Mass Effect's Overlord DLC
So Bioware released the latest DLC for Mass Effect on the 15th - Overlord. In Overlord, you go to a world where one of Cerberus' many ethically terrible experiments on human beings has gone horribly wrong. In this case, they wired a man into a VI (virtual intelligence) to create a true AI in the hopes of controlling Geth. As a result, the combination became a kind of digital viral infection that takes over any and all computers it comes in contact with. You have to prevent it from escaping the planet and infecting the rest of the galaxy.
As far as writing and pacing goes, Overlord is probably the best DLC for Mass Effect 2. The vehicle bits are a bit platformy, but the story itself is strong and they've put together some really nice cinematic bits and fights. However, it really starts to fall apart in the last mission.
It turns out that the lead researcher's brother (David), who was hooked into the VI, is autistic. Further, he's a savant with the ability to perform complex mathematical equations as easily as holding a conversation. In fact, this is what he does when he starts conversing with Geth in their own language, and the lead researcher discovers that the Geth will obey his commands. The lead researcher occasionally describes David's "autistic mind" in extremely othering ways, such as calling him "alien and incomprehensible" (that's a paraphrase, but that was the meaning) and playing up how autism both makes him different and gives him this power over the Geth.
At a particular point in the final mission, you get to see the events that led up to David being hooked into the VI: The Illusive Man wanted results now or he'd close the facility, and the lead researcher decides he'll use his brother to control the Geth (and hopefully eventually control all Geth) in order to mobilize them against the Reapers, and provide the desired results that will enable him to keep his job and continue the project.
I think the idea is that once plugged in, David ends up permanently overstimulated, resulting in him violently lashing out through the Geth and mechs to kill everyone involved in the project. At the end, you get to dress the lead researcher down for using his own brother as an experimental subject and you get two choices: The paragon choice is to send David to an academy where he can hopefully cope with and come to terms with his experience, plus get him out of his brother's unethical hands. The renegade choice is to basically fire the lead researcher but continue the project with David plugged in.
This entire ending bothered me. It felt to me like David was obviously positioned as an Other (an Other with a disability superpower that can be exploited). I know that the renegade options are often problematic, but I think in this case condoning human experimentation/torture in order to create a better weapon against the Reapers is crossing a line even for the Renegade Shepard.
At no point did I get a sense of David as a sympathetic person, but rather someone presented as a pitiable victim and a maguffin. I don't think the characters ever explicitly question David's humanity (and some of Shepard's responses to the lead researcher confirm his humanity), but I don't think that the DLC overall presents him as fully human.
Am I wrong in seeing it this way?
As far as writing and pacing goes, Overlord is probably the best DLC for Mass Effect 2. The vehicle bits are a bit platformy, but the story itself is strong and they've put together some really nice cinematic bits and fights. However, it really starts to fall apart in the last mission.
It turns out that the lead researcher's brother (David), who was hooked into the VI, is autistic. Further, he's a savant with the ability to perform complex mathematical equations as easily as holding a conversation. In fact, this is what he does when he starts conversing with Geth in their own language, and the lead researcher discovers that the Geth will obey his commands. The lead researcher occasionally describes David's "autistic mind" in extremely othering ways, such as calling him "alien and incomprehensible" (that's a paraphrase, but that was the meaning) and playing up how autism both makes him different and gives him this power over the Geth.
At a particular point in the final mission, you get to see the events that led up to David being hooked into the VI: The Illusive Man wanted results now or he'd close the facility, and the lead researcher decides he'll use his brother to control the Geth (and hopefully eventually control all Geth) in order to mobilize them against the Reapers, and provide the desired results that will enable him to keep his job and continue the project.
I think the idea is that once plugged in, David ends up permanently overstimulated, resulting in him violently lashing out through the Geth and mechs to kill everyone involved in the project. At the end, you get to dress the lead researcher down for using his own brother as an experimental subject and you get two choices: The paragon choice is to send David to an academy where he can hopefully cope with and come to terms with his experience, plus get him out of his brother's unethical hands. The renegade choice is to basically fire the lead researcher but continue the project with David plugged in.
This entire ending bothered me. It felt to me like David was obviously positioned as an Other (an Other with a disability superpower that can be exploited). I know that the renegade options are often problematic, but I think in this case condoning human experimentation/torture in order to create a better weapon against the Reapers is crossing a line even for the Renegade Shepard.
At no point did I get a sense of David as a sympathetic person, but rather someone presented as a pitiable victim and a maguffin. I don't think the characters ever explicitly question David's humanity (and some of Shepard's responses to the lead researcher confirm his humanity), but I don't think that the DLC overall presents him as fully human.
Am I wrong in seeing it this way?