The Art of the Mass Effect Universe

I openly admit, I am a Mass Effect junkie. Its my single favorite video game and I am absolutely enthralled with the characters and universe as a whole. When it comes to the overall quality and depth of a story, Bioware certainly doesn't disappoint. The sheer amount of lore and history they infuse with their games is truly amazing. Dragon Age: Inquisition is just the latest example. For those willing to take the time to really dig in, their game universes take on a level of depth and realism that most games can't come close to matching. Personally, I believe games like this have such amazing artwork because the overall quality of the story and universe inspires the artists. I see this sort of thing in the comic market all the time as certain titles and characters really bring out the best in the artists depicting them. Well, that is certainly the case with Mass Effect as the artwork that has been created for this series is nothing short of amazing.I have collected just about every Mass Effect collectible that has come to market including the limited edition lithographs from Bioware. I actually have a few of the lithographs framed and up on my walls, including "The Team" lithograph which is actually the cover for this book. Its one of my favorite lithographs in the series and was definitely the perfect choice for the cover. All in all, this book is 184 pages and is chock full of amazing artwork from all 3 Mass Effect games. Concept art, character studies, weapons, vehicles, landscapes, ect. You find a little bit of everything in here, including highly insightful commentary. This is ultimately a perfect example of how to create a proper video game art book. Its just hugely satisfying and ultimately made me want to jump right back into the game.Bottom line - Mass Effect moved me in a way that very few games have been able to match. It has one of the best rosters of characters in the entire history of gaming, has an absolutely brilliant story, and it has some of the best artwork ever to come out of a video game title. For fans of the series, this book should be considered absolutely mandatory. I am a big collector of art books and this is without question one of the best video game related art books I have ever seen come out of the gaming market. No matter what Mass Effect collectibles you may already own, your collection is simply incomplete without this book. Its just amazing in every sense of the word and really should be on every Mass Effect fan's bookshelf.5 Stars and then some!!

This book is very cool! I only know this game by proxy, I've watched it being played but never played it myself. The story is excellent though, and when I stumbled upon this book at Barnes and Noble, I picked it up to take a look. A half hour later I was still sitting on armchair next to the mini-Starbucks perusing the pages. This book is basically an illustrated, annotated chronology of the evolution of the Mass Effect Trilogy. Its pages are full of the sketches of characters and places I only vaguely recognize, but I'm sure a player would instantly know. But from my standpoint, its just plain interesting. Seeing the process from the rough draft to the final product is out of this world. (wink wink) I knew I had to buy it as a gift for the gamer in my family. I pulled out the smartphone and much to my pleasure I found it for several dollars cheaper here on Amazon than in store. Instant purchase! Mind you, I am in my mid-twenties, not particularly into video games, and I was tempted to purchase one for myself. As is, I bought one for my brother-in-law who is 26 and a heavy gamer. I mention ages because this game is both violent and ladden with sexuality, not that I'm complaining, I say this is a recipe for excellent entertainment, but I wouldn't buy this book for children. It does have some nudity in it, its tasteful and artistic, but it is nudity. The cosutmes for women are typical "bikini armor" and therefore racy and womanizing, fine for the more discriminating less impressionable consumer. Also the creatures depicted are graphically scary, again these are beautiful pieces of art, however it might not be age appropriate for your nine year old. My opinion, the typical kid wouldn't appreciate this anyway, it doesn't give away secrets of the game, it doesn't ramble on and on about the gameplay, this book is truly what it title says. It is the Art of the Mass Effect Universe. Text is sparse and detailed renderings and sketches abound. Buy it for your mature gamer friend, or your budding graphic artist or anyone who is interested in the evolution of video games.

This is a must have for fans that have played through the entire Mass Effect series and loved every bit of it.The book is big and sturdy, with a thick hardcover, and durable, gloss finish pages that won't smudge or wrinkle. For the Mass Effect 2 section, almost every squad member gets a full page artist's rendering that would be amazing as a 24 x 36 poster on a wall, but is still awesome to see as is. The artist sketches typically cover brainstorming and development drawings, and even occasionally include comedic captions or side notes on what people were thinking.The book is a must have, and I don't regret the purchase one bit. HOWEVER, that being said, I gave the book only 4/5 stars because, while lengthy, the entire Mass Effect universe is MASSIVE, and covers a lot of characters, aliens, locations, events, and ideas. The book at least touches on most of them, but in a lot of cases, that's all it does (and for some reason, the Batarians aren't so much as MENTIONED in this book; big disappointment). For those looking to find detailed developer thoughts behind the concept of various characters, aliens, or locations, you won't find much here; most captions and descriptive elements aren't much more than a paragraph or three in length. This left me desiring a more information and background to much of what is shown.Still, this is an awesome book that shows a lot of early concepts of familiar races, locations, or vehicles in the Mass Effect universe; you'll see a lot of stuff that (sometimes, thankfully!) didn't make it into the game, including an enemy from Mass Effect 3 that got cut. And some of the Mass Effect 1 information provided gives valuable insight into what inspired the look and ideals of the alien races.

So the Mass Effect series is massive. You get that form the name and you definitely get that from playing the game. There is just so much to the Mass Effect universe that you can't grasp everything in one - or can you?The Art of the Mass Effect Universe definitely tries to give an extensive insight on the art about the critically acclaimed role-playing titles from Bioware. The hardcover book has 184 pages packed full of art from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. Just like The Art of Alice: Madness Returns this book from Dark Horse is very high in quality: Thick glossy pages, a nice format and a wide variety of artworks, from scribbles to drawings, 3D models and so much more. You will definitely get your Mass Effect art fix from this book. I really love the scribbles for all the different alien races. Especially the Turian faces and Elcor body scribbles had me laughing out loud. Trust me, there are some hilarious concepts in this book.You will find at least one artwork for `almost' every location from all three games, as well as character designs and many sci-fi structure and object works. This book is a sci-fi-art fan's dream come true.If there's one gripe I have this book is that it's just not enough. Yes, I think The Art of the Mass Effect Universe could and should have easily been double the size to really give the game's vast universe justice. Again, there's nothing on user interface design and no word on prototype development and very early concepts. Something I am always interested in.As it stands The Art of The Mass Effect Universe is a beautiful art book, you can easily snatch for a very good price. And if you're a fan of the games you should consider this book for all the additional insights into the game world as well.I also own the so much smaller The Art of Mass Effect 3 art book which comes with the Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition. This book however is more like an excerpt from the full feature The Art of the Mass Effect Universe book. You will not find additional art in this small sized book, so you might want to pass this one.For more Reviews like this, visit my personal homepage (check out my profile for the link) where I review video game art books.

As I’m getting into 3D modeling, I was on a hunt for a good “art of book” to get environment and prop inspiration from. First I bought “The Art of Fallout 4” and then “The Art of The Last of Us”. Both of which had stunning concept art but not as useful for my 3D needs.This art book on the other hand has it all. The sci-fi ships and weapon modes one can use as blueprints for modeling. The environment concept art is incredible and you get to learn more about the making of such a great game franchise.

The book is very big and heavy, and with so many images, concept art and designs from all three games it is a priceless gift for any Mass Effect fan. From what I understand smaller versions of some images are avaliable in mini art books bundled with special editions of the games, but having them bigger is always worth the money, even if you own all three of them. The book has all the character mini lithos from Bioware store as full size illustrations, almost every possible visited location concept arts, iterations of the design on the various species, sketches on outfits, all kind of assorted tech. If I were to ask for an addition to the book that would be only a couple of items: the animals from various locations (varrens FTW!) and screenshots (or concept art) for the planets you get to visit in ME1 on MAKO. Some of these are breathtaking and might be one of the major reasons I played Mass Effect games so eagerly!

Mass Effect is, for my money, the best new science-fiction franchise since Star Wars. It's smart, well thought-out, and yet incredibly accessible. It plays with classic tropes from science fiction, and yet puts a sufficiently original spin on an epic storyline.For it's part, the Art of the Mass Effect Universe is less interested in revealing spoilers and telling every piece of the plot in immaculate detail, and assumes some basic familiarity with the franchise of it's readers. Divided into three sections, one for each of the games, the book covers characters, alien races, and world, weapon and armour concepts. There are some slight spoilers for Mass Effect 3, but given the game arrives in less than a month, it's hardly that much of a bother; The book does not strive to spoil developments for players, and merely hints at concepts and developments for the familiar and much-loved characters.The art in the book is stunning, and ranges from character studies and turnaround models to formative ideas and painted pieces; Particularly stunning are two of the painted pieces for Jack/Subject Zero, which reveals one of the book's few shortcominings, in that there could have been larger pieces of art printed as spreads. Otherwise, the book is a great resource for fans and people who enjoy concept and science fiction art alike; The notes from the developers are very forthcoming and enlightening about their references and inspirations, with obvious ones including the likes of Syd Mead.The book also, interestingly, exposes one of the few shortcomings of Mass Effect 2, which is the genuine lack of a concrete villain. There are pages dedicated to Saren, Matriarch Benezia and the larger enemies of Mass Effect 1; That there are no such pages for the antagonists of Mass Effect 2 - I'm not sure there are even notes on the Harbinger representative of the Collector race - reveals the sequel's only slight problem. That said, the concept of the Illusive Man and Cerberus partially makes up for this.The book is not nearly large enough - though this is not to say that the amount of pages we get and the concepts and designs within are not any good, but a part of me wants to se more - but it is an amazing document of the development of the 3 games, without being filled with overbearing and pointless notes on the development of the game. The commentary from the developers is concise and informative, and great to read. Again, this book is a must have for those that love Mass Effect, or simply those that enjoy art books or concept design.

I love video game concept art work, and I'm a sucker for this type of book, being an amateur artist myself. It's absolutely gorgeous.It's a fantastic size, giving plenty of room for large full page prints, as well as sections devoted to development processes, showing each stage of conceptualisation from quick sketches, to alternate colour schemes, right through to final renders. A must have for any fans of the game who are also interesting in the creative processes that went into it.Some of the annotations are also quite interesting, giving you a great insight into the thought processes behind design decisions and how ideas progressed throughout the development of the games.