Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017) Review

After reviewing the original Mass Effect trilogy, I thought it would be appropriate to play the 4th game in the franchise Mass Effect: Andromeda and I have finally finished the game and here is my review. The premise of the game is set 600 years after the Mass Effect trilogy and sees a group of people travelling to a new galaxy in order to start over. 

Characters

Commander Shepard is gone and this time we play as Pathfinder Ryder, this time I decided to play as the female version of the character played by Fryda Wolff and wow this is a terrible main character. Ryder is a weak character and doesn't have that presence that Shepard had. The writing for her character is pretty terrible and I did not care about her at all. When the main character is bad, it doesn't stand well for the rest of the game. 

Luckily the majority of your squad mates are entertaining and good characters. My favourite characters are Nakmor Drack and Jaal Ama Darav. Drack is a really old Krogan and feels like a bit of a father figure to Ryder, he isn't as good as Wrex or Grunt but he is a great addition here. We are introduced to a new species called The Angaran and Jaal is our main view into them and is a really cool character. He is both charming and sensitive and is a great alien companion and something new for this game. 

Cora, Vetra and Peebee are also fun squad mates despite the fact that they aren't as good as the two already mentioned. They are different versions of Humans, Turians and Asari that we saw in the original trilogy so that was nice to see. Unfortunately, Liam is possibly the worst squad mate in all of Mass Effect and is so annoying throughout this game. 

We are also introduced to new villains in The Kett and they are really boring, this is encapsulated by the main villain The Archon. He is incredibly dull and his motivations are as generic and stereotypical and we have seen it done so much better. 

Story

The story has so much potential and with proper care and time it could have been amazing but the story sucks. The villain sucks, the main hero sucks and the missions suck. Nothing really matters and if you just do the main story missions you can rush through the main story and not care about anything. There isn't enough new here for a new galaxy and doesn't do enough to raise it above the basic feel here. It's so convoluted and I really don't like this story and the a lack of important decisions which is what the franchise has been built on. 

Side Content

This game has so much side content it is unreal but the best is easily the loyalty missions that you have to do for all of your squad mates and I really liked all of them. It helped flesh out your allies and make you care about them more. But this game goes for a quantity over quality approach and it fails, so many dull side missions and fetch quests that you will end up skipping the majority of them because they are an absolute chore. 

Gameplay

There is no doubt that the gameplay is fun and the combat has its moments. The fact that you can change between the different classes on the fly is a fantastic decision and allows people to play classes that they would never do in the original trilogy. However, the gunplay feels a bit of an afterthought and I just didn't feel like it really hit the way I wanted, also the return of the weapon weight is here and really restricts player with what weapons they can use which sucks. 

Graphics

This game sees Ryder and the crew go to many exotic planets and I will say that I liked the variety here and the beautiful time that had been taken on these. The rest of the graphics are poor, when this game was first released there was a load of controversy regarding the graphics and 7 years later they are still poor and peoples faces look so uneven. Also, I still come across plenty of bugs and glitches, some that were game crashing. 

Overall

Overall, Mass Effect: Andromeda is a Below Average Game that falls super flat and is pretty disrespectful to its licence. I am a huge fan of this franchise but I felt like it was a job to play this game and didn't particularly enjoy it. 

Rating - 4/10

Mass Effect 3 (2012/2021) Review

It has finally happened that I have finished playing the Mass Effect trilogy and after two really good games we will have to see if the trilogy can finish it off in style and here is my review for Mass Effect 3. The premise of the game sees The Reapers finally invade the galaxy, Shepard must recruit the other species to work together to ensure they stand a chance against the greatest threat of all time. 

Characters 

For the final time, we get to play as Commander Shepard and once again I am a Male Shepard voiced by the excellent Mark Meer and he absolutely nails it in this game. You really feel the wear and tear that goes on this character as he has to deal with this war. He has great emotional moments and quick humour that makes this a legendary character that encapsulates this overall franchise. 

This game has an insanely large cast bringing characters back from the previous two games and they are all pretty much the same as they have been but a lot have them have way less time to shine here which sucks. One character that gets plenty of time is Liara T'soni played by Ali Hillis, she is back as a full time squad member this time around and she is a great character that sees progression here. She was my romance choice and I think she is one of the most fleshed out romances of the franchise. 

Brandon Keener is back as Garrus Vakarian and once again he is awesome, he is just such a cool character and I really like how they show how the war affects people through him. He is a bit more ruthless with his thinking and is dealing with the greater responsibility that he is given. 

Ash Sroka is also back as Tali and her story is actually quite similar to Garrus. She is given more responsibility in her government and she really struggles with it and isn't sure exactly what the best way to help her people is. She is once again a great character and even though she isn't introduced till later there is still plenty of time for her. 

There's some new squad mates in this game. Starting with James Vega played by Freddie Prinze Jnr and I must say I enjoyed having him around more in this playthrough then I have previously. He is quite charming and I like his relationship with Shepard, he is probably the best Alliance squad member that we have had in the franchise. EDI played by Tricia Helfer gets a body this time and joins the squad and similar to James I enjoyed her more here, she has a dark sense of humour and her development is really clear and I thought it was well handled. Ike Amadi plays Javik the last Prothean, he was originally DLC but in the Legendary edition he is in the game proper and he is fantastic. He is a very angry and violent character that also has a clear development over the course of the game. 

One last character to mention is The Illusive Man played by Martin Sheen, I forgot to mention how amazing a character he was in the previous game so I am going to mention it here and say that I love this character and the performance of Sheen. They make some questionable character decisions with him here but Sheen still delivers an effective performance. 

Story

The story is a real mixed bag. I love the feeling of this game and the tone of just how massive this war is and how it totally affects everybody in the galaxy. I also really liked how the two big storylines involve the Genophage & The Quarian/Geth war which are two things that have been talked about since the first game. However, it is the last act of storytelling is where it falls off a cliff. Turning Cerberus into moustache twirling villains was a real mistake and the ending just falls incredibly flat which is such a shame for this amazing franchise. 

Side Content 

This game has lots of side content and for the most part it is very good. This is where you meet the majority of characters from previous games including squad mates from Mass Effect 2 such as Jack, Grunt & Samara. There are some annoying mini games where you cna collect objects to help the war effort, but these aren't essential and can be skipped. The 3 DLC's Leviathan, Omega & The Citadel are all brilliant and worthwhile editions that are now a part of the game due to Legendary Edition. 

Gameplay 

From a pure gameplay perspective this is the best game so far in the franchise. Shepard is way more athletic and he can move a lot better which allows you to execute different moves. There is also a way better melee weapon which sometimes encourages play that gets you close to the enemy. The dialogue is also at its best and characters usually have something to say and actually interact with each other which is a big upgrade on the previous games. However, this game tries to limit how much fun you can have to play. For example, they add weight to the weapons which means you are incredibly limited to what weapons you can use as it affects your power use which I need being a Biotic. 

Graphics

The game looks beautiful, the new weapons and armour really adds plenty to the game. The vast battlefields that shows the destruction by The Reapers is realised really well for the majority of the game. The character models also look great and I really enjoyed the look of the universe that is plagued by war. 

Overall

Overall, Mass Effect 3 is a great finish to the Mass Effect trilogy, it just falls a little short of expectations. I had a great time playing a game and think it still has plenty of merit despite its poor ending. 

Rating - 8/10

Mass Effect 2 (2010/2021) Review

After playing through the first Mass Effect game, I knew I had to get started on Mass Effect 2 and mainly because of my enjoyment of this franchise, I have completed Mass Effect 2 and here is my review for the game. The premise of the game sees the return of Commander Shepard where he must recruit a team to take down The Collectors who are the agents of The Reapers. 

Characters

Once again I played as a Male Shepard who is voiced by Mark Meer and I loved playing as his character. He is just a great lead character and even though I played as the paragon character I still enjoyed the Whitty banter and the heroic nature of Shepard. 

There are a huge amount of characters in this game, there are 12 squad mates and other characters so I obviously won't be able to talk about them all but just know that pretty much every new and returning characters are great (apart from Jacob Taylor who sucked)

Miranda Lawon is Shepards new second in command played by Yvonne Strahovski and she was a great character. She is obviously meant to be the attractive female character but there are real layers to her character and you see the complexity to Miranda and why she is so interesting. 

Garrus Vakarian makes his return voiced by Brandon Keener and he is excellent here. He is so much better in this game and you really feel the chemistry between Garrus & Shepard and their banter is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Garrus is way more hardcore here but there is a story reason for it and it really fits his character. 

Tali also makes her return played by Ash Sroka and she is also so much better in this game and much more fleshed out. She comes across as less naïve and more adult and I liked how she is more confident in her ability and that her relationship with Shepard has developed. 

Mordin, Grunt, Jack, Thane, Samara, Kasumi & Zaeed are also really fleshed out characters with distinct personality and these are some of the best squad mates in any game possible. 

Story

The story is amazing in this game and I think that is because of the stakes that are put on it and that the game constantly reminds the player of the threat of The Collectors. As I said before, the characters are fantastic and their unique personalities makes this a way more interesting group of people compared the previous game. The final mission is possibly the greatest final mission in video game history and utilises all of the characters so well and makes the tension feel massive and that you want to keep all of the characters alive. 

Side Content

This game has fantastic side content. There are a bunch of loyalty missions that further expand all of the characters and makes you truly care about them and their personal issues. My favourite ones being Garrus, Tali & Miranda. There are other lesser important side missions and they are fun and probably overall better then the previous game. 

Gameplay

This is probably the part of the game that is most improved from the previous game and the action flows so much better then the previous game. There are so many different weapons and they feel really different and unique that makes gameplay enjoyable every time. 

Graphics

Just like the first game, I played the legendary edition of Mass Effect 2 so the graphics were vastly improved from the original game but even then the game looked better then the first Mass Effect game and the planets were way more unique and showed the different cultures that populated this universe. 

Overall

Overall, Mass Effect 2 is an epic game and a huge improvement of the first game. This is one of my favourite games ever and I just love this universe and the cast of characters that are introduced here that really improve this game. 

Rating - 10/10

Mass Effect (2007/2021) Review

When I was younger, one of the first games I really got invested in was Mass Effect and I have played through the whole trilogy many times. I decided to once again go through the trilogy and the spinoff Andromeda and review them. I really got back into the franchise when the legendary edition was released and all of the reviews will be the legendary versions of the game, so here is my review for the game. The premise of the game sees in a future where humans discovered they weren't alone in the universe, an elite human soldier must lead a team to save the world from a rogue agent. 

Characters

For this playthrough I decided to play as a Male Commander Shepard, but I have done previous playthroughs as a Female Shepard and Jennifer Hale is fantastic in the role and in the near future I am sure I will do another run-through as this version of the character. Mark Meer plays the Male version of the character and he is also fantastic, he feels really believable as this soldier and as the squeaky clean soldier is good. He is also really funny with his deadpan lines and Meer nails it for sure. 

My favourite character from this game is Urdnot Wrex who is voiced by Steven Barr. He is a Krogan mercenary and he is the coolest character, he is the most intense and renegade character in the game but he has a sense of honour and the relationship that he builds with Shepard is really well handled. 

Brandon Keneer plays Garrus Vakarian and he is decent here, he is a character that is clearly struggling with his place in the galaxy and sees working with Shepard as an opportunity to find his way. There is very much a professional relationship between him and Shepard which mean he doesn't quite have the chemistry that would be developed in future games. 

Ali Hillis plays Liara T'Soni & Ash Sroka plays Tali and they are both good in the game but similar to Garrus they don't fully hit their stride in this game and are setting up the intrigue and they are good character but we only start to really delve into their character here

Last of the squadmates is Kimberly Brooks playing Ashley Williams and Raphael Sbarge playing Kaidan Alenko. As the only human squadmates they are naturally less interesting then their alien allies but the game does give them character and the voice actors do good enough work to make them valued part of the team. 

There are so many fantastic characters in this game. Saren is a brilliant villain for this game and is perfect for this story. Captain Anderson played by the legendary Keith David is an awesome mentor for Shepard and Joker played by Seth Green is a great addition to the group. 

Story

This story is fantastic, it really does a great job of introducing us to this universe and cast of characters. The different species and motivations are well realised for sure. The main character being on the hunt for a rogue agent sounds quite simple but it really works and the more focus on the main plot with a few longer main missions is an interesting but effective choice. The ending is pretty epic and does an amazing job of setting up the future games with lots of effective choices for the player to make that will also affect the future. 

Side Content

There is plenty of side content in this game and some of the missions have really interesting subject matter that keeps things interesting when not focusing on the main plot. It allows the player to make their own decisions and gets to learn some more stuff about your squadmates. However, some of these missions are quite repetitive, the bases look the same and a lot of them just feel very similar which is a shame. 

Gameplay

The gameplay has definitely been improved with the Legendary Edition. The gunplay is good and this game has the most RPG feeling of the trilogy, you get plenty of armour, weapons and mods to use which makes the gameplay feel fresh as you play. However, it still isn't that great and it is the weakest part of this game, it is weaker gunplay then most modern shooters that you get today. The Mako is brought back and again, even though it is improved it is still frustrating to use and hindered my enjoyment of the experience. 

Graphics

Because I played the Legendary Edition version of this game, it looked fantastic. The character models are much improved and the planets themselves look a lot different and just feel unique. The cutscenes are really well rendered and it just made everything more exciting. 

Overall

Overall, Mass Effect is a great game. It rises above some of its weaknesses and introduces people to this amazing world and franchise that will continue to provide great content. If you haven't played this game then get The Legendary Edition a go and start this trilogy. 

Rating - 8/10