Over the past few months we've spent more time than is probably healthy thinking about Mass Effect 3. Even having been lucky enough to get our hands on it for an hour or two last month, but there still remains a huge chunk of unanswered questions about our favourite characters.
Drawing on details confirmed so far and our own, not inconsiderable foothold in series lore, we've rustled up predictions for what Mass Effect 3 might have in store for 20 of your favourite characters. Most of the below are down to appear in the game in some capacity. As for those who aren't - well, let's just wait and see.
If you're keen to avoid spoilers about the plot points revealed during the third game's intro, do yourself a favour and stay away from this article's final page.
Presence in ME3 - Confirmed
Despite being the original Mass Effect's squeeze of choice, Ashley wasn't always the nicest girl to hang around with. She's proved to be quite the space-racist, questioning the need to have Krogans and Turians aboard the Normandy. After initially flirting with xenophobia, it seems like Ashley has straightened things out - putting her relationship with Shepard first, and remaining deeply untrusting of the pro-human Cerberus. Her hot-headedness might make her troublesome throughout Mass Effect 3, particularly if she feels that Shepard is in danger. Regardless of whether or not you choose to hook up with Ashley in Mass Effect 3, there's one situation she should be kept well away from. The Genophage is a tricky topic, and she didn't handle things all that well with Wrex on Virmire. By the time things kick off in Mass Effect 3, Ashley has been made a council Spectre - hopefully this won't prove too much of a power trip.
Presence in ME3 - Confirmed
Garrus Vakarian's transformation from paper-pushing caterpillar to badass butterfly was impressive. The first game cast him as an anxious quibbler, but events leading up to the sequel forged his character into something much harder. Despite being scarred, cold, and brutally efficient in combat, Garrus hadn't lost his two most valuable assets: loyalty and wit. After quitting the C-Sec he became something of a vigilante, assembling a team to defend innocent civilians in hopes of following in the footsteps of the presumed-dead Commander Shepard. Despite his zealous loyalty to you as a leader, his unstable personality makes his role in Mass Effect 3 tougher to predict. The fallout from the first game turned him into a remarkably violent character, and it's unclear whether things will stop there. If Garrus gets any more ruthless, he's liable to become a loose cannon.
26 comments so far...
paulbrown23 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Glad to see Miranda is back as she is one of my favourite characters, but is there any confirmation on if she is a squad member? I can't find anything about it.
Thane64 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Bioware have already confirmed that everyone will be reappearing in ME3 its just that some of them only have small roles
Also, my first comment on OXM
Thane64 on 30 Jan '12 said:
Also were is Kasumi in this feature, everyone always seems to forget about Kasumi
Plamsa wing on 30 Jan '12 said:
I really hope Grunt and Samara are in ME3. Samara being the only character apart from Ashley I would actually have as an LI. Besides you know what they say about older women.
I couldn't give a monkeys-arse about Miranda. I thought the whole father making the "perfect" daughter was rather creepy. Speaking of Arses, having the, for lack of a better word, sluts backside rammed in my face every five seconds is a rather unsettling prospect when you have a sister called Miranda.
Further more (bloody hell it's like being back at school) this article has a lack of Conrad Verner.
Decent_Jam on 30 Jan '12 said:
Reading this makes me want to have a plethora of different game options at my disposal, namely an alternative game which allows every character to be alive!
My main game has lost Jack during the final battle of ME2, but otherwise the gang are all around. Because I brought it from ME1 but fudged up Virmire there's no Wrex, so I've got only a hazey memory of him.
Finally there's the question of the Council. In ME1 I let the council die, and put Anderson in charge, which makes me wonder what would happen if the original Council were still alive.
So many questions...will just have to play Mass Effect all of February.
ratzerman on 30 Jan '12 said:
If you had taken the time to get to know Ashley, you would've realized that she isn't a racist at all. She even condemns a politician late in ME1 for being a racist. You also spelled Kaidan's name wrong. And who kills Wrex? Seriously.
terry cheyne on 30 Jan '12 said:
I really hope Grunt and Samara are in ME3. Samara being the only character apart from Ashley I would actually have as an LI. Besides you know what they say about older women.
what that they sh*t on you because of weak bowel control ?
CHIEFRAPTOR on 30 Jan '12 said:
I think Legion is badass! And all my characters survived apart from wrex and kaidan so i'm looking forward to see whats on the crads for my squad
Organic Carrot on 31 Jan '12 said:
Thankfully I saved everyone apart from Kaidan. Didn't really have a choice though. Looking forward to all the Mass Effecting I shall be doing in march.
OXM JamSponge on 31 Jan '12 said:
Sure sure, towards the end of the game she opens up a bit and stops being harsh towards other alien races, but early impressions are hard to shake! In my game ASHLEY killed Wrex - something I've never forgiven her for.
golliwoza on 31 Jan '12 said:
Everyone alive but Ash on my playthrough. What she did to Wrex on my earlier playthroughs also put me off, but also Kaiden is not alive on my other playthrough so really that means everyones alive right?
OXM JamSponge on 31 Jan '12 said:
I think the reason I resent her the most is that I let Kaidan die instead of her on Virmire, even though she'd just shot Wrex. Still regret that mistake - she didn't deserve to live after shooting my favourite buddy.
CunningSmile on 31 Jan '12 said:
Everyone alive on mine but Ashley. I never even hesitated over sacrificing her, not because of the xenophobia (although she would have deserved it for that) but just because SHE HAD NO CHIN! Seriously to have a chin that weak she must have been so inbred I did the gene pool a favour by letting her bigoted arse die.
msbhvn on 31 Jan '12 said:
It was Ashley's nasal whiny voice I couldn't stand. And that line when you're escaping Therum with Liara: "Hel-LO, Saren's looking for the Conduit!", I just wanted to pistol whip her. Blowing her up was almost as good, although I had to be all Paragon and say "We'll all miss Ash". Yeah I'll miss her, like I miss having diarrhoea.
Kaidan is a much better character IMO and my male Shepard's into aliens anyway. My female Shepard has an unfortunate habit of fraternising with her subordinates, romancing Kaidan and then Jacob. I'm sure that's about to bite her in the ass in ME3.
ATATCCU on 1 Feb '12 said:
I can't remember who I let live and who I let go to do other things. It's been a while now and things have faded to grey. I'm probably the only one left and as 'Percy Shepard' I 'spect I'll have to re-loyal my team again. Silly name I know but the guy is just too macho for his own good and needed his feet back on planet side for a while. Speaking of planets, here's hoping they get rid of that mining lark, I lost many hours at night nipping back through the Mass Effect warp thingy to go and buy some more probes. If Normandy is that advanced why couldn't they just 'replicate' them on board...or have I been spoiled by George Lucas and his bloody Starship Enterprise nonsense?
CunningSmile on 1 Feb '12 said:
Maybe he's so rough and macho BECAUSE he is named Percy. Imagine the bullying he experienced at school.
And George Lucas was Star Wars not Star Trek, you're thinking of Gene Roddenbury (strangely enough the first person buried in space)
sonicmark on 1 Feb '12 said:
Is it just me or did Ashley look like a Shemale?
ratzerman on 1 Feb '12 said:
Can't believe so many are blaming Ash for Wrex's death. Shep orders her to do it. And you have multiple oppurtunites to talk Wrex down. You have to be a total jerk to Wrex for that scene to end with his execution.
Clanger67 on 1 Feb '12 said:
Yeah i can't see the hassle i love wrex he's my kind of krogan.Plus i too haven't lost anybody at the end of 2 (good squad management) lol.
Jag8290 on 1 Feb '12 said:
Wow allot people had Wrex die in their games. You know it is very easy to save him, all you have to do is a 5 minute side mission for him or just have a high enough renegade/paragon score. Anyway I don't like when people label Ashley a racist either. She doesn't hate aliens, she is just young and does not have any experience working with them and she only killed Wrex because she was protecting Shepard, not because he was a Krogan. Also don't forget the fact that her family name was blacklisted because of Turians so it is natural for her not to trust the first alien she sees.
Nick2965 on 1 Feb '12 said:
I have heard on the grapevine that my choices in previous ME games will affect what happens story wise in ME3!? I'm quite concerned. Does anyone know exactly how much will my choices will affect the ME3 story?
For a start I never played the original! I didn't get introduced to Mass Effect until the release of ME2 and at the end of my ME2 game Miranda got herself killed. I also never played the "Shadow Broker" DLC. So I never had L'iara as a crew member.
I'm worried that these choices mean I miss out on story content in ME3.
CunningSmile on 1 Feb '12 said:
Unfortunately no way we can tell you how big a change you can expect I'm afraid. Most of us are still tracking changes from ME1, so all the decisions from as far back as the first few hours of that game will be taken into account. At the beginning of ME2 there was a little scene asking you if you remembered certain events to "check your memory" That would have filled in a lot of the choices you would have made, the rest will have just defaulted to Bioware's canon answers. I'm guessing a similar default will apply to any DLC you haven't played.
One thing for sure though, you've lost Miranda. That girl is D-E-A-D dead as far as your Universe is concerned. Hate to be the bearer of bad news
Metalratex on 1 Feb '12 said:
There are spoilers already in the first page. Com'on!
Organic Carrot on 5 Feb '12 said:
Garrus is by far my favorite team member in the entire game. He acts somewhat as Shepards apprentice and often makes choices similar to yours during the game. I'm so glad he remains in your squad for ME3. No other Turian could replace him.
sebierski on 6 Feb '12 said:
Its all about Legion!! I hope he is a pivotal in the story. by far the most interesting character.
ViperMad on 27 Feb '12 said:
Ahhhh, Jack. She's my fave. I'm SO glad she's returning in ME3 (especially since it took so long to romance her the first time).