PC Gamer Annual - UK (2022)

E

verything else aside,
Mass Effect’s Citadel
is just a great piece of
science fiction. This
colossal 44km long
space station was built generations
ago – it’s presumed by the extinct
Prothean race, although no one’s
really sure. Thousands of years
later, it’s now populated by dozens
of different species, and has become
a galactic hub for trade, diplomacy,
and, of course, drinking in its many
neon-lit bars. It’s basically a giant
floating space city, with 13 million
souls living and working there.

The Citadel is BioWare’s take on the
O’Neill cylinder, a fanciful space
settlement dreamed up by American
physicist Gerard K O’Neill. He
proposed the idea in his 1976 book
The High Frontier: Human Colonies
in Space, which features some
incredible illustrations.
One famous drawing from
O’Neill’s book in particular could be
concept art for the Presidium, the
bustling heart of the Citadel. This is
the first area of the station you visit in
Mass Effect, and it’s still an
impressive sight. The Presidium is a
huge ring with a simulated blue sky,
leafy green vegetation, gleaming
white architecture, and anti-grav cars
zipping past. These visuals, combined
with Jack Wall’s stirring, atmospheric
music, make this one of the most
memorable locations in the game.

PROCRASTINATION
When Shepard arrives in the Citadel,
there’s a lot to do, including
formulating a plan to save the galaxy.
But that can wait. Before I even think
about driving the story forward, I
love hanging out in the city, talking to

people, and working my way through

the selection of sidequests on offer

there. The first game’s version of the

Citadel is composed of two distinct

areas: the aforementioned Presidium,

where bankers, diplomats, and other

high-society types hang out; and the

Wards, residential districts where

regular citizens tend to spend their

time. It’s actually a pretty small map,

with the illusion of, rather than real,

scale, but it works. You forget that

everything’s happening in the same

handful of corridors.

As you explore these two very

different sides of the Citadel, picking

up sidequests and nosing into

people’s business, you get a sense of

what life is like on the station. Few

sci-fi games give you this kind of slice

of life experience. Shepard settles a

dispute between two scientist rivals,

deals with an overenthusiastic fan,

works with a journalist to expose a

corrupt club owner, and other low

stakes tasks that add detail to the

setting and make it feel like a real,

functioning place. And the ambience

of the Citadel is so incredibly chill,

running around doing these odd jobs

never feels like a chore.

I also love the Keepers. These

insect-like creatures can be found all

over the Citadel, tinkering with

control panels. They seem unaware

of their surroundings, and no one

really knows where they come from.

For as long as the Citadel has existed,

they’ve been scurrying around it,

silently repairing things, and keeping

the place running. This adds to the

mystery of the station’s origins, and

it’s a superb piece of world-building.

Mass Effect takes a lot of its best ideas

from the mature science fiction of the

1960s and ’70s, but it has enough of

its own personality and imagination

not to feel derivative.

The more you play the Mass Effect

trilogy, the more you learn about the

truth of the Citadel, the Keepers, and

other elements that are initially

enigmatic. But even when you learn

about its true purpose, it’s still a

fascinating setting, and one of the

best virtual cities BioWare has ever

created – and this is a studio that has

created some of the best, from

Baldur’s Gate II’s Athkatla, to Knights

of the Old Republic’s Ahto City.

Exactly what the next Mass Effect

game will be, or when it’ll be set,

remains to be seen, but I hope we

return to the Citadel in some form.

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASE
May 28, 2008

PUBLISHER
Electronic Arts

DEVELOPER

BioWare

LINK

bit.ly/3vYP2hX

STAR CITIZENS

Some of the people you meet on the Citadel

AVINA

An information VI

(virtual intelligence)

who can fill you in on

the history of the

Citadel and help you

navigate the

sprawling station.

SHA’IRA

Also known as the

Consort, this

influential Asari is a

problem solver,

therapist, and pretty

much anything her

clients desire.

HARKIN

A grouchy officer for

C-Sec, the Citadel’s

police force. Harkin

has a bad reputation

for roughing up

suspects and taking

bribes on the side.

BARLA VON

On the surface, a

banker. But in

actuality, an agent of

the Shadow

Broker, the galaxy’s

most powerful and

feared dealer of info.

BEFORE DRIVING THE STORY

FORWARD, I LOVE HANGING

OUT IN THE CITY

EXTRA LIFE

DIARY I MOD SPOTLIGHT I REINSTALL I WHY I LOVE

LEFT: (^) Apparently
people in space love
getting drunk as much
as people on Earth do.
RIGHT: (^) Views of the
larger structure give
the place an incredible
sense of scale.