Mass Effect - Xenobiology 101

The space opera genre got a big new player in 2007 when Mass Effect was released. Centring around the player character, Commander Shepard, you explored the galaxy, saving planets, and being generally heroic. Whilst the latest entry in the series, Mass Effect 3, was the source of some controversy, it was the final part of a trilogy that let us explore an incredibly detailed and well built world, full of interesting characters and some of the most fascinating alien species ever seen.

The Set-Up:

The Mass Effect universe is home to a wide variety of different alien species. There's the Asari, a species of blue-skinned all-female aliens, the Turians, who are avian-like humanoids with metallic exoskeletons, and the Krogans, a species of angry, eight foot tall frog-like things. This time around, I'm going to take a slightly different approach, giving a quick look to each species, then looking at some real world comparisons with each of the species. Let's get started.

Fallout - Ghoulification

If we can learn anything from video games, it's that post-apocalyptic scenarios are surprisingly fun. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration on my part. It's not fun to scrabble around for clean water in an irradiated shell of a building whilst monsters roam the streets hungry for flesh... In the real world. However, when it's through the lens of a video game, it's great fun! And to that end, the Fallout series.

The first two Fallout games were released in 1997 and 1998 respectively, and were a roaring success, capturing people with their in-depth world and great storytelling. More recently, Bethesda Studios have re-invented the franchise with the first-person Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. In all of the games in the series, you meet some friendly, and some not-so-friendly, residents of the nuclear wasteland. Many of these residents are Ghouls. Let's take a closer look.

The Set-Up:

In the Fallout universe, the world was all but destroyed in 2077 via a global nuclear conflict. Some remenants of humanity were able to survive by living in nuclear bunkers called Vaults. Those who weren't so lucky were left on the surface, and irradiated when the bombs fell. Some of these unfortunate individuals were not killed, but began to mutate into Ghouls. Their skin began to flake off and crack, their hair fell out, and their voices sounded like they'd been gargling gravel. The mutation happens due to an anomaly in a persons genetic code, which results in them turning into a ghoul, rather than dying horrifically. Ghouls, whilst looking like they are rotting away, can actually live for centuries.

The Last of Us - The Cordyceps Fungus

The developer Naughty Dog is imprinted on a generation of gamers, not least because their name blared out of our TVs every time we booted up Crash Bandicoot 3. They are the minds behind Crash, Jak and Daxter (one of my personal favourite game series of all time), and more recently, Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series.

Now, however, the studio are working on a brand new game, The Last of Us. Due to be release in May of next year, it's a post apocalyptic zombie story, only without the zombies. Naughty Dog have taken a genre that's considered a little tired, and given it an exciting new twist. Let's have a closer look.

The Set-Up:

You play as Joel, a black market dealer under the heel of the oppressive United States governmental regime. Two decades before the events of the game, a fungus known as cordyceps killed millions of people, resulting in the collapse of society. Those infected with the fungus today are inventively known as the Infected, and have giant fungal growths coming out of their bodies. The Infected are controlled by the fungus to spread spores as far as possible. It's not nice for anyone involved.

inFAMOUS - Lightning Powers

I think it's fair to say we've all day-dreamed about having super powers at some point in our lives. Either that or someone has asked "HEY WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU HAVE" to kill the time. I always chose flight and telekinesis, because I am both adventure-seeking and lazy. What most people probably don't say is "lightning powers" because truth be told, they're a little defunct in every day use. There aren't many times a day I think to myself "Gosh, I wish I could shoot some lightning out of my hands right about now."

Unfortunately, for Cole MacGrath, the protagonist of 2009's inFAMOUS and the 2011 sequel inFAMOUS 2, lightning powers are exactly what he has. Stuck with them after a plot device explodes in his face, Cole used his powers for good or evil, depending on the mood of the player. But is it possible for a human being to display such incredible abilities? Let's find out. 

The Set-Up:

You, as courier and every-man Cole MacGrath, are gifted with incredible electricity based powers. With these new found abilities, the player can either choose to help the people of Empire City, or gain more power, in the classic "superhero or supervillian" dichotomy. Also, there's some stuff about time travel and a plague and some other things. This is all irrelevant thought, we're here for lightning hands.

Metal Gear Solid - FOXDIE

Ah, the Metal Gear Solid games. A legendary series of stealth games with more social commentary than your average newspaper. The first Metal Gear Solid game was released in 1998 on the Playstation, and the most recent instalment in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4, was release on the Playstation 3 in 2007. With another two games on the horizon (Ground Zeroes, and the unconfirmed-but almost-guaranteed-to-happen Metal Gear Solid 5) it doesn't seem like we will be seeing the last of Solid Snake any time soon.

The Set-Up
In the original Metal Gear Solid, you play as Solid Snake, a soldier who is brought out of retirement in order to neutralise a group of terrorists (as so often happens with these things). Whilst on your mission fighting shamans, psychics and ninjas, you find that several people mysteriously die of heart attacks when in the presence of Snake. It is later revealed that Snake is infected with FOXDIE, an engineered retrovirus that has been designed to only target and kill specific individuals.

Assassin's Creed - The Animus

The Assassin's Creed franchise started in 2007, and is primarily known for being a game series about leaping off rooftops in a white dressing gown and stabbing people in the face. Which it is.
However, Assassin's Creed ALSO has some quite interesting content about exploring the past through the memories of your ancestors using SCIENCE. So let's take a critical eye to it, shall we?

The Set-Up

You, as Desmond Miles, explore the memories of your ancestors through the use of a super whizzy sci-fi machine called the Animus. This machine accesses these memories by delving into your genetic code, where the memories of your ancestors are stored, as part of your DNA. But how accurate is this genome exploration? Can this really be done?

BioShock - Plasmids

BioShock is a FPS RPG hybrid that was released in 2007, and had a lot of commentary about Ayn Rand philosophy, the nature or nurture argument and morality. It also featured the ability to set freeze people and explode their corpses with a grenade launcher. More importantly, it features an awful of pseudo-science...

The Set-Up

You, as a feller called Jack, go under the sea to a fallen utopia called Rapture. Whilst there, you make use of the miracle substance ADAM, which is a form of unstable stem cells produced by a certain species of sea slug. Using ADAM allows you to modify your genetic code using Plasmids, which give you a range of new abilities. These include making you more resilient to damage, or letting bees live in your forearms, then shooting them out as a buzzing bullet of pain.