Synopsis
After defeating the Collectors, the Reaper threat looms. With the galaxy under attack it's up to Shepard to rally the whole galaxy under one banner and defeat the Reapers or die trying.Virtues
The immersion and environment is very well done. My goodness. It's so depressing. The sheer scale of things really does feel heavy.Amazing characterization so far. Lots of throwbacks to previous games.
Gushy, sweet "romantic" lines (as Shepard tends to be super awkward). I am a SUCKER for these.
Moreso than the romantic cuteness, more focus is now on family bonds and other meaningful relationships. Not just one or two characters, but almost everyone really starts emphasizing their family. I guess the situation makes that easier.
I think the situation also makes things less sexy or sexualized. The whole "issue" with the neutral ground space station is that the war doesn't feel real there. All the distractions seem hollow or tragic.
Positive homosexual character. For the most part. It feels like they "get" the gay guy, but all lesbians seem like male pandering.
Decisions made early in the game that seemed like a good idea can turn out to be short sighted. Renegade (evil) choices finally hit a sweet spot of short term benefits that came back to haunt me later. Some Paragon (good) choices also don't seem correct.
Weapon modding was fun. No vehicle sections again. Mostly familiar gameplay elements.
Vices
The duck and cover mechanics were much better in 2. Do not like the new cover and movement system....a sexy robot...sigh... You have objectified a woman. *slow clap*
Still a lot of language, violence and sexy cakes of beef and cheese variety.
Definition of Life, Soul, and Humanity: On the plus side, VERY good to think about. What separates us from the animals? What separates us from the androids? In any case, the simplified answers to this bug me and seem very off. It basically dumbs down the supernatural soul and reasoning to complex programming. The only thing humanity seems to have over the machines is "free-will".
No God. Again, all deities are equal and pretty much hokey. Thus the above complaint about the hollow definition of humanity. It's pretty much the fullest extend of human hubris to think that we are something without God. It definitely illustrates the failings of finding a meaningful answer without something supernatural.
Sex is always outside of marriage. *head desk* I just...I mean...darn it culture! I know I can't expect the real moral high ground from a big game company but still. There's a ship captain! Can't we do a Pirates of the Caribbean marriage thing? I know the world's about to end but that has never stopped people before! This has been the vice in all 3 games.
The Homosexual issue. So there is 1 lesbian, 1 gay, and 4 bi-sexual characters that are "romance options". (One of whom is a potential "Anders" incident where he's straight in the other 2 games.) I'll throw back to the whole culture shapes entertainment and visa versa. It's normalizing the vice of pre-marital sex throughout all games, but also cakes on the gay marriage.
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings on this title. The story world had definitely suckered me in and offers a playground of moral, ethical and philosophical issues to think about. However, vices are also stronger. Perhaps I'm just tripped over all the sexy robot stuff or "synthetic life". Thank you for the tough question of when do you call something alive, but the complete absence of anything believably spiritual or supernatural bothers me. It's what bothers me most about space exploration style sci-fi.Of the three, I have to say that the first game is probably my favorite. It had the right balance of severity, mood and characters. At the very least it gave a nod to any human religion. And it was easier to shoot things.
Now having played through the "controversial" ending, I was absolutely fine with the ending. I even got the worst one on my first play through. And that was without the "extended cut"...which I forgot to download (I do intend to play the same ending with the extra cutscenes).
