Submitted by Los

With Mass Effect 2 in sight, I thought about taking the original Mass Effect for a refresher spin. 3 playthroughs later I strangely found myself wanting more and somehow still excited for the sequel when any lesser man would have been happy never hearing the name Mass Effect again. Afterwards I started thinking not everyone has the free time to play through this massive universe again, or for the first time for that matter. So I figured, why not give my own little “Mass Effect in a nutshell”.

So here it is, only I’m just going to go through the basic story and not dive too deep into the who’s who and what’s what of things. If you know the game, you would know that if you’re getting into details you’re basically doing the opposite of a “nutshell”. And if you don’t know the game, what a coincidence, I just so happen to be talking about it.

You are Commander Shepard. You begin on a top secret mission to retrieve a Beacon, an unearthed piece of technology left by the Protheans, an ancient race that lived throughout the galaxy 50,000 years ago and whose Mass Relays, a network of connected mass transit devices that allow interstellar travel, are the main reason for the discovery and advancement of all species in the galaxy. You are accompanied by Nihlis, an agent who works for the Citadel Council, a board of 3 council members who each represent their own species and who are the head political force in space surrounding the Citadel, a massive space station built by the Protheans that is the central hub of the Mass Relay network and the place where many alien species come to seek political power.

You are being reviewed to become the first human Spectre, a chosen force of elite individuals who act on their own or in small groups and are tasked to carry out various important missions set out by the Council. While on the mission Nihlus encounters Saren, a top ranking Spectre who has turned his back on the Council and has gone rogue and is now working with the Geth, a race of synthetic machines who have been in hiding for centuries. Saren kills Nihlus. You then have to report back to the Council and explain how their top agent just turned on them all. You find proof and expose Saren and then become the first human Spectre with your first mission being to find and stop Saren. After tracking Saren through several planets and systems you find a facility being used to breed an army of mercenaries. During the infiltration of the facility you find Sarens private laboratory where he can communicate with Sovereign, the massive alien ship that Saren has been traveling in which turns out to not be a ship but a Reaper, an antient race of machines who every 50,000 years or so come out of deep space via a hidden Mass Relay and destroy all life in the galaxy.

It is discovered that the Reapers are the ones that built the Citadel along with the Mass Relay network and the Protheans just discovered it all. The Reapers leave just enough behind after every cycle so that the next batch of races can fall into the same trap. You also figure out that Saren along with the Geth are being controlled by this Reaper. You blow up the facility and head to report to the Council about the Reapers. You are not taken seriously. It is too late and the invasion is starting. Souvreign must activate the Mass Relay in the Citadel in order for the fleets of Reapers awaiting in deep space to come in. Trying to stop him you are confronted by Saren and you kill him. You order your fleet to attack Souvreign and after a large aerial assault, Souvreign is destroyed. You have proven that humans have earned a seat as the fourth member of the Council. You then make it clear that there are more Reapers out there just waiting to come and complete the cycle that has gone on for who knows how long and you have to stop them. You cut the celebration short and march off to finish what they started.

And that’s the just of it. Leaving out all the races you’ve met, the allies you’ve recruited, and choices you’ve made, this is the main story “in a nutshell”. Hope it does some good for someone, if it doesn’t all it shows is how much of a loser I am for knowing all this from memory.

Tags: Mass Effect 2