Honor still matters, despite some seemingly dishonorable actions, to the Renegade FemShep. She is a soldier who will do her duty and follow orders (with the exception of exigent circumstances). That's a distinction that must be recognized: both Paragon and Renegade Shepard characters are heroes who do great deeds and impossible feats. It's the manner at which they go about it that changes, which alters pieces of the puzzle without completely changing the end result. FemShep still has to defeat the Collectors and stop the Reapers from killing everyone at the end of the day. I always assumed that the Paragon route was purely good and Renegade was purely evil, but it's quickly becoming clear to me that that is anything but true.
Recruiting Mordin
Recruiting Mordin
Mordin Solus, the brilliant salarian scientist, clarifies that the way to help people isn't black and white; rescuing someone innocent and killing someone dangerous can both be helpful in some way. He's an interesting character in that he's both a doctor and a soldier. He worked for the salarian Special Tasks Group (STG), a military organization that was known for its deliberate strategics as well as its ventures into espionage, reconnaissance, and assassination. When FemShep adds him to her team, he's working in a medical clinic on Omega, a civilization that thrives on crime and corruption. (It also happens to be built into a giant asteroid.) He built the clinic in the middle of a battle zone rampant with a deadly plague to help humans - a species that many aliens blame for the plague. He's a somewhat paradoxical character in that he's just as likely to save a life as he is to end it, and he's willing and able to see both sides. An interesting note that carries over to all characters in this game is that he seems to be an amphibian-like character who, at first glance, seems hard to adjust to. Thanks to technical images, not only does he exist, but we can understand him perfectly. A male human being, just like us, is providing the voice to this character. Had the game creators decided to give all non-humans strange, garbled sounds and provided us with on-screen subtitles instead, our reactions to these characters may have been quite different.
The Illusive Man and Cerberus
The Illusive Man, the mysterious leader of Cerberus, strikes me as an egotistical type who believes humans are worth protecting to a point of superiority over other species. At some point in the game, it's mentioned that he essentially represents the polar extremes of humanity - the best and the worst qualities of the human race as a whole. His name came from a little nickname the Systems Alliance gave him when he started rebelling and news reports came out about him and his actions; they couldn't find him or figure out who he was, so they dubbed him the "illusive man" and it stuck. He's more concerned about the end goal than the means at which he achieves it, which may explain why many view Cerberus as a terrorist group. He spent seemingly "unlimited resources" to bring FemShep back to life, and all because he thinks the future of humanity hinges on Shepard. (Effectively, he puts the pressure on FemShep of the entire galaxy. It's somewhat understandable, but not necessarily fair or right.) As FemShep goes on missions to recruit crew members and discover more about the Collectors, the Illusive Man is always watching and gathering intel. What makes him a somewhat evil character - a Renegade like FemShep - is that he's willing to keep things to himself and put people in harm's way if it means gathering necessary data; he purposefully sends FemShep and crew into a trap, but doesn't really care because he has confidence in Shepard's abilities and needed to seize the opportunity to find information that would have otherwise been impossible to get. Inhumane, but justifiable. This man is rich, powerful, and mysterious - a combo that's worth trembling at. What clinches it is his casual demeanor as he sits in his chair, smoking a cigarette, acting like the end of the world is just another movie he's watching on Netflix. He's playing god - a puppet master in a galaxy of gullible creatures. He isn't in the action himself, but his words, his contacts (no, not the eyeball kind, although his freakishly blue and likely technologically-altered eyes are quite alluring), his money, and his reputation get the job done. This reminds me of the Internet. Take MuggleNet, for example. It's a fansite for the Harry Potter series that was created several years ago by a big fan of the books, Emerson Spartz. He made it before it became hugely famous as a young kid. But when the series began to pick up, so did the site, and now it's a HUGE website with millions of followers - a go-to resource for HP fans everywhere across the globe. What society would call "nobody's" can become "somebody's" because of the Internet. There is power in words and influence, and we can use it at the touch of our fingertips. A good idea can take off if it passes through the right computer monitors.
The Citadel
I could talk about the Citadel for days. It's such an impressive and beautiful thing. It represents the center of galactic stability and balance - the yin and yang of the known universe. All civilized alien races come to the Citadel; many live there in various wards, some of which are considered the slums where there are higher crime rates. The attack on the Citadel at the end of ME1 caused a lot of damage, but didn't destroy it. Efforts have been made to rebuild it, and much of it has been restored by the time FemShep revisits it. Here's one of my favorite images that shows the detail and massive size of it. There are five "wings", and there are large, apportioned wards on each wing. Every human on earth could live on the Citadel and might not even fill one wing. It's astronomically huge and astounding.
The Presidium is the elite sector of the Citadel. It contains embassies for species across the galaxy - the political heart of space. Every alien race sends representatives to the Citadel to speak for their kind about their nations. They address the Council, a select group of leaders that make the ultimate decisions for everyone. In some ways, they could be viewed as a parliamentary government. The game series makes a statement about politicians and how corrupt and bureaucratic they are, but at the very least they're an efficient bunch that does get things done and reacts well to even the most dire situations. They even have an organized system for law enforcement: Citadel Security Services (C-Sec). It's volunteer-based (though each recruit must come well-recommended and either have a military background or demonstrate strong skills) and consists of a variety of species, just like the Citadel itself. After ME1, there are a lot more humans involved, and security is tightened to prevent infiltration (especially geth). I'll refrain from delving into the area of Spectres because it isn't relevant in ME2, but feel free to Google it and check it out for yourself. They're basically powerful Batman-like figures that do big, off-the-books missions for the Council.
 |
| Presidium |
 |
| C-Sec (Citadel Security Services) |
Recruiting Jack
The environment on Purgatory - a massive floating prison - is hostile and dirty, certainly worse than our prisons now. Torture of inmates is frequent by both guards and other prisoners. Most - if not all - of these prisoners, however, are not mere white collar criminals. They've all committed multiple murders and done degrading, violent things to many beings. (Does that mean they deserve to be tortured? Not necessarily, but it increases the likelihood that less people will stop it.) This ship represents a possible future for prison systems when money and technology advance and we decide to "improve" on the government. The Warden seems okay with jettisoning individual crates of prisoners into space "as an example". Nice, dude. He also claims: "I do the hard things the government isn't willing to." Perhaps he feels that the Citadel has gone too soft on prisoners. He deals with some of the worst criminals in the galaxy. As for Jack herself - yeah, Jack's a girl - she's an interesting analysis of pure biotic energy. (I can delve into her character more later with her loyalty mission.) If I remember correctly, biotics stem from something similar to radiation poisoning. They were exposed to the chemical Element Zero, which humans hardly new anything about, and civilians were then tested with Element Zero and eventually displayed biotic powers. It's as though the idea came straight out of a comic book. I have a strong Fantastic Four/Hulk vibe from it. The introduction to the possibility of biotic energy was less than reputable, but the exploration of it afterward is pretty interesting. Jack didn't have such a good time with it, but she turned out to be one of the most - possibly THE most - powerful biotic in the galaxy. She swears a lot, has a ton of tattoos that represent her life (cults she joined, people she killed, things she destroyed ,etc.), doesn't trust anyone, and loathes Cerberus with a fiery passion. She's a loose canon, but a very powerful ally. I died once trying to save her in the game.
Sidenote: I'm not quite sure why, but Purgatory reminds me of Ender's Game and the strange military-style ship that Ender is sent to. At least Purgatory has gravity, though.
Recruiting Zaeed/Zaeed Loyalty Mission
I didn't jot down much for notes with him, but he's an interesting character. He used to lead the Blue Suns, a renowned mercenary group, but was betrayed by his partner and has held a grudge for it ever since. His loyalty mission is to destroy his partner, Vido. (I can't completely blame him. Vido nearly killed him by shooting him in the head. He survived, miraculously.) So much detail was put into the landscape that he visited. Why bother putting so much effort into a technical image when it's not even real? Well, we want to immerse ourselves into the story - the alternate reality where this stuff is real. (Think Source Code where the technical equation that put Stevens into the past for eight minutes effectively created alternate realities.) Maybe it's not real, but the fact that it could be one day is fascinating. Why not make it look real, too?
 |
| I took this with my phone on the TV. The detail with the environment (like the waterfalls) is amazing. There's also a blatant combination of technology and nature with that giant dish next to the lush water and trees. |
Recruiting Kasumi/Kasumi Loyalty Mission
I've noticed that planets covered in more natural habitats are less intimidating to me. There's something comforting about trees and rivers where almost everything is covered head to toe with technology. I fear for future generations, if that's there we're heading. That said, Mr. Hock's mansion is awesome. It screams rich, posh fancy guy who likes to throw his money around, especially his vault with neat, rare, and freakishly expensive artifacts. (He has the head of the Statue of Liberty!) Mr. Hock is a criminal who specializes in thievery, amongst other things, and he claims to be "the support structure for the galaxy's delusions of peace". It's an interesting statement that criminals actually support world peace. Is there validity to it?
 |
| Another screen capture I took with my phone, contrasting the vibrant city on the left with the pretty mountaintops and setting sun on the right. Nature v. technology at every turn. |
Gaming Segment (5 Hours)
Something that I feel proves the creators behind ME2 were going for a realistic feel with the game is the seemingly tedious sense of stores and lounges on various planets. While The Sims portrays the ultimate control over an artificial, technological being - the user chooses when their characters eat, shower, sleep, move, and so on - the technique of providing a lifelike setting where others are shopping with you and need to grab their own supplies puts your technical image of a character into a seemingly living setting. (It truly is hard to believe that these technical images are nothing but equations put into a computer, when you're immersed in the game and not thinking about it.) For a casual shopping trip, you can buy pets (fish and a space hamster), small ship models for your private room on the Normandy, weapon/armor upgrades, magazines, books, etc. in little stores like this shop on the Zakera Ward. Shops on the Citadel and Illium are more clean, polite, and organized than on some of the other planets, like Tuchanka or Omega.
 |
| Gaming Shop (A video game with a store for video games!) |
FemShep's private room on the Normandy even has its own bathroom with a flushable toilet. If that doesn't prove their attention to detail and strong sense of realism, I don't know what does. (I never bother with it, but the fact that it's there tells me something.)
 |
| This begs the question: On a spaceship, how does the plumbing and garbage system work? The Zaeed mission (purchased through Xbox Live) answers that question: There's a room for the garbage where it's compressed into a cube (think WALL-E) and jettisoned into space. I've launched a few cubes, in my boredom. |
On another note, I've noticed that sometimes my gaming is done in a specific way: I cheat the system. If I know a giant mech is coming for me, I'll stragetically put myself at a point where I know he won't get to me - not because he can't walk there, but because the technology of the game itself prevents him from being able to walk there. Technical images allow you to seize their flaws and use them against them. This is where glitches and hackers come in. I've seen a few hilarious glitches in this game myself, such as "dancing" mechs (more like their dead bodies dangling about), flying enemies (randomly vault into the air and soar several feet before landing, if they land at all), or disappearing characters (their voice speaks, but their figure is invisible). Such flaws occur because the property of the system - the game and all its numbers and equations - can change. Previous mediums - a la Flusser - cannot change. Once a photograph is taken or a book is written, the property of that medium is permanent. You can rip it up, burn it, or use it to create an augmented reality, but that abstraction itself is incapable of having technical difficulties. Get it?
There's also a hint of sexism in the game. One specific moment that I recall comes up later with Archangel, but there are little flickers of it throughout the game. All the more reason to have a badass FemShep. Girl power!
I made a connection between The Invention of Morel and voice actors. The fugitive inserted himself into the looped projections on the island and thus became a part of the projections; any future visitor would never doubt that he was there in the first place. Voice actors - all actors, really - become synonymous with their characters in technical images. Pierce Brosnan is no longer simply Pierce Brosnan. He's also James Bond. Logically, we know that's not true and that 007 is simply a character, but as far as we're concerned, the technical images prove that Brosnan and Bond are one and the same. Actors effectively imprint themselves into technical images and become immortalized as that figure.
Bdee, bedee, bdee - that's all, folks! For now, anyway.
~Mel
No comments:
Post a Comment