Commander Shepard is a more interesting, deeper, and more fully realized character as a woman.

Allowing the player to choose between a male and female Shepard, however, is an example of too much choice resulting in less specificity and poorer narrative quality. Mass Effect 3’s famously disappointing ending is an example of the latter: Throughout the series, the player felt that their decisions had real and lasting consequences in the world, but then the final cutscene of ME3 played out nearly identically, regardless of the player’s actions. However, if the player’s choices have no impact at all, a game can feel confining, and the experience of playing it may become unsatisfying. If a player can do or say anything at any time, then there’s no room for narrative structure or developing relationships between the player character and nonplayer characters. In gaming, there’s a well-known trade-off between allowing for player choice and self-determination and telling a well-paced story with strong, specific characters.

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His New Book Imagines Something Even Stranger. You Can’t Understand Squid Game Without Understanding the Korean Concept Driving It (If you play as a Renegade, she deals more in threats and intimidation.) She is a tough, demanding leader who inspires loyalty in the men, women, and gender-free aliens of her crew through personal excellence, exacting standards, impatience with politics and social niceties, and, if you play the Paragon decision tree, high moral values and moments of kindness and compassion. But female Shepard feels like a living, breathing person. However, as almost all the lines are the same between the male and female versions of Shepard, comparing the two allows you to appreciate the full depth and passion in Hale’s voice acting. Meer gives a perfectly competent reading of the character-at times, it’s even downright good. This is not a criticism of the voice acting of Mark Meer, who plays the male version of Commander Shepard, any more than recognition of Mozart’s genius is a criticism of Antonio Salieri.

There are other reasons to play as FemShep (as fans affectionately call her), but if you miss this voice performance due to male insecurity (or because male Shepard is the quick start option), you’re missing what may well be the greatest voice performance in video game history.

The reason the female version of Shepard is so remarkable is due to the voice acting of Jennifer Hale, who elevates the character beyond the realm of superlatives. Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

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