Title: Pilot
Author: Fluoxetine
Rating: M
Status: WIP
Genre: SciFi, military
Category: Misc > Games
Fandom: Titanfall, Mass Effect
Pairings: No hints of shipping yet
Summary:

Link: Spacebattles (updated regularly), FF.net (updated in blocks every few months, quite a few chapters behind).

This ME crossover takes the unusual route of pushing first contact up to about the timeframe of the first ME game (it still hasn't been established exactly when). The story is also unusual in that is doesn't feature a retarded Council who pick up the idiot ball at the mention of AIs. I feel the author handled that dynamic incredibly well.

The story also features a more powerful but not stupidly OP humanity. With far greater experience in space they're sort of at the level of the three Council races and their only main advantage is the Pilots/Titans themselves. The story is also looking to avoid the general Quarian wank that so many writers seem to like.

I feel the weakest point of the story was the author writing a few chapters that were basically Council race forum posts where various aliens got together and discussed the discovery of a new species. I didn't mind the concept itself but it did feel like it was very plastic and very PC for what were supposed to be internet posts (it feels like the author only has experience on overly moderated Reddit boards perhaps?).

The author also appears to have kept the goals and inner workings of Cerberus very secret. Existing before first contact, they appear to have very different motivations than from canon. It should be interesting to find out what is going on there.

4/5.

 

4.5/5, rounding to 5. I freaking love this story. There's not a whole lot of titanfall fics, which is a crying shame because the world is so unique, so I was happy to hear about this one. The writing is good, the pacing of the story is excellent, and the writer leaves just enough for you wanting to come back for more.

I do have a minor issue that it does feel relatively slow at times with some parts feeling a tad...bland I guess would be the appropriate word. But other than that I am loving this fic. I have to disagree on the forum post issue. I thought those were absolutely hilarious.

 

I'm going to give this a 3/5 because despite being quite technically competent with fun characters, there's zero tension. The main characters just badass about and even during the recent chapters with a terrorist attack it just seems to be Good Guys mowing down waves of Bad Guys. Lots of Pilot wank about how awesome they are, but not much actual conflict in the plot.

 

I read a little bit of it a few days ago (randomly saw it on SB before I noticed it was here). It was kind of interesting (enough for me to open the story up I guess), but I don't really care for stories that insert characters from other universes into roles from the other universe, so seeing Shep and Joker in these other roles was kind of meh for me.

 

Isn't that sort of the point of crossovers though?

 

I read it all a few weeks ago and was entertained while reading it but since then haven't felt the need to check out a single update, nor can I remember most of the story.

So, 3/5, I guess. Decent read but not very memorable or gripping.

 

I found it quite interesting in the beginning but the more the story progressed the less believable the plot and more importantly the character interactions got. There is little to no tension in either and I was for example really bugged by the fact that a Spectre and the Citadel was okay with getting getting a brain implant installed. It was refreshing to see a less antagonistic take on the whole first contact scenario but I feel this goes a bit too far.

And of course like so many fics it has a terrible character bloat in my opinion which doesn't help since I am really no fan of many differing PoV's and constantly switching between them (even more so if they all "sound" the same).