RETRO! 'Mass Effect' | Part 4
Gigamov Gamer David Nolan continues to record his immediate reactions to the 'Mass Effect' games as he returns to the action-shooter-RPGs for a fourth instalment...
Zoë Shepard has made for the corporate world of Noveria instead of the new lead of Virmire. In hindsight, it seems like the choice should be the other way around for narrative flow, but that doesn’t become clear until the game comes to an end, so this is the choice that’s been made.
We’re off to find Saren’s second-in-command and, depending on your choices potentially, your paramour’s mother, Benezia. The Normandy arrives in the midst of a snowstorm with a surprisingly hostile welcome considering this is the one world we travel to that isn’t under attack.
The corporate security threatens you with firearms as soon as you step off your ship, and tells you not to try anything. Zoë is not amused by this, despite her paragon nature, and argues with the guards until a higher-up defuses the situation and tells you that the Asari you’re seeking has indeed been seen in the last few days, and headed up the mountains to a facility owned by Saren’s shell company. However, to go after her you’ll first need clearance to leave the station by completing a few small quests.
An annoying salarian is the boss of this port, and he has no interest in helping an arbiter of galactic law, being a corrupt businessman as he is. Thus we must help his Assistant/Undercover Internal Affairs Detective uncover his corruption. After helping a Turian gather evidence and convincing him to testify, the IA detective now has everything she needs, and arrests the boss, granting you the ability to continue on your main quest.
While the port is basically just one section of a longer level, it still seems a little underused. There’s a store but not much else, and even the number of people seems lacking for what’s supposed to be a gateway to an entire planet - even a small one. There’s also barely any side-quests meaning you have little reason to delay your trip up the mountain in the Mako.
Right before you go, you have an important gameplay vs. narrative choice to make. The Asari you’re seeking is Liara’s mother, and clearly the narrative should encourage you to bring her along; however, since Liara is a Biotic Specialist, she could very well cause your squad to become unbalanced if you are also playing any of the biotic-using classes, or going for a specific achievement. Unfortunately, this problem comes up frequently in this series, and you can’t help but feel as though the crunch of releasing the game quickly had a negative impact on this aspect of the game. There aren’t many reasons as to why you shouldn’t be able to take your whole squad on most missions, but this is a digression.
The drive up the mountain to the next main part of the mission is rather disappointing. There are a few enemies and turrets to deal with but the design of the road means that you have to be careful not to drive off the edge. You might think that the game is trying to hint that you should clear out the enemies on foot, but that is prevented by the weather hazard killing you if you stay outside for more than 15 seconds. I understand that they wanted to mix up the driving and make it harder to utilise the strengths of the car but it ends up being more of a grind than a challenge.
Once at the mountain facility, Zoë and her team find it in bad shape. There’s Geth everywhere and some very angry insects that you may or may not have faced on uncharted worlds before now. Winding your way through the facility, you manage to reactivate the power and tram, so now you can follow Benezia; this section overuses the insects’ ability to spawn overhead, and they drop in on you every time you complete a task. It gets old quickly and smacks of padding. Once you get to the final part of the mission - Rift Station, the level develops and becomes more interesting.
There are some survivors hiding out in the Rift Station, giving you the opportunity to find out about the lore of the creatures you’ve been fighting, and complete a couple more side-quests to help keep the survivors going. One will also give you a backdoor into the main boss-fight, potentially helping you save on resources. Zoë Shepard took advantage of this, and the fight with Liara’s mother could begin after a brief standoff.
The fight itself is actually one of the more developed boss fights in the game. There is a powerful mage-type character as the main enemy, with several mooks of varying strengths as support. While not the most original of gameplay designs, it is competently put together and suits its place in the game. After taking Benezia down for the first time, there is a dialogue interlude whereby she will tell you much of Saren’s plans before giving her daughter a tearful farewell. (If you didn’t bring her along, don’t you feel heartless right now?) With one final wave of mooks defeated, Benezia dies in one of the game’s more emotional moments.
Now Shepard has to make another one of the games’ patented ‘BIG CHOICES’. The insects you’ve been fighting are ‘rachni’, and they once threatened the galaxy; they were thought extinct but have since been revived. Now you have a choice: to kill the last remaining queen, or release her and potentially doom millions more. It is a compelling choice which no doubt causes much consideration on a first play-through. However, Zoë doesn’t hesitate, as she will not destroy a species.
The last task is to clear out the remaining feral insects; this challenge requires speed and a willingness to not stop and shoot. It’s not a bad idea but there isn’t much room for error or skill as the whole escape section boils down to luck. In any case, the mission ends with a big explosion and the group returns to the Normandy.
Liara is naturally a little down and wishes to mourn her mother, and so the debriefing is the shortest of the game. Upon talking to the Council, they will disapprove of your decision concerning the rachni either way. While this moment could work to emphasise the series’ desire to portray politics and morality a little more complex than most, it falls flat since it’s the same character that is mad either way. No wonder he became a meme!
At this point, you have one final main mission available to complete; this is actually the point-of-no-return for the game, though there is no warning prior. While there is one more opportunity to complete quests in the uncharted worlds, you can’t turn them in at the Citadel if needed, and it seems weird for the hero to go off surveying for minerals on the other side of the galaxy while arguing with the galactic government that time is running out. As such, we’ll cover the main points about the uncharted missions here before wrapping up the first game in the next instalment.
Some highlights to consider are: the missions where you go after Cerberus for Admiral Kahoku; rescuing a squad of marines from rachni; the ‘loyalty’ missions for Garrus and Wrex; and facing down a thresher maw for the first time.
The Cerberus missions provide great foreshadowing and plenty of backstory for the universe.
The marine rescue mission works as a tough fire fight where you must weigh up whether firepower or mobility is more important.
The ‘loyalty’ missions are full of great character moments and actually give you a reason to explore the universe.
The first time facing is thrilling as it is by far one of the toughest enemies and the biggest in the game. The problem is that these fights start to feel old after the sixth or seventh time, and they can be a little cheap when the monster one-shots you with no way of you knowing that it could.
For every outstanding element this game has to offer, there are of course some downsides: the driving and the monotony; these problems were thankfully dealt with in later games, though you will still appreciate this game’s size as ambitious. Hopefully Andromeda can bring that back with a bit more depth upon its release.
That’s it for now. Next time we will help a salarian squad in a fierce battle, lose a comrade and find Space Troy. The tension is ramping up…
Catch up on David’s previous ‘Mass Effect' instalments HERE!
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