Space.
So vast and currently unexplored by humans.
What could possibly be out there?
Mass Effect 3, a space role playing game, explores that unknown and the
problems that we might face and still shows problems we might see today along
with cultural beliefs and ideals.
Mass Effect 3 is the final game in
the Mass Effect trilogy that follows the adventures of Commander Shepard. It was released in 2012. Commander Shepard is a commander for the
Alliance Navy and later becomes the first Human Spectre. They
fight for peace within the galaxy that they are newly introduced to and
discover that Reapers, sentient robots created to wipe out all intelligent life
every fifty thousand years or so, are returning. Shepard attempts to get the support of the
council and Earth government but is ultimately ignored until planets start to
be destroyed. Throughout the game
Shepard and their allies are attempting to gain support to stop the reapers
before they wipe out all life. The target
audience is most likely young adult males with the game being rated for a
mature audience. Mass Effect may seem
like just another space action game but a lot is hidden within it.
First, let us look at Commander
Shepard. Commander Shepard is
customizable and can be either male or female leaving out gender bias, however,
Shepard follows an archetype. Shepard is
the typical hero with varying back story. Each option has a stereotype. You could be born for the military because
your parents did it, an orphan who enlisted to escape crime, or a colonist
enlisting after your friends and family were killed by raiders. These each have a stereotype common for
heroes in our society; birthright, escape, and revenge. On top of all of this you can be a Paragon,
the stereotypical good guy hero, or a Renegade, the antihero who gets the job
done but on their own terms. The paragon
is everywhere is our society and the renegade is becoming an increasingly popular
figure. Commander Shepard reflects our
typical views of heroes, even going as far as why they joined the Alliance in
the first place.
The story does not just include
stereotypes. BioWare, the company that
developed Mass Effect, made strides in equal rights. The protagonist of the story can become
involved in romance with characters of the same sex, something not very common
until recently. There is even a race of
blue humanoids that are only female but can reproduce with any gender and any
alien race, including humans. This challenged
the pop culture belief that was against homosexuality and related
subjects.
Along with challenging sexuality,
racism is a common element in the game.
With humans meeting a large number of alien races in the game, and a war
subsequently breaking out between the humans and the Turians, racism shows. Turians are avian like with talon like nails
on hand and toes, and have developed a sort of exoskeleton to protect them from
the radiation of their home world. A
crew member named Ashley is uncomfortable with having aliens aboard the
Normandy, the ship used throughout the game that includes elements of Turian
design. Throughout the game you also
encounter aliens who are very wary of humans.
This shows an acknowledgment of human’s nature to fight and points out
our original dislike of things that are different from us.
The game challenges much of the
status quo. It covers racism and
sexuality. While racism is not as common
as it once was, it is not completely eliminated from society. The game challenges this through the
conclusion. In the end almost all races
work together to stop the reaper invasion despite any problems they may have
had with each other before hand, although, Shepard had to solve a few of those
problems. It also challenges sexuality
through the military. We have had a
biased society and military when it came to homosexuality and, within the game,
someone in a position of power can be homosexual. Generally in our society we see the hero as
strong, confident and interested in the opposite sex, especially in military
heroes.
The game promotes both positive and
negative values. Shepard is a
stereotypical hero until the player takes control and makes choices that shape
the lives of them and those around them.
Mass Effect also seems to promote equality and acceptance.
Overall I think it’s a good start, I think your intro can use a bit of work. The first full sentence is kind of weak, whenever I hear Space at the beginning of a sentence I think of startrek not saying it’s a bad thing just that to fallow it up with “So vast and currently unexplored by humans” is a little lackluster. The body paragraphs are good, however of the racism one I would include a quote from the game to further prove your point. I feel as though most of what you said was obvious, you should play though it again and look for some less easily found beliefs and values. That is if you want to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you with the intro but playing the game might kinda then be boring because you won't playing for fun and have a good time but focus very closely to everything around and what there saying and so on. But also it does kinda get repetitive by talking about sexuality. T.B., you should expand more on what your saying by going into more detail and explaining more what they could have done. Also, you could give your thoughts on how you would pursue and act if you were actually in the game itself, if you would like too.
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