Orange and Blue - Opposites Attract

Style. That organic, enigmatic thing. Style is easy to see, easy to feel, but difficult to describe. Anyone can tell you that the last two Harry Potter movies are much darker than the rest, but when you press for specifics, it becomes difficult to describe. Certainly more characters die. More bad things happen. The film certainly has less colorfulness, that is to say there is less difference between each color and grey (not a bad thing when used well, as in this case). The music contains more minor keys and tones. However it comes about, it is a darker set of films than the rest.

What do the Harry Potter movies have to do with Mass Effect? Find out after the break.

Warning! Spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!

Movies and video games have always had a close connection. Both are visual media, often derided for their lack of artistic value. Both are also recent phenomena, Movies being roughly 100 years old, while games are in their late 20’s or early 30’s. There’s even a fair amount of interaction between the industries. Hideo Kojima, of Metal Gear fame originally wanted to be a director (easy to see when playing any of his more recent titles), and a fair number of AAA titles employ the same composers found in blockbuster movie credits. Mass Effect 3 even had some work done by Clint Mansell, of Requiem for a Dream fame. This is all without going into voice acting, which employs an enormous amount of Hollywood talent. In all honesty, there are only two things that separate most video games from movies: their scope (20-60 hours to a movie 2-3), and, of course, their interactivity.

Mass Effect 1 took the small gap between movies and video games, and shrunk it down even further. Voice acting for all characters, no matter how minor. A story that brings to mind the best of 80’s pulp sci-fi, with music to match. The game even had an option to add a film grain filter for crying out loud! Mass Effect 1 is evocative of one of those great sci-fi films in the 80’s. Back when Kirk slept with green aliens, only this time they’re blue.

Speaking of blue, there’s an interesting thing going on with the color palette across the Mass Effect series, wherein each game has a specific color theme. Mass Effect 1’s, just so happens to be blue. A perfect decision, as it helps with the more laid-back approach the story in Mass Effect 1 takes compared to the rest of the series. While you do start racing against the clock in end-game, most of Mass Effect 1 has you trying to track down the rogue Spectre, Saren. Your actions are focused on exploration and investigation; trying to discover what Saren’s intentions are. All the while, you’re exploring the universe and its alien inhabitants. There’s a reason the lore in Mass Effect 1 is my favorite (well, except for the Geth in ME2, that was just fascinating).

Even the menu is blue!

So what about the other games’ colors? Mass Effect 2 comes barreling in with Orange. Why orange? Orange is a combination of red and yellow, colors of aggression happiness.Certainly ME2 is an overall happier game (nobody has to die), and the new action system lets you be a great deal more violent.  Also, it’s the primary color of an action-movie explosion, because that’s what Mass Effect 2 is. Heck, the first scene in the game is your ship from Mass Effect 1 exploding (and a little more...). ME2 is so reminiscent of a 90’s action movie it hurts. From the cheesy one-liners (“How about ‘goodbye’?”) to the potential party members (we go from scientists and soldiers to assassins and a woman that wouldn’t be out of place in a bond movie), ME2 is summer blockbuster through and through. Even the music has changed to match the feel. Check out the main menu music from ME1:

And compare it to the main menu music from ME2:

So what about Mass Effect 3? What color is it? This is where Bioware starts showing off their chops, because it’s not a single color. ME3’s primary color palette is a wonderful mix of orange and blue. ME1 and ME2. Combat, music, art, tone; Mass Effect 3 is a delicious mix, a ‘synthesis’ (I’m so sorry) of the previous games’ best parts. If ME1 is an 80’s sci-fi movie, and ME2 is a 90’s action blockbuster, ME3 is the end of a AAA series. What does that mean? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows parts 1&2. Darker, grimmer, but with those shiny spots of hope. Bad things happen to good people, and you can’t save everyone, but there’s hope on the horizon. Things that we’ve waited the entire series to see happen, impossible things, finally have the potential to happen. Ron can hook up with Hermione, Shepard has a chance to cure the Genophage. We have an entire game full of great moments, depressing moments, hilarious moments. And then, in the last ten minutes, it all goes to shit.

Next time: The end of Mass Effect 3! Why is it considered so bad? What happens? How could it be fixed?

As always if you have anything to say, positive or negative, please do so. You can leave a comment here, contact me through Twitter (@Corynrags), or even my e-mail. I like discussing much more than I like preaching, and I would love to hear some other people's thoughts.