Mass Effect is a 2007 action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and originally released for the Xbox 360. It is the first game in the Mass Effect series and takes place within the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2183, where civilization is threatened by a highly advanced machine race known as the Reapers. The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, an elite human soldier who must stop a rogue agent from carrying out the Reapers' galactic invasion. The game requires the player to complete multiple quests that generally involve space exploration, squad and vehicular combat, and interaction with non-player characters.