In my rant about gaming Stockholm syndrome, I mentioned some of my fairly radical opinions on Mass Effect 2 and by extension Bioware’s extended library of games. The topic of making computer RPGs fun is something I’ve been struggling with for awhile now. I am sure anyone who doesn’t replay Planescape: Torment every month has at one time or another questioned the fun they have with modern RPG releases. We are hypothetically at the apex of digital immersion, where graphics engines are capable of more details presented faster and more smoothly than ever before (note: capability and execution are two different things, as shadow glitches and clipping and so on still permeate many, many games). We have professional game design schools which specialize in training the next generation of developers. We have everything we need to make great advancements in storytelling and revolutions in game design. And yet, we are still remaking Baldur’s Gate, tarted up with space magic and Cthulhu monsters.
You certainly can’t fault Bioware for trying very hard at hiding their Standard Bioware Plot under layers of omni-sexual alien hotties, transforming guns, and totally realistic sci-fantasy babble. Fundamentally, though, Mass Effect 2 is the same game as Mass Effect 1 in much the same way Die Hard 2 is the same movie as Die Hard 1. You are a somewhat customizable leader who must go into space and work with a diverse group of mercenaries to Save The World. Along the way, the otherwise linear story gives you the option to kick people in the crotch, or prevent others from kicking people in the crotch, and requires you to search around for gear upgrades and train up your space magic until you’re strong enough to not get completely obliterated by the end boss.
As formulaic as the game is, Mass Effect 2 has the decency to carve off some of the clunky chaff of the original. The skill mechanics are thankfully pared down from “algebra textbook of options with three overpowered ones and filler for the rest” to “five really good options and only enough points to specialize in three of those”. Special abilities have cool-down timers, but at least this time they’re short (five to fifteen seconds) and ammo capacity is limited but ammo itself is plentiful. Planet scanning takes about a quarter of the time as piloting the original moon physics buggy for about twice the benefit, and that’s always a plus. At its core, they seem to have made a conscious effort at removing or ratcheting down the “game-y” parts to focus on the story; the Mission Debriefing screen is mostly unnecessary, though the memory match hacking mini-game is a five hundred percent improvement over the original Simon Says model. It’s just a shame the story is the exact same story told by the first game, hidden below a layer of new proper nouns.
Then again, I suppose I should be lucky that the Renegade Ending isn’t “you side with the Reapers and conquer the universe”, a la Knights of the Old Republic’s Dark Side ending. Better men than I have cogently and accurately addressed ethical/moral gauges in games, and why they are a general waste of time, so I won’t reiterate that.
There should be enough flesh to the Mass Effect universe for meaningful character arcs beyond “What Shepard is doing”. Not everyone is Shepard, and not everyone does Shepard grade heroics, but I should think they have hopes and dreams and conflicts that don’t involve launching themselves to the universe’s fringe and punching Space Satan until it stops moving. Just once, I’d like to see a meaningful character journey, in space or otherwise, that fell outside the paradigm of Saving The World. Unless that’s all RPGs are meant to do, or unless that’s all we’ll accept from RPGs.
No comments:
Post a Comment