The blue alien on the right is an Asari. I've always wondered how it would be possible to make an "alien" character sexy, but not human at all. I'll do a full post once I've figured it out.
Star Trek and Star Wars have been rivals for over 30 years now, but perhaps there is finally somewhere both trekkies and wannabe jedis can strike peace.
Last night I stepped back into Shepards tight space suit and returned to the world of spectres, collapsible guns and blue bi-sexiual aliens. Mass effect 2 has finally arrived and of course I had to get the collector’s edition with the hardcover artbook. The design of the world is even better than the previous game. All the main characters are more developed and have more personality. Little things like tiny imperfections in their faces and skin give a, strange enough, more perfect look. However, this wouldn’t have been possible if the first game didn’t establish a rich and expansive universe.
Security mech and Alien concepts
Bioware is known for awesome fantasy worlds and handled Star wars better than even George Lucas himself does. But Mass effect is Bioware’s own child with an unique personality (I know there was jade empire, but that never really made that much of an impact). Everything from holographic details to future fashion, Bioware has crafted a Tolkien-esque universe. Furthermore, it is much more immersive when walking through it with your own avatar instead of just seeing it as a movie.
One of the reasons I believe mass effect’s design is so good is because it taps into just the right amount of both Star Trek and Star Wars, two works of fiction which have stood the test of time. At its core Star Trek has always been about the idealization of space. From the beginning it has presented space travel with an unbridled “world-of-tomorrow” philosophy. Just look at the enterprise. It is slender, sleek and probably wholly impractical. The crew has colorful little uniforms which double as a mobile phone.
Sleek enterprise vs Bolt together Falcon
Star wars on the other hand has always been a “lived in” universe, this makes it colorful in a different way. The space ships have rust and grime all over them. Engines and cannons seem bolted on in an improvised, utilitarian way. Places like the Moss Eisley cantina are a cesspool of colorful sort from all over the galaxy.
Mass effect seems to be very Star Trek-like at first glance. The Normandy is very sleek, like the enterprise, the space suits are quite shiny and slick. Even the setting seems similar: Humanity is trying to advance itself in the galactic federation and the main character is at the forefront of this as the Captain of a pioneering ship.
However, if you look closer you can see in the details that everything has been designed in a very functional no nonsense way. The armor suits have armor padding and what seems to be kevlar like structure. Weapons are rough, aggressive, look used but still fold away for easy storage. Spectres are basically the Mass effect version of Jedi. The Normandy space ship is sleek from the outside, but from the inside it has a submarine like interior. Some alien species like the Asari look exactly like in Star Trek, that is humans with make-up, but others like the Krogans or squid like hanar look more exotic like Star wars aliens.
ME2 environments, I love the city designs, you gotta see this ingame
The similarities tickle the familiar part of our imagination. Now whether you think that is unoriginal or not, I think it is impressive that they have identified and incorporated design concepts which have stood the test of time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a galaxy to save.
HuffPost Comedy’s State Of The Union Drinking Game 2010.Huffington Post in no way encourages binge drinking. This is the comedy section. If you actually drank as much as we suggested you would die, so do not do that.
Flash vs Sudoku