A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed.
Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game that shows what it takes to be a great leader, “Mass Effect”.
A Great Leader Lends An Ear
The journey that is the “Mass Effect” trilogy takes place in a fictionalized version of the Milky Way towards the end of the 22nd century. Humanity eventually discovers an alien outpost on Mars; learning that Charon is actually an alien artifact known as a “mass relay” that enables faster-than-light travel to other mass relays located across the galaxy. Contacting numerous other organic, almost humanoid species, humans find that their technology is so far behind and a want to experience what is so powerful about this alien weaponry begets a war.
Peace is eventually forged, but an unforeseen threat looms. Players control a custom character simply known as “Commander Shepard” in their quest to maintain said peace as a leading soldier in the Earth Systems’ version of the Navy. Encountering an unidentified artifact at the behest of the Council – a ruling galactic body that allowed humanity & Earth in general into the collective of “alien” worlds & societies – Shepard is alerted about an incoming invasion headed by artificial lifeforms called Reapers.
Shepard is given a gigantic order: stop the upcoming Reaper invasion. Unfortunately for humanity, stopping the Reapers will take more than what humans can offer in terms of soldiers or military hardware; meaning designated recruiter Shepard is given the task of uniting the races & species in an effort to save the galaxy from annihilation. It’s during this time the player is given a chance to really test the waters of what it means to be a leader. Shepard, through the player’s actions, is gifted the chance to figuring out what is the best case scenario in attaining the greatest team of soldiers possible.
But in attaining said team can be a tough journey built on budding trust, compromises, and truly empathizing with another person’s story – no better example of that occurs when encountering Wrex who is a bounty hunter who finds himself targeting the same person in Shepard’s cross-hairs. Bound by a common goal gives way to Shepard opening his ears to Wrex’s and, unknowingly, Wrex’s species’ plight. Having been a warlord in the Krogan military when his people felt the sting of genocide via a bio-weapon afflicting Krogan fertility rates, Wrex feels his life is in shambles by the time he encounters Shepard.
Another group of aliens known as “Salarians” looks to save the Krogans through cloning – an act that is campaigned by Wrex. The active listener and budding friend that is Shepard plays the most vital role in Wrex’s survival after a crucial moment in the latter’s stand against the destruction of a facility that could save the Krogan race. For those who don’t really take the time to get to know Wrex will most likely find him dead by the end of a conversation gone horribly wrong.
The other players who understand a leader is only as strong as the people who make up their team Wrex will stand down and find a new crusade to fight under the command of his new ally after Shepard explains the dastardly reason behind the Salarians’ cloning method (Krogan enslavement). The positive outcome is not only beneficial for Shepard in his quest to save the universe, but also allows Wrex to unite his people while forging anew with the hope of curing the disease ruining his people’s lives. To be a truly great leader is to be strong in the face of adversity and vulnerable in the hope of building a bond of trust, allegiance, and even friendship.
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing “Mass Effect” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.
