Common Sense Media Review
By Brett Molina
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Ambitious space journey with mature themes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 19 parent reviews
Parents say that this game is intended for mature audiences, dealing with complex themes such as morality, violence, and sexual content, with varying opinions on its suitability for children. While some reviewers argue the game promotes engagement with ethical dilemmas and relationships, others criticize the gameplay as clunky and not suited for younger players, often suggesting it should be reserved for teens aged 16 and up due to its strong language and suggestive themes.
- moral choices
- intense themes
- age recommendations
- gameplay critiques
- sexual content concerns
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 42 kid reviews
What's It About?
In MASS EFFECT, your character must traverse galaxies to thwart an ancient machine race's effort to wipe out all organic civilization. How that story unfolds is mostly up to you. You'll start by selecting a character -- you can opt for the standard protagonist, Commander Shepherd, or create your own from scratch. Gamers have six classes to choose from, each with varying degrees of combat, technological, and magic-like (\"biotic\") skills. Players control their character's dialogue, and can therefore dictate how interactions play out in the future.
Is It Any Good?
Mass Effect represents a bold attempt at reshaping the RPG, if you can get past the glitches and inconsistent action.
It's anchor is its engaging, robust storyline. Powerful voice acting, lifelike facial models, and cinematic presentation make Mass Effect's story one of the few you can truly invest in. Action, on the other hand, doesn't reach the high bar set by the story. For the most part, it's solid, but suffers through inconsistencies.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how this game compares with other role-playing games. Did you feel conflicted making some of the moral choices? Should more games involve equally engrossing storylines where you decide your character's reactions?
Game Details
- Platform : Xbox 360
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : BioWare
- Release date : November 19, 2007
- Genre : Role-Playing
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate