The Emotion, Humour Of Mass Effect 2′s Romantic Interludes

While chewing over people’s various endings for Mass Effect 2 the other day, one thing that struck me was how many different romantic options you guys had been pursued. And it got me all curious.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

See, I played the game once, and that was it. The way the story unfolded was “My Story”, and is now the way I feel events in the Mass Effect universe have taken place. Shepard is a man, and he did the deed with Miranda, and that’s how it went. To play it again would feel like going back in time and screwing everything up, Marty McFly style. So I’m not going to do it.

That means I won’t get to punch a woman, I won’t get to bring Mordin back from the dead and I’ll never see Yeoman Chambers get her freak on. It also means I’ll never get to see any of these numerous romantic interchanges between the main characters, some of which are hilarious (Tali), others surprisingly touching (Thane).

But you? You can watch these to your heart’s content.

MALE SHEPARD

With Jack

With Tali (Mordin’s Handy Advice)

With Tali

With Miranda

With Kelly

FEMALE SHEPARD

With Jacob

With Thane (Mordin’s Handy Advice)

With Thane

It makes you wonder how BioWare approached these scenes. The male ones are either heavy on awkward humour or, in case of Miranda’s, get straight to the boot-knocking.

The female Shepard romantic approaches, however, are a little heavier. Thane’s in particular, with some great writing there at the end.

You could say BioWare was making the female approach a little more emotional for their idea of what female gamers wanted, but did they have any idea how many men would play the game as a woman?