 The Android platform, despite its fair share of doubts with developers, has become a major hub for big names to give us gamers something to enjoy and kill our batteries with. Today, we are going to look at what I consider one of the ultimate games gracing the face of the Play Store today, Mass Effect: Infiltrator. This console gem spin off is the mobile game exclusive for iOS and Android (sorry, Windows Phone, no love for you worthy adversary). This game is a pleasure to play on small and large screens, and offers enough difficulty to entice you for hours.
For this review, we will look at five major areas, each receiving a one to five star rating, and an overall rating at the end. We will begin with story line, then playability, control scheme, visuals and sound, and finally, overall game features.
A note before I begin. This game was tested on a 16GB Nook Tablet, rooted, CM10.1. Let’s get started then.
Story Line:
One of Mass Effect’s consistent strong points has always been their ability to create a very engaging story line. It follows Cerberus agent Randall Ezno. After discovering the nefarious experiments happening within a Cerberus base, Ezno becomes a rogue agent to stop it. The game begins with a ship flying in and landing, which is followed by Ezno exiting it. You are immediately greeted with a cutscene of Ezno speaking with an ally. You control the player’s walking, but that’s it. After about 30-45 seconds of talking, the cutscene ends and you begin this “not running but not jogging, somewhere in between” kind of pacing forward, and the games begin. One thing that separates this game from most is the fact that the cutscenes are not some separate video file that fades in and fades out. It acutally is integrated into the physical gameplay. Because this is a niche move by EA, I will definitely rate this five out of five stars. The consistency makes for a more pleasurable gaming experience.
Playability:
The game is complex enough to excite the gamer and challenge the gamer at the same time. Along with the armor add-ons that can be bought throughout the game, you will be constantly in a situation where you are being “rated” based on your performance. No longer can you get a lot of money by shooting a lot of people, in order to receive significant funds in order to purchase better armor, you will have to find and master the perfect combination of lethal and nonlethal combat, defense, alternative offensive positions, timing and finesse While that may seem easy, I found myself replaying a certain portion of a mission for 20 to 30 minutes (losing track of time) just to receive master ranks and get more money to augment Ezno. I personally enjoy this, but thinking about the average [mobile] gamer, this is cause for a loss of interest in the game. I do feel like they could have toned it down just a little for the mobile gaming audience. I’ll give it a four out of five
Control Scheme:
Not much to say about this. It is really nice on a 7-inch screen, but… yeah it sucks donkey hair on anything smaller unless you have a Bluetooth controller. I have fair sized hands, not Shaq big and not pre-teen small, but my fingers would constantly collide with multiple buttons at once. It isn’t very fun on such a small screen. To be honest, I hated it on my Evo 3D, but loved it on my Nook Tablet. Amazing how that makes a difference. I will rate this a three out of five, control schemes should be consistent, small or large screen.
Visuals and Sound:
I don’t think I need to tell the ME fans and noobs alike that this game has stunning visuals and sound. I have seen it on both 600×1028 (Nook Tablet) and 960×540 (Evo 3D) resolutions, and have heard the sound through Beats, Soul, Skull Candy, JVC, Sony, Samsung, and even generic headphones, the sound explodes through them all, and with the assistance of DSP Manager or AwesomeBEATs, it is an unbelievable experience. Five out of Five in this also.
Overall Game Features:
The game comes with a “free” live wallpaper (which began as a Tegra exclusive, then made its when into the general public), and an additional game mode in which you play small missions as various characters. As previously stated, you earn coins in order to purchase upgrades to your armor and abilities. All of this makes for hours of endless gameplay. Best of all, it is available for a wide array of devices, and if you aren’t supported, developers love you enough to offer you an alternative way to [legally] access the game via the play store. This is another five out of five.
I have to say, this is the one of the best titles in the apps in the Play Store. Now, time for the rating:
4.4 out of 5
That rating could be so much better if they get the control scheme intact. Hope this helps. Here is some additional information:
Application:Â Mass Effect Infiltrator
Developer:Â Electronic Arts Inc
Cost:Â $6.99
Application:Â Mass Effect Infiltrator
Developer:Â Electronic Arts Nederland BV
Cost:Â $7.01
