Which is the Best
Mass Effect Game?
The Mass Effect trilogy is one of the most well know,
well-loved and arguably best trilogy’s in gaming. There are many high points
throughout all three games but I’m asking the question which is best? I’ll put
it down to categories to find the best Mass Effect game in my own humble
opinion.
Plot.
It’s important to understand what plot actually is as it is
pretty confusing. The plot is the events that make up the story and these
events will relate in a sequence to create the story. This isn’t the same as premise
which is the idea of what is going to happen. So with that in mind we can
quickly eliminate ME2 from this category as thinking about it, it barely even
has a plot. The premise is to stop the
Collectors but the events don’t really lead up to this ultimate goal. The side
stories with the characters and loyalty missions are interesting but don’t
build up to the Collector threat in any way.
So we have ME1 and ME3 and personally I think ME1 has a
better plot. ME1 certainly has the most coherent narrative of the trilogy and
while ME3 has the more epic and emotional moments ME1 has the events build on
top of each other to build the plot and impact the characters. I also think the
twists work better in ME1 and I’d be remised to not mention that infamous ME3
ending. So the winner here is ME1.
Protagonist.
Which game did Shepard the best? I understand he/she is a
blank slate to project ourselves onto but I’d argue the character still needs
to grow as a result of the experiences throughout the trilogy. ME2 Shepard
doesn’t really grow at all and as I said earlier is not really relevant to the
plot. So once again I’m left with ME1 and ME3.
ME3 is interesting as we do get to experience Shepard’s loss
of sanity at parts of the games through his stresses and pressures of what he’s
doing. The dream sequences in particular appear to focus on this but the
interactions with characters on the Normandy (the one where Shepard snaps at
Joker stands out to me) show how he’s being affected by what’s going on. ME1
also does well with Shepard as this game really makes us feel the progression
of the character from soldier to Spectre and then throughout the plot. This was
a tougher one to call but again I think I’ll need to go with ME1 as I think
Shepard has more relevance on the Plot in ME1 than in ME3.
Side Characters.
It probably sounds like I’m just going to say ME1 is better
in every way, maybe say that the second 2 games are just pandering to the
filthy casuals who have the nerve to play the games the hard-core and far superior
gamers like. Yes that was a joke and ME2 wins this category without question. All
three games are excellent in this category but I feel that ME2 was the one
where they got the most focus and development, especially through loyalty
missions for the squad mates.
I liked the characters in ME1 but I didn’t find myself
getting really attached until ME2. You deal with things that are far more
personal in ME 2 and as a result these characters begin to feel far more real.
ME3 meanwhile has those characters return but you were already so invested
because of ME2.
There are anomalies of course, a lot of these characters
weren’t even in ME1 and the first game had squad mates that weren’t accessible
in ME2. The difference is I found the plot more interesting than side
characters in ME1 while in ME2 the side characters and their stories could
easily make their own game.
Visuals.
I don’t mean graphics when I say visuals, I mean which game
had the most interesting environments and style. ME1 had an interesting style
with its grainy look to make it look like an old Sci-Fi television show. ME 2
and 3 meanwhile discarded the grainy look and overall went for brighter
colours.
ME1 has the advantage of having all those worlds to explore
in the Mako, the issue however is they pretty much all looked the same. ME2 had
the most interesting locations to explore with the Citadel, Omega and Illium.
ME3 only had the Citadel while ME1 meanwhile also had multiple explore able
worlds with the likes of Noveria. For the places you visit and the ones I
remember most I’m giving this one to ME2 for having the most interesting visual
locations.
Emotional Impact.
Which game got those feels going? Well in all three games
characters can die and they all have monumental choices to make. All three have
emotional impact but really ME3 cannot be matched in this regard. This game had
some of the saddest deaths I can think of in my time gaming, Not just
individual deaths impact you either, everything is on such an enormous scale
and worlds being destroyed and possible extinction is something that really has
Shepard on edge.
The sad moments are big but the lighter moments can but just
as emotional. Chances are if you’re playing ME3 you enjoy the camaraderie and
friendship between characters and moments like shooting bottles with Garrus can
be just impactful as any other. These games make you feel like you’re really
attached to these characters and moments like this really highlight that so
without doubt ME3 wins this one.
Gameplay.
These are games so gameplay is important. The shooting
element is obviously important in a game where you shoot bad guys and ME3
naturally has the best shooting mechanics. They refined the shooting in ME2
which has already refined the shooting in ME1 and added some good new features such
as the ability to roll and the improvement to the melee system. I also thought
ME3 had the best level design in terms of what you had to do as you played
through. The focus on verticality was nice as it made the levels feel less like
walking from shooting gallery to shooting gallery and put greater emphasis on a
tactical approach. Despite the occasional turret section ME3 combat was best
without doubt.
ME3’s gameplay falls down with the more auto dialogue
included in the game however. ME2 was better in this regard I felt as was ME1
however the interrupt system makes me prefer ME2 as you can impact
conversations in more proactive ways. Overall though ME3 didn’t have so much
auto dialogue that it made the game feel like I wasn’t contributing and having
less focus on the paragon/renegade system was a positive so this category is
ME3’s.
Verdict.
This blog post hasn’t been very conclusive has it? Each game
has won 2 categories and I genuinely didn’t plan it like that. Maybe I could do
more categories but I think what it shows is it depends on what matters most to
you in a game. My personal favourite is ME3 but a strong argument could be made
for any game in the series. I guess that makes sense really, it’d explain why
the series is so popular with such a large range of gamers and why people cared
so much about controversies such as the ending. If nothing else it proves
gaming can tell epics as well as anything else if you’re dumb and still won’
believe it so that’s something.
No comments:
Post a Comment