Mass Effect 3 Offers An Important Depiction Of Trauma

thegamer.com:

Time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds, but it does allow for new perspectives to incubate. Playing through Mass Effect Legendary Edition has allowed for fresh insight to surface, mostly centred on the much maligned third installment.

Tomes have been written about the multi-choice endings, Kai-Leng, and StarChild’s punchable face. I’m not here to add to that. I want to talk about something that Mass Effect 3 did well. Namely, it’s inclusion and representation of Commander Shepard’s trauma.

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Loss is a pervasive and central theme to Mass Effect 3. The loss of a home world. The loss of cultures. The loss of squadmates, friends. It surrounds Shepard, encroaching upon their environment, relationships, and subconscious. It’s the accumulation of these losses that create wounds in Shepard’s psyche.

This constant displacement and devastation clearly takes a toll on the protagonist. Whether you decide to play them as a Paragon of virtue or a chaotic Renegade, Shepard’s vulnerability is clear to see in ME3. At the time, this was a bold move from BioWare, one that helped set the trend for years to come. A recognition of the player-character's mental state, the trials and tribulations of a game’s events leave a tangible effect. The same can be said of Master Chief’s journey in Halo 4, another titanic release in 2012.

Mass Effect 3 opens with the Reapers’ relentless invasion of Earth as Shepard’s worst fears are realised. Countless civilians and military personnel are destroyed. As Shepard escapes on a transport, the soundtrack swells and Reaper horns blare. A frightened child attempts to flee, before being mercilessly cut down by a Reaper laser. Shepard witnesses it