Morality, Mass Effect 3, and Shoe dodging.

Aside from (not so) gracefully dodging a shoe flung at my face in the lobby of a restaurant, my day was rather uneventful. I've been asked to write a bit about morality in gaming and what role it plays in a game's development. Mass Effect 3 was a particularly good example of a game that emphasizes choice since BioWare loves giving us thousands of choices in almost every game they've created.

In the past, many games didn't have the level of sophistication that was required to host a complex system of choice that would lead you down various branching stories so what they did was provide the opportunity to experience multiple conclusions. Instead of a morality bar we were given secret final bosses and deep side stories. Games have progressed from being an illustrated, animated, and voiced book that guides you along with little more than compelling story and basic combat mechanics, to interactive movies that utilize cutscenes and set pieces to draw the player into a rich universe teeming with activity. In the case of Mass Effect 3 we're given full control over the main character, Shepard, and can dictate the course of the story.

The choices you make in Mass Effect make an impact on essentially everything; you're relationships with various characters can change, the allies you make may differ, even Shepard's appearance is distorted when you pursue the path of a renegade.

When most people play a game that contains a level of morality based on choice they will end up with a little of each. It is atypical for a person to fall entirely in one category or the other unless they are choosing one side specifically without basing the choice on anything.

The presence of morality in a game can be an outlet for expression with some players. I have to admit that some of the renegade choices in Mass Effect 3 were just plain fun and others presented themselves as a moral gray area where I honestly had no idea what I would do assuming I was actually presented with the same dilemma.

One such incident in Mass Effect 3 was the conclusion to the Quarian/Geth war where you're forced to choose between the two (or at least I had to). The story had not-so-subtly shown the player scenes from the past that demonstrated the level of cruelty and destruction that was used on the Geth when all they did was gain awareness. The Quarians had also been less than friendly when dealing with Shepard and his crew in the past games so I decided to give the Geth the ability to exist as a true people which resulted in the Quarians being wiped out, despite efforts to talk them down.

Moral dilemmas are a fantastic way to draw players into the game's story and provide a way to get players emotionally invested in the plot and characters. Currently, we're seeing more and more games put an emphasis on the importance of choice, it gives the player a deeper connection with the protagonist since it gives them the ability to ask themselves "What would I do?".

One thing I have noticed emerge from this new breed of game is that people are often unsatisfied with some of the consequences of their choices. There was a rather large outcry among the fans of the Mass Effect series over the ending(s) you could choose from. Neither ending was "good" in an objective sense because both involved some level of death and destruction. From my own personal observations in both our culture and in games I would say that people simply don't like to think that their choices have negative repercussions.

Mass Effect 3's ending was a very "real" ending, there was no happily ever after. People die in any scenario and it is up to the player to determine which option will yield the best long term result. Both endings are rather sad and there are definitely negative consequences for both. A lot of players complained about the writing of the final part of the game but I found myself appreciating the level of symbolism achieved in the final moments of the game.

Shepard was battered and broken, drenched in the blood of his comrades with the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. The last moments made me feel like Shepard was exhausted, his journey was at an end, he saved everyone he could by using every ounce of strength he possessed. Was it enough to save everyone? No. Was it an ideal super-happy-perfect ending? No. The entire game painted the picture of an impossible struggle with the odds stacked overwhelmingly against you and you still defied fate and forged a new path for life.

Just my thoughts.


-Fest