How does one tell a story about leadership? This series explores this question by analysing the Mass Effect trilogy. An entry is dedicated to each game in the series, to capture the development of Mass Effect from an ambitious idea with limited resources, over experimenting with the worldbuilding to the full-scale epic the series concludes with (Andromeda and the possible Mass Effect 4 excluded).
Now you might ask: Mass Effect is a game about space-colonialism, and Lovecraftian deep-space threats beyond our imagination, or why do you think it’s about leadership? To which I answer: The protagonist’s name is Commander Shepard.
Besides the name evoking two different styles of leading, there is also the fact that the villains all move along the theme of leadership. In Mass Effect one there is Saren, who seems to be manipulating his crew, while in turn he is controlled by the Reaper Sovereign, evoking a cycle of using and being used as the thematic villain of the story. In Mass Effect 2, on the other hand there is the Illusive Man and his organization Cerberus, which he leads only by enabling fragmented cells with resources, which lead to unrestrained and amoral experiments and threats to the galaxy. On the other hand, there are the Collectors, which are nothing more than soulless drones, steered by the Reapers. In ME3, the Reapers themselves present another thesis to the question of leadership, as they operate as one with a hive mind, whereas the different peoples of the galaxy are in disarray and in conflict with each other, so that they first need to be united to defend themselves against the threat of their existence.
What’s more there are plenty of side-missions and B-stories that highlight the question of leading and free will. There is the Thorian, an ancient alien lifeform whose spores create the perfect community, where its members would sacrifice themselves for the greater good without hesitation – the greater good is of course, the Thorian. There are the Geth, a mechanical lifeform with a hivemind that operates on a perfect democratic process based on reason and computation of possibilities. And of course, there is the council, an international organization – if you so will – that is portrayed as rather useless, as it is caught up in politics and power-games (Udina), and the pursuit of self-interest of their peoples.
In midst all this huge variety of ways to lead (or control) one person stands and brings clarity into this convoluted question of what a good leader should look like. Commander Shepard.
But what does Commander Shepard provide to the story? There is not really growth to their character, they don’t learn from the experiences they make throughout the series. Shepard is supposed to be a great and competent leader from the beginning of the story. The world has no affect on them, rather Shepard – and as a proxy the player – influence the world around them.
In the forthcoming series I will discuss how the theme of Mass Effect is portrayed through its mechanics and what argument they bring to the table. I will critically assess the expressiveness of the mechanics, and where I think they lack, I will try to suggest alternative ways of expressing the theme through interaction.
In the next chapter I will start with Mass Effect 1 and look at how Commander Shepard fights the argument of using others for one’s own gain.
You can find the subsequent chapters of this ongoing series here:
Command and Shepard 3/4
Command and Shepard 4/4
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