Travel in Game

[The Gaming Demon]

Travel in Game

The SSV Normandy, the player character's ship, and a technological marvel in the setting of the game, serves as the primary mode of transportation. Since the game spans the galaxy, many trips have to be made from planet to planet. Players choose destinations by selecting them through a galactic map of the Milky Way. The galaxy is divided into numerous levels of organization, shrinking in scale from star clusters, to star systems, and finally down to planets.

Travel through the Mass Effect universe is aided through the use of Mass Relays, which are technological artifacts that are capable of transporting vessels nearly instantaneously between star clusters and systems, and resemble a gimbal having two rings. These relays are powered by what are known as "Mass Effect Fields" , by most of the known universe. There are two types of Mass Relays: primary and secondary. Primary relays are linked with a twin, and so have a single line of travel, but can span as many as a hundred thousand light years, according to the game's Codex. Secondary relays are omnidirectional and can send ships to any relay within its limited range of about a hundred light years.

Once the player decides on a system to visit, several options are available. Some planets are simply there to complete the system. Others can only be surveyed for valuable materials. Some astral bodies such as asteroids, moons, and small space freighters are also available for survey. Finally, some planets can be landed on and explored. The player can move about on foot or using an all-terrain armored personnel carrier called the M35 Mako. Some segments of the game feature combat requiring the use of this vehicle. Most main story segments (and many side missions) are geared toward on-foot shooter action.

Although the game follows a main story, Mass Effect includes a large number of side missions and free-roam "uncharted worlds" that can be reached by selecting them through the galactic map. Virtually every world is part of a side mission, whether the player has uncovered the mission or not. Normally, Shepard will be contacted as a solar system is selected to be briefed on the side mission by Admiral Hackett, of the Alliance Fifth Fleet, if the system contains a side mission that's of direct interest to the Alliance military.