Mass Effect Landing On PC

Not being an Xbox owner, I missed out on all of the hype surrounding Mass Effect when it was released on Xbox. But I can't help but notice the excitement that's building amongst PC owners now that Bioware's space RPG is definitely coming to the PC.

I'm seeing an increasing number of articles and blog posts about Mass Effect that suggest its going to be a Grade A title. However, at this moment I haven't a clue about the main story or the game mechanics, and for once I'm actually going to try and avoid learning any more. Lately I've found the neverending previews of games often tell you far too much about the game and kill the element of surprise and fun, so this time I'm going to try and avoid them.

But that dosn't stop me getting excited about Mass Effect. What possible reasons could I have to be excited abuot a game I know nothing about?

Well, firstly it's a game by Bioware, and that immediately marks it out as being potentially great. Masters of storytelling and creators of fantastic game worlds, Bioware have an amazing back catalogue - Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and Jade Empire to name a few. All of those games were critically acclaimed, so straight away I'm expecting good things from Mass Effect.

Secondly, it's an action RPG set across multiple planets in a sci-fi universe. There haven't been enough good good sci-fi games for a while, and Mass Effect seems the ideal game to pull me back into a universe of lasers and aliens.

Third, Bioware are stressing that this is not just a straightforward port from the Xbox version, they're actually converting the game and its resources. This means a number of modifications have been made to the PC version, including a new squad-control interface, improved hotkeys for psionic powers and abilities, more save-game slots and a new inventory screen to answer some of the criticisms hurled at the Xbox version.

The PC version will also show improved visuals, with upscaled textures to make the most of the higher resolutions available on the PC. However, this doesn't mean you need a ninja-PC just to run the game, as Bioware are aiming to make the game playable on gaming PCs up to two years old.

Finally, the reviews on Xbox were excellent. Metacritic rates Mass Effect at 91/100, which don't forget is for the Xbox version. There's no reason the PC version shouldn't rate even higher when you take the improvements into account.

So that's why I'm excited about Mass Effect on the PC. It's also why I'm going to resist the temptation to find out any more about the game, as for once I feel confident that I can buy a game in advance knowing that it'll be great. That way I can avoid the previewsI can stick the DVD in my PC, install the game and start playing without knowing everything about the first few hours of gameplay.

If you're after more information about the PC version of Mass Effect, there's an interesting interview with Bioware at Eurogamer, which details some of the changes for the PC version as well as talking about the future of the Mass Effect series.

Oh, and if you heard all the fuss about the pornographic sex scenes in the game don't get too excited, it was all based on hearsay and ignorance.