Mass Effect - Major Events Timeline

PC Gamer had a look at the timeline for the Mass Effect series.

There's a lot to it. And there will be spoilers.

The history of the Mass Effect universe begins some time before 1,000,000,000 BCE—dates are given in the format of CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era)—when a species called the leviathans controls the galaxy. Observing a repeating cycle in which civilizations collapse after creating synthetic lifeforms that turn on their creators, the leviathans seek to break this cycle by, ironically, creating a synthetic intelligence. They call it the Catalyst.

The Catalyst is intended to serve as a bridge between organic and artificial life, working to preserve organic species at any cost. The Catalyst, believing conflict to be inevitable, sees the best way of achieving this to be taking organic civilizations at their peak, shortly before they are responsible for their own downfalls, and absorbing their genetic material into new lifeforms that it can maintain forever. It preserves them, but only in the sense that it turns them into jam.

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Thanks Farflame!

More information.

Make no mistake, the Mass Effect series is and will always be my favorite... But what an odd article. Why this, and why now?

Because people miss Mass Effect and will read it.

2018 AD - Gamers begin to realize how overrated Mass Effect was.

Seriously though, to me, ME was a decent series but nothing truly special. I never understood the hype. I enjoyed my one playthrough of the series, but it's not something I yearn to revisit.

Okay wasn't special, name me another alien dating sim worth playing.
Oh, imagine that, there is none.

Maybe you didn't like it, but part of the hype was about blue boobs. I mean, Ashley or Miranda? The correct answer was and will always be: Liara.

Now why the article on PCG now, probably because someone else except me called them MMOgamer so they needed to post something about some singleplayer.

While I don't read articles like that, the ME trilogy was and is special to me.
But I don't want to overanalyze this. With some distance now I think what made it emotionally special to me was the team aspect. The guys just were Shepard's sworn crew. A great illusion outshining the games' flaws.

(And no blue boobs for me.)

ME has one of the best settings in gaming, period. Except for anything involving Reapers.
Feels like a wasted opportunity for classic BW narrative. Would work way better like a sci fi Voyager/Enterprise epizodic series.

BoboTheMighty said:

ME has one of the best settings in gaming, period. Except for anything involving Reapers.
Feels like a wasted opportunity for classic BW narrative. Would work way better like a sci fi Voyager/Enterprise epizodic series.

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...or the movie they've been promising for some time now.

ChaosTheory said:

…or the movie they've been promising for some time now.

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They already made an anime movie about James before he met shepherd in prison. It's basically what he talked about in-game how he failed to save a colony world.


I agree it's overrated but no other developer has made a ScFi space opera RRG like this except for BioWare. Of course you have Titan and Destiny, but they are online Shooters.

Mass Effect was the last BioWare game I purchased and the point where I decided the "streamlining" had gone too far.

I quite enjoy the first two, and have played them a few times each. As for any others, they don't exist for me.

Carnifex said:

I quite enjoy the first two, and have played them a few times each. As for any others, they don't exist for me.

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That's too bad because Andromeda is superior to those games in most ways.

I really loved the mass effect original trilogy. I was so upset about the reviews that Andromeda was given at the time, that I never bothered to buy and play the game (and the price tag didn't help too).

However, on this Black Friday, the ME:A was 70% off and you could play a demo of the game. So I decided to give it a try. I was surprised that I enjoyed the 2 hours of the game that I have played so far. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to buy the game so I wouldn't lose this sale. And now I'm confused because so far I don't get the hate towards this game. Of course, I played only 2 hours of the game and I played a patched version of the game. But I ask myself if that was a good bargain and if I'll regret buying this game later...

I always thought the first Mass Effect was the best at telling a really engaging story. Characters were well fleshed out, the soundtrack was great, and I rather enjoyed how sinister the main villain was.

I think it really captivated that sense of wonder. Opening up the star map and exploring for the first time was a treat, not to mention looking at each individual planet and reading about them. When exploring said planets, you often felt very isolated and alone. The music really elevated the mood, too.

Regarding the Reapers, I enjoyed the mysterious aura surrounding them in the first game. Nobody knew what they were. It was frightening and exciting at the same time, yet they were still a core part of the plot. We got to know more about the Geth long before the Reapers ever came to light.

I think the first game had a couple really good missions too, such as the one that took place on Earth's moon. The concept of rogue VI being created in an attempt to design a "controllable" AI was pretty neat.

Needless to say, I adore the first game, and I'd love for it to return as a remaster someday.

I don't remember a whole lot from 2, and much less from 3. I always thought the first was very similar in nature to Star Trek's TNG, something I deeply appreciated. The second entry did a lot of damage to the series for me when it shifted away from that and favored a more "darker" tone. I didn't get around to playing the third until a couple years later after it released.

I know a lot of people who swear by ME2, and I can respect that, but I don't think the series ever recaptured the essence of the first.

gabrielarantest said:

I really loved the mass effect original trilogy. I was so upset about the reviews that Andromeda was given at the time, that I never bothered to buy and play the game (and the price tag didn't help too).

However, on this Black Friday, the ME:A was 70% off and you could play a demo of the game. So I decided to give it a try. I was surprised that I enjoyed the 2 hours of the game that I have played so far. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to buy the game so I wouldn't lose this sale. And now I'm confused because so far I don't get the hate towards this game. Of course, I played only 2 hours of the game and I played a patched version of the game. But I ask myself if that was a good bargain and if I'll regret buying this game later…

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Depending on who wanted the game/developer to fail when it was released, the gripes focused on the animations/engine, bugs, and repetitive gameplay. All but the gameplay has been fixed. When you get to your 2nd and 3rd planet, you will understand that aspect.

It's still a decent game and I enjoyed it, but it was the weakest of the 4 in the franchise.

Ragnaris said:

Needless to say, I adore the first game, and I'd love for it to return as a remaster someday.

I know a lot of people who swear by ME2, and I can respect that, but I don't think the series ever recaptured the essence of the first.

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Totally agree with you

ChaosTheory said:

Depending on who wanted the game/developer to fail when it was released, the gripes focused on the animations/engine, bugs, and repetitive gameplay. All but the gameplay has been fixed. When you get to your 2nd and 3rd planet, you will understand that aspect.

It's still a decent game and I enjoyed it, but it was the weakest of the 4 in the franchise.

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Thanks!

ChaosTheory said:

It's still a decent game and I enjoyed it, but it was the weakest of the 4 in the franchise.

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I think most fans would agree that ME 3 was the weakest in the franchise. Personally, I thought ME 2 was pretty weak as well, and I'd rate Andromeda higher than both of them.

Andromeda's biggest flaw was, as you mentioned, the repetitive content. Bioware tried too hard to pad it for additional play time, and the result was a bloated game with a lot mediocre missions.

JDR13 said:

I think most fans would agree that ME 3 was the weakest in the franchise. Personally, I thought ME 2 was pretty weak as well, and I'd rate Andromeda higher than both of them.

Andromeda's biggest flaw was, as you mentioned, the repetitive content. Bioware tried too hard to pad it for additional play time, and the result was a bloated game with a lot mediocre missions.

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I didn't mind the 3rd ME. Sure it was a shooter, but it brought back all my favorite characters and had an awesome soundtrack. Andromeda was pretty forgettable, overall. It's all opinion, of course.

First was the most unique, but in some aspects it really did not age well.
ME1 felt more influenced by 80's sci fi, later games were more "modern".
Best main story, best ambiance, sense of mystery, lore, music.
Character writing? Not so good, more exposition dumps. Really poor progression system, itemization/weapons ( though shotguns/sniper rifles sounded awesom), economy and exploring barren planets/whole second half was just tedious.
I'd kill for remake with Andromeda gameplay in it.

BoboTheMighty said:

I'd kill for remake with Andromeda gameplay in it.

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I never played Andromeda, so I can't comment on it, but I've heard good things about the gameplay. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing ME1 overhauled with Andromeda's gameplay mechanics, so long as everything else remained the same (aside from perhaps a graphical update and quality of life features in the menu to meet modern standards). Would be fun to play as a Vanguard character again (shotgun/biotics), I always had a ton of with that.