It doesn't really ever happen that I talk about video games on this blog but this time I just can't stop myself. I have played a LOT of videogames in my life starting all the way back at stealing money off some French guy to play Space Invaders. While I usually have a satisfying sense of accomplishment when completely finishing a game things were different with Mass Effect. This was true for part 1 when I played it in London well over 2 years ago and again with Mass Effect 2 in the past month. Only with these two games I felt sad when I finished them. "It's over. NOOOOOO!! It can't be! I need more!".

Asari Liara T'Soni and Alliance soldier Ashley in Mass Effect 1

The Mass Effect Universe

The Mass Effect universe is set in our own Milky Way galaxy. For reasons unknown and probably impossible to understand to humanity and any other sapient life form a race of ancient sentient machines feels the need to purge the galaxy of intelligent life every time it reaches a certain level of technical and social sophistication. These machines, 'The Reapers' as they're called by all advanced species in the galaxy have been doing this for millions of years. The most recent species of importance to be purged from the galaxy were the 'Protheans'. A highly advanced civilization that went extinct about 50.000 years ago. Thanks to the wealth of information found in a small Prothean cache found deep under the surface of Mars, humanity has made it into becoming a space faring civilization. Most other civilizations that are currently space faring have done so thanks to the remains of the once mighty Prothean civilization. In order to make sure the species that are reaching a level of sophistication that warrants a new cycle of extermination the reapers have set up a network of incredibly advanced space stations called 'Mass Relays' which enable instant travel to many star systems throughout the galaxy. This network is believed to be a Prothean legacy by most while in reality it's Reaper technology. At the center of all this there's a space station of epic proportions called 'The Citadel' which is populated by groups of most known space faring races in the galaxy and governed by a galactic council with representatives of the most dominant species.

So there you have it. Humanity, and a lot of other species would never be traveling the galaxy if it weren't for the Prothean remains and the network of Mass Relays. To me this is a very believable scenario because for one I can't really believe humanity will ever leave this level of sophistication on it's own without exterminating itself first.

Sovereign, one of the sentient machines (Reapers) that threaten all sapient life in the galaxy

I won't really say more about the main story of the Mass Effect trilogy because that would ruin things for anyone who hasn't played yet. This article is more about why these games are miles ahead of anything else I've ever played.

What's so awesome about Mass Effect?

So, what's so awesome about this and why should you care? Is it the awesome Unreal 3 Engine powered graphics? Is it the combat system? Is it the missions? Nope. In fact both games are not without their flaws when it comes to these things. This is especially true for Mass Effect 1 which has it's slowdown issues, texture popping and control issues. Most of these things are highly improved in Mass Effect 2. Yet, all this stuff has little to do with why I think this trilogy out does pretty much everything else that's out there. It's the totally engrossing storyline and the characters. I can honestly say that these things exceed the richness and depth of most science fiction BOOKS I've read, let alone movies I've seen. Yep, you got that right. This game beats most BOOKS. And I've read quite a lot of science fiction.

I have to say... this is much better than Dragon Age...

My wife Pam (who hates science fiction stuff)

Each and every character including the ones in smaller side quests have been carefully crafted to be totally believable. Every single line is done in real speech by real actors, some of them pretty famous too. Some highlights are Martin Sheen as 'The Illusive man', leader of Cerberus, a 'human supremacy' organization giving X-Files' cigarette smoking man a run for his money, Seth Green as your pilot 'Joker' and Tricia Helfer as your ship's Artifical Inteligence 'EDI'. There's a whole bunch of side characters done by well known actors as well such as Michael Hogan, Carrie-Ann Moss and Adam Baldwin. When playing these games you'll find yourself actually CARING about what happens to a lot of them, especially your squad members. Every one of them has their own deep background and life story. If you dive deep enough in the wealth of dialog and conversation you can't help but start feeling you really know them. My personal Favorites are Garrus Vakarian, my Turian combat buddy present in both games, Thane Krios, Master Assassin in Mass Effect 2 and Legion, the first intact Geth (sapient robot race that went rogue) to be captured by other species. But there's more. They pretty much all rock. The more you talk to any character, the better they get. These are just a few highlights that I picked. I could go on forever on many other characters and the amazing species they represent. Turians, Asari, Quarians, Salarians, Krogan, the list goes on and on. The depth of the characters in Mass Effect sets the bar really, really high for any future RPG titles.

Thane Krios, Master Assassin and general awesome guy.

The 'Star Wars' or Avatar of games

For me personally it's safe to compare the Mass Effect universe to the Star Wars universe. And I'd definitely call Mass Effect 2 the 'Empire Strikes Back' of games. And what's more, the acting and character development in Mass Effect are leaps BETTER than Star Wars. The universe itself has just about the same appeal. Mass Effect does what Star Wars or Avatar did for engrossing science fiction movies ... and improved upon them in character development and voice acting.

If I had all the time in the world I would make an attempt to cut and edit footage from the Mass Effect games into a series of videos. There's so much there that it would be easy to create two or even more full length TV series seasons of footage without ever getting boring for the viewer. Like I said before, not even most books manage to have as much depth as these games do, let alone movies. I secretly hope someone is going to take on this task. It's so good that it would blow your mind, even if you're not a gamer. I can't think of any other video game that has ever managed to accomplish this.

I am Legion, for we are many. Mobile terminal of the Geth.

Space Opera, redefined

Mass Effect redefines the term 'Space Opera', whether you compare it to books, movies or other games. It's a one of a kind thing. If you haven't played these games yet and you own an XBOX360 or a PC of good spec you owe it to yourself to get these games and be engrossed by them. After finishing both games twice I feel like I'm having withdrawal symptoms. I can't leave them alone. BioWare has released some downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 which kept me happy for a while but I keep wanting more and more. Especially mercenary veteran 'Zaeed Massani' is a pretty cool new squad member. Take him with you on missions and you'll love his comments in a strong mature sounding British accent.

Human, you've changed nothing.
Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater.
That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction.

-- Harbinger

Go play these games. Even if you don't like RPG's (like me, I usually hate RPG's!) and games that involve a lot of shooting. It won't matter. It's that good.

Which development studio is going to outdo Mass Effect? You tell me! I honestly don't know. I expect I'm just gonna have to wait until Mass Effect 3 comes out which isn't gonna happen before 2011. Thanks Bioware for creating a magical experience I can barely stop thinking about. This is as good as it gets in a Space Opera. You've just redefined the term.