Ah, Mass Effect<\/em>: the game that began the series that is arguably BioWare\u2019s biggest success to date. PC veterans may prefer Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>, and more recent PC players may favour Dragon Age<\/em>, but ME is what really brought the Canadian studio into the mainstream limelight. Some may argue that this is also what eventually caused its downfall, but that is a debate for another time and place. You may (unfortunately) also remember ME as the game that got Fox News\u2019 panties in a twist in what was ultimately revealed to be a completely unfounded accusation of full-on nudity and graphic sex by people who hadn\u2019t even played it. Nice one, guys.<\/p>\n
![\"Beginning](\"http:\/\/www.satrapov.net\/mysst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Beginning-of-a-long-journey.jpg\" "\\"Beginning")
<\/a>But controversy and fame aside, what are we really looking at here? ME is a futuristic space opera, and, unlike BW\u2019s previous work, it\u2019s a mix between an RPG and a TPS, which is probably one of the reasons for its success: the combination between immersive dialogue and storytelling on the one hand, and dynamic combat on the other. This isn\u2019t BW\u2019s first foray into sci-fi \u2013 they had already released a Star Wars<\/em> game for PC by that time, followed by a sequel reprised by Obsidian \u2013, but it is a completely original story, and, in my opinion, it\u2019s far superior to the two Knights of the Old Republic<\/em> games. It always felt a little odd to me to be playing games set in a preexisting universe created by someone else. Like wearing borrowed clothes, if you will. Not so with ME, which builds its own universe on its own premises and peoples it with original species, each with its own distinct culture and society, and not all of them anthropomorphic, which is a breath of fresh air. This is the main draw of the series for me, along with its characterisation, which, I think, is some of the best that BW has ever produced. Up until 2012, the series was in danger of dethroning Myst as my all-time favourite. ME3 made sure that didn\u2019t happen, but, that massive fiasco aside, the first ME is still a great game. To give you an idea, after I finished my first playthrough, I immediately started another one, something which had never happened to me before. Granted, it was my first serious encounter with a WRPG and, coming after years of JRPGs, the freedom that characterises the genre may have boosted my enthusiasm. But even now, several years and WRPGs later, I still think it\u2019s a great game, so it must have gotten something right.<\/p>\n