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• Mass Effect

Mass Effect Hands-on Feature

Anyone who’s ever wanted to dive into an epic sci-fi adventure will have dreamed of something like Mass Effect. Until now, adventures in games have often been pre-set things – you’ll take a nobody farm boy, end up joining a rebel alliance and finally topple an evil empire controlling the galaxy. Or something very much like that.

In Mass Effect though, you’re making your own adventure from the beginning. You can choose your background as the main character Shepherd, where you were born and how you ended up joining the Alliance. You can still choose your key abilities and strengths as in other games, but who you are and the decisions you make throughout the game will have even more impact when the game plays out than your ability to wear medium armour.

More so than in other games, even the mighty Oblivion – in Mass Effect, you’ll be playing the game exactly as you choose to. You could have a friend playing the game at the same time and find them on worlds you’ve never seen with allies you’ve never met – all because of the different decisions you’ve made.

Far from using the traditional decision making system in other games where there is a definite right or wrong, you can adopt the stance you want in Mass Effect.  If a bar tender offers you a drink, you can accept graciously, regard it with suspicion and brush it aside, even take him by the collar and tell him what you think of his bar. It’s not just good or bad here – you can play the game as you want and the adventure you go on can take many paths.

After some banter with the crew of your spacecraft, you will get briefed on your first mission, which takes place on the planet of Eden Prime. Once on the planet’s surface with your scout team, you get your first taste of the combat gameplay. Moving in real-time, the third-person view works well as you switch between weapons and biotic powers. Your team are equipped with an array of weapons for different enemies including pistols, shotguns, laser rifles and sniper rifles. Biotic powers work similarly to force powers in Star Wars, and you’ll be throwing around enemy Geth using only your mind before long.

Visually, Mass Effect is a stunner. Coming from the same stables as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, the sheer scale here is mind-blowing. There is a whole galaxy to explore and as you do, those tough decisions will come into play more and more. If you get an SOS from two planets in neighbouring systems, you’ll only have the capacity to save one – which will you choose?  Get ready for one of the best sci fi worlds in gaming, only on Xbox 360.

By Mark Eveleigh, Xbox.com Editor, Gamertag: Making Sparks