Villordsutch reviews Mass Effect: Foundation Volume 1…
“Introducing Rasa, a mysterious agent working behind the scenes for the Illusive Man and his human-survivalist paramilitary group, Cerberus! First, learn how she began her life as a covert operative—then, follow her investigations and witness formative events in the lives of signature characters Urdnot Wrex, Ashley Williams, and Kaidan Alenko!“
I never liked the Mass Effect games. Well, to be honest, I never liked the first Mass Effect game and due to this I couldn’t give a ruddy stuff about the following two. “Possibly blinkered?”. Yes I agree but after being stuck on an unknown space station talking to numerous whatevers whilst repeatedly being told to go someplace which was somewhere and when there I’m not to upset someone I turned the game off and sold it on eBay. My interest in Mass Effect ended at the close of the bid. Why then would I be interested in a Mass Effect graphic novel? The Gods only know that answer, but I’m glad I was.
What we have here is a collection of stories set in the universe of Mass Effect, but luckily for the casual reader like myself you don’t have to be completely versed in said universe to appreciate what is happening, although I’m guessing you’d be rather giddy at the tales if you are. Written by the lead writer from Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 Mac Walters, the book consists of a cluster of stories which constantly keep up the levels of both interest and entertainment; though not mind blowing they are good and I enjoyed them quite a bit. They only downside comes with the transitions between the stories. I can’t say whether in this first volume if we have either three or four separate stories, though I don’t believe this is the fault of Mac Walters but rather more of an issue with the art.
Tony Parker (R.I.P.D. and Dead Man’s Run) and Omar Francia (Star Wars: Legacy and Mass Effect: Redemption) along with colours by Michael Heisler (DV8 and Star Wars: Legacy) are the team that unfortunately hold this graphic novel back from being excellent. The reason being is down to lack of detail when it comes to drawing/colouring the characters. I was midway through some stories under the belief that Protagonist A, from an earlier story, is perhaps Protagonist B in this story; this and the character definition fails or (on occasion) bear no resemblance to characters in the previous panel. The palette also becomes an issue for the characters as they tend to look flat and again this interferes with the story. You become even more confused to who the heck is occupying the centre of the panel. This is a complete juxtaposition however as the backgrounds are outstanding. The colours and shading can be perfect and the art for the background set pieces too is spot on; if only this detail could have been applied to the characters.
To wrap up, we have here an enjoyable set of tales which even non-fans of the Mass Effect series can enjoy, let down only by the poor character artwork that was chosen to bring the tales to life. However, this shouldn’t dissuade you from parting with you money. I may even scour eBay to see if I can get a copy of Mass Effect cheap and give it another chance.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published January 20, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
