Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

Ok but what about combat?

Combat is something of importance to many people, it is also what in the end constitutes whether or not a game lives or dies. Will your companions be idiots and run out in the line of fire while shouting “LEEEROOOOY!”, or will they obey your commands and tactically take down the enemy threat? Thankfully it is in most cases the latter, while your companions do listen to your commands – sometimes there are the occasional glitches in the path finding which may lead to their very untimely and painfully agonising deaths that may or may not be entertaining.

If you choose to play on easy or normal difficulties you are not going to face a lot of a challenge, especially if you have your aiming assistance set on high. This is probably the best option for the RPG gamer that dislikes action shooter combat, and prefers to stick to the role-playing aspect of the game. If you’re looking for a real challenge though, playing on veteran, hardcore or insanity is your best option. Given that Hardcore and Insanity must be unlocked by completing the game on the previously high difficulty, this offers a few replays in itself for the gamer that wants to do it all.

There are several classes, Soldier - The marine, skilled in weapons of mass destruction and creating piles of dead bodies by a hail of bullets.

The Adept - Talented in the use of biotics, to pull, throw and send enemies to their very timely painful deaths by flinging them out into open space.

The Engineer - Able to use technical skills to disable, destroy or take control of synthetic enemies and cause a tiny little civil war between the unsuspecting Geth.

Between those 3 “main” classes, you are also given the choice of hybrids between Vanguard (Soldier and Adept), Infiltrator (Soldier and Engineer) and Sentinel (Adept and Engineer).

After reaching a certain point in the game, if you choose to and play it right you may be given the option of selecting a specialization class. Your choice of specialization class will at least on the side of the hybrids, lean you more towards one or the other class.

Combat has a rather smooth learning curve, and you never really find yourself dealing with too much. While there are some very challenging moments in the game, none of them make you feel like they are impossible to defeat. In other words, you will not be left standing with a banana trying to kill a 30 feet tall thresher maw.
Given the ability to give orders to your 2 squad members, you can set waypoints, order them to take cover, to follow you or to attack a specific target simply by the use of your directional button.

Mass Effect also introduces the combat wheel, which contains two separate wheels that are accessible by the simple push and hold of a button (more specifically the left and right bumper buttons). One opens up the choice of weapons for you and your two squad members and the other gives you command over their abilities. Using the wheel temporarily pauses the game until you release your hold of the button.
Very simply you can order your engineer to overload a Geth by taking aim and selecting the ability from the wheel. This, aside from relying on them to make choices on their own gives you the upper hand on dealing with a battle the way you see fit.
Combat is also never over until Shepard himself dies, and “dead” squad members automatically revive after the battle is over.

Onto the MAKO, the vehicle of the game! At first I felt the controls were really clumsy, and the learning curve very steep. I found myself driving like Britney Spears, except I didn’t have any alcohol within my reach. However, after I got my head around how the MAKO controls it became an easy task to operate this heavy machine of destruction. Armed with a machine gun and a rocket launcher, you’re ready for the fight! With the ability to use the MAKO to launch yourself straight up into the air by use of its thrusters, you can dodge incoming rockets and send the poor Geth into machine heaven.

There is also plenty of gear in the game, most of it has the same name followed by a numerical sequence to constitute the power or level of protection it has. Each weapon and armour can also be upgraded to provide more protection or firepower and stability. My personal favourite is the sniper rifle, once the skill is maxed out you become a real killing machine from a distance! The shotgun is also quite the carnage machine, from a short distance there is nothing that beats the firepower it has. Assault rifles can send a spread of bullets into enemies at both a distance and close range, making them more versatile. Last and… least, is the pistol – but it should not be underestimated because with the proper add-ons it does pack quite some firepower. Be careful though because while there are no ammo clips in the weapons they can still overheat and you’ll have to wait for them to cool down before you can use them again, while the enemies pound you to a pulp.

For the ‘fashion’ geeks out there, the armour sports different looks and while helmets have no actual protection they can be turned on or off. So if you’re having a bad hair day it will be quite easy to hide it from the world.