So yeah…Mass Effect 2.

Now, I could devote post after post about this game, about its story and characters and writing.  But for now, let’s talk about something more structural.

On-screen Paragon/Renegade prompts.

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The obvious analysis of these prompts, or ‘interrupts’ as they’re often called, is that they exist to add a new layer of active cinematic storytelling to an already largely cinematic game experience.  And that’s certainly true.  Mass Effect is, in essence, an ‘80s science fiction/action movie in game form.  Enhancing that quality is not bad thing.

And, truth be told, there’s an enormous satisfaction to be had by interrupting some snooty little NPC with a well-placed punch to the face or shot in the leg, or saving an innocent bystander from that fatal gunshot just in the nick of time.  Time, in fact, is exactly why I think they are so compelling.  The standard decision tree in your Bioware game is a free-floating moment in time, frozen forever, waiting patiently until you’re ready to click the dialogue of your choice.  The on-screen prompt adds a sense of urgency and gives the resulting action that oh-so-wonderful sense of Oomph.

So yes, it’s a most welcome addition.  And yet, it has the potential to be easily misused.

See, the problem is that the flashing mouse button on your screen doesn’t indicate what action Shepard is going to take.  All we know for certain is that she will take some action, and it’s going to be some variant of the paragon or renegade flavor.

This wouldn’t be so much of an issue if not for the fact that every player is creating – and is encouraged to create – his own version of Shepard. 

Contrary to popular opinion, not all paragon or renegade choices are created equally.  Shooting a monitor to get a traumatized man’s attention is not the same as, say, throwing a non-combative mercenary off a skyscraper.  Your Shepard will likely choose both renegade and paragon options throughout the game because sometimes, different circumstances call for different approaches, and sometimes, a particular choice doesn’t make sense for the Shepard you’ve molded.

Take that mercenary in the skyscraper.  The action of pushing him out the window is far different from, say, pushing him against the window.  In one instance, I’m trying to gain information by scaring him.  In the other, I’m outright killing him.  Yet, the prompt doesn’t tell us which of these outcomes is going to happen.

Now, to their credit, Bioware has been very good about telegraphing what the outcome is going to be; when a renegade prompt flashes over a clearly flammable tank underneath our enemy, we can make a pretty good guess as to what our character is going to do.  The writers seemed to have recognized when and how to use these moments properly.  So kudos to them.

My concern is that, in the future, writers may not be so careful.  And there’s good reason to think so; the system that paraphrases Shepard’s dialogue responses for our cinematic convenience, similar to the on-screen prompt paraphrasing an action, has already had a few hiccups.  How many of you have encountered times when the words we choose and the words Shepard says don’t match up?

This choice indicates suspicion.  The response does not.

The silver lining in these cases, at least, is that the incongruity is largely cosmetic.  The difference in dialogue is usually a matter of flavor text, and not in any overarching story choice (usually!).  The on-screen prompt, however, strikes at the very heart of paragon/renegade choices, and must be treated with as much, if not more, care.

Otherwise, the very essence of what makes Shepard special is lost.