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[ThoseDeafMutes]

I hope they go back to Mass Effect 1 planet exploration. Nice big area with your old Mako. that was so surreal. I loved Mass Effect 1 when it came out. Sadly it hasn't aged well.

No that would be terrible. They need to offer something massively better than ME1's planet roaming if they want to bring that concept back. Dull, barren worlds with copy/paste prefab levels. Only 2-3 things to find on any given world (matriarch writings, lol). Even sidequest related stuff was terribly executed, maybe a line of dialogue and a really bad enemy encounter.

I do want to see the return of vehicles, but I would much rather a modified Hammerhead than a fixed Mako. The Hammerhead felt wicked to drive around, the speed was great and as long as the levels were laid out decently (Overlord, not shittacular Firewalker dlc) it was fun to use constantly. The only thing they need to change is replace the weapon on it, which is terrible, and increase it's durability (which was way too low). They should add a cannon / mg turret to replace the crappy missile thing, and then if they want some missiles it should be like internal missile bays that you get a lock onto things before firing. There's potential to have really fun combat in something so agile, but they will need to put some thought into it.

 

[ChosenPredator]

Mass effect exploration like the wild west red dead redemption style mmm mmm mm

 

[thunder_snail]

Now that I think of it, you are right. The "quests" were horseshit. 90% of time you have to go through fcking loading screens to get to a certain part of the citadel and talk to someone.

I hope they go back to Mass Effect 1 planet exploration. Nice big area with your old Mako. that was so surreal. I loved Mass Effect 1 when it came out. Sadly it hasn't aged well.

No Man's Sky style procedural planets with few important bases and stuff hand-made and placed would be awesome.

 

[doemaaan]

This thread must never die!

6. Sequel to the trilogy is likely.
Unfortunately our sources would not confirm exactly when Mass Effect 4 takes place in the canon. That being said, we were stressed that all signs point to this being a forward moving continuation of the franchise. As BioWare has said many times before, we’ve also been told that all things “Commander Shepard trilogy” will not be continued in this game; the trilogy is over, and this is something new. That being said, the implication is that this narrative is set canonically post-Mass Effect 3. What does this mean for the multiple endings? We don’t know. Oddly, we’ve been told that “flashback” like sequences to franchise/lore canonical events are not out of the question.

How much you wanna bet they pick the Destroy ending as the official cannon timeline?

 

[Mindlog]

This severely impacts concepts such as level size, density, interactivity, physics properties, and so on; a game cannot be built with huge, highly detailed levels with complex physics as an integral part of the design itself and then be downported to prior generation hardware with the content intact.

The big example from ME3 is not being able to holster your weapon. This has much bigger implications for the flow of the game.

3. Multiplayer returns.
A no brainer. We’ve been told that Mass Effect 3‘s multiplayer was a surprising success for EA, internal buzz very positive. Multiplayer is locked in to return for Mass Effect 4. We’re unable to verify if the mode has changed, or if it’s a similar co-op arena mode to Mass Effect 3.

Not surprised. Garden Warfare starts with a carbon copy of ME3's multiplayer and layers its own flourishes on top of that. I hope it's a good sign that ME: Condolences will follow the previous title's very extensive free support with a palatable micro-transaction model. It's great old school PC game support with just a mild modern sour milk aftertaste.

As far as exploration goes. I liked the Mako before so many claim to have missed it. However, I want as much a sense of exploration from the ship as anything planetside. Animate them viewing windows.

How much you wanna bet they pick the Destroy ending as the official cannon timeline?

They can pretend all they want. My canon will always be control. Somewhere out in deep space my Shepard Reaper is still there. Waiting.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

Seeing as this is currently the most active Mass Effect thread, I'll post this here. A former BioWare developer on reddit has posted some pretty interesting things about the development of the first game:

-The Mako was nerfed because you could skip sections of the story
-Earth being backwards on Luna was caught, but it was too late in development to fix
-Only half of the planned amount of uncharted worlds made it in to the final game
-The galaxy map from the X06 video was fake
-The story behind the shifty cow

 

[Zen]

No that would be terrible. They need to offer something massively better than ME1's planet roaming if they want to bring that concept back. Dull, barren worlds with copy/paste prefab levels. Only 2-3 things to find on any given world (matriarch writings, lol). Even sidequest related stuff was terribly executed, maybe a line of dialogue and a really bad enemy encounter.

I do want to see the return of vehicles, but I would much rather a modified Hammerhead than a fixed Mako. The Hammerhead felt wicked to drive around, the speed was great and as long as the levels were laid out decently (Overlord, not shittacular Firewalker dlc) it was fun to use constantly. The only thing they need to change is replace the weapon on it, which is terrible, and increase it's durability (which was way too low). They should add a cannon / mg turret to replace the crappy missile thing, and then if they want some missiles it should be like internal missile bays that you get a lock onto things before firing. There's potential to have really fun combat in something so agile, but they will need to put some thought into it.

The Hammerhead was a piece of crap that blew up the second it took any enemy fire. It also limited environmental design to flat surfaces and forced platforming. The Bringing Down the Sky DLC from Mass Effect 1 (Except with even more exploration) is what they should be aiming for.

Planet exploration was very impressive in Mass Effect 1, because what it lacked in refinement it made up for in experience and success in conveying a true sense of exploration and discovery. The Hammer Head missions in 2 were fairly linear in design (aside from the Overlord).

This thread must never die!


How much you wanna bet they pick the Destroy ending as the official cannon timeline?

Considering that's the choice my Shepard went with, I wouldn't mind it. The bigger problems, narrative wise, are actually things like the Krogan choices, at least in my opinion. They can easily circumvent the silly green ending with 'well it did something and there's debate but the starchild was crazy'.

The ME3 endings would be one instance where I wouldn't mind the trademark 'Bioware resolution' to previous games plot points.

 

[kurahador]

Planet exploration was very impressive in Mass Effect 1, because what it lacked in refinement it made up for in experience and success in conveying a true sense of exploration and discovery. The Hammer Head missions in 2 were fairly linear in design (aside from the Overlord).

Oh man...truly. Finding those pyramid thing and those weird animals gave me chills.
I wish they followed it up with a meaningful quest rather than just knowledge/trivia.

 

[Lakitu]

Those points sound delicious. Going by all the stuff being said and the developer attitude on Twitter, I have really high hopes.

I'm so glad they're bringing back exploration to the series' core again. Discovering and finding new worlds was one of the best and most isolated feelings of the series. Being stuck on a planet during a blizzard with very low visibility remains one of my favourite moments despite some bad level design here and there and planets with ridiculous traversal (what was the planet with the really craggy mountains?).

I wonder if they'll bring back Jack Wall for the OST.

 

[CaptainSlow]

I fucked Loved all three Mass Effects. They're the only games this gen I've played more than three times. I swear I've beaten them like 6,7 times.

I also thought the extended cut ending was great.

Can't wait for 4 on Xbox One. I'll be lining up at midnight for that game and I've only done that twice before.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

If those rumours are true I would be delighted

Thanks Eat

 

[EatChildren]

How much you wanna bet they pick the Destroy ending as the official cannon timeline?

Maybe! Either that or a new ending, bits and pieces of the three.

 

[Melchiah]

Hopefully the multiplayer's core gameplay isn't altered, by making the maps too big for example. That's one thing I dislike about Warframe. And hopefully EA won't make another PvZ2 mistake here with too obnoxious nickle & diming.

 

[kurahador]

How much you wanna bet they pick the Destroy ending as the official cannon timeline?

Reject ending also makes a nice continuation point.

 

[Zen]

Oh man...truly. Finding those pyramid thing and those weird animals gave me chills.
I wish they followed it up with a meaningful quest rather than just knowledge/trivia.

I actually really really liked the tone they had for them. Sometimes exploration isn't glamorous, and discovering things like abandoned mining outposts, getting some logs from people there giving hints, and then stumbling on their fate (which like wise were sometimes very simply or small deaths for simple or small reasons) gave everything a very frontier like authenticity and sense of perspective to your travels. Likewise, even though a lot of people didn't like the Mako, I adapted and learned its controls and really enjoyed that traversal wasn't always easy, like the hammer head which gave you so much for so little thought and effort and allowed you to 'explore' by simply traveling a million miles a second on a flat surface that offered no texture or challenge.

Sometimes things should have a degree of difficulty to be rewarding. I'd much rather see an improved take on the Mako than what largely amounted to excuses for poorly thought out shooting galleries, which is what we got with the Hammer head. Mass Effect doesn't and shouldn't need to be 'ACTION ACTION ACTION' all the time, and we were getting more and more unbalanced towards with 2 and 3. It's encouraging to hear the producers talk a lot about exploration and specifically the tone of Mass Effect 1 when discussing the future of the franchise. Let's get back to a sense of awe, 'a stranger in a strange land' and that 70's era sci fi that got eschewed as time went on.

 

[X-Frame]

Being someone who put hundreds of hours into the MP, I am very interested in where they take the next one.

I only hope that the success EA and BioWare saw make them keep things similar but with improvements across the board. MORE and BETTER stuff. More weapons, objectives, abilities, customization (armor!), etc.

I loved the free content and because of that and all the support from BioWare I gave them $5-10 each DLC anyway. I really hope that EA doesn't take this opportunity to try and squeeze every penny out of players.

 

[Patryn]

Nice scoop EatChicken.

E3 reveal a 100% certainty, IMHO.

I know people keep saying this, but I'm not sure. I can see them waiting until Dragon Age: Inquisition has been released before unveiling this game.

Maybe! Either that or a new ending, bits and pieces of the three.

I keep saying it, but I expect Destroy ending, but the Geth and EDI are still around. So Destroy, without the contrived poison pill that feels clearly designed simply to avoid making the decision a no-brainer.

 

[Zen]

The geth constructed a 'bunker' of sorts that allowed them to survive the blast.

I mean, the ships in orbit around earth survived and the relays were only damaged (because bad writing) so why not.

 

[Matt Attack]

If those rumors are true, I am going to be so happy. It sounds awesome, especially the exploration focus. I'm very curious to see what they can pull off with next gen hardware.

 

[funkystudent]

Picking a canon ending to 3 seems like a easy thing to write out of. Just set the new game thousands and thousands of years after the events of ME3. Have some gigantic, destructive catastrophe some point in the middle of those thousands of years that fucked everything up and wiped out a few species who outlived their usefulness like the Krogan.

If the game is set 20,000 years after ME3 and some big shit has gone down between now and then they can just not mention things like the faith of the Geth or Krogan because it wont matter anymore to any of the characters.

 

[Patryn]

Picking a canon ending to 3 seems like a easy thing to write out of. Just set the new game thousands and thousands of years after the events of ME3. Have some gigantic, destructive catastrophe some point in the middle of those thousands of years that fucked everything up and wiped out a few species who outlived their usefulness like the Krogan.

If the game is set 20,000 years after ME3 and some big shit has gone down between now and then they can just not mention things like the faith of the Geth or Krogan because it wont matter anymore to any of the characters.

They're not going to set it tens of thousands of years after the last game. At most, I expect a jump of a couple hundred years.

Remember that they had humanity already being one of the major powers in the galaxy and with multiple colonies less than 50 years after first contact.

I'd also disagree that the Krogan have outlived their usefulness. The Genophage story may be played out, but there's some value in seeing them attempting to rebuild their world and society from the ruins it was.

 

[Lakitu]

So when do we think a reveal is likely?

 

[lmbotiva]

Give me a game with the mass effect 2 gameplay but the first mass effect freedom, let me explore planets, I don't care if they are mostly empty but that satisfaction of driving the mako and seeing the galaxy when you looked up was awesome, give me Garrus or wrex on my team and I'll be a happy camper bioware, do it!

 

[Zen]

They're not going to set it tens of thousands of years after the last game. At most, I expect a jump of a couple hundred years.

Remember that they had humanity already being one of the major powers in the galaxy and with multiple colonies less than 50 years after first contact.

I'd also disagree that the Krogan have outlived their usefulness. The Genophage story may be played out, but there's some value in seeing them attempting to rebuild their world and society from the ruins it was.

I never cured the Genophage and actively fucked them over every chance I got (Well Wrex was dead in my game, and I didn't trust the matriach Krogan lady to overcome wahts his name), I hope the game allows you to import your decisions from ME1-3.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

4. Exploration is a major theme.
Here’s a good one: Mass Effect 4 will focus on many things, but “exploration” is apparently the core focus of both the gameplay and the narrative. This is a core theme that is driving the overall design and direction of the new series at Montreal.

5. New races will appear.
Yep, we’ve got confirmation that this game will not be restricted to the usual Human, Asari, Turian, and so on. Tied in with the prior point, Mass Effect 4 will introduce new species (multiple!) that play major roles in narrative and overall direction. Other species do return, though we’re unable to confirm if any have been removed or downscaled in significance.

It sounds like it'll revolve around opening up some of the unused Mass Relays, maybe while repairing them they discover a way to find out where the other ones are?

 

[grosvenor_92]

Finally started playing the Citadel dlc yesterday and so far I've enjoyed the hell out of it. The writing I think is pretty damn good and I love the tongue and cheek dialogue between Shepard and crew. I was amazed how well they pulled it off since there isn't really anything like it in the previous games. I haven't finished it yet but when the party is over I'm gonna miss all the characters that I've come to know over course of the series.

 

[X-Frame]

Give me a game with the mass effect 2 gameplay but the first mass effect freedom, let me explore planets, I don't care if they are mostly empty but that satisfaction of driving the mako and seeing the galaxy when you looked up was awesome, give me Garrus or wrex on my team and I'll be a happy camper bioware, do it!

Why ME2 gameplay and not ME3?

ME3 introduced side rolls and heavy melee's and tech power combos, etc.

 

[Zen]

I seriously hope we get the return of a proper inventory, loot, and stat, system.

 

[Bisnic]

I seriously hope we get the return of a proper inventory, loot, and stat, system.

"Return"? If anything, ME1 was far from having a proper inventory and loot system.

 

[Zen]

"Return"? If anything, ME1 was far from having a proper inventory and loot system.

ME1 had a laughable inventory and loot system, as well as economy, ( mean seriously how can you not include item stacking?) but, y'know, something better than nothing. Maybe the ME'4' team will take a look at any RPG made over the last 3 decade for some inspiration on that front.

 

[Jarmel]

I seriously hope we get the return of a proper inventory, loot, and stat, system.

You already got that in ME3.

 

[NightAntilli]

Give me a game with the mass effect 2 gameplay but the first mass effect freedom, let me explore planets, I don't care if they are mostly empty but that satisfaction of driving the mako and seeing the galaxy when you looked up was awesome, give me Garrus or wrex on my team and I'll be a happy camper bioware, do it!

In my opinion, the best game would be a combination of ME1's exploration and story, ME2's polish and ending, ME3's combat mechanics and emotional impact.

People really underestimate ME3's combat depth and level system.

Spoiler

They're too busy hating the game

. It easily trumps ME2.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Might step back into some ME3 multiplayer over the weekend, was playing five nights out of seven at one point, loved it

 

[Dany]

Mass Effect: First Contact


DOIT!

edit: giantbomb said passingly that there might be a mass effect trilogy on ps4/xbone? Where did those rumors come from?

 

[Taker34]

edit: giantbomb said passingly that there might be a mass effect trilogy on ps4/xbone? Where did those rumors come from?

From a BioWare dev who answered Shinobi's question on Twitter.

 

[Pollux]

It sounds like it'll revolve around opening up some of the unused Mass Relays, maybe while repairing them they discover a way to find out where the other ones are?

I like this idea. Would give the series a Star Trek vibe with exploring the galaxy, meeting new civilizations, shooting up bad guys, and banging hot space babes.

 

[Vashetti]

Got Leviathan, Omega and Citadel all on sale for PS3 the other week.

Done Leviathan and Omega so far. Both great, and really long too.

Omega is glitchy as fuck though, when Aria was doing her speech her character model literally span around, quickly moved several feet away, and back again, all whilst doing the speech. Very jarring.

I'm all in for a 1080p/60fps trilogy on PS4. Even after experiencing the PS4 and what it can do, ME3 has crazy detail in every major character's face on the PS3. Just needs that resolution and anti-aliasing upgrade. Of course hi-res textures would be great too.

 

[Fezzan]

Mass Effect: First Contact


DOIT!

Really? I feel like everyone knows everything about first contact, even if you didn't mean the first contact war and the Asari meeting the salarians or something.

 

[Simzyy]

Anything but First Contact.

That lore is established, we know what happens. The game would only really have humans and turians. I really hope they don't bother making a game out of it. It's boring.

But hey, it sounds like its a sequel. So yay!

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Mass Effect: First Contact


DOIT!

edit: giantbomb said passingly that there might be a mass effect trilogy on ps4/xbone? Where did those rumors come from?

Mass Effect: Reborn perhaps ?

 

[Darth Pinche]

Got Leviathan, Omega and Citadel all on sale for PS3 the other week.

Done Leviathan and Omega so far. Both great, and really long too.

Omega is glitchy as fuck though, when Aria was doing her speech her character model literally span around, quickly moved several feet away, and back again, all whilst doing the speech. Very jarring.

I'm all in for a 1080p/60fps trilogy on PS4. Even after experiencing the PS4 and what it can do, ME3 has crazy detail in every major character's face on the PS3. Just needs that resolution and anti-aliasing upgrade. Of course hi-res textures would be great too.

On sale? Where. I just bought Citadel last week and it was full price.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Picking a canon ending to 3 seems like a easy thing to write out of. Just set the new game thousands and thousands of years after the events of ME3. Have some gigantic, destructive catastrophe some point in the middle of those thousands of years that fucked everything up and wiped out a few species who outlived their usefulness like the Krogan.

If the game is set 20,000 years after ME3 and some big shit has gone down between now and then they can just not mention things like the faith of the Geth or Krogan because it wont matter anymore to any of the characters.

I've discussed this before, but you can't just make a sequel without canonizing at least one of the three endings, which is going to inevitably alienate one or more parts of the fanbase. That's where Bioware royally fucked up.

The great irony of the endings (both original/EC) is that despite how similar all three are, they have wildly varying consequences for the galaxy. You have factors like:

a) whether Shepard is alive (Destroy High-EMS) or not, regardless of whether his/her story is finished
b) whether the Reapers have been destroyed or not
c) whether the galaxy is fully-synthetic or not
d) whether any or all of the Geth/Quarians/Krogan races have been destroyed
e) how many of your squadmates survived

Those are among others. Doing a timeskip over thousands of years renders it incompatible with most or all of the characters and situations established over the course of the trilogy - it may as well be a complete reboot at that point.

You can't really do a prequel either - most of the major conflicts either took place over hundreds of years (Rachni Wars) or a very short timeframe (First Contact War, which lasted about two weeks).

The only thing they can do is swallow their pride and accept one version of the final choice.

 

[Pryce]

giantbomb said passingly that there might be a mass effect trilogy on ps4/xbone? Where did those rumors come from?

Day 1 buy. Instant.

 

[Patryn]

You already got that in ME3.

I actually quite like the way ME3 handled inventory. They just need to expand the number of mods, and allow for equipping squadmates with different pieces of armor the same way you could equip Shepard.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I actually quite like the way ME3 handled inventory. They just need to expand the number of mods, and allow for equipping squadmates with different pieces of armor the same way you could equip Shepard.

I miss the armour choices for all squad members from the first game. Better variety imo

 

[thechristoph]

Mass Effect: Revengeance: Kai Leng's Cerealy Back Again Redux

Kai Leng would have worked if he was in ME2 at all. Even just chilling in a test tube in the Cerberus facility Shepard wakes up in. Someone come up with a mod for that.

 

[Vashetti]

On sale? Where. I just bought Citadel last week and it was full price.

Are you in EU or NA?

It was an EU sale.

 

[Darth Pinche]

US, thanks. Oh well.

 

[Lettuce]

Finally got round to playing and completed Mass Effect 3 back last week...i somehow managed to get past the last 2 years without any spoilers on the ending and i honestly dont know what all the fuss was about i thought the ending was totally acceptable

 

[Enduin]

I've discussed this before, but you can't just make a sequel without canonizing at least one of the three endings, which is going to inevitably alienate one or more parts of the fanbase. That's where Bioware royally fucked up.

The great irony of the endings (both original/EC) is that despite how similar all three are, they have wildly varying consequences for the galaxy. You have factors like:

a) whether Shepard is alive (Destroy High-EMS) or not, regardless of whether his/her story is finished
b) whether the Reapers have been destroyed or not
c) whether the galaxy is fully-synthetic or not
d) whether any or all of the Geth/Quarians/Krogan races have been destroyed
e) how many of your squadmates survived

Those are among others. Doing a timeskip over thousands of years renders it incompatible with most or all of the characters and situations established over the course of the trilogy - it may as well be a complete reboot at that point.

You can't really do a prequel either - most of the major conflicts either took place over hundreds of years (Rachni Wars) or a very short timeframe (First Contact War, which lasted about two weeks).

The only thing they can do is swallow their pride and accept one version of the final choice.

This is my general view of things. I also think the next game should directly address the fallout of ME3 within a short time span of 50-100 years. BioWare needs to choose an ending, 90% chance it will be Destroy but with some caveats like the Geth survived, and then set the game in that universe where things have noticeably changed due to a near galactic wide extermination and all out war with a superior entity.

I don't want the game to dwell on the events of ME3, I don't need them to work overly hard to explain what happened and why, just choose the universe you want it to be in and show the results of that choice as we explore it and play the game.

There are a lot of things they need to address. Like how will the different races recover, or falter, after their near extinction. What kind of alliances and decisions will they make because of that. Play around with how easy or rather difficult it may be to repair and restore the Mass Relay System and how long periods of isolation maybe have changed some areas and portions of races. Would there be a push for new means of galactic travel outside the Mass Relays? How would it work, and more importantly what would there be to find in the vastness of space not connected by the MRS and who would be daring enough to explore those uncharted areas? Hint maybe the player?

How would having tons of dead Reapers affect the advancement of technology and science. Would that initiate another Mass Effect similar to what humans experienced after the discovery of the Prothean base on Mars? How would various races and factions within them feel about using the same technology that nearly wiped them out. Would government ban Reaper tech or heavily regulate it producing a vast blackmarket and industry for secretly acquiring, researching and developing Reaper based tech.

Put us in this galaxy and let us explore, literally and figuratively, the changes that have occurred after the events of ME3. My biggest fear is that they'll just explain away the events of ME1-3 and return things to business as usual, here's ME4 and a universe not much different from before.