The next chapter in theMass Effectseries – known colloquially asMass Effect 4– is in development at BioWare, which dropped a new trailer for the title at The Game Awards 2020 last month. The teaser strongly implied that the next game would pick up whereMass Effect 3left off, showing dead Reapers, Liara T’Soni, and a piece of N7 armor which potentially hinted at Shepard’s return.
BioWare seems keen to takeMass Effectback to its roots, but it’s a fine line to walk.Mass Effect 4will need to help launch a new story that expands into its own self-contained trilogy, instead of just following fromMass Effect 3and emulating the first three games. Here are the reasons BioWare will need to makeMass Effect 4’s story stand on its own legs, and some ways the studio’s storytellers might achieve that.
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Mass Effect’s Return to the Milky Way
Between the announcement of a new chapter in theMass Effectseries and a remaster of the original trilogy –Mass Effect: Legendary Edition– it’s clear BioWare is keen to get its flagship sci-fi series back to its roots.Mass Effect: Andromedaattempted to avoid addressing the different possible endings toMass Effect 3by taking place far in the future in a different galaxy.
However, afterAndromeda’s disappointing reception, BioWare appears to be willing to return to the Milky Way and seemingly to makeMass Effect 3’s Destroy ending canonin order to continue the story. After a decade of reboots and revivals,Mass Effecthas a lot of expectations to content with.
For example, whenStar Warscame back to the silver screen in 2015 withThe Force Awakensmany fans were quick to point out similarities with the firstStar Wars, from its desert-dwelling protagonist toStarkiller Base’s resemblance to the original Death Star. Though it was possible for the movie to evoke nostalgia for the originals, its close emulation made it difficult to match or surpass them. IfMass Effect 4is going to restore the series to its former glory then BioWare cannot play it too safe.
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The Risk of Playing it Safe
Closely emulating the originalMass Effectgames in terms of story structure, character dynamics, or even set pieces and aesthetics will likely causeMass Effect 4to fall short. After all, in a best-case scenario a game closely based on the original trilogy would evoke all of the same emotions, but with a diminished sense of originality.Mass Effect 4will need to ensure that its villains feel very different tothe Reapers, for example. They can’t be another ancient galaxy-wide threat, and they can’t explore the same dynamic between organic and synthetic life.
It will be tempting to bring back fan-favorite companions likeGarrus Vakarian, but BioWare should be careful to make sureMass Effect 4doesn’t have the same squad dynamic as the OT. Similarly, the player character’s role – Shepard or not – should not be that of a commander forced to work around a disbelieving bureaucracy to save the galaxy.
Fortunately, there are plenty of paths the game could go down. The originalMass Effecttrilogy had cut plotlines that the storytellers could draw influence from when creating the broad arcs of a new trilogy, like theDark Energy plottalked about by the lead writer of the first two games, who even hinted at the possibility of time manipulation. The real question is whether or not BioWare will be willing to take the necessary risks after the disappointment ofAndromeda.
Playing it safe, however, may doomMass Effectto a far slower and more painful decline, especially ifBioWarebrings back beloved characters only to tell less satisfying stories about their lives after the defeat of the Reapers.Mass Effect 4may be taking players back to the Milky Way, but its long-term success relies on exploring new territory.
