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For a tie-in prequel to Bioware’s Mass Effect 2, I feel like Mass Effect Galaxy has almost flown completely under the radar. Whether the lack of attention for the game is due to mediocre marketing or simply that it’s an iPhone game, I think it’s unfortunate that Mass Effect Galaxy has been overlooked. Here is a spoiler free review of the game so you can decide for yourself whether or not to leave it off the grid.
Story
A shuttle on route to the citadel is attacked by Bartarians and you play as an ex/off duty alliance soldier named Jacob Taylor who just happens to be riding that same shuttle…
Gameplay
Mass Effect Galaxy is broken up into two basic modes: Fighting and Dialogue. There is no in between, so if it’s exploration that your after, you wont find it here.
Dialogue:
Negotiations and Discussions in MEG are just about what you’d expect. A character says something and then you are allowed to choose from a handful of responses. In contrast to the original Mass Effect, when you choose a response you actually say that response word for word. The user interface for this mode of play is pretty awesome and very easy to use. You can scroll up and down through a handful of responses and each has a little icon to imply tonality. Unfortunately when you enter a conversation with a character, only the first sentence or phrase is voice acted. I’m afraid you’ll have to read the rest…
Fighting:
The controls for fighting are similar to the Wooden Labyrinth app. From a top down perspective you tilt the phone in the direction you want to move and Jacob shoots at targets that you select with your finger.
Sometimes starting a battle can be confusing as it is hard to tell the difference between Jacob and enemy characters. However, Jacob will always automatically select the first target as you enter a battle which keeps you from being a sitting duck.
You can pick up shield, health, and ammo power ups placed throughout the levels. In addition, you have three different abilities at your disposal which level up as you play through the game. One is a missile launcher, another is a shield breaker, and the last can stun enemies. Each ability will level up as you progress through the game.
The user interface for fighting is much more fun to use than that NES controller overlay that keeps getting pasted onto “hardcore” iPhone titles… the only problem is that the game tends to lag when there are a lot of enemies firing at once. When there is no lag, laying down some serious fire power into some galactic bad dudes is some of the most fun I’ve had on my iPhone.
Why this game might not be worth your three bucks:
-The price: $3.00 is a little much to pay for a game that has frame rate issues and is only about 30-50 minutes long. (I bet the cost will go down as ME2 gets closer to release)
-No custom: There is no option to customize your character or his skills… understandable but kind of a bummer.
-Cut scenes: Some times the cut-scenes are really cool… but other times they come off really choppy breaking any immersion or excitement you might be feeling. Illustrations look good but the animation is minimal, so you often get a still image with voice over but no mouths are moving.
-The replay value isn’t quite what you would expect. I’m on my second play through and am noticing that, other than splintered dialogue trees and avoiding an occasional fire fight, there doesn’t seem to be any other changes in the game as a result of your choices.
Reasons you should buy this game:
-If you really like Mass Effect (you probably already own MEG)
-You receive “bonus” content for ME2 that has not yet been disclosed
-There are characters in MEG that will be in ME 2
-You want to play a game on iPhone that has some unique controls
My opinion:
Mass Effect Galaxy is a step in the right direction for iPhone games… I just wish it would have kept on walking. I am really glad that there was an attempt to break away from copy-cat and standardized iPhone development techniques for gameplay (see Hero of Sparta and Assassins Creed), but I feel like the game could have seriously benefited from complete voice over work, more fluid animation sequences, and a fix for the frame rate issues. However, the images, music, and story progression in Mass Effect Galaxy fit snugly into the Mass Effect cannon — which for me, is 3 dollars well spent.
