质量效应3临近发售,翻译一篇喷ME系列的文章供大家欣赏,同时也是留个纪念~听说3DM发帖标题长度最重要?不知道还要输入多少个字符才够?

水刃的弦

All Too Human: The Anthropocentric Shortcomings of Mass Effect
by Patricia Hernandez


原文地址http://www.gameranx.com/features ... ngs-of-mass-effect/


Mass Effect 2 might've improved mechanically over the first iteration of the franchise through streamlining, on delivering a gripping narrative with memorable characters, and even visually, but in my mind, the series has still taken a turn for the worse. Understand, my niggle with the franchise is nothing objective; I can recognize that Mass Effect 2 is superior to the first title in nearly every arguable way.  Still, there's one changed aspect which made the sequel less captivating. I loathe that the Mass Effect franchise has become so human-centric.

    质量效应2也许因为制作上的优化,带给了我们更扣人心弦的故事,和更令人印象深刻的角色,甚至在画面上也有所提高,但是在我看来,这个系列还是有变差的趋势.我对这个系列的挑剔不是主观臆断; 我能看出来质量效应2基本上所有地方都比一代强.然而还是有个地方让2代显得不那么迷人.就是这个系列变得这么以人类为中心,这让我感到恶心.

Mass Effect 1 was different. I remember being in awe when I first learned that the human race had only just discovered the world beyond the velvet void of the milky way. The sense of wonder came in the implication: because we were newcomers to a wider intergalactic society, our importance was miniscule. Unsurprisingly we were the species with the highest sense of entitlement, but nonetheless, it was clear that the council felt that humans needed to prove their worth before we could be validated or recognized. Proving ourselves, the council argued, would be something that required lots of time and effort; it was not something that could be achieved overnight. The Volus, who are an integral force when it came to wider space commerce, were a testament to how difficult was to get a seat in the council. Despite constant lobbying, the Volus have not been granted a seat in the council. Humans, however, were granted a seat almost immediately relative to the Volus by the end of Mass Effect 1. This plot twist cemented what would become a wider shift in the franchise as a whole: Mass Effect became anthropocentric.

    1代不是这样的.我记得我第一次得知人类种族才刚发现银河另一端的世界的时候有多惊讶.这其中的意味很奇妙:因为我们是大宇宙社会里的新成员,我们的无足轻重.虽然不用想也知道人类多么渴求权力,但是尽管如此很明显"议会"认为人类需要通过证明自己的价值来得到认可."议会"认为,证明自己需要很长的时间和努力; 不是一夜之间就能完成的.作为星际贸易中不可或缺的力量,Volus人(矮小肥胖总穿着宇宙服的种族)是"议会"席位有多难获得的绝佳证明.他们等待了那么久都没有在"议会"中得到一席之地.然而在1代结尾里人类却几乎是立刻获得了"议会"席位...相对于Volus来讲.这个剧情转折注定了系列将要有大的转变:质量效应变成一部人类中心主义的游戏.

Suddenly we have a council seat, and suddenly the Reapers become particularly interested in our species. Why so interested? Easy: humans are so, so special! Of course the Reapers want our Special DNA Slush™. Who doesn't want a piece of this?

    忽然之间我们就有了"议会"席位,忽然之间我们就被收割者盯上了.为什么会这样?简单:人类实在太,太特别了!收割者当然希望来一杯人类DNA雪泥(原词slush,一种类似刨冰的饮料,我猜...这段明显调侃二代结尾).怎么可能有人不想要这个?


I understand why. I know why BioWare did it, why BioWare took one of the most interesting aspects of the franchise and made it like every other human-centric, human-glorifying game out there. They didn't do it because the fight against the Reapers would have the sort of significance that the council required before granting someone a seat. My hypothesis is this: the mass market out there, they don't care about our blue tentacled aliens. Why should we fight to save a society that doesn't give us our rightful place as masters of the universe? What sort of 'emotional investment' could we feel when it came to saving the galaxy in that sort of situation?

    我理解.我明白bioware为什么这么做,为什么bioware去掉了质量效应中最有意思的设定,把这个游戏做的和其他人类中心主义,给人类歌功颂德树碑立传的游戏一样.他们这样做不是因为和收割者的战争会赢得"议会"的席位.我的猜想是这样的:3代所谓的大众市场,他们根本不在乎那些千奇百怪的外星人.为什么我们要拯救一些对我们获得宇宙霸主地位没助益的外星人?在那种情况下拯救银河谁还要管"感情投资"?


Enter Earth. BioWare won't allow us to visit Earth until the grand finale—Mass Effect 3. There's a reason for this: what better way to make us care about our impending doom at the hands of the Reapers than putting our very home at risk? Our heartstrings can't be as easily tugged by the visage of a baby Hanar frolicking the gassy plains of Kahje as they might be when we watch little Susy get demolished in a field of sunflowers, surely!

    进入地球.bioware在系列最终作:质量效应3之前不让我们去地球.这是有原因的:有什么手段能比收割者入侵地球,我们的家园更让人能感受到末日临近?我们的心弦不可能被一个hanar(粉色触手生物)的幼崽在他们瓦斯弥漫的母星球kahje的平原上嬉戏所触动.要是换成小susy在一片向日葵花田里被大卸八块还差不多!

I feel this human-centric approach has undermined the world that Bioware created in the first place. Here we have a bevy of interesting species that make ours look mundane by comparison, but the drama is not anchored around that larger world at all. Plus it's cheap to think we'd be more effectively swayed by bringing the fight back home than we would be otherwise. That approach is easy, it's practically a given that players will care about humanity, about Earth. We're selfish, ego centrical brats. I would have liked to see BioWare pull all the stops in fleshing out an engaging universe that humanity thought was worth fighting for.

    我觉得这种人类中心的调调是bioware对自己亲手创造的这个世界观的釜底抽薪.虽然这个世界观里有一群比长相奇怪会让我们自愧弗如的很有意思的外星种族,但是剧情根本就没有围绕这个千奇百怪的宇宙进行.加上很明显我们更容易被夺回地球这种噱头震撼.这种剧情走向写起来比较轻松,而且毋庸置疑玩家会更关心人类和地球的存亡.我们是一群自私自利自我中心的混蛋.我本来还是很期待bioware使出浑身解数创造一个人类愿意去拯救的宇宙的.

When you think about it, us and our tiny blue marble are kind of insignificant in that wider terrifying black abyss. It's a shame that we don't have a game that dared to reflect that uncomfortable fact.


    当你思考一下就会发现,我们这块蓝色的小石头在这片让人恐惧的无边黑暗中有多么的渺小.真是可惜,没有一个游戏有胆量将这个令人不安的事实表现出来.


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