happening? You spent two games to prevent those NPC bastards that the Reapers will attack, they did not believe you, and what happens? Well, the Reapers attack. And who to they call for help?

This time, the writers have seen things big. Shepard brings all humans and aliens together to save the universe. And frankly ... the story’s greater than ever. Despite a lower number of side quests that in previous games, the story is more epic than ever.

Two years passed between the release of ME2 and ME3, so of course you feel that in the graphics. The gameplay remains similar to the previous episodes: tech or biotic powers, diverse weapons, teamwork, combat that can be challenging in higher difficulty modes. You can still import your character from ME2 to benefit from all the background of the first two games. Good news, exploration of empty planets and scanning of planets have been completely removed. The ending has been criticized a lot, so an additional video was made to satisfy curiosities. We are big fans, so we loved the whole package.

 

Mass Effect (Roman)Bottom-line, the first Mass Effect trilogy offers a really neat story. You'll get a smooth gameplay. You’ll approach the missions differently according to the class you chose, which improves replayability. You'll meet colorful characters and discover an elaborate universe that inspired subsidiary works: animation movie Paragon Lost (2012), series of novels (Revelation, Ascension, Retribution, 2007-2010 and Deception, so controversial that it was never released in some countries). Not to mention the novel Nexus Uprising to be published in March, 2017, and the artbooks The Art of Mass Effect Universe (2012) and The Art of Mass Effect Andromeda (March 21 2017).

The first trilogy Mass Effect is, according to us, a must-play for any RPG lover. So go ahead. If you have not played it yet, do not hesitate.


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