What is the best instalment on the Citadel?

Before the controversy of its final ending and the deflating review of possible franchise killer Andromeda, Mass Effect stood as one of the most popular sci-fi RPGs out there, and was another massive hit for BioWare.

It’s fair to assume that the runaway success of Mass Effect is what made Electronic Arts purchase the Canadian based company, with Mass Effect garnering positive fan and critic reaction alike.

The games themselves tell a story of BioWare, involving its purchase by EA and the changing times of gaming becoming more mainstream and ‘cinematically-inclined’.

Despite the drama and the politics, the games themselves stand the test of time and are all great in their own ways.

But there are big differences between all three games; between UI changes, combat focus, dialogue, graphics, and sexy, sexy pre-order DLCs (sarcasm of course).

For this edition of Sequel Wars, we are going to be focusing on the original trilogy, so we are not including Mass Effect: Andromeda. I haven’t played it, nor do I have a desire to.

So let’s jump on the Normandy and hit that mass relay, as we revisit Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect was released by BioWare in November 2007, a month after Electronic Arts had announced that it had purchased the company, making them one of the publishers of the game, though you wouldn’t know this as there is very little trace of EA branding anywhere in the opening credits or on the game itself.

Whether this was down to EA not wanting to interfere with the initial release or the game being pretty much finished by the time buy-in came about remains to be seen.

In retrospect, this certainly feels like a more BioWare game rather than an EA product. This is down to heavy focus of roleplaying and exploration.

Mass Effect introduces you to a world where humanity have discovered space travel, and surprise, surprise, we’re seen as the underdogs by the other aliens and are treated like a child waving a blowtorch.

We play as Commander Shepard, a war hero/survivor/massive jerkface who, via a mission going wrong, has to save the galaxy from an evil, which, surprise, surprise, no-one believes is coming/has been long extinct.

Now, with all these ‘surprise, surprises’, you may think the story is a cliché-filled science opera. There are certainly, like any story, common stereotypes and character personalities that are seen in the many games (the shy scientist, the grizzled veteran, the cop that doesn’t play the ruuuuuules, man).

Added to this, the villains aren’t exactly captivating and tend to go down the whole “I would rather monologue than actually do something to kill you” route.

Despite this, the game does well in making you care about these characters, and they are all different enough and have their own personalities enough for you to revolve around.

The story in Mass Effect is also particularly captivating, with twists dotted along the narrative and, of course, romances for both genders (although not a gay male character, it would take until the final edition for that happen).

But it isn’t just your companion’s personalities that are pronounced. You determine what kind of Commander you are, with the now famous Paragon and Renegade system.

Streamlining dialogue into three convenient branches on the dialogue (you may have read the term Masseffectation in my previous sequel wars), you can either choose a good, neutral or bad option.

This in itself was a controversial game choice. It obviously adds simplicity and clearly reflects what kind of route you want to go down, but at the same time, removed that added flavour and complexity into creating your own character, and pigeonholing you into either a goody two-shoes or massive knobhead.

This also introduced the idea of what the game says you’re going to say and what it will actually say. While a common mechanic in so many games nowadays, whether it be Fallout 4 or any of the Telltale adventure game series (and it can be argued that this wasn’t the first), but Mass Effect certainly made it popular.

Appearance customisation isn’t as advanced as it would become in the later games, so in this entry, you would have to be content with flipping over the same looking over, with not too much of an aesthetic difference.

Also, the hard decision if you want your helmet on or off.

The apparent shallowness of the dialogue, however, is the antithesis of the rest of the game, which is incredibly detailed and deep. Particularly, in the realm of exploration and character build.

There are six main classes in total, with advanced sub-classes available to unlock further in the game, each with their own talents and perks. This obviously adds a whole host of replay value to the game as you experiment with each class and combination, particularly as you advance to the harder levels.

One particular underrated mechanic was the sheer amount of planets and areas you could explore as you drive around in your planetary exploration vehicle (known as the Mako).

Sure, often or not they would handle like a drunken uncle at a wedding, but just having the ability to ride around and explore different planets was plenty of incentive to invest the hours into the game.

That, and the ending song is probably one of the coolest and well-chosen songs to end a video game.

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 came with a whole host of hype with it. E3 footage looked promising, but also ballsy – as the opening minutes of the game are some of the balliest a sequel has ever done, truly separating itself from its predecessor.

It’s clear to see that Mass Effect 2 came with a surge of investment thanks to the success of the original. With updated graphics, less clunky animations and more “famous” voice actors (Martin Sheen being the big deal) joining in, this clearly had the EA brand and treatment garnished all over.

So did the EA seal of approval help? Did it make Mass Effect 2 overall better than the original? Well, that depends on your perspective.

Mass Effect 2 totally revamps many mechanics of the game. Gone is the beeping of an overheated gun, as that has now been changed to full on ammo, the cover system is improved along with squad orders and combat itself feels more fluid, and in a way more brutal.

As you can tell, a big focus was put on the ‘action’ of this ‘action-adventure RPG’ with the combat being a primary focus on development. This is arguably the biggest point of controversy as it made the game instantly feel more shootery.

This however did improve the combat of its predecessor, which often felt clunky to use, and made it a lot smoother and enjoyable.

This revamp also included better companion commands, so that they are no longer casually lingering in front of enemy fire.

That being said, the number of skills and abilities drops significantly in the sequel, with your powers (still tech, biotic and shooty bang bang) being more refined and specialised.

This of course loses some powers, thus meaning there is a lot of repetition of the same powers between the same characters. At the same time, it definitely cleans up the UI, and makes it easier to access the powers you want.

And with those powers, they are a lot more grander and powerful, and do make you feel like you can take on anything and anyone. The motions and the way enemies are hit and perish is also very satisfactory.

Mass Effect 2, although being a sequel, served as an entry point for many new gamers who may not have been interested in the purer RPG elements of the original and were caught by the improved graphics.

Thus, they did the tried and tested technique of “Say, why don’t you run down all the stuff you did in the last game, which as characters totally know about, but we just need to do check your memory and remove characters who may have died previously”.

This allows the player to craft an experience from the last game if they did not play it and import an old save file. This doesn’t allow to make all the choices in the game, so new players may miss out on some callbacks and reappearances. Which is a shame has it is very enjoyable to see your choices carry onto the next game, which is what one of the main appeals of Mass Effect, and Bioware as a whole, has been all about.

The story itself is a little more complex than “Defeat this person and these people whatever necessary”. You through a series of events end up working for a small pro-human black ops group, briefly mentioned and seen in the first game.

This gives an added justification if you want to be a renegade, and tension between you and your former friends is high.

As per the first game, you get an eclectic mix of companions, with the added bonus that, unlike the previous game where only some of the companions get a little side-quest, every companion has got a task for you to complete, which then links in to the endgame (more on that later).

One gripe was that Mass Effect 2 started introducing DLC companions, one has a pre-order bonus and one further down the line. Not that this is a rarity nowadays, but it showed the signs of how Bioware and EA was now doing business. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing is up to the player.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be an RPG without the option for you to romance one of your crewmates, and with enough choices and species for both male and female (sadly there are no “main” romance options that allow you to be with the same gender – which is finally changed in the next game).

Aside from a few aesthetic changes, with improvements to the graphics (with assets and details no longer “popping in”) and improved direction in the voice acting, one of the biggest additions was the Paragon/Renegade actions.

In the game, you will have a chances to perform deeds that are really helpful and humane, and others where you perform a witty one-liner and blow something up.

Obviously, doing something nice is great and all, but this Renegade option makes it worthwhile to be a loose cannon for a while. Obviously, you don’t know what you’re going to do and it is highly unpredictable, just what a Renegade option should be.

Mass Effect 2 even included an appearance alteration for your character if you are going down the Renegade route (a la Fable, Star Wars etc.), which for the record makes you look evil/creepy/something out of the Terminator.

To the games credit, it added layers on the original to make it that better, but where Mass Effect 2 really shines is how it incorporates your actions in the final sequences, and how your choices and investments affect the story.

Earlier we talked about doing your companions’ side quests, how you need to earn their loyalty to improve the mission. Combining this with ship upgrades, and generally making sure everyone is happy, it all adds to when you go to the flashpoint of your work.

You see the games premise is “This is a suicide mission. You will probably die.” Often in games, we take that for granted, but Mass Effect 2 is great at making you care about the people on this ship, and putting them at risk.

And depending how much effort you have put in and knowing who is good and what, then it could not pay off.

Honestly, Mass Effect 2 had a better endgame than the original because it involved player choice and action, to make it one of the most epic and satisfying endings to a game. It rewarded player effort, which is a great thing to have.

Mass Effect 3

After the fears of Mass Effect 2 subsided and the acclaim came rolling in, immediate hype for the third and final instalment started to set in.

This was the finale. Just like the Return of the Jedi, The Last Crusade or The World’s End, this was the instalment to wrap up what was a great trilogy.

Yet, it is now infamous for the one thing that defines it. And although now fixed, people still remember…

But before we get to that, let us reflect on the sheer excitement of the final instalment, and how much weight we put on it.

Hundreds of hours invested in the previous two games, characters and continuous sub-plots, a grand crescendo was promised to take place, where all your efforts across the first two games would have an effect.

This itself was an ambitious goal, taking even the smallest details and bringing them back to your game. The allure of having every choice be important in the end was enough to make most gamers, including myself, salivate on the thought of playing it.

In terms of marketing and general “EA-ness”, Mass Effect 3 racks up there. Marketing was pushed hard, between viral videos, merchandise and a buffet of pre-order bonuses.

It is obvious to see that Mass Effect 3, specifically the top brass at EA, where aiming to target the ‘mainstream’ fanbase of gamers. Not to sound like a gaming hipster (as I write with my glasses without any lenses, drinking with cinnamon mocha frappuccino and listening to band you never heard of), but the style of gamers that aren’t invested in a 60+ hour campaign mode of storytelling.

This is highlighted through the three modes of the game; Narrative, Role-Playing and Action.

Role-Playing mode was the same style of playing, create a character and combat your way through the baddies. Narrative allowed you to create your character, but made combat easy, allowing you to enjoy the story and world. Action, kept combat, but removed any sense of choice – character customisation, skill choice, dialogue trees, completely gone.

On the one hand, it is somewhat considerate of the developers to include these modes for new players or for players of varying types. At the same time, this reeks of “Come on play our game, we can accomodate you” to players that may not even really understand what’s going on.

Compare this to the original Mass Effect, and it doesn’t even feel like a role-playing game anymore.

When you actually get started, the story keeps the same tone as the second, in that you are stuck in a really bad situation straight from the off.

There was a large cast for the final round, as to be expected, and this obviously changes depending on who has survived the previous two games.

This is what Mass Effect 3 shines at. Sure, a new player may not understand the emotion of seeing an old battle-pal who you haven’t fought beside since the first game, but for those who have literally been waiting years for this moment, it sure does feel special.

A lot of features initially introduced in the second game are exported to the third, with some adjustments and tuning being made. This includes the combat, where new brutal, omniblade action is added.

In fact, most combat feels gritty, and the continued revamp of your powers is continued.

The main challenge of the game is getting enough “assets” – as in you need to band together the armies of the galaxy together in order to fight the greatest evil you have ever faced.

Moral conundrums would obviously arise from this, such as do I do what is morally right or do I do what is good for the overall fight.

This is good feature in knowing how far you need to get, and a measuring stick to where you will end up in the final fight.

But what is their to fight for? Well, there is your previous romance from either Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2, or there is new romances including SAME-SEX GENDER, THEY FINALLY DID IT. (#Progression).

This again, continues to add emotional weight to that all important final fight. Which we will talk about now…

If you are unaware, Mass Effect 3 was the perfect send-off to the trilogy, bar the last 15- 39 minutes of the game.

Where once the promise of total free choice and your efforts and hard work being rewarded, the ending (without spoiling) is essentially an A, B or C choice, a “what ending do you want?” ending.

Disappoint and anger echoed across the fanbase. Campaigns to change the game’s ending were made, to which donational pledges were given to, even it being taken as far as the U.S Federal Trade Commission.

Bioware, desperate to keep some of the good faith from the previous games, created the Extended Cut DLC, hashing out the ending more, removing contradictions and nonsensical scenes.

Although the DLC bandaged the wound to a degree, and soothed off most criticisms, the scar was still there, and is even still there to this day.

Which was better?

On paper Mass Effect 3 should be the better game. With improved graphics, a bigger budget, great combat and core role-playing game mechanics in place, it should be the standout conclusion fans were hoping it to be.

However, the ending left a sour taste in many people’s mouth (including mine). As fans, we shouldn’t demand something be changed or believe it is our right to have something, but the promise of something, only not to receive it, can’t be ignored.

As such, Mass Effect 3 can’t be selected as the best entry, so it is up to the original and sequel.

The original Mass Effect still holds up to this day, despite it’s clunkiness and less than stellar visuals. On story, character and experience alone, Mass Effect is a must-play for anyone who enjoys RPG’s and wants to play some classics.

However, despite my role-playing puritan mind telling me otherwise, Mass Effect 2 strikes a happy medium between exciting shooter and RPG, and is the best entry.

And importantly, as a standalone adventure, it holds up so well. With better combat, mechanics, deeper characters and more exciting set pieces, it builds on the original, and despite some growing pains, does keep the faith to the series.

Thinking back to these games is somewhat melancholic. With news that Bioware will be moving onto their next project, whether that be Anthem or Dragon Age, and Andromeda not being as loved as hoped, it seems as though the Mass Effect series is slowing fading.

The lore still exists, and who knows what will happen in the crazy world of video games, particularly with E3 just around the corner. Maybe it would be best for the series to rest before the next project.

In the meantime, the Mass Effect collection is a quite a common sight online or in second game shops, and is not exactly a bank breaker.

If you are in the mood for a long-term story, with a variety of characters, planets and adventures, there is no better space opera to get invested in.