Mass Effect: Top 10 Epic Moments in Mass Effect
I just beat my third playthrough of the series and I’m prolonging the inevitable chasm in my life after finishing the game again by reflecting on the most epic moments. There were so many awesome scenes that it’s almost impossible to limit this list to just ten, but here goes:
10. (ME2) The grand reveal of the Normandy SR-2
The lights coming on one by one are pretty dramatic but the most epic part of this scene is that it makes you feel like you just came home, am I right?
9. (ME1) When Saren grabs you by the neck and dangles you over a cliff
Ok, this only happens by the AA guns – it’s a little less dramatic in the other scene. Of course, I almost never experience this scene because I save Kaidan each time!
8. (ME1) When Alliance ships swoop in and save the Destiny Ascension
Provided you chose to save the Council, the Normandy and other Alliance forces rush in to save the day.
7. (ME2) That moment when the Normandy first bursts through the Omega 4 Relay
So, you enter the Omega 4 Relay and are immediately spat out in the middle of a spaceship graveyard … epic.
6. (ME3) When Kalros/Leviathan take down a Reaper
Everyone loves it when two big baddies go at it – Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Rocky vs. Apollo Creed, Kalros vs. Reaper, Leviathan vs. Reaper … you get the drift. I do wonder how Kalros vs. Leviathan would turn out. I’m gonna go with Kalros since Leviathan is essentially a Reaper and Kalros already ate one of those for lunch.
5. (ME1) When Shepard climbs out of the rubble after Sovereign is taken down
I love the moment when your sad faced squad realizes that you didn’t die when Sovereign essentially squished you.
4. (ME3) When Grunt emerges after surviving the Rachni Queen mission
Could anything make my heart swell more than this moment?
3. (ME2) The entire opening sequence when the Normandy gets blown up and Shepard dies
When you die in the first ten minutes of a game, you know next 30 hours are going to be epic.
2. (ME3) That moment when all the galactic forces you’ve gathered converge on Earth through the Sol relay
If you gathered every single ally you possibly could, the show of force is epic as ships start popping through the relay. Follow the grand entrance of the Destiny Ascension with an epic space battle against a fleet of Reapers and you’ve got one of the most epic scenes in the whole series.
1. (ME3) That single breath you take after destroying the Reapers
From the Extended Cut DLC, you see a scene of the Normandy flying away from the planet they crash landed on. Then you see your love interest smile and refrain from adding your nameplate to the list of dead Normandy members on the wall. THEN you see what appears to be Shepard lying in the rubble and taking a breath. This is only the most epic moment in the whole series for me because it implies that Shepard lives (which, let’s face it, is the only desirable and acceptable outcome). From there, I can extrapolate that s/he was eventually reunited with the Normandy crew and lived happily ever after, the end.
There are so many epic moments in the space opera that is Mass Effect, it’s almost unfair to narrow it down to ten! What are some of your favorite epic scenes? Let me know in comments!
I would say that the Suicide Mission from ME2 should be on the list somewhere, particularly the bit at the end where after taking out the Proto-Reaper-thing the squad work together to get on board again. I find the bit where Shepherd just makes it on, after ensuring everyone else got out a live was epic.
That’s true, I almost forgot about that! That was pretty freaking epic, especially the leap that Shepard makes at the very end … thanks for reminding me, I’ll have to add it :)
Shepard’s last breath is present without the Extended Cut, but requires over 5.000 EMS on Destroy Ending.
True … I feel like it’s more satisfying with the Extended Cut though because you see the scene where your LI refrains from putting your name on the wall of the Normandy just before … or does that happen w/o Extended Cut? I don’t even remember!
My Shepard looks exact like the one in the Leviathan video at 4:24. =O
My preferences are mostly the same, but with a few changes/other scenes added…
10. (ME2) The grand reveal of the Normandy SR-2 – Yes that scene definitely got it right
9. (ME3) Avenging Thane and breaking Kai Lings sword, then plunging the omnitool into Kai Lings heart.
8. (ME1) The Fifth alliance fleet taking out Sovereign, whether you save the council or not (didn´t save them)
7. (ME3) When Grunt emerges after surviving the Rachni Queen mission.
6. (ME3) Shepard taking a “Deep Dive” and confronting The Leviathan.
5. (ME2) The entire opening sequence when the Normandy gets blown up and Shepard dies
4. (ME2) Samara´s “Long Walk” using her biotic powers to make a path through the collector nano-swarm in the collector base and protecting her teammates. It can be either Jack or Samara, but I choose Samara and I think the sight of her, staggering along in the end as if she carries all the burdens of the World on her shoulder (and in a way she does, always thought Samara one of the most sympathetic, strongest AND tragic characters in ME)…well just Epic ! Would have liked an additional scene with Jack watching Samara in awe and realizing that though she (Jack) is the more powerfull, she lacks the (self-) control that Samara exhibits in that “Long Walk”. Then later, after the suicide mission, having a scene with Jack asking Samara to tutor her, and Samara realizing that Jack is a “miss-treated child” agrees and starts teaching Jack to mend herself and letting her past go (scene with Shepard walking into the room on Normandy2 where Samara usually is located, and seeing Samara and Jack meditating together and Jack learning to “embrace eternity” and achieving “Peace of mind” under Samara´s tutelage, and Shepard queitly leaving the room again with a little smile on her face).
3. (ME3) The entire “final attack on Earth” scene : Hackets speech (Stand strong, stand fast, stand together). My femsheps diplomatic prowess assembling every species in the galaxy, organics and synthetics, in a final, desperate, epic, all-out attack. and watching literally thousands of spacevessels jumping out of FTL in the solar system and approaching Earth, and then an epic space-battle, outdoing even the opening scene of Star Wars III.
2. (ME1) When Shepard climbs out of the rubble after Sovereign is taken down.
1. (ME3) The entire “endgame” with Shepard sacrificing him/herself oneway or another (Counts as both the most epic and the most moving scene), but I agree that the “optimal” Destruct ending with Shep surviving is the most epic (but not the most touching of the 4 endings).
Many other epics moments, but those are my preferences…!
Dear author,
I really love you a lot!!! :D You know why? Because
1) I am a Mass Effect Addict. No matter how many years it has been, I am still obsessed with this trilogy until now!
2) I love Kaidan Alenko a lot! And like you, I also just couldn’t bring myself to leave him behind on Virmire. I also tried doing it but when that cutscene rolled in I was like “NOOOOO!!!” while rapidly hitting on the escape button to load my save game ASAP. XD
3) When reading your articles I felt as though I am reading my own thoughts! XD
4) I loooove BioWare! It’s my most favorite game developer! Hence I also love the Dragon Age series and I agree with everything you wrote about the game! XD
You know I’ve been playing games since I was like 4, but Mass Effect (and Dragon Age) are the only games that affected me so much. Mass Effect is the first game that ever made me literally cry and I always feel as though they are real. Sometimes it scares me when I am having this feeling of “home-sickness” as if I just wanna go “home” to my FemShep.
WHY?! WHY CAN’T I LIVE WITH MY RENEGADE INFILTRATOR SHEPARD???!! T^T Why can’t I hang out with Jack and Grunt more?! Why can’t I be with Shepard and Kaidan?! Why???!!!
Anyway, I’m here for my Mass Effect fix so thank you~! XD
I know I’m late to the game, my sister bugged me for years to play it. Once started, I’m an addict. To me more an experience than a game.
One thing I’ve noticed though, in most top ten lists when the fleet arrival is mentioned (My favorite scene), what seems to be overlooked is Adm. Hackett. I’m a Navy brat, and Admirals do not come to you, you go to them.
The fact that Hackett boards the Normandy, gives his speech from the Normandy, and leaves the final timing to Shepard, is in essence, Hackett telling the galaxy that Shepard is the one that made it happen. It’s Hackett’s way of showing the amount of respect he has for Shepard.
Thanks for hearing two cents worth, and keep up the good work.