Around five years ago, in a galaxy not so far away, the Mass Effect trilogy began. Besides stuffing it to Saren and chums, players had a baffling number of minor planets to hop between aboard the good ship Normandy, offering a variety of facilities and side quests. In Mass Effect 2, the list of destinations became even longer, each world teasing you with the possibility of ominous "anomalies" and hidden treasures.
With Mass Effect 3 only six weeks away, it's time to ask yourself whether you've explored enough. The threequel promises to tie together all unresolved plot threads, offering different outcomes based on how diligently you quarried the first two games. Skip a planet, and you could be skipping whole sections of Mass Effect 3 plot - and potentially sabotaging Shepard's chances against the Reapers. Pack your N7 armour, this could get rough. And beware spoilers.
1. Helyme (ME2: Crescent Nebula, Zelene System)
An Earth-like planet that's taken a turn for the worse. In one of many tussles with the Eclipse mercenary group, you're spotted as soon as you enter orbit, meaning you have to investigate a merc-controlled mining facility without the element of surprise. Eclipse, it transpires, is after the Ter Alan's cargo - but why? On visiting the ship's last reported location in the Dranek system, you find nothing but space dust. The remaining data is sent to Cerberus, perhaps awaiting decryption in Mass Effect 3.
2. Chasca (ME1: Maroon Sea, Motano System)
You'll be pointed to this abandoned colony world after finding the "Investigate Samples" mission - needless today it doesn't stay abandoned for long, for in the immortal words of every sidekick ever: "I have a bad feeling about this." The world is tidally locked, meaning there's always one half facing the sun, one half in shade, with only a sliver of temperate land where the light and dark halves meet. You'll hear about a recruitment drive to establish a colony on that sliver via galactic news at the Citadel. Investigate the civilian complex and science lab to find critical info on Cerberus, plus the grisly truth about their activities on the colony, dubbed "Colony of the Dead".
3. Zanethu (ME2: Hourglass Nebula , Ploitari System)
A "post-garden" world racked by tectonic instability. Shepard must navigate an unstable merchant space vehicle, which has crashed on the edge of a cliff, to download vital data from its mainframe. A (theoretically) straightforward platforming section, it offers a welcome break from the run-and-gun confrontations more commonly found on outlying worlds - the environment is the real threat, becoming more and more unstable as you progress. But what exactly is the data you recover? And what might happen to it in ME3?
4. Tuntau (ME1: Argos Rho, Pheonix System)
Time for a companion quest now, as you journey to an uninhabitable world in search of Urdnot Wrex's long-lost family armour. Pirates are the flavour of the day here, as you search out their compound and reclaim the armour to keep Wrex happy - which incidentally will help you out on Virmire, if you haven't visited already. There's a fair amount of hacking to be done so best bring Tali or Kaiden, along (of course) with Wrex. The planet itself has a dense atmosphere, making sight-seeing difficult, but by all means let the Mako stretch her legs.
5. Lorek (ME2: Omega Nebula, Fathar System)
A veritable wonder of the universe in that it is a planet which orbits a red dwarf, Lorek brings you a mission with potentially serious consequences. A Cerberus request for you to look for a Lost Operative appears shortly after your first mission with the new Normandy, describing it as a 'delicate matter' (sounds juicy). Upon arrival it's a case of shoot first, ask searching questions later. Expect plenty of resistance from Eclipse, but once you have the data the real interest of this mission becomes apparent. You must choose whether to return the data to Cerberus, hand it over to the Alliance or keep it for yourself. Depending on which you choose, life may become a little easier, or a little harder in ME3.
15 comments so far...
Bezza89 on 21 Jan '12 said:
A decent jam article! Well done mate. Was an interesting read, but you're kind of also a bastard for making me want to explore every planet before ME3 comes out.
golliwoza on 21 Jan '12 said:
I have only seen a fraction of these before. Suddenly tempts me to find them but I dont currently have ME2 in my hands.
Decent_Jam on 21 Jan '12 said:
You're very welcome *beams* but the real thanks is to Ed for not scrapping it or just taking the best bits and making a feature himself instead!
Clanger67 on 21 Jan '12 said:
Not to sound up my own arse but i had already done these.I am a bit of a search every corner player.Even for me1 which took ages longer because you were riding around in the buggy.
Decent_Jam on 21 Jan '12 said:
I'm all out of gold stars, but I can offer you some omni-gel?
Plamsa wing on 21 Jan '12 said:
Hang on Decent Jam? Article? Someone is out of the cupboard again OXM.
While these aren't side mission of any sort it's might be interesting to note these planets.
ME1: Armstrong Nebula - Vamshi System - Maji - Home to the skull of an unknown creature.
ME1: Hades Gamma - Dis System - Jartar - Notable for the "Leviathan of DIs."
ME1: Kepler Verge - Newton System - Klencory - Beings of Light. I leave it to others to find out more about that.
ME1: Artemis Tau - Knossos System - Armeni - Notable for it's millions of crypts.
ME2: Crescent Nebula - Zelene System - Helyme - Global extinction.
There are more but these are one that stand out for me. Hopefully Bioware explore some of these more in ME3 and it's not just a piss in the wind on my part.
Clanger67 on 21 Jan '12 said:
Maybe lol,wasn't knocking the article though very dedicated.
AK47-Mentalman on 21 Jan '12 said:
What about that planet where you get a key from the Asari Consort on the Citadel to open up an ancient Prothean ruin on ME1? That sticks out to me as the one thing i'll remember about it, the vision you can read. There should, if only small, be a development there. I loved that part!
Eletana, it's called 'The Vision', you as a Caveman being watched by Protheans. Definitely worth watching.
msbhvn on 21 Jan '12 said:
Congrats, DJ. Shame there's not enough time before ME3 comes out for them to put it in the mag, because it's definitely good enough.
I'm a bit of a completist, but I don't quite recognise some of the ME2 ones, maybe because most of ME2's side quests were so short and relatively uninteresting. I need to do a "perfect" ME2 run in preparation for ME3, but the question is: p*** off Cerberus or not? Hmm.
STE MO on 21 Jan '12 said:
Nice article Mr Jam. I wonder how many hours you put in recently for that? Or do you have a great memory? So glad I don't have the games anymore or I would've been going through them quicker then Bernice Wilson in the 60 meter sprint
not sure if ME3 will be a day 1 purchase but I will get it, after I finally finish Skyrim, if I ever do. God damn you Bethesda for making that game.
Alaric14 on 22 Jan '12 said:
What he said, though I hope there's no all-powerful super race of 'light beings' who come out of hibernation just in time to smite the Reapers in Mass Effect 3. That would knock BioWare's script-writing credibility completely out of the playing field and into oncoming traffic.
SidTheSloth on 22 Jan '12 said:
Well done Mr Jam - this is just the sort of 'build up to Mass Effect 3' article i want to read - absolutely bugger all about the new game itself and plenty of back story and recollections of where we've been and where we might be going! Hate reading anything about ME3 as even little things to me are spoilers, but this is just the sort of thing to get me back in the mood!
Like many, i expect to be completing another run-through of the first two prior to the third landing, maybe even trying the much lauded femshep for the first time!
CunningSmile on 23 Jan '12 said:
I'll join everyone else and say congrats Jam. Nice to see you've done something with your internship other than avoid catching Ed's cold.
Decent_Jam on 23 Jan '12 said:
Thank you kindly, glad it meets collective approval.
Ah the poor chap, he had to go home early one day he was feeling so rotten...obviously I was deeply concerned, but it was difficult to see that reflected on my face since I was engrossed with Syndicate.
Clanger67 on 23 Jan '12 said:
Oh the sympathy,lol.