Upcoming Mass Effect 3 DLC

Weeeeeeee!

Airlocking: Javik doesn’t like those uppity synthetics! Help Legion and EDI elude the prothean’s attempts to send them on their floaty way.

The Great Anderson Race: Did it frustrate you that Anderson was always two steps ahead of you? Well now’s your chance to show him what you’ve got! Strap on your N7 sneakers and race Anderson on any of many different race tracks situated around the galaxy! Don’t forget your pistol!

 What Kind of Eggs are These? Join James as he tries to recreate his abuela’s favourite recipes, using strange ingredients picked up from around the galaxy. Elcor milk? Hmmm...

 Design Your Own Husks: Why should the reapers have all the fun? Hop over to Sanctuary and put your creativity to the test! Design your own mutated abominations! Have you ever seen an elcor husk?

Scan that Star System! Can you find all the resources and war assets before the reapers find you?

 Kai Leng Kab Surfing: Think you’re ninja enough to ride a cab – on the outside?

Shadow Thane: Kill ALLLLL the things with Thane! Jump from shadow to shadow and just fuck shit up!  And then pray.

Kalros Death Match: Summon Kalros to the arena and pit her against the biggest and the baddest. Who will come out on top and who will end up as worm food? Place your bets!

 VI Geth: Defeat the infected clusters to save the geth memories before you get trapped in virtual reality forever!


Catch that Space Hamster! Oh no! Space Hamster has escaped again! Gather your team and get that pesky rodent back in his cage before a jealous Kaidan can boil him!

Weeeeeee!

Uh Oh! Better Get Mako! Mountains and thresher maws in the way? Put the pedal to the metal in your trusty drunk rhino machine and get those canons blasting! It’s okay to squish the pedestrians if they fire back! 

 Pyjak Massacre: Choose your favourite weapon and launch an all out offensive against those wretched monkeys! Are you sadistic enough to unlock the mighty Atlas to unleash holy hell?

 Scavenger Hunt: The crew have hidden your model ships all over the Normandy. Follow the clues to track down your collection. Bonus: Find your missing fishies!

 Galactic Bar Hopping: Test your liver against the best – or worst – the galaxy has to offer! What seedy, disgusting bathroom will you wake up in this time?!

"Dammit, Shepard, are you drunk again?"

Crank Calling Hackett: He called you incessantly in Mass Effect. Now it’s time for payback!

 Normandy Hide-and-Go-Seek: The crew aren’t in their normal locations. Where could they be? Search the Normandy to find where they are hiding.

 The Krogan Repopulation Project: The krogan have been pretty busy since the genophage was cured, if ya know what I mean! Find loving homes for all of those adorable krogies before they overrun their planet -- and yours!

Hunger Games

I am ridiculously excited to see this movie on Sunday. I have been ridiculously excited about it since I drunkenly bought, returned and bought again the books and read them all within a week. I have watched and loved the casting and this morning, I rushed downstairs to check the reviews to see if my dream had come true: I wanted to know if this movie was as good as the hype. 4/5 stars from the "professional reviewers" says yes! But more importantly, my friends, whose opinions I trust most, say 4/5. It stayed true. Hollywood, thank you for not letting me down today.

This is my friend's spoiler free review. He knows my hopes for this movie and I am so happy to hear it does not fail.

I don’t know how to review a movie. I don’t know the right way to convey thoughts from my, "I am not making money and I am not trying to be a scholar" mindset. I often do not read most professional reviews because I feel they are trying to justify a degree from film school or a major in English. But hey, like wedding planners, somebody actually needs them. So, let the money be made and people who feel they need those services go get them.

This is not so much a review of a movie as it is one of expectations and logic and compromise in a medium that has time and time again shown that it cannot handle making something for a particular audience. A page by page recreation would only work for classics and today would be taking a risk so big that no studio would dare. And before you say, "well fine, leave it as a book and don’t mess it, make people read it and let us fans keep our love for it unsullied and pure." I will tell you that that is selfish and defeats the purpose of storytelling. You tell a story and hopefully lots of people will read and share in it and want to share that with others to form connections. Keeping it to yourself means its pointless to write it down. Like most books into movies, once it is announced, a new group of people will read the books. A new crop of fans will appear and if something you love gets more exposure in most cases it can be good for you. If you truly love it wouldn't you want to share it with people? We can skip the rest of that discussion and save it for another day.

 The premise is simple, yet powerful and works in a very odd and very relevant way today. One could easily say that many nations around the world today are wage slaves beholden to a extremely wealthy small portion of people they only see through a television screen and both hate and cannot look away from at the same time. You can draw parallels to many scenes from the book/movie to things you may see come across the CNN ticker on a Monday morning. Fighting for their lives against some other poor souls picked for this and others who have trained their whole lives describes almost any war around the world today.

I have seen comparisons to the Japanese film Battle Royal and although, yes, they are very similar, many will instantly put on the high school "infatuation with any culture/country but my own because my country sucks!" mentality. And that is often sad to me because the same book or movie can be written in two different countries and due to cultural subtext and meanings be two very different pieces. Yet as humans, we strive to make comparisons to new things we see so we can find a comfort zone. X is just like Y but X was so much better is a bad type of comparison in many cases because it cheapens them both and they should be judged on their own merits. I have heard the stakes were higher for the kids of Battle Royal. That the movie is for teens about teens and has been whitewashed to striped to a marketing ploy for pins, hair ties and cook books. Yes there is marketing, yes there are changes, and knowing full well this will upset many, they had to be made. Also the concept of responsibility, the idea of fighting for your life when the odds are against you, the realization that you are being punished for the sins of people from your past the very basic tenant that sometimes bad and horrible things happen to good people are in now way strict property of teens. And if recipes in book are so well described that somebody wants to cook them, then good on ya. Well done Collins, well played.

 Coming in at 2 hours, the movie is jammed with things happening. Some parts were left out because you cannot convey them with enough force in this medium. 5 pages of description for Haymitch about to lose his dinner/breakfast/that meal you have when you wake up drunk, will be reduced to a glance and 5 seconds of footage. So not logical for a movie. The time period of him going from alcoholic to being on the kids side still shows him with a drink in his hand when he can and shows that he is still a functioning alcoholic and not a blithering pee yourself drunk. Yes, we would have all liked to see some vomit, but I am sure there is some formula somewhere and if we saw vomit in one spot we would lose a kid getting his face caved in with a brick in another.

 I appreciated the violence in parts. Some of it moved really fast which conveyed how fast injury and death can come in the Arena. Most fights also seemed to be a frantic rush of arms and weapons which also showed that these Tributes are still kids. Some more trained than others but less than 18 years of training still gives them little experience in a fight for their lives. So the frantic fighting is what I would expect from them. The size difference in the Red shirt kids, you know who they are, and the Careers really is shown well and lets you get a sense of how one sided the battle really is. The casting grew on me and this is hard to do when a book goes to live action. Knowing it or not, you will give images and attributes to characters in print and unless you pull some miracle, looking at you Harry Potter franchise, there will be some hits and some misses in casting. I felt that Peeta could have been bigger, more mid-western farm boy and slight pudgy looking. But the actor had the not so bumbling, but very endearing look about his face that worked. Hey, he did great, but I wished they had put some lbs on him then leaned him up throughout the movie. Mainly because in the book I feel you get the idea that when Peeta does something sweet or endearing, it is a shock that he would know how to do that. You should not picture him painting or frosting a cake gently. Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz was very good. From the book you get that he is somebody to trust and he comes across as such in the movie. Yes he walks among the most outlandish dressed people and to still be edgy, he goes the opposite and subdued route. Good call in the book and good call in the movie as well. Now Rue... Oh lord Rue. As a good friend/sister would say "Tears forever". Parts with Rue in the book are very good and her brief, almost too brief, moments in the movie are touching. They could have been a bit longer but even in the short time you get a kid sister attachment to her. The little sister who somehow surprises you when she does something grown up and adult like. So, yes, I teared up a bit from her. It may also be the fact that she looks like my niece to me.

The set and shooting locales were great. I often tried to guess from the books where they were located. And from the movies I can say that Katniss was from Tennessee or West Virginia, the more I think about it, the more I lean to WV. And the capital was in Washington DC, District 11 Florida or an area near the borders of present day Georgia and Florida. If somebody would like to make a quick phone call to Math and ask her to figure out where they are from based on the fact they were traveling at "200 mph" and the Capital is in DC I would be quite grateful.

 Some things were left out and I notice them because they had an impact on me when reading the book. I am a foodie and loved the descriptions of food in the book. I would have liked to see more food, but people eating and liking food on film is, well, rather boring. And although it serves a great purpose in the book to show the gap between the Districts and the Capital, it really is one place that a quick pan of a long spread of food can really do more. Just recall the roll Katniss eats at the beginning and the fifty foot spreads of food all throughout the Capital. I would have liked to see more interaction with Katniss and the people of the Hob to show how she was a part of the community in many ways. To show how her family was part of a bigger family. But the looks on the faces of the people at the Reaping when the names are called did that for you. So when something is missing from the movie, look deeper, look out of the general focus and see if you can find it. Look for that wonderful green stew they talk about so much in the book, it’s there. The aspect of what I call the Dungeons Masters from hell, really help to play up the Reality TV aspect of the games. I think it excelled in this point more than anything else. And that alone is almost worth the ticket price to a fan of movies when you take a second to ask yourself. "Is this how they make Jersey Shore, but with less fireballs?"

 So in the end, The movie hits the mark. Fairly dead on too. I understand that a review is to show the good and bad. But it should really try to tell the good and the bad without a wish list or comparison contrast to another movie. I liked the casting, I liked the frantic combat. The sets were amazing, the costumes were great and outlandish. The pacing, although it was a 2 hour movie, was good enough that I did not get sleepy or tired even after being up since 7:30 am and at the movie at 12:10 am. Work at 9am was a chore, but still worth it. The changes did not destroy the movie. Many may feel that any change ruins it, but we are adults and compromise has to be made. We know this and what purpose does complaining do if its is only going drive people away from something you claim to like. Collins worked in TV and I trust she knows what works on screen better than most authors. She put a good touch to this. For me, the movie gets a 4/5 and honestly, a 5 would mean the movie would be 3 and a half hours long.

Dear Gray Hairs

Exhibit A

I just wanted to let you know that I'm not swayed by all the commercials telling me that I should get rid of you. I'm quite comfortable with my age (35) and will proudly flaunt my cougar status where appropriate. I have no issue with going gray.

The problem I'm having is with the process.

You see, I want to eventually get to Storm, but I was kind of hoping to get there by way of Rogue.

Not Reed Richards.

Thanks.

Kaliyo! She misses me!

Aww I miss you too, Kaliyo. I hope you are not having big crazy parties on my little tiny ship. And stay away from my husband.

The Lorax

We took the girls to see Dr. Seuss' Lorax. This is one of my favourites from Dr. Seuss – perhaps my first introduction to inconclusive endings that will colour my pending like or dislike of Mass Effect 3 (oh look, I almost made it a day without mentioning it!) I was looking forward to this movie, but sadly, I ended up spending a lot of time trying to fall asleep.

The sites gags were uninspired, the jokes were lame and the musical numbers were forced. I suppose it didn’t help that I wasn’t expecting this to be a musical, but once that was established, it was still unpleasantly surprising and a lot grating whenever they did break out into song and dance.

But, you say, this isn’t about you! It’s a kids movie! Yes, I know, but smart kids movie makers know that parents have to sit there for 2 hours, so you have to keep them entertained, too. For that reason, I’m very excited about the previews we saw for Ice Age 4 and Despicable Me 2. Shush. Sequels are only evil when they involve Michael Bay and rhyme with the words “shmark of the shmoon.”

Bunny and Panda (6 and 3) did enjoy the movie, though, and they got the heavy handed message and Panda was happily dancing along at the end, but I predict that this won’t be on their “Mommy can you buy us that!” list when it comes out on DVD. As far as Dr. Seuss books made into movies goes, I’ll stack this right at the bottom (which says a lot, since I didn’t even bother to watch Cat in the Hat.) Horton Hears a Who will remain at the top.

I still believe

I STILL haven't started Mass Effect 3 (I'm running my 2 new Shepards through 2, now), but I have been listening to the rage and the speculation and the anger and the tears. I have been spoiled on many things by my own clickies and by talking to the person whose intense feelings on this series are what made me play it in the first place. I see two stars for the game on Amazon, but I know, in my heart, that it's worth more than that.

I still want to play it and I will play it.

Because the journey. Always. The journey.

Even though I know what the endings entail, at the end of my journey, I know that when I get to choose my colours, it will be a difficult decision, just like it was on Virmire, despite knowing and planning that outcome.

I tend to be an outside the controversy thinker. I liked Catwoman/Batman sex because I read it differently than everyone else who was raging about it. Since I've already been indoctrinated with the indoctrination theory, I get the feeling that I will appreciate the "choices" given in the end. It sounds like there are still plot holes and rushingness that I'm going to blame on EA for pushing to the release date rather than waiting and putting out a perfect product. But I'm still gonna give Bioware a chance. I think they put their heart and soul in there but EA, who just doesn't get the love, is in charge and their marketing department fucked up, and Bioware is taking the heat. I think Drew foresaw this and got the hell outta dodge and I think he's watching all this and saying "I told you so," while crying.

 I believe that what comes next from Bioware is going to be awesome. Not just an add-on involving punching pyjaks. The way to make amends is for them to simply make it free. Or, just wait a while before releasing it, because this is the internet and our rage is always always pathetically short lived (though I appreciate that it's turned to something positive this time). If they do have something big that isn't quite ready yet, I wouldn't want them to rush it like they did this (or SWTOR), afterall. I hate their silence, but I get it. I wish they would just say "Look, we're sorry that you are so unhappy with the ending. That is unfortunate. We wanted to give you an ending that made you think. And it clearly has, if you look beyond the anger. Many people are coming up with interesting ideas and interpretations. Yes there will be DLC and yes it will cost you, but we're certain that you will like it. BE FUCKING PATIENT."

I still believe in you, Bioware. I have not truly cared about any series or characters in a video game until I started playing your games. I believe that you understand this and that you did not intend to let me down.

"Endings, to be useful, must be inconclusive." ~Samuel R. Delaney

The Usborne Art Treasury

The Usborne Art Treasury by Rosie Dickins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book for art and craft loving parents. It includes a variety of different works of art - not just the most famous ones - with information on the style and the artist. Each work is then followed by simplified versions and step by step crafts for kids of all ages. I love watching my 3 year old try her hand at Starry Night.


View all my reviews

Show me your Shepard!

Reposting from G+
For those not in the know, the reason why Mass Effect is such an incredible series is not simply because of the great game play, story and characters, but because you have a significant amount of control regarding said game play, story and characters, with the most important character being the Shepard you create. It’s a choose-your-own adventure book with pretty pictures and shooting stuff!

Sure I’ve played RPGs before, but never one so engrossing where you can truly make the game your own through the choices your character makes. Yesterday, I ended up making two more Shepards just so I could play around with different personalities and the subsequent story choices they will make.
So now I’m curious about everyone else. I want to see and know about your Shepards! Please post a pic and tell me a little about your Shepard(s) – reasonably spoiler free, please. We still need to get more people playing this game!

 My Legacy Shepard is an infiltrator named Molly who is a spacer fondly known as The Butcher of Torfan. Wise people – like her dad Admiral Hackett (WHUT?) know that her so-called ruthless nature is just practicality. She gets the job done. Sometimes that means shooting someone in the back. Sometimes it means punching someone in the face. But it always means they deserve it.

Tarisa Shepard, a sentinel, was an orphan saved from a life of crime and vices by an Alliance soldier. She promptly joined the Alliance and works hard to do the right thing and prove her worth, though no one questions her dedication and motivations after she survived Akuze. She's loyal and honest, almost to a fault. Despite all she's seen, she believes there is yet more out there and ends her days with a prayer for those lost.

Ian Shepard was an honoured and honourable war hero until he lost his BFF, Jenkins, on Eden Prime. The shock broke something inside and now he’s hell bent on taking no shit from anyone, but making sure to give it to everyone else.

Oh he’ll save the galaxy, but only because he’s got nothing better to do right now.

Mass Effect Resolution - Redux

Is there anyone who plays Mass Effect and doesn't immediately or soon thereafter replay it? I have ME3 loaded and patiently waiting, but I decided that I wasn't happy with certain decisions made and opportunities missed in ME2.

I also opted to get the DLC this time around. Unfortunately, as soon as I started up Lair of the Shadow Broker, I felt a rant coming on. The added content was fantastic and I recommend it for anyone who loves this game - nay, this story. But therein lies the problem: this DLC and Arrival contain fairly significant story elements that don't merely enhance the overall story, but fill in some rather glaring blanks between the death of Shepard in the prologue of ME2 and her resurrection, and Shepard's employment status at the beginning of ME3. Making customers pay extra for additional costumes, characters and quirky side quests is one thing, but unless this is an MMO that is expected to last for years and therefore requires freshening up every now and then, full on story-enhancing content should be part and parcel. Buuuuut the powers that be who can only see dollar signs while claiming this process is to help stop piracy know that the players that be who truly love the product are still going to pay because they want to play - angry ragequite death threat blogs rants and forum posts be damned. We're suckers like that. And it looks like ME3 is going to take full advantage of that.

Moving on, Lair of the Shadow Broker was more than just story enhancing. It was also a precious moment where Shepard got to express herself. When you're busy saving the galaxy multiple times for people who hate, ignore or don't believe you, you get frustrated and sometimes; you really just need a comforting shoulder. Liara was Molly's love interest in ME1 so I took the opportunity to get some proper closure. I note that the game didn't seem to want Shepard to pursue this relationship here. The mouse click paragon options barely lasted a second, unlike the other such moments. It was also somewhat comforting to learn that Molly's resurrection by Cerberus had some emotion and connection behind it, rather than just being another questionable Cerberus endeavour.

Arrival explained why Shepard has lost her command in ME3 and gaveAdmiral Hackett more than just a voice. I've decided that Hackett is actually Molly's dad, which is why he can justify nagging her so much  and why she feels happily obligated to always do as he requests. He and Hannah Shepard are amicably separated, but frequently get together for hawt sex and to catch up on the latest stories about their kid. Anyway! The events of this DLC are pretty damn big. Like, 300,000 dead people  and a resulting war big, (which, coincidentally, is very similar to what my Imperial Agent faced in SWTOR.) That kind of big really shouldn't be a "btw if you get the DLC" kind of thing...

Now the real reason for my replay was because I was disappointed in two things. The first being that Zaeed Massani did not die despite losing his loyalty on his mission. Granted, I didn't put him in a position to die the first time through. This time, I had him hold the line and so I got my wish. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of Tali. I don't know what I did wrong, having not only saved her from exile, but saved her father's legacy, too. Perhaps it had something to do with me trolling her with Legion. I made a point of getting him much earlier this time so I could use him more, which then inspired me to take him along on all Quarian related adventures (save for Tali's actual loyalty mission... that would just be mean!). Cruel, cruel karma! I had, ironically, considered sending Legion in Tali's place as the tech specialist, but because I'd lost his loyalty in the confrontation between him and Tali, I didn't want to risk his death.

The second reason for my play through was the same reason as my ME1 second play through: Paramour not achieved! Turns out, you just can't be coy with Garrus or else he spends the rest of his time calibrating. So this time I jumped on the opportunity and witnessed all the awkward glory! I didn't care much for Garrus originally, but now I am madly in love and promise to stay true (Liara is okay with this).

Now I ought to be firing up ME3 and saving the galaxy AGAIN, but ... I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Instead, I created Ian Sheppard, a biotic sentinal, with the excuse that I haven't played a biotic yet and I miss Kaidan. But the truth is, I am stalling. I don't want to play ME3 because it is the end. And when you get to the end of something you have fallen so in love with, it just hurts like this, even though I know I'll be forking up many dollars for DLC and can always play it again....

A Storm of Swords: Musings, pages 1 - 400

The Voice of Kings 
None of the kings have a voice in these stories, save through those who are with them. They do not get their own chapters to convey their thoughts, and, in fact, Joffrey gets nothing at all since none of the characters closest to him – well, Cersei – has their own voice either. It strengthens the idea of them being the true pawns in the game of thrones. Despite their kingly status, their lives are almost forfeit – because of their kingly status. In contrast, Dany, as queen, has many chapters dedicated to her journey and her inner thoughts. Speaking of Dany, I was beginning to worry about her sanity, but then she pleasantly surprised me with blood and fire.

The Wench and the Kingslayer
Initially, I had come to dread Jaime Lannisters chapters. His treatment of Brienne is horrible and his whining over Cersei is intolerable. But, as their situation worsens, I've managed a level of sympathy for him and am curious to see what happens if and when he's finally returned to his father and sister...


The Women 

Sansa Stark

HBO made a point of showing how low the women were treated in this realm. In the book, there is greater opportunity for the women to reveal more of themselves than their breasts. Almost all of the main female characters have risen or are fighting to rise above the control of the male sword/penis held above them. Save for poor Sansa, who grows more and more pitiful, though she is trying to be brave, with only her courtesies to defend herself with. There are moments when it seems like she will find the strength to rise above, but they are fleeting. She’s is a sad irony, having stood above her sister at the beginning of the series, thinking she would be queen, but she is the one who has been dropped the lowest. Horrible karma.

Cersei 

Cersei Lannister, by Vanda Juranic

The more I read about her, the more I wish to know her thoughts and find myself wishing that she had her own chapters. She’s a character that can easily be vilified and written off as a “bitch,” but I see more to her than that (and I suspect the writers of the show saw the same, as they made a point of trying to soften her a bit.) She is most certainly a woman controlled, but she fights it every step of the way. At the end of the day, she is a mother, sister and lover who fights for those she loves – not merely for personal power. Certainly I believe she’d like to be queen for her own sake, but she knows she can only get so far and seems content enough to keep her son safe on the iron throne. Conversations with Cersei in the last book gave some small insight into Cersei’s mind and her feelings, but now, I’m relying on Jaime’s chapters to learn of the love they share, assuming that Cersei feels much the same way about him as he does about her.

The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

Every day brings change
And the world puts on a new face
Certain things rearrange
 And this whole world seems like a new place
 Secretly I've been tailing you
 Like a fox that prays on a rabbit I had to get you and so I knew I'd have to learn your ways and habits
 Oh, you the catch that I was after
 But I looked up and I was in your arms
 And I knew that I was captured
 What's this whole world coming to?
 Things just aren't the same
 Anytime the hunter gets captured by the game
I had laid such a tender trap
 Hoping you might fall into it
 But love hit me with a sudden slap
 A warm kiss and then I knew
 Oh, my plans didn't work out
 Like I thought
 Cause I had laid my trap for you
 But it seems that I got caught
 What's this whole world coming to?
 Things just aren't the same
 Anytime the hunter gets captured by the game
 I had laid such a tender trap
 Hoping you might fall into it
 But love hit me with a sudden slap
 A warm kiss and then I knew
 Oh, my plans didn't work out
 Like I thought
 Cause I had laid my trap for you
 But it seems that I got caught
 What's this whole world coming to?
 Things just aren't the same
 Anytime the hunter gets captured by the game

Pin all the things!

It’s been about a week since digitaltempest favoured me with a Pinterest invite. I am now over obsessively pinning everything I have ever found and loved on the internet. Well, no, not everything. But I no longer have little lists beside my computer so that I can look things up to pin on my various boards.

 I can’t help it! This is what I was using Tumblr for, but obviously without nearly as much organization (and a lot more crazy fandom), which is really what I love most about this site. The internet organized into neat little boxes.

 Pinterest has also satisfied my bucket list desire to start a designer Barbie collection. My Barbie board now serves as a guilt-free way to collect, without burning my bank account or shelf space.

 Apparently, what us pinners are doing could very well get us in plenty of trouble, but, you know, internet. We’ll clicky the accept button and remain blissfully pinning in ignorance until someone sues us otherwise.

Mass Effect Resolution - complete

Despite much procrastination, I managed to more or less keep my resolution to finish Mass Effect 2 before Mass Effect 3 came out. I’m going to say that I’m happy that I didn’t spend a whole lot on ME2 (thank you, Steam Christmas sales!) because the game was really, really short. It was a filler. If I had not obsessively spent the time making sure every star system was 100% scanned and loading up on Element Zero, I would not have had quite so many hours of game play. I was surprised to learn that the trip through the Omega 4 Relay really was the end. But, having only spent a minimal amount of dollars, I won’t complain about the brevity. The game did what it had to do by presenting a further chapter in the war against the Reapers and (re)introducing many characters to build your team and giving you a chance to really get to know them through more than just on-ship conversation options.

The object of this installment is to work for Cerberus (which my Molly Shepard does with as much love as she did for the Council – who cares if Cerberus spent billions to resurrect both Shepard and the Normandy!) to collect a team, make them loyal and then take them on a suicide mission to stop the Collectors. One would think it difficult to get people to join you on a “suicide” mission, especially when they don’t know you. But join they do, and this is where the fun is. Bioware put a whole lot of thought into the characters, their history and motivations and their relationships (and potential relationships). A good chunk of my time was just running around the Normandy chatting with everyone, with particular focus on Mordin and Joker who were so awesome that they earned themselves their own album in my screenshot collection.

It was lovely to see familiar faces all over the place. I genuinely came to love the characters from ME1, and Bioware knew this and was tugging on my heartstrings. I fell in love with Garrus in this game (hands off, Kelly), and I refer to Jack and Grunt as my kids. Unfortunately, while all my old team were all “Shepard! ! I don’t like this Cerberus business, but boy am I glad to see you!” Ashley was all “Cerebus? Really Shepard? I thought I knew you! <flounce> ” I did not appreciate the dialogue options for me here because (A) there was no opportunity to punch her and (B) there was no opportunity for me to ask why the hell she was hiding behind a crate while I was busy trying to save the colonists from the Collectors. 

I don't let colonists die if I can help it. Fish, on the other hand... As with my reality, my fish died. The hamster is okay, but I am really pissed that I was not able to take my new puppy home. I'm sure Kelly could have fed Urz for me!


The amount of characters and combinations was a bit overwhelming. There is good reason for this, which you find out at the end, but it was hard to choose who to take with me on various missions. I finally settled on Jack and Garrus, but, having chosen a Soldier class this time, I lost out on my tech abilities. I still had my blessed sniper rifle though. Headshot. Oh yes. 

Special love for all the drinking and punching I got to do. I spent a lot of time unconscious in toilets. But the punching was definitely a highlight. I only punched people that deserved it though. And monkeys.

So back to this loyalty business. I messed up Thane’s loyalty mission and I purposely ‘failed’ Zaeed’s because Molly Shepard does not let colonists die (‘cept a couple of those ones on Feros, but, you know, their own fault for getting possessed). I understood that this might result in their deaths on the suicide mission. Imagine my disappointment when they didn’t die. In fact, I didn’t lose anyone on the suicide mission (and earned the achievement). What’s the point of a suicide mission if no one actually dies? Death makes for the drama! Even though I knew Kaiden would die on Virmire and I wanted him to die, I got a little teary-eyed when all was said and done.

So for this reason (and because I did not successfully express my new found love of Garrus because he was too busy with his calibrations), I decided to start a second play through before I can start ME3 with a clear conscience.