at 12:12 on September 17, 2007, EST.
By JOHN COTTER

EDMONTON (CP) - Xbox 360 gamers will soon be loading weapons with shredder rounds and roaring into the galaxy to hunt down a rogue alien bent on destroying all life with his robot army.

Deep within their cavernous headquarters in a nondescript Edmonton office building, the software wizards at Bioware Corp. are carefully putting the final polish on their new science-fiction action role-playing game Mass Effect.

The designers say Mass Effect - more than three years in the making - will sweep players into an immersive movie-like epic experience that will make them forget they have a game-control pad in their hands.

Ray Muzyka, chief executive of the award-winning company, says Mass Effect is the best title Bioware has created. That's quite a boast from a team that has sold nearly 20 million copies of games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Baldur's Gate.

"You are playing a seamless, integrated experience with depth and breadth and action," said Muzyka, who plans to have Mass Effect on store shelves on Nov. 20.

"You feel like you are part of a living, breathing world. You are the director and the actor of your own interactive experience. The choices you make affect the outcome of the game."

The designers say Mass Effect is much more than just a fancy shooter where you simply blast and obliterate things (not that there is anything wrong with that.)

They prefer to call their new brainchild an "aspirational fantasy."

Set 200 years in the future, the game has players assume the role of Commander Shepard, an elite agent tasked with keeping law and order in a universe where aliens don't trust humans very much.

When word of a mysterious threat to the galaxy creeps into intelligence reports, Shepard is ordered to form a three-soldier tactical team to investigate.

A key part of the game is customizing your character's gender, appearance, personality, powers and arsenal.

You can be a ruthless, task-oriented Type-A soldier or a more thoughtful engineer or a combination of both.

There are cool abilities you can choose, such as the power to burn an enemy's weapon right out of their hands or zap them into zero gravity.

How you look and act affects how the storyline unfolds. Detailed facial expressions and the body language of the people and aliens you speak to can often tell you more than their dialogue.

When faced with a grumpy, shotgun-toting armour-plated dinosaur with anger issues, is it better to blast away or reason with the creature?

After bonding with the two squad members with whom you have been exploring uncharted planets and kicking the butts of Geth Rocket Troopers in spectacular firefights, which colleague will you risk when the intergalactic stuff hits the fan? The choices are yours. And just like in real life, all choices have consequences.

"This allows you to have a real emotional connection to the action," said Drew Karpyshyn, senior designer of Mass Effect and author of the storyline.

"You play a character who you can infuse with your own identity and your own beliefs. It draws you in."

Draws you in and then some.

During a sneak peek of Mass Effect last week, a dozen veteran reviewers and writers sat transfixed in the glow of TV monitors playing the game, their fingers dancing over control pads in a blur.

Some groaned aloud when their characters got smoked. Others laughed at some of the humour in the story.

The game, published by Microsoft and rated "M" for mature, has many layers to keep hardcore players happy.

The squad-based tactical combat system allows players to employ different strategies in firefights or to simply slug it out with ranged weapons, biotic powers and even magic.

As characters progress, they come across new weapons, powers and vehicles that they can use and modify.

Players also have the option of veering off the main storyline to explore planets, ancient ruins and alien civilizations.

The side trip could yield resources and powerful technologies to use in the quest to stop Saren, the evil alien leader.

Mass Effect is designed to provide dozens of hours of game play and is the first of a trilogy of related titles that will be rolled out in years to come for the company's legion of fans.

BioWare's online community had nearly 3.6 million registered users at www.bioware.com as of July.

"Our team has just busted their butts to make this game amazing," said Muzyka. "They have put their hearts and souls into it. I think it is the best thing we have ever done."


©The Canadian Press, 2007

http://www.bioware.com/

Looking forward to this one, although Halo 3 will still be a staple at that point.