Most games make really bad movies, but Mass Effect would probably be the lone exception. That’s because Mass Effect is a great Science Fiction movie already, and a mediocre game. An independent IP descendant of Bioware’s Knights of the Old Republic games, Mass Effect is chock full of cut scenes, but its gameplay is sadly lacking. Like most RPG’s you’ll buy the basic concept involves fulfilling a core quest that will save all of life from the rise of evil, along with a bunch of colorless dungeon hacking side quests. In Mass Effect that’s implemented with a main quest that has you fighting to stop the return of the Reapers, machine starships who have been waiting in dark space to return and consume all intelligent life. Think of them as Cylons on steroids.

But stopping them means running around and shooting a small assortment of enemies, mostly varieties of robots from a sub-mechanical race called the Geth. Unlike the KOTOR games there are no melee weapons, and you get a choice between using a handgun, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, an assault rifle and a hand grenade. Mass Effect’s version of KOTOR’s Force skills are Biotic implants, but the average player on default mode won’t get a chance to use them, except second hand. There’s also a vehicle, the MAKO, a six-wheeled Matchbox military pod you get to drive around a bunch of different rocky planets, before descending into tunnels where the dungeon hacking begins.

Mass Effect’s environment is hopelessly impoverished compared to the KOTOR games. Where the Knights of the Old Republic games boasted unique planets and different cultures, Mass Effect only has the Citadel, a great space skyscraper that is pretty impressive, but nothing beyond that except for a troubled human colony and a corporate ice world, neither of which are particularly interesting. The first time player might find it exciting to look at Mass Effect’s galaxy map, until he realizes that it only takes you to the same bunch of rocky environments. And like just about every RPG lately, including Oblivion and Fallout 3, Mass Effect seems eager to race you through the main quest, letting you wrap up the game in a short amount of time.

Bioware clearly put a lot of work into the story, and the voice acting is strong as usual, but not much effort has been put into creating a game, rather than a movie. Mass Effect’s cutscenes are fascinating fun to watch, at least the first time around, but the game itself is not nearly as fun to play.