Yesterday was N7 Day, a pseudo-holiday celebrated by BioWare and fans of the Mass Effect trilogy. As part of the day's fun, BioWare peeled back a few layers on its plans for the next Mass Effect game — which will definitely not be called Mass Effect 4.
The biggest revelation is that Chris Schlerf is writing the story, and this is very good news for gamers who care so deeply about the narrative at the heart of Mass Effect. Schlerf's last big writing job was as the writer of Halo 4, which unquestionably boasted the best storytelling of any game in the series thus far. After Bungie handed off the Halo franchise to Microsoft's 343 Industries, 343 wowed gamers everywhere with a title that schooled Bungie on how to tell a powerful, emotional story within the Halo universe. The story of the next Mass Effect is in excellent hands.
The new main character that takes over the franchise from Commander Shepard won't start out as the heralded hero that Shepard already was at the beginning of the first game.
"With Shepard, you arrived on the scene as a hero, and you were called forward from there," said creative director Mac Walters. "For the next Mass Effect, however, we've been looking at more of a hero's journey: how you become a legend and what it takes to get there."
Most of N7 Day's revelations — which include a healthy serving of concept art that shows off some jaw-dropping new areas of the Citadel and vast new worlds — revolve around how this new team is pushing Mass Effect forward while stay faithful to everything that the series is and what fans love about it. Exploration is making a big comeback, only this time there will be more freedom and "immersive worlds that interact with the player." Player choice will once again be king, with the main goal being to let gamers "chart their own course, but do that in the context of a great BioWare story," according to producer Mike Gamble.
To that end, the love-it-or-loathe-it Mako vehicle is returning, but the team promises to integrate it into gameplay in a better and more versatile way.
Being a next-generation title, you can expect the new Mass Effect to come with all the appropriate technical trappings (again, look at that concept art). Art director Joel MacMillan heads up a team that's using bells and whistles like "set pieces, lighting and environmental weathering" to enhance the experience. But, said Walters, this isn't "just Mass Effect with shiny new features."
Producer Fabrice Condominas sums it up.
"If we were less ambitious we could have just done the same thing and it would have worked. But we want to take the risk and deliver something new and exciting."
The next Mass Effect, which is expected to kick off a second trilogy, is still deep in development, so there's no word yet on a projected release date. See more concept art and info at BioWare.com.
Image: BioWare
