As I discussed earlier, ultimately winning
Mass Effect is simply reaching the end of the story by defeating all the bad guys and protecting the good guys. Commander Shepard must return to the Citadel and prevent Saren from unleashing the Reapers on the galaxy. There are a few ways to do this though combat is a must. To get to the top of the Citadel Tower, Shepard and his crew must fight through a horde of geth and krogan mercenaries. When the player reaches Citadel control Saren confronts him/her and prepares for the "final confrontation." Here is where the player can make his/her first choice on how to finish the game. If he/she is persuasive enough, he/she can convince the heavily indoctrinated Saren that there is enough good left in him to change his ways. It reminds me strongly of Darth Vader's transformation in
Return of the Jedi except instead of the destroying the real bad guy, Saren kills himself and allows Shepard access to Citadel control.
After taking control of the hub of the galaxy, Shepard has another option available to him. The Counsel is under heavy siege in their ship and Shepard can give the order to the humans to move in and save them or to let them die. This is one of the character defining moments for Commander Shepard. If he is a racist and cruel fellow he will likely allow them to be vaporized, but a paragon Shepard, concerned with the well being of all the galaxy rather than just humanity should probably rescue the Counsel.
After making this decision, the fleet will attack the giant Reaper when Shepard and company are ambushed by a reanimated Saren, with all organic material melted away to reveal a robotic shell. This creature is controlled by the Reaper and must be fought by Shepard and his friends in a death match. If Shepard dies, the player loses, but killing the droid will result in victory. The game is virtually over. A cinematic of the Reaper being blown up and the heroes being placed in peril by flying debris sets up gamers to think Shepard is dead. But of course, he/she strides heroically out of the wreckage to fight another day (or maybe not; see
Mass Effect 2 teaser). A final interactive conversation between your mentor and the ambassador (includes the Counsel if they survive) decides who will take charge of humanity and then the game ends and the credits roll. Victory is yours!
Rewards throughout the game that count as minor winning conditions take the form of solving the problems of each planet you visit. Shepard travels to many planets but must visit at least five and take care of some scripted business there. The reactions of the characters there as well as your Journal tell you when to move on because the planet has been "won." There are also achievements that can be earned to increase your Gamerscore, something that is meaningful to some players. Achievements include "Pistol Expert" (register 150 Pistol Kills: +10 gamerscore), "Tactician" (complete playthrough with shield damage greater than health damage: +25 gamerscore), "Geth Hunter" (register 250 Synthetic enemy kills: +25 gamerscore), and other such goals.
I really like that it is up to the player to judge their actions as "wins" or "losses." If you want to be a bastard and ignore pleas for aid and kill those that annoy you the game does not call you a loser, whether you are or not. You can win any way you want. I generally try to win like a hero though this is not always realistic. Even though it may be the "nice guy" choice to save a few hostages now, it makes more logical sense (to me, at least) to take down the terrorist leader and prevent him from killing millions more in other plots. I've never tried completing the game as a balance between two extremes but by the way Shepard justifies his actions, this would seem to make him an inconsistent character. How can a person say, "[I'm not like the Batarians, I wouldn't let those people die]" and then try to defend a sacrifice for the greater on another world with "[Sometimes you have to make tough choices. Better to let a few die so that many more could live]." The game is good at defining a specific character based on either a Renegade or a Paragon but a mixture of the two wouldn't be very congruous.
As I discussed earlier, ultimately winning Mass Effect is simply reaching the end of the story by defeating all the bad guys and protecting the good guys. Commander Shepard must return to the Citadel and prevent Saren from unleashing the Reapers on the galaxy. There are a few ways to do this though combat is a must. To get to the top of the Citadel Tower, Shepard and his crew must fight through a horde of geth and krogan mercenaries. When the player reaches Citadel control Saren confronts him/her and prepares for the "final confrontation." Here is where the player can make his/her first choice on how to finish the game. If he/she is persuasive enough, he/she can convince the heavily indoctrinated Saren that there is enough good left in him to change his ways. It reminds me strongly of Darth Vader's transformation in Return of the Jedi except instead of the destroying the real bad guy, Saren kills himself and allows Shepard access to Citadel control. 
After taking control of the hub of the galaxy, Shepard has another option available to him. The Counsel is under heavy siege in their ship and Shepard can give the order to the humans to move in and save them or to let them die. This is one of the character defining moments for Commander Shepard. If he is a racist and cruel fellow he will likely allow them to be vaporized, but a paragon Shepard, concerned with the well being of all the galaxy rather than just humanity should probably rescue the Counsel. 
After making this decision, the fleet will attack the giant Reaper when Shepard and company are ambushed by a reanimated Saren, with all organic material melted away to reveal a robotic shell. This creature is controlled by the Reaper and must be fought by Shepard and his friends in a death match. If Shepard dies, the player loses, but killing the droid will result in victory. The game is virtually over. A cinematic of the Reaper being blown up and the heroes being placed in peril by flying debris sets up gamers to think Shepard is dead. But of course, he/she strides heroically out of the wreckage to fight another day (or maybe not; see Mass Effect 2 teaser). A final interactive conversation between your mentor and the ambassador (includes the Counsel if they survive) decides who will take charge of humanity and then the game ends and the credits roll. Victory is yours! 
Rewards throughout the game that count as minor winning conditions take the form of solving the problems of each planet you visit. Shepard travels to many planets but must visit at least five and take care of some scripted business there. The reactions of the characters there as well as your Journal tell you when to move on because the planet has been "won." There are also achievements that can be earned to increase your Gamerscore, something that is meaningful to some players. Achievements include "Pistol Expert" (register 150 Pistol Kills: +10 gamerscore), "Tactician" (complete playthrough with shield damage greater than health damage: +25 gamerscore), "Geth Hunter" (register 250 Synthetic enemy kills: +25 gamerscore), and other such goals. 
I really like that it is up to the player to judge their actions as "wins" or "losses." If you want to be a bastard and ignore pleas for aid and kill those that annoy you the game does not call you a loser, whether you are or not. You can win any way you want. I generally try to win like a hero though this is not always realistic. Even though it may be the "nice guy" choice to save a few hostages now, it makes more logical sense (to me, at least) to take down the terrorist leader and prevent him from killing millions more in other plots. I've never tried completing the game as a balance between two extremes but by the way Shepard justifies his actions, this would seem to make him an inconsistent character. How can a person say, "[I'm not like the Batarians, I wouldn't let those people die]" and then try to defend a sacrifice for the greater on another world with "[Sometimes you have to make tough choices. Better to let a few die so that many more could live]." The game is good at defining a specific character based on either a Renegade or a Paragon but a mixture of the two wouldn't be very congruous.
10/10
ReplyDeleteinteresting that there are 2 ways to play the character - good guy or bad. get replayability and player has to think about hteir choices. That would be fun to study