Opinion: The Original Mass Effect Isn't a Good Game

It isn’t exactly news anymore to say that Mass Effect: Andromeda was a critical and commercial failure. As a longtime BioWare fan, the way the game and the developers were raked over the coals was painful to watch. And I’m not saying it wasn’t deserved – the game was released in a very buggy state, there were some issues with the writing, and things were promised that weren’t delivered. I personally still enjoyed the game, especially after all the patches were released, but I do understand why people feel too put off to give it another chance.

But this isn’t a post about Andromeda. It’s about the original Mass Effect and that it’s not a very good game in retrospect. Its sequels, 2 and 3, are incredible to this day despite 3’s horrendous ending. But the first one? Not so much.

I recently decided to replay the series, starting from 1 and eventually making my way over to Andromeda. Old graphics and clunky gameplay don’t bother me, so it’s not that the game didn’t “age” well. No, as I was playing, I found myself thinking more and more that it’s just not a very good game.

Wrex? What did they do to you, buddy?

The main plot is pretty basic – good enough to keep you invested the first time, but not nearly enough to wow. It’s safe, which I suppose is fine for the first game in a trilogy. The voice acting is, at times, very stiff. I’m not talking about Mark Meer’s neutral performance as male Shepard, but rather the side characters. Sometimes the voice actor even changes, as in C-Sec officer Chellick’s case. He goes from having one distinct voice to having a completely different voice! This is the same for the C-Sec Requisition Officer. You can tell the second voice actor tried his best to imitate the first one, but it’s still obvious that they’re two different people. I’ll never understand why they gave two of their characters two different voices that go back and forth.

The side quests, if they can even be called that, are dull and tedious. Planetary exploration is a chore more than a delight, and I actually get so bored driving around in the Mako that I always put some music on to keep me entertained.

What do you mean driving a clunky vehicle up a steep cliff isn't your idea of fun?!

It’s kind of a bitter pill to swallow, because when this game came out I was so in love with it that I played it over and over again. I don’t know what changed in me personally that I now find it difficult to play through it, since I can play older games and my love for them will remain unchanged. All that I know is that if I had to play the original Mass Effect for the first time today, I’d probably grudgingly finish it and never look at it again. Nostalgia keeps making me come back, though. Damn those nostalgia goggles!

Why is Mass Effect on my recommended list, I hear you wonder? Because 1 may be bad, but the rest of the series is still excellent and I personally can’t jump into the rest of the series without playing from the start.

What do you guys think? Are there games that you once loved so much only to one day realize that they’re not very good? Tell me and let's despair together!