Mass Effect (video game): Difference between revisions

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Abandoned Mine]]: Many, many side-missions in take place in these- from recovering missing Alliance intelligence to killing husks of a mining team that [[Dug Too Deep]].

* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: The player can modify what kind of bullets their weapon can fire. These range from the fairly mundane anti-organic and anti-synthetic rounds, to the bizarre (and more awesome) bullets that cause enemies to burst into flame, get poisoned, or freeze. A full list can be found [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Ammo_Upgrades here].

* [[Cult Colony]]: One sidequest deals with [[Send in the Search Team|a cracked military officer and his colony of devoted followers]].

* [[Cut and Paste Environments]]: Almost every sidequest in the game takes place in (1) a mine that's a big room with two smaller ones branching off the back, (2) a building with an exterior overhang that's just one big room and a balcony, (3) a boxy bunker with a "T" junction in back leading to two small rooms. Or, (4) a freighter (or sometimes space station) that has a short entryway, a large main hold and a crew/cockpit area with three small rooms. About the only variation is the crates/computers/boxes/whatever placed inside, and how they're positioned. If the designers were feeling particularly [[Sarcasm Mode|creative]], you might get some combination of the three. It doesn't help that on quite a few of these missions you're fighting geth and husks, i.e. the same enemies you fight for most of the main storyline.

* [[Cutscene Incompetence]]: The Mako is flipped over and rendered inoperable from impacting the ground {{spoiler|after traveling through the conduit}}, to ensure players don't falsely assume, by [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]], that they're supposed to ''drive'' to {{spoiler|the Citadel Tower}}. In gameplay, you can jump off a sheer cliff without repercussions.

* [[Cut the Juice]]: Happens on Feros to Lisbeth Baynham - the geth cut the power once they invade, inadvertently preventing her from sending a message to Colonial Affairs about {{spoiler|the Thorian.}}

* [[Da Chief]]: Executor Pallin, providing a foil for the appearance of [[Cowboy Cop]] Garrus.

* [[Damage Is Fire]]: The Mako.

* [[Decontamination Chamber]]: Apparently standard procedure is for all personnel entering the ''Normandy'' to be decontaminated before being allowed to board, no matter where they are returning from. It's actually a carefully-disguised loading screen, just like the elevators.

* [[Deployable Cover]]: The [[Beehive Barrier|beehive barriers]] the geth are so very fond of plonking down everywhere.

* [[Discount Lesbians]]: The asari are a mono-gendered race, technically neither male or female, but their appearance is uniformly feminine and they use feminine pronouns. All relationships between two asari are [[Discount Lesbians]] and your party member Liara provides a [[Gay Option]] [[Romance Sidequest]].

* [[Distress Call]]: A large number of sidequests are triggered by picking up one of these as you're flying by a planet/derelict ship.

* [[Double Tap]]: If {{spoiler|Wrex}} dies, his killer puts three more bullets in him when he's on the ground. Shepard will also tell the squad to do this to {{spoiler|Saren}} in the endgame.

* [[Downloadable Content]]: "Bring Down the Sky" and "Pinnacle Station".

* [[Dummied Out]]: Kaidan and Ashley were going to be [[Gay Option|same-sex romance options]] in the first game and were close to being implemented; modding your gender flag in the save file to make the romance possible will result in near-complete voice acting for the dialog when it is played through, although Shepard's gender will magically change during the love scene.

* [[Dying as Yourself]]:

** {{spoiler|If you have enough Charm or Intimidate points, Saren can be forced to realize that he is indoctrinated and playing into the Reaper's hands, turning his gun on himself in a last-second redemption.}}

* [[Dynamic Entry]]: {{spoiler|Driving through the Citadel's relay in the Mako at full speed. Those two geth never knew what hit them.}}

* [[Harder Than Hard]]: Most agree that the Insanity difficulty setting [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|is just that]]. You can't even play on it until you've already gone through the game at least twice.

* [[Heal Thyself]]: Necessary to survive once your shields go down. You use up medi-gel to do so which, in complete defiance of video game standards, [[Benevolent Architecture|is exactly where you would expect it to be, i.e., everywhere]].

* [[Hero of Another Story]]: According to the [[Backstory]], {{spoiler|the Prothean scientists who awoke from cryosleep to find themselves the last dozen or so of their race. All they did was spent several ''decades'' deciphering and hacking Reaper tech to disconnect the Keepers from their command, sending a risky S.O.S. through the beacons to ''anyone'' who would listen, and at the very end, went to the Citadel to make the final necessary adjustments to make sure that when Sovereign called, no one answered - and died from starvation.}}

* [[He Was Right There All Along]]: One of the things which make [[Demonic Spiders|thresher maws]] so freaking hard.

* [[Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure]]:

** One of the side-quests has Admiral Hackett asking you to diffuse a nuclear weapon that he explains has the same power as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Oddly enough, the game averts this trope when discussing the improvised nuclear weapon on Virmire, which dialogue indicates also has the same explosive power as the Hiroshima bomb—although this is probably due to Kirrahe being a salarian, and therefore unlikely to make this reference.

* [[Hitchhiker Heroes]]: Apart from Kaidan, who is actually part of your squad at the beginning of the game, and Liara, who you are specifically sent out to pick up, every squadmate joins of their own free will, or because Anderson thought they might be useful.

* [[Idle Animation]]: Each squadmate has a unique idle animation.

** Ashley puts her hands on her hips and poses her hips.

** [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|ExoGeni]] gets no comeuppance for turning a human colony into a control group while testing the effects of Thorian's [[Mind Control]]. While Shepard can kill an Exogeni [[Yes-Man]] who was trying to pursue their interests, this doesn't hurt the company at all.

* [[Karma Meter]]: The scale does not reflect "good" or "evil" choices, but instead grades based upon what the game terms "paragon" and "renegade" depending on ''how'' you achieve victory. The options on each decision tree fall on opposite sides of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], and paragon and renegade points stack up on separate meters; gaining in one area will not reduce the points in the other.

* [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]: If you leave {{spoiler|Ashley or Kaidan}} to die on the AA tower on Virmire, then just before Saren shows up at the bomb site you hear a brief transmission of whoever was left at the tower shouting some orders to the Salarians, then you hear the start of what sounds like either a gunshot or an explosion before the transmission cuts off. That's the last you see or hear of that person in the game.

* [[Klingon Scientists Get No Respect]]: Krogan scientists.

* [[Knighting]]: Spectre induction, complete with swelling orchestral music.

* [[Not So Different]]: [[Complete Monster|Balak]] from the ''Bring Down the Sky'' DLC tries this on you if {{spoiler|you sacrifice the hostages in order to apprehend him and prevent him from crashing and asteroid into a colony.}} This becomes [[Harsher in Hindsight]] in the ''Arrival'' DLC of the next game where {{spoiler|you use a repurposed asteroid to destroy a Mass Relay, destroying the star system in a supernova-sized blast, it's 305,000 batarian inhabitants included.}}

* [[Not So Harmless]]: Remember the pod crabs on Virmire? Those huge but gentle things you thought were completely harmless? [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Cerberus_Daily_News_-_March_2010#03.2F25.2F2010 Apparently not.]

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]: A few side missions send you into familiar spaces (yet another mine, yet another freighter) with a main room that normally throws a crowd of mooks at you... only there are no mooks. Until you explore a bit more and suddenly ''they're behind you''. Or they come pouring out of the normally empty rooms at the back. Or... nothing. Until you get outside.

* [[The Obi-Wan]]: Nihlus Kryik, [[Mentor Occupational Hazard|if he had managed to survive the mission on Eden Prime]].

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: One of the main perks of being a Spectre is that they aren't subject to the rules and red tape that normally apply to police and military forces. Adminstrator Anoleis on Noveria, the Citadel Council, and Ambassdor Udina, however, do their best to prevent that. Anoleis refuses to let you leave Port Hanshan and continue with your mission, likely because he was on the take; Udina convinces the Council to {{spoiler|ground the ''Normandy'' to prevent you from chasing Saren to Ilos.}}

* [[Of Corsets Sexy]]: Ashley mentions one of her sisters wearing corsets in addition to her sword training. It apparently does wonders for her figure. And we never get to see her.

* [[One Riot, One Ranger]]: The Council appoints Shepard as a Spectre specifically to hunt down Saren, as an alternative to sending in an entire fleet. The Codex comments that the assignment of a Spectre to a developing situation is a last resort before all-out war. One of the few times the Council really shines; [[Manipulative Bastard|you have to actually ask to go it alone]].

* [[One Size Fits All]]: Played straight with human armour: it is unisex (and magically changes shape for each sex) and your asari squad member can also use human armour. Averted with quarian, turian and krogan armour; they are ''not'' interchangable, but you only have one of each on your squad.

* [[Optional Sexual Encounter]]: The asari Consort at the start of the game. This is one of the places where the dialogue system fails - if you're dissatisfied with her gift of words, she sexes you. Cries of "the Consort raped me!" are common. Also occurs at the end of all three romantic subplots, but you can turn them down.

* [[Organ Theft]]: Garrus tells you about an ''elcor'' who was killing and hacking up people for their organs on the Citadel.

* [[Ribcage Ridge]]: Not a ribcage, but still, a skull that is fully a quarter the size of ''the Mako'' makes for an interesting landmark.

* [[Roar Before Beating]]: Thresher Maws.

* [[Rousing Speech]]:

** Shepard's speech after taking command of the ''Normandy''.

** Captain Kirrahe's '''epic''' "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXLVFnl3WcE hold the line]" speech.

** Anderson's/Udina's speech at the end of the game.

* [[Sacrificial Lamb]]: {{spoiler|Poor, poor Nihlus. Guy had quite a fanbase before the game even came out, too.}}

* [[Sadistic Choice]]:

'''Pallin:''' Good. Then fight for it. But don't expect the rest of us to just sit back and let you take it. }}

* [[Sidequest Sidestory]]: the Cerberus quest line from Admiral Kahoku.

* [[Simon Says Mini Game]]: Nearly every puzzle or action requires this on the 360, from hacking to mining to breaking and entering. Fortunately, the PC and second game made things a bit more sophisticated.<ref>There are still a few Simon Says games, but most tasks are achieved with what amounts to Radial Frogger.</ref>

* [[Sniper Pistol]]: At lower levels, not so much, but if you put points into the Pistol skill and you got better and better pistols, they wind up doing just as much damage as assault rifles, and their firing rate becomes almost ridiculous. Slap on some upgrades to improve accuracy, and bingo. About the only thing sniper rifles have on them at that point is higher base damage and the ability to zoom.

* [[Sniper Scope Sway]]: The game features ridiculous amounts of Scope Swaying for any player who has not invested significant points into the Sniper Rifle skill. However, when the skill is maxed out (or when you activate Assassination), the rifle is steady as a rock.

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: Here and there.

{{quote|'''Administrator Anoleis:''' "You! Shepard! I demand that you place this bitch under arrest!"

'''Shepard:''' "[[Memetic Mutation|I've had enough of your snide insinuations!]]" *punch to the face* }}

* [[Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness]]: Ten tiers. Four weapon types. More than a dozen manufacturers, each of which with multiple models of the same type of weapon. It rapidly gets confusing.

* [[Sound-Only Death]]:

** One DLC has you find a mangled corpse, along with a recording of the explosion which killed them. A few other cases show up, though they are only described in the mission log, not heard.

* [[Space Battle]]: The Codex gives a [[Info Dump|lot]] of information on the history, tactics and technology of battles in space. {{spoiler|The climax of the game comes during a conflict between Sovereign and the Geth forces and the Council Fleet guarding the Citadel. The Systems Alliance comes in at the end to help finish off Sovereign.}}

* [[Stock Puzzle]]s / [[Stock Video Game Puzzle]]s: [[Towers of Hanoi]] on Noveria, [[Three Plus Five Make Four]] on Feros.

* [[Stupid Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Fai Dan}}. Regardless of your gameplay choices he choses to die rather than attack you, even though one of the options given to to your character is to non-violently incapacitate him until he can be cured.

* [[Take a Third Option]]: On Noveria, in order to get a garage pass to go to the labs, you have to go through a long series of conversations and sidequests in order to find {{spoiler|evidence of Administrator Anoleis' corruption}} and then choose whether to give it to {{spoiler|Anoleis, Parasini, or Qi'in}}. Or you can just {{spoiler|give Opold's smuggled package to Anoleis}} and he'll give you a pass pretty much as soon as you get there.

* [[Talking the Monster to Death]]: Up to and including {{spoiler|''Saren''}}.

* [[Tech Points]]: You can spend skill points on Persuade/Intimidate levels, but you have to unlock them with the Paragon and Renegade meters first.

* [[Troll Physics]]: [[Awesome Personnel Carrier|The Mako]]. Has tires with such good traction that it can ''drive up nearly vertical walls'', even nearly vertical ''ice walls'', because its in-built mass effect core can adjust its mass as needed.

* [[Troperiffic]]: The Mass Effect article had to be split into four main pages and over a dozen sub pages; one for the [[Mass Effect|main series]], this page, ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''. There are also relevant character pages, Crowning Moment pages, additional sub pages for tropes that became too numerous to include on a single page, and additional pages for [[Expanded Universe|the books]].

* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]: The Pinnacle Station DLC has Shepard participating in simulations that are similar to FPS multiplayer modes.

* [[Useless Useful Spell|Useless Useful Ammo]]: There's ammo that does extra damage to [[Mooks|organics]], and ammo that does extra damage to [[Mecha-Mooks|synthetics]]. However, there's also an ammo type that not only affects both organics and synthetics, but does more damage than either of the "specialized" ammo types ''and'' prevents regeneration - meaning, among other things, that when [[Demonic Spiders|krogan]] go down, they ''stay'' down.

* [[Vendor Trash]]: In the form of high-rank versions of the guns and armor you got at the start of the game. They're likely to be so horribly outclassed by new models that their only purpose is a cheap source of credits. For example, the Avenger I Assault Rifle, the weapon you start off with, is incapable of hitting anything less than five feet away from you.

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: Saren's outpost on Noveria is located on a mountain called "Peak XV" - which was the name that British surveyors first referred to Mt. Everest by when westerners first discovered it in the 19th century.

* [[The Voice]]: Admiral Hackett, Hannah Shepard.

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: Assuming you play the game in the developers' intended order, the Geth Armature on Therum. After several minutes of blasting Geth to shreds in the Mako followed by the still relatively easy task of killing them on foot, you come face-to-face with a gigantic machine that has '''tons''' of health and can easily kill you with a single hit. In fact, it's not uncommon for the Armature to kill Shepard ''as soon as the battle begins'', which is a surefire sign that stronger shields and/or armor might be called for.

* [[The War Has Just Begun]]: Shepard's endgame speech. Anderson or Udina also make one, depending on your decisions.

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Virmire is basically Planet Wham. {{spoiler|Not only is the true identity of Saren's ship Sovereign revealed (specifically, as an [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Man Behind the Man]]), but you find yourself forced to leave one of your crew members to their death, and possibly [[Player Punch|kill another yourself]].}}

* [[Wham! Line]]:

* [[Where It All Began]]: {{spoiler|The final confrontation occurs in the Citadel Tower, also one of the first places the characters visited after the introductory mission.}}

* [[Whole-Plot Reference]]: Major Kyle. ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (and, thus, ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'').

* [[World Building]]: Dialogue with other characters and the Codex (An [[Encyclopedia Exposita]]) can reveal information about the history, culture, society, religion, sexual mores, biology, government, family groupings, combat styles and economy of all the alien races of the universe, including some which are never even encountered in the game.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Saren eventually comes to see Shepard as this. This speaks volumes for [[Badass|Shepard]] given [[Fantastic Racism|how much Saren hates humans.]]

* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: {{spoiler|A turian general places his cruiser between Sovereign and the closing arms of the Citadel in order to stop the attack. [[Subverted Trope|Sovereign simply goes]] [[Ramming Always Works|through]] [[Subverted Trope|his ship]].}}

* [[You Watch Too Much X]]: Dr. Chakwas admonishes Corporal Jenkins for confusing the Spectres with their fictional representations, specifically telling him that he has seen too much spy fiction.