Solid Snake's Pseudo-Let's Play: Mass Effect

[Solid Snake]

The Conclusion of Chapter One: Welcome to Rustic Eden Prime
Don't mind the Geth! They're our friends!

...These two men are our partners for afternoon tea today.
Captain Anderson is one of them, and his voice and demeanor reminds me vaguely of the actor who played the role of the President for a few seasons in 24. Anderson is the Systems Alliance leader of this expedition and he's a complex guy. Apparently there are actually prequels to Mass Effect that delve more thoroughly into Anderson's backstory but for now, all we really know is that he's the boss of this operation.

First, however, we get some face-to-face time with Nihlus, that Turian SPECTRE who we'll be working with on this mission. Nihlus is happy to have some alone time with us (cue the romantic music, baby) as he'd like to have some interaction independent of Captain Anderson's presence.
(The screenshot of Nihlus and Taran's initial conversation was used in the last post, when I introduced Nihlus, so I won't repeat it here.)

Nonetheless, in true Renegade fashion, when Nihlus asks us "Is Eden Prime beautiful?" (as he poetically muses on the symbolism of humanity's most successful and valuable colony...no foreshadowing of epic destruction there, eh?) Our response is..."Why should I give a shit?" Nihlus seems to ignore our indifference (again, these conversations are often one-way streets, and the same progression occurs regardless of our input) and follows up with "How safe is Eden Prime, really?" He's obviously expecting trouble.

We, however, again in Renegade fashion, decide to interpret this as a threat. "You trying to scare me?" Taran has no reason to trust Nihlus at this juncture and I imagine the impression of Turians he got from his childhood on Earth wasn't exactly...pleasant.

Captain Anderson shows up just in time to start our Super-Special Meeting for Really Important Peoples Only:





Anderson expresses that this mission is "more than a shakedown," which is absolutely shocking and seriously who could have seen that one coming, though for the record, Taran is not amused with the notion that this Turian guy is here to "observe him:"





Part of being a Renegade also seems to include a bit of rational paranoia. Taran's too smart to follow the idealistic propaganda that all the alien races are our bestest friends. He certainly seems to assume the worst of everyone around him. In reality, Taran should consider his potential SPECTRE candidacy an honor, as that's really all Nihlus wants to observe him for.

The conversation now shifts to that ancient race of Protheans and an object of theirs called a "beacon," which was apparently discovered recently on Eden Prime. Anderson explains that a similar discovery on Mars a generation or two ago led humanity to refine methods of interstellar travel that expanded them beyond the Sol System, led to conflict with the Turians, and basically integrated them into one of the "important spacefaring" races acknowledged into existence by the aliens' Council. This new beacon on Eden Prime, however, is much, much bigger and better than any other beacon discovered before. Such a discovery will not only impact humanity's understanding of the Protheans, but will actually lead to incredible advances among all the citizens of the Milky Way Galaxy.

We respond to this by saying, "You should have told me," because Taran views himself as far too important to be left out of this little secret.
(Note: Not only do these dialogue choices have no influence on the plot, they also don't even lead to Renegade or Paragon points, for some esoteric reason. So basically, Taran could give out a series of Paragon quotes in this conversation and it'd have no impact on his character. Which is another reason why I'm not stopping here and asking you all to make the decisions.)

We also attempt to convince Anderson, to no success, that the Systems Alliance should just hoard this secret and not share it with the aliens. (Apparently, being a Renegade also means being a little speciest.) I'm actually surprised to see Nihlus keep his calm in response to such a suggestion, as he rationally explains to Taran that "some species see you as selfish and..."
(Hey! My prediction from the first post in this Let's Play thread has already come true!)
...Basically, Nihlus gives Taran a lesson of Diplomatic Essentials 101.

We also have an explanation regarding the Atticus Traverse and the Terminus Systems here, but really the only important thing to take away from this exposition is that humanity, in a moment of epic intelligence, decided to construct its most successful and valuable colony in close proximity to a barbaric region of anarchic planets opposed to the law and order of the Council. Brilliant. We deserve a golden star for that one.

As if on cue, we are interrupted by Joker, who has some bad news.





Shit be hittin' the fan!!
So we get a video transmission from Eden Prime. In it, a female soldier in a stereotypically sexist white-and-pink outfit (here's looking at you, White Mage) is shooting around at unseen enemies and documenting what appears to be the complete and total subjugation of Eden Prime. She sputters some nonsense about the beacon and the dig site and tries to assist her dying allies and then the transmission ends...





...But not before we are introduced to Master Hand, who's made a cameo appearance in Mass Effect. Any chance the SSBB "Final Destination" theme could start blasting when we fight this guy?

Anderson and Nihlus both seem nonplussed by this turn of events. It's time for our very first mission and our opportunity to prove that we deserve a chance to be humanity's first SPECTRE agent.





We're flying down to the now-scorched planet of Eden Prime, which doesn't exactly resemble the Biblical Eden anymore.

Anderson gives us our mission objectives as the Normandy flies down for its dropoff:
A: Head for the dig site.
B: Find the Prothean Beacon.
C: Rescuing survivors is a secondary objective. (Taran would undoubtedly agree with this assessment.)
D: Follow Nihlus' instructions.

Unfortunately, keeping with the mantra that Nihlus is too cool (and probably, too overleveled) to stick around, the Turian SPECTRE decides to scout ahead (he "works better alone," though he may need to reassess that statement by the time this mission is over) and feed you back recon over Walkie-Talkies, or whatever equivocal communications technology we're using in this game.





...Just for old time's sake, we decide to take one last dig on Nihlus, who Anderson assures us we can trust. "I don't like putting my life in the hands of a Turian, sir." Is the exact line of dialogue.
Well, we're in our badass combat suits which inevitably means we might actually get to see a bit of combat by the time Part One reaches its end. Let's see firsthand what Eden Prime has in store for us...








We apparently exit the Normandy off-screen, and just in time to gaze at a romantic sunset with the boys. Richard Jenkins and Kaiden Alenko are our coworkers for this mission, and Richard wastes no time in expressing abject dismay at the utter destruction of his homeworld.





...Exactly what is this brooding skyscraper in the background, anyway? Maybe we'll find out?
Anyway, I'll give Mass Effect due credit for being a step up from KOTOR and KOTOR II in the graphics department. The scene rather nicely captures the essence of "Paradise Lost," and I only wish we had the opportunity to see Eden Prime before the invasion.





These little critters are called Gasbags, and no, I have no idea what they're doing here or whether they're robotic or biological or...whatever. Kaiden expresses his disgust (we get to hear Carth's obnoxious upper register again) at these unique creatures and Jenkins reassures him that they will not, in fact, devour his brains for supper.





...We decide to do some exploring in the swamps...





...and we find a treasure chest in a small alcove!
Yes, no matter how realistic games eventually come, with their fancy graphics and their real-life facial expressions and their epic storylines, we'll always be assured to be forced to suspend our disbelief when we find weapons upgrades buried in some tiny corner of the map.





...Also, no matter how realistic games become, we'll never be able to goddamn jump over little rocks like these. Shepard has all the mobility of a four-year old child.


We finally waltz a ways through the once-verdant landscape of Eden Prime to a point where we'll interrupted with a cutscene:





...Shepard's long grimace into the distance here is supposed to symbolize him suspecting trouble, but despite his forewarnings, Jenkins says "In this game we can take plenty of hits from lower-level minions before we die! I'll be fine!"





Despite having 100 hit points and despite being a Soldier class who should frankly be capable of taking a few shots from a drone like this, Jenkins promptly screams in agony when shot by a Geth drone and crumples to the ground. Nice going, Jenkins! Way to follow orders!

We now experience our first fight of the game, which involves us taking cover behind a gigantic boulder and shooting away at three Geth drones -- little Star-Wars-esque floating robots with laser turrets that shoot blue bolts of energy. We're left with Kaiden, a Sentinel who's technically an even worse shot than we are, but even two non-Combat classes can easily wipe the floor with these pathetic robots, who barely present a challenge. A couple well-placed shots and they join Jenkins in the afterlife.

Speaking of Jenkins...





We decide to take a closer look at Jenkins' body and I'm half-expecting Kaiden here to go into full-blown Carth Onasi mode and start screaming and bitching and moaning about how he lost his best friend and how life is meaningless and how "he just can't deal with the pain, it's too much" and how he ultimately doesn't want to talk about it, but he'll end up spending twenty minutes crying about how he doesn't want to talk about it.





...And yet, surprisingly, Kaiden takes my pragmatic approach to the situation extraordinarily well. Just a "Yes, sir, commander." That's it? I'm almost disappointed. Where's my daily dosage of Carth-angst to wade through?
...Oh, and we gain two Renegade points here for not choosing the "let's make sure Jenkins gets a proper burial" option. This really makes no sense to me as there's nothing inherently morally improper in suggesting that it's not a good idea to have anyone return to a war-torn planet filled with hostiles just to collect a body and risk their own lives in the process.








A side benefit of taking on and defeating the Geth drones is that Kaiden and Taran both leveled up to "Level Two," and both have some experience points (sorry, they're technically "Talent Points") to spend.

Taran has six points to divide between Basic Armor, Throw, Warp, Barrier, Adept, and Intimidate. (I don't really consider "Charm" an option here to give you guys as this isn't a Paragon playthrough and I won't let you divert unnecessary points to try to make it one.) We also apparently already can cast "Throw" and "Warp," though I haven't tried either yet.

Kaiden has similar options, but given that we already have an Adept with us at all times, I'll be pushing Kaiden to specialize in the more "Engineer"-esque side of his dual nature. There's Throw, Barrier, Decryption, First Aid, and Sentinel for Kaiden and four points to spilt among these traits. I'll consider putting points to either of the first two skills if you make extraordinarily great arguments for them, but as of now, I'm leaning predominantly towards the latter three.

I'll attempt to give a slightly more indepth explanation of each trait once I do the proper research myself, but the question I pose to you all is: Where should we put our points, and why?

...Yeah, I really can't give you guys anything else to chew on just yet because this Intro Mission is a rather linear experience.

Comments? Criticism? Undue praise? Heap me with whatever you want.

[Azisien]

I saw no screenshots of you blasting away the gas-bags. What kind of Ruthless are you anyway?

And start pumping your offensive biotics, so Warp and Throw. I mean we all chose Adept for that reason anyway. If you're on a high difficulty level I might suggest Barrier, but if you're on Easy or Normal you won't need it.

EDIT:

Taran: 2 Throw, 2 Warp, 2 Basic Armor (gotta get to them pistols)
Kaiden: 2 Decryption, 3 First Aid, 1 Barrier.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Azisien

I saw no screenshots of you blasting away the gas-bags. What kind of Ruthless are you anyway?

All right, I'll shoot one and try to capture it for you next update. Though if memory recalls, nothing special really happens. =)

[Krylo]

Taran: Three basic armor, one throw, one warp, one intimidate.
Reasoning--Getting marksman with your pistols makes every fight about a million times easier, so getting pistols to JUST high enough to get marksman is first priority. Also--you're an adept, so you want those offensive abilities.

And intimidate? Mostly I just want you to be able to pick the renegade options. Not the best choice from a building a monster character standpoint, but the best choice from a 'entertaining Krylo by shooting people in the face' standpoint.

Kaiden: Both points into decryption, bank the rest to put into electronics on the next level when you can unlock it.
Reasoning: Right now, Kaiden is your only way to open locked doors and chests, and decryption and electronics are the only skills for doing it. Ergo, getting them both to 'advanced' levels takes precedence over all else. Especially as that no matter WHAT you do with Kaiden he's going to be a shitty team mate, unable to hold his own whom you're better off pretending doesn't exist.

You MAY want to put a few points into first aid, but you'd have to REALLY suck to need it at this point in the game. Do you REALLY suck, Snake? Do you?

[Azisien]

It took him like two weeks to make a character, he must be god-awful.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Azisien

It took him like two weeks to make a character, he must be god-awful.

Two weeks? Didn't I create this topic on the 12th? =)

Anywhoo, I'll wait to see if we garner a couple more opinions, but the next "chapter" will be up tomorrow regardless. I'm 'itchin for some serious Eden Prime progress.

[Azisien]

Well yeah, but it's been conjecture for longer than that. Don't play games with me!...Er, wait....

[Yumil]

I was hoping for a Leeroy Jenkins comment(I mean his name is Richard L. Jenkins. Hes the only character I know in game with a middle initial:O)

Anywho:
3 Basic Armor, 2 throw, 1 intimidate
Get pistols fastest and get lift fastest should be your priorities. Yes, singularity takes out more enemies, but lift is amazing in its own ways(I wont spoil). Intimidate so that you can *Convince* some npcs to do something later.

For Kaiden, 2 in decryption and bank the rest. Same reasons as Krylo.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Yumil

I was hoping for a Leeroy Jenkins comment(I mean his name is Richard L. Jenkins. Hes the only character I know in game with a middle initial:O)

Given that I'm like the only person on the internet totally unfamiliar with the importance of "Leeroy Jenkins," you'll have to forgive me. I don't play MMOs, if that's where it's from. Nor D+D, for that matter. I am deprived.

Anywhoo, I'm just going to do 2 decrypt for Kaiden for now and save the other two for later, though I reserve the right to spend those points on First Aid if I do find out, in fact, that I totally suck at this game.
As for Taran, we had:
3 barmor, 2 throw, 1 intim
3 barmor, 1 throw, 1 warp, 1 intim
2 barmor, 2 warp, 2 throw

So let's solve this puzzle:
The majority wanted 1 point to Intimidate. For the sake of this playthrough I do think it's worthwhile to invest at least a few points initially into Intimidate so that we increase available story options (given that I won't be doing a "Let's Play" sequel for a character with maxed-Renegade, it sort of makes sense to attempt to open as much as we can the first time around.)
That leaves five points:
I'm going to be going 3 barmor, 1 throw and 1 warp with them.
Justification: I'm not yet familiar enough with either the active Biotics powers (throw or warp) to have a preference for either over the other, so it makes the most sense to beeline for Pistols (as I believe Krylo remarked) while generally improving both skills at an even pace until a strong preference emerges.
Y'all seemed to recommend something at least semi-sorta-close to this anyway.

Update later tonight or tomorrow. If you're wondering why this is so late, it has a lot to do with a 5 hour drive to a funeral (and a 5 hour drive back from the funeral) that was thrusted upon me today -- and that I learned about, literally, Friday evening. Real life's a bitch sometimes.

[Yumil]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

Given that I'm like the only person on the internet totally unfamiliar with the importance of "Leeroy Jenkins," you'll have to forgive me. I don't play MMOs, if that's where it's from. Nor D+D, for that matter. I am deprived.

It's an MMO reference in the fact its from a video of a WoW guild doing a dungeon. They spend time talking over the strategy for the next room in this dungeon which had become notorious if things got out of hand. Anywho, in the middle of the discussion, Leeroy says "I'm Back...Let's do this" and runs into the room yelling "LEEEEEROY JENKINS," much to the dismay of his guild. They all die due to his just running in(and their horrible plan) and hes told how stupid he is.