BioWare has confirmed that Shepard will return to the Citadel in Mass Effect 3, and revealed that you'll be able to tackle Citadel missions originally slated to appear in Mass Effect 2.
A cherished Mass Effect 1 environment, the Citadel was accessible to a very limited degree in the sequel. According to Mass Effect 3's lead writer Mac Walters, BioWare considered adding more Citadel quests but decided against it. Mass Effect 3 will revive at least one of those lost plot threads.
"There was a Mass Effect 2 plot that was a kind of callback to the first Mass Effect that was going to be on the Citadel, and we cut it. But now it's made a resurrection in Mass Effect 3, so I'm happy, but I can't say what it is. That's the nice thing about trilogies, sometimes you get a second chance."
I don't think I'd call it 'trapped'," he explained, when asked how he felt about having to accommodate several possible player decisions at key plot junctures. "They're more hurdles. Sometimes they're hurdles that we've given ourselves, so we kind of smack ourselves in the head and say 'What the hell were we thinking? Why did we do that?'
The classic example is 'Hey, let's make the ending of Mass Effect 2 a suicide mission where all your henchmen can possibly die, and Shepard can even die!' Oh right... and then we're gonna do another game after that. What the hell are we gonna do with all those guys?"
With three Mass Effects under his belt, Walters is ready for a change of scene. "I definitely have some writers who want to try something else, to move on. For me, personally, it'll be over seven years of Mass Effect - I have a soft spot for the universe, but it's easy to get a little weary.
"But I'd be much more sad if someone said "yeah, you can never do anything Mass Effect ever again," and no one's ever said that to me specifically. I'd rather take a break, then come back to revel in it again and enjoy it."
Read our last Mass Effect 3 preview for info on the game's Galaxy at War co-op component. And pick up a copy of OXM 80, even now riding a Mass Relay route to subscribers, for more from Edwards. It's on shelves tomorrow, 30th November.
8 comments so far...
Guilty Sparks on 29 Nov '11 said:
Scanning the keepers is my bet.
xPearse on 29 Nov '11 said:
Bring back that all characters can use any weapon, it sucked that you didnt get to roam around on the citadel much and revisit the places out of the first.
msbhvn on 30 Nov '11 said:
Imaginary conversation between EA exec and ME2 developer:
EA exec: Wow, this new Mass Effect 2 shooter you're making looks awesome!
ME2 Dev: It's an RPG, not a shooter.
EA exec: I know. That rocket launcher looks sweet!
ME2 Dev: No, I didn't mean Rocket Propelled Grenade, I mean Mass Effect 2 is a Role Playing Game.
EA exec: Role what? That guy has a gun doesn't he? It's a shooter. I hear Epic are finishing Gears of War with the third one. Idiots! If the suckers are still buying it, why stop?
ME2 Dev: Well, we're planning Mass Effect as a trilogy, too, so the third one will be the last.
EA exec: Don't be stupid, you'll keep making them every year, until you make a bad one and then we'll close you down and get someone else to make it. Oh, and while you're at it, can you tank that Dragon Age franchise? No one's going to take your space shooters seriously if you're making games about elves and dwarves and s***.
ME2 Dev: What are you talking about? Dragon Age: Origins is selling really well.
EA exec: Yeah, but it took like five years to make, you can't churn them out every year like you're going to with these Mass Effect shooters.
ME2 Dev: Stop calling it a shooter, it's an RPG with conversations and levelling and diplomacy.
EA exec: You're putting dinosaurs in it? That's awesome!
ME2 Dev: What dinosaurs...? I said diplomacy, negotiating with alien races.
EA exec: I don't like the sound of that, space ship races would take focus away from the shooting.
ME2 Dev: *starts updating their CV* Sure, whatever you say.
CunningSmile on 30 Nov '11 said:
@msbhvn That made me really laugh, and then shiver a little as I realised it was probably true.
Don't forget that DA:O, ugly and complex as it was, had sold more in it's first 6 months then GOTY ME2 had in the same time frame. Bioware really need to remember who they are whilst there are still people who care.
msbhvn on 30 Nov '11 said:
Thanks, Cunning.
Every recent article concerning BioWare has increased my expectation that ME3 will be just as disappointing as DA2, so I thought I'd poke a little fun at them.
I've been wracking my brain for months as to why EA bought BioWare in the first place and then it hit me that they must not have known what RPG stands for. Then I got a vision of what an EA exec might be like, a cross between Homer Simpson and Monty Burns, heartless, greedy and stupid at the same time.
I would do another one about ME3, but it would take a good five pages to take the p*** out of those dumbass decisions.
SidTheSloth on 30 Nov '11 said:
Class
I've just 'borrowed' your post for the DA3 thread in the gaming discussion zone - i felt it should be read by more people!
The more i read, i too am beginning to suspect they should lose the 'M' from Mass Effect...
But still, like the gullible retarded sheep that i am, i will purchase it. And Dragon Age "now with added guns edition" 3 too probably....
CunningSmile on 1 Dec '11 said:
Snap
Furie on 1 Dec '11 said:
By "imaginary" do you mean "completely accurately quoted from EA in the 90s through early 2000s and Activision now"?