Video Game Spin-Offs: Mass Effect "Foundation" #13

(Spoilers!) The last issue in the Mass Effect comic series, "Foundation," picks up with Rasa.  She's having a flashback from her childhood as a slave forced to steal from miners at the camp from the first issue in the series.  But she's no longer the girl forced to pretend to be a boy, instead she's making her own plans.  Those plans include posing as a scientist in order to steal a clone of Commander Shepard that was created as a backup plan if the Lazarus project failed.  Her plan goes awry as a passing Cerberus lackey recognizes her and she's forced to shoot her way out.  The command center in the lab is warned immediately, but they can do little as Rasa has overridden the security system and forced it to loop a Blasto the Hanar Spectre film.

Miranda isn't pleased and rounds up a team of soldiers and mechs to take care of Rasa.  But Rasa has overridden all the security systems and the sprinklers come on, dousing Miranda and her mechs.  Rasa continues to remember scenes from her terrible childhood and sees a time when she was caught stealing and was forced to defend herself.  Then the scene cuts forward to the lab.  Rasa has programmed a mech to follow her and is preparing to move out.

Miranda and mechs move to take out Rasa.

Miranda confronts Rasa.

Miranda has finally reached the lab and confronts Rasa.  She states that she should have listened to Kai Leng and killed Rasa when she had the chance.  Miranda unleashes a biotic attack and takes out Rasa's mechs.  Just when it looks like Miranda is going to be victorious the mechs that are accompanying her open fire.  Rasa has re-programmed them all to protect her and the clone.  She orders a mech to haul a pod containing the clone to her shuttle which she has hidden on the underside of the station.

As she waits for the mech to haul the pod to her ship she continues to have flashbacks and remembers the trouble she got into for killing the miner who caught her stealing from his locker.  She's snapped back into reality as a gunshot hits her ship.  It's Miranda and she's not about to let Rasa escape with the clone.  Rasa and Miranda exchange some gunfire and verbal barbs.  Miranda questions why Rasa is doing this when Cerberus has given her so many chances.  Rasa wisely responds that Cerberus's help comes with strings attached and questions why Miranda feels such loyalty to the organization.  Miranda states that the Illusive Man saved her life.  By this time Rasa has made it into her shuttle and has managed to escape.  Miranda is forced to admit her failure and tell the Illusive Man that Rasa has escaped.

Rather than being upset at Miranda, he calmly informs her that they aren't going to worry about Rasa but are instead going to focus on the Lazarus project.  The Shepard clone isn't the real Shepard anyway.  The scene cuts back to Rasa on her ship with the clone.  She is talking to the stasis pod and seems to have formed a real attachment to the clone.  She states that she is going to make this Shepard into a better version and that with the clone she can finally control her own destiny.

If you played the "Citadel" DLC from Mass Effect 3, you know how the story ends.  This final issue in the comic series did a great job of tying the whole story together.  Readers learned the origins of the Brooks/Rasa character and got a better idea about the events leading up to the epic clone fight.

My overall verdict on this series is that as a fan it was fun to get a little more insight into the characters and details from the game.  Other fans will probably enjoy the stories.  I didn't feel like the artwork was as strong in this series as in the previous series.  Some issues were great and added a lot to the story while others seemed a lot less informative but might be good for people who have a favorite character. I am interested to see what the future holds for the Rasa character and if she makes some sort of appearance in the upcoming Mass Effect game.

Mass Effect 3 "Citadel" DLC--A great apology.

At the moment I'm on a Mass Effect kick.  I've been replaying the entire series and loving it all over again.  Yesterday I wrote about the controversial ending and my feelings about how BioWare addressed the outrage.  Today I am continuing that discussion with gushing approval over the "Citadel" DLC.  It makes me feel happy.

After some major fan backlash over the crappy ending to Mass Effect 3 BioWare worked to make amends to all the pissed off fans.  The "Citadel" DLC was the perfect way for fans to get some closure.  I'm at the point in my current Shepard's story where I have grudgingly brought the Normandy into dry dock for repairs and am enjoying some shore leave with my crew.  "Citadel" is a nostalgic adventure with all the memorable characters from the Mass Effect series.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan.  I don't know that I would recommend it to someone who only played ME3 as it would seemly oddly out of context with the very serious story taking place.

The premise behind "Citadel" is that the Normandy is in need of a tune-up and the crew is due for some shore leave.  Admiral Anderson graciously decides to give his fancy apartment on the Citadel to Shepard.  If you were impressed by the captain's cabin on the Normandy you will be blown away by this cool new base.  It's a huge, sleek apartment with lots of room to kick back and relax.  Another nice feature of the apartment is the ability to change the decor to reflect your own style aesthetic.  As you initially explore the apartment you can listen to audio logs left by Anderson that help expand his story in the saga.

This DLC isn't just about relaxing with your crew and also includes a short mission sequence that involves a sushi restaurant, a casino break-in, some crazy mercenaries, a massive secret archive, and a battle on the Normandy (where you are actually fighting on the ship).  There are new foes with new abilities to face off against.  There's also a super-secret bad guy at the end of it all which might surprise you.

Besides the semi-serious story in "Citadel" there is much humor and the whole thing is basically another chance to hang out with your crew.  A new area of the Citadel, the Silversun Strip, is introduced in this DLC.  The area features a store to buy home furnishings for your apartment, an arcade with a few mini-games to play, a casino with gambling games, and a combat simulator (kind of like Pinnacle station from the original Mass Effect).  After you've completed the main story sequence your crewmates will start sending you requests to hang out.  Some are content with simply swinging by the apartment and sharing a drink or having a short conversation.  Others want to meet up in locations around the area like the arcade or the casino.  I enjoyed trying to hook Garrus up at the casino bar, watching Traynor defeat a cocky Asari at a strategy game in the arcade, and freeing Grunt from police custody after a day of Krogan chaos that involved flaming C-Sec cars.  Shepard gets a little time with every major crew member from the previous games and you get a nice sense of closure with all of them.

The culminating event of this DLC is a party in Shepard's new apartment.  You can choose who to invite, but we all know you've got to invite everyone.  The evening starts on a tame note with some drinks and light conversation.  I found it enjoyable to wander around listening to the conversations of my crewmates and sharing a few more moments with them.  After you've chatted them up and complaints start pouring in about your boring party, you can choose to "step it up" a notch.  You turn some music on and the party starts to get wilder.  There are some great moments during the party--there's a dance session with a large group, a reconciliation between Miranda and Jack, a biotic brag session that ends up with James being lifted off the ground via biotics, a mock battle featuring Wrex and Javik, and an awkward conversation between Traynor and EDI about a weird attraction.

It all ends the next morning as you wake up and explore the aftermath of the party.  Everyone is clearly feeling the effects.  The DLC winds up with a cute moment where everyone crowds onto the couch for a photo.  This memento captures all the unique personalities and interesting characters that you meet on your journey in Mass Effect.  I can barely contain my "awww" feelings at this point.  And it sort of makes me want to cry.  Damn you BioWare!

If you're a big fan of the series and characters in Mass Effect you will definitely want to pick up this humorous and touching goodbye.