By Reach For The Sky
Mass Effect spoilers ahead
There's a part in Mass Effect 2 where you are infiltrating a massive mercenary assault in order to save a potential crew member, Archangel. Before you begin the assault you have the option of walking around the base of operations of the various mercenary groups, meeting the district managers of each, and potentially sabotaging the mission, making the assault easier on yourself. One such opportunity lies in a Batarian named Cathka. Cathka is a mechanic for the Blue Suns who is repairing a gunship that will be used to tear you and your squad apart during the assault. You have the option of taking him out sneakily with the world's coolest one-liner. Whether this kills or simply incapacitates him is unclear (the blood-curling scream he lets out would suggest the former) but what is certain is how evil you are for doing it.
Let's get this straight. A mechanic is repairing a ship that we know will be used against us in a few minutes. Never mind that in that time interval, we will kill a small town's worth of mercenaries and free-lancers. If you cattle-prod this one mechanic you are Satan incarnate. Thankfully, you aren't denied paragon points if you slip this peon the super-tazer, so it doesn't adversely affect you unless you can't stand the facial scars. It's also somewhat understandable, as it could be considered an "unnecessary death". Unfortunately, I wouldn't be writing this article if that was my only grief. Later in the game, you encounter a rather talkative krogan.
While the windbag is delivering his forty-page thesis on how his clan is so awesome and powerful,
you have the option of torching him with rocket fuel. The game once again calls you a menace to society for killing an alien who is currently threatening a genocide on the entire galaxy*. While, like before, you aren't sacrificing any nice points, the maddening thing about this scene is if you don't jump on the opportunity to turn the lobster-bisque into space ember, you still have to fight and kill him in combat. Yes, you are evil because you chose to kill someone 10 seconds earlier than you could have.
It only gets better. Later on in that same mission you have another binary choice. Get rid of research that could cure a little thing called the Genophage, which is a scientifically designed contraceptive virus that is in all krogans that has made the growth of the species come to a stop. Whoever is in charge of moral choices at Bioware clearly hates this idea. Destroying the research earns you evil points and deprives you of nice points**. The annoying thing is, Mordin, Shepard's Salarian friend who is awesome and certified Always-Right, has been defending the Genophage with immpenetrable logic throughout the mission. I can understand how someone could think the Genophage was wrong, but Bioware doesn't even bother asking the player's intentions. You like the Genophage, therefor you eat puppies and drink the blood of orphans.
The final choice in the main storyline is also brain-poison. You have two options (as usual), destroy the evil base, instantly scrapping advanced technology and extensive biological research, or simply wipe out the enemies inside with a bomb that would eliminate only the organic life inside, giving the good guys complete control. The moral nazi at Bioware considers the former to be the king of all evils, the decision only Beelzebub himself could make. Shamus Young has written extensively on the subject and words it much better than I;
"If studying the Collector base is evil, then what do we say about those Allied forces that captured Auschwitz instead of blowing it up?"
The point is, Bioware is putting too many of these binary choices in the game with questionable principles behind them. It's focusing too much on the decision and not enough on the intention. Also keep in mind that Bioware is the best at this sort of thing. Other games with morality systems tend to be a lot worse about their bizarre ethical standards and lack of a middle ground. At least Bioware lets you be completely awesome while calling you the King of the Underdark.
*There are a half-dozen or so of these moments throughout the game. Bioware must hate the idea of preemptive attack, no matter how obvious the recipients aggression is.
**It must have been a tough decision, considering Shepard also seems to think keeping any ill-gotten research makes you the offspring of Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
Let's get this straight. A mechanic is repairing a ship that we know will be used against us in a few minutes. Never mind that in that time interval, we will kill a small town's worth of mercenaries and free-lancers. If you cattle-prod this one mechanic you are Satan incarnate. Thankfully, you aren't denied paragon points if you slip this peon the super-tazer, so it doesn't adversely affect you unless you can't stand the facial scars. It's also somewhat understandable, as it could be considered an "unnecessary death". Unfortunately, I wouldn't be writing this article if that was my only grief. Later in the game, you encounter a rather talkative krogan.
While the windbag is delivering his forty-page thesis on how his clan is so awesome and powerful,
you have the option of torching him with rocket fuel. The game once again calls you a menace to society for killing an alien who is currently threatening a genocide on the entire galaxy*. While, like before, you aren't sacrificing any nice points, the maddening thing about this scene is if you don't jump on the opportunity to turn the lobster-bisque into space ember, you still have to fight and kill him in combat. Yes, you are evil because you chose to kill someone 10 seconds earlier than you could have.
It only gets better. Later on in that same mission you have another binary choice. Get rid of research that could cure a little thing called the Genophage, which is a scientifically designed contraceptive virus that is in all krogans that has made the growth of the species come to a stop. Whoever is in charge of moral choices at Bioware clearly hates this idea. Destroying the research earns you evil points and deprives you of nice points**. The annoying thing is, Mordin, Shepard's Salarian friend who is awesome and certified Always-Right, has been defending the Genophage with immpenetrable logic throughout the mission. I can understand how someone could think the Genophage was wrong, but Bioware doesn't even bother asking the player's intentions. You like the Genophage, therefor you eat puppies and drink the blood of orphans.
The final choice in the main storyline is also brain-poison. You have two options (as usual), destroy the evil base, instantly scrapping advanced technology and extensive biological research, or simply wipe out the enemies inside with a bomb that would eliminate only the organic life inside, giving the good guys complete control. The moral nazi at Bioware considers the former to be the king of all evils, the decision only Beelzebub himself could make. Shamus Young has written extensively on the subject and words it much better than I;
"If studying the Collector base is evil, then what do we say about those Allied forces that captured Auschwitz instead of blowing it up?"
The point is, Bioware is putting too many of these binary choices in the game with questionable principles behind them. It's focusing too much on the decision and not enough on the intention. Also keep in mind that Bioware is the best at this sort of thing. Other games with morality systems tend to be a lot worse about their bizarre ethical standards and lack of a middle ground. At least Bioware lets you be completely awesome while calling you the King of the Underdark.
*There are a half-dozen or so of these moments throughout the game. Bioware must hate the idea of preemptive attack, no matter how obvious the recipients aggression is.
**It must have been a tough decision, considering Shepard also seems to think keeping any ill-gotten research makes you the offspring of Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
I don't think the developers intended the morality system to be seen as good vs. evil.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, whether you're a paragon or renegade, you save humanity.
The morality just pertains to how you go about doing that: whether or not you're the type who is quick to jump into a fight and gain the upper hand, manipulate a situation to benefit yourself, etc.
I understand that it's not as clear cut as good vs. evil. Even games as binary as Fable still have you defeat the evil overlord and save the realm from destruction. The general idea behind Mass Effect seems to be a matter of ethics. What are you willing to do to get the job done. The problem is that Bioware seems to have a pretty strong bias as towards what qualifies as ethical. Is it really such a "renegade" thing to do to keep a population of violent aliens low, especially without killing any of them or forcing them into extinction? The fact is, a player could consider it insidious or absolutely necessary, why (possibly) penalize him for his ideals? Mordin certainly wouldn't agree with a few decisions the devs at Bioware made, and Mordin is Always Right Forever, so there.
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