The dust has settled from the storm of controversy that followed the epic release of Mass Effect 3, and the multitude of changes brought with the Extended Cut DLC. But now that we’ve had time to come to terms with exactly what did and did not take place in BioWare‘s end to the trilogy, we can’t help realizing that several loose ends we’d hoped to see tied up simply were not.
Despite what the extra end content brought, and what the newly-released Leviathan story DLC will expand upon, we’re still scratching our heads on a few key issues.
It would be unreasonable to think that the development team would answer every single question raised in Mass Effect 3, since the entire Mass Effect series has explored more than a handful of elements of science fiction and galactic history. But it’s not just the vague answers or avoided resolution we take issue with, but the extremely promising aspects of the fiction that were forgotten altogether.
There are sure to be more than just these nagging plot threads that the franchise’s fans still cling to, but we’ve narrowed down the areas we personally feel could have used a bit more attention.
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1. Element Zero/Dark Energy
Anyone who was more than a little interested in the science fiction technology behind the game’s universe likely realized one thing before long: science fiction isn’t what BioWare was really interested in. Despite naming their gaming franchise after a scientific phenomenon known as the ‘Mass Effect,’ the means through which ‘Dark Energy’ is harnessed to allow Faster-Than-Light travel were quickly cast aside in favor of blockbuster action.
For science-fiction fans, the type of technology that was made possible by the titular phenomenon was some of the best seen in a video game in years. By imparting infinite mass to infinitesimal pieces of metal, the need for large and cumbersome weapon ammunition was gone. The plausible conceit allowed soldiers to fire their weapons ad infinitum, worrying only about their weapons overheating. The need to scrounge the battlefield for ammunition or clips was happily alleviated, and all because of the science fiction the developers had come up with.
Until Mass Effect 2 came along, and turned those weapons into… guns. Guns that need clips to function. For Mass Effect 3 those guns got a lot cooler, but this was just one way that the science fiction was used to distinguish itself from other futuristic shooters, rather than serving as grounds for exploration. As a result, the impact that the harnessing of ‘Element Zero,’ a chemical element outside of our own periodic table was only seen in military applications. We’re not saying that the games should have been less exciting or removed from the battlefield (not right now anyway), but it’s hard to think that the writers showed the most innovative aspects of their universe.
Physicists and technological innovators could line up to provide insights into just how massively human life could be affected by the discovery of an element with zero Atomic weight. How many incredible catastrophes could take place when traveling faster than the speed of light? How would Earth’s societies function with that kind of power at their disposal? These were issues that might normally be explored in the extended novels as well, but the original game’s interest in elements of life not being attacked by bullets or grenades faded quickly. As a result, the promise of the ‘Mass Effect’ was never really explored to the extent that we would have liked.
Nor to the extent that the writer of the first games, Drew Karpyshyn would have liked. He’s even gone on record saying that the original series was supposed to be all about dark energy, with the Reapers once living beings that were wiping out sentient life to keep dark energy from destroying the entire galaxy. Biotics and advanced travel would send dark energy out of balance once galactic civilization got too large, demanding that it be purged to prevent annihilation. Ultimately these building blocks proved fruitless, and we can’t help but feel that it shows.
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The Rachni have gone to Tuchanka, right?
Ah yes the ammo clips, one of the many reasons ME2 was a deeply inferior product.
To be honest, I’m not really sure on the point of this list, a game can only be so long or so big and the ME trilogy is amongst the biggest and diverse there is, so complaining that a few things went unexplained, especially considering the wealth of data available in the games themselves to read, seems pointless.
You’re kidding about the ME2 comment, right? ME2 was the best of the series and one of the best games of all times.
That’s interesting. I agree about ME2 being the worst. I’m not sure if I still prefer 1 over 3 like I think I do… I need to give 1 another go.
Srsly? ME2 worse than ME3? I can understand someone picking ME1 over ME2, but there is no way that ME3 is better than ME1 or ME2. No matter your position on the ME3 ending, it was a slap in the face to all of the fans. If you choose to believe IT than we still don’t have an ending, if you choose to take the ending at Face value then there are tons of plot holes that are never explained. Quite frankly, no matter which way you cut it ME3 was no where near the level of ME1/2 in terms of the story line. Maybe you just really like the MP?
In terms of…? I certainly applaud the more heavy hitting combat overhaul, and the introduced characters and locations in ME2… but it felt dumbed down franchise-wise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great game. In my opinion, funnest of the series. But not necessarily the most interesting. It was far from flawless. And I have to say the biggest problem franchise wide from 1 to 2 to 3 was that while the notable nuances of the lore (infinite ammo due to smart-shear eezo tech, dozens of improving mods, dark energy, dangerous experiments on Noveria)were introduced fantastically, their prolonged and final addresses were either lackluster or absent altogether.
Not for me.
ME1 had better story, legit exploration, actual customization and a market that mattered and a unique take on tech/sci-fi (including the ammo).
ME2, instead of improving, dropped a TON of features (a la Dragon Age 2) and instead improved only action.
ME1 is my fave of the series.
For me:
ME1: Best RPG of the series; terrible combat mechanics though. Firefights felt very slow and cumbersome.
ME2: Good RPG in many aspects, good combat mechanics. For me it had the perfect balance of RPG and Shooter.
ME3: Bad RPG, awesome combat mechanics. For me, ME3 was all about combat, it nearly got rid of its RPG aspect altogether.
So for me the reason ME2 is my favorite is because it had balance. Mass effect 1 is good for people who are more into the exploration and RPG side of ME. ME3 is good for people who are more into the combat of ME and not so much the RPG. ME2 can satisfy both of those needs. I don’t know what features it dropped that you are referring to? The only noticeable thing was the switch from weapons that over heated to weapons that needed thermal clips. But that’s about it that I can think of. It kept all of the abilities that different classes could use and it improved on ME1′s bad shooting mechanics. For me ME2 was a win win. It could have benefited from a little more in depth exploration like you could do in ME1 with the Mako, but it was still a really good game in my books.
I’m inclined to agree, honestly. I’m a bit of a universe freak, so I place a high emphasis on not just the action, but more so where and how the events portrayed are taking place. And also, agreed to the streamlining of the game. Jumping from ME1 to ME2, it just felt like the entire original mechanics had been revamped to the point of being unrecognizable. Improved cover mechanics, curved biotic blasts, expanded arsenal of weapons, and orders to individual squad members- win. For the action oriented gamer, I would say it’s just the fight-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventure that gets third person action junkies something to hype over. However, it was definitely dumbed down in regards to how straightforward the story was.
Your facetiousness is noted, but that’s not what we’re claiming. As we said, it was one of the ways its fiction distinguished it from other sci-fi. Instead of adding on that, it abandoned it quite quickly and became just stereotypical future setting #3.
I also think welcoming a conversation about aspects of the game’s fiction that we would have loved to see explored in greater depth (especially when small doses were so memorable) has more of a ‘point’ than simply saying a conversation shouldn’t take placer at all.
We’re all Mass Effect fans here! Nobody needs to defend the series, we just have questions. Questions we would have enjoyed dealing with.
I thought we knew that Cerberus set up ‘accidents’ to expose humans to eezo? And that if the actual rachni queen is allowed to live in me3, they take over Tuchanka if the krogan aren’t cured?
I think the Rachni were only used in passing throughout the series is because they’re a pretty obvious ripoff of the Buggers from Orson Scott Card’s Ender series. Any large-scale confrontation with them would be a repeat of Ender’s Game, and any further emotional attachment would be a lot like Speaker For The Dead and the subsequent novels.
I’m not knocking BioWare for a lack of creativity – the incredible breadth of Mass Effect speaks for itself. I think that the Rachni were used exactly as much as they needed to be – any less would have been nebulous, any more would have bordered on plagiarism. As it is, they’re a nice nod to one of scifi’s most beloved stories.
Unanswered question #6: How is Shepard alive in the breath scene?
Unanswered question #7: Why is the Star Child such a liar?
Unanswered question #8: Why does Shepard have a mystery wound on the Citadel?
Unanswered question #9: Why does Bioware break canon at the end if the endings are to be taken at face value? ex: TIM’s space magic, Shepard dies in ME2 from something very similar to what happened to him in ME3′s ending. Why does he live now?
There are many unanswered questions that Bioware needs to address.