Mass Effect - Reviews @ Gaming Heaven, Internode Games Network

Two more glowing reviews for Bioware's latest release for the XBox360, Mass Effect, from Gaming Heaven(91/100) and Internodes Game Network( 9/10 ).

From Gaming Heaven, on NPC's:

 Obviously the amount of depth each character has is directly proportional to how important his role is to the game. As such, all of your companions have very well written background stories, making them seem like persons made out of flesh and bone. Some of these stories develop out into full fledged side quests, while others are there simply for the experience. What they showcase is however that Mass Effect strays away from the typical good/evil alignment previous Bioware games touted. Since you end up playing the savior of the galaxy it wouldn’t do you being evil to the core. Instead, your choices are more along the lines of being a good or a bad cop. As an example, you can try to convince a retired general to stop harassing a girl he is in love with (failing miserably with his wooing), or you can simply slam him against a wall and make him stop. You obviously did a good thing in either case, but your approach in the second example wasn’t nearly as kind of diplomatic as in the first one.

From the lengthier review by Internode Games Network:

 Think Star Trek Next Gen or even Voyager, Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica all compressed into one game and you'll get a sense of the immensity and scope of this title. And that also should account for the huge amount of in-game dialogue. Actually, no - that's an understatement. There's an 'oh my god' dimension to the narrative and amount of dialogue. As a result, the time spent hunkering down playing this title – or rather listening to it - seemed at first too much to bear. Just at the point of being stupefied senseless though, the game kicks into hyper-drive and simply leaves you breathless with its complex narrative and rich characterisations all set within just about the biggest gaming canvas you could possibly come up with: the entire bloody galaxy.