Content review for this game:
Pertaining to the ESRB rating.
Content sum up: For an "M" rated game it's pretty mild, with sparse language for its length, combat that has very little blood or gore, the main enemies are robots, and you can choose to do the right thing every time. However, although the romantic relationships and later "sex" scenes are entirely optional, and all of the other suggestive issues (like the dancers in Chora's Den) are completely avoidable, the option is there, and there are plenty of bored fourteen year-olds that would gladly spend their time to complete these optional activites. So, I recommend this game for ages 17+. |
Blood and gore: (The ESRB didn't mention that there's gore) There's no actual human blood in combat, and instead, it consists of colorful firework-like partical effects—all characters wear full-bodied energy shields, and use energy beam weapons—when you or an enemy is hit. The majority of blood effects are during cutscenes, which spurt in dark-colored, subdued and very light amounts when a human (or alien) is injured. The Geth (main robotic enemy) shed a light amount of silver fluid when shot, the Krogan (alien enemy nearer the end of the game) shed a trace amount of orange blood, and Husks (mindless drones), excrete a green, gooey substance that pools on the ground. However, blood effects don't linger (they disappear in a few seconds) or spatter onto walls or floors. There are also a few dead (and often severely burned) human bodies scattered thoughout the game. There is no option to turn blood off.
Specific scenes of blood & gore:
Language: The language listed below is what was present in my playthrough. There mmay be more or less depending on if you're male or female, which side-quests you take, what overall responses or actions you make in dialog, and which of the party members are present throughout the game. There are over a dozen uses of d*mn and hell, under a dozen uses of bastard, a**, p*ss and God, and one use of b*tch, SoB and God d*mn. There is no option to turn language off.
Sexual themes:
Over the course of the game, you can build up romantic relationships with one of the two main female characters, or the one male character, but you can only have one romance. Kaiden (male) is only available if your character is female, Ashley (female) is only available if your character is male. There is one character name Liara, who is a female (looking) alien, and you can pursue "her" as either a male or female. But, although "she" has the appearance of a female, "she" supposedly is neither gender, as this is a trait of the species (the Asari); they can mate with any species and either gender. You pursue a chosen character by conversing with them during key moments, and then pick the answer that will eventually lead to them "loving" you. Near the very end of the game, your chosen person will enter your quarters and ask if you want to sleep with them. You can then turn them down, or accept and a very brief "scene" will take place. I'll list these scenes in the "Partial nudity" section below. Last of all, these romances are entirely optional and avoidable—you don't have to pursue anyone.
Partial nudity: As I said in "Sexual themes" above, you can have optional "sex" with your chosen partner near the very end of the game. The scenes are under a minute (each), and are no worse than what you'd see on TV, or a PG-13 movie. In fact they're probably more tame, with very quick, tight shots, and there is no sexual movements, just rolling over and light kissing. I'll explain all of the variant scenes below.
Violence: In the future, humans discovered advanced alien technology on Mars, which resulted in giant leaps of human technology, and enabled us to travel the galaxy and meet alien species. They now refer to this momentous discovery as Mass Effect. The game puts you in the shoes of Commander Shepard, a human soldier, who is sent to Eden Prime (a human colony), to extract a newly unearthed device that's origin dates back 50,000 years, and created by an ancient alien race known as Protheans. When you reach the planet's surface, you find that someone else had the same idea, and is now attacking the planet in attempts to procure this device. Now to stop them...
When you first start the game you have a choice to either select a default character, John Shepard, or create your own. If you select the default, you can change the first name, and then start the game. If you select the custom character, you can change its gender, face, first name, origins (which will change the intro scene slightly), and its overall stats/class (as this is an RPG). Like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire before it (this game was made by the same developer), this has a moral system with a branching dialog tree. Unlike the games listed above, the moral system involves changes in subtle wording and overall attitude, and whenever you speak to someone, you have the choice to give them a positive/encouraging, neutral/bypass or negative/intimidating response. And eventually (depending on your stats), you can use a shrewd/disarming response that can get you out of some life or death situations.
This element also plays into your actions, and you're often given the choice on some pretty tough moral issues, which are less black and white, making them much tougher to differentiate between plain good and bad. Depending on what you choose, you'll get points that are added to either the Paragon bar (good) or Renagade bar (bad). This system affects everything, and ultimately shapes the story; from influencing people in your party, relationships, missions, to the overall ending (as there's more than one). The combat system is in real-time, and you're equipped with a pistol, rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle, and later on you gain force-like powers, which enable you to throw and lift enemies with your mind and protect yourself with a mind-projected field. And although the combat is intense and hectic, there's a minimal amount of blood, enemy bodies stay in one piece, and since you and the enemy are in full, energy-shielded armour and use guns that shoot energy beams, combat isn't nearly gratuitous. And to top it all off, although you do fight many organic (alien/human—very rarely human) enemies, your main enemy is the Geth, which are a robotic species, and many of the remaining enemies are some form of machine.
Moral choices:
The examples listed above are the only ones that stand out enough to list (in the main quest, not side-quests), as the moral system and its choices are harder to pinpoint. The worst decision you're given is to kill (or murder in cold blood, which is extremely rare), and even this decision is far and few between. In other words, you can't really be a christened saint or an insanely evil person—instead, you can either be a moral, level-headed, law-abiding person, or a somewhat evil, selfish jerk. Beyond this, there are a few decisions near the end of the game that could make you pretty darn mean, but overall, as they plan to make sequels, you can't take over the world in the end, and the story only gives you so much leeway morally.
Specific scenes of violence:
Content review posted: 08/14/08
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