Lets Play: Mass Effect (Updated - Ch 6 Part 2 - Virmire)
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Next update should be ready in a few days so any suggestions, or feedback on formatting / etc anyone has between now and then is much appreciated. This installment and the next one are, by necessity, pretty linear and dialog-driven but we'll get to break it up with shooting stuff and harrassing colonists soon
Next update should be ready in a few days so any suggestions, or feedback on formatting / etc anyone has between now and then is much appreciated. This installment and the next one are, by necessity, pretty linear and dialog-driven but we'll get to break it up with shooting stuff and harrassing colonists soon
[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 1, PART 2 (Normandy) - Grunka attends a management meeting[/HEADING]
Out of interest does anyone actually buy that getting one person into the super-secret Spectre squad would actually make a lick of difference to humanity's standing in interstellar politics? I mean really, how was that supposed to play out?
"Well 99.9999999 recurring per cent of the species are still objectionable toolboxes. But there's one of them that's in decent shape, has decent aim, and the humans are willing to pay for her spaceship so... yeah, I guess on the strength of that we'll change our entire view of the species! Welcome aboard!"
Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: we created a character, named her Grunka, met some of the Normandy's crew and then churned through a lot of dialog. When we left off, we were on our way to an important meeting with Captain Anderson...
...and here we are, at the entrance to the comm room. Grunts have to salute us, which I think is nice.
Inside we find Nihlus. Take a deep breath and pinch your noses folks, we have to engage him in conversation...
"I'm interested in this world we're going to - Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."
"<font color=0000BB>So the hick outside says - I've never been there."
"But you know of it. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"
<font color=0000BB>"Geez Nihlus, foreshadowing much?"
<font color=0000BB>"What?"
<font color=0000BB>"Never mind - you've got an 'I told you so' coming in a few minutes is all. But I digress - are you trying to scare me, Spectre?"
"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place."
<font color=0000BB>"DAMMIT! Stop sneaking up on people!"
That's right. Gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on old Grunka Shepard. Although I dunno if she can take full credit for this one, since it's what every single person has been telling us since we came on board...
"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir."
"This comes down from the top, Commander. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis. A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."
"This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But <font color=0000BB>a sleepy backwater hole like Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this<font color=0000BB>, they're too busy saving the rainforests and recycling their sandals. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel so <font color=0000BB>proper grown-ups can study it."
"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space."
Why didn't we keep the beacon for ourselves?"
"You humans don't have the best reputation. Some species see you as selfish. Too unpredictable. Too independent. Even dangerous."
<font color=0000BB>"Erm... I was actually asking Captain Anderson. It seems pretty obvious you'd think that humans keeping this thing was a bad idea."
Improving relations with the Council is only mentioned in passing, but it's actually a very serious issue for humanity at this juncture. Y'see...
"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He's here to evaluate you."
I opt for the "Like hell he is!" response, but Grunka's interpretation of my request is somewhat more weaksauce...
Actually, everyone answers to the Spectres. I thought we established that last update?!? Sheesh, keep up Grunka!
"The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."
"That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."
"Why would a turian want a human in the Spectres?"
"Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer the rest of the galaxy... and the Spectres."
<font color=0000BB>"Oh. Well that's very big of you, I guess. Now I'm almost sorry I spent all the last update making disparaging remarks about your lack of personal hygiene..."
<font color=0000BB>"You what?!?"
<font color=0000BB>"Never mind."
"<font color=0000BB>Yes... well what I was about to say was that we are an elite group. It's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can do the job."
Great, that's settled. There's a little more discussion here about the protheans and Eden Prime, the upshot of which is just reiterating that the protheans were a technologically advanced race that vanished 50,000 years ago and that, as one of humanity's oldest and most successful colonies, Eden Prime somehow proved that humanity was ready to forge a place in the galaxy for itself beyond Earth.
Which brings us back to why we're going there...
"That was just a small data cache. Who knows what we can learn from this beacon?"
<font color=0000BB>"Well yeah, I get that. I'm standing in a spaceship, wearing a suit of armour and carrying four guns and gawd only knows what else that's based on that technology, so my question was really intended in a more specific sense..."
<font color=0000BB>"Oh... right. So we're rushing out on a top secret military operation to pick up this particular prothean relic, as opposed to all the other ones around the galaxy that are left so poorly guarded that a couple of drunk Blue Suns mercs could go steal them in broad daylight, based on random speculation that this particular one might be important. Got it."
<font color=0000BB>"That'd be borderline insubordination if you'd actually said that in-game, but to weakly address your point..."
"Technically, yes. But some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to start a war over this."
"The last thing the Council wants is to get dragged into a major conflict with the Terminus Systems. We have to keep this low-key. We should be getting close to Eden..."
*on comm* "Captain! We've got a problem."
"What's wrong, Joker?"
"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"
"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."
"Reverse and hold at 38.5."
<font color=0000BB>"I told you you were foreshadowing, Nihlus..."
"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."
"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."
<font color=0000BB>"Considering it started with no more complications than a mumorperger fetch quest and now we seem to be dealing with some kind of gigantic robot space-squid, I'd say that's an understatement sir."
"Tell <font color=0000BB>the emo and the local hick to suit up, Commander. You're going in."
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority."
<font color=0000BB>"Play this one Renegade - understood sir!"
*on comm* "Approaching drop point one."
"Nihlus? You're coming with us?"
"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
<font color=0000BB>"Even when I'm wearing my ugly helmet - seriously, can I take this thing off yet? I'm pretty sure it has no effect on my armour effectiveness statistics, and it makes such a mess of my hair..."
"The mission's yours now, Shepard. Good luck."
...and here we are at long last, on the surface of Eden Prime. Next time, we get to shoot stuff!
...and here we are, at the entrance to the comm room. Grunts have to salute us, which I think is nice.
Inside we find Nihlus. Take a deep breath and pinch your noses folks, we have to engage him in conversation...
That's right. Gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on old Grunka Shepard. Although I dunno if she can take full credit for this one, since it's what every single person has been telling us since we came on board...
Improving relations with the Council is only mentioned in passing, but it's actually a very serious issue for humanity at this juncture. Y'see...
...in addition to the crappy introduction to aliens that was the First Contact War, in 2165 the Council caught the Alliance conducting illegal artificial intelligence research. The dangers of AI research are a recurring theme in the series, BTW, and there'll be plenty more on that through this game.
But anywho - humanity barely escaped species-crippling sanctions and it's not unreasonable to think that now, 18 years later, it's still got a lot of sucking up to do. Both Captain Anderson and Saren Arterius were involved in the incident, by the way, but more on that later.
But anywho - humanity barely escaped species-crippling sanctions and it's not unreasonable to think that now, 18 years later, it's still got a lot of sucking up to do. Both Captain Anderson and Saren Arterius were involved in the incident, by the way, but more on that later.
I opt for the "Like hell he is!" response, but Grunka's interpretation of my request is somewhat more weaksauce...
Actually, everyone answers to the Spectres. I thought we established that last update?!? Sheesh, keep up Grunka!
Great, that's settled. There's a little more discussion here about the protheans and Eden Prime, the upshot of which is just reiterating that the protheans were a technologically advanced race that vanished 50,000 years ago and that, as one of humanity's oldest and most successful colonies, Eden Prime somehow proved that humanity was ready to forge a place in the galaxy for itself beyond Earth.
Which brings us back to why we're going there...
...and here we are at long last, on the surface of Eden Prime. Next time, we get to shoot stuff!
Out of interest does anyone actually buy that getting one person into the super-secret Spectre squad would actually make a lick of difference to humanity's standing in interstellar politics? I mean really, how was that supposed to play out?
"Well 99.9999999 recurring per cent of the species are still objectionable toolboxes. But there's one of them that's in decent shape, has decent aim, and the humans are willing to pay for her spaceship so... yeah, I guess on the strength of that we'll change our entire view of the species! Welcome aboard!"
I think its because it would show how far humanity has come as a species. There are many races on the citadel, but only Three get to be members of the council. One of those went to war with humanity the second they made contact with them. It would show that, through the actions of the one, Humanity has transceded its perceived barbaric roots to become a true member of the galactic community.AD-Stu said:
Doing well so far. You're commentary is pretty good so far. I would add that you might want to put the text in another color if you're doing something that people aren't actually saying.AD-Stu said:CHAPTER 1, PART 2 (Normandy) - Grunka attends a management meeting
Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: we created a character, named her Grunka, met some of the Normandy's crew and then churned through a lot of dialog. When we left off, we were on our way to an important meeting with Captain Anderson...
...and here we are, at the entrance to the comm room. Grunts have to salute us, which I think is nice.
Inside we find Nihlus. Take a deep breath and pinch your noses folks, we have to engage him in conversation...
"I'm interested in this world we're going to - Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."
"So the hick outside says - I've never been there."
"But you know of it. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"
"Geez Nihlus, foreshadowing much?"
"What?"
"Never mind - you've got an 'I told you so' coming in a few minutes is all. But I digress - are you trying to scare me, Spectre?"
"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place."
"DAMMIT! Stop sneaking up on people!"
That's right. Gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on old Grunka Shepard. Although I dunno if she can take full credit for this one, since it's what every single person has been telling us since we came on board...
"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir."
"This comes down from the top, Commander. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis. A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."
"This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But a sleepy backwater hole like Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this, they're too busy saving the rainforests and recycling their sandals. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel so proper grown-ups can study it."
"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space."
Why didn't we keep the beacon for ourselves?"
"You humans don't have the best reputation. Some species see you as selfish. Too unpredictable. Too independent. Even dangerous."
"Erm... I was actually asking Captain Anderson. It seems pretty obvious you'd think that humans keeping this thing was a bad idea."
Improving relations with the Council is only mentioned in passing, but it's actually a very serious issue for humanity at this juncture. Y'see...
...in addition to the crappy introduction to aliens that was the First Contact War, in 2165 the Council caught the Alliance conducting illegal artificial intelligence research. The dangers of AI research are a recurring theme in the series, BTW, and there'll be plenty more on that through this game.
But anywho - humanity barely escaped species-crippling sanctions and it's not unreasonable to think that now, 18 years later, it's still got a lot of sucking up to do. Both Captain Anderson and Saren Arterius were involved in the incident, by the way, but more on that later.
"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He's here to evaluate you."
I opt for the "Like hell he is!" response, but Grunka's interpretation of my request is somewhat more weaksauce...
Actually, everyone answers to the Spectres. I thought we established that last update?!? Sheesh, keep up Grunka!
"The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."
"That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."
"Why would a turian want a human in the Spectres?"
"Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer the rest of the galaxy... and the Spectres."
"Oh. Well that's very big of you, I guess. Now I'm almost sorry I spent all the last update making disparaging remarks about your lack of personal hygiene..."
"You what?!?"
"Never mind."
"Yes... well what I was about to say was that we are an elite group. It's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can do the job."
Great, that's settled. There's a little more discussion here about the protheans and Eden Prime, the upshot of which is just reiterating that the protheans were a technologically advanced race that vanished 50,000 years ago and that, as one of humanity's oldest and most successful colonies, Eden Prime somehow proved that humanity was ready to forge a place in the galaxy for itself beyond Earth.
Which brings us back to why we're going there...
"That was just a small data cache. Who knows what we can learn from this beacon?"
"Well yeah, I get that. I'm standing in a spaceship, wearing a suit of armour and carrying four guns and gawd only knows what else that's based on that technology, so my question was really intended in a more specific sense..."
"Oh... right. So we're rushing out on a top secret military operation to pick up this particular prothean relic, as opposed to all the other ones around the galaxy that are left so poorly guarded that a couple of drunk Blue Suns mercs could go steal them in broad daylight, based on random speculation that this particular one might be important. Got it."
"That'd be borderline insubordination if you'd actually said that in-game, but to weakly address your point..."
"Technically, yes. But some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to start a war over this."
"The last thing the Council wants is to get dragged into a major conflict with the Terminus Systems. We have to keep this low-key. We should be getting close to Eden..."
*on comm* "Captain! We've got a problem."
"What's wrong, Joker?"
"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"
"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."
"Reverse and hold at 38.5."
"I told you you were foreshadowing, Nihlus..."
"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."
"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."
"Considering it started with no more complications than a mumorperger fetch quest and now we seem to be dealing with some kind of gigantic robot space-squid, I'd say that's an understatement sir."
"Tell the emo and the local hick to suit up, Commander. You're going in."
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority."
"Play this one Renegade - understood sir!"
*on comm* "Approaching drop point one."
"Nihlus? You're coming with us?"
"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
"Even when I'm wearing my ugly helmet - seriously, can I take this thing off yet? I'm pretty sure it has no effect on my armour effectiveness statistics, and it makes such a mess of my hair..."
"The mission's yours now, Shepard. Good luck."
...and here we are at long last, on the surface of Eden Prime. Next time, we get to shoot stuff!
Out of interest does anyone actually buy that getting one person into the super-secret Spectre squad would actually make a lick of difference to humanity's standing in interstellar politics? I mean really, how was that supposed to play out?
"Well 99.9999999 recurring per cent of the species are still objectionable toolboxes. But there's one of them that's in decent shape, has decent aim, and the humans are willing to pay for her spaceship so... yeah, I guess on the strength of that we'll change our entire view of the species! Welcome aboard!"
Oh, and as a small critique, that isn't your fault, the image quality looks a little... grainy. I don't know if that's a result of the game, capture software, or the upload service. It isn't too bad, but it's something to look out for.
Cool, thanks for the feedback guys I'm going to fiddle with the image capture settings for the next update to see if I can get any improvements (or at least get rid of the mouse cursor without losing other important stuff off the screen with it)
Still, maybe I'm underrating the importance of getting into the Spectres. After all, to the best of our knowledge there are no volus Spectres either - maybe that's why the Council keeps turning them down
I'm going to fiddle with the image capture settings for the next update to see if I can get any improvements (or at least get rid of the mouse cursor without losing other important stuff off the screen with it)I suppose it's not really based on Shepard's actions alone, since a bunch of other humans and human institutions would have played a role in getting her there, but I just found it interesting. The other point both Anderson and Nihlus raise about Eden Prime being a symbol of humanity's achievements would carry more weight if I were the one making the call.woodaba said:
Still, maybe I'm underrating the importance of getting into the Spectres. After all, to the best of our knowledge there are no volus Spectres either - maybe that's why the Council keeps turning them down
AD-Stu said:
Thanks for the updates, I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I do agree that you should do something to text that isn't actually from the game, so that people who aren't rabid fanboys like m'self can tell what is and isn't commentary.AD-Stu said:
Also, for mine reference, will you be messaging us again when you update or will we have to check up on it ourselves? I don't mind either way, I just want to know what's going on.
Tertiary question: Your avatar?
Eh, no likey Femshep. But I'm definitely digging the layout. I didn't think a slideshow Let's Play would work out, but I stand corrected. And aside from my issue with Femshep I'm really enjoying it so far. And I like the episodic format. I predict many an episode to come... And I'm looking forward to them all!
Keep up the good work AD-Stu!
But I'm definitely digging the layout. I didn't think a slideshow Let's Play would work out, but I stand corrected. And aside from my issue with Femshep I'm really enjoying it so far. And I like the episodic format. I predict many an episode to come... And I'm looking forward to them all!Keep up the good work AD-Stu!
Thanks - I'll work something out for the next episode onwards to distinguish my commentary and inserts from the main dialog.Zen Toombs said:
It's my first time doing this and I'm not really sure what the etiquette is, but if people want messages for each update I'm happy to keep a list and do it: anyone who wants them, just reply in here or message me I guess.
And my avatar is a caricature of me, done by an artist friend that's a lot more talented than me
Thanks for the feedback, and for reading - and yeah, it'll take an awful lot of episodes to finish this sucker! I originally planned for everything that's been posted so far to be in a single update, but figured it would've dragged on a bit long.The Pinray said:Eh, no likey Femshep.
Keep up the good work AD-Stu!
I dunno, that's just always the way his character has struck me - maybe it's just carry-over ill will from him having the same voice actor as Carth Onasi in KOTORForgottenPr0digy said:
I guess I should make it clear that I absolutely adore this game. So while I'll likely spend the bulk of this Let's Play making fun of the characters, trying to poke holes in the story and generally taking the piss, always remember that I'm doing it from a place of love
Good points, thanks.
I've edited the first two entries and will keep using the same system from here on out:
- Ordinary black text with no quotation marks is just my commentary.
- "Black text in quotation marks" (pretty much all of which will also be next to an avatar image) is accurate quotes direct from the game.
- <font color=0000BB>"Blue text in quotation marks" is me putting words in characters' mouths for the lulz.
- "Italic text in quotation marks" is a character who's speaking off-screen (usually over the comm)
I've edited the first two entries and will keep using the same system from here on out:
- Ordinary black text with no quotation marks is just my commentary.
- "Black text in quotation marks" (pretty much all of which will also be next to an avatar image) is accurate quotes direct from the game.
- <font color=0000BB>"Blue text in quotation marks" is me putting words in characters' mouths for the lulz.
- "Italic text in quotation marks" is a character who's speaking off-screen (usually over the comm)
am just hoping for lots of "weeeeeeeee" moments while the driving bits are going on.. also the "am feeling tank sick"
SpaceBalls is like Deus Ex. Every time it's mentioned, someone will go make use of it. It's internet factputowtin said:And now I have to go and watch "SpaceBalls"AD-Stu said:<font color=0000BB>"Ludicrous Speed is go!"
Good work so far, I'll be waiting for more (whilst running through my 12th playthru of ME2!)
Well now nice to know that there is in fact a very loyal group of LP followers here on the 'Scpaist considering I see just about everyone who's commented here(including myself) who are also following at least three other LP's as well.
Also I'm currently doing another run through of this game myself, but the internet is keeping me from playing, so I'm a little behind, just got off the citadel.
Also I'm currently doing another run through of this game myself, but the internet is keeping me from playing, so I'm a little behind, just got off the citadel.
Thanks very much for the kind words and encouragement y'all - very much appreciated, and I'm more than happy to message anyone who requests it when an update is published. Like right now!
[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 1, PART 3 (Eden Prime) - Extorting farmers for fun and profit[/HEADING]
Wow, that was even longer than I thought
As a topic of further discussion, anyone else find it interesting what different people think / want the prothean beacon to contain? Last update, Anderson was concerned it would contain a weapons cache. Dr Warren thought it could contain groundbreaking medical advances. The loony thought it contained something loony, while the locals didn't care what it contained, they just knew it was bad like all other new-fandangled alien technology stuff. As far as we can tell at this stage, nobody's got any facts to base their opinions on so really, they're just projecting their own fears or desires onto it. Nice touch, Bioware writers
[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 1, PART 3 (Eden Prime) - Extorting farmers for fun and profit[/HEADING]
Before we start, there's a responsible adult buried in me somewhere that feels the need to point out that Mass Effect is an MA15+ game (or equivalent). While there's not an awful lot of gore or anything, there are a few scenes here and there (including in this update) that might not be appropriate for younger viewers. Cool? Moving on.
Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: we went to a meeting, confirmed what everybody had already told us when we found out ZOMGZ this is no ordinary shakedown run, received a distress call from the Eden Prime colony, and then got dumped on the surface to check it out / recover the important prothean relic.
So here we are. Pretty sure those towers in the background are what people live in around here - IIRC the idea is living in high rise, small-footprint accommodation makes the smallest impact on the planet. Guess it makes sense. Anyway, before we set out we should probably check what we've got to work with.
First thing's first, toggle helmet...
...aaahhh, much better. Seriously, helmets are 100% cosmetic in this game so all they do is make everyone's heads look big and derpy during conversations. Plus Grunka can't stand helmet hair.
We've got a basic assault rifle, shotgun, pistol and sniper rifle. We've got grenades (not very useful outside a few specific situations, in my experience), an omni-tool (simple explanation is 'it's the thing that lets us use tech powers', <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Omnitools>complicated explanation is more complicated) and we're wearing armour. So far so good.
We've also got a few skill points to assign to Kaidan and Jenkins.
Kaidan is a sentinel, which is a biotic / tech user hybrid. Again, there's a <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Biotics>complicated explanation for what the hell biotics are and we'll pick up more information as we go along, but for the moment it's OK to think of them as having advanced telekinetic powers / being wizards. The only power he has at the moment is Throw, which does exactly what you'd expect it to. Jenkins, on the other hand, is just a soldier.
Taking off down the hill, we find this swamp.
"What the hell are those?"
<font color=#0000BB>"Harmless, huh? Well you can't be too careful..."
Around the corner in the swamp we find our first bit of loot for the game. Why an upgrade container is floating in the swamp I don't know.
In it we find some weapon and armor upgrades. By the end of the game our inventory will be overflowing with so much of this shit we won't know what to do with it, but right now it'll come in handy. Most loot in the game is randomised and scales with our level, BTW, but there are some containers with fixed contents. IIRC this is one of them, and there's another one coming up. But I digress - next to the swamp we find this lovely scene...
"Oh, god. What happened here?"
<font color=#0000BB>"I'd say some people got dead here, genius. Real dead. Kaidan, are you throwing up over there?!?"
<font color=#0000BB>*wipes back of hand across mouth* "No ma'am. Takes more than a still-smoking corpse that reeks worse than Nihlus to make a big tough soldier like me *bleeeaaaaarrrggghhhh*"
<font color=#0000BB>"Huh, thought so. Emo. Moving on..."
<font color=#0000BB>"It's a trap!"
<font color=#0000BB>"Hmmm. Normally I ignore old memes, but something does seem fishy about this seemingly clear path that's triggered a cut scene. Jenkins, you lead the way."
Pumping Jenkins full of slugs doesn't seem to have tired those flying robots out at all, so we'll have to finish them off ourselves. They go down pretty easy to tech powers, and Overload in particular is handy, since they've only got one gun and can't attack us at all if we shut it down.
Here's where Shepard has the opportunity to say something nice, like 'Jenkins was a good soldier, he died with honour and we'll make sure he's buried wearing his favourite red shirt'. But Anderson did say that everything was secondary to finding the beacon, so...
"Aye, aye, ma'am."
Huh. Kaidan took that pretty well. Up the hill we find a few more recon drones to kill...
They die pretty easy too, even when we've only got Emo von Pukesabit helping. Is it just me, or does that make Jenkins' death a moment ago seem less noble and more... I dunno, incompetent? Fortunately, Nihlus snaps us out of our philosophical quandry.
*on comm* "I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."
Over the next hill we run into this little scene:
I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether the fact that this woman (wearing white and pink armor, no less) managed to take down a bunch of recon drones with just a pistol makes her a bad-ass, or whether it's another poor reflection on Jenkins' soldiering skills
Just don't take too long deciding, because this is going on...
Grunka rushes in to help, against what the targeting computer identifies as "geth troopers". Apparently they're not much tougher than the recon drones.
"Oh, man... we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."
"Where's the rest of your squad?"
"We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush. I don't think any of the others... I think I'm the only one left."
"This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them."
"Yes, ma'am. We held our position as long as we could. Until the geth overwhelmed us."
"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for payback."
That sounds like the ideal time to get on with things, but we're actually going to hang around for a bit more background info. This is the tutorial mission, after all...
"What else do you know about the geth?"
"Just what I remember from history class back in school. They're synthetics. Non-organic life-forms with limited AI programming created by the quarians a few centuries ago. They were supposed to be a source of cheap labor, but ended up turning on the quarians and drove them into exile. After that, they just kind of disappeared behind the Perseus Veil. Nobody's really heard much from them since."
"Tell me everything you know about the beacon."
"Suddenly, every scientific expert in the colony was interested. That's when they brought us in to secure the site. I don't know much about the beacon itself. But I heard one of the researchers say this could be the biggest scientific discovery of the century."
"What happened to the researchers at the dig site?"
"I don't know. They set up camp near the beacon. The 232 was with them. Maybe their unit fared better than mine."
<font color=0000BB>"Actually, we only saw him holding a shotgun when he jumped out of the Normandy - even you're carrying more guns than he was, Lieutenant von Pukesabit."
"<font color=0000BB>N'yeah, anyway... sorry. Like I said, no turians."
There's a few crates to loot here, one of which has some reasonable armour in it.
While we're playing dress-ups, let's check Ash's stats:
As we can see she's a soldier so everything is weapons and combat training. She won't be unlocking any doors or flinging enemies across the room with her mind for us, but she's also a lot tougher in a fight than Kaidan and at higher levels she's got access to some abilities that make her almost invincible if they're managed right. But that's later - for now, on with the show.
Here's the dig site everybody has been going on about. Naturally, there are geth there for us to kill...
...which distracts us for a good few seconds. Now to investigate the site.
"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."
"You think anyone got out of here alive?"
"If they were lucky. Maybe hiding up in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps."
*on comm* Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: we went to a meeting, confirmed what everybody had already told us when we found out ZOMGZ this is no ordinary shakedown run, received a distress call from the Eden Prime colony, and then got dumped on the surface to check it out / recover the important prothean relic.
So here we are. Pretty sure those towers in the background are what people live in around here - IIRC the idea is living in high rise, small-footprint accommodation makes the smallest impact on the planet. Guess it makes sense. Anyway, before we set out we should probably check what we've got to work with.
First thing's first, toggle helmet...
...aaahhh, much better. Seriously, helmets are 100% cosmetic in this game so all they do is make everyone's heads look big and derpy during conversations. Plus Grunka can't stand helmet hair.
We've got a basic assault rifle, shotgun, pistol and sniper rifle. We've got grenades (not very useful outside a few specific situations, in my experience), an omni-tool (simple explanation is 'it's the thing that lets us use tech powers', <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Omnitools>complicated explanation is more complicated) and we're wearing armour. So far so good.
We've also got a few skill points to assign to Kaidan and Jenkins.
Kaidan is a sentinel, which is a biotic / tech user hybrid. Again, there's a <a href=http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Biotics>complicated explanation for what the hell biotics are and we'll pick up more information as we go along, but for the moment it's OK to think of them as having advanced telekinetic powers / being wizards. The only power he has at the moment is Throw, which does exactly what you'd expect it to. Jenkins, on the other hand, is just a soldier.
Taking off down the hill, we find this swamp.
Around the corner in the swamp we find our first bit of loot for the game. Why an upgrade container is floating in the swamp I don't know.
In it we find some weapon and armor upgrades. By the end of the game our inventory will be overflowing with so much of this shit we won't know what to do with it, but right now it'll come in handy. Most loot in the game is randomised and scales with our level, BTW, but there are some containers with fixed contents. IIRC this is one of them, and there's another one coming up. But I digress - next to the swamp we find this lovely scene...
Pumping Jenkins full of slugs doesn't seem to have tired those flying robots out at all, so we'll have to finish them off ourselves. They go down pretty easy to tech powers, and Overload in particular is handy, since they've only got one gun and can't attack us at all if we shut it down.
Here's where Shepard has the opportunity to say something nice, like 'Jenkins was a good soldier, he died with honour and we'll make sure he's buried wearing his favourite red shirt'. But Anderson did say that everything was secondary to finding the beacon, so...
Huh. Kaidan took that pretty well. Up the hill we find a few more recon drones to kill...
They die pretty easy too, even when we've only got Emo von Pukesabit helping. Is it just me, or does that make Jenkins' death a moment ago seem less noble and more... I dunno, incompetent? Fortunately, Nihlus snaps us out of our philosophical quandry.
Over the next hill we run into this little scene:
I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether the fact that this woman (wearing white and pink armor, no less) managed to take down a bunch of recon drones with just a pistol makes her a bad-ass, or whether it's another poor reflection on Jenkins' soldiering skills
Just don't take too long deciding, because this is going on...
Grunka rushes in to help, against what the targeting computer identifies as "geth troopers". Apparently they're not much tougher than the recon drones.
That sounds like the ideal time to get on with things, but we're actually going to hang around for a bit more background info. This is the tutorial mission, after all...
There's a few crates to loot here, one of which has some reasonable armour in it.
While we're playing dress-ups, let's check Ash's stats:
As we can see she's a soldier so everything is weapons and combat training. She won't be unlocking any doors or flinging enemies across the room with her mind for us, but she's also a lot tougher in a fight than Kaidan and at higher levels she's got access to some abilities that make her almost invincible if they're managed right. But that's later - for now, on with the show.
Here's the dig site everybody has been going on about. Naturally, there are geth there for us to kill...
...which distracts us for a good few seconds. Now to investigate the site.
Onwards:
Grunka assumes that was a rhetorical question, because she sure as shit doesn't have an answer better than "turned them into monsters". Plus once they're off their spikes they come up with big red triangles on the HUD, so it's pretty obvious what we're going to do to them...
Those were husks, for the uninitiated. After killing them, the brains trust that is Shepard, Ash and von Pukesabit decide that by impaling dead humans on spikes, the geth are somehow bringing them back to life as mindless semi-synthetic beings. Feeling satisfied with their intellectual achievements, they check out some nearby huts. The one on the left has some crates with loot...
...while the one on the right, once unlocked, is where a couple of the scientists decided to hide. Let's say hello:
<font color=0000BB>"Uh... commander, I think it's pretty obvious they were hiding in here from the geth..."
"I'm Dr Warren. I was in charge of this excavation. We hid in the sheds during the attack. They must have come for the beacon. Luckily, it wasn't here. It was moved to the spaceport earlier this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."
<font color=0000BB>"So... what I said then."
<font color=0000BB>*coughshutitcough* "Isn't that a little bit of puke on your collar Lieutenant?"
<font color=0000BB>"Wow, and I thought I went off topic at the drop of a hat! *shuffles further away* Moving on..."
"Agents of the destroyers. Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction."
"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire. Screams. I thought it would never end. Then, everything went quiet. We just sat there, too afraid to move. Until you came along."
"Can you tell me anything about the beacon?"
"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime! Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?"
"We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness."
"Manuel! Please! This isn't the time."
"<font color=0000BB>"OK, I guess it's time to address the elephant in the room... what's wrong with your assistant?"
"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin."
"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!"
<font color=0000BB>"Actually, that sounds like textbook paranoid schizophrenia to me. So at risk of being politically incorrect yeah, it is madness buddy."
<font color=0000BB>"You got a lot of wedgies in school, didn't you lieutenant..."
"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack."
Grunka is unimpressed by this though, and thinks she has a better solution...
"You can't just go around whacking people in the head!"
"It was only a matter of time until he did something crazy. And dangerous."
"I suppose you're right. By the time he wakes up, the meds will have kicked in."
<font color=0000BB>"Really?!? You actually believed that? Geez you colony hicks are gullible - I just wanted to punch someone to liven this long conversation up and it was either you or the loon... Williams, take us to the spaceport"
Punching the scientist got us 9 Renegade points, which is a nice haul. I think I missed a couple of free Paragon points in that conversation though, will have to stay on top of that if we're going to get close to our goal of doing both alignment sidequests.
Once we leave, we get a cut scene to catch up on what Nihlus is doing:
"This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?"
"The Council thought you could use some help on this one."
On a glorified fetch quest? My bullshit meter is picking up a reading...
"I wasn't expecting to find the geth here. The situation's bad."
We hear a gunshot in the distance, and we're back... just in time to go over the next hill and see this:
*gulp*
Below us is some kind of colonist depot. On the way down there we kill some more geth and husks...
...and some farmers hiding in a locked hut.
"You're OK now. Nobody's going to hurt you"
"Those things were crawling all around the shed. They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives."
"I still can't believe it. When we saw that ship I thought it was all over!"
"Tell me everything you remember about the attack."
"The three of us were working the crops when that ship showed up. We just saw it and ran. I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew."
"I was too busy running to get a clear look at it. I think it landed over near the spaceport."
"Tell them about the noise, Cole. That awful noise."
"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended. Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only it was coming from inside your own head."
<font color=0000BB>"Have you been hanging out with that Dr Manuel guy? Because I fixed his mental problems pretty good, and I could do the same for you... no? In that case, I have to go."
"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!"
It seems like these simple farming folk might want to give us something that could help us. Shepard responds the way any normal, rational human with a dozen more important things to worry about would - <font color=FF0000>WITH DISPROPORTIONATE RAGE!!!!!
"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."
"You're breaking the law, Cole."
Yep, Grunka has her priorities straight here...
"We're not hurting anybody! Hell, most of the time, I don't even know what's in the packages. I just thought there might be something we could use."
Having invested a few points in our Intimidate skill, we're given the option to extort this poor simple farmer a little more. Note that we can achieve the same outcome using a paragon response too, but I think the renegade path here is too OTT stupid to ignore:
"Uh... Oh, wait. I just remembered. I had it in my pocket. Might as well take that, too. That's everything. Really."
"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?"
"He's not a bad guy. I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!"
Sticking with the theme, we go with the renegade 'is he worth dying for' option. Because once Grunka Shepard makes a mountain out of a molehill, dammit, she's just gotta climb it to the summit.
That's right - we just pulled a gun on an unarmed farmer, in the middle of a warzone, to bust a petty smuggling ring. Judge Dredd can go eat a rat burger, he ain't got nothing on Grunka Shepard when it comes to laying the smackdown on crime.
Note that we got both Paragon and Renegade points in that conversation, and despite being such a massive arsehole to him, Cole still wishes us good luck. That's one of the big differences between Mass Effect and a game like KOTOR: both your Paragon and Renegade scores only go in one direction (up) so you can't "undo" being an arsehole by playing nice later. The pistol he gave us is pretty good, BTW:
That's it on the right. Yellow mean's its got a better rating than our current piece of equipment, and this pistol is better across the board. We'll equip it then move down to the depot or whatever it is, where we find a very dead looking Nihlus...
<font color=0000BB>"This is your turian Spectre? I'd say he's been dead a couple of days, judging by the smell..."
<font color=0000BB>"You'd think that. But no, this is how he always smelled."
"Something's moving! Over behind those crates!"
"I... I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures. My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"There were two turians here. Your friend and another one he called Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down... and then Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates <font color=0000BB>and that the awful stench of your friend meant Saren didn't smell me either."
"Where'd Saren go after he killed Nihlus?"
"He jumped on the cargo train and headed over to the other platform. Probably going after the beacon. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we first found it."
A brief discussion follows about how this guy survived because he was already hiding behind the crates taking a nap and dodging work. Grunka isn't interested in that though - she wants to do some more extorting!
"My supervisor's dead. The entire crew's dead. It doesn't matter now, does it?"
"Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?"
"A shipment of grenades came through last week..."
"<font color=0000BB>Yoink! Hand over those grenades. Now!"
"They're yours. Take them. My smuggling days are over. I swear."
"Take it. I don't need it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Really. I'm sorry."
<font color=0000BB>"Commander, are you gonna punch or pull a gun on everyone we meet?"
<font color=0000BB>"No, only the ones I suspect of holding out on us when it comes to handing over stuff I want. Speaking of which, do you have any gum Lieutenant?"
<font color=0000BB>"No ma'am, I'm all out..."
<font color=0000BB>"Really?!?" *fingers pistol*
<font color=0000BB>"Oh for crying out loud - here, take the whole pack!"
<font color=0000BB>"Yoink!"
Around the corner are some geth troops.
This is a combat exploit we'll use over and over again by the way, because I'm cheap. We position ourselves so there's an obstacle between us and our enemy and, as long as we can get our crosshairs on any part of them, we can do damage to them. They, on the other hand, will almost always fire back ineffectually into the obstacle and dumbly stand there continuing to do so instead of something more clever like, y'know, taking cover or walking around the obstacle so they can shoot us back. Good times.
We head down the ramp and onto the train...
That's a Geth Destroyer. They have a nasty habit of charging us and are capable of wrecking our shit if they get close. Kaiden and Grunka combine their powers to keep it at distance until it's dead.
There's a few more geth on the train, which we knock off in a section that reminds me a little of Virtua Cop...
...and then that's it, we're ready to go to the spaceport. Thanks for reading and please tune in next time
Grunka assumes that was a rhetorical question, because she sure as shit doesn't have an answer better than "turned them into monsters". Plus once they're off their spikes they come up with big red triangles on the HUD, so it's pretty obvious what we're going to do to them...
Those were husks, for the uninitiated. After killing them, the brains trust that is Shepard, Ash and von Pukesabit decide that by impaling dead humans on spikes, the geth are somehow bringing them back to life as mindless semi-synthetic beings. Feeling satisfied with their intellectual achievements, they check out some nearby huts. The one on the left has some crates with loot...
...while the one on the right, once unlocked, is where a couple of the scientists decided to hide. Let's say hello:
Grunka is unimpressed by this though, and thinks she has a better solution...
Punching the scientist got us 9 Renegade points, which is a nice haul. I think I missed a couple of free Paragon points in that conversation though, will have to stay on top of that if we're going to get close to our goal of doing both alignment sidequests.
Once we leave, we get a cut scene to catch up on what Nihlus is doing:
On a glorified fetch quest? My bullshit meter is picking up a reading...
We hear a gunshot in the distance, and we're back... just in time to go over the next hill and see this:
*gulp*
Below us is some kind of colonist depot. On the way down there we kill some more geth and husks...
...and some farmers hiding in a locked hut.
It seems like these simple farming folk might want to give us something that could help us. Shepard responds the way any normal, rational human with a dozen more important things to worry about would - <font color=FF0000>WITH DISPROPORTIONATE RAGE!!!!!
Yep, Grunka has her priorities straight here...
Having invested a few points in our Intimidate skill, we're given the option to extort this poor simple farmer a little more. Note that we can achieve the same outcome using a paragon response too, but I think the renegade path here is too OTT stupid to ignore:
Sticking with the theme, we go with the renegade 'is he worth dying for' option. Because once Grunka Shepard makes a mountain out of a molehill, dammit, she's just gotta climb it to the summit.
That's right - we just pulled a gun on an unarmed farmer, in the middle of a warzone, to bust a petty smuggling ring. Judge Dredd can go eat a rat burger, he ain't got nothing on Grunka Shepard when it comes to laying the smackdown on crime.
Note that we got both Paragon and Renegade points in that conversation, and despite being such a massive arsehole to him, Cole still wishes us good luck. That's one of the big differences between Mass Effect and a game like KOTOR: both your Paragon and Renegade scores only go in one direction (up) so you can't "undo" being an arsehole by playing nice later. The pistol he gave us is pretty good, BTW:
That's it on the right. Yellow mean's its got a better rating than our current piece of equipment, and this pistol is better across the board. We'll equip it then move down to the depot or whatever it is, where we find a very dead looking Nihlus...
A brief discussion follows about how this guy survived because he was already hiding behind the crates taking a nap and dodging work. Grunka isn't interested in that though - she wants to do some more extorting!
Around the corner are some geth troops.
This is a combat exploit we'll use over and over again by the way, because I'm cheap. We position ourselves so there's an obstacle between us and our enemy and, as long as we can get our crosshairs on any part of them, we can do damage to them. They, on the other hand, will almost always fire back ineffectually into the obstacle and dumbly stand there continuing to do so instead of something more clever like, y'know, taking cover or walking around the obstacle so they can shoot us back. Good times.
We head down the ramp and onto the train...
That's a Geth Destroyer. They have a nasty habit of charging us and are capable of wrecking our shit if they get close. Kaiden and Grunka combine their powers to keep it at distance until it's dead.
There's a few more geth on the train, which we knock off in a section that reminds me a little of Virtua Cop...
...and then that's it, we're ready to go to the spaceport. Thanks for reading and please tune in next time
Wow, that was even longer than I thought
As a topic of further discussion, anyone else find it interesting what different people think / want the prothean beacon to contain? Last update, Anderson was concerned it would contain a weapons cache. Dr Warren thought it could contain groundbreaking medical advances. The loony thought it contained something loony, while the locals didn't care what it contained, they just knew it was bad like all other new-fandangled alien technology stuff. As far as we can tell at this stage, nobody's got any facts to base their opinions on so really, they're just projecting their own fears or desires onto it. Nice touch, Bioware writers
Thanks I changed my screengrabbing software and fiddled a few settings during resizing, hopefully they're a little more legible now too.
Love the comic, hadn't seen that one before
I haven't been referring to the morality guide so far (though I was certainly aware of its existence) but I think I might cheat a little and use it from here on in, or at least use it to put together a vague plan or make sure I pick up the freebie points.
I changed my screengrabbing software and fiddled a few settings during resizing, hopefully they're a little more legible now too.Love the comic, hadn't seen that one before
I haven't been referring to the morality guide so far (though I was certainly aware of its existence) but I think I might cheat a little and use it from here on in, or at least use it to put together a vague plan or make sure I pick up the freebie points.
Personally, I never really found a need for mortality guides. You can get to full on whatever position you want without too much trouble.AD-Stu said:Thanks
Love the comic, hadn't seen that one before
I haven't been referring to the morality guide so far (though I was certainly aware of its existence) but I think I might cheat a little and use it from here on in, or at least use it to put together a vague plan or make sure I pick up the freebie points.
Thanks guys
Tell you guys what: I'll continue on this mixed path without using the guide and see how we do. And if at some point in the future it looks like I've screwed it up, we can have a poll on which side to focus on so we can max at least one of them out
That joke goes back to the first update: the screengrab when Shepard first arrived on the bridge just happened to make it look like she'd smelled something bad and, well, Nihlus just happened to be there.
Oh absolutely, filling up either Paragon or Renegade on its own doesn't need a guide. This is the first time I've tried to max both out as far as possible though, and that's a lot more difficult.CM156 said:
Tell you guys what: I'll continue on this mixed path without using the guide and see how we do. And if at some point in the future it looks like I've screwed it up, we can have a poll on which side to focus on so we can max at least one of them out
LOL - I assure you neither I nor Grunka have anything against turiansCaramel Frappe said:
That joke goes back to the first update: the screengrab when Shepard first arrived on the bridge just happened to make it look like she'd smelled something bad and, well, Nihlus just happened to be there.