Mass Effect

Mass Effect is an action role-playing game under development by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which will be the first installment of a planned trilogy. It is scheduled for release in November. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Shepard. The story revolves around an ancient alien prophecy stating that every fifty thousand years a portal that seperates the" normal" universe and a realm beyond opens, spewing out an alien machine race comes to the galaxy to harvest all sapient organic life, and the time of their return is approaching. As the first human Spectre ? sworn defenders of galactic peace ? Shepard's mission is to halt the advancing armies of Saren, a legendary Spectre agent gone rogue who apparently wishes to wipe out the entire human race using Prothean technology and an army of subservient geth (partially due to the death of his brother during the First Contact War, though it is hinted that Saren's Genocidal objective has something to do with the coming storm from the mysterious portal). Shepard will lead an elite team across hostile alien worlds and discover that the true threat is far greater than anyone imagined.

Besides the plans for a trilogy, which BioWare claims "will cover the Xbox 360's five-plus year cycle", there are plans for episodic content to be uploaded to Xbox Live that will fill in the story between each game, though these episodes are not essential for understanding the story of the main games. Despite Mass Effect being marketed as an exclusive title for Xbox 360, there has been conjecture in print media regarding a PC version of the game. Aside from the rumors, neither Microsoft nor BioWare have given any statements remotely regarding plans for a PC version.

The term "Mass Effect"
Project Manager Casey Hudson explained the term "Mass Effect" as follows:

"Inside the game universe, mass effect is a newly discovered (for humans anyway) physics phenomenon that has properties along the lines of other physics forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. It's what physicists in real life are currently calling 'dark energy,' as an explanation for the accelerating expansion of the universe -- which has only recently been discovered and flies in the face of the previous notion that the universe's expansion should be slowing down because of gravity."

Hudson explains that certain beings are able to sense and manipulate mass effect much like some real-life creatures (such as sharks and eels) can sense and manipulate electromagnetism. These abilities will be augmentable via implants, and the manipulation of mass effect is referred to as 'Biotics'.

Characters
Hudson expands further on the character elements of the game:

"Commander Shepard is a veteran soldier, who has seen a lot of action in many engagements across the galaxy. In addition, Shepard does not have it very easy either, charged with the most important missions in the galaxy, Shepard is therefore authorized to get the job done at all costs ? and it's up to you to determine what that cost will be. Often, something must be sacrificed to get further in your mission, and all of Shepard's decisions are important ones, where people's lives hang on the details of each choice."

Before any fighting began, we were shown how each character's in-game appearance was entirely dependent on the gear they wore. No characters in Mass Effect has a stock armor appearance. If you equip a huge, hulking helmet, it will show up in real time. Same thing with weapons, which appear strapped to characters' backs and legs. This allows for a huge variety of character appearances, reinforcing the game's already impressive customization options."

Dialogue
One of the major features in Mass Effect is the dialogue system. "The dialogue system is a refined, more dynamic version of what you've seen in previous Bioware games. You'll no longer read the lines and select which one you want to say; now you use a dialogue wheel to choose the approach you want to take (bully, bribe, or be nice, for example), and your character takes it from there."

The player can interrupt the speech of another character, and uniquely that character will react appropriately to the interruption (as opposed to a system that simply allows you to skip through dialogue for speed reasons). For example, if you select an action before the NPC finishes speaking, they will consider that as you interrupting. If you want to befriend someone, you wait until they finish speaking. Combined with detailed facial expressions, the aim is to make dialogue life-like, smooth, and cinematic.

Combat
Combat in Mass Effect will take place in real time, though the player is given the option to pause at any time to give orders to other squad members. The player and his allies use firearms (modifiable with various upgrades throughout the game), Tech abilities (to interfere with enemy equipment and abilities), and "Biotics" (similar to magical attacks in other games) to fight their enemies. Players will directly control their own character's actions, as opposed to control via menu systems used in other console role-playing games. Squad members can be given simple commands with input from the directional pad.

At the gaming conference X06, BioWare gave all-new demonstrations of Mass Effect. Popular online gaming website GameSpot reported: "In combat, you will not be able to take direct command of your squad mates, but we are told that the artificial intelligence of those accompanying you will not disappoint. However, you will have the option to give them simple commands using the directional pad and even to issue orders that are more complex. All by pausing the game and using a Full Spectrum Warrior-style interface. The whole screen gets a yellow tint when you pause the game in this fashion--it is overlaid with a tactical-looking grid--and your colleagues are represented by 2D icons that almost look like chess pieces. Using this interface, you can tell the other characters where you would like them to go (behind cover, for example) and which of their abilities or special powers you would like them to use. It's an interesting control mechanic and one that promises to afford you a far greater degree of control over your allies than most."

The abilities and special powers that your characters have at their disposal will be determined by the skill sets you assigned them at the start of the game and how you've been spending your experience points since then. Some of the more memorable powers that we got to see in action on this occasion included a telekinetic "lift" that could be used to pick up objects and enemies, and a tech ability that let our alien friend drop the shields on a large, four-legged mechanical boss. We also got to see a couple of the game's numerous weapon modifications put to good use--namely an incinerator upgrade that set fire to enemies and a vaporizer add-on that made them disappear completely."

Tech Abilities
Tech Abilities can be found very useful in this age, for every enemy is synthetic in some aspect. The tech abilities are activated through the usage of the OmniTool, which Engineers, Infiltrators, and Sentinels can use. These abilities can range from destroying an enemy's shields (as seen in the X06 Demo), to unleashing a turncoat among your enemies, to the ability to heal your party member's shields.

Biotics
Biotics are accessed by using the implants in your character, and allows the manipulation of dark energy. These abilities range from being able to raise shields that you are able to shoot through but your enemies cannot, to creating small gravitational vortexes that cause destructible parts of the environment to go flying at the enemy, to the ability to raise your enemies helplessly into the air (as seen in X06 movie) and eventually throwing them away.

Weapons & Equipment
Mass Effect will feature four classes of conventional weapons, different types of grenades, "tech" weapons (see brief description of Tech abilities above), as well as other usable items. The player will also be able to outfit their character and squad with various types of armor. All equipped items will be visible on the characters; changing armor immediately changes the look of the character, whether adding a bulky helmet or switching to a sleek skin-tight suit of armor, and all weapons fold up into compact versions and are stored directly on the character. Weapons and similar usable objects can be retrieved by simply pressing a particular direction on the directional pad for each item.

Non-Player Character Interaction
One of Mass Effect ' s unique gameplay elements involves its conversation system. Previous BioWare console titles such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire employed a conversation system where the player chose from several responses after non-player characters (NPCs) had finished speaking. Mass Effect introduces a new system in which responses to NPCs are displayed and can be chosen from before the NPC has finished speaking. This allows for more fluid and natural conversations, which gives character interaction a cinematic quality. There is also the possibility that the player can decide not to say anything leaving the next character to make his/her comment.

A radial command menu, divided into six equal sections like a pie chart, is shown at the bottom of the screen when a conversation is initiated. Each section is assigned a brief preview of the response that will be made, usually one word (such as "Threaten"). The response is selected by moving the analog stick in the direction of the desired response on the circle and pressing one of the buttons (The X Button to interrupt the NPC at any time, or The A button to allow the NPC to finish what they are saying ). The command menu is organized such that each section is assigned a particular inclination (i.e. being nice, aggressive, etc.), so that after players have become comfortable with the system they will no longer have to read the menu, and will be able to respond appropriately, immediately, if desired. BioWare hopes that the innovative system will allow the game to be more cinematic and free players from reading large amounts of dialogue, as would be required with the commonly used system of simply having the player choose from complete, sometimes long, written statements.

Morality
The main story and character interactions in Mass Effect will be affected by the player's chosen morality. Unlike in BioWare's previous titles, emphasis on becoming a pure "good" or pure "evil" character will be lessened. Some characters may not like the player or leave the player's squad if the player's moral direction differs from their squadmates. The overall story is also affected by the player's personal choices. Project Director Casey Hudson of BioWare has said "[the player's] style of play throughout the game will result in diverging endings that determine the fate of humanity itself", affecting not only the first installment, but also the planned sequels. Morality will be mostly determined by the player's choices during conversations.

Travel
The Normandy, the player character's ship, and a technological marvel in the setting of the game, will serve as the primary mode of transportation.

Since the game spans the galaxy, many trips will have to be made from planet to planet. Players will select destinations by selecting them through a galactic map of the Milky Way. Videos have shown that the galaxy is divided into numerous levels of organization, from the galaxy as a whole to individual planets within their respective solar systems.

Certain unexplored or uninhabited planets will be navigable at the ground level using an all-terrain armored personnel carrier called The Mako which is controlled directly by the player and can be upgraded throughout the game. Some segments of the game even require the player to fight an enemy using the weapons mounted on the vehicle (developers have said one such event involves a towering bestial creature native to an uninhabited planet).

Although the game will follow a main story, Mass Effect will supposedly include a large number of side missions and free-roam "unexplored planets" that can be reached by selecting them through the galactic map.



Awards
Mass Effect ' s showing at E3 2006 was generally well received and resulted in the game winning several awards. These include:


 * Game Critics Awards' Best Role-Playing Game
 * 1UP.com's Best of E3 2006: Best 360 Game
 * TeamXbox's Best of E3 2006: Best Xbox 360 game, Best of E3 2006: Best RPG
 * GameSpy's Best of E3 Awards 2006: Best RPG

A complete list of awards can be found at the game's official website.

Novels
On February 21, 2007, it was announced by BioWare that Del Rey|, an imprint of Random House Inc., had acquired Mass Effect: Revelation, the prequel novel to the game. The novel, authored by the lead writer of the game (Drew Karpyshyn), will subsequently be accompanied by another set in the world of Mass Effect. Revelation was released on May 1, 2007. A second novel, Mass Effect: Revolution, has been announced.