Exile714 said:
For everyone claiming Mass Effect, think about this:
First of all, you wouldn't be Shepherd. Why? Look at you, you're not a super-soldier, you're just a regular person. Not everyone in the Mass Effect universe gets to be Shepherd, and that includes you. So what's it like to be a Mass Effect civilian?
1) The universe is about to end, and your one hope of salvation may or may not have died on the Collector Base in the middle of the galactic core.
2) The government is more corrupt and ineffective than it is in our world, and that's saying something. The universe is about to end, and the government just sits there and says: "So what? We have more important things to do." And what exactly is that, anyway? You only see government influence on the Citadel, and that place is overrun with criminals and an Asari prostitute.
3) Aliens would hate you. Yeah, maybe some would be your friend, but the vast majority think you're the hotshot new species in the galaxy and would rather you not be there at all.
4) Living on colonies is basically a death sentence. Between the Geth, the Collectors, the Batarians and Cerberus, colonists are basically ground-skeletons in waiting.
5) There's nothing to do. You can watch holo vids (TV), work at a store selling junk, drink, or watch an Asari dance on a pole. Welcome to every single city in the world right now.
We all read in the question that we wouldn't be the the title character of the game, and Shepard isn't the only powerful human in the game, the possiblity of having biotic powers extends to pretty much any species, let alone any person. True, you could just end up being as ordinary as everyone else, but that isn't the point of the question. It's the possibilites each game universe opens up, and what you choose to do with them.
1.) Who's to say you'd choose to be alive during the effects of Mass Effect? Like all the people voting for the Star Wars universe, trying to choose between KOTOR and Empire era, it could be you choose to be around during the First Contact War on Xianshi, The Rachni War, the Krogan Rebellions, or any of the times between.
2.) The government isn't corrupt, just scared. I admit this isn't much use either, but there is a difference. In the second game, you only see Zakera Ward, which is the poor quarter of the Citadel. Just because it's a political centre of power doesn't mean it'sd crime free, heck, look at London, D.C., Paris. And since the entire second game takes place in the Terminus Systems, outside of Council controlled space, you wouldn't see any government influence.
3.) Because you're visiting some of the roughest places on the galaxy, you're more likely to see the worst sides of people. There would still be Turians with a chip on their shoulder over the 314 Relay Incident, and Batarians by cultural design aren't exactly the easiest race to get along with, but there seems to be no hate directed at humans specifically, except when the aforementioned parties stir things up. Asari, Drell, Salarians, Elcor, Krogan, Hanar and Volus tend to be as politely declined to humans as their respective cultures allow, and NOBODY seems to like the quarians.
4.) Since this is an action game, you only see the colonies where something is going wrong. Nobody would be interested in a mission where you dropped into a colony in full battle dress and everybody said, "Yep,we're all fine here, no alien monstrosities of any kind to report."
5.) Like I said earlier, your life is what you make of it, and you've got so much you could make of it in the Mass Effect universe. You could go for the more pedestrian options you've suggested, but you could become a courier, ambassador, Alliance soldier, Cerberus operative, mercenary, Starship pilot or engineer, xenobiologist, system scout, VI designer, and a myriad other professions.
I hasten to add, I'm not trying to put down your choice of the Alan Wake universe, which would be pretty sweet. I'm just trying to put forward the counter-arguments behind my thinking for choosing the Mass Effect universe. Sorry it's taken me so long.
Despite playing it for 7 years, I can't believe I didn't think of this. 
