Mass Effect is an upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive RPG from Bioware.
The FAQ is split into a number of sections. Use the sidebar to the left to navigate to them.
Most of the answers here come from Bioware employees posting at the official Mass Effect forums.
For your searching convenience, all the questions are summarized below (which link to the appropriate section):
- Most Frequently Asked Questions
- PC and NPC: Creation, Customisation and Character Development
- What character creation options are there?
- Is armor changeable and visible?
- What is Commander Shepard's background?
- Why is Shepard's last name fixed?
- Can you play as a female?
- Will there be romances?
- Will the characters be present across the 3 games of the saga?
- Will Mass Effect have the Good Side/Bad Side concept?
- Can NPCs leave you?
- Will you be able to level up your squad ?
- How many NPC party members are there in the game?
- Exploration
- Will you have a spaceship?
- What is the Normandy ?
- Where did the name 'Normandy' come from?
- What will the interiors of the Normandy (your ship) be like?
- What does SSV on the side of the Normandy stand for?
- Will there be space travel?
- How does space travel work in Mass Effect?
- Will there be space battles?
- What is the Mako used for?
- How big are the planets, and what types are there?
- Is gravity modeled properly?
- Is the citadel really 30 miles long?
- How may planets are going to be in Mass Effect?
- What does the MAKO stand for?
- Can the Normandy land on planets/without docks?
- Dialogue
- How/why are responses paraphrased?
- How can you choose a response without seeing it written out?
- How do you actually select a response?
- How do the NPCs interact with the player?
- Will aliens have alien voices/Languages in the game?
- Why are you using wet-navy terminology?
- Do NPCs remember your past behavior?
- Can you describe the voice recording process?
- Will there be subtitles?
- How much dialogs is there?
- Combat
- Game Mechanics
- Is the story going to be linear? How much freedom will we have?
- What is the game balance going to be in Mass Effect?
- Will this game include blood and be aimed at a mature audience?
- Which game engine does Mass Effect use?
- Will Mass Effect 2 and 3 use the Unreal Engine 3?
- How many polygons are used per character?
- Will there be any loading issues?
- Will Bioware provides tools for modding Mass Effect?
- Is there different profiles for settings and save games?
- Is this a first or third-person point of view game?
- How does the camera work?
- Why are screenshots featuring the interface rare?
- Will there be day night Cycles in Mass Effect?
- How does the save game system work?
- Mass Effect Universe
- Miscellaneous
- Is there going to be episodic content delivered by the Xbox Live?
- Is Bioware going to charge a fee for the new content delivered by Xbox Live?
- Which BioTeam is working on Mass Effect?
- How many people are working on Mass Effect?
- What will the music be like?
- Will there be cheat codes for Mass Effect?
- Will there be a collectors edition of Mass Effect?
- Is Mass Effect going to be the first chapter of a new saga?
- What genre is Mass Effect in?
- What was your inspiration for Mass Effect?
- Will the E3 demo video be released on DVD/magazine cover mount?
- What will download content be like?