Rob Stevens

Summary: In the future, humans live in harmony with the other galactic races... until the threat of the Reapers, who want to eliminate organic life. You play as Commander Shephard, commander in the Alliance military, in charge of a super space ship. Make friends, enemies and choose your own path as you work to eliminate the Reapers from the universe. Use combat, words and explore the galaxy as your actions decide who lives... or dies. Played 2024 on PS5 with standard controller. No mods. Time to complete 154 hours Dad suitability: yes* *my Dad plays games so this is how suitable it might be for someone who wants to enjoy a game without extreme difficulty in terms of mechanics, gameplay or ease of learning Graphics/running A vast majority of the time the game ran smoothly, there are a few minor bugged side quests (such as objectives in some areas not disappearing from active if the area has been cleared without objective being met). On occasion, the game would crash but this was maybe three or four times over 150 odd hours of play so didn't affect experience at all. The game has frequent autosave so you never have to worry about losing big chunk of progress. Storyline Without a doubt one of the best parts of mass effect is the storyline. If you like space wars, politics, relationships, plenty of weapons and freedom to make choices that have a huge impact on the story, this is the game for you. Nearly every speech and action decision has an effect on story and ending so it really feels an authentic story- not being confined to a set progression. Your character can be customised in a host of ways to suit your gameplay style Gameplay mechanics Whilst not the most diverse in terms of combat tactics, what ME lacks in terms of combat it makes up for in storyline. At times the shoot and take cover gets tiring, there aren't a huge variety of enemy types and the mechanics are all similar even in different races. Its easy to predict when combat is coming up and shelter is very obviously placed in the game- which is fine- but it takes away some of the realism as you know you're following a set path through a location the whole time you're playing. Not a major gripe. The combat is ok, satisfying in enough ways - the greatest challenge was getting headshots and the bonus' associate with these. Taking down some of the big bosses on high difficulty can be challenging but the rest of the time it's very much shoot and cover. The difficulty levels feel a little inconsistent at times. Price I got this as game of the month a while ago so can't comment on this. Its currently £60 on the store which is expensive but overall since the game has had major revamps and there is a lot of gameplay, it's probably worth it if you're desperate to play- pick it up on sale or second hand if possible. Sensitive content Some sensitive/upsetting content, gore and mature content. 18+ Difficulty level - Dad suitability: yes Nice one here is that it's scalable so easy is so easy you just can't die. Insanity is... difficult for a standard RPG but there are many options for difficulty meaning it can be played by veterans or complete newcomers to shooters. Dad suitable due to varying difficulty setting and straightforward setting. Recommend Absolutely. One of the best, if not the best, sci-fi RPGs/shooters out there. A must-play. Anderson out.