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Mass Effect (video game): Difference between revisions
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The plot revolves around one Commander Shepard, a human military officer who becomes the first human Spectre, a member of [[Space Police|an elite interplanetary peacekeeping force]]. S/he is tasked with tracking down a rogue Spectre, Saren, who has apparently allied himself with the geth, a race of [[Mecha Mooks|murderous robots]]. As the storyline progresses, Shepard explores a variety of worlds, encounters a wide range of sapient species, and uncovers an ancient plot involving the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|coming doom]] of every sapient organic being in the entire galaxy.
There are a handful plot-revelant missions and if you focus exclusively on those the game would be in the realm of 9-10 hours, but being an RPG there is an entire galaxy for you to explore as you engage in side-missions, expanding the game to upwards of 25 hours or more. The game lacks a a traditional good/evil [[Karma Meter]], and instead gives you options on how to preceed with each encounter based on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]; you are a hero either way, but your heroism can range from [[Knight in Shining Armor]] to [[Anti
The weapons within the game do not have ammunition, instead replacing it with an "overheat" meter that limits how long you can fire your weapon before you need to pause for a cooldown, but there are modifications available within the game that [[More Dakka|allow for non-stop firing]]. You are also able to customize the equipment of yourself and your squad, including which specific weapons you take into battle, the armor you wear and various perks and enhancements.
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** Noveria is a entire ''planet'' devoted to this; it exists outside of Council Space, and therefore has no laws other than the ones it makes - corporations use it to conduct R&D that is normally illegal. In fact, you come across an Executive that is being investigated not because he is on the take, but because it has reached the point where he is turning investors away.
** Binary Helix, a human genetics [[Mega Corp]], {{spoiler|brought the rachni back from the dead to mass-produce an army (some of which found their way to Cerberus). They were also working on a biological weapon, adapted from a plant pesticide.}} Oh, and they work for Saren.
** ExoGeni Corp {{spoiler|purposely infected colonists with alien spores to see what effect it would have. When knowledge of this got out, they decided to [[Kill
* [[Corrupted Data]]: How the game justifies letting the player select Shepard's family and psychological background.
* [[Courtroom Antic]]: During the first Council hearing regarding Saren's involvement with the Eden Prime attack, Anderson tries to ''submit a dream into evidence'' (granted, it was a prophetic dream, but he had no way of proving that and even if he could, it didn't directly implicate Saren). The trope is quickly subverted, as it goes about as well as you would expect, and Anderson is [[Kicked Upstairs]] shortly afterwards. In Anderson's defense, he was kind of desperate.
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* [[Deus Ex Nukina]]: {{spoiler|A converted ship drive core. Used on Virmire to destroy Saren's base.}}
* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: Listen to the conversation between the elcor ambassador Calyn and Xeltan. They ''don't'' preface their words with their emotion. Why? ''They don't need to.'' They only do that with non-elcor who can't detect their odors and subtle movements to derive emotional subtext.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]:
** {{spoiler|The Thorian, a planet-wide sentient plant}} that you defeat by shooting its weak points [[For Massive Damage]].
** The conclusion, {{spoiler|where Sovereign, the millions-of-years-old Reaper, is destroyed by (Depending on your interpretation of the game) either you personally destroying its Saren-avatar, or by the combined might of the Council and the Systems Alliance}}.
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* [[Exposition Beam]]: The Prothean beacon. Subverted, though, due to the fact that since they were designed for use by a different ''species'', not to mention the fact that they've been lying out in the sun for fifty thousand years, renders the message incomprehensible to any human or turian that happen to stumble across them. Shepard eventually finds a way to understand the beacon's message on one of the main quest worlds.
* [[Fake Longevity]]: In order to get every achievement, you have to play through the first game a grand total of three times. Without skipping any of the sidequests. Good luck with that!
* [[Fan Service]]: The game essentially had a strip club in it; while none of the [[Green
* [[Fictional Political Party]]: The game introduces the Terra Firma Party, a human political party that mainly seeks [[Absolute Xenophobe|to oppose humanity's involvement and integration with the rest of the galactic community, believing that humanity needs to stand on its own if they're to remain strong]]. Commander Shepard (as well as his/her squad mates) can comment and give his/her opinion on what he/she thinks of such a platform, and the player can choose whether Shepard endorses the Terra Firma Party or not.
* [[Final Boss Preview]]: The first battle with Saren is on Virmire, and then you fight him as the [[Final Boss]] on {{spoiler|the Citadel.}}
* [[Five
** [[The Hero]]: Commander Shepard.
** [[The Lancer]](s): Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko.
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** On in the Citadel, you can learn about the [[Bug War|Rachni Wars]], which were ended by xenocide, and the Krogan Rebellions, which were stopped by the use of [[Depopulation Bomb|the genophage]]. Later, {{spoiler|you encounter and fight the rachni, and an entire mission is based off preventing the curing of the genophage by the [[Big Bad]] to make an army of krogan.}}
** On the Citadel's Presidium level, there is a statue of a mass relay. Talking to Kaidan near it reveals that something about the statue is causing interference with his biotic systems. {{spoiler|It's the receiving end of the Conduit from Ilos, with which you make a [[Dynamic Entry]] in the Mako in the finale.}}
* [[Form
* [[Free Sample Plot Coupon]]: Shepard accidentally finds a Prothean beacon in the end of the tutorial level. It proves to be the first in line of [[MacGuffin|Mac Guffins]] you have to collect before you can beat the [[Big Bad]], namely, {{spoiler|the Prothean Cipher that allows to decode the beacon's message, the [[MacGuffin Girl]] Liara who does the actual decoding, and the coordinates of the Point of No Return kept by the Rachni Queen}}.
* [[The Future Is Noir]]: Admittedly, most of the places you go have either been abandoned for a long time or have recently been attacked. But you have to admit, the lighting on the ''Normandy'' sucks.
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* [[Genre Shift]]: Peak 15 more closely resembles [[Survival Horror]] than [[Space Opera]] - difficult-to-kill enemies with few places to restore medi-gel.
* [[Giant Mook]]: The geth Destroyers, Juggernauts, and Primes are twelve-foot tall geth with [[Eva Fins]], each increasing in strength and height in that order. Destroyers are simply huge and tough and carry an assault rifle/shotgun combo. Juggernauts are resilient to your combat abilities and carry an assault rifle/short-range rocket launcher combo. Primes are even tougher, bigger, carry a pulse rifle/rocket launcher, and provide all geth in the area with increased accuracy, damage, and firing rate. All have a tendency of [[Personal Space Invader|charging you]] to bring their ridiculously powerful melee attacks to bear.
* [[
* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: Every suicide scene in the first game cuts away at the actual moment of death. {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death|Except Saren.]]}}
* [[Guns in Church]]: Justified, somewhat; you are a Spectre, and numerous events prove that you are not safe from attack ''anywhere'' you go, so it makes sense for your party to walk around fully armed and armoured at all times. It does get a little weird when you can draw and fire your guns (though not at people) and set off grenades all over the place and nobody bats an eye.
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* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: An Elanus officer down the Rift Station, standing alert to repel the [[Big Creepy Crawlies|rachni]] forces.
{{quote| "Science pukes. Should just bug out and leave 'em to die. All their fault anyway. Heh. 'Bug out.' Heh heh heh heh heh."}}
* [[Infinity
* [[Insurmountable Waist Height Fence]]: Occurs in several places, most prominently in a "one-way" drop on Feros. It's only about the height of Shepard.
* [[Interface Spoiler]]: When you first encounter {{spoiler|Rachni}} on Noveria, the label above them calls them such, even though Shepard doesn't find this out for another 20 minutes.
* [[Internet Counterattack]]: Cooper Lawrence declared that the game was a [[Hot Coffee Minigame|graphic sex simulator]] on Fox News, where she admitted she had never played the game, or even heard anything about it. Gamers responded by bombing the hell of her Amazon book rating, along with reviews that started with "I've never read this book, but..." When Amazon started taking down reviews such as this, gamers responded by beginning their reviews with "I HAVE read this book, and..."
* [[
* [[Japanese Honorifics]]: Captain Matsuo uses these. The encounter drives home the fact that you're using [[Translator Microbes]] and everyone isn't really speaking English. The event also leads fans to suspect that there is a hardcore Otaku on the [[Bio Ware]] dev team.
* [[Join or Die]]: Saren's response to Shepard's resistance is this. Join the Reapers - 'cause if you don't, you're guaranteed to die.
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** [[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.
* [[Kill
* [[Killed Mid
* [[Klingon Scientists Get No Respect]]: Krogan scientists.
* [[Knighting]]: Spectre induction, complete with swelling orchestral music.
* [[Laser Sight]]: Played straight with the Assassination skill, but only with enemies, making their shots somewhat easy to dodge. It would return in the later games even though the skill itself was removed.
* [[Late Arrival Spoiler]]: Many people are aware that {{spoiler|the real villains of the series are the Reapers.}} To a lesser degree, the {{spoiler|choice between Kaidan and Ashley}} was widely spoiled after the game's release.
* [[Law Enforcement, Inc.]]: The Elanus Risk Control company acts as security on the planet of [[Ice World|Noveria]], which is pretty much [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Land. Naturally, corruption is rampant.
* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: Richard [[Meaningful Name|L. Jenkins]]. He dies two minutes after the opening cutscene, on his first ever mission, without firing a shot. To be fair, he was ambushed, on point, and those drones tear through Shepard's shields as well. The developers have mentioned more than once that the naming and manner of death were deliberate.
* [[Lethal Lava Land]]: Therum.
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* [[Mecha Mooks]]: The geth. The achievement for killing synthetic enemies is named "Geth Hunter", in fact, although turrets count towards this number.
* [[Membership Token]]: The Salarian League of One and their medallions, which [[Gotta Catch Em All|you can collect]] in persuit of [[One Hundred Percent Completion]].
* [[Memetic Mutation/Video Games|Memetic Mutation]]: See [[
* [[Menu Time Lockout]]: When you go to your equipment inventory, you can pause time and change your weapons, armor, clothing, all other equipment on yourself ''and'' your two companions who are currently on the other side of the room in the middle of a heated battle.
* [[Mercy Kill]]: The protagonists constantly proclaim that killing any of {{spoiler|the Reapers' indoctrinated slaves}} is doing them a ''favor''. At least one ''victim'' agrees.
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* [[Not That Kind of Doctor]]: Used in Peak 15 on Noveria. The doctors there are Ph.Ds, not MDs. One of them even lampshades it.
* [[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
* [[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.
* [[Old School Dogfighting]]: There are no fighters encountered in the game, but ships in space maneuver as if they were flying through an atmosphere
* [[One
* [[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.
* [[One
* [[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.
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** Near the end of ''Bring Down the Sky'', Shepard's decision to either {{spoiler|save the hostages}} or {{spoiler|let the hostages die to capture/kill terrorist leader Balak}} ripped a page out of the [[Twenty Four|Jack Bauer]] playbook. Picking the smarter decision to {{spoiler|pursue Balak}} doesn't make players feel any less guilty.
* [[Sand Worm]]: Thresher Maws
* [[
** You can pick any background and profile for Shepard you want, from a distinguished war hero to a ruthless jerkass. No matter what kind of history you have, it will be ''exactly'' why Captain Anderson selects you personally in the opening cutscene to be his second in command.
** No matter whether you kill the {{spoiler|rachni queen}} or let her live, the turian councillor will blast you for it in terms appropriate to a hypothetical offspring of Sauron and Hitler.
* [[
* [[Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: The Codex and dialogue [[Averted Trope|heavily stress the size of the universe]], [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|but in actual gameplay everything of interest on a planet can be found in an area that can be driven across in five minutes]].
* [[Self
* [[Shell Shocked Senior]]: General Septimus.
* [[Shipper On Deck]]: Ashley's sisters will ship her and Shepard in a voice mail or - if Shepard tells Liara that he and Ashley are "just friends" beforehand - her and Kaiden. The latter she laughs about. The former depends on how you treat her.
* [[Shout Out]]: See [[Mass Effect (Franchise)/Shout Out]].
* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]:
** The terrorist just blew up the hostages and declares that it's Shepard's fault they died. What's one of Shepard's potential responses? ''Fire warning shots each time the terrorist opens his mouth until he finally gets the message after taking a few bullets.''
** "Who's the real terrorist here?" "You. But you're dead." *BANG*
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** "We don't have time to deal with this idiot. CHARGE!"
*** [[Worthy Opponent|"I like your style."]]
* [[Shut Up, Kirk]]: Shepard gets handed one by Executor Pallin while discussing humans on the Citadel:
{{quote| '''Shepard:''' The Council treats us like second class citizens. We have to fight for everything we get,<br />
'''Pallin:''' Good. Then fight for it. But don't expect the rest of us to just sit back and let you take it. }}
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* [[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.
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** Also, this line from the conversation with {{spoiler|Vigil on Ilos}}:
{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Vigil:''' The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of government. As it was with us, and as it has been with every civilization that came before us. But the Citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous mass relay - one that links to dark space, the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon. When the Citadel relay is activated, the Reapers will pour through. And all you know...will be destroyed.}}}}
* [[What Measure Is a Mook?]]: Multiple levels can have the final conflict resolved peacefully if you have enough Charm or Intimdate points and you get the villain to surrender voluntarily. However, to ''get'' to this point you often need to shoot your way through the initial guards, and afterwards you will still be congratulated on resolving the issue peacefully, despite the guard bodycount.
* [[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
* [[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.]]
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[[Category:Action RPG]]
[[Category:Mass Effect 1]]
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