Mass Effect Reviews
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When you aren't shooting down Geth, you will be in constant conversations with people in the Mass Effect universe. Conversations require a great deal of attention and choosing a response is never a hasty affair. You usually have the option of asking further questions and altering the tone of the ongoing discussion. Additionally, charm and intimidation options eventually open up as blue and red responses respectively. Often they will lead to the same goal, but the tactic is severely different. While there is an amazing amount of dialogue options, I found conversations to be somewhat lacking in the amount of humor that made KOTOR so entertaining. Still, listening to the dreary Elcor announce their emotions before speaking a sentence is utterly hilarious.Additionally, GameRankings cites a few magazine ratings: Electronic Gaming Monthly gives it a 9.17. Official Xbox Magazine gives it a 10. Hardcore Gamer Magazine gives it a 4 out of 5.
Mass Effect is very much structured like KOTOR in terms of decision making as you get points for good and bad deeds. They are referred to as Paragon & Renegade and can been seen on the character skill's page. They also open up options for further charm and intimidation conversation choices as you progress in either category. It's very easy to tell which actions / words will award the points. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of the payoff. I obtained 100% of my paragon points, but didn't receive anything for being such a goody-two-shoes. KOTOR had the luxury of offering Force benefits for 100% achievement, but there's nothing like that in Mass Effect.
