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day. 9.22.10
By Elisabeth Rappe Author Page Facebook Page Twitter Page
What I’m Thankful For
As I said before, I only just got an XBOX this year. The second game I bought was the first Mass Effect because my friends swore it was one hell of an RPG. I loved it. Obsessed over it. There were many nights I’d pop it in to play for a few hours, and be greeted by the sun.
Even so, I didn’t race to buy the sequel. My passion for Red Dead Redemption carried me through the summer, and it just felt awkward to jump back into space opera. I was planning to finally buy Fallout 3 because I was still into wide open and desolate spaces. But man, I started to miss Elisabeth Shepard. I wasn’t exactly jumping to hunt Geth again, but hey, at least I knew what I was getting with Mass Effect 2. I was banking on familiarity. Hell, I got to take my old game data with me. What surprises could there be?
Many! In the first 10 minutes of Mass Effect 2, Shepard’s world is turned upside down. You lose your ship, your crew, yourself. Everything changes. You don’t even get to keep your sense of triumph and victory left by the last scene in Mass Effect. Now, I played enough games in Ye Olde Days to know that sequels always fuck around with weapons and controls. Here, it actually fits with the story, and that makes it awesome instead of annoying. (And hard as hell. I kicked ass at this game once! Not anymore.) It would have been easy for BioWare to just give you business as usual — Go hunt those Geth! More Reapers have been sighted! — but they didn’t. They mess with you. Perhaps my inexperience is showing, but I think it’s incredibly brave.
I’m only in the first levels, but this is sweeping, epic stuff. This is a real story. There’s loss, confusion, and anger. Everything is off-kilter and melancholy. The characters drink and reminisce with a touch of bitterness. When good things happen, and you meet a familiar face, the sense of elation you feel is genuine. What John Marston and I had was special and will undoubtedly never be replicated, but Mass Effect 2 definitely hit a few emotional beats.
As Elisabeth Shepard said “Fuck it!”, had a drink, and went all Renegade in her first mission, I had one stupid thought “Man, I’d love to see this as a movie!” But that’s stupid. Because I already have — and played it to boot.
24 comments
Elisabeth, you are my new favorite writer.
Thanks Dave but I think you are a brown nosing cunt.
Sorry to agree with the brown nosing cunt, but your writting is really standing out next to what Chud has left for writers. I don't even play videogames anymore, but I know what a coherent sentence looks like. Unlike a few of of your colleagues.
Fallout 3 has consumed my existence lately (latecomer, I know). This sounds right up my alley.
Tim, you are a douche… that being said, this couldn't possibly be considered art could it? COULD IT? No NO NOOOOO!!!! NeVERRRRR!!! Games are not art! not art not art!!!! ….. yes…. they are…
So Elisabeth, did you finish the last levels yet? I have a few friends who work in the gaming industry, and I think each of them played this game through 2-3 times already. I've been trying to, but now Halo: Reach got in the way. It's amazing that such beautiful scope and fun visual styles are able to make it into games, but not as frequently in movies. And then I played the new AVP…oh poop.
I'm on my second play through, now. I really love this world. I don't want anyone to try to make a movie of this franchise. They'd just muck it up. And, as you said, I've played the movie myself. That's more fun than passively watching a movie. At least until we get holodeck technology.
#7 — Joey! No, I haven't played the last levels yet. I'm still at the beginning. I only just now caught up with "Archangel" (so as not to spoil that for those not in the know)
More Elisabeth Rappe, less Uncle Mitch. And by less Uncle Mitch I mean no Uncle Mitch and a formal apology for the Uncle Mitch we've been subjected to so far
Oh Elisabeth you have so much to look forward to, assuming your still in that first circle of heroes.
Beyond that Bioware rewrote the rules for creating rpg/shooter hybrids with ME1. Now with 2 they've refined their techniques to an aggressively sharp edge. And that's just speaking from the gameplay, narrative speaking its a little bit shy of an absolute masterpiece of science fiction. But it's certainly in the circles of a modern science fiction classic.
Although one not I think I should touch on. And I'll try to refrain about exposing more then I should. I only stress these last bits because I have a brother who only played renegade and there's a couple aspects to ME2 that are tragically missed if you only tip the dialog tree to the negative every time. So I feel I should warn you of such things, so beware there is a bit of a spoiler but I'll try to be gentle with it.
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That being said, later in the game you will come across a thing of bountiful cognizance, which if handled as a renegade will result in immediate financial gain but you will loose a contender turned collaborator, so be warned as you do not want to loose such a precious utility.
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Anyway, good to see the word spread about this amazingly fun and fascinating little space adventure, well as little as saving the galaxy in a space adventure can be.
Elisabeth, do yourself a favor and download the "Overlord" expansion for "Mass Effect 2". I just played through it yesterday for the first time and was blown away by the emotions pumping through its veins (not to mention the sheer terror).
It's all about Zaeed. He is the guddamn man. He can't even go to a bar for a drink without getting someone killed.
Elisabeth, trust m, it gets even better. I thought ME2 had a kind of Empire Strikes Back feel to it, where everything goes to Hell… Enjoy.
elisabeth, i strongly recommend for you to atleast finish halfway through the game and download the "lair of shadow broker" dlc. i swear it's awesome! really awesome!
Keep this lady. Fire Strange. Apologize for the recent Uncle Mitch.
WOW, another female blog 'writer' exploiting the demographic possibilities of extra attention from gamers via the ol 'Female name drop' method. Yeah, meanwhile mass effect is old news girlie why not try I dunno talking about it when half the planet isnt already aware of its …well publicized existance. WHat i'm thankful for….websites/blog writers who's popularity barely warrants a second glance…are easily forgotten…..Like I said on the bioware website…who the heck is Elizebeth whatever your name is, and…who the hell cares?
PS Dave Feltham, you are a brown nosing cunt……Kissing butt off a blog is worse than even idolizing Lindsey Lohan….or at the very least..equivelant in this case.
One of the cool things about playing this game late is you can download all the expansions before you finish the game. I finished it quick and now have to play through again to experience all the expansion packs. Not that this is a bad thing. 🙂
Dear Adam,
You would do well to at least give the old 'Dave Feltham' name a google, see what rolls out. It may then make more sense to you. Not that you'd become less negative or anything.
I will add that Elisabeth wrote a nice little piece on this, and I'm actually looking forward to another entry about this to hear what she thinks after she's completed it.
Sincerely,
Jos
I´m Commander Shepard and this is my favorite "What I´m Grateful For" post on the Internet.
And keep in mind, every decision you made in ME was imported into ME2. And all those decisions and the ones you make while you play ME2, will be imported into ME3 when it is released. It really adds a huge dimension to the game, almost like one of those old 'choose your own adventure' books.
No idea who Miss Average 2002 is but try Reach, bitch. It'll blow your mind.
Hey Elizabeth I hooked up with Liara in the ME1 and the Shadow Broker DLC was great! I stayed faithful to her (I rather stare at a picture of Liara at the end than get raped by Jacob/Garrus/green dying guy). My Amy Shepard and got a reward *wink wink* at the end. =)
Great article
I am so thankful for Mass Effect 2 too! Best game of the year for me as I'm a SciFi RPG freak.
I agree with Edward, the Shadow Broker DLC is a must if you love meeting up with familiar faces. Especially good if you romanced Liara in ME1
Let's hope that next year we'll be thankful for ME3, although I think that's wishfull thinking
This one does not have time for solid waste excretions, however this one DID enjoy your article.
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