Been musing on Bioware’s new Mass Effect. Obviously, they’re...



Been musing on Bioware’s new Mass Effect. Obviously, they’re going to carry forth a lot of what worked in the first three games; they’d be crazy not to. But I’m hoping to take a different kind of journey in the fourth game, especially when it comes to the narrative perspective.

I’d be fascinated to see the ME universe from a POV not associated with a militaristic outfit. I want to step away from Shepard’s world of rank, orders, and protocol. You’re constantly fed updates and mission goals from either the Council or Alliance in the original trilogy. I want to take control of a fringe character, man. Someone that doesn’t know what the hell is going on until it’s shooting at him/her.

I’d like to start off the game as a ne'er-do-well. A mercenary. A smuggler. Shit, maybe even a stoner clerk that works at a Citadel gift shop selling tiny replicas of the Normandy. I want to start as a nobody and build my legend from the ground up.

Shepard already had pretense – had already gained infamy in battle even before ME1 began. I want to start as a blank slate. Have characters in the world ask aloud, “Who the hell is this supposed to be?”

“I’m the guy that’s going to save your blue ass.”

I don’t want to be handed a glossy starship and assigned a perfect crew. I want to earn my ship and recruit my people. As violently and heroically as possible.

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