Mass Effect is a role-playing, action-adventure shooter, that allows dialogue choices that change the outcome of the storyline in the game. Ultimately though, Mass Effect is a tale of the last days. It is a exploration of what people do when death, the end of the world, or both are knocking at
Mass Effect is a massive series of games, I recommend you play through them before reading the article, they are nothing short of tremendous. They are available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. However, games are expensive, time consuming, and have a difficult learning curve, so I understand why you wouldn't do that. Be warned however, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. Here's a video to catch the less-knowledgeable up to speed.http://youtu.be/JZCg-JB8kjA
Let's start with Mass Effect 1.
The first instance of spiritual symbolism is early on. Shepard discovers threat of the Reapers on a human colony called Eden Prime. There he/she discovers an ancient Alien device that gives him/her apocalyptic visions of the Reapers. The parallel to biblical legend is obvious. Shepard discovers a great truth about a plane higher than his own in a place called Eden? Yeah. The connections to the fall of man grow more interesting when you consider that all the truly meaningful moral choices happen after this incident. But. what's most interesting about this moment is that it's a loss of innocence. If the original Eden is the gateway to life as we know it, then this Eden is the gateway to death. It's like opening pandora's box and seeing your mortality right before your eyes.
It's no mistake that the game goes to the Citadel(the center of galatic government) right after Shepard discovers the device. You begin to see the vastness of the universe before you, and realize what's at stake. One of the fundamental tenants of religion is our significance. That one or many greater beings care about us. Mass Effect both denies this and embraces it. As you walk around the Citadel, as you play the game, you begin to understand how vast the universe is, how insignificant individuals are in a universe where trillions exist. This idea is further emphasized by the Reapers themselves. When the Reapers have done their work, entire civilizations will cease to be important, only a incredibly small part of trillions will matter in the generations after. However, the game also emphasizes the wonder of humanity, and you know... space jellyfish. You come to love and care about your crew members, you spend time helping individuals when a galaxy is at stake. When you try to save the universe, you are saving your loved ones, friends and lovers alike. The scope of Mass Effect is both intimate and epic. All three games do a brilliant job of balancing these two contrasting ideas, and making them exist in a compelling way in the same universe.
The biggest element of Christian symbolism is also introduced in the first installment. The Reapers themselves. The name Reapers implies that something had to be sown, in order for the Reapers to well... reap. We have sown our fate, the Reapers have come to claim it. This essentially makes the Reapers sin and death. Since Shepard defeats the Reapers and metaphorically kills sin, he is a Christ Figure. As further evidence to this point, he dies and is resurrected in ME2, and has a grand total of 12 party members in the same title, and his/her name is SHEPARD. I'm sure some of you have just raised an eyebrow or two. You might say "Dude, Shepherd can kill innocents, conspire with criminals, cheat on girlfriends/boyfriends, drink excessively, visit strip clubs, and otherwise be a total douche bag. How on EARTH can he/she be a Christ figure?" Have you read Hamlet? Trust me, this is related. In Hamlet, there are three principle characters who seek revenge, Hamlet himself, Laertes, and Fortinbras. Each of these dudes has philosophically the same goal, but all approach revenge in a different way. Hamlet endlessly philosophizes and does some weird shiz, Laertes gets super angry and rash, and Fortinbras just kinda chills out until the end. One of the principle themes (potentially, Hamlet principle themes have been debated so much, who knows what the play means anymore) is how various people, with what is essentially the same fate, will make different choices that affect the meaning of that ultimate fate. It's the same concept with Shepard except on a much grander scale. Even the Shepards, Shepardes? Shepardities? who choose evil decisions are still Christ figures because each Shepard ultimately finds himself/herself in the same place at critical moments. Shepard is a mythic figure, the kind of person whose tale gets passed down from generation to generation. And just as Christ, or Moses, or Hercules or whoever else, has different meanings to various people so does Shepard. The choices we make in Mass Effect allow us to decide what it means to human, what it means to love or to hate, who deserves to live or die. Fantasy is so popular, I think, because it's the battle and struggles we go through internally, played out on a grand scale. Few stories understand this better than Mass Effect. It allows us to live out our dreams, fantasies and our nightmares. Essentially, Mass Effect lets us decide what it means to be a savior.
Okay, One more thing. There are several characters whose side stories tie into Christian themes. Samara's story is similar to Abraham and Isaac. Miranda's to the Prodigal Son. But the character who most deeply ties into the overall themes of the series is Legion. Before you continue, just watch this video, then I'll talk about how this and how Legion enters into the whole meaning of the work. http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/enriching-lives
As you can see, Legion and the Geth are consistently referred to as devils or demons throughout the the game. As a character, Legion is very deep, and by extension so are the Geth. However, symbolically the Machines represent sin. Remember this idea, it's important. Now, we're going to jump to the end of the series. COMMENCE SUMMARY Shepard has returned to Earth, with a dues ex machina called the Crucible. An ancient device designed by past generations destroyed by the Reapers. Needless to say there are some complications activating the Crucible, however Shepard succeeds and makes his/her way to the device. There he finds the Catalyst, an ancient AI who claims to be responsible for the creation of the Reapers. He says that he created the Reapers to prevent synthetics from wiping out all life. The theory is that if they eliminate all advanced life then early life will be preserved allowing life in general to continue. (I know it's a bit weird, but bear with me). Since, Shepard is here, the Catalyst's plan will no longer work, for some reason. He then give you a choice. Using the catalyst, you can first, Destroy the Reapers, but also causing all synthetic life to die along with them. Second, take Control of the Reapers, Third, combine Synthetic and Organic life in Synthesis. SUMMARY COMPLETED. Now, if we take that metaphor of Synthetic life as devils and apply it to the ending. We essentially have a choice of how to deal with sin. We can destroy the very concept of it, we can control it, or we can choose to accept our potential for evil, and choose to be better. If the robots within the game represent sin, then synthesis represents our acceptance of our potential for sin. This, in my opinion, is what Christ truly wants us to do. It's the ending that most strongly affirms Shepard's Christ figureness, because he sacrifices himself and jumps into a giant beam in the shape of cross. Anyway, I really like these games, and truly believe that they are one of the better examples of gaming narrative. I hope you learned something and enjoyed my writing. If you did enjoy this and want more, hit me up on Facebook or the comments or whatever. Maybe I'll write something else about Mass Effect or about Megaman or Zelda or whatever.
Here is some really cool stuff also written about Mass Effect. Okay, cool.
http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/06/film-crit-hulk-smash-a-few-words-on-the-ending-of-mass-effect-3/
http://io9.com/5886178/why-mass-effect-is-the-most-important-science-fiction-universe-of-our-generation
Thanks for reading.
