Schwadragon wrote...
...Are people really surprised that the Reapers are attacking Earth? Honestly, they've been building towards that since Mass Effect 1. I would have been shocked if there was no attack on Earth, and you just know people would have been furious.
The only thing I'm surprised by is that the attack happens early enough that Bioware can put it in a trailer.
TBH I think most people who're really dreading the human-centric story are against
the final and ultimate confrontation taking place on Earth... EA's synopsis of the game states that the final battle involves "taking back the Earth".
It's weird, because up until this point Mass Effect has stayed away from the Earth for the very reason that it's somewhere we've been before. Bioware has been trying to flesh out their universe over the course of the past two games, avoiding taking us to present-day Earth, partly because they didn't want to retread old ground and partly because they didn't feel that they could show it in a way that would satisfy the fans. Up until now, we've gotten accustomed to the Citadel, the Normandy, places like Virmire, Ilos, Omega, Ilium, etc... and now, at the end of the series, we're apparently going to end Shepard's fight at or
on Earth. For a lot of people, after Bioware has taken us all around the galaxy and to so many awe-inspiring places, taking us back to Earth for the final showdown seems... hey, I'll admit it! It seems kind of cliche and somewhat disappointing.
But who knows? I for one am pretty stoked for Mass Effect 3. All of the fans have been asking to return to Earth at some point in the trilogy, and now we finally get to see Bioware's vision of our planet's future. Cool.
I really want my squadmates to be very talkative during my mission on Earth, though. I want to hear their opinions on the old architecture of London (if we go there, that is), I want them to comment on the smell of Earth's atmosphere, I want my alien squadmates (and my human ones, providing they've never been to Earth) to seem interested in the homeworld of the humans, just like I'd be interested in their own if I went to visit it.
Seriously, as cliche as the whole thing sounds, this presents Bioware with some very golden opportunities. We're disconnected from the Earth because we've spent the entire trilogy far away from it. Two out of three Shepards aren't even from Earth, so it's likely that we'll be looking at the attack on the Earth from the outside, with a focus not on Earth, but on the bigger picture. In most games where Earth is attacked, it's always about fighting to the last man to protect your planet. In Mass Effect 3, Shepard is somewhat disconnected from all that, because as much as he wants his species to survive, he also needs to think about the stability of the galaxy and the fate of all these other species he's come to know (and I can see some cool instances where your alien squadmates will make a choice between fighting the Reapers with Shepard or returning to their own home planets to help prepare for the Reaper invasion there).
On one hand, this is just a cliche plot point; on the other hand, though, you have some interesting dynamics that could make Mass Effect 3's plot really emotional and fulfilling.
Here are some cool dynamics that could give the whole thing weight:
1. Shepard most likely isn't Earthian, and he works for a galactic government (if he reprises his role as a Spectre). He's a foreigner to his own home planet (if he's a Spacer or a Colonist), so for him, an attack on Earth is like an attack on an ally; he doesn't necessarily have a personal stake in it. This could make for some pretty cool moments of Shepard deciding whether to do what's best for his species, or doing what's best for galactic survival.
2. An attack on Earth would make humans the new victims, and incredibly vulnerable; our position in galactic government would instantly be called into question. Also, if the Reaper attack turns out to be at the beginning of the game, and they merely cut off travel through the Charon Mass Relay and harvest the Sol System, that would mean that humanity's population would be severely crippled. Our strength would be reduced to little more than nothing. With maybe a few hundred colonies, and ousted from our home planet, we'd be little more than vagabonds.
3. Your squadmates may be antsy about the Reapers striking their home planet, therefore making their loyalty hinge on their respect for Shepard (or something like that).
4. If Shepard destroyed the base despite TIM's arguments to keep it intact, Cerberus could really throw that in Shepard's face with a, "Hey ***hole! We sure could use that base now, huh? Bet you feel really stupid about throwing it away, you stupid self-righteous blowhard!"
Anways, I suspect that the attack
does come pretty early on in the game, and that the Sol System becomes somewhat of a No-Flying Zone. The galactic government will try to keep a handle on the situation, the economy and political landscape will be in chaos, etc... with Shepard trying to find a way to stop the Reapers, as always.
It can be cliche, as long as it's the
fresh kind of cliche.
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