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Platform: box
360
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Mass
Effect
As
they continue to pump out one top-notch RPG after the next, Bioware is
bouncing back to the world of science fiction after their last romp,
Jade Empire, which took place in the ancient Far East.
Making its splash on the Xbox 360, the developer is currently
working on Mass Effect, an action RPG set in the distant future.
While
the game is promising the requisite amount of “immersiveness” in its
story line, what has been dished out so far is little more than a
premise, as players will take on the role of a Specter, an agent in a
sort of intergalactic law enforcement agency.
Apparently a rogue agent of considerable clout has been amassing
forces for an invasion, and it’s up to players to stop him.
Of course, as time wears on it becomes clear that things are a
lot more complicated than initially believed (it would seem there’s a
bit of tension growing between organic and artificial life forms), the
plot thickens, and intrigue ensues.
Adding a little more depth to the narrative is that players will
be able to impact the direction the story heads in by the decisions they
make, so be careful not to blow up the universe or something.
Taking a step away from the action RPG norm, Mass Effect will do away with turn-based and quasi real-time combat, instead favoring squad based real-time battles. Since players will be playing with a bunch of gun-toting space cadets, it only seems natural that combat feels more like something out of a Grisham novel than Lord of the Rings.
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While
players are navigating the stars, blasting intergalactic evildoers, they
won’t be on the rails, following a linear story path the whole time.
Instead, players will have the ability to explore the cosmos,
discovering uncharted planets and whatever happens to be lurking and/or
hidden on them.
Of course, with the game coming out on the 360 that means we’re going to be hearing a lot about just how much effort Bioware is putting into the visual presentation for Mass Effect. Even at its early stages of development, the game is looking pretty darn good. There’s already a high-level of detail to |
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the
visuals, and the lighting effects are looking pretty nifty.
That in mind it will be interesting to see just how far Bioware
can take the game’s graphics by the time it has been completed.
If
there’s one genre that didn’t get a lot of attention on the original
Xbox, it’s the RPG. Now
it looks like companies are jumping on board early to make role-playing
games for the 360. Hopefully,
this will lead to quite a selection in the console’s library in the
coming years. From what we
can see of Mass Effect so far, it looks like the 360 is off to a good
start.
Mr. Nash (December 15, 2005)
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