However, like all adults who love something, I recognize that it has its faults. My biggest beef: there are no ugly women in space. All the sentient females in Mass Effect (especially the aliens) are all attractive by human conventions. I notice that all males of all species are bound by no such restraints. This may seem like a small thing to nit-pick about, but think about it: no unattractive women in space? Even alien? Even ugly, reptilian or insect like aliens, of which there are many different kinds? None of them are female? You heard me. None. Not one. Well, ok, one. Let us not forget the Rachni queen, subjugated into a breeding machine whose only purpose was to pop out babies. So yeah, one ugly alien female.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with sexualizing characters. Doesn't bother me. I enjoy looking at pretty people as much as anyone. What does bother me is the unequal way it is commonly implemented. For every ten sexualized women in video games, how many male characters receive the same treatment? Three? Four? I don't have an answer. All I want is sexualization to an equal degree for both genders. All I want is that for every attractive, big-breasted, bodysuit-wearing female hottie there to be an equally attractive, athletic, bodysuit-wearing male hottie. If we're going to pander, let it be to everyone.
Mass Effect starts off well in the first game; your first two real companions are two relatively comely humans, a male and female marine. Each wears a skin-tight set of armor that leaves little to the imagination, though the woman is actually wearing heavy armor while the man is in light armor, so arguably his is marginally more revealing – ANYWAY; skin-tight armor: check. Both genders: check. But after that things get unbalanced.
The next two people you pick up are two alien men. One looks like a bipedal-hunchback rhinoceros-sans-horn and sounds about how you would expect an English-speaking rhino would sound. He's nasty, brutish, and AWESOME. But, in regards to my point, decidedly unattractive. Unless you're really into large scaly mammals.
The other alien, a turian, looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a bird of prey, with some kind of bony growth covering his entire face, like it's Halloween year-round. Coupled with pointed teeth and claw-like hands and you have the makings for the next AvP movie.
Now, both of them talk about females in their species, so we know they exist, but we never see them. Only vague references are ever made to an entire half of both species' population. And I haven't even started on the salarians, drell, volus, or batarians, all races confirmed to have females, but none of whom are ever seen. So where are they? They obviously exist. Do they just not let unattractive women into Citadel space?
Moving on, another companion you pick up is an asari. The asari are a race of mono-gendered aliens, all of whom appear as beautiful women of varying shades of blue and purple. I'm really not sure what to think of them. On the one hand, they are the oldest, most powerful, and most respected race in the galaxy. Their representative occupies one of only three spots on the governing council of the Citadel and their warriors are a force to be reckoned with. But on the other hand, is anyone else reminded of the first days of Star Trek, where beautiful and highly seducable green alien women were the norm? Incidentally, the asari companion is one of the options for romance in the game (for both genders; I admit that part is pretty cool). Seducable alien woman, what?
Also on the Citadel can be found a young quarian woman. It's hard to determine whether or not Tali is pretty, as she wears an environmental suit the entire time, but she does have a distinctly shapely and appealing feminine figure, and the features vaguely distinguishable beneath the mask seem attractive enough.
So we have three fetching young women, one fetching young man and two scary alien dudes. Anything seem strange about that? Pretty women: fine. Pretty men: good. Ugly alien dudes: great. Ugly alien women: disturbingly absent. I thought personality was supposed to count for something. Wish list for ME3? Ugly girls need screen time, too.
So the assessment of ME2 will have to wait for another day, as I'm tl;dring myself at this point.
