Last Look at Mass Effect with Upcoming Sequel in Mind

High points: Although the storyline is not particularly intriguing, its delivery is incredibly engaging due to emotive digital actors infused with stellar voice acting.

Low points: Combat can be a mixed bag, with a number of issues - such as cumbersome squad member controls - detracting from an otherwise promising system.

Recommended audience: Many RPG enthusiasts will find something to like here, but FPS fans lured in by the promise of real-time combat should be wary.

In Mass Effect, BioWare reeled in successful components from its other RPG franchises and attempted to meld them together into a uniquely engaging experience. In many respects, the effort is a success: battles have the edgy, action-oriented feel of Jade Empire while retaining some of the tactical, Knights of the Old Republic core gameplay. More impressive than the combat are the characters, teeming with life and eager to tell their part in the story. The environments range from beautiful to barren, but virtually every alien you interact with is at least as wondrous as one you'd find in a George Lucas film (and, thankfully, often times much less ridiculous).

Arguably the most prominent RPG innovation Mass Effect offered was its dialogue system, which allows players to choose from a few gut feelings and then sit back and let their characters do the talking. Quickly glancing at the terse selections and picking the one that seems right to you can really keep the conversations flowing naturally. You can tell that the developers carefully minimized the effort players would have to expend to find their desired dialogue choice, which goes a long way toward making the narrative as cinematic as possible.

The peaceful interactions are top notch, but you also spend about half of your time fighting. For better or worse, just about every combat sequence in Mass Effect feels like it could have been pulled right out of a blockbuster film. The term random encounter certainly has no place here, as the robotic geth or the insectoid rachni will always arrive at just the right moment to keep the action paced properly. As a whole, combat is enjoyable. Futuristic guns, "tech mines," and "biotic" skills offer plenty of interesting ways to disable and take down opponents. Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons why the combat segments in the game are not as refined as the conversational features.

Mass Effect allows you to bring two squad members along whenever you are outside your vessel. The AI for these teammates isn't bad, but they have a variety of quirks that certainly do not complement the otherwise highly immersive atmosphere. Your allies will do their best to fight and take cover, but you will need to intervene to maximize their offensive talents and survivability. However, the interface used to give them commands isn't very intuitive. Ordering them around can become an unpredictable enterprise and sometimes results in their untimely and frustrating demise.

An assortment of other small but noticeable problems impedes the attempted mass appeal of Mass Effect combat. Biotic powers allow you to move objects and enemies with dark energy; basically, biotics lets you play with gravity, and it's a lot of fun. Still, you may find your squad mates accidentally unleashing their biotic bursts into walls, accomplishing nothing. Biotic abilities have significant cooldowns, and when the survival of your entire group may hinge on knocking down that encroaching Krogan Battlemaster - but your biotic attack fizzles into a waist-high obstacle - it's pretty devastating (at least he'll bash your skulls in with merciful efficiency). Issues like these add up to form a layer of disruption amidst an otherwise pristinely polished game experience.

For the most part, the game's multiple endings are satisfying, despite the fact that they are all blatant setups for Mass Effect 2. There are also many incentives to play through again: in addition to different dialogue choices and difficulty settings, skills can be unlocked that wouldn't normally be accessible for a particular character. Mass Effect represents a triumph in digital storytelling along with combat that is, at times, compelling-but a handful of technical setbacks cause it to fall short of being a robust RPG masterpiece. We will have to wait and see if the sequel can fill up the voids in the Mass Effect universe.