M35 Mako

From Mass Effect Wiki

For Mako tactics and XP rewards, see Mako Guide.

The M35 Mako infantry fighting vehicle was designed for the Systems Alliance's frigates. It is designed to fulfill the role of rapid deployment that its predecessor, the M29 Grizzly, fell short of accomplishing. Though the interior is cramped, an M35 is small enough to be carried in the cargo bay and easily deployed on virtually any world.

With its turreted 155mm mass accelerator cannon and coaxially-mounted machine gun, the Mako can provide a fire team with weapon support as well as mobility. Since Alliance marines may be required to fight on any world in a variety of planetary environments, the Mako is environmentally sealed and powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. The vehicle's armor is tough enough to withstand high drops, extreme heat and cold and rough terrain. The Mako's suspension and propulsion system allow the vehicle to adapt to various terrain, as well as enabling the vehicle to change direction quickly via independently reversible wheels (similar to a tank).

For deployment on low-gravity planetoids, it is equipped with micro-thrusters and a small element zero core, which can be used to increase mass and provide greater traction. While not large enough to nullify the vehicle's mass, the core can reduce it enough to be safely air-dropped (a manoeuvere normally requiring a minimum of 100m of open terrain). This allows frigates to deploy their shore parties while limiting the ship's exposure to defensive anti-aircraft artillery. When used in conjunction with thrusters, it also allows the Mako to extricate itself from difficult terrain.

The Mako's hull is covered with laser detection arrays, which forewarn the crew of enemy laser-guided ordnance. Ground-penetrating radar allows detection of anti-vehicle mines and other subsurface anomalies. These will be brought to the attention of the crew by the vehicle's micro-frame computer system.

[edit] Trivia

• The larger vehicles which are similar to the Mako, seen on several mission planets and uncharted worlds, are actually old M29 Grizzly units.
• Given its predecessor was nicknamed 'Grizzly', the Mako is likely named after the mako shark.
• The Mako seems to draw design cues from the 20th century Russian BTR-series of APCs, especially in the turret, body shape and side entry door areas (even though they aren't used in the game, they are visible.)
• As a nod to the sometimes outrageous ability of the Mako to climb cliffs, there is a 'Mako Mountain Climbing Team' t-shirt in BioWare's official store.
• A possible glitch in the game's AI leads to enemies aiming solely for the Mako's nose area, allowing you to hide it behind a rock or a hard bend while still able to carefully line up and fire with your cannon.

[edit] References

• Galactic Codex: Mako.
• In-game Codex