TL;DR: You have been warned.
Other disclaimer: a passing familiarity with X-COM should also be required. If you aren’t… well, shame for you. Check out X-COM Enemy Unknown, which is coming out next month. If you like Fireaxis Strategy Games like Sid Meir’s Civilization, and/or turn-based strategy games, you’ll probably like it.
===
Intro
===
With my interest in Mass Effect still going strong, but X-COM stealing my attention, X-COM and Mass Effect are already crossing over in my head. Creative juices are flowing, ideas are shaping, and one idea in particular is really sticking out to me:
X-COM is what Cerberus wishes it could be.
Just hear me out: both are paramilitary organizations with extreme military, industrial, and scientific focuses, dedicated to allowing Humanity to match more advanced and often hostile alien threats. Both are financed and supported by shadowy backers, recruit incredibly dedicated special forces and elite scientists, and have military strength of impressive ability. Operational restrictions are few, operational freedom is massive, and survival at any cost can frequently entail that high cost, and the idea of a loss-free solution is laughable. Civilians suffer in the name of safeguarding resources for future threats, and the ultimate goal of both agencies is making Humanity as strong as the aliens who threaten it. Oh, and all executive power for that agency is invested in a single individual, who can set the entire moral tone of the organization.
That’s right: in X-COM, you are the Illusive Man.
And here’s where the idea of this hypothetical cross-over game comes in: a crossover of X-COM and Mass Effect, a sort of AU take on the First Contact War, and a lead-in to the trilogy as a whole. Mass Effect with X-COM additions and mechanics, if you know what I mean.
Some analogs are obvious. Project X-COM is now Project Cerberus. The Council of Nations is now the Alliance.
What I’m about to sketch is a game outline, both touching on mechanics (so you can imagine playing it) and plot (so you can imagine how it goes). You need a passing familiarity with X-COM gameplay to grasp it (but only that, as that’s as much as I have), but a good sense of the Mass Effect lore is advised. This is AU, so things are changed up, but some familiar faces and names will appear.
And with that… let’s start sketching this baby out.
---
The general setting is pre-Mars Earth. Or rather, pre-official-Mars Earth. The nations of Earth, a teeming world with billions of people still lacking effective space flight, have had sensor reports indicating that there is something on Mars. Individual nations have attempted to reach the planet, but no one has actually gotten there...
...because they've been shot down by spacecraft with fearsome yellow beams . Mars is occupied by aliens, and those foreigners have friends... friends who are now targeting human populations with increasing frequency.
On a more meta-level:
The Mars Cache is being occupied by the Collectors, who are using a variety of Terminus species to conduct operations on Earth. Collector interest in Humans is sparked by Human genetic versatility, particularly flexibility for genetic engineering, capability of biotics, and most importantly a currently-dormant potential for psionics (indoctrination).
In this AU/hybridization of the two games, the Collectors are a bit more active as a species: besides their genetic curiosity, the galaxy mostly knows the Collectors as 'that species that collects remnants of Prothean and pre-Prothean civilizations.' Actually the Reaper's sweep-up crew, the Collectors both scout the galaxy for potential Reaper-fiable species (ascension), preparing weapons for the Reaping (bioweapons and husks), and covering up missed/uncovered evidence of the Reaper cycle. While technically outlawed in Council space, the Collectors and their advanced technology is sufficient to hire muscle, bribe, and otherwise force their way into sites, which they then pick apart.
The Collectors arrived at Sol for the Mars Archive as part of their ‘cover up Prothean evidence of the Reapers’ mission. However, the Prothean complex is not only massive and well-sealed, but protected: meaning even the Collectors will take some time to unlock it in order to figure out just what the Protheans meant to hide away, in case it reveals other Prothean cache sites that might warn of the Reapers. The time it takes is effectively the time-limit for the game. If the Collectors succede, they'll find the Prothean plans for the Crucible, and will initiate the Reaping immediately in order to prevent any other species from finding and building it.
Of course, while they were in the neighborhood, they noticed the emerging space-flight species next door. Figuring they'd combine tasks, they tasked their Terminus proxies to capture some for analysis. The initial reports surprised even the Collectors, and so more and more occurred until the Collectors realized that Earth was a potential gold-mine: a megapolis world like Earth, will billions still at a pre-flight level, could become the bastion of the Reaper's invasion, a source of slaves, husk armies, and even a Reaper.
However, the Collectors don't have the strength to simply storm the planet, and so have to use Terminus allies and proxies. The Collector's goals for Earth increase across the game, as does their deployment of Terminus species and husks. Early game is 'just' Terminus pirates and such, but as the Collector interest grows so does the scale of attacks. (Obviously, Seeker Swarms are removed at the early-game.)
Ultimately, the end-game of the game is Humanity advancing enough to reach out to Mars and kick out the Collectors. By that time, Human technology and capabilities have reached a point at which they are a galactic-level species, or then some: matching Collector technology means surpassing the galactic standard.
The Collectors are the mastermind race of this game, directing all others. Obviously the most advanced in all regards, and with direct-energy weapons that will cut through the kinetic barriers you'll have stripped from the pirates, a single Collector is a big-deal, and Harbinger is pretty much a mission-ruining badass.
---
Collector Interest in Humanity is dictated by genetics, which are explored more.
Basically, the Human 'specialness' in the galaxy is that our genetics are flexible enough that we can be altered/rewriteen/test-beds for just about any sort of genetics research, without having the tendency to die too easily. IE, we can be genetically engineered and warped in any number of different ways, more than other species. Some species can't grow biotics, some species have rejections of cybernetics, some species can't change their innate capabilities at all. Humans are a tabula rosa, with potential: we could all become biotics, we could adapt our senses like other species, we could even manipulate our fertility to grow exponentially faster, like Krogan. Ethics aside, Humanity has Potential ™.
And part of that Tabula Rosa, and the one that really gets the Collector's interest, is the developing capability for psionics... also knownas indoctrination/the Leviathan Dominate ability. That ability alone catches the Collector interest, and is the basis for the mass abductions: it's currently so rare that only one in millions have it, but Humanity could conceivably evolve to have a natural enthralling-ability. The Collectors want a few dozen samples, like they usually do… but at the rates needed, the Collectors gathering a few dozen would mean entire metropolisis be emptied.
Of course, the Human potential also could be a great resource for the Reapers through husks armies. Earth, being as isolated and lonely as it is, is so far out of the way without the relay that the galaxy doesn't even notice it. The Collectors are working with local Terminus species, similarly removed from the relays. With no one knowing about the Charon Relay, Earth is just a garden world way too far away from galactic civilization to be noticed… and the Collector interference keeps it that way.
That makes Earth a potential army in the rear, as the Collectors do know about the Charon Relay. Human genetics means large varieties of Husks, and if Humanity falls it would soon become the army to overrun the galaxy for the Reapers. Oh, and there's that matter of being able to make a fleet of Reapers out of us as well if they wanted, just in case: really, there's no end to the uses for us.
---
Alien races, besides the Collectors themselves, are generally described as 'Terminus Species’ and ‘Terminus Pirates.’ The first are the X-COM species, and generally fill that role of the mentioned-but-never-depicted Terminus empires and minor species that hate the Council. The Second are the canonical Mass Effect species.
The X-COM species usually use the Collector-given plasma and energy weapons: these are less effective against armor (one of two primary classes of defense), but are great against kinetic barriers. These are minor species, really really far away from the relay network. (Think the relation of Tibet to the sea lanes of the world.) They have ongoing relations with the Collectors, who give them goods in exchange for services. They are quote/unquote 'allies', albeit ones that are exposed to subtle Collector control. They are insignificant to the galactic scene, but also have the propensity for freakish genetic experiments and give the Terminus its bad rep. Diplomatically, these Terminus species are actual ‘allies’ of the Collectors: in return for technology, their governments give the Collectors these forces voluntarily.
Of course, Mass Effect species apply as well: pirate groups and such, from the major species. ME species usually use the Mass Effect standard of kinetic barriers, biotics, and ME-conventional weapons: ineffective against kinetic barriers, but great against armor. While hired for profit, these groups also have restrictions enforced on them by the Collectors: groups brought in by the prospect of greed, but then implanted with control devices/indoctrinated by the Collectors to ensure increasing levels of compliance and obedience.
The relationship with the Collectors varies by group (alliance vs. employment), and the level of compulsion varies with the level of necessity, but in short the Collectors don't intent to let any witnesses of their conquest of Earth leave to tell the tale. The Terminus allies know that, but don't care: they get their bonuses on the ME side of the galaxy, making it worth the sacrifice. The ME pirate groups don't know, and certainly will care... if you can convince them before they're controlled. This offers the potential that you could 'flip' some of those ME species groups.
---
Mechanics: Weapons and Defense
X-COM is about tactical choices, and in this crossover with two different franchises of technology ,which one you go with is one such consideration.
Weapons are split into energy (lasers/plasma and shields) and ballistics (bullets/rockets and armor). Mass Effect Tech has ballistic weapons and kinetic barriers: X-COM tech has energy weapons and armor. Kinetic barriers, not working against direct-energy weapons, are especially weak to energy weapons. Mass Effect weapons are in turn good against armor. Using the right weapons against the right armor/enemy type is a key part of the game.
Collectors, being the apex enemy and the super-advanced spawn of the Reapers, who are masters of both fields, have dual-use technology: their defenses combine armor and shields, and particle weapons can serve as both ballistic or energy weapons as desired.
---
Cameos
Some ME ‘cameos’ are possible in the game, depending on how much of a storyline is desired. Knowledge of the wider galaxy, or even a sense that there might be some good-aliens out there. These could be potential story-paths to victory that could be pursued, but otherwise help a planet under siege understand that there is a wider galaxy out there… even if that knowledge doesn’t seem to be of much use now.
Liara makes an obvious contender: an unaffiliated archeologist who pursues clues towards the Mars Cache much like the Collectors did. Upon her arrival, the Aliens tried to shoot her down... making her retrieval a definite priority for a story mission, as it provides the first hint that the aliens aren’t as unified as we would otherwise believe. Liara lands hurt and in a coma, and requires sufficient medical technology to awake: certainly an Asari autopsy and an Asari interrogation from captured Terminus pirates, and possible the development of medigel-related tech.
Once awake, Liara represents a benign alien presence. She offers insight into the civilized galaxy, and offers her help as a scientist, but she is unable to answer much about the Collectors besides identifying them.
An STG/Kirahe presence is also foreseeable, with a bit of a Choice thrown in. Say an STG team is tracking the Terminus movements, and discovers Earth. It lends no assistance, but is another of those UFO's flying overhead that is creating panic. Eventually you shoot it down, and a crash-mission follows.
The mission would be abnormal, seeing as it's an all-Salarian crew when most ME-aliens are in mixed-race groups, and the STG operatives are well prepared to fight to the death... but at the same time, aren't going out to attack civilians as most aliens do. (Meaning if you have higher priorities, you might leave them alone to handle other alien attacks and the STG escape. That’s X-COM, baby.) In what should be a tough mission, the idea is that you can either try to capture them (very difficult), or wipe them out like the rest of the aliens (and get great rewards). In particular, as you enter the UFO, you learn that the STG Commander is attempting to blow the ship in place: you can fail (ship destroyed, no gains), kill the STG Commander (and gain the loot of the ship), or you can capture the STG Commander.
Capturing Kirahe alive, and successfully interrogating him (again: Salarian-related science, and possibly having enough information of the Collectors to perk his interest) opens up a conversation-negotiation. Kirahe explains that he was sent to observe what was going on, but his men weren’t your enemies. He also didn't expect you to shoot him down or capture him, impressing him with your capabilities. He explains that his government is not at war with yours, and explains the Terminus pirates relationship with the Collectors. He makes a request/offer: you let him and any of his surviving men leave your planet with the intelligence you've gathered, and he'll carry your story to the STG and request aid for you. The STG is already concerned by the Collectors and their Terminus allies, may send help.
Of course, this involves giving up the captured STG ship and supplies necessary for the trip. You can delay a decision, say no (and keep a significant trove of high-level ME gear, as well as the ship), or you can agree. If you agree, you lose the captives, the equipment, and Kirahe leaves.
Whether he comes back depends on whether you sent him with enough intelligence. If you don't send enough, the STG basically doesn't care and you never see him again. If you send enough autopsies/live specimen reports back, especially on terror units like husks and Collector weapons, the Salarians are concerned enough that they send a small task force to assist you: a few great ships and high-level characters who may come in handy for the assault on the Collector Base at Mars. Of course, this help comes with a serious delay: if you take too long to gather the specimen data, then Kirahe can't come back in time to assist you. In a hypothetical six-month game time limit, the STG round-trip may well take four months. Help would only come in the end-game.
The STG offers a choose-your-reward mechanic that brings in a measure of galactic aid.
Bhalak the Batarian, serving as a/the leader of the Terminus Pirates faction. A member of the Batarian Hegemony who joined the Earth campaign for Collector technology but harbors a tad too much independence for the Collector’s taste. A personality who will eventually be directly controlled by the Collectors in the mid-late game, this guy is a scourge of Humanity beforehand and good riddance afterwards. Still, if you gather evidence of Collector control-implants and indoctrination, you can convince him the Collectors intend to back-stab him: this leads to him taking what loyal pirates he has remaining and getting out of here. A decrease in ME-alien attacks follows, as a major group of the Collector's forces leave.
A Turian: not necessarily Garrus, or even a Vakarian, but a potential defector from the enemy ranks. A Turian criminal who isn’t that evil, or who fears the Collectors more than Humans, or even a pirate who just grew a conscious and was disgusted after the Terror Attacks begin: the Turian is a recruitable character who brings out the third of the Big Three ME races.
As for some Human story characters... I’ll bring a reference. On FFN there’s a story called The Siege of Shanxi.
It's a fanfic, semi-AU, of the First Contact War. The author likes to use predecessors of the Human characters, so that familiar names can be dropped in. I actually like that, and it could be used here. X-COM is famous for perma-death, that anyone could die, but some exceptional-squadies with unique stories, along with a 'I have a kid at home...' kind of line could add to the story. Some might be killable, others might become 'permanently crippled' instead of 'permanently dead' if they fall in battle. That way they can partake via radio in story-developments, but no longer fight: their crippling could even factor into their character arcs, as such.
While story-characters are exceptional to most grunts in that they can't perma-death, a perma-crippled soldier is actually worse than a perma-dead: perma-crippled soldiers still cost upkeep reflecting their rank, meaning they’re a drain on resources despite no longer adding value.
Some familiar names that might appear could include…
Commander Shepard. Mama/Papa/Grandma/Grandpa Shepard. You choose. Commander Shepard with a timeline update. Early-game high-ranking soldier, with a powerful unique ability based on Service History.
'War Hero', a Hero of the Indian Campaign, gives a symbol of hope for everyone. Every time Commander Shepard is on a victorious mission, you get a much better decrease to panic growth (decreasing panic level not only in your mission area, but also in the immediate vicinity areas). As the game is lost if too many nations panic and pull out of the Alliance, the War Hero is a powerful tool for keeping everyone in the fight.
'Ruthless' gets the job done, no matter the cost. A passive bonus for all soldiers in the field that increases as your soldiers get injured and killed, this leader gets tough the tougher things get. Every wounded-status increases the bonus a little for everyone: every death gives a significant bonus. Even killing enemies can create a bonus, as the Butcher of Toronto gets to work. One aspect of this ruthlessness is that your troops can be both inspired and a little frightened of you: Rookies do not panic under the Butcher of Toronto, being more afraid of Shepard than of the alienbs.
'Sole Survivor' is possibly the only way to avoid perma-death wipeouts. If all other teammates have died, Commander Shepard will not: after a mission wipe, Shepard will be 'critically wounded' rather than 'dead' or 'perma-crippled,' meaning that after a period of time (two weeks) Shepard can be back in the fight. Keeping a high-level character on the field is a boon to any player, allowing you to recover from some mistakes However, this requires a total party wipe mission-loss: if any other soldiers survive, Shepard is perma-crippled. Sole-Survivor Shepard is the only non-perma-loss charcter in the game.
Alenko. Kaiden's own pappy/grandpappy (or female equivalent). Exceptional as the first biotic soldier, and a potential master psionic as well. Definitely in for the Tutorial, and a combat-related character. In terms of story, more of a supporting role.
General Williams, definitely. Definitely not in the combat directly, but a major supporting character. A general in the conventional Alliance military, who works well with X-COM, General Williams provides the player with advice, support, and even resources so long as he remains in charge. General Willians' disgrace could be a player-influenced event: when the player fails to stop a region from capitulating, Williams is the one who has to surrender so that X-COM can continue. When WIlliams is disgraced, X-COM loses a major source of support, as well as seeing a friendly character brought low. If the player can win the game without a region falling, General Williams is remembered as a hero.
I'll admit I like the idea also that Williams does character suicide for the Greater Good. Maybe the surrender offers X-COM an opportunity to launch a strike at the Collector Ship, or something. General Williams should be pitied for being a victim of things beyond his control, but not flinching from the loss of face.
Captain Hacket: an X-COM staff officer equivalent, now in command of your interceptors and space ships and all that. Your general strategic military advisor, the younger Hackett shows a keen, if tough, strategic mind.
Lieutenant Anderson: Possibly a squaddie, but more importantly your N7 Officer Academy OIC. N7 himself, he can train up your troops, giving you better tactical options, better soldiers, and making your team a better force. If he was a squaddie, he should gain a training bonus: any training he himself earns becomes cheaper for others.
Jack Harper/Illusive Man. This could go two ways.
In the Evolution comics, Jack Harper was something of a personal field operative for Williams. I could see him as a story-related NPC, also working as an intermediary between you and General Williams. Never under your control, but involved with various story developments.Younger, more brash than TIM, but through luck and circumstance with you to the end... and at the end, gaining the TIM eyes. The player is the Commander, but TIM is the guy who might take over X-COM after you.
As the Illusive Man (or Woman), you yourself could play the role as you command Cerberus. It would probably be a silent-protagonist role, with apologies to Martin Sheen, but where would Cerberus be without its leader?
===
General Story Flow
X-COM is, of course, player-driven, but it does have a general progression. Some story events seem to be intended for the new one coming. Being a crossover with Mass Effect, a heavily story-driven experience, some allowances can be made. It could even have character development.
While The Illusive Player controls the scenes, the named characters of the cast can interact, develop, and even come into conflict as circumstances are met. Sometimes you’ll be asked to resolve a conflict: sometimes you’ll set the conditions for cutsscenes or character relationships to mature. An Alenko who becomes permanently crippled, for example, having a character arc of adjusting to the fact.
Such nuances are beyond the scope of this outline/idea-sketch. What follows is a bare-bones breakdown of the story phases as such.
Early Game: Abductions. Collectors have just arrived, and are doing casual genetics research on Humans. Aliens overwhelm all Human gear-kits. Interceptions are rare. STG craft is probably impossible.
Major mission: Liara recovery. Liara’s arrival marks the first instance of inter-alien conflict, and provides the first opportunity to learn of the outside world.
Early-Mid: Interceptions. As Collectors seek more subjects to verify tests, Human capabilities evolve. Initial advances in ME vs. energy technologies are made: kitting up for ME aliens as opposed to X-COM aliens becomes a legitimate decision. Shoot downs begin in earnest as interceptor improvements are made. Terminus aliens deploy genetic experiments (mutons/whatever).
Major mission: STG shoot-down. Humanity starts being a threat to aircraft flying overhead.
Mid: Terror Attacks. Collectors decide that Humanity would make a good husk-race for future army. Mass-cassualty attacks begin, since only corpses are necessary. Panic rises. First awareness of Collectors begins.
Major Mission: Turian Defection. The Turian Defector, appaled by the Terror Attacks, makes to join your team.
Mid-Late: Mass Abductions. Collectors decide they want Humans for Reaper creation. Reaper-tech Collector Technology deploys, upping the ante as new enemy capabilities and types emerge from Collector labs. Earth nations in full military engagement: Collectors consider taking full control of forces and doing away with independent proxies.
Major Mission: Bhalak persuasion. If you convince him to back out, you get much-needed respite as a number of Terminus Pirates leave the system.
Late: Invasion. With all races under their direct control, Collectors begin an honest invasion attempt of Earth. Panic sky-rockets, and major regions threaten to fall, as Collectors offer to accept surrender (and actually indoctrinate those leaders who do). Final preparations for counter-attack to Mars are underway.
Major Mission: General Williams' Disgrace. If a region falls because the resource-buildup for the Mars Assault takes too long, it’s up to Williams to sign the surrender… but in doing so, he provides an opportunity for the Player to launch an attack on a Collector Cruiser, offering a huge opportunity to capture resources for a counter-attack.
End Game: Mars. Take the fight to the Collectors, and defeat the Collector General commanding the invasion. Discover just what the Collectors are collecting Humans for.
Major Mission: Suicide Mission. Similar to the ME2 canonical mission, but on Mars, the Collector Base demonstrates the Human-Reaper core, which serves as the first actual indication of the existence of the Reapers.
Of course, X-COM games have traditionally had a limiting factor or two, as well as requirements for the end-game victory.
Mars Assault Requirements: Spaceships and supplies. Though the Player becomes pretty good at defending Earth, evening up the tech-gap with the aliens, the resources to build a space force to reach and attack the Collector Base on Mars are necessary to end the Alien Threat. Cerberus-X-COM must research mass effect technology, X-COM psionics, and other difficult technologies in order to successfully fight through or infiltrate the base with a sufficient team.
Time Limit: The Arrival. The Collectors have broken through the Prothean Archives, and discovered the Crucible plans. The Reaper invasion is kicked off ahead of schedule to prevent other civilizations from building it.
Panic Limit: Majority Loses. Alien abductions, massacres, and UFO activity frighten the nations of Earth, as well as making the Player out to be insufficient. If panic in an area rises too high, the leaders of the nation will withdraw from the Council and surrender to the Aliens: if too many do, the entire Earth falls.
Indoctrination Risk: Researching Collector technology is potent, but risky. As you research artifacts and technologies, you run the risk of soldiers, scientists, and others becoming infected. Indoctrinated agents will expose your activities to the Collectors and conduct internal sabotage, making your job harder and your enemies more effective. And if a member of the inner circle becomes indoctrinated without you knowing… without you, the resistance falls apart.
End States:
Defeat (Time Limit): Earth though the Collectors were the real enemy... but in truth they were servents of a much greater threat. When the black ships descended from the skies, we never stood a chance. No species knew when we fell... but all species soon followed.
Defeat (Panic): The leaders of Earth thought submission was preferable to extinction. The Collectors accepted the first, but soon followed with the second. It might be said we took revenge on those who had invaded us: husk armies marched on distant worlds, crushing unwary species. But we were to far gone as a species to appreciate the retribution.
Defeat (Indoctrination): Your most trusted allies turned on you, assassinating you in your own control room. You never knew, never suspected how deep the rot had spread: the rest of the world was no better. Cerberus continued, but this time under the Collector’s control… and when the time was right, Earth’s own defenders turned on her and handed it to their masters.
Victory: With the death of the Collector General, all the aliens in the Sol System lost their cohesion. While husk armies still marched on Earth, without support they were soon wiped out even as the remaining groups were removed. The Council of Nations found itself in control of what remained of Earth, and the mysterious Collector Base on Mars... and in it, a mystery that not even the Collectors had yet managed to crack. The Prothean Archive, once opened, revealed a treasure trove of information and technology to us... but that would be a story of another decade.
Until then, the Council of Nations recovered, and expanded: alien technology was used to settle distant worlds, colonizing the galaxy for Humanity's first outward steps. We would meet new species, and even some new foes... and we met them with their own technology, and a little of our own.
And just in case, Cerberus remains ready for Human survival and advancement, at any cost...
Other disclaimer: a passing familiarity with X-COM should also be required. If you aren’t… well, shame for you. Check out X-COM Enemy Unknown, which is coming out next month. If you like Fireaxis Strategy Games like Sid Meir’s Civilization, and/or turn-based strategy games, you’ll probably like it.
===
Intro
===
With my interest in Mass Effect still going strong, but X-COM stealing my attention, X-COM and Mass Effect are already crossing over in my head. Creative juices are flowing, ideas are shaping, and one idea in particular is really sticking out to me:
X-COM is what Cerberus wishes it could be.
Just hear me out: both are paramilitary organizations with extreme military, industrial, and scientific focuses, dedicated to allowing Humanity to match more advanced and often hostile alien threats. Both are financed and supported by shadowy backers, recruit incredibly dedicated special forces and elite scientists, and have military strength of impressive ability. Operational restrictions are few, operational freedom is massive, and survival at any cost can frequently entail that high cost, and the idea of a loss-free solution is laughable. Civilians suffer in the name of safeguarding resources for future threats, and the ultimate goal of both agencies is making Humanity as strong as the aliens who threaten it. Oh, and all executive power for that agency is invested in a single individual, who can set the entire moral tone of the organization.
That’s right: in X-COM, you are the Illusive Man.
And here’s where the idea of this hypothetical cross-over game comes in: a crossover of X-COM and Mass Effect, a sort of AU take on the First Contact War, and a lead-in to the trilogy as a whole. Mass Effect with X-COM additions and mechanics, if you know what I mean.
Some analogs are obvious. Project X-COM is now Project Cerberus. The Council of Nations is now the Alliance.
What I’m about to sketch is a game outline, both touching on mechanics (so you can imagine playing it) and plot (so you can imagine how it goes). You need a passing familiarity with X-COM gameplay to grasp it (but only that, as that’s as much as I have), but a good sense of the Mass Effect lore is advised. This is AU, so things are changed up, but some familiar faces and names will appear.
And with that… let’s start sketching this baby out.
---
The general setting is pre-Mars Earth. Or rather, pre-official-Mars Earth. The nations of Earth, a teeming world with billions of people still lacking effective space flight, have had sensor reports indicating that there is something on Mars. Individual nations have attempted to reach the planet, but no one has actually gotten there...
...because they've been shot down by spacecraft with fearsome yellow beams . Mars is occupied by aliens, and those foreigners have friends... friends who are now targeting human populations with increasing frequency.
On a more meta-level:
The Mars Cache is being occupied by the Collectors, who are using a variety of Terminus species to conduct operations on Earth. Collector interest in Humans is sparked by Human genetic versatility, particularly flexibility for genetic engineering, capability of biotics, and most importantly a currently-dormant potential for psionics (indoctrination).
In this AU/hybridization of the two games, the Collectors are a bit more active as a species: besides their genetic curiosity, the galaxy mostly knows the Collectors as 'that species that collects remnants of Prothean and pre-Prothean civilizations.' Actually the Reaper's sweep-up crew, the Collectors both scout the galaxy for potential Reaper-fiable species (ascension), preparing weapons for the Reaping (bioweapons and husks), and covering up missed/uncovered evidence of the Reaper cycle. While technically outlawed in Council space, the Collectors and their advanced technology is sufficient to hire muscle, bribe, and otherwise force their way into sites, which they then pick apart.
The Collectors arrived at Sol for the Mars Archive as part of their ‘cover up Prothean evidence of the Reapers’ mission. However, the Prothean complex is not only massive and well-sealed, but protected: meaning even the Collectors will take some time to unlock it in order to figure out just what the Protheans meant to hide away, in case it reveals other Prothean cache sites that might warn of the Reapers. The time it takes is effectively the time-limit for the game. If the Collectors succede, they'll find the Prothean plans for the Crucible, and will initiate the Reaping immediately in order to prevent any other species from finding and building it.
Of course, while they were in the neighborhood, they noticed the emerging space-flight species next door. Figuring they'd combine tasks, they tasked their Terminus proxies to capture some for analysis. The initial reports surprised even the Collectors, and so more and more occurred until the Collectors realized that Earth was a potential gold-mine: a megapolis world like Earth, will billions still at a pre-flight level, could become the bastion of the Reaper's invasion, a source of slaves, husk armies, and even a Reaper.
However, the Collectors don't have the strength to simply storm the planet, and so have to use Terminus allies and proxies. The Collector's goals for Earth increase across the game, as does their deployment of Terminus species and husks. Early game is 'just' Terminus pirates and such, but as the Collector interest grows so does the scale of attacks. (Obviously, Seeker Swarms are removed at the early-game.)
Ultimately, the end-game of the game is Humanity advancing enough to reach out to Mars and kick out the Collectors. By that time, Human technology and capabilities have reached a point at which they are a galactic-level species, or then some: matching Collector technology means surpassing the galactic standard.
The Collectors are the mastermind race of this game, directing all others. Obviously the most advanced in all regards, and with direct-energy weapons that will cut through the kinetic barriers you'll have stripped from the pirates, a single Collector is a big-deal, and Harbinger is pretty much a mission-ruining badass.
---
Collector Interest in Humanity is dictated by genetics, which are explored more.
Basically, the Human 'specialness' in the galaxy is that our genetics are flexible enough that we can be altered/rewriteen/test-beds for just about any sort of genetics research, without having the tendency to die too easily. IE, we can be genetically engineered and warped in any number of different ways, more than other species. Some species can't grow biotics, some species have rejections of cybernetics, some species can't change their innate capabilities at all. Humans are a tabula rosa, with potential: we could all become biotics, we could adapt our senses like other species, we could even manipulate our fertility to grow exponentially faster, like Krogan. Ethics aside, Humanity has Potential ™.
And part of that Tabula Rosa, and the one that really gets the Collector's interest, is the developing capability for psionics... also knownas indoctrination/the Leviathan Dominate ability. That ability alone catches the Collector interest, and is the basis for the mass abductions: it's currently so rare that only one in millions have it, but Humanity could conceivably evolve to have a natural enthralling-ability. The Collectors want a few dozen samples, like they usually do… but at the rates needed, the Collectors gathering a few dozen would mean entire metropolisis be emptied.
Of course, the Human potential also could be a great resource for the Reapers through husks armies. Earth, being as isolated and lonely as it is, is so far out of the way without the relay that the galaxy doesn't even notice it. The Collectors are working with local Terminus species, similarly removed from the relays. With no one knowing about the Charon Relay, Earth is just a garden world way too far away from galactic civilization to be noticed… and the Collector interference keeps it that way.
That makes Earth a potential army in the rear, as the Collectors do know about the Charon Relay. Human genetics means large varieties of Husks, and if Humanity falls it would soon become the army to overrun the galaxy for the Reapers. Oh, and there's that matter of being able to make a fleet of Reapers out of us as well if they wanted, just in case: really, there's no end to the uses for us.
---
Alien races, besides the Collectors themselves, are generally described as 'Terminus Species’ and ‘Terminus Pirates.’ The first are the X-COM species, and generally fill that role of the mentioned-but-never-depicted Terminus empires and minor species that hate the Council. The Second are the canonical Mass Effect species.
The X-COM species usually use the Collector-given plasma and energy weapons: these are less effective against armor (one of two primary classes of defense), but are great against kinetic barriers. These are minor species, really really far away from the relay network. (Think the relation of Tibet to the sea lanes of the world.) They have ongoing relations with the Collectors, who give them goods in exchange for services. They are quote/unquote 'allies', albeit ones that are exposed to subtle Collector control. They are insignificant to the galactic scene, but also have the propensity for freakish genetic experiments and give the Terminus its bad rep. Diplomatically, these Terminus species are actual ‘allies’ of the Collectors: in return for technology, their governments give the Collectors these forces voluntarily.
Of course, Mass Effect species apply as well: pirate groups and such, from the major species. ME species usually use the Mass Effect standard of kinetic barriers, biotics, and ME-conventional weapons: ineffective against kinetic barriers, but great against armor. While hired for profit, these groups also have restrictions enforced on them by the Collectors: groups brought in by the prospect of greed, but then implanted with control devices/indoctrinated by the Collectors to ensure increasing levels of compliance and obedience.
The relationship with the Collectors varies by group (alliance vs. employment), and the level of compulsion varies with the level of necessity, but in short the Collectors don't intent to let any witnesses of their conquest of Earth leave to tell the tale. The Terminus allies know that, but don't care: they get their bonuses on the ME side of the galaxy, making it worth the sacrifice. The ME pirate groups don't know, and certainly will care... if you can convince them before they're controlled. This offers the potential that you could 'flip' some of those ME species groups.
---
Mechanics: Weapons and Defense
X-COM is about tactical choices, and in this crossover with two different franchises of technology ,which one you go with is one such consideration.
Weapons are split into energy (lasers/plasma and shields) and ballistics (bullets/rockets and armor). Mass Effect Tech has ballistic weapons and kinetic barriers: X-COM tech has energy weapons and armor. Kinetic barriers, not working against direct-energy weapons, are especially weak to energy weapons. Mass Effect weapons are in turn good against armor. Using the right weapons against the right armor/enemy type is a key part of the game.
Collectors, being the apex enemy and the super-advanced spawn of the Reapers, who are masters of both fields, have dual-use technology: their defenses combine armor and shields, and particle weapons can serve as both ballistic or energy weapons as desired.
---
Cameos
Some ME ‘cameos’ are possible in the game, depending on how much of a storyline is desired. Knowledge of the wider galaxy, or even a sense that there might be some good-aliens out there. These could be potential story-paths to victory that could be pursued, but otherwise help a planet under siege understand that there is a wider galaxy out there… even if that knowledge doesn’t seem to be of much use now.
Liara makes an obvious contender: an unaffiliated archeologist who pursues clues towards the Mars Cache much like the Collectors did. Upon her arrival, the Aliens tried to shoot her down... making her retrieval a definite priority for a story mission, as it provides the first hint that the aliens aren’t as unified as we would otherwise believe. Liara lands hurt and in a coma, and requires sufficient medical technology to awake: certainly an Asari autopsy and an Asari interrogation from captured Terminus pirates, and possible the development of medigel-related tech.
Once awake, Liara represents a benign alien presence. She offers insight into the civilized galaxy, and offers her help as a scientist, but she is unable to answer much about the Collectors besides identifying them.
An STG/Kirahe presence is also foreseeable, with a bit of a Choice thrown in. Say an STG team is tracking the Terminus movements, and discovers Earth. It lends no assistance, but is another of those UFO's flying overhead that is creating panic. Eventually you shoot it down, and a crash-mission follows.
The mission would be abnormal, seeing as it's an all-Salarian crew when most ME-aliens are in mixed-race groups, and the STG operatives are well prepared to fight to the death... but at the same time, aren't going out to attack civilians as most aliens do. (Meaning if you have higher priorities, you might leave them alone to handle other alien attacks and the STG escape. That’s X-COM, baby.) In what should be a tough mission, the idea is that you can either try to capture them (very difficult), or wipe them out like the rest of the aliens (and get great rewards). In particular, as you enter the UFO, you learn that the STG Commander is attempting to blow the ship in place: you can fail (ship destroyed, no gains), kill the STG Commander (and gain the loot of the ship), or you can capture the STG Commander.
Capturing Kirahe alive, and successfully interrogating him (again: Salarian-related science, and possibly having enough information of the Collectors to perk his interest) opens up a conversation-negotiation. Kirahe explains that he was sent to observe what was going on, but his men weren’t your enemies. He also didn't expect you to shoot him down or capture him, impressing him with your capabilities. He explains that his government is not at war with yours, and explains the Terminus pirates relationship with the Collectors. He makes a request/offer: you let him and any of his surviving men leave your planet with the intelligence you've gathered, and he'll carry your story to the STG and request aid for you. The STG is already concerned by the Collectors and their Terminus allies, may send help.
Of course, this involves giving up the captured STG ship and supplies necessary for the trip. You can delay a decision, say no (and keep a significant trove of high-level ME gear, as well as the ship), or you can agree. If you agree, you lose the captives, the equipment, and Kirahe leaves.
Whether he comes back depends on whether you sent him with enough intelligence. If you don't send enough, the STG basically doesn't care and you never see him again. If you send enough autopsies/live specimen reports back, especially on terror units like husks and Collector weapons, the Salarians are concerned enough that they send a small task force to assist you: a few great ships and high-level characters who may come in handy for the assault on the Collector Base at Mars. Of course, this help comes with a serious delay: if you take too long to gather the specimen data, then Kirahe can't come back in time to assist you. In a hypothetical six-month game time limit, the STG round-trip may well take four months. Help would only come in the end-game.
The STG offers a choose-your-reward mechanic that brings in a measure of galactic aid.
Bhalak the Batarian, serving as a/the leader of the Terminus Pirates faction. A member of the Batarian Hegemony who joined the Earth campaign for Collector technology but harbors a tad too much independence for the Collector’s taste. A personality who will eventually be directly controlled by the Collectors in the mid-late game, this guy is a scourge of Humanity beforehand and good riddance afterwards. Still, if you gather evidence of Collector control-implants and indoctrination, you can convince him the Collectors intend to back-stab him: this leads to him taking what loyal pirates he has remaining and getting out of here. A decrease in ME-alien attacks follows, as a major group of the Collector's forces leave.
A Turian: not necessarily Garrus, or even a Vakarian, but a potential defector from the enemy ranks. A Turian criminal who isn’t that evil, or who fears the Collectors more than Humans, or even a pirate who just grew a conscious and was disgusted after the Terror Attacks begin: the Turian is a recruitable character who brings out the third of the Big Three ME races.
As for some Human story characters... I’ll bring a reference. On FFN there’s a story called The Siege of Shanxi.
It's a fanfic, semi-AU, of the First Contact War. The author likes to use predecessors of the Human characters, so that familiar names can be dropped in. I actually like that, and it could be used here. X-COM is famous for perma-death, that anyone could die, but some exceptional-squadies with unique stories, along with a 'I have a kid at home...' kind of line could add to the story. Some might be killable, others might become 'permanently crippled' instead of 'permanently dead' if they fall in battle. That way they can partake via radio in story-developments, but no longer fight: their crippling could even factor into their character arcs, as such.
While story-characters are exceptional to most grunts in that they can't perma-death, a perma-crippled soldier is actually worse than a perma-dead: perma-crippled soldiers still cost upkeep reflecting their rank, meaning they’re a drain on resources despite no longer adding value.
Some familiar names that might appear could include…
Commander Shepard. Mama/Papa/Grandma/Grandpa Shepard. You choose. Commander Shepard with a timeline update. Early-game high-ranking soldier, with a powerful unique ability based on Service History.
'War Hero', a Hero of the Indian Campaign, gives a symbol of hope for everyone. Every time Commander Shepard is on a victorious mission, you get a much better decrease to panic growth (decreasing panic level not only in your mission area, but also in the immediate vicinity areas). As the game is lost if too many nations panic and pull out of the Alliance, the War Hero is a powerful tool for keeping everyone in the fight.
'Ruthless' gets the job done, no matter the cost. A passive bonus for all soldiers in the field that increases as your soldiers get injured and killed, this leader gets tough the tougher things get. Every wounded-status increases the bonus a little for everyone: every death gives a significant bonus. Even killing enemies can create a bonus, as the Butcher of Toronto gets to work. One aspect of this ruthlessness is that your troops can be both inspired and a little frightened of you: Rookies do not panic under the Butcher of Toronto, being more afraid of Shepard than of the alienbs.
'Sole Survivor' is possibly the only way to avoid perma-death wipeouts. If all other teammates have died, Commander Shepard will not: after a mission wipe, Shepard will be 'critically wounded' rather than 'dead' or 'perma-crippled,' meaning that after a period of time (two weeks) Shepard can be back in the fight. Keeping a high-level character on the field is a boon to any player, allowing you to recover from some mistakes However, this requires a total party wipe mission-loss: if any other soldiers survive, Shepard is perma-crippled. Sole-Survivor Shepard is the only non-perma-loss charcter in the game.
Alenko. Kaiden's own pappy/grandpappy (or female equivalent). Exceptional as the first biotic soldier, and a potential master psionic as well. Definitely in for the Tutorial, and a combat-related character. In terms of story, more of a supporting role.
General Williams, definitely. Definitely not in the combat directly, but a major supporting character. A general in the conventional Alliance military, who works well with X-COM, General Williams provides the player with advice, support, and even resources so long as he remains in charge. General Willians' disgrace could be a player-influenced event: when the player fails to stop a region from capitulating, Williams is the one who has to surrender so that X-COM can continue. When WIlliams is disgraced, X-COM loses a major source of support, as well as seeing a friendly character brought low. If the player can win the game without a region falling, General Williams is remembered as a hero.
I'll admit I like the idea also that Williams does character suicide for the Greater Good. Maybe the surrender offers X-COM an opportunity to launch a strike at the Collector Ship, or something. General Williams should be pitied for being a victim of things beyond his control, but not flinching from the loss of face.
Captain Hacket: an X-COM staff officer equivalent, now in command of your interceptors and space ships and all that. Your general strategic military advisor, the younger Hackett shows a keen, if tough, strategic mind.
Lieutenant Anderson: Possibly a squaddie, but more importantly your N7 Officer Academy OIC. N7 himself, he can train up your troops, giving you better tactical options, better soldiers, and making your team a better force. If he was a squaddie, he should gain a training bonus: any training he himself earns becomes cheaper for others.
Jack Harper/Illusive Man. This could go two ways.
In the Evolution comics, Jack Harper was something of a personal field operative for Williams. I could see him as a story-related NPC, also working as an intermediary between you and General Williams. Never under your control, but involved with various story developments.Younger, more brash than TIM, but through luck and circumstance with you to the end... and at the end, gaining the TIM eyes. The player is the Commander, but TIM is the guy who might take over X-COM after you.
As the Illusive Man (or Woman), you yourself could play the role as you command Cerberus. It would probably be a silent-protagonist role, with apologies to Martin Sheen, but where would Cerberus be without its leader?
===
General Story Flow
X-COM is, of course, player-driven, but it does have a general progression. Some story events seem to be intended for the new one coming. Being a crossover with Mass Effect, a heavily story-driven experience, some allowances can be made. It could even have character development.
While The Illusive Player controls the scenes, the named characters of the cast can interact, develop, and even come into conflict as circumstances are met. Sometimes you’ll be asked to resolve a conflict: sometimes you’ll set the conditions for cutsscenes or character relationships to mature. An Alenko who becomes permanently crippled, for example, having a character arc of adjusting to the fact.
Such nuances are beyond the scope of this outline/idea-sketch. What follows is a bare-bones breakdown of the story phases as such.
Early Game: Abductions. Collectors have just arrived, and are doing casual genetics research on Humans. Aliens overwhelm all Human gear-kits. Interceptions are rare. STG craft is probably impossible.
Major mission: Liara recovery. Liara’s arrival marks the first instance of inter-alien conflict, and provides the first opportunity to learn of the outside world.
Early-Mid: Interceptions. As Collectors seek more subjects to verify tests, Human capabilities evolve. Initial advances in ME vs. energy technologies are made: kitting up for ME aliens as opposed to X-COM aliens becomes a legitimate decision. Shoot downs begin in earnest as interceptor improvements are made. Terminus aliens deploy genetic experiments (mutons/whatever).
Major mission: STG shoot-down. Humanity starts being a threat to aircraft flying overhead.
Mid: Terror Attacks. Collectors decide that Humanity would make a good husk-race for future army. Mass-cassualty attacks begin, since only corpses are necessary. Panic rises. First awareness of Collectors begins.
Major Mission: Turian Defection. The Turian Defector, appaled by the Terror Attacks, makes to join your team.
Mid-Late: Mass Abductions. Collectors decide they want Humans for Reaper creation. Reaper-tech Collector Technology deploys, upping the ante as new enemy capabilities and types emerge from Collector labs. Earth nations in full military engagement: Collectors consider taking full control of forces and doing away with independent proxies.
Major Mission: Bhalak persuasion. If you convince him to back out, you get much-needed respite as a number of Terminus Pirates leave the system.
Late: Invasion. With all races under their direct control, Collectors begin an honest invasion attempt of Earth. Panic sky-rockets, and major regions threaten to fall, as Collectors offer to accept surrender (and actually indoctrinate those leaders who do). Final preparations for counter-attack to Mars are underway.
Major Mission: General Williams' Disgrace. If a region falls because the resource-buildup for the Mars Assault takes too long, it’s up to Williams to sign the surrender… but in doing so, he provides an opportunity for the Player to launch an attack on a Collector Cruiser, offering a huge opportunity to capture resources for a counter-attack.
End Game: Mars. Take the fight to the Collectors, and defeat the Collector General commanding the invasion. Discover just what the Collectors are collecting Humans for.
Major Mission: Suicide Mission. Similar to the ME2 canonical mission, but on Mars, the Collector Base demonstrates the Human-Reaper core, which serves as the first actual indication of the existence of the Reapers.
Of course, X-COM games have traditionally had a limiting factor or two, as well as requirements for the end-game victory.
Mars Assault Requirements: Spaceships and supplies. Though the Player becomes pretty good at defending Earth, evening up the tech-gap with the aliens, the resources to build a space force to reach and attack the Collector Base on Mars are necessary to end the Alien Threat. Cerberus-X-COM must research mass effect technology, X-COM psionics, and other difficult technologies in order to successfully fight through or infiltrate the base with a sufficient team.
Time Limit: The Arrival. The Collectors have broken through the Prothean Archives, and discovered the Crucible plans. The Reaper invasion is kicked off ahead of schedule to prevent other civilizations from building it.
Panic Limit: Majority Loses. Alien abductions, massacres, and UFO activity frighten the nations of Earth, as well as making the Player out to be insufficient. If panic in an area rises too high, the leaders of the nation will withdraw from the Council and surrender to the Aliens: if too many do, the entire Earth falls.
Indoctrination Risk: Researching Collector technology is potent, but risky. As you research artifacts and technologies, you run the risk of soldiers, scientists, and others becoming infected. Indoctrinated agents will expose your activities to the Collectors and conduct internal sabotage, making your job harder and your enemies more effective. And if a member of the inner circle becomes indoctrinated without you knowing… without you, the resistance falls apart.
End States:
Defeat (Time Limit): Earth though the Collectors were the real enemy... but in truth they were servents of a much greater threat. When the black ships descended from the skies, we never stood a chance. No species knew when we fell... but all species soon followed.
Defeat (Panic): The leaders of Earth thought submission was preferable to extinction. The Collectors accepted the first, but soon followed with the second. It might be said we took revenge on those who had invaded us: husk armies marched on distant worlds, crushing unwary species. But we were to far gone as a species to appreciate the retribution.
Defeat (Indoctrination): Your most trusted allies turned on you, assassinating you in your own control room. You never knew, never suspected how deep the rot had spread: the rest of the world was no better. Cerberus continued, but this time under the Collector’s control… and when the time was right, Earth’s own defenders turned on her and handed it to their masters.
Victory: With the death of the Collector General, all the aliens in the Sol System lost their cohesion. While husk armies still marched on Earth, without support they were soon wiped out even as the remaining groups were removed. The Council of Nations found itself in control of what remained of Earth, and the mysterious Collector Base on Mars... and in it, a mystery that not even the Collectors had yet managed to crack. The Prothean Archive, once opened, revealed a treasure trove of information and technology to us... but that would be a story of another decade.
Until then, the Council of Nations recovered, and expanded: alien technology was used to settle distant worlds, colonizing the galaxy for Humanity's first outward steps. We would meet new species, and even some new foes... and we met them with their own technology, and a little of our own.
And just in case, Cerberus remains ready for Human survival and advancement, at any cost...
Posted at 10:24 PM on 2013-10-09
I have one blunt suggestion that might save you a lot of work: just do ME2.
ME2 has the same plot, really. So why not save on a lot of the world building by just doing an alternate portrayal of ME2's story? Maybe this time Shepard was not resurrected. Instead Cerberus took a more conventional approach; using their best operatives to covertly lure the Collectors out, reverse-engineer their technology, and then strike them at their "home world" in a one-shot do or die mission.
First missions would just be watching the galaxy for possible Collector sightings; stopping their scouts basically.
"Terror Missions" would be actual Collector attacks which at first you may stumble upon, later be notified of so you can respond, and later you can prevent them.
Of-course the Collectors and their minions will establish foritifed outposts to assist with abduction, these are base assaults. Naturally they will attempt to assault Cerberus as well if they can find one of your bases.
Collector minions are of-course Terminus species and maybe mercenary brigades.
ME2 has the same plot, really. So why not save on a lot of the world building by just doing an alternate portrayal of ME2's story? Maybe this time Shepard was not resurrected. Instead Cerberus took a more conventional approach; using their best operatives to covertly lure the Collectors out, reverse-engineer their technology, and then strike them at their "home world" in a one-shot do or die mission.
First missions would just be watching the galaxy for possible Collector sightings; stopping their scouts basically.
"Terror Missions" would be actual Collector attacks which at first you may stumble upon, later be notified of so you can respond, and later you can prevent them.
Of-course the Collectors and their minions will establish foritifed outposts to assist with abduction, these are base assaults. Naturally they will attempt to assault Cerberus as well if they can find one of your bases.
Collector minions are of-course Terminus species and maybe mercenary brigades.
Posted at 11:06 PM on 2013-10-09
Funny you mention that- I actually wrote a lot more on this with someone, and we definitely noted the thematic similarities.
I was aiming for a trilogy-redux of both Mass Effect and XCOM, and wanted to explore other parts of the XCOM franchise. The Collectors had more in common with the standard 'Alien Abduction of Primitives on Earth' scenario that XCOM built its base from than either the ME1 or ME3 plots allowed, and I figured they made a good step-stool to introducing both Mass Effect and XCOM elements (pirate/slaver proxies), and a jump up to the galactic playing field.
MassCom 2 did expand into colonial targeting, but it tied in the ME1 plot of Saren and the Geth invasion, while choosing the XCOM: Apocalypse aliens (with the Thorian spores/biological FTL coms replacing inter dimensional tech) for the other side of the ME/XCOM duality I found was working. MassCom 2 introduced the Reapers and the idea of the Organic/Synthetic conflict, represented by Humanity being in the middle of a larger Reaper/Leviathan conflict with the Geth/Apocalypse biologicals being the proxies. Saren was the unifying element, himself a blend of organic and machine, and the chase after him required studying and beating both the Geth and Thorian factions to get the ME1 macguffins to reach Illos.
MassCom 3, the Reaper war, bonded with Terror of the Deep for the cyclic appocalyptic war between Reapers and Leviathans, who would approach organic/synthetic unification from separate approaches- machine-dominated organics, or organic-based technology. The Leviathans replace the Reapers as the ones who capture Earth (rising from the Depths of the sunken city), the Reapers are invading from the outside, and it's up to XCOM to master both biology and technology to end the war once and for all.
One of the mechanics I mused on and really found I liked was the idea of using interrogations as a means to discover and explore the lore of the universe. Particularly in MassCom 1, for starting to understand the wider universe, interrogations had multiple topics- you could ask about race, motivations/place in the abduction army, or technology. This would require multiple captives, since most would die quickly until you gained new knowledge and capabilities,
In short, it expanded interrogation into a means of discovering the universe from an initial absence of knowledge rather than assuming you knew everything about it from the start. The later is half the fun in crossovers, but the former fit my aims for a hybrid trilogy.
I was aiming for a trilogy-redux of both Mass Effect and XCOM, and wanted to explore other parts of the XCOM franchise. The Collectors had more in common with the standard 'Alien Abduction of Primitives on Earth' scenario that XCOM built its base from than either the ME1 or ME3 plots allowed, and I figured they made a good step-stool to introducing both Mass Effect and XCOM elements (pirate/slaver proxies), and a jump up to the galactic playing field.
MassCom 2 did expand into colonial targeting, but it tied in the ME1 plot of Saren and the Geth invasion, while choosing the XCOM: Apocalypse aliens (with the Thorian spores/biological FTL coms replacing inter dimensional tech) for the other side of the ME/XCOM duality I found was working. MassCom 2 introduced the Reapers and the idea of the Organic/Synthetic conflict, represented by Humanity being in the middle of a larger Reaper/Leviathan conflict with the Geth/Apocalypse biologicals being the proxies. Saren was the unifying element, himself a blend of organic and machine, and the chase after him required studying and beating both the Geth and Thorian factions to get the ME1 macguffins to reach Illos.
MassCom 3, the Reaper war, bonded with Terror of the Deep for the cyclic appocalyptic war between Reapers and Leviathans, who would approach organic/synthetic unification from separate approaches- machine-dominated organics, or organic-based technology. The Leviathans replace the Reapers as the ones who capture Earth (rising from the Depths of the sunken city), the Reapers are invading from the outside, and it's up to XCOM to master both biology and technology to end the war once and for all.
One of the mechanics I mused on and really found I liked was the idea of using interrogations as a means to discover and explore the lore of the universe. Particularly in MassCom 1, for starting to understand the wider universe, interrogations had multiple topics- you could ask about race, motivations/place in the abduction army, or technology. This would require multiple captives, since most would die quickly until you gained new knowledge and capabilities,
In short, it expanded interrogation into a means of discovering the universe from an initial absence of knowledge rather than assuming you knew everything about it from the start. The later is half the fun in crossovers, but the former fit my aims for a hybrid trilogy.
Posted at 11:19 PM on 2013-10-09
Just to elaborate a tad on the MC2 concept- the tutorial/beginning game would track the events of Eden Prime and the early game, leading to the Geth invasion. They were the obvious threat. Their mission is to basically distract the galaxy from whatever it is Saren is doing, and fight the Reaper's enemies which include the Thorian.
The less obvious threat, and one missed/covered up by the Alliance/Council authorities, is the disappearance of entire human colonies by unknown actors, even as a new pan-organic cult begins to rise in opposition to the Synthetic Menace. This is the thematic carryover of ME2's colony abduction mystery with a bit of the Cult of Sirius of Apocalypse. Ultimately the Thorian is a General to the Leviathans, and serves as a synthesis of the Alien Brain on Mars and the True Enemy of the Apocalypse aliens.
The less obvious threat, and one missed/covered up by the Alliance/Council authorities, is the disappearance of entire human colonies by unknown actors, even as a new pan-organic cult begins to rise in opposition to the Synthetic Menace. This is the thematic carryover of ME2's colony abduction mystery with a bit of the Cult of Sirius of Apocalypse. Ultimately the Thorian is a General to the Leviathans, and serves as a synthesis of the Alien Brain on Mars and the True Enemy of the Apocalypse aliens.
Retour en haut
