Another post about Mass Effect

                There is a very clear guilty party in my becoming a gamer: Bioware. Sure, before I started playing Bioware games, I still played video games, but they weren’t anything other than a distraction. Then I stumbled upon (saw the commercials and fell in love) Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins. I had never played games where I cared about the story and the characters before. I used to just skip all the cutscenes because they got in the way of the gameplay, but I couldn’t do that with ME or DA:O because the story had drawn me in. Because of Bioware, I truly became a gamer. Dragon Age allowed me to become the fantasy hero I always wanted to be—but in a way that was so much more meaningful and complex than I had imagined. And Mass Effect allowed me to fulfill my Captain Kirk fantasies—but with blue aliens instead of green ones. I could talk about how the amazing diversity in both franchises have helped me to become more open minded, and to accept myself as I am better, instead I’m going to focus on what is possibly the greatest game ever made: Mass Effect 2.

                The Mass Effect franchise has always been about personal stories. Your Shepherd was always going to be different from a friend’s, and how you handled situations came down to personal preference. Through the course of the first game, your Shepherd became an actual extension of yourself. The Normandy, your ship, became home, and the crew became your family. So Mass Effect 2 begins by destroying the ship and spacing Shepherd.

                The first time I played, this moment was shocking, and emotionally devastating. This was a moment of rebirth though, for both the player and for Shepherd. The story picks up two years after the destruction of the Normandy, and most of the galaxy assumes you’re dead. A race known as the Collectors has begun to kidnap human colonies, and the Council still doesn’t believe in the Reaper threat (and depending on decisions you made in the first game, they may hate you and not give you their support). Your crew and squad is scattered throughout the galaxy, and you’re alone with a shadowy organization (one you fought against in the first game, Cerberus), who wants to use you to further their own gains. You are forced into working with a new team made up of the person who rebuilt you and brought you back to life, and a guy that tries way too hard at the beginning to get your trust.

                Gone is the team that you slowly made connections with, gone is the easy banter. Now you have snarky remarks and an uneasy alliance. This really strikes home in your first mission when you run into an old friend and squad mate: Tali’Zorah. Tali is happy to find out that you’re alive, but she is distrusting of your new squad and refuses to come with you. At best, she is apprehensive of you, at worst she outright distrusts the new Shepherd.

                You don’t feel hurt by this for very long though; the Illusive Man (your new boss) has a nice surprise waiting for you when you return: Joker, your pilot from the first game. This fantastic reunion is capped off with the reveal of your new ship: the Normandy SR-2. Not gonna lie, the reveal of the Normandy makes me feel all the emotions every time I see it. Much like whenever I see the Enterprise on the big screen.

                Here is where the game really begins. With the receipt of your new ship, the Illusive Man gives you a list of the names of potential squad mates to recruit, and from there you’re almost left to your own devices. The list contains some familiar faces, and a lot of new ones. The missions to recruit your new squad are varied and interesting. To recruit Archangel, you join up with a group of gangs that are trying to kill him. To recruit Mordin, a doctor, you have to cure a plague. To recruit Subject Zero, you have to break her out of inescapable prison in space. On top of the recruitment missions, each squad mate has missions that are personal to them and that increase their loyalty to you. From elaborate heists to regain a loved one’s last memories, to rites of passage, these loyalty missions keep things interesting.

                I mentioned some familiar faces? Well, the reveal of Archangel’s true identity, while not surprising, was certainly welcome and pleasing. You sneak up on him as he’s sniping; he motions you to wait, takes his shot, stands up, removes his helmet, and says, “Hey, Shepherd.” And bam, you’re best friend (ever) Garrus is back on the team. He may question Cerberus, but he never questions you. You have earned his trust, and he has your back. Something that doesn’t change throughout the entire trilogy.

                I’ve played Mass Effect 2 so many times, and I know what’s going to happen when I make specific choices, but I still get excited. I still feel a surge of joy as the Normandy weaves through wreckage and takes full advantage of the upgrades I gave it. I still get excited to see Garrus again, and I feel a deep sorrow every time Liara tells me that she can’t come with me. Why? Because of the story. Because of the writing. Because the game makes you invest in these characters and events. I still get psyched up when Shepherd says: “They tell me it's a suicide mission. I intend to prove them wrong.” Bioware got everything right when they made Mass Effect 2.

                Whenever I get tired of other games, I always turn back to Mass Effect. Maybe it’s because I’m a diehard science fiction fan. Maybe it’s because I’m a Trekkie. Or maybe it’s because Bioware made a damn fine game that never fails to make me feel better about things.

                One of these days, I’m going to have to sit down and actually write an outline for an essay about Mass Effect so things will make sense and not jump all over the place.