Need to get up to speed on Mass Effect before you play the sequel? Then read on…

Back in 1949, Joseph Campbell – a respected mythologist and lecturer – wrote a book entitled The Hero With A Thousand Faces. In it he described and proved that a common structure was evident in successful stories, from modern cinema to ancient myth and beyond. Good stories have commonalities that once acknowledged leave many aghast at how exactly we didn’t realise we were being told the same tale, rejigged indefinitely, until the end of time. George Lucas will be the first to thank Campbell for his work, having stuck rigidly to Campbell’s hypothesis in both Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

The reasons why these elements are so successful is another altogether more wordy text, but suffice it to say, the hero, the bad guy, the mentor, the call to adventure, the reluctance to the call, the becoming and the ultimate success and ascension have been with us since bearskin pants were the latest fad to sweep the hillock. The success of Mass Effect’s story can be blamed at least partially on its adherence to ancient forms – a fact that’s odd both for a sci-fi and because some have bogusly used it as a means to criticise.

But it also owes a great deal to historical context, a background lightly trodden but of increasing importance as your quest progresses. Like so many sci-fi greats in the world of film (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Moon) Mass Effect offers a brief preface. A small body of text to embody your time and place in the universe. It reads: “In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilisation. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artefacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time. They called it the greatest discovery in human history. The civilisations of the galaxy call it… Mass Effect.”

The overarching themes of the story are cyclic. Civilisation is born, it lives and is wiped out to start again. In what we assume to be the beginning, the Protheans leave advanced technology, including the unfeasibly huge space-bound Citadel, lying around the galaxy ready for developing civilisations to use as a springboard to a new age of spacefaring war and diplomacy. The assumption is that the Protheans designed and built this tech, but of course – you didn’t think there wouldn’t be spoilers, did you? – as it turns out, all life in the universe grew from a single dreadful moment in time when the Reapers wiped it all out. The Protheans found the tech just as humans and other civilised alien races did.

As Shepard, your initial problems are comparatively minor; the settlement of a few bitter squabbles between alien races who each represent a pair of chemically reactive archetypal facets of human personality. The Turians – pride and prejudice. The Salarians – cold-hearted logic and mistrust. The Krogans – fear and aggression. The Hanar – religion and ignorance. The list goes on, but at its most basic level, there’s a staple bipolar commodity at play that enables the story scenes of Mass Effect to deliver in a way that few other games have managed. There’s irony in this simple approach reaping such huge rewards, but the benefits are there for all to see. Encountering other members of an already familiar race, for example, enabled the game to skip over the personality introductions and instead launch itself from the ample jetty of preconceived assumptions it had earlier implanted.

… continued

Questions We Need Answered In Mass Effect 2

What will become of the Geth?
It may seem an oddment to concern ourselves with this faceless robotic race, but the Geth were victims in this too when you really think about it. What will become of them with the Reapers having received a Shepard-spanking?

Which characters will be alive/dead?
Decisions were made that decided the fate of main characters. This question acts as a stand-in for more overarching concerns about how much our moral behaviour (or entire lack of it), will carry over to Mass Effect 2.

Will the Krogans survive?
Having been genetically gelded, this loveable but aggressive race took yet another drubbing throughout Mass Effect. How many are left, and will we get the chance to make a difference?

Did anyone save Kaiden?
Really. We had the opportunity to save either the lippy good-looking himbo, or the beautiful Ashley. Did anyone save Kaiden when it came to the crunch? No. Will he be appearing in Mass Effect 2 then? Oops, we just answered question 2.

Will there be more-decisive fist slamming?
Fists met open palm in repetitive animation syndrome far too often for our liking. Will there be other means to express decisiveness? Perhaps with a Bruce Buffer-style turn or a small but serious jig.