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Could this be the best action RPG of 2007?

Canadian developer BioWare is something of a hit factory. With commercially and critically lauded titles under its belt like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights along with cult classics like Jade Empire, it's fair to say these folks know a thing or two about making great games. Perhaps the most ambitious project on the minds of RPG fans is BioWare's sci-fi adventure, Mass Effect.



Lucky attendees at Microsoft's X06 event in Barcelona were treated to a brief demonstration of this work in progress. Now that same footage is available in high definition for free download to Xbox 360 owners via Xbox Live Marketplace (as well as for PC folks on BioWare's official site). After watching the video's five glorious minutes over and over again, we can honestly say that if BioWare makes good on all its promises, the next must-have action RPG will be on Xbox 360 this summer.

In the game, players assume the role of Commander Shepard - an elite Specter agent in charge of a small band of intergalactic troopers. Through a blend of third person combat and cinema-quality dialogue, the game will immerse players into a world of violence, fantasy, and intrigue. A thousand years prior, a race of machines wreaked death and destruction across the galaxy. Apparently, old habits die hard because the machines are poised for a reunion tour. Aside from this tidbit, not much is known of the story arc in Mass Effect, though BioWare has made it clear that your adventures will span a multitude of planets and other locations such as space stations and derelict spacecraft.



In this particular demonstration, producer Casey Hudson steers Shepard's team onto the arid surface of Caleston after learning some key intelligence regarding the looming threat. Contact with a mining colony was lost following a scrap with the machines, so it's Shepard's job to get down there to investigate. Using a slick interface, the planet is selected and we are whisked into low orbit. Mere seconds later our beefy ATV is ejected from the back of the craft, only to make a noisy landing on the planet's surface shortly thereafter. What follows is an amazing display of the technological and artistic talent at work as Shepard engages his crew in dialogue regarding the mining colony in question.

Rather than force the player to sit through page after page of wordy text (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, I'm looking at you), the entire exchange is expertly voice acted with believable dialogue. The entire scene is rendered on the fly using Epic's Unreal Engine 3 with stunning detail. Characters elicit subtle facial expressions and gesture with convincing realism as the drama unfolds. At one point, Shepard cuts off an insolent crew member to remind him that he's the big dog in charge. This brief, but effective, show of force is all it takes to put his crew back in line before the rescue mission is attempted.