Game – Movie Review: Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (2012)

Set during the events of Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is an animated feature film that was released at the end of 2012.

The movie opens in 2183, where the human colony of Fehl Prime has come under attack from a group of Blood Pack mercenaries led by the Krogan, Archuk. The Alliance sends several teams of Marines to save the colonists but most die while attempting to land. Only Delta Squad survive the crash landing and with the Captain incapacitated, Lieutenant James Vega assumes command.

Of course, Mass Effect players will recognise Vega as he would play a pivotal role in the third game of the series.

Delta squad manage to repel the Blood Pack attack killing Archuk and capturing his second in command, Brood. They are then ordered to protect Fehl Prime from future attacks.

Two years later, Fehl Prime is flourishing under the Alliance protection. While installing defences, Delta Squad discover an alien device that is emitting a signal. An Asari team member, Treeya contacts Liara T’Soni but just as she begins to wonder if it is Reaper tech communications get jammed. As Delta Squad return to the colony they see a Collector ship arriving.

The team are forced to fight the invading Collectors who set about incapacitating the colonists. It’s only one of their problems though as they discover a Cerberus agent is working from the inside.

As an addition to a trilogy of games that are up there as some of the best ever made, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is enjoyable if not a bit too long. The universe of Mass Effect is ripe for expansion be it through books, comics, other games and movies like this. It’s nice to be seeing other worlds and characters even if it has got plenty of references to the game series.

The story told here is decent and thankfully doesn’t focus too heavily on Vega. Most would admit to him being one of the more lacklustre characters from Mass Effect 3. That being said, here he gets personality and a story-arc. Freddie Prinze, Jr. does a great job voicing him as do most of the other actors too.

The animation is similar in style to Dead Space: Downfall and has some delightful imagery. The collectors are really impressively imagined here and we get a fair bit more detail about them too. Probably more then the game series gave us!

It’s adult too with plenty of dark moments, swearing and emotion. While you’re not going to feel connected to the characters in the way you did while playing the games, the heroics and behaviour of most are endearing. It culminates in a huge final battle and a clear direction of how Vega would end up under Shepard’s command even if he doesn’t make an actual appearance here.

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