The ambition of the first Mass Effect game cannot be overstated. A young BioWare was taking risks and moving away from the isometric RPG games that had initially propelled the Canadian studio to success. It was an original IP, built using the newly released Unreal Engine 3, that put a starship at the player’s fingertips and told them to explore an entire galaxy.
The writing team was clearly passionate about sci-fi, taking inspiration from Alien, Blade Runner, and Star Trek. The result was an impressive melting pot of ideas. Drew Karpyshyn, Mass Effect’s lead writer, nailed the game’s sense of adventure and political intrigue. Fellow wordsmith Chris L’Etoile injected credible sci-fi lore into the Codex and planetary descriptions. And project lead Casey Hudson came up with the foundational concepts that would shape the course of the entire trilogy, including Commander Shepard’s insectoid foe - the Reapers.
BioWare’s creative efforts paid dividends. Mass Effect’s release was met with critical acclaim, leaving behind a legacy as bright as the stars it had so vividly imagined.
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