Mass Effect is set in the year 2183. Humanity has colonized the galaxy and alien races, both friendly and not-so-friendly, have been encountered. It is a sci-fi setting in the classic sense of the phrase. Everything is shiny and metallic and it is a beautiful universe…with a dark secret. You see, every 50,000 years, machines enter the galaxy and harvest all organic life. This has happened numerous times throughout history, and each time civilization must essentially start from scratch to build itself back up, only to be wiped out by these machines once again. As luck would have it, the galactic timer is just about up and the machines are coming.