A Raygun Romantic in Power Armor
"Mass Effect's" Marriage of Sci-Fi Subgenres Past and Recent
For the month of November, Senchas Claideb will be dedicated entirely to writing on the Mass Effect series! Fans of BioWare’s space opera rpg likely regard November as “N7 Month” (N7 being a program of elite marines in the world of Mass Effect), so I thought it fitting to take the coming weeks to talk about my experience and thoughts on this series that I only recently got into compared to other long-time fans.
Today, I have a short opinion piece on how I believe Mass Effect succeeds in combining subgenres of science fiction into its worldbuilding and narrative. While it is a modern sci-fi game, at its core it possesses the beating heart and soul of romanticized epics and tales of heroism on distant worlds.
While Mass Effect’s opening text presents a logical explanation behind scientific advancements among the human race, and the rest of the series remains faithful to its mostly hard sci-fi setting, but its themes and narrative paint a more epic, romantic picture of the far future and the collective struggle against galaxy-wide annihilation. Science fiction can sometimes be utilitarian and clinical with its depictions of advancements in technology, space travel, and encounters with extraterrestrial creatures as it attempts to portray the most “logical” explanations using what current research is available to authors, filmmakers, and other storytellers. The sci-fi elements of Star Wars are very light, and instead the series focuses on the wonder, pure fantasy, and sprawling cast of characters in its galaxy far, far away. George Lucas drew heavily from older sci-fi stories from the “Raygun romance” era, which reveled in the aesthetics and fascinating ideas of space travel to weird worlds than the nitty gritty details of plausibility or actual science. Normally, stories and art in Raygun Romance is what you might imagine in 1950s B Movies and essentially the entire setting of The Jetsons cartoon where science fiction is only used enough to explain most of the oddities in the story without much deep thought as to everything’s inner workings. Mass Effect is essentially what would happen if one were to combine the in-depth technological worldbuilding of The Expanse with the romanticized vision of space and humanity’s place in a galactic society. The vision of the future Mass Effect has is replete with all manner of technological advancements from humans and alien races, mostly powered by the fictional “Element Zero.” The various codex entries players may unlock throughout their playthroughs provide in-depth rundowns of almost every facet of the game’s world, providing an unobtrusive method of learning how everything functions in this imagined vision of the future. It is not imperative that players read these entries to understand what is going on in each quest or game, but provides the answers for curious players to ground themselves in the “hard sci-fi” elements of the series. The overarching story opens the way to a more epic and emotional narrative where the hard logic of modern sci-fi often takes a backseat to the struggles of the main cast.
The story of the original Mass Effect trilogy follows the player character Commander Shepard and the crew of their spaceship Normandy as they challenge the Reapers, sapient machines of incredibly ancient origin bent on wiping out all technologically-advanced organic life. Throughout each installment, the series brings up questions and themes pertaining to things like the validity of synthetic lifeforms, humanity’s place among a community of more ancient, sophisticated alien races, and how far a species can progress before their very existence becomes detrimental to the world they live in. These questions are not relegated to one subgenre of science fiction, but the manner in which Mass Effect opens the choices to players to decide how they would rather navigate the narrative—if they would let logic or emotions guide their choices in saving or damning the galaxy. The morality system (or Paragon-Renegade system) in Mass Effect is one of the primary mechanics that emphasizes player choice and allows for experimentation on multiple playthroughs. Players may choose to follow an exemplary path that attempts to champion goodwill and opportunities for coexistence (Paragon), or lead like a tough-as-nails scoundrel who will do anything to get a job done no matter how ruthless (Renegade). It should be noted that neither morality path enables players to stray from or subvert their overall goal of defeating the Reapers and their agents, but certain choices do influence the outcomes of questlines, opens up new dialogue options, and can even set the stage for certain endings of the games. These choices mould the player character of Shepard into an archetypal individual who embodies either the virtuous spirit of the Paragon or ruthless action of the Renegade. Again, players are allowed to let emotion or logic dictate their decisions when it comes to these choices, especially when they are brought up around the questions and themes of the series.
I would also be remise not to speak on the NPCs companions who arguably provide the heart and soul of the trilogy. Each represent a different race or faction in the universe of Mass Effect and provide players with a diverse understanding of the world they are playing in. Much like the varied crews in the different Star Trek shows, each companion has their own culture, philosophy, and personal history that influences how they conduct themselves alongside Shepard. Players can either embrace or forgo relationships with their companions across the games, and in turn influence companion behavior and outlooks dependent on their Paragon and Renegade choices. The possible friendships players might build between their companions and Shepard transcend boundaries of species and factions as they might all unite against the Reaper threat. Some of these relationships may even evolve into romantic ones, quite literally injecting romance into the story of Mass Effect. In the face of total destruction, such emotional storytelling gives players the motivation to try and see the the games through to the end and determine whatever path would provide the best future following the end of the conflict. It is these seemingly impossible or unlikely relationships with these characters only dreamed of that make the series as beloved as it is.
Mass Effect’s epic scope encapsulates entire differing subgenres of science fiction from past and present, and synthesizes them with its themes and questions to create a narrative that romanticizes the epic struggle of organic life against the harrowing destruction wrought by the alien, unfeeling Reapers. Although it may be encased in a highly protective layer of logically scientific power armor, the Mass Effect series at its heart is brimming with honor for the heroism of old and immortal stories.
Thanks for reading this week’s post! Let me know your thoughts on how Mass Effect blends subgenres of sci-fi into its story!
Refer your friends to Senchas Claideb to receive access to special rewards, including a personalized Gaelic phrase and a free, original short story exclusive to top referees!
Shoot me a message!
The Reapers appear to be very similar to the Borg in their intent to supplant humanity.
Enjoyed this evaluation. I really enjoy hard sci-fi and would sometime enjoy your take on a hard sci-fi novel or short story.