Mass Effect/Shout Out: Difference between revisions

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** The whole story of the geth uprising, coupled with {{spoiler|Legion's recordings}} draws several similarities to ''[[The Matrix|The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance]]''
* The Spectres' unlimited authority is very much like a [[Lensman]]'s.
* ''Mass Effect's'' story is ''very'' similar in many ways to Welsh astronomer/author [[Alastair Reynolds]]' ''Revelation Space'', which details a [[Jerkass]] archaeologist's study of a long-extinct alien species. Eventually it turns out that {{spoiler|they were suddenly and completely wiped out by a race of sentient machines called the Inhibitors, who appear to destroy any species which has become sufficiently advanced.}} Which is in and of itself a [[Shout -Out]] to the late [[Fred Saberhagen]]'s ''[[Berserker (Literature)|Berserker]]'' series.
** There are a lot of similarities to [[Frederik Pohl]]'s [[Heechee Saga]]. The parallels are numerous. {{spoiler|In ''Mass Effect'', the Protheans fill in for the Heechee as precursors who have mysteriously disappeared, and like the Heechee, the Protheans have also retreated to the Galactic Core, albeit under different circumstances, and the mass relays function essentially the same way as the Heechee ships. Similarly, the Assassins/Foe fill in for the Reapers as the hive minds that live outside the galaxy and from time to time eradicate all sentient organic life.}} Additionally, the hanar may be modeled in part after the Sailship People, who were also tentacled and sheltered drell-like refugees.
* Commander Shepard's name is probably a [[Shout -Out]] to Alan Shepard, the first American in space, as well as [[Stargate Atlantis]]' main character, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. The similarities between mass relays and Stargates further cements the relationship.
** Shepard's name is also a Bibical [[Shout -Out]] {{spoiler|with a hint of foreshadowing.}} John 10:11-'I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.'
*** In fact, there's an entire ''cluster'' of such references - the ''Armstrong'' cluster which has stars named ''Gagarin'' and ''Tereshkova'', amongst other things.
* Lot of elements from the story are similar to the plot in [[Star Control|Star Control 3]].
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** And it looks at you knowingly with a smile.
** Tali calls her combat drone [[Baldurs Gate|Chikktika vas Paus and tells it to "Go for the optics!"]]
* A [[Shout -Out]] to ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (Franchise)/The Restaurant At The End of The Universe|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'': "'Spending a year dead' is a popular tax dodge."
** Dual [[Shout -Out]] to the members of Pink Floyd, who actually pulled it off in the seventies, if [[The Other Wiki]] is to be believed.
*** In addition to the response to one character remarking about your death: "I was only [[The Princess Bride (Film)|mostly dead]]."
* And there's a [[Warhammer 40000|Dakka system.]] Fittingly, Jack takes you here to blow the shit out of a Cerberus facility.
** There's also a heavy pistol called the Carnifex [[Hand Cannon]].
*** ...you guys know the word means "butcher" in [[Gratuitous Latin|Latin]], right?<ref>Additionally, the term appears in a second place in 40K: it's also the name of the gauntlet-mounted surgery kit Space Marine Apothecaries wear. *Also you know,the giant bio-tank Tyranid....</ref>
** Jack also has a [[Shout -Out]] to [[Babylon 5]]. Has anyone else has a good look at the tattoos on her [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cCl5i7abykg/TbwuYnb2CKI/AAAAAAAAARM/Kgu_W8bl7O8/s1600/Mass%2BEffect%2B3%2BJack.jpg back]?
* On top of this, [[Bio Ware]] just couldn't resist a ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' reference {{spoiler|what with EDI and all}}:
{{quote| '''Joker''': All right... but if you start singing Daisy Bell, I'm done. (''to himself'') Great. See, this is where it starts, and when we're all just [[The Matrix|organic batteries]], [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|guess who they'll blame?]] "This is all Joker's fault. What a tool he was! I have to spend all day computing pi because he plugged in the Overlord!"}}
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** The bartender at Dark Star implies that Batarian ale is an especially strong drink, generally illegal in Council Space. [[Star Trek (Franchise)|Swap "Batarian" for "Romulan."]]
* The game merchant on the Citadel will mention a game called '''[[Grand Theft Auto|G]]'''[[Grand Theft Auto|rim]] '''[[Grand Theft Auto|T]]'''[[Grand Theft Auto|erminus]] '''[[Grand Theft Auto|A]]'''[[Grand Theft Auto|lliance]], that is apparently pretty controversial ("So what if you can capture and beat slaves? It's just a game!")
** The same game merchant has a number of [[Shout -Out|Shout Outs]] and [[Take That|Take Thats]] to various aspects of gaming.
* On Tuchanka, a derelict building bearing a strong resemblance to the [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ryugyong_Hotel Ryugyong Hotel] can be seen in the distant background.
* Several of the wrecked spaceships seen in the second game seem to be inspired by art from the old Terran Trade Authority books, particularly ''Space Wreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space''.
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* Legion is responsible for many of the game's more obscure shout outs:
** Legion says that the geth {{spoiler|(or, at least, the heretic geth)}} do not share our [[Terminator|pity, remorse or fear.]]
** Another obscure one: when asked about {{spoiler|the exact difference between the geth and the heretics}}, he explains it's a difference in the calculation of a specific floating point number. This is a reference to the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug:Pentium FDIV bug|Intel Pentium FDIV bug]].
** During his loyalty quest, if you {{spoiler|choose to rewrite the geth heretics}}, he notes that it requires exactly [[Back to The Future|1.21 petawatts]] of electricity to do so.
** In that same quest he uses '[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Sudo |sudo]]' to turn deactivated turrets over to your side.
** Legion has many similarities to [[Babylon 5|Kosh and the Vorlons]], the eye, the ethereal speech, but most notably:
{{quote| '''Shepard:''' What should I call you?<br />
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* The planet where the Overlord DLC mission is set has skies full of [[Dragon Age|dragons]].
* Listening to Khalisah al-Jilani after punching her, she has a line quite similar to Bart Sibrel after Buzz Aldrin punched him for calling him a liar (and other things).
* A numerical shoutout: Legion has 1,138 geth programs in its platform. Although most would call it a [[Star Wars]] [[Shout -Out]], but it's really more of a [[Shout -Out]] to [[George Lucas]], who many attribute to the revival of the science fiction genre because of the popularity of the movies. The number comes from a film he made earlier called [[THX 1138 (Film)|THX 1138]], and has been hidden in all his movies since. It also pops up in various other places when the writer wants to shout out [[Star Wars]], [[Indiana Jones]], or Lucas himself.
** This isn't really a direct [[Shout -Out]]. The Legion has 1,1''83'' geth programs. This maybe a numerical anagram. It's not clear.
** On a related note, in one of the Collector missions, the Commander is trapped in a room with locked doors. EDI hacks one of the doors so you can proceed, mentioning "[[A New Hope|Firewall 3217]]" while doing so.
* The famous exchange on the Citadel involving [[Memetic Mutation|Sir Isaac Newton]] is a vague [[Shout -Out]] to [[Aliens]]
{{quote| '''Cpl. Hicks:''' I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher. ''*hands the rifle to Ripley*'' '''Feel the weight.'''}}
** The Krogan trucks on Tuchanka look a lot like the vehicle the finds the derelict space ship in ''Aliens''.
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* The car chase itself is very reminiscent of ''[[Attack of the Clones]]''.
** Or maybe [[The Fifth Element]], you're even in a taxi!
* Easy to miss in the Lair of the Shadow Broker (literally): The Shadow Broker says: "You travel with fascinating companions, [[Doctor Who (TV)|doctor.]]"
* In the updates preceding the release of the Arrival DLC, there is a break-in at [[Homestuck (Webcomic)|4:13]] AM, two researchers tampering with the [[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Lowas]] Relay and [[Homestuck (Webcomic)|612]]-billion credits lost in the galactic economy.
* Slightly obscure one: apparently the planet Siano wandered to its current location from another system, and is home to an abandoned base on one side and a nuclear waste dump on the other. Looks like we found out where [[Space: 1999|Moonbase Alpha]] finally ended up.
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** The enormous sub-boss level mechs are YMIR. For those that don't know their Norse mythology, Ymir was the father of the jötnar, the chaos-loving giants.
* Avina on the Citadel remarks that asari futurists believe poverty will not be eliminated until the production of cornucopia technology that enables the user to create anything they desire. This is exactly like Gene Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek, where the availability of replicators has eliminated the need for currency and eliminated poverty on Earth, creating an idealistic future for humans.
* One of the advertisements on Illium goes [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterCard#Advertising |"There are some things omni-gel can't fix, for everything else..."]]
* On the assignment "MSV [[Strontium Dog|Strontium Mule]]", the payload you discover at the end is [[Pulp Fiction|neither seen nor directly explained but casts a golden glow from its container.]]
* The Achievement for completing Kasumi's mission, 'Broke, Blind and Bedlam' is from a quote from the new ''[[Oceans Eleven]]''.
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* During the mission to rescue the ex-Cerberus scientists led by Dr. Brynn Cole, the evacuation scenes resemble the opening of the [[The Empire Strikes Back|Battle of Hoth]], where surface-to-air guns clear a path for transports. Some of the lines are exactly the same, too.
* One of the reasons the endings [[Broken Base|broke the base so wide open]] was that {{spoiler|they match up almost exactly with the three choices at the end of [[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]].}}
* Some of the music that plays during the quarian-geth arc sounds remarkably similar to some of the music from ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (TV)|Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]''. Given how similar the quarian-geth conflict already is to that series, this can't be just coincidence.
** Spoken of in the geth memories, is a "Mistress Hal'''a'Dama'''", which is also referencing [[2001: A Space Odyssey (Film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]].
* Dr Eva's [[Robotic Reveal]] when she emerges from burning wreckage with her skin burned off looks like a Terminator homage.
* Near the end of the game, the discussion of cybernetic bodies comes up. Shepard has a moment of doubt in which s/he wonders about possibly just being a VI that ''thinks'' it's Commander Shepard; while not a direct quote, this is very similar to Major Kusanagi's philosophical moment in ''[[Ghost in The Shell (Anime)|Ghost in the Shell]]''.
* After the raid on the Citadel [[Seth Green|Joker]] will comment how he used to like Cerberus, when they were vigilantes and [[Angel|helping the helpless.]]
* The Collector's Edition robot dog is named [[Doctor Who (TV)|Kei 9.]]
 
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