30 réponses à ce sujet

[DinoCrisisFan]

Anyone else notice similarities between Mass Effect and Babylon 5?
Babylon 5:
Mass Effect:

Similarities
-Both use jumpgates for FTL travel
-Both have a large multi-species space station for diplomacy and commerce
-Both have a security council of the most powerful races
-Both Captain Anderson and Sinclair get transferred in the beginning
-Both feature an ancient race that is hellbent on wiping out the galaxy (Reapers = Shadows)
-Both have a unified Earth, but both do maintain some regional diversity
-Things get caught up in the politics and so very little, if anything important gets accomplished
-Human colonies get attacked = Narn colonies get attacked
-One man and his team can stop everything (Sheppard = Sheridan)
-Both involve the protagonist going away for years (Sheppard's death = Sinclair's disappearance)
-The corporations are almost as powerful, if not more so, than governments
-Both involve a species that has to be in an environmental suit (Quarians = Vorlons)
-Both involve a species that has been oppressed (Krogan = Narn)
-Both involve an aggressive species that had to be exterminated, but later come back (Rachni = Dilgar)
-Both involve ancient species that have gone extinct or "passed beyond the barrier"
-Humanity is relatively new to the galactic community in both
-There are major tensions between humans and non-humans in both franchises

Modifié par DinoCrisisFan, 28 février 2011 - 06:36 .

[marshalleck]

Yes.

Except Babylon 5 avoided the stupidity of Space Terminator. 

Modifié par marshalleck, 28 février 2011 - 06:38 .

[DinoCrisisFan]

marshalleck wrote...

Yes.

Except Babylon 5 avoided the stupidity of Space Terminator. 

Mass Effect: Enemy Design Originality: 10/10

Modifié par DinoCrisisFan, 28 février 2011 - 06:41 .

[Whatever42]

Babylon 5 heavily ripped material from plenty of sources as well. They didn't invent jump gates.

I just hope ME doesn't rip off the pathetic ending from B5.

[Milana_Saros]

Farscape: Asari = Delvian, hyperjumps, Leviathans = sorta Reapers, Krogan = Luxan

Stargate: Stargates, hyperjumps

Point being, these sci-fi ideas are pretty commonly used. Just as with fantasy. Not as over used though.

Modifié par Milana_Saros, 28 février 2011 - 06:54 .

[Iakus]

B5 had fewer bad****es in spandex too

[nutshell43]

a) Good artists copy, great artists steal. Or something like that, I'm too lazy to google it. Mass Effect's standing on the shoulders of giants but it isn't ripping off anything. =)
Babylon 5 is innocent when it comes to that dreadful 5th season. TNT screwed that one up.
c) A cyborg human fetus created by turning people into soilent green? That's even more stupid than Reaper Arnie.

[LtlMac]

DinoCrisisFan wrote...

Anyone else notice similarities between Mass Effect and Babylon 5?
Babylon 5:
Mass Effect:

Similarities
-Both use jumpgates for FTL travel
-Both have a large multi-species space station for diplomacy and commerce
-Both have a security council of the most powerful races
-Both Captain Anderson and Sinclair get transferred in the beginning
-Both feature an ancient race that is hellbent on wiping out the galaxy (Reapers = Shadows)
-Both have a unified Earth, but both do maintain some regional diversity
-Things get caught up in the politics and so very little, if anything important gets accomplished
-Human colonies get attacked = Narn colonies get attacked
-One man and his team can stop everything (Sheppard = Sheridan)
-Both involve the protagonist going away for years (Sheppard's death = Sinclair's disappearance)
-The corporations are almost as powerful, if not more so, than governments
-Both involve a species that has to be in an environmental suit (Quarians = Vorlons)
-Both involve a species that has been oppressed (Krogan = Narn)
-Both involve an aggressive species that had to be exterminated, but later come back (Rachni = Dilgar)
-Both involve ancient species that have gone extinct or "passed beyond the barrier"
-Humanity is relatively new to the galactic community in both
-There are major tensions between humans and non-humans in both franchises

I wouldn't doubt that such a fantastic show as Bablyon 5 influenced some of the writers creators.  I do feel the geekish need to point out one minor flaw in your analogy, however.   Unlike the reapers, the Shadows were not out to destroy all life....they were attempting to spark confict and wars between the younger races because they saw this as the best means to facilitate progression and evoloution.  The Vorlons saw Order and Structure as the means to do so.

Speaking of the Vorlon....an anagoy between them and quarians is....dubious, at best.  Two very different 'species' whereing an enviro suite for completely opposite reasons.

[LtlMac]

Whatever666343431431654324 wrote...

Babylon 5 heavily ripped material from plenty of sources as well. They didn't invent jump gates.

I just hope ME doesn't rip off the pathetic ending from B5.

It ended appropriatley.  All good stories borrow from past ones.  What were your issues with the ending (specifically).   I admit the acting and weekly plots of season 5 were....below my expectation.  But the story as a whole was pretty good.

I just wish they had described what happened to Lando instead of gambling the story could be completd via Excalibur.  Now, THAT show was a joke.

[Kloreep]

Certainly there are some similarities. As others have said, most of them are common tropes of sci-fi, if not of even larger categories of fiction. And in terms of style, I'd say the MEs feel a lot closer to something like Firefly than to something like B5. Especially ME2.

The thing that feels most B5-ish to me is the Reapers. But I imagine (and hope) we're heading to some answers about them that are rather different from the ancient races in B5.

Anyone else notice some B5 shout-outs in the MEs itself? For instance, I recall Anoleis saying in ME1 that he was in the middle of "fifteen things, all of them annoying" - a classic Ivanova line.

[Leonia]

I've seen lots of similarities, the first time I stood on the Citadel in ME1 my initial thought was "HOLY CRAP I AM ON BABYLON 5!". That's the cool thing about the sci-fi genre, you'll always see a bunch of parallels like that.

And what the heck, I'll share my crappy learning-how-to-use-Premiere rendition of B5, season 4's opening with ME2 footage:

http://s16.photobuck...rrent=B5ME2.mp4

I totally want to re-do it at some point now that I actually know how to use the software

Oh, OP, you forgot about the death and revival of a major character in both franchises (will try to keep it vague for those not wishing to be spoiled). And also the potential romance between Shepard and an alien.. particularly with a certain species that fought with humans over a miscommunication *cough*FirstContactWar*cough*

Modifié par leonia42, 01 mars 2011 - 03:11 .

[SomeKindaEnigma]

Fuinris wrote...

Battlestar Galactica = Migrant Fleet

DinoCrisisFan wrote...

marshalleck wrote...

Yes.

Except Babylon 5 avoided the stupidity of Space Terminator. 

Mass Effect: Enemy Design Originality: 10/10

In the artwork book that was in the the Collector's Edition box you can see that the "Space Terminator" once should look like a cyborg human fetus. Only game I know of in which you can shoot babies is Dead Space. I guess Bioware thought they'd gone too far.

Doom 3 as well.  Those pesky cherubs, I think that's what they're called, babies with wings and claws 

[Yakko77]

leonia42 wrote...

I've seen lots of similarities, the first time I stood on the Citadel in ME1 my initial thought was "HOLY CRAP I AM ON BABYLON 5!". That's the cool thing about the sci-fi genre, you'll always see a bunch of parallels like that.

And what the heck, I'll share my crappy learning-how-to-use-Premiere rendition of B5, season 4's opening with ME2 footage:

http://s16.photobuck...rrent=B5ME2.mp4

I totally want to re-do it at some point now that I actually know how to use the software

Oh, OP, you forgot about the death and revival of a major character in both franchises (will try to keep it vague for those not wishing to be spoiled). And also the potential romance between Shepard and an alien.. particularly with a certain species that fought with humans over a miscommunication *cough*FirstContactWar*cough*

Cool video!

Another thing about ME and B5 is that humanity isn't the strongest species or at least on par with other galactic species.  They're the newcomer in both yet make up for their lack of experience and strength with other traits and abilities.

[xI extremist Ix]

Earth isn't unified in Mass Effect. Sure there is the Systems Alliance, but every nation has their own agenda and the Alliance over stepped it's bounds when it aligned with President Huerta.

[Bogsnot1]

You forgot that the Vorlons didnt need environmental suits. They used the suits as a decoy to hide who they truly were. There were other species who needed suits though.

[Kloreep]

leonia42 wrote...

I've seen lots of similarities, the first time I stood on the Citadel in ME1 my initial thought was "HOLY CRAP I AM ON BABYLON 5!". That's the cool thing about the sci-fi genre, you'll always see a bunch of parallels like that.

True, I had that moment too the first time I played ME1. Though as you say, circular space stations/vessels are just a sci-fi thing in general - probably says more about us than ME that we had that reaction.

leonia42 wrote...

And what the heck, I'll share my crappy learning-how-to-use-Premiere rendition of B5, season 4's opening with ME2 footage:

http://s16.photobuck...rrent=B5ME2.mp4

Haha, nice. Definitely post any re-dos you do.

xI extremist Ix wrote...

Earth isn't unified in Mass
Effect. Sure there is the Systems Alliance, but every nation has their
own agenda and the Alliance over stepped it's bounds when it aligned
with President Huerta.

I wouldn't exactly say Earth was unified in B5. Humanity certainly wasn't.

Modifié par Kloreep, 01 mars 2011 - 04:05 .

[Yakko77]

As Samara says, if there are 3 humans in a room there will be 6 opinions.

[Comdawg]

Also Cerberus is very similar to the Night watch.

Modifié par Comdawg, 01 mars 2011 - 04:16 .

[Motherlander]

I think the OP list is quite good. Here are a few more similarities:

In B5 there is an alien race called the Streib who kidnap and o experiments on other races. A bit like the Collectors.

Biotics and telepaths are treated as outcasts in both B5 and ME.

One episode is called Exogenesis (ExoGeni) involving an parasitical alien that takes control of humans. However, it is voluntary and compliant in B5.

Both have pro-human political groups.

The Shadows effectively indoctrinate the crew of the exploere ship that go to Za'dum.

The main hero dies and is brought back to life.

One thing that ME doesn't have that most Sci-fi series do is time travel. A big positive for ME in my book.

Modifié par Motherlander, 28 janvier 2012 - 01:44 .

[Rex Fallout]

Motherlander wrote...

One thing that ME doesn't have that most Sci-fi series do is time travel. A big positive for ME in my book.

No time travel... SO FAR. 

[Baalsmistress]

I'm something of a latecomer to Mass Effect, having downloaded the game on Steam a week agoo and played it through twice now (yes, I liked it enough to log 91 hours of time in 1 week according to steam).

I agree that there is a lot of inspiration drawn from Babylon 5, and certainly some definite nods.

One thing that struck me instantly was when I visited Luna, the planetary data said that Earth had constructed 2 stations - L4 and L5, with a population of 250,000. Any B5 fan should recognise that instantly as the population of Babylon 5.

My first view of the Citadel had me reminiscing of Vorlon cruisers, with their solar sails (Hardly an original concept to B5, but a pleasing similarity).

I am going to differ with people drawing parallels between the Quorians and the Vorlons. I just don't see a link there at all, I see greater similarity between the Hanar and the Vorlons, but even that is stretched to the point of incredulity really.

The concept of a cycle of war and devastation is a core theme to both, as is finding a way to break that cycle. Yes, both feature messiah grade central characters in the forms of John Sheriden and xxx Shepherd, but, what game shooter oriented game out there doesn't feature a central hero that the story revolves around.

I could even argue a similarity between the SPECTREs and the Rangers. At the point in the story I am now (ME1 complete, ME2 still downloading) I have seen only Human and Turian (Minbari analog if you will permit) SPECTREs, with mention of other species being included as well. Both are organisations that form the vanguard of civilisation's defense, though in B5 they are specifically a shadow watch, while in ME, they are generalised "trouble shooters" doing whatever the council wants done and can't officially sanction.

I love both franchises, I wish crusade had made it, and I'm looking forwards to ME2 and I'm hoping ME3 will make it onto steam at some point.

[Baalsmistress]

Actually a comparisson of the B5 and Systems Alliance time lines is intersting

2148 - [B5] Shadow ruins discovered on Mars
           [ME] Protheon ruins discovered on Mars
2156 - [B5] First Contact
2157 - [ME] First Contact
2170 - [ME] Bataran slavers attack Mindoir
           [B5] Ross 128 IV raided by Ch'lonas
2176 - [ME] Skyline Blitz
           [B5] Psi Corp headquarters bombed
2177 - [ME] Alliance colony of Akuze wiped out by Thresher maws
           [B5] Mars colony main dome destroyed, resulting in the death of everyone inside

Granted it's not too many points of congruence, but it's enough to be relatively certain a nod was being tipped to JMS's masterpiece.

Modifié par Baalsmistress, 08 avril 2012 - 06:52 .

[Wonderboy2402]

Thought I would necro the thread by pointing out a certain scarred character of B5 whose mannerisms and appearance were much like Zaeeds. Just saw this while watching the series (again.)

Boggs from Babylon5 episode. http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Boggs
Zaeed. http://img708.images...1838/zaeed1.jpg

HMMM. <_<

Modifié par Wonderboy2402, 03 octobre 2012 - 07:48 .

[Aleguzzler]

Couple more similarities:

Dark Star club both on the Citadel (ME2) and B5.
The Lazarus Project (although different end results) http://babylon5.wiki...Lazarus_Project