Although the PC port of “Mass Effect” was recently pushed back to May 28, it’s still worth getting excited about, especially if you have yet to play through the game. BioWare promises to offer a polished version of the role-playing game originally released on the Xbox 360 last November.
BioWare has yet to say if the PC release will include any additional content, but the gameplay is being improved. Combat will take on PC shooter controls, and your two cohorts will be managed with a reformatted heads-up display, revealed just last week. In addition to better organizing party management, this HUD allows you to issue separate move orders to your party members.
Inventory management, which was a pain in the ass on the Xbox 360 version of “Mass Effect,” should be much more fluid in the PC release. Items that were once lumped into a long list will be sorted by type and grade.
BioWare is also improving the game’s already impressive graphics for the PC release, says 1UP’s Jeremy Parish. Textures look more detailed, colors more vibrant. Character animations may need improving, according to 1UP’s preview.
Performance-wise, “the development team wants the game to run smoothly, even on a lower-powered system,” writes Parish, “although they won’t say precisely what they consider ‘lower-powered.’” Because the game will be installed, load times are much reduced (although I’m somewhat frightened by how much hard disk space the extensive dialog will take up).
I’m glad BioWare chose to focus on gameplay for the PC release of “Mass Effect.” The original was a great game bogged down by a clunky interface and party control, both of which should work much better with a PC. This more polished version of one of last year’s best games should hold us over until the promised “Mass Effect 2.”
EDIT: The PC version of “Mass Effect” will also include the “Bring Down the Sky” DLC and its 90 minutes of additional gameplay for free, reports Shacknews. There’s one more reason everyone who bought the Xbox 360 release should have held out: Xbox users had to pay 400 Microsoft Points, just over $5, for the content.
