Mass Effect | 
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| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $34.49
You Save: $15.50 (31%)
New (25) Used (7) from $28.49
Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 423
Format: Dvd-video
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp
Genre: shooter_action_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.2 x 1.1
MPN: 19081
Model: 19081
UPC: 014633190816
EAN: 0014633190816
ASIN: B00140P9BA
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Experience a rich and engrossing story where your choices decide the fate of galaxy | | • | Engage in emotionally charged interactions with the most realistic digital actors ever seen in a video game, using an innovative new dialog system | | • | Immerse yourself in an incredible new adventure from world-famous masters of the RPG; BioWare | | • | Stunning high resolution graphics, optimized GUI and controls for PC gamers | | • | Dominate the battlefield with new individual squad member command system |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
You are Commander Shepard of the starship Normandy and you are the last hope for all life in the Galaxy. Saren, a rogue member of the elite and untouchable Spectre agents, has discovered the secret to unleashing an apocalyptic force on the galaxy, and only you stand in his way. To save the lives of billions, you must do whatever it takes to stop Saren and prevent the return of an ancient force bent on the destruction of all organic life.
High resolution visuals - highly detailed textures, characters and environments Fully customizable controls - you can re-map the control scheme any way you like Run & Gun Control - You can assign biotic powers or skills to 'hot keys' allowing you to play Mass Effect with a heavier focus on action Decryption mini-game New inventory screen GUI and functionality - The enhanced inventory system makes it easier for you to equip and modify your weapons and armor
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| Customer Reviews: Read 135 more reviews...
 Great Game August 24, 2008
C. Eisenhard (Phila.,PA.)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of the better games. Be able to make choices and explore all of the game.
The only draw back is that no matter what you decide it does not effect the final outcome (this ia a minor draw back).
New Gameplay Style Greatly Overshadows It's Faults August 24, 2008
S. Chang
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
First of all, I want to respond to everyone talking about the Digital Media Rights, or DMR, stuff. Face it, this game is not an MMORPG, or any sort of game like that. You won't spend hundreds of hours playing this game, so I don't see any reason to cry about three installs (including a fourth one, which if you need, means you must be rich enough to be making upgrades so often to your PC in the first place). I don't know if it's me, but these reviews are for the game itself, not some DMR stuff. If you want to play down BioWare then go somewhere else. This is about the game itself. It shouldn't be given a 1-star just because you can only install it three times.
::Brief Overview (My Experience)::
This is one of those super fun "immerse yourself for twenty-ish hours of mega fun gaming" games. It took me around 20 hours to beat the game including doing most if not all of the side quests. The game does have a decent replay value because of the "achievements" system and the ability to unlock higher levels. Ultimately, though, it doesn't really unlock any bonus content or such. For those guys who like to beat RPGs 100% this is a very challenging game to play on the "Hardcore" and "Intense" modes. These modes really force you to use the Tactics HUD.
People say the game has lag issues?
I've played this game for over thirty hours, and NOT ONCE have I lagged or my screen has been even slightly sluggish (even in the biggest combat areas). I've read about many people getting jumps, but it hasn't happened for me. I guess that does mean if you run the right settings and your computer is capable enough to handle it, then you should be fine with no lags. My specs are Dual Core 3.00 GHz Intel Processor, 3 GB of Ram, and HD Radeon 9800 XT 512 Mb. I run at maxed out settings at 1680x1050 resolution and everything is fine.
::Pros::
Well, this adds to the list of the RPS, or Role-playing shooters, that I've played, and it is just fantastic.
Graphics: The graphics are quite excellent, especially considering the fact that it is just a port from the XBox.
Music: I love the music. It gives you that outer space feeling, like you're really out there.
Learning Curve: The game mechanics are taught fairly well in the beginning.
Science: All of this "Tech" and "Biotics" might seems confusing, but they do explain a fair amount of it through the game, and eventually you'll come to understand the two new concepts. It is very fun to use the special abilities that come with these classes.
::Cons::
My character bugged a couple times during cut scenes, where the option selection for dialogue would disappear. The event occurring only the couple times out of all of my game time isn't bad though.
Repetitive Side-quests/Buildings: This is probably my biggest disappointment, and the reason I gave it a 4-star rating for overall gameplay. Aside from the main missions, there are 10+ side quests that you can do, in which you must land into a world with your vehicle (the Mako) and explore and accomplish a quest, usually saving somebody or getting ambushed. The drawback here is that it gets quite repetitive. Although the terrain is different and sometimes it might be raining or snowing, it gets quite repetitive. At the end of exploring the world, you will always enter either a warehouse, bunker, or a mine. Yes, they only included THREE different level designs for 10+ side quests. So you'll basically be exploring the same buildings each time, only with a different situation and monster each time. Basically, during mid-game, the game can get very, very repetitive if you're trying to finish all of your side quests.
::Conclusion::
Get this game. It'll be worth every penny. I even bought one of the Mass Effect books after playing this game, and now I am definitely ready for the next game in the series to come out. I can't wait!
 EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! August 23, 2008
Kaiser Sossa (Phoenix, Az)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
That is all that I can say about this game. EPIC!!! I have played it through twice and I am on my third time through.
Yes, it works with Vista, I am even running the 64 bit version and it works fine.
Was well worth the $50.
 Read the warnings. August 22, 2008
M. Milewicz
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I wouldn't have known about the trojan program attached with Mass Effect if it wasn't for all the one star reviews posted to Amazon. I was going to buy the PC version for the added content but due to DRM I absolutely won't. I encourage you to boycott DRM as so many other users have suggested.
DRM'd to death August 21, 2008
Nathan Beauchamp (Oak Park, IL USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I wanted to love this game. I even tried to love it. But I couldn't, and here is why:
1. DRM that sucks the life out of everything good the game has to offer. We as consumers have got to stop accepting this garbage. It limits playability, prevents legitimate use of the game we purchased, and treats the consumer as "guilty until proven innocent." I really wish I had NOT bought this game for that one reason. Never again will I give my money for a product with DRM.
2. Poorly ported. As many others have noted, the camera that follows Shepherd around is frustrating, and doesn't allow for the immersive quality of a first person view.
3. Control of the rover vehicle thing is clumsy and frustrating. The physics on planet surfaces is so poor that I didn't want to do many of the side quests. You can drive up nearly vertical surfaces, bounce hundreds of feet down the sides of mountains without suffering any damage, all using slippy controls that don't feel right for a bad-*** personnel carrier.
4. Many sound bugs. The processing of sound in this game is horrible. The sound fades out during many of the movie sequences. The only option is to turn on subtitles, which hurts immersion into the game. At other points in game sound glitches cause ambient noise to disappear while shooting a weapon, or the opposite, so that you only hear ambient sound, and muffled or nonexistent weapons fire. I have a extremly high quality sound card, the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude so this is NOT due to my system. Even the recently released patch does not solve this issue.
5. Inconsequential rewards for accomplishing side objectives. There are two levels to this. The first is that if you take the time to find all the rare earths, gases, metals, etc., you are rewarded with nothing more than cash. That would be fine if there was anything worth buying with it. However, once you're level 25+ all of the weapons you can buy are either the same, or inferior to what you already have. The mission based side quests provide little reward also. There are very few bosses, and they never drop weapons or equipment that is specialized or unique. I was hoping that side quests would allow access to weapons and armor that were otherwise unavailable. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Other than being a completenic, there is no reason to pursue side quests at all.
6. Short main campaign. The main campaign can be completed in 20 hours or less. That would be fine if side quests were more rewarding, but they're not (see #5). I liked the main campaign quite a bit, and thought the story was fairly interesting, but it would have been nice if the story took less of a linear path. What I mean by that (given that you can choose to go to the planets in any order) is it would have been interesting if the game required you to return to planets you had previously visited (other than the Gate) for additional objectives/story arcs. For example, a mission that required you to travel to several different planets. The main campaign would not have been disappointing in the slightest if they had made it less linear.
So all that said, why 3 stars and not 1? Because the game is not a total failure. The storyline is much better than average, the voice acting and writing is of a very high quality, and the combat is pretty fun. This game is not a failure, it is just not that great. It doesn't deserve 1 star anymore than it deserves 5.
Again, the principle reason NOT to buy this game is the awful DRM that infests it. We as gamers and consumers need to show that we will NOT accept crippled games that we are essentially leasing. We need to put our money where our mouths are and avoid these games until their makers start to pay attention. If enough of us refuse to buy games with DRM, eventually they will get rid of it.
The principle reason to buy the game are quality writing and acting, a good storyline, and entertaining combat sequences.
***Whenever I write a review that mentions DRM, I like to give a plug for Amazon. They have DRM free music downloads. If you're going to buy digital music, buy them from Amazon.***
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