Mass Effect (2007)
Mass Effect is a 2007 shooter video game made by BioWare and BioWare Edmonton.
It is 2183. Commander Shepard, a customizable soldier serving aboard the stealth frigate SSV Normandy, follows a routine mission that unravels into something far larger: a galaxy-wide threat engineered by synthetic harvesters called Reapers. Mass Effect builds its world through conversation as much as combat, letting players shape Shepard's moral alignment across dozens of branching dialogues while assembling a diverse crew of aliens and specialists. The real-time squad combat pairs biotic powers with rifles and cover, and the Milky Way feels genuinely enormous.
Quick answers
What is Mass Effect about?
It is 2183. Commander Shepard, a customizable soldier serving aboard the stealth frigate SSV Normandy, follows a routine mission that unravels into something far larger: a galaxy-wide threat engineered by synthetic harvesters called Reapers. Mass Effect builds its world through conversation as much as combat, letting players shape Shepard's moral alignment across dozens of branching dialogues while assembling a diverse crew of aliens and specialists. The real-time squad combat pairs biotic powers with rifles and cover, and the Milky Way feels genuinely enormous.
When was Mass Effect released?
Mass Effect was released on 20 November 2007.
Who made Mass Effect?
Mass Effect was made by BioWare, BioWare Edmonton and Electronic Arts.
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Mass Effect in our writing
- Companion guide: Alien Contact
- Companion guide: Found Family
- Companion guide: Megastructures: The Complete Guide to Ringworlds and Big Dumb Objects
- Companion guide: Military Sci-Fi
A few thoughts on Mass Effect
The novel Mass Effect: Revelation is the canonical prequel, establishing Captain Anderson and the Normandy before the game begins. Mass Effect: Paragon Lost extends the universe into animated film with the same tactical tone.
More of the Mass Effect universe beyond the trilogy
Mass Effect earns its scale by treating first contact as a slow negotiation, not a jump scare. Drew Karpyshyn's own prequel novel and the anime tie-in film expand that same universe, while newer space stories carry the same instinct forward: an alien crew, a countdown to disaster, and characters who talk their way through danger as often as they fight through it.
A lone hero facing down an ancient evil, on their own terms
Commander Shepard is one soldier handed an impossible fight against the Reapers, free to talk, bargain, or shoot through most of it. These games and this comic hand their heroes the same setup: an ancient menace, an entire world at stake, and a wide berth for how the confrontation actually plays out, whether that means diplomacy, raw combat, or something stranger.