Mass Effect

Mass Effect introduced a universe where humanity discovered the remnants of ancient technology and joined a galactic community of races overseen by the Citadel. As Commander Shepard, the player sets out aboard the ship Normandy to hunt down the rogue Spectre Saren, who is collaborating with the mechanical Geth, and uncovers the threat of the ancient Reaper race hidden beyond the edges of the galaxy. The game combined third-person action shooting with a dialogue wheel and a Paragon/Renegade morality system that influenced relationships with the crew and the story's development, complemented by a choice of one of six character classes ranging from soldier to biotic.

Exploring the galaxy also involved the ground vehicle Mako and scanning planets, which lent a sense of vastness to the universe, even though the environments themselves were fairly sparsely populated. The PC version, which arrived several months after the Xbox 360 release, brought higher-resolution textures and mouse-and-keyboard support, though the controls still felt clearly designed primarily for a gamepad. Technically, the game, built on Unreal Engine 3, suffered from long loading times and a cumbersome inventory screen, something frequently mentioned in reviews, though the atmosphere was well served by Jack Wall's striking music and extensive voice acting for characters like Garrus, Wrex, and Liara.

Mass Effect became the foundation of one of the most significant sci-fi series of the modern era and showed how to combine cinematic storytelling with player choices that carry over between installments. Today it is seen primarily as an introduction to a much larger story, whose full impact only comes into focus with its sequels, but even on its own it offers a strongly atmospheric sci-fi story with a richly developed world and its codex. Choices such as the fate of the Rachni species or the decision about the Council also carried over into the sequels, which at the time was among the most ambitious attempts at continuity across several separately released games.

Why play it: As an introduction to a sprawling sci-fi story with choices that carry into the sequels, it offers an atmospheric world with a rich codex, especially for players planning to play through the whole trilogy.