Mass Effect 4 ???

Below are Spoilers (River Song Voice)

When Mass Effect was first released by Bioware on the Xbox 360 in (2007) I was still getting used to the concept of the western RPGs. As a bloke who mostly chooses J-RPGs as my preferred genre I was strangely excited for this new game. Maybe it was my inert love for things syfi or the possibility of playing as an alien race (pre-game miss conception). I didn’t actually get my first Xbox 360 until a good few years after release of the game, and by that time the game was already available on pc and I had at the time a beast of a rig, so I got it for my pc. After installation of the massive 12GB Game (12 GB was a lot in those days) I set out to with the intention of choosing the cool alien race bloke with the blue looking skin and the long pointy Protrusions coming out of his head (the Turians). I was already designing him in my mind, what armor he would wear and what kind of scars and tattoos would cover his warrior face. I was immediately brought to the reality that this was a heavily story driven game, and I would only be allowed a lowly human as my main character, a Bloke named John Shepard (sigh). I was already beginning to regret this western RPG and I had not even finished customizing my main character yet.

lpgardian Shepard or at leas a Photoshop version
lpgardian Shepard or at least a Photoshop version (sorry i’m not re-installing the game just for a screen shot)

So after the horror of realizing I only had a choice between a human character I accepted my faith and proceeded to make him look like (or at least the cooler older version I will become). Ok now that I had my goatee it was time to choose the cool armor I would use, ok maybe no armor choosing but I could choose to be my usual duel wielding bringer of death LordPro (my gamer tag at the time). Well I had no luck with any of that. All I could choose were some classes and none had the duel blades I craved, all I could uses were guns. I thought long and hard about which of these disappointing classes to use (“rock, paper, scissors….. Well Vanguard it is”) and then set out to name my hero, oh crap I have to keep the Shepard (“damn you cruel world”).

Ok now enough of the silly stuff. Lpgardian Shepard was born and we started our adventure with the help of two humans on a swampy looking planet. Imagine me questing on a strange planet in an atmospheric suite with my trusty pistol in hand. Bioware was finally starting to win me over (humming “ah questing we will go……..”) me the naysayer was now shooting from my over the shoulder cam only to stop every few second to look around at the sky and alien Flora &Fauna every few steps. The world was like that out of an early 90’s science fiction movie, grainy picture and all. Ok I won’t lie I was in Fifth element mode by now and I hand not logged 30 mins yet, you would have had to pry my mouse and keyboard from my cold dead hands at that point to get me to stop. Upon finding my sweet spot I was questing for maybe a year (Q? warped game time) Lpgardian Shepard was now a harden Spector aka Galactic badass and my team of miss matched Aliens were the best at what they did, especially you liara t’soni, you fine Blue thing you ♥ :*.

liara t'soni
liara t’soni

So with Mass Effect one under my proverbial belt I did the proper gamer thing and go on some random forum to bitch about where my part 2 was goddamn it. Bioware obviously saw my rant (Q?W Logic)and in 2010 Mass Effect2 was released, and Lpgardian Shepard was back on the job after defying the impossible “Spoilers” (River song) . I was Ready to take on all that the at the Galaxy had to offer all i wanted was my trusty pistol, my team and a ship. two of which i soon had after starting the second chapter of the ME series in badass fashion that would make Starbuck (BSG) blush. Bioware had me hooked on their new form of crack that had me wanting more. Part one was an amusement park, with all sorts of fancy rides and all manner of interests to interact with. It sold the gamer on the Idea of a larger than scale adventure across many star systems and planets. They sold me on the idea of a western RPG that could rival my love for the Japanese half of the genre. So if part one was the amusement park, then part two was the roller coaster in that park. It is fast passed, but totally exciting with twists and turns where ever you looked. A great experience and beautiful writing from the minds at Bioware.

So now that I have all the good stuff covered, it’s time for the black sheep in the room; “Mass Effect 3”. The third and final part of the Shepard saga has received mix reviews and impressions from fans and critics alike. Some claim there was too much hand holding, others claim it covered too much action and lost the soul of what makes a mass effect game, not enough RPG mechanics, not enough exploring and the list goes on, and on, but the one thing that stands out among all that was the widely debated ending. The end of the Series has, and is still being debated in regards to if it was share mind blowing genius or a total load of malarkey. Mass Effect 3’s ending is a tricky subject which can insight anger and dispute among fans of the series, but I have been telling you my honest point of view so far so I will continue to do so. Personally I like the ending I got, Lpgardian Shepard choose to save both organics and in-organics  a choice I made that may be considered to be the wrong choice if you watch Indoctrination theory videos, which, if they are true are a testament to the genius working at Bioware.

As a whole the Mass Effect series is amazing, individually part 3 may be the weakest for the plain fact that it is streamlined to help push the urgency of the plot. But there is no way you should be playing the third part without playing the others first. After all the series is being sold as a box set now, and there are many sales for it all over the net and in the origin store. Personally my favorite part of the saga Is in fact part one, because of the massive scale of the game, with planets to explore, items to salvage, giant worms to fight…..do I need go on? No I do not.

Now then the main Reason I wrote this article is because Bioware has announced that the next mass effect game, yes you read that right, the next one in the series will be developed on Frostbite 3 engine and not Unreal as its predecessors before it. Though no official word has been announce about the plot I thought I’d discuss some possibilities for this addition to one of my favorite franchises of all time.

  • The prequel

    If Bioware decides to go with a prequel it would most likely involve Captain Anderson adventures as the first human Spector or the first encounter war. These will of course be great stories for fans of the series like myself. Playing through the first encounter will be a story much closer to home in both a realistic and metaphorical sense. Mankind has always wondered about what else is beyond the dark void of space. The developers at Bioware have already paint an amazing story of how a scenario involving humans meeting extraterrestrial may play out. If Bioware goes this route I’m all for it. I even think a story like this one can benefit from space battle like the ones found in games like EVE online and Sins of a solar empire. With a mixture of this type of gameplay and the third person mechanics of ME it can only advance the series in a positive way.

    EVE online
    EVE online
  • A new untold tale

    A new tale from the point of view of other characters in a series is always a plus in my book. Adding to that if it is the tale of a new unexplored character, one of a different alien race preferably. Just think, living life from the point of view of an Asari with to biological mothers, or a Krogan after the Genophage, better yet a Drell with a life from mission to mission, the possibilities are endless with the vast universe Bioware has to work with. To me this is the most intriguing option because it is unexplored territory, and for an RPG fan like myself that can only make for a deeper story with more of a payoff.  The mechanics can be whatever works best for this new plot, maybe it’s a 3rd person action adventure like uncharted, or a strategy game like command and concur, whatever it may be I don’t see any way Bioware can muck it up by going this route.
  • The aftermathThis is the only other option I can see the developers taking with regards to the mass effect franchise. This is also the least probable of the options going forward, because of the simple fact of trying to one up an epic scale story like that of the original trilogy is a hard thing to do and may result in spoiling the nostalgia that fans have formed after completing all three games. Now this is not to say that it is impossible, just take Star Wars for example (my nerd level is high I know) the original trilogy was amazing but the other three were just as good, and I know there are many out there that may not agree with me, but to each their own. My point is it can be done but it must not tamper or affect the sanctity of the original three games. A follow-up story can come from many places like a unique story taking place thousands or millions of years after the ending you have chosen. A story like this will benefit from the lore created by players who have already played all three ME games, and could even encourage those new to the series to go back and play the originals just to see the effect it has on the story they play.

With regards to the next mass effect game the possibilities are endless. As a fan I can only wonder, and post angrily on forums “Bioware where is my next Mass Effect game? “ I know they are at work at something amazing, whether it coincides with any of what I have written above is yet to be seen all we can do is wait with mouse and keyboard at the ready.

Qudduws Campbell

That messy hair bloke: Romantic, Food lover, Gamer, Sports Fan, Manga Reader, Tech Head, Podcaster... Pretty much do a bit of everything.

One Comment

  1. I think ME2 was the best because it fixed some of the silly things in ME1 and it expanded the rpg
    also i would go with a Prologue preferably to play the story from the previous prothean races pov you can change the mechanics and make it awesome
    playing a aftermath story could be cool but I also doubt it playing a new untold tale doesn’t bring any thing new really just like a filler

    but yeah after this last instalment it should end cause abuse isn’
    t good either