While the next title in the Mass Effect franchise is presumably years away, that didn’t stop BioWare from taking stage at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con in order to talk about the future of the series.
Similar to its debut at E3 2014, concrete details on the next Mass Effect have been hard to come by. Specific info such as a title, release date, what planets will be available for exploration or where this entry fits into the series’ canon were not discussed during the panel. Panel-goers did say that BioWare offered some brief details on the story, though, such as that it may be set during Shepard’s life-span and that some familiar faces could possibly return.
While the lack of actual information on the game may be disappointing, BioWare didn’t come to Comic-Con completely empty-handed, as the studio trotted out some smaller details that will excite fans. The company showed off prototypes of new armor designs, which can be seen above, that seemingly indicate that the protagonist will once again be human. BioWare hasn’t ruled out the possibility of non-human protagonists, though, so fans of the Turians, Quarians and other assorted alien races can still hold out hope here.
Another interesting detail shared by the company was that the Mako will be making its return. The land-based buggy was last seen in the original Mass Effect, and depending on how you felt about it, was either a blast or chore to drive around in. Concept footage shown of the vehicle indicates that it will be a much faster way of transportation this time around, but could be lacking in the firepower department.
Although it will be awhile before we can get our hands on the next Mass Effect, I’m excited by the small amount of information doled out over the weekend. It appears that BioWare will be stressing customization this time around and it will be interesting to see if we have to follow a rigid story path, like we had to with the adventures of Commander Shepard.
