GamesRPG14 years later, I’m playing Mass Effect 2 for the first time and loving being a total RenegadeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPG14 years later, I’m playing Mass Effect 2 for the first time and loving being a total RenegadeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: BioWare, EA)
Being bad has never felt so good. Watching myMass Effect 2FemShep single-handedly zap a Batarian mercenary before smoothly edging past him is all the reassurance I need that the Renegade path holds the superior dialog choices, and I plan on sticking to them for my first ever playthrough.
Hero, complex
(Image credit: BioWare, EA)
In Bhaal’s Name(Image credit: Larian Studios)Baldur’s Gate 3’s Dark Urge is the wickedest I’ve ever felt in a video game
In Bhaal’s Name
(Image credit: Larian Studios)Baldur’s Gate 3’s Dark Urge is the wickedest I’ve ever felt in a video game
(Image credit: Larian Studios)
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Dark Urge is the wickedest I’ve ever felt in a video game
FromBaldur’s Gate 3toHogwarts Legacy, my choice-based RPG mission has always been to do things most players would deem too cruel. No one likes upsetting their favorite NPCs, but I can’t help but let curiosity get the better of me whenever a particularly interesting dialog option comes my way. These are roleplaying games for a reason, right? Whynotgo full method?
I’m aware that most ME players probably want to achieve the best endings for their Shepards. Me, on the other hand? I just want my synthetic zombie FemShep pseudo-Cerberus double agent heroine to have a rollicking good time. After all, you never know when your ship is going to explode on you again. I’m leaning into one roleplaying element to further explain her more brazen attitude in ME2 compared to a more even keel between Paragon and Renegade last time around: she’s not fully human anymore.
After being killed in a deep-space collision, it makes sense to me that resurrected Shepard would be more than a little bit discombobulated to begin with. Then, I think she’d be angry. So angry, in fact, that she’d turn her back on The Alliance that once governed her shrewd military-minded protocols in favor of Cerberus. To an extent, anyway; I don’t see myself having Shep indebted to the Illusive Man forever, but while our goals align, there’s no harm in keeping the people with revivification abilities on-side.
So far in my ME2 journey, I’ve only reunited with one of my old compatriots. Garrus Vakarian, aka Archangel, is more than relieved to see FemShep again after hearing of her death. The best part is, though, Garrus is somewhat of a lawful evil type in himself, and makes an excellent ally for Renegade Shep. I considered Miranda as my third-in-command, but with Cerberus still firmly on my maybe list, I go for DLC character Kasumi instead. She’s no goody-two-shoes herself, out on some kind of revenge mission following the death of her beloved. That’s exactly the kind of unbridled angst I want fuelling my team. With that, I don a set of armor that makes me resemble a black and red Power Ranger and set out to see what the galaxy has in store for Shep.
Badass to the bone
(Image credit: BioWare, EA)
Renegade Shepard feels more like an action hero than a supervillain.
Renegade Shepard feels more like an action hero than a supervillain.
In truth, it’s been a rough ride for anyone who’s dumb enough to piss off the ex-Spectre.
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I’ve seen what happens when NPCs get on the wrong side of Renegade Shepard, and I don’t think Cerberus would enjoy it, should push come to shove. Blink-or-you’ll-miss-it QTEs let me lean into the joyful chaos of the Renegade pathway; as soon as one flashes onto the screen during a cutscene or conversation, I can’t squeeze my Xbox controller trigger fast enough. Whether or not you dependably have the stomach to be brutal in RPGs, you have to admit that untethered Shep is formidable.
My girlfriend probably thinks I am the devil for making certain choices, and has full on prevented me from making others – “if you had killed Wrex in ME1 I think I’d have always been a little bit sad about it” – but I know I wouldn’t be having as much fun with these games if I wasn’t leaning into all of my options at opportune moments. It’s the same reason a lot of people play Arthur Morgan just a touch meaner after their firstRed Dead Redemption 2playthrough: you want to give him that redemption arc for the sake of the story, your own moral quandaries be damned. I’m excited to see how Shepard develops over the course of the trilogy, and who knows? Maybe I’ll want to be a Paragon purist after all come Mass Effect 3.
Not all morality systems are created equal;I really wanted to be evil in Hogwarts Legacy, but the game just would not let me.
TOPICSBioware
TOPICS
PRODUCTSMass Effect 2Mass Effect Legendary Edition
PRODUCTS
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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3
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”