In this case it`s more the ``If I have a sword why can`t I all of the sudden kill my companions and then proceed to swallow my own head?`` or better yet. ``why can`t I find a school in Liberty City and go on a school shooting?``
It`s more stuff they really don`t want to code into the game because it wouldn`t make sense. Bethesda is already a bitch of a company so you don`t really have to care about them. But with Bioware, your playing as a secret agent style soldier. I think since he is so very well educated and disciplined, (as Shepard no matter what background you chose has already been with the military for over 10 years). So in this case it wouldn`t make sense for Shepard all of the sudden to join the murderous machines that want to kill him.
It's *my* character. I can shoot civilians in the face and tell my superiors to fuck off, but somehow, I am not allowed to defect, simply because the writer doesn't allow me to.
It's not a problem with the setting (as there are hundreds of explanations, all boiling down to player choice), it's a problem with the unwillingness to give the player an actual choice.
When Saren's persuading you, your only options are "No", "Fuck no" and "GEE GOLLY JEEPERS no". Why give the illusion of a choice, if you're going to be forced to accept the writer's choice?
I want to choose who Shepard is. If he's a cold-blooded psychopath who masked himself well enough to become a Spectre and fuck the world, I want to be able to make a choice that reflects the fact thet he's a cold-blooded psychopath who masked himself well enough to become a Spectre and fuck the world.
Oh and not to mention Sovereign and the Reapers have already killed many humans, both through the Geth and by turning them into Husks. So in this case it would be like wanting to team up with the drunk guy at the bar who has pulled a knife on you. Yet you realize he is also that guy who raped your wife and proceeded to murder your children a few seconds later. It`s an attempt to put common sense in a game. Something that is seriously lacking in Mass Effect ironically. Since with Saren, his entire belief is he will prevent the Reapers from taking control of the galaxy. Yet he is the only reason they actually have the potential to do so. Since the activation for the Citadel`s Mass Relay would only be accessible by someone pressing the big red button in the Council Chambers. Something Shepard really should have told him.
It's all the more reason to be able to join the Sovereign:
They have killed so many humans effortlessly -> they are godlike -> I have no chance to defeat them -> Where do I sign, Mr Sovereign?
Again, I'm shooting civvies and devouring kittens to get the job done. Yet I show a surprising amount of spine when it comes to choosing.
Also, have you ever noticed Bioware never actually specifies why the Reapers go on a murderous rampage across the galaxy every 5000 years or so? As it doesn`t make sense for a race of tactical geniuses who invented space exploration to kill every single race that discovers it after them time and time again, and devote their entire existence to doing so.
Maybe they're just really hungry.
At least with KOTOR you know Malak wants to take over the galaxy with the Star Forge. Bioware I am disappoint.
KotOR2 did a better job at explaining the Jedi Civil War, a lot better than what Bioware ever did.
