It's hard to call video games art. Society as a whole usually judges the few by the actions of the many. If you go into a video game store or the video game section of a store, spin three times then point at the wall of games. The chances that you'll be pointing at something considered art are slim to none. For people that know me well enough know that I try to play every video game I can, any game that looks interesting or has really cool concepts within them. And most times, that ends up being a bad decision.
One company that hasn't failed at making engaging video games is Bioware. I've always loved the things they've done with them, but I didn't really see their games as art until the Mass Effect series. Even though the series isn't finished, it isn't fair to just talk about the first one or the second one alone. I tried and I can't. It's hard for me to even talk about the experience because it isn't over. I'll try my best, and again, I'll preface this like I do most things I write. It's about the journey, not the destination.
I remember playing the first Mass Effect and all the decisions that had to be made within the game. Now, none of the decisions (in both games) are as morally gray in the ones the player needs to make in say, Fallout 3 or Dragon Age: Origins. But what Mass Effect does that, I think, no game does at all is let you see the repercussions of your decisions throughout the series. If you haven't played the first one by now, then shame on you and you deserve to have this spoiled. During the game you have to choose between one of your party members living or dying, and without playing the second one this probably doesn't matter to you. But when I started the sequel I was quickly reminded of who I survived and who didn't. Along with that, there were a lot of other minor side quests from the first one that were mentioned in the second either briefly in an e-mail or overheard when you walked through the Citadel.
Even though the first one is great on it's own, ME2 is where the series really shines. If there's anything lacking in the first game, it's the emotional connection you feel with all of your comrades including the people who populate your ship. One of the great things Bioware did with the game is set it two years after the first one. I'm not sure if they planned to do this the whole time or if they re-wrote it because the game was released three years after the first, and it works.
When Shepard reunites with his old team you really get the feeling of seeing a friend after a long period of time. Bioware makes you believe that these characters are real along with making you feel like you were once a part of something. But if you haven't played the first one, or just never got through it, then the talk about the "good ol' days" will go over your head. This is what makes the series as much as an artform as film or television. An idea I repeat to myself every day is, "everyone has a story." It helps me get through the day, and it quells my cynicism. But I never expected to apply that to characters in a video game. I never expected to care or to wonder about fake people or, in some cases with this game, aliens.
Mass Effect is a single player game, but my experience with the game was not single player. Yes, techinically I was playing alone but through the magic of Xbox Live party chat, I was playing alongside two of my best friends. We all beat the game within three days of each other, but we all had different outcomes by the end of it.
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