Mass Effect 2 Deconstructed, Part Two
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Perhaps the most interesting thing Mass Effect 2 does though, is adapt the narrative to the player. In giving us so many important decisions in the original Mass Effect, there was a worry that Bioware's next game would become bloated and the story would have too many different paths to form a coherent whole. But it hasn't turned out that way. What it does instead is reward the player for having gone through the original Mass Effect. Characters you've impacted will show up or send you messages and the universe will change subtly depending how you acted previously. It's been suggested elsewhere that playing without importing a character allows you to experience Bioware's directors cut of the game, their canon as it were. But to me it seems their Shepard made a complete hash of everything, allowing friends to be killed and appointing the rat-like Udina to the Citadel council. The game is infinitely more satisfying to play through in a universe you shaped, with the Shepard who shaped it. Even if there are only a limited number of different paths Shepard could have taken, the story becomes almost unique and personal to an extent few sequels or indeed games ever manage. This kind of collaborative narrative is something that only games can do and something I'd love to see more of, where it doesn't feel as though I'm walking through a railroad of a plot. Instead I'm impacting lives and shaping the universe with every decision made and crafting a unique tale within the broad boundaries Bioware have given us.
