Never before has a critically acclaimed video game series get so many controversy on romance and the endings. But anyway, Mass Effect is one of those few games that combines several genres of gaming together and makes it big, epic but most of all fun. Since its first game, its been one of the few games that a lot of us will remember from our high school/sixth form days (first game was released when I was about 17) which then ends up to be great but comes to (in my opinion) a very disappointing ending. Find out why as you read on:
Mass Effect:
So, the first sees Shepard sent onto Eden Prime to recover a Prothean Beacon. However, the mission then gets a lot more interesting when Saren (the main antagonist) kills the Turian examiner watching Shepard which then has Shepard receive visions of Reapers inside his mind. He then makes a desperate attempt to Expose Saren to the council and succeeds with the help of Turian C-Sec Officer Garrus, Krogan Warlord Wrex and Quarian Engineer Tali. With that, the council then promotes Shepard and he becomes the first Human Spectre. Captain Anderson then gives Shepard his ship to allow him and the crew to stop Saren and his plans to bring back the Reapers (While also recruiting Asari Scientist Liara in the progress). The rest of the game is mostly taking the Turian traitor down at all costs. The game is very long (if you plan to explore a lot) but otherwise, is very enjoyable and fun. It even sets the tone of the rest of the series. 9/10
Mass Effect 2:
Weeks after the events of the first game, the Normandy (the main spaceship that you get to control) gets destroyed with only a few survivors (mainly the characters Garrus, Liara, Joker, Tali, Wrex, Ashley/Kaiden and a few others) and Shepard (the main character that can be female or male based on what the player wants) dieing upon its explosion. On the PS3 version of the game, players can then make the six key decisions from the first game that will affect some parts of the story of this game in the interactive comic Mass Effect: Genesis. Two years later Shepard is awaken from a reconstrucion done on him by Cerberus (an organisation that is interested in using Reaper technology and is run by The Illusive Man) and with Cerberus operatives Miranda and Jacob, escapes a laboratory that has been breached by The Collectors (the main antagonists of the game) and after an audience with The Illusive Man, begins to form a team of people who are willing to serve under Shepard's command and can help him/her defeat the collectors. The majority of the game has you finding suitable operatives for a suicide mission through the Omega 4 Relay which will decide the fate of all of them and will also alter the story of Mass Effect 3. Each character has their own personal missions that Shepard can help them in to gain their loyalty, but can come at a great cost for some of the other members of the team. Only Garrus and Tali return as squad members while Kaiden/Ashley, Liara and Wrex now act as leaders for their people (Liara is a brief squad member during the DLC about the Shadow Broker). 10 new squad members (2 being DLC) can be recruited and some replace some of the original crew while adding new species in there too. Legion and Grunt are 2 characters that Shepard can free from their prisons whenever he/she wants to once they have been found. During the game, The Illusive Man will give you other assignments that will build up to the suicide mission. It's one of the best games, I have ever played and it adds fun and enjoyment throughout so well done BioWare and EA. 10/10
Mass Effect 3:
Taking place sometime after the DLC known as The Arrival from the last game, Shepard is on Earth and the Reapers (the main antagonists of the whole saga) have taken over the Earth and slowly taking over other parts of the galaxy as well. Shepard (with the help of his mentor Admiral Anderson), escapes from Earth on the Normandy with Kaiden/Ashley and newcomer James Vega (who comes from other Mass Effect media) as well as Joker and EDI. They then go to a Cerberus base to help Liara with her mission before going to the Citadel to plan out how it will all work on taking down the Reapers. For the majority of the game, Shepard must recruit and unite as many people as possible to take the Reapers down. The original team from the first game, return as Squad members with only Wrex being absent (because of his new role as the leader of the Krogan) and joining the team are James Vega, EDI (who has taken over a body that was originally a Cerberus robot named Eva, to help the team and to have a relationship with Joker) and Javik (who comes from the DLC, "From Ashes"). Garrus and Tali will only return if they survived the suicide mission and members of the team from the last game, will also make an appearance if they have also survived the mission and may or may not assist Shepard during the war based on their loyalty to Shepard but will be involved in side missions mostly. Kaiden/Ashley can be squad members if Shepard let's him/her live after the breach in the Citadel and Tali can also be a squad member if she survives the suicide mission and her people can assist in the war effort which will be decided by Shepard's decisions during the upload that Legion (or his counterpart if it didn't survived the suicide mission) does. Shepard can also let both species live by some sort of agreement, but regardless, Tali will or will not become a squad member based on Shepard's actions. The game is great and provides an epic feel towards the war with the Reapers, but its the endings that let it down as they are all the same with only very slight changes that make them slightly different and they are also confusing as well. 8/10
UPDATE: After having played the game again with the Leviathan, From Ashes and Extended Cut DLCs, I withdraw my previous score and now give it a 9/10 because without these DLCs, the game would've gone from bad to worse.
Overall, the game is great, it's epic and ultimately, is one of those few games that packs more than what you expect from it. Nicely done BioWare and EA. 9/10
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