Cause and Mass Effect

Today I completed Mass Effect 1

Yet whilst I relish the triumph of completing game, I came away from Mass Effect feeling somewhat let down. Now I know what makes a good game ending (and I hope to talk about it in a later post) but to me the ending of Mass Effect felt anti-climatic. I can recall the feeling of utter triumph when I beat Baldur's Gate 2 (original+expansion) but I didn't feel anything similar with Mass Effect.

I don't know: Maybe it's the feeling that this is essentially the first part of a game cut into three installments. Maybe it's the thought that I need to play Mass Effect 2 and the upcoming Mass Effect 3 to get the full effect (pun unintended). Maybe it's the impulse of scoring all the achievements and unlocking all the bonuses to build the ultimate Shepard to take into ME2 and ME3.

Still, Mass Effect 1 has certainly proven to be entertaining. Sure the dialogue is monumentally tedious and the driving sections wonky but I enjoyed the action elements and the feeling of exploring a massive galaxy. The writing was top-notch (but being a Bioware game that's hardly surprising), the voice acting stellar and the graphics impressive. It was an epic journey and I had a lot of fun getting there.

Ultimately though, there does lie the nagging thought that, much like the Lord of the Rings movies, the game is far from over and much more is on the horizon. Which, of course, makes ME1 look silly as a stand-alone title (but I doubt that was the point). Kind of makes one wonder what would've happened if the game wasn't a hit and the trilogy didn't go ahead as planned.....