Mass Effect Galaxy

Mass Effect Galaxy is a Mass Effect spin off developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch and was released on June 22, 2009. It is a top-down shooter with a more stylized art direction than the main series titles, and uses the accelerometer and touch screen functions of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The story focuses on Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, who appear together as squad members in Mass Effect 2.

Peace Talks
Galactic tensions are rising due to batarian Ambassador Jath'Amon arranging of a meeting with the Citadel Council, with the intention of negotiating peace terms between the batarians and the Alliance. Jacob Taylor, a former Systems Alliance soldier, is vacationing on board the passenger liner Arcturian Jade, when the ship is attacked by batarian terrorists.

After taking out the batarian attackers, Jacob arrives at the Citadel and is greeted by his former CO, Major Derek Izunami, who is seeking Jacob out for a mission in the Nemean Abyss, as he is no longer restriced by Alliance military boundaries. He asks Jacob to find an informant who may have information on the batarian's recent crime wave, Miranda Lawson, who he finds in Cartagena Station, in a bar called the Fringe.

When Jacob arrives, the Fringe has been taken over by a band of pirates led by Clint "Black Eye" Darragh. Jacob can either convince him to retire or take him on in combat. Once he is taken away, Jacob is greeted by Miranda, who was sitting at the bar.

Miranda explains the batarian extremists' plan to attack the Citadel on the day of Jath'Amon's arrival and sabotage the peace talks by killing him. She gives him three sources on where to start the investigation: A turian arms dealer named Illo Nazario on the planet Tortuga who has worked with the batarians for years, the planet Bekke where a batarian army is reportedly gathering, and a rumor that the batarians have kidnapped several scientists and are holding them on the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform.

Tortuga
On Tortuga, Jacob is met by a salarian friend of Miranda's, Ish, who has the access codes for Nazario's compound. Apparently, Nazario hasn't made any deals for weeks, which has drawn suspicion. As Jacob makes his way through the compound full of turian guards, a surge of batarians will attack. Their leader claims they came to talk to Nazario. Jacob can convince them to turn back or fight them.

When Jacob reaches Nazario, he is clearly very ill. The batarians tested a weaponized virus on him. Nazario says that there must also be a vaccine, and bargains: Jacob will have Nazario's information about the virus, as soon as Jacob gets him the cure.

Ahn'Kedar
When Jacob arrives at the Ahn'Kedar Orbital Platform Jacob immediately suspects the business there is just a front. A batarian businessman challenges him, but before he can act, a krogan named Nax appears and begins gunning down batarians. Nax gives Jacob till the count of five to "justify his life". When he either gets to two or is convinced by Jacob first, they realize they have similar goals; Jacob is there to rescue the scientists, and so is Nax--who came to save an old friend, the asari scientist named Batha.

After defeating several waves of batarians, including their leader, Jacob discovers the scientist Dr. Hendricks, who seems more upset about Jacob interrupting their work than having been taken hostage. Hendricks claims the batarians have fallen prey to a terrible disease, which has wiped out entire populations. The disease, a blood plague, is communicable only in high concentrations, incubates very quickly, and has a 100% fatality rate. The batarians brought the scientists there to develop a cure. Once Jacob convinces Hendricks to leave, he discovers the prototype formula for the cure is held by Batha, who is in another facility. At that moment Nax bursts through the door with Batha in his arms, under batarian gunfire. Jacob saves him and brings him on board his ship.

Once on board, Batha says the batarian claim of a virus was fake. The batarians only wanted to convince the scientists to make a cure for their blood plague weapon. The crew realizes they need to get the cure to the Citadel, in anticipation of the attack. Though the cure is only a prototype, Batha nearly finishes it using supplies from the ship's med labs, but she requires a final ingredient - a large quantity of unrefined element zero.

Bekke
When Jacob's crew arrives on the rainy mining colony of Bekke, the ship immediately comes under gunfire, as Miranda picks up strange readings from the planet. Jacob fights his way into the facility, but begins feeling sick and dizzy. The element zero has been improperly stored. The closer Jacob gets to the eezo, the more strain it puts him under due to his being a biotic, but it also enhances his abilities. With the batarians gone, Miranda urges Jacob to get out so they can pick up the shipment.

Returning to Illo, Jacob can finally interrogate him. Nazario explains that the batarians hired him to steal a shipment--standard enough, until he found out he was stealing a huge eezo stockpile (a substance the Nemean Abyss is amazingly rich in). He refused, knowing that stealing so much element zero would make him the most wanted man in the Abyss. But he was curious, and sent men to see what they were up to. He discovered their plan to make a vaccine for their virus, and in response, the batarians tested their virus on him. Nazario claims the attack is against the Council, not Ambassador Jath'Amon.

Knowing Jacob holds his only hope of survival, Nazario reveals that the leader of the batarian extremists is in fact Jath'Amon himself. He has spent years gathering political capital, and now that he is an ambassador he can get close to the Council. And since he has the vaccine, Jath'Amon can't be harmed by the blood plague. They hurry back to the Citadel to stop the meeting.

Defending the Citadel
Jacob heads to the Citadel Tower, but all seems quiet. Jacob is stopped by a C-Sec officer, who is exposed as a batarian, revealing they have infiltrated C-Sec itself. Making his way up to the tower, Jacob enters in the middle of the ambassador's speech; the asari council representative questions Jacob's intrusion. Jacob brings the evidence against Jath'Amon to light, and Jath'Amon's peaceful demeanor fades as Jacob lays out his plan. The asari council representative apologizes, but says she won't risk the Council until she is sure of Jacob's claims.

The furious ambassador reveals that his hover chair contains the virus, which is sprayed out into the Citadel Tower. Jacob warns everyone to escape, then takes on the ambassador's batarian troops and combat drones. When Jacob finally defeats Jath'Amon, he tells Jacob that they are not so different, they both go to great ends to protect their people. Jath'Amon swears he will destroy them all as he is taken away.

Having resumed his vacation, Jacob is watching a news report about Jath'Amon's arrest when he is surprised by a noise. He grabs his assault rifle, before realizing the intruder is Miranda, with a bottle of champagne and a smile.

Upgrades
Jacob's abilities upgrade after each world:
 * Heavy weapon (rocket launcher) after Tortuga
 * Shield overload ability after Ahn'Kedar
 * Stasis talent after Bekke

Mass Effect 2 Tie-In
If a player links their copy of Mass Effect Galaxy to their EA Online account, through the games Extras menu and Stay Informed sub-menu, upon completion with a linked account they are told "Your reward for completing the game is waiting for you in Mass Effect 2." What the reward is, is not currently known.