Report: Mass Effect 5 Story Set 600 Years After Reaper War; Combat Would Feature “Brutal Close-up Executions”
Yesterday, RPG fans were buzzing as a former BioWare developer seemingly leaked the trailer for Mass Effect 5, which we now know goes by the official title of “Mass Effect: Universe.”
In it, we saw the game’s new protagonist, a familiar face in Liara, some form of combat and more.
Today, a lot more details have surfaced, and while it’s not from the developers themselves, it’s the next best thing: the info comes from a group of content creators and gamers who are big Mass Effect fans that were helping BioWare shape the next entry in the series.
If you’re a Mass Effect fan (such as me), you might be a bit saddened by the info, as this is the Mass Effect we wanted (sorry, Andromeda!).
Mass Effect: Universe Is Set 600 Years After the Reaper War
The info comes from content creator Dantics, who revealed that he was part of the Mass Effect Council. In the video, Dantics talks about the story, some of the mission structure and more.
For those wondering, Mass Effect: Universe is supposedly set 600+ years after the Reaper War, and while Commander Shepard is long gone, his legacy is preserved — regardless of the ending the player chose.
The main protagonist will be a customizable N7 agent, and instead of being a walking run rack, he’s said to be a cross between John Wick and James Bond; something we can kind of see in the leaked trailer. Speaking of the trailer, that is Liara making an appearance, and she is now a powerful Asari Matriarch, which isn’t really surprising if you played through Mass Effect 3’s Shadowbroker DLC.
When it comes to the universe, it’s said the galaxy has been split into three major factions, as the humans, krogans, batarians, and more have allied together. The Council has formed its own alliance, as the Geth has emerged as the third superpower of the universe (I am guessing this is where your previous choices didn’t matter).
Instead of another Reaper invasion, there is now a galactic Cold War brewing, with the main villain yet unnamed and unidentified as to what race they are.
The Geth has built megastructures, and there are connections between the Milky Way and Andromeda.
Mass Effect: Universe Was Supposed to Give More Freedom to the Player
For the actual gameplay, it’s said that there is Hitman-style freedom in how players can complete missions, and Universe would feature handcrafted missions similar to the Mass Effect trilogy.
Players would be able to hack and manipulate the environment (also something the trailer gave a sneak peek of), and this hacking would also mean seeing through walls, identifying systems, remotely triggering hazards, and more.
There were supposed to be “brutal” close-up executions, which would have been a sight to see given how biotics worked in the Mass Effect universe.
When it came to romance, it’s said that it wasn’t being sanitized, which wouldn’t be surprising given how more mature gaming has become over the last few years.
Dantics also adds that Mass Effect: Universe was being made for the fans, and “not for people who don’t exist,” meaning BioWare knew who their target audience was, and this wouldn’t be an RPG that wanted to cater to the new people and the franchise vets (Andromeda, anyone?).
All in all, this sounds like a massive return to form — at least on paper. It’s one thing to envision something, and another to actually execute it, right? Also of note, Mass Effect Council member or not, this is still unofficial news and didn’t come from BioWare directly, so don’t treat this as an official story synopsis of Mass Effect: Universe or whatnot.
Given BioWare is no more, the best we can do now is hope EA resurrects the project at some point, or another company swoops in, and buys the property and project from EA.
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