BioWare Says ‘Mass Effect’ Will Continue, But Without Commander Shepard
Posted by The Movie God | August 31st, 2011 at 2:21 pm
The Mass Effect trilogy is an incredible video game achievement (assuming you’re assuming that Mass Effect 3 will be as insanely good as everyone else is assuming it will be), but it doesn’t end with the third game in the series, which is set to hit shelves on March 6, 2012.
Speaking to PC Gamer at Gamescom recently, BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka talked about the continuation of the series after Mass Effect 3. When asked if this was the end, Muzyka said “Not at all, no. We have ambitious plans to continue this franchise going forward. Mass Effect 3 is simultaneously a couple of different things: a thrilling and epic conclusion to the trilogy as we promised our fans we’d provide for Commander Shepard, but it’s also a brand new beginning – it’s an entry point for new fans and it’s also a brand new beginning.”
But, unfortunately, it was then made very clear by producer Michael Gamble that though Mass Effect will continue, this will be the last we see of Commander Shepard, saying “After this, Commander Shepard’s story is complete.”
There have been rumors that one of the possible paths that BioWare might choose to take would be to create a Mass Effect MMO along the same lines as World of Warcraft and another of BioWare’s big upcoming projects, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Of course they could also go the Bungie route, who ended Master Chief’s story after Halo 3 and did some spinoff stories in the same first–person shooter Halo style. But while those games were solid, fans always seemed to want their Master Chief back, to which 343 Industries—who took over the franchise from Bungie—will deliver in Halo 4.
But the big question is, how will fans respond to not being able to play as Shepard? Unlike Halo, you can really immerse yourself in the Mass Effect world, and everyone has a connection to the characters of the first three. Will they be able to move on?
How would you like to see Mass Effect continue? Do you like the idea of an MMO or would you rather see other stories told in the same gameplay style as the existing games?
I’m not a huge fan of the the idea of a Mass Effect MMO. While I think it would probably work, I’m already going to be invested in The Old Republic and then after that World of Darkness (if it ever gets off the ground). But I also just don’t like MMOs that much. Frankly, as an adult with only so much gaming time, MMOs are just too much of a time investment—whereas console or computer games are not.
That said, there are *so* many opportunities for Mass Effect to be a really damned good background world for RPGs. But I hope that they would go more RPG in that case, and let you make your own character to be the hero. While I love Mass Effect, it’s always rubbed me the wrong way that you’re supposed to use Shepard. It takes out some of the imagination from the whole endeavor.
I’d actually like to see a Mass Effect tabletop RPG. But the chances of that are pretty slim, I suspect.
http://www.facebook.com/beanie.1up Sean Beanie
I would love to control a Drell or a Volus or something along those lines in a 3rd person, Elder Scrolls, properly ported to console, RPG kinda game
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