Why Mass Effect 2 Doesn't Make Sense To Me...

By Link the Writer · Jan 31, 2011 · 1.2K · 7
  1. WARNING!! MASSIVE SPOILERS!!! Don't come in if you haven't played the Mass Effect series or haven't played Mass Effect 2.

    Before we begin, I'll refer to Sheperd as a female, because that's who she is in my game.

    As I was playing Mass Effect 2, running around the Normandy, various odd things just hit me. They are:

    The Death and Resurrection of Commader Sheperd
    Short version of what happens in the opening cinema: A big ass ship that looks like a demonically-possessed potatoe owns the first Normandy hard. Everyone evacuates except your character who is killed in the blast trying to get the stubborn Joker (the sarcastic dude, not Batman's villain) into an escape pod. A team known as Cerberus collects your rotting corpse and initiates a project called "Lazarus" where they spend two years rebuilding you.

    Issues I have with this:
    #1- We very clearly see Sheperd's body descending toward a nearby planet. Why did her body not burn into a crisp as she entered its atmosphere?

    #2- Think they put those clothes on your skeleton before they built you? Nope. Chances are your Shepard spent two years lying naked on an operating table, only to be clothed for the final tests.

    #3- I can get rebuilding/reviving someone to look exactly how they were before they died, but what I can't wrap my mind around is being able to restore Sheperd's personality. Like Scott and later Ethan from CTRL+ALT+DEL said about Zeke, they can rebuild Zeke's physical body countless times, but Zeke's personality, what makes Zeke who he is, they can't replicate that. So how is Cerberus able to replicate Sheperd's personality? Were they just that lucky?

    Joker
    #1- It's revealed in the first Mass Effect game that Joker has a condition that makes the bones in his legs hollow. In the next game, we see him move just fine with a limp and a hunched position. Okay, so he joined Cerberus and got them to fix his legs up a little.

    Question: Why not, instead of just a little, they said "Know what, Joker? We'll rebuild your legs so you can walk just as well as the rest of us." and did it. If restoring someone to life was possible for Cerberus, having Joker be able to use his legs properly should be by no means a difficult task. Just use implants and inject chemicals to strengthen the bones in his legs and feet and presto!

    Well, those are the reasons the game makes no sense to me. Feel free to add in any comments. =D

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  1. kablooblab
    Lol I definitely agree with the joker part
    kablooblab, Jan 31, 2011
  2. Link the Writer
    Here are other things I forgot to mention:

    #1- The beginning didn't make sense. At all. You start off as a commander with a ship called Normandy that looks like the old one and same crew. After the tutorial? You're right back to where you were, only you're working for someone else. Somehow, I suspect they did the whole "kill Sheperd" thing as a way to explain why her stats and level had resetted. I mean, look at Joker's and Dr. Chawksa's excuses. They joined Cerberus...because they missed flying. Excuse me? THAT is why they joined a known terrorist organization? Because they missed being on a space ship? Clearly they missed being in the Alliance so...why did they leave? Why didn't the game instead have Alliance troops bust in to salvage Sheperd's body etc? Would have made a bit more sense.
    Link the Writer, Jan 31, 2011
  3. kablooblab
    Its a little more intersting with cerberus than the alliance but thats all I can think of.
    kablooblab, Feb 1, 2011
  4. Agreen
    I suspect it is because 'Shepherd dies' is a more arresting headline than 'Shepherd does some side quests with random characters because the Reapers don't show up until part III.'
    Agreen, Feb 1, 2011
  5. Slammoth
    Now, it's been a while since I played mass effect, so do forgive me if I talk utter bollocks. Anyway, here goes.

    Good question. Maybe they have some really fabulous space-suits in that era? Maybe the athmosphere of that planet had special properties that allows for material objects to descend without burnination? Maybe Shepard did actually become very toasty-warm - They just needed a sample to rebuild her anyway... I do agree that this one's a bit iffy...

    Probably. Clothes tend to get in the way of, you know, medical testing. Better that their tests be accurate, yeah? :D

    Might have missed your point here.

    The nature of 'mental things' like personality and identity is a subject of debate in modern psychology. I think we can all agree that this kind of stuff is to do with the brain, though. So - reconstruct an exact copy of the brain, and bingo, there you have it, yes?

    Information in the human brain is, supposedly, stored in neural maps - the weights of connections between neurons. Like a computer, just a massively complex one. This includes personality - If they could build Shepard's brain exactly the way it was, down to the last cell, his/her personality should be just as it was before. Now, supposedly, with advanced tech, you could construct someone's brain exactly the way it was. However, I agree with you in the sense that I'm thinking this is a bit of a stretch - brains are effing mind bogglingly complex things. They had to have had some kind of 'blueprint' of Shepard's brain at least! Then again, this is science fiction. Maybe project Lazarus scientists are just ridiculously clever.

    Maybe Cerberus didn't care enough about lil' Joker? They're not exactly Samaritans, and he is just a pilot, right? What about his legs? He don't need those... Shepard = Important, yeah, sure, we'll resurrect him/her. Joker? Not so much.
    Slammoth, Feb 1, 2011
  6. Slammoth
    Now, it's been a while since I played Mass Effect, so I might be talking utter bollocks here. But anyway, here goes.

    Good question. Maybe they have some really fabulous space-suits in that era? Maybe the athmosphere of that planet had special properties that allows for material objects to descend without burnination? Maybe Shepard did actually become very toasty-warm - They just needed a sample to rebuild her anyway... I do agree that this one's a bit iffy...

    Probably. Clothes tend to get in the way of, you know, medical testing. Better that their tests be accurate, yeah? :D

    Might have missed your point here.

    The nature of 'mental things' like personality and identity is a subject of debate in modern psychology. I think we can all agree that this kind of stuff is to do with the brain, though. So - reconstruct an exact copy of the brain, and bingo, there you have it, yes?

    Information in the human brain is, supposedly, stored in neural maps - the weights of connections between neurons. Like a computer, just a massively complex one. This includes personality - If they could build Shepard's brain exactly the way it was, down to the last cell, his/her personality should be just as it was before. Now, supposedly, with advanced tech, you could construct someone's brain exactly the way it was. However, I agree with you in the sense that I'm thinking this is a bit of a stretch - brains are effing mind bogglingly complex things. They had to have had some kind of 'blueprint' of Shepard's brain at least! Then again, this is science fiction. Maybe project Lazarus scientists are just ridiculously clever.

    Joker
    #1- It's revealed in the first Mass Effect game that Joker has a condition that makes the bones in his legs hollow. In the next game, we see him move just fine with a limp and a hunched position. Okay, so he joined Cerberus and got them to fix his legs up a little.

    Question: Why not, instead of just a little, they said "Know what, Joker? We'll rebuild your legs so you can walk just as well as the rest of us." and did it. If restoring someone to life was possible for Cerberus, having Joker be able to use his legs properly should be by no means a difficult task. Just use implants and inject chemicals to strengthen the bones in his legs and feet and presto!

    Maybe Cerberus didn't care enough about lil' Joker? They're not exactly Samaritans, and he is just a pilot, right? What about his legs? He don't need those... Shepard = Important, yeah, sure, we'll resurrect him/her. Joker? Not so much.
    Slammoth, Feb 1, 2011
  7. Link the Writer
    My replies are in red.
    Link the Writer, Feb 1, 2011
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