N7 day was a big deal. We commemorated it with photoshop and a video including Darryn’s tears. While we were busy with doing weekend things, Bioware woke up (due to time differences) and decided to tell us all kinds of cool things about Mass Effect. They even gave us some pretty new screens.
First up, there was something of a secret. Chris Schlerf has actually been working on the new Mass Effect game since November 2013. Having worked as a screenwriter for years, Schlerf then moved on to become the lead writer for Halo 4 before moving to Bioware. Considering the more human approach of the 4th Halo game, it will be interesting to see how Schlerf approaches the Mass Effect universe. At least we know his focus is in the right place for a Bioware game:
As a writer, I write for characters. To me, it’s always about what makes my characters tick and what stories I can tell through those characters that will actually engage people about their own lives. It provides a mirror to that player’s experience [so that they are] not just sitting back in an armchair.
Bioware also had a developer roundtable. In it, we learned that the protagonist of the game is someone who is becoming a hero – not already at the legendary level Shepard was at the beginning of the Mass Effect trilogy. Presumably, this means that we will follow this character on a new journey and perhaps help him/her to achieve galactic greatness. Making use of Frostbite’s immense power, cut-scenes won’t be used too heavily as the focus will be more on immersing the players and allowing them to build relationships.
Finally, we learned that there will be new races with new home planets as well. Considering the length Shepard went to in order to unite the whole galaxy against previous threats, I’m really curious how these new races and planets will fit in – and excited to see the new designs. Alien design was so interesting and unique in the first Mass Effect, it will be great to see what they come up with for new life forms.
My excitement is almost too much to contain. I doubt the game will be ready anytime soon – shall we predict a 2016 release date? But at least we know it’s coming, and can calm ourselves by obsessing over this glorious concept art that shows some new planets and the return of the Mako.
Last Updated: November 10, 2014
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:05
Okay this I approve of. 🙂
th3SiCn3ss
November 10, 2014 at 08:54
lol dude, you misspelled Chernarus…… wink wink
Kromas, Guardian of Cenarius
November 10, 2014 at 09:01
Lol. Wrong game.
Kensei Seraph Never Forget Ouk
November 10, 2014 at 09:26
That’s kinda ironic seeing as you left out the ‘k’ in ‘sickness’ (I’m ignoring the l33t spelling because I assume you either chose to spell it that way or the ‘e’ key is broken on your keyboard).
Kromas, Guardian of Cenarius
November 10, 2014 at 10:07
He chose to leave it out as like that. Also he was ribbing me for not playing Dayz as much. 😛
Valenlord
November 10, 2014 at 08:12
Sweet!!! This is a good way to start a Monday morning!!!!!
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:13
Why does the header remind me of a new type of “citadel”??Looks Amazing!!
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:20
I believe that this is not a new type but rather just another part of it that we have not seen. Remember that place is HUGE.
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:26
But it got destroyed at the end??and the new game takes part in a different universe??
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:30
Not completely destroyed but the new universe thing I have no idea where you got that from. As far as I know it is the same universe but neither Shepards crew nor any major characters will make an appearance. There will however be loads of nods to the story already told.
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:35
lol i could swore i read the game takes part in a different universe more or les the same time frame of the 1st trilogy???or did i hallucinate that cause my brains deprived of not playing a new ME game??:/
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:37
Different area of space not different universe. Not much more detail was given though except we will see humans,Krogan and the Mako making a return in some form or another.
Current speculation is an area of space on the other side of Dark space as that avoids the whole “reaper” thing to an extent.
RinceThis
November 10, 2014 at 08:15
“While we were busy with doing weekend things” You need more coffee! Stat!
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:16
Hope those weekend thing included Blizzcon.
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 10, 2014 at 08:19
Let’s start stoking the engine. Hype train getting ready for departure. Choo choo.
Hammersteyn
November 10, 2014 at 08:20
http://img-9gag-lol.9cache.com/photo/a8bEAMp_460sa_v1.gif
Mark Treloar
November 10, 2014 at 08:22
Hype train for another adventure in we don’t need no new IP’sVille?
Rock789
November 10, 2014 at 08:22
Count me in! 🙂
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:27
And im not putting one toe on that train until i hear news about a pc release!!!
Kensei Seraph Never Forget Ouk
November 10, 2014 at 09:23
http://i.imgur.com/vGq1cGH.gif
Mark Treloar
November 10, 2014 at 08:23
Hey how about some articles about Blizzcon?
Kromas, Guardian of Cenarius
November 10, 2014 at 08:49
Blizzcon has revealed a new IP called Overwatch. Also Legacy of the Void trailer is out.
There we go. 🙂
Hammersteyn
November 10, 2014 at 08:23
ME needs more cowbell, also who fears the reapers anymore
David Muller
November 10, 2014 at 09:05
I have a fever, and the only cure is more Mass Effect
Rock789
November 10, 2014 at 08:23
I’m in!! Man, I can’t wait for the next Mass Effect game. And, from what I’ve seen so far, Dragon Age: Inquisition really looks like a return to form for the DA series. I really hope it’s as good as it seems. Can’t wait to get stuck in!
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:25
It is a good time to be Bioware at the moment. Let us hope they don’t screw up. 🙂
Ceyber, Hans
November 10, 2014 at 10:21
Maybe not right at this moment, but they’re definitely in for another Golden Age in the next couple of turns.
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:30
My question is,what type of new enemy is gonna be more of a thread that the reapers??they were bad-ass on a universe scale,what can the writers think of that can best the reapers??
Jedi Consular Kromas
November 10, 2014 at 08:35
Reapers came every 50k odd years. Maybe there will be a Bigger reaper race that comes every 1million years to reset the whole galaxy. 😛
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 08:40
Gah, I hope not!
Captain JJ the pout
November 10, 2014 at 08:36
They will invent the (insert interesting word here)-device.
Ghost In The Rift
November 10, 2014 at 08:41
(One Galaxy DIrection Super Boy Band Maker)-device??:/
Captain JJ the pout
November 10, 2014 at 08:42
Sounds about right.
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 08:43
Plenty of good stories to be told in the reaper aftermath. Batarian terorists, Krogan uprisings, Insect Queen back for revenge.
I imagine, and hope, that they change the political landscape, with something like the Turians withdrawing from all alliances and standing on their own.
Also, what about the collectors that are left?
Pockets of Reaper resistance?
I think there are plenty of good stories to tell, perhaps not on the epic scale we are used to. That is fine too, in my ever so humble opinion.
Kromas, Guardian of Cenarius
November 10, 2014 at 08:44
Different part of space not necessarily affected by anything that happened near the citadel.
Matthew Holliday
November 10, 2014 at 09:42
a thousand years in the future, new FTL travel system not having to rely on the set relays like befor, discoveries and new races outside of their galaxy is an option, but i would prefer something a little closer to home.
returning protheans from dark space, battle for control with one of the races from a re-established council or the screens tease something similar to the necrons from Warhammer 40k
Matthew Holliday
November 10, 2014 at 09:36
they took out the collectors main base in 2, pretty sure they didnt have several bases, and they were just connected to harbingers hive mind.
so even if Shepard didnt blow them all up with their base, without harbinger in the picture, the collectors are just puppets without strings.
reapers wouldnt work, it would only hurt peoples feels. id be curious to see if they factor the red green and blue endings in, although they only result in different coloured endings in the game, the decision you make is galaxy changing. any new story would almost have to be with shepard choosing the destroy ending, which ruins your choice even more.
although dark space and the area beyond the omega4relay are entirely unexplored, would be interesting to see if something else can survive in those areas.
The protheans unconvered, discovered and enslaved hundreds of races, while the reapers did not eradicate all species, only the ones that reach a certain awareness, so there are theoretically thousands of sentient races out there and available, and without the reapers, who knows how far in the future the new game will take place.
i dont think the new enemy will be on the same scale as the reapers, in terms of repetative total galactic extinction, but they will be as much of a threat, probably something similar to collectors and cerberus.
personally would love it to be 1000 years after shepard, a small cluster of protheans to come from dark space after living off reaper corpses as energy sources, discovering that the reapers had been defeated and going about the systematic reconolising of the galaxy.
Rags
November 10, 2014 at 09:43
I like that idea. Especially since the Prothean heads are so large. Headshots all day long 😀
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 09:55
Nice idea!
I agree with most of your post, but I still feel that they (game developers) will have a mission where you have to remove a pocket of lost reapers, maybe only soldiers, but I see game devs as doing that.
Also, Collector base destroyed, sure, but were they all there? What happened to them when Harbinger left them? Did the few remaining become self aware? From a sci-fi perspective, some interesting story arcs for me, right there. Perhaps I read and have read far too many Sci-Fi books!
Matthew Holliday
November 10, 2014 at 10:13
the pocket of reapers would only work in a scenario where you chose the blue control ending in 3. breaking free of the catalysts control, but that causes you to doubt the catalyst, the creators of the reapers. we are led to believe that the catalyst power over the reapers was absaloute, it would totally disregard anything that happened in the original trilogy.
the new game will likely use the red destroy option, and not take your choice from the ending into consideration, the options would be too varied, would end up with totally different games and galaxies.
the collectors were the same as the armies the reapers used in ME3.
remove the reapers and they all fall down. when the catalyst did its thing, the reapers armies all either just died instantly or, being controlled by the reapers, stood still and did as they were told.
i would think that if one or two freed themselves from the reapers thrall, that would be cool, lilke the marauder from the Marauders Shields comic.
or just harbinger breaking free of the catalysts thrall or surviving the destruction, but im not sure what they would do with it.
but a whole species shaking off the reapers? i couldnt buy into it.
we’re all too invested in the original trilogy, the new game HAS to treat that with respect, to disregard anything major from the first three would break us.
my main problem with fighting the reapers again is that i dnot want it to be that close to the shepard story.
unless they make fighting the surviving reapers a space ship battle.
i be down for a normandy v3 battle, finally getting the glory it deserves.
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 11:16
Whatever it will be, I think we can agree that we look forward to it!
I hear you, I really do, but I still think the game devs will do as the game devs do. They can always invent some plot device to as they will.
If the stats about games are correct (most played soldiers in ME, for example) I think the game devs will be very careful to not have too different a game, for fear of losing the punters
Rags
November 10, 2014 at 09:39
They could still be around though. Don’t know if they have FTL travel, but they could be in neighboring dwarf galaxies and clusters. But I hear ya, don’t know how they are going to top the first trilogy in terms of opponents.
Matthew Holliday
November 10, 2014 at 09:58
doesnt have to be more bad ass.
just needs to be a threat of a galactic scale, not necessarilly galactic extinction, subjugation would work aswell or a battle for control.
or simply more compelling, a someone with a name, saren was a far better bad guy than the faceless reaper monsters, going back to that is really necessary.
Ceyber, Hans
November 10, 2014 at 10:25
Maybe they’ll introduce a time-travel feature with the ME gates, or an alternate universes/quantum-thingies storyline. A completely new and intriguing threat would be ideal though….
Brendon Bosch
November 10, 2014 at 08:52
Happy Monday to me
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 09:03
ok, have a good day, then!
Ceyber, Hans
November 10, 2014 at 10:28
Lucky bastard.
Kensei Seraph Never Forget Ouk
November 10, 2014 at 09:20
The Mako is returning…
*has flashback of uncontrolled flights made in what was supposedly a car*
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
Ceyber, Hans
November 10, 2014 at 10:32
LOL. Yeah I had fun bouncing around with that Mako, it’s like they used Tony Hawk games for their “vehicle” physics.
CypherGate
November 10, 2014 at 09:36
This is the game im waiting for patiently. I just hope hope hope that they keep the previous races in because it wouldnt make any sense if they were to “vanish” from the ME universe. Wouldn’t make much sense really… Can anyone help me out… When i type lazygamer address into the web address bar then when the site loads i get last weeks news of Grim Fandango. I had to access latest news through facebook page. Has this happened to anyone else? I cant get the latest news on LG, but only if i go through the facebook page. Its very odd.
Rags
November 10, 2014 at 09:37
Had the same last week. Its a cache issue. Ctrl + F5.
CypherGate
November 10, 2014 at 09:49
Im on a mac soooooo….I would say its the same?
Rags
November 10, 2014 at 10:12
I don’t know, just try hard refresh of the browser 😛
CypherGate
November 10, 2014 at 10:47
I tried and it does nothing. Still last weeks news pops up. Thanks for trying to help though 🙂 Will see what i can do.
Ceyber, Hans
November 10, 2014 at 11:22
http://images.pushsquare.com/news/2014/07/this_mass_effect_4_panel_comes_with_commander_shepards_endorsement/large.jpg
Nikola
November 10, 2014 at 12:37
Yes please!!
Terry Jerome Autry
November 11, 2014 at 09:59
hey great. But if this game doesn’t come out til 2016, there is no way I’m going to replay the first three games. I haven’t played 1 and 2 since like 2010 and I haven’t played 3 since 2012. I did one play through of 3 and that was it.