100th Post: Mass Effect Tribute

Well guys, my 100th blog post. I decided to do something special for this one. I've made it no secret that I LOVE the Mass Effect franchise. Hell, it's probably been mentioned on this blog more than any other franchise. Despite only being around for four years, it made the #3 spot on my Top 10 Franchises list, beating franchises that have been around for over two decades and only being beaten by Metroid and Metal Gear.

The iconic and badass symbol of the franchise, N7 carries a lot of meaning for me.

BioWare has simply crafted one of the most effective and emotionally involved sci-fi stories ever written, with a wonderful cast of complex and identifiable characters and some of the best voice acting ever recorded mixed with good gameplay that's looking to become phenomenal for the final entry.

So, for this 100th blog post, I've decided to basically kiss this series' ass big time with this blogpost compiling all the great things about this series, accessible both to people who have never played it before (though some SPOILERS but I'll try to keep them at a minimum) and those who have played it to reflect on this wonderful sci-fi universe. With the end of the trilogy coming in March, Mass Effect 3 is probably my all-time most anticipated game and here the reasons why I'm so excited to finish the remarkable series.

STORY (some spoilers but kept to a minimum)

Obviously, being BioWare, story is a big part of this game and most of my love for this series stems from the different story elements. BioWare has truly crafted an excellent tale so far and part of the reason I'm so excited for Mass Effect 3 is to see how it all comes to an end.

The first game begins with Commander Shepard, a decorated soldier who is the XO on the SSV Normandy, the most advanced ship in the Human Navy (or the Alliance Navy). S/he is a candidate to become the first human Spectre, an elite force of soldiers who answer only to the Citadel Council (governing body of alien species), which humans are trying to become members of.

On a mission to find a relic of an ancient and extinct species called the Protheans (species credited with creating mass relays for instant ship transport and the Citadel, the political and cultural hub of the galaxy), Shepard has images burned into his/her head of a galactic holocaust perpetuated by an ancient race of machines known as the Reapers and s/he makes it his/her mission to stop this holocaust from happening.

Mass relays allow for near instant transport to a certain location in the galaxy.

In the background is the Citadel, the cultural and political hub of the galaxy. In the foreground is the Normandy, one of the coolest starships in sci-fi history.

Standing in Shepard's way is a turian Spectre named Saren Arterius, who is trying to bring the Reapers back, the reasons for this being one of the mysteries of the first game. He is backed by a powerful asari matriarch named Benezia and a legion of an AI race called the geth who worship the Reapers as gods. The game, with its mystery, pulls off quite a few excellent twists that end with an incredible conclusion which left things open for future games.

The rogue turian spectre, Saren, and his army of geth stand in Shepard's way, attempting to bring the Reapers back.

Asari matriarch Benezia aids Saren in attempting to bring back the Reapers for unknown reasons that become clear later.

The story's brilliance comes from the mystery behind what exactly the Reapers are, how they achieve their goal, their connection to the mass relays and the Citadel and also for setting up the difficult battle that Commander Shepard (the player character) has in the upcoming games, showing just how relentlessly and terrifyingly powerful the Reapers are.

The second game, many felt, was lacking in story in comparison to the first game and I can understand those complaints, but I don't necessarily agree with them. Mass Effect 2 is the second in the trilogy and therefore was going to be more set-up for the third game. Therefore it focuses more on characters and setting-up plot points for the final entry of the series than in expanding too much on the main arc. We also saw this in The Empire Strikes Back and look how well that turned out in the long run.

The game sees humans being abducted by a race called the Collectors. A pro-human terrorist organization called Cerberus, led by the Illusive Man, recruits Shepard to stop them and find their connection to the Reapers. The game pulls off some twists but still lacks the mystery of the original but the plot points it sets up made it so that the wait for 3 would be very difficult.

The Illusive Man, leader of the powerful pro-human terrorist organization called Cerberus, enters an uneasy alliance with Commander Shepard.

The game also goes over quite a few themes with its sci-fi universe with my favorite being its exploration of humanity through AI. Battlestar Galactica executed this theme better than probably any other piece of sci-fi ever created but Mass Effect 2 still had an excellent look at it and also a unique one, looking less at the similarities and more at the differences between AIs and organic races.

At the end of the day, Mass Effect uses a lot of traditional cliches that we expect from the sci-fi genre but it uses them in a self-aware way, making it feel more like an homage than a rip-off. The thought of fighting an ancient evil is not new to video games in the least. But Mass Effect (with a few exceptions) pulls it off with such excellent writing and pacing that it works like a charm.

The Reapers feel like a nearly unstoppable force that have been committing galactic genocide for millions of years also having an air of terrifying mystery about them. It at times feels like HP Lovecraft (arguably the god of fictional horror) mixed with Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Babylon 5. At the end of the day, the story succeeds because of excellent writing and remarkable characters.

CHARACTERS

The Mass Effect series has been constantly praised for its incredible cast of characters, particularly the squad members. They're complex, likable, have a lot of depth, and just make the experiences so much more fulfilling. I could go on and on about the great characters in the series but I'll try to limit myself somewhat. I'll also refrain from talking about Commander Shepard as s/he's an escapist character built by the player.

There are of course the three characters who have been squad members in both games and whose loyalties to Commander Shepard have never been shaken. First, Garrus Vakarian, renegade cop and a member of the turian species who looks to Shepard for guidance in morally gray situations.

Garrus, otherwise known by fans as Space Batman, often struggles with doing the right thing. But he is always awesome.

Second, Tali'Zorah vas Neema, a member of the quarian species who were driven off their homeworld by the geth, AI that they created (Battlestar Galactica anyone?) and forms a strong relationship with Shepard over the course of the two games. One of the reasons I enjoy playing as Female Shepard is because of the sisterly bond that seems to be there, with FemShep acting as the older sister, which I really like the thought of storywise.

We may never know what Tali looks like under the helmet, but her personality has made her a fan favorite.

Both of these characters really grow through the timespan of the two games giving a real sense of development that makes them feel like real people (figuratively speaking) and makes them characters that you really come to care about.

But the last of the three, and probably the most loyal to Commander Shepard, is Dr. Liara T'Soni. Of all the characters in this very character-driven story, her arc and development over the course of the two games, has felt the most dynamic, emotional, and real. Many called character derailment in Mass Effect 2...at least until the Lair of the Shadow Broker expansion was released and then everything about her transformation from quiet and shy archaeologist to ruthless and vengeful information broker made perfect sense. With that, Liara has earned her place as one of my favorite characters in video games.

Liara T'Soni goes through the strongest character arc of the series and is one of my favorite video game characters.

Other fan favorites include the cynical krogan, Urdnot Wrex, who will still surprise any new players with the amount of depth as he shows that he's far more sophisticated than he looks. Thane Krios, a deeply religious assassin attempting to atone for his sins before he dies by ONLY killing truly horrible people; Mordin Solus, a doctor who enhanced a sterility plague and while he still believes it was right has trouble sleeping at night; and a few other characters that I won't mention for spoiler reasons.

Urdnot Wrex shows far more sophistication than you'd ever expect from a warrior lizard and can be a powerful ally for Shepard.

Thane Krios: skilled and deeply religious assassin attempting to atone before his death.

"Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients. Sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps." That's Mordin in a nutshell.

And of course I'm just scratching the surface here. With one or two exceptions, just about every character in the series that has plot relevance has an incredible amount of depth to them. It's important to talk to every character because they are hardly ever what they seem to be.

VOICE ACTING

Have I mentioned before how excellent the voice acting in this series is? I believe I have. But I'm going to do it again with more shout-outs to the different voice actors and actresses because it is freaking good.

First let's go to the voice actress and performance that I always love to praise: Jennifer Hale as Female Shepard. There's a reason I love playing as Female Shepard and that's primarily because of Hale's voice acting. The amount of dialogue and emotions she has to work with is simply mind-boggling and that she's able to nail nearly all of her lines (a few misses but that's to be expected) is incredible and she continues to prove why she's one of the most respected VAs in the industry. She's given probably my favorite performances of the two games and with BioWare giving Shepard more emotion in Mass Effect 3, I can't wait to see how she delivers this time.

Jennifer Hale nails the role of Commander Shepard, giving one of the most consistently excellent performances of the series.

But of course, one person can't carry an entire cast and I've already mentioned the plethora of sci-fi actors that are involved in the series. We've got Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Chuck (not really sci-fi but there's a connection with another voice in the series) as quarian marine Kal'Reegar, Claudia Black from Farscape and Stargate as quarian admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation (also Demona from Gargoyles) who was excellent as Matriarch Benezia, Michael Dorn (also from TNG) as krogan warlord Gatatog Uvenk, Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica as Captain Bailey, and Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix as Aria T'Loak.

With a few exceptions most of these are minor characters but they all do their job very well. Most of these characters also seem to have much bigger parts foreshadowed. Shala'Raan, Kal'Reegar, Captain Bailey, and Aria T'Loak all look like they'll have a stake in the storyline of Mass Effect 3 which has me very excited to hear their voice actors back. There's also Tricia Helfer who was Number Six in Battlestar Galactica voicing EDI. And the undeniably badass voices of Keith David (The Thing, Gargoyles) as Captain Anderson and Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens) as Admiral Hackett come in as reasonable authority figures, a rarity in Mass Effect.

Yvonne Strahovski from Chuck (told you I'd mention it again) also does an excellent job as Cerberus operative Miranda Lawson with BioWare even using her face with black hair (though they kind f'ed up the facial capture).

There's Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man. When I first heard Martin Sheen was involved, I was surprised and skeptical, not for lack of skill but a lot of times actors of his caliber are misused in video games or don't put their heart into it. However, he delivers a brilliant performance bringing his undeniable charm and likability to the table making the leader of a terrorist organization into a character that will have you constantly wondering whether he's trustworthy. And with his character set for Mass Effect 3, I can't wait to hear him again.

Martin Sheen brings his undeniable charm and likability to the Illusive Man, leader of the powerful terrorist group Cerberus.

There's also Seth Green as Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the pilot of the Normandy who can make ALMOST any situation hilarious. He was kind of a background character in the original but BioWare made him a much bigger character in 2 and Green does an excellent job throughout. His frequent spats with EDI are always good for a laugh. He can also do more serious situations as well and becomes really somber at the right moments showing Green's strength not just as a comedian but a voice actor all-around.

Seth Green, the co-creator of Robot Chicken, voices Joker and delivers some of the funniest moments of the series.

And of course, there are the non-celebrity voice actors (and non-playable characters) who almost all deliver excellent performances across the board. Brandon Keener as Garrus Vakarian, Liz Sroka as Tali'Zorah, Ali Hillis as Liara T'Soni, Steve Blum as Grunt, and many others. It's simply one of the finest casts imaginable.

UNIVERSE

Of all the video game universes I've seen (and I've seen a lot), Mass Effect might have the deepest and most well-constructed universe in video games. In two games, BioWare has managed to create a universe that quite a few have said is up there with Star Wars and Star Trek. Part of this is helped with the Codex, an in-game encyclopedia that gives explanations for EVERYTHING!

Seriously, the codex doesn't just give the basic information, it gives the tiniest details possible, like the diets, cultures and even religious practices of aliens species, the way all of the technology works, etc. It's really a wonder to read through it and realize that somebody had to think all of this stuff out, and the fact that they try to keep the series pretty grounded for a space opera, makes it even more impressive. They REALLY did their research.

The politics of the Citadel Council and their interaction with humanity, the newcomer of the galaxy, is part of what made the first game so memorable. They were complex and made for some riveting storytelling which showed the tensions between the governing body of galactic society and the ambitious human society.

The Citadel Council is represented by the three most powerful species of the galaxy. From L-R: Turian, Asari, and Salarian. The tensions between them and the ambitious newcomer, humanity, are brilliantly displayed

Throw in the Spectres, the sword of the Council so to speak, who answer only to the Council. This gives some great subtext about vigilantism, however in this case the vigilantism is government-sanctioned creating an interesting paradox. Shepard, being the first human Spectre, is above any law which is a great way to put the moral choices of the game in play.

While Mass Effect 1 dealt with the politics of the galaxy, Mass Effect 2 dealt with the cultures of the galaxy. It really went in-depth into species by allowing us to see them and hear from them. Sure we got to talk with krogan and a quarian in the last game but we didn't get much beyond that and not many differing opinions from other members of the species. Mass Effect 2 changed that, allowing us to see them in their natural environments and have meaningful conversations with other members of the species.

All of the alien species are fascinating in their own ways and break many of the stereotypes that would be associated with them, or at least a few characters break species stereotypes.

The quarian politics in particular were fascinating. The quarian admirals (basically politicians) were all genuinely well-meaning but all had differing opinions, with some believing in attempting peace with geth and others believing in all-out war and opinions in-between. The politicians were all deceptive, under-handed, and cruelly manipulative, but you could sense that all of them felt they were that for the right reasons. The fact that they're all so bitterly divided and that they're a race of nomads is part of the reason for their deception and underhanded tactics. Seeing where they go in Mass Effect 3 is one of the main draws for me in the story.

Quarian politics are deceptive, underhanded, divided, and one of the most fascinating parts of the Mass Effect universe.

Going to the krogan homeworld was also one of the high points of Mass Effect 2, seeing the consequences of them being a warrior race. A totally nuked out homeworld (self-inflicted) and they are struggling to survive due to the genophage, a sterility plague that causes only 1/1000 pregnancies to be viable, inflicted on them in a war that they had with the council species around 1000 years ago. This has in many ways, made them even more barbaric as they constantly struggle to survive and keep the species going making for an excellent deconstruction of the warrior culture that we see in sci-fi.

In the end, the Mass Effect universe is so multi-layered and well-built that it's truly a wonder. It's one of the biggest draws of the series, as there's never been a universe in video games (or almost anywhere else) with quite as much thought put into it.

CONCLUSION

With Mass Effect 3 just seven months away, I'm probably more excited than I've ever been for a game. With one or two exceptions, everything that I've seen from it looks very promising and it appears that it is going to be an absolutely incredible conclusion to this wonderful series. I hope this post has explained, in detail, all of the reasons why this series has had such an incredible impact on me. For those of you who have never played the series, go find the first now, import that save to Mass Effect 2, and get ready for Mass Effect 3 on March 6.

Thanks for reading and keeping up with me for 100 posts.