tl;dr I like Mass Effect but I feel that it is more of a missed opportunity for really groundbreaking story telling more than it is a successful merging of shooter action with a cinematic storyline. But having said that I am eager to play the final chapter because I've invested enough time and money into the series that I desire a satisfactory conclusion to it. What follows is a rant you may want to skip if you have better things to do with your time like watching TV.
The way I view Mass Effect is this: very good concept, failure in execution. I'm not even talking about some of the gameplay limitations or the lazy map design (which is mainly an issue with the first game, but it was also repeated in the second in a different way). I'm just talking cool story concepts that were fantastic, but then let down by some really shitty, cheap writing. Like in ME when you meet Sovereign and he has this deep booming, sinister voice, and is a giant alien spaceship of unimaginable power which looks like some Lovecraftian horror. And yet he actually engages you in conversation and metaphorically twirls his snidely whiplash moustache; it's so completely incongruous. ME2 was even worse, with Harbinger shit-talking you every five seconds:
I KNOW YOU FEEL THIS SHEPARD
THIS IS TRUE POWER
IF I HAVE TO TEAR YOU APART, SHEPARD, I WILL
Well shit Harby, I thought we were friends. I didn't realise you felt that way.
ME had a pretty decent story, which unfortunately was let down by Bioware encouraging us to take constant detours all over the galaxy for side missions that don't actually matter. The main plot has this 'race against the clock' feel which belies the fact that as the player I can choose to delay going to the plot-planets for as long as possible. Linearity isn't a terrible thing you know, especially when you're main plot sort of implies shit is going to hit the fan if you don't find the Conduit and get there first. For that matter, what the hell was the point of the Conduit? Saren could have just gone onto the Citadel's master control system as a SPECTRE and nobody would have batted an eyelash. Indeed, he could have snuck geth aboard the Citadel given how easily he did so on Noveria (which had such tight psychopathic security they were going to shoot me down before I pulled rank and said 'fuck off
I'm a Spectre'). The whole Conduit thing was a real letdown IMO. But vigil was awesome, and ME gets forgiven just for that cathartic scene even if it's just 99% exposition. Also the final set piece battle for the Citadel was really well done, if let down by the video of spaceships firing literally fireballs at each other. I didn't read
that in the Codex.
One thing that was really missing from the game though was the whole 'investigate leads and find out more about Saren' thing. With the exception of Noveria and Virmire, none of the other two plot planets have much to do with Saren - not really. And even Noveria is largely about the problems up at Peak 15 and some corporate intrigue at the start (don't get me wrong, that stuff is good); the actual Saren stuff is limited to a short conversation you have with Counselor Troi. Therum is all about getting Liara, and Ferros was very loosely related to the main quest except for like the last five minutes. What they should have done was add more stuff that gave us a better picture of Saren. One idea I heard that I really loved the sound of was Shepard tracking down an old Saren safehouse, and finding some stuff there like diary recordings. That would have been a great way to underscore the whole 'is Saren indoctrinated' angle and what are his motivations, which they played up in the lategame but didn't have that good of a setup. Sure Troi was totally indoctrinated but we saw her at the end, we didn't get a kind of step-by-step look at how this shit happens to someone. (she was another wasted opportunity IMO - we hear about her when the asari bitch on the Council recognises her voice and tells us she's a powerful Matriarch - gee, maybe that should get some more air time don't you think? Like why would an asari matriarch throw her lot in with Captain Asshole? Instead it's just a brief conversation with her and with what's her face, Shiala I think) - Anyway it's the same problem, instead of show don't tell, Bioware insists on telling us what we need to know and also a lot of stuff we probably don't need to know but they're going to tell us anyway.
I would have traded virtually all of the sidequest planets for more plot-heavy stuff that delves into the villains as characters.
Then we have ME2. Ah, what can I say. The gameplay was improved significantly, but one step forward, two steps back and a hop sideways too to boot. The thermal heat sink system was one of the most shockingly awful retcons I've ever witnessed, and it fucking sucked. Way to stick true to your IP guys! True ME's gameplay system was broken thanks to frictionless materials X x2 on spectre gear, which basically meant you could fire eternally and never overheat. The solution to that is to... throw the entire concept out? What? Baby with the bathwater, bioware? The thing is I don't object to the idea of a thermal sink system on principle, but it was a shitty retcon and that's what disgusts me. And bioware just insists on it and refuses to bend on it, which is just typical stubbornness on their part. But as far as the rest of the gameplay is concerned, it was massive improvement (tech classes are actually distinct now? And have cool powers? The adept isn't the single-most broken class in the game like how it was in the first one? holy shit).
But then you have the story. Now the main plot, the whole Collector's are abducting humans and entire colonies are vanishing, that shit is gold. Dy-no-mite. The main plot really draws you in. But just like how in ME there was that whole 'racing against time' thing, so too in ME2. There is a sense that 'look shit we're in trouble Shepard, you gotta find out wtf is going on asap', which is completely undermined when you have a ship full of a dozen special forces operatives ALL OF WHOM HAVE PERSONAL PROBLEMS ONLY YOU CAN FIX.
Whoa guys, slow down, whatever happened to just being professional and keeping your personal lives personal? What happened to 'the mission comes first' etc etc? You mean I have to nursemaid you guys to deal with your crippling emotional problems and act as not just your Commanding Officer but also your therapist? Do I look like COUNSELOR TROI TO YOU? I SHOT THAT BITCH LAST GAME FUCKERS.
Now if they had spun it like 'well shit Shepard, you want me to volunteer for this goddamn suicide mission for you, the least you can do is fucking give me a ride to the Citadel so I can talk my son out of assassinating someone/going to some planet to find out what happened to my dad/go to some other planet to rescue my twin sister who is actually a clone of me because i have daddy issues and he was a real prick and let me tell you about it even though i know you don't care/etc etc' but yeah they don't really go on that route. Seriously three quarters of the game's plot is about helping your squadmates achieve self-actualisation. It's utterly bizarre. And the unfortunate thing is that most of your squadmates are fucking boring. Like Jacob. Is there anyone who actually likes this guy? Or JACK. 'Hi I'm a badass chick who is bald and has tattoos and swears a lot but i also have a tragic upbringing that my present actions totally don't undermine because whoops i'm an unrepentant mass murderer and i also have magic powers look at me punch all these giant mechs and one shot them - it's a shame that when I join your party I will mysteriously lose these fantastic abilities though'. Or Samara, who is literally a Space Paladin with breast implants and nothing more. (although her loyalty mission has points in its favour for being completely non-combat driven)
I think ME had the right idea on just having half the number of squad mates, and without overly elaborate side-quests for each. If you're going to go down the route ME2 took then at least make the characters compelling. Guys like Mordin were excellent. Legion was
criminally underused. Seriously. Grunt though... or Jacob... or Jack... less so. But to praise it ME2 really pushed the whole unique environments and going on the Collector ship and the derelict Reaper for the first time was fucking creepy. Really atmospheric. And the map design was a million times better than ME's was with the only problem being the ridiculously obvious waist high cover that pops up whenever you're about to have a firefight - even when it doesn't make sense.
~
So anyway, now that I got that rant out of the way, I have to say that I
am looking forward to ME3. The stuff they've added to improve things actually looks good, like bringing back mods, having different types of enemies, and stuff like that. I just hope the writing improves because goddamn, third time's the charm.
). I think this was the conversation you have with them after Virmire, where you're trying to convince them that the Reapers are the true threat.
