As One Up Gaming’s biggest fan of the Mass Effect games, it seems only right that I put together a brief piece of speculation on the next Mass Effect title. I loved the first three games, the immense, in-depth, and interactive story lines, the third person action, the collection of versatile weaponry and of course, Biotic power. ME 1’s vehicular warfare, ME 2’s expansion on the Milky Way’s inhabitants and expansion on space exploration, and the very dramatic ME 3 with fantastic soundtrack, graphics and cinematic sequences.

 

Now, Im not going to start debating the endings on this piece, otherwise I would be here for a very long time. Nor am I going to comment on the “Indoctrination Theory”. However I would like to discuss the possibilities of a “Next Gen” Mass Effect. Bioware, being the secretive, tyrannical organisation that they are, are holding back any and all information of the currently in development game. They say that they haven't even got a name of the new game, nor will the next ME revolve around Commander Shepard.

 

We have been told that we can expect some details to be revealed at this years E3, which is next month, So the wait is nearly over, “Thank the Goddess”. Despite being given a date to get our much needed fix of info from Bioware, it still hasn't stopped many diehard fans from speculating. The current consensus seems to be split into three groups, the first believing the next trilogy could focus on the First Contact War. The FCW being Humanities first encounter with alien life quickly turning hostile. The back story being Humanity attempting to activate the Rachni Relay, and thus getting attacked by Turian Forces. I personally think this would be quite a fun and interesting story, and I believe the main Protagonist would be Admiral Anderson. (Or Captain Anderson to coincide with timeline).

 

Another speculative thought would be directed towards the Indoctrination theory, in which stating that Shepard was indoctrinated in ME3, never made it to the beam, never activated the Crucible and never actually died. Thus the war with the Reapers continues, and our beloved team of heroes can return to fight Harbinger. This is story that I want to see, but believe Bioware might not grace the fans with what we want this time.

 

The last idea, and probably most likely, is that Shepard did in fact activate the Crucible, and your save game from ME3 will impact your new story greatly. Destroy means no synthetics and could see a repeat of a Geth styled rebellion. Control could mean the return of Shepard in a super A.I Reaper form assisting you to fight a new galactic empire or enemy. Synthesis could possibly lead to the pursuit of immortality as EDI mentions in the extended cut. Choosing not to use the Crucible will mean the continuation of the Reaper war and would make for a very interesting guerrilla styled combat game.

 

Whatever Bioware decide to release, Im sure it cause quite a stir, and will possibly create new fans, and possibly lose some old ones. The creators do need to tread carefully after their uncreative, boring and very similar multi-choice endings to the trilogy. So watch out Bioware, the consensus is watching.