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Mass Effect: The Five Hour Limit
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One Game Feature by MAtt Dujnic, 2/26/08
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Developers, you've got five hours. Mass Effect was my final straw: a sprawling space opera with real-time combat, sophisticated dialogue trees, and a posse of apologist coverage. It received nearly universal commendation from critics, despite the also universal acknowledgment that it takes forever get 'up to speed.' The overall conclusion was: we should persevere. Purchase and persevere, as gamers often do. I say, no more. Thankfully, as the industry matures, more people are also saying 'no more.'
And five hours is generous! That's the better part of a work day. That's enough time for a first date. Or, to relate it to games: it's the entirety of Portal, 2007's best. You can do a hell of a lot in five hours. Mass Effect, by design, doesn't start until somewhere past the mythical mark. In a game where there is a galaxy to explore, you must confine your quality time to a huge antiseptic space station. Thrill to box opening, elevator rides, and dialogue trees. Lots of dialogue trees. What, do they think dialogue grows on trees? Apparently so. (Sorry.)
At the point when you could have enjoyed two meaty science fiction movies, Mass Effect finally, tentatively, allows you to take off - really start playing. This is indefensible, but to say so is still taboo. Anything less than a teen-hours investment is sneered at. Any opinion given before you stand on the corpse of the final boss is considered invalid. When 'early' thoughts are tossed around, they're couched under the phrase 'first impressions.' Five hours of first impressions? Hell no. If you haven't convinced me of several major reasons why your game is great in five hours, you have failed. Mass Effect, for all of its ambition and technical prowess, is a failure.
Mass Effect is merely the latest offender. Gamers have always been expected to grind. But expectations are changing. Perhaps casual games are to credit. The aforementioned Portal probably helped, too. Game time, regardless of genre, can be used more effectively. 'I don't have time for this' is finally gaining traction. Tellingly, even professional critics are cracking. From Gamespot to IGN to 1UP, there is rumbling in the ranks. The five hour mark, very soon, will become the focal point of criticism. Ahem, valid criticism. And once it is, that will be another positive step in the maturation of our pastime.
Hoo-ah; gimme 5.
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'The Five Hour Limit'
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#&rendershop#
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