What you are about to read is very high level. There are so many details left out that it won’t seem like a game could come of it. But I assure you, games have spawned from far less. It’s at this point I mention I’ve not played, read, or watched any videos of Mass Effect 3. Well, I watched the first announcement trailer with that British fella in the clock tower, but that was it. Also note that what I’m proposing does not follow the current Mass Effect timeline.
The reason I’m doing this is to exercise my brain. Well, that and I dislike the way in which Mass Effect was handled after the first game. I feel like they abandoned a couple of core concepts, of which I will explain just below.
One of my favorite things about the Mass Effect series is that civilization develops near the mass relays, thus making it easier for them to be found and harvested. I don’t know why but that amuses me. It can be an interesting plot device.
The second thing I love about the Mass Effect series is that races aren’t sure about the human species. They think we move fast and aren’t ready for the responsibilities that come with being a member of an intergalactic society. So there’s tension, that’s useful.
The thing I dislike is that Shepherd is a veritable Don Draper. He travels the universe in search of his next sexual conquest. He’s got no family, no wife, and no home to return to. I, as this seemingly unstoppable man have nothing to fight for, except to save several races that may or may not like my species joining their intergalactic club.
Using the things I mentioned above, I’m going to rewrite the Mass Effect games. This won’t be dialogue, but a high level idea of how the games would play out according to me. There are some holes that will need filling in. I’m no developer, filling a game with things to do isn’t my specialty. I’m going to provide a backbone. The ribs, heart, and lungs will have to come from someone else.
Mass Effect 1:
The player is introduced to Shepherd, a middle aged veteran of a futuristic Earth military force tasked with protecting space fearing diplomats. He’s been a military man his entire life, that’s all he knows. He’s reached the highest rank and now spends his days attending dinner parties with dignitaries.
Shepherd's wife, (insert name here), is an archaeologist. She spends most of her waking moments studying ancient burial sites and artifacts. Since the discovery of the mass relays she’s spent a considerable amount of time away from home. This has caused a strain on the relationship, though in Shepherds early career he spent a good amount of time away from home and she understood. He is less understanding as his pension affords her the ability to stay home, but she insists on travelling.
While attending a dinner party Shepherd is handed a note that says “incoming transmission from (insert system name here) URGENT)”.Knowing that his wife is in this system he is of course alarmed. He excuses himself and finds the nearest phone transmission technology around. His wife is patched through and she tells him of a momentous discovery. She tells him of the Protheans, an ancient race that disappeared some years ago. She can’t tell him more as that’s all she has, a name. His interest is peaked and he congratulates her on the find. They speak a few more moments about travel plans and what this means for her work.
After a few minutes of back and forth an alarm sounds and it’s coming from his wife's end. Shepherd, concerned, asks what it’s all about. His wife walks away for a moment and the view screen is empty for a moment or two. It’s the future, maybe Skype 500 or something? Anyway, a few people run by in the background and his wife finally reappears and is out of breath. She speaks frantically of an attack on a neighboring colony with no survivors. They’re headed her way. They have to evacuate and her feed cuts out.
Distressed, Shepherd excuses himself from the party and contacts the highest authority he knows. He requests a team and asks that they be sent to the system and planet where his wife is located. He is granted permission and they leave.
Once Shepherd arrives in the last system his wife's research team was located he finds destruction. There are no survivors or bodies left behind. On the planets where research was taking place the outposts are destroyed. There’s no culprit, and nobody left to tell the story.
At some point a member of Shepherds team finds a terminal with an entry from his wife providing a bit more detail. She says they’re leaving the planet and following some coordinates she found in the ruins. The coordinates are encoded and there is no cypher to be found.
Shepherd and his team are left to find the cypher or find another means of tracking his wife and her team. While they’re searching the foes return and Shepherd and team are forced to leave the area. When they return through the relay from whence they came they insist on it being shut down so as to prevent whatever attacked them from coming through.
Shutting the relay down of course means that any civilization on the other side is unable to pass through. Shepherd is now light years from his wife, and billions of helpless societies are left to fend for themselves.
It is at this point that Mass Effect 1’s credits roll and fans wait in anticipation for Mass Effect 2. If it seems like this would be a short game you’re probably right. I envision it being chalk full of things to do, people to talk to, and meaningful relationships being formed or conveyed. It isn’t going to be a romp around the universe. You’ll be able to traverse planets in a few star systems, but they’ll mean something. There will be no throw away planets that exist solely for mining. Oh, and mining is out.
Imagine this game as “The Last Express” in space. Only the train is replaced by a spaceship and Jordan Mechner writes all the dialogue and fills the game spaces with so much detail you don’t know what to do with yourself. I’m a firm believer that a short, well written experience is better than a long mediocre one.
I’ll post the story for Mass Effect 2 in a few days. It’s late and my greatest video game music album is starting to repeat tracks. Definitely share your thoughts as this is a just for fun exercise. Don’t take it too seriously, unless you really like it. If that’s the case you should tell everyone you know.