Challenging Stereotypes Of A Weekend

Those of you out there who have followed my monthly scribblings through the pages of X360 will be aware that RPGs haven’t exactly, shall we say, floated my boat, as a rule. Whether some stifled cry against modern life and its ills (Dragon Age) or a desire to see such technology increase, the opportunity to shuffle figures here, there and everywhere has never occupied many of my free hours. Many were the times adventures such as Commander Shepard’s were dismissed as the fare of people who should either take up archaeology or, well, talking to other people.

No longer. After a weekend spent wandering in awe about The Citadel, my advice to others would be this: try it, you’ll never look back. From perfect pacing, through an engaging world, to its careful manipulation of features, ensuring players don’t feel overwhelmed yet still retain that satisfaction of having teased information out, it’s quite the gem. Alien races that seem to have been modeled on Winnie The Pooh’s Eeyore, side quests that appear so naturally along the way you’d be hard pushed to consider them breaks in the action, combat surprisingly competant for the genre – all instantly charming. We’ll cut a long story short: Mass Effect could just be the title that converts you to a stats-based gaming future – don’t you owe it that one chance?