I can’t get enough of Mass Effect 2. I’ve spent nearly all of my play time over the last three weeks with it, hardly touching any other games. Looking at its impressive debut at #2 on January’s NPD rankings after only six days on shelves, I’m not alone. And with all that love comes A LOT of coverage in the enthusiast press in this immediate post-release honeymoon period.
Mass Effect's' story is driven by players' choices - rooting it in the here and now
There’s been some bitching backlash on Twitter about ME2 coverage fatigue this week. And if you’re suffering from it, well… this is probably not the post for you. Sorry. Perhaps a link to this awesome site will make up for it? Cool.
Aaaanyways, there has also been some really excellent discussion around the game. Be sure and check out Rebel FM’s full hour of thoughtful banter (with some very minor spoilers) and a particularly good episode from the 1Up guys.
All these very qualified games journos have lauded the way choices the player makes throughout ME2 impact the story. Sure, BioWare games almost all have some level of this “choose your own adventure” mechanic, but it really sings this time out. The choices feel natural. As a result, I found myself making my in-game decisions based more upon what I actually felt was right (or at least justified) given the circumstances, rather than explicitly trying to play either the badass or boy scout role. And in the end, my character was more believable as a hero with shades of gray.
I wonder if this approach to decision-driving storytelling actually handicaps ME2 it in the nostalgia department. If it had come out 10 years ago when I was younger and obnoxious less patient, my playthrough (and by extension, my Commander Shepard) would be completely different. I’d probably go Rogue more often, my character would be kind of a jerk, and the body count would be a lot higher. If I were to blow the dust off that game today at 28 years old, I’d play it just as I am now, with more balanced choices.
The most elegant example I’ve seen of nostalgia-by-way-of-videogame was in the 1988 CLASSIC (and sick day movie favorite of yours truly) Big. In the movie’s third act, adult Josh is playing through the same adventure game that we see young Josh playing as the film opens:
He makes the same choices in both playthroughs, and that’s what makes Josh remember what it’s like to be kid. I’m not sure anyone could, or would even want to, play through ME2 the exact same way from different stages in their life. So does that make it… unnostalgic? Non-nostalgic?
