Mass Effect 2’s Suicide Mission should be the blueprint for all RPGs
Only last month was Mass Effect: Legendary Edition available for free through PlayStation Plus, and I sincerely hope that everyone who enjoys sci-fi, RPGs, or both snagged that trilogy when they had the chance.
Us lot at GAMINGbible bang on about the games whenever we get an opportunity to, like our humiliating rizz or the fact that Ashley Williams would definitely share Minion memes on her Facebook profile.
Based on this and this alone, one might be forgiven for thinking that the Mass Effect games are a grandiose odyssey where Commander Shepard and her crew save the galaxy from annihilation and everyone gets a gold star for their efforts. It’s in line with the Hollywood vibe that the series imbues into its slick action cutscenes and the shiny sheen of its chrome coffee tables. But BioWare wasn’t interested in developing a game which would nestle comfortably in the Wikipedia entry for Gerard Butler’s filmography. Oh, no. BioWare… is Canadian.
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The finale of Mass Effect 2 changed fans. Mass Effect introduced the players to choices that would significantly shift the course of the Milky Way and its inhabitants scattered across planets far and wide. I remember the confidence I felt when I saved the Rachni Queen, unsure of how it would play out, but I was happy that I had at least given her the chance.
With the Legendary Edition out now and the benefit of guides writers hindsight, most will be well aware of the outcomes of that choice and how it isn’t obviously black and white. Imagine not knowing where any of the myriad of choices that you’ve made over the course of Mass Effect 2 would lead. Imagine witnessing your favourite crew members with their insides on their outsides. Wait, you’d wonder, haven’t we got a whole third game to get to?
What makes matters worse is that the soundtrack through these desperate scenes is so memorable, swelling as both the stakes and the body count start to climb. Even in 2023, the conditions required for everyone to survive is difficult to condense into any sort of decipherable diagram. Nowadays, we’re cognisant of the impact of not getting to know your supporting cast of characters, and a lot of that is thanks to the terror of the Suicide Mission.
A couple of choices are clear - if you don’t upgrade the SS Normandy’s armor, cannon and shields before parking the ship next to a black hole, you’re very brave! But I doubt your mother ever left you unattended. And assigning Jacob as the leader of the distraction fireteam checks out due to his experience in the Alliance forces. Unbeknownst to the lesser spotted Mass Effect player, if you didn’t find out what happened to his father as Jacob asked you to at an earlier point in the wandering plot, that man is toast.
There are losses in war. Arguably, Jacob’s not the most charismatic of characters so his potential death seems to serve the reminder that blockbusters drop at about the 60th minute - sometimes bad things happen, but not to me. When Garrus, Grunt, Jack, Kasumi, Legion, Miranda, Mordin, Morinth, Samara, Tali, Thane, Zaeed and to those who have truly, truly fucked up, Dr Chakwas, draw their last breaths, it’s not a sucker punch to the gut. It’s like giving Grave Digger a peck on the bumper but Grave Digger’s going at about 80 miles per hour.
That funny feeling that courses through your veins once a game introduces a gutsy companion who’ll defer to your choices? Like little rats in a cloud of cherry blossom scent, Mass Effect 2’s Suicide Mission taught us that a “side” quest is a lie. The characters who you loved but didn’t say it enough are stained in red, their deaths orchestrated by a player who in their folly thought it’d all come out in the wash. For a bad time, I recommend finding an “everyone dies” walkthrough though it does lead to the incredible implication that one squadmate steps into Shepard’s role and solos the Reapers… now that I would like to see.
Topics: Mass Effect, Bioware, EA