Kristine Kilcoyne

For fans of Mass Effect, this past November 7th was no ordinary N7 Day. On this day, BioWare published a cryptic poster stating “Mass Effect Will Continue”. For those unaware, N7 is the highest grade in Earth’s Alliance Systems, a program that recruits the top officers from all Earth’s different military branches. Commander Shepard, the protagonist of the Mass Effect trilogy, holds this rank, and fans annually celebrate the trilogy on November 7th. Mass Effect is so widely popular for its storytelling, repercussive decisions, classes, paragon/renegade options, general gameplay, and open world(s).

Mass Effect takes place in the year 2183, well after humans have discovered alien life, and mass effect relays. These relays are able to transport matter into solar systems lightyears away, in a matter of moments. These relays are the mysterious product of an unknown creator; and because of them, humans now know they are one of many intelligent life forms in the Milky Way Galaxy. But humanity faces a threat from the Reapers, an ancient race of beings, whose entire existence and creator is unknown, and also terrifying.

Mass Effect takes place over the course of three games, and three in-game years, and choices that you make as Commander Shepard carry weight. Often, the consequences of your choices may not have immediate repercussions; sometimes they will. Early in the first game, you have the choice between saving one of two close teammates. The teammate you don’t choose dies, and any future stories or relationships with that character are no longer possible.

Depending on how you like to play, you can choose from six different classes: Soldier, Engineer, Biotic, Vanguard, Sentinel, and Adept. The Soldier, for instances, has powers focused on brute strength and can use a variety of guns. The Biotic is privy to biotic powers, such as Throw, Warp, and Singularity. The Engineer has tech powers, while the other three classes are good combinations of the first three.

As Commander Shepard, you can play as a Paragon or Renegade, depending on your personality or who you want Commander Shepard to be. When you see your crewmates mention a poker game, for example, you can go the Renegade route and tell them that there’s no gambling allowed on your ship. Or you can go the Paragon route and ask to be dealt in. The more Paragon or Renegade choices you choose, the higher those individual levels rise. The higher the level, the more risky chances you’ll be able to take. You can use a high Paragon skill to solve a conflict between two arguing teammates. If your Paragon score isn’t high enough, you fail to resolve anything, and you have to pick a side, leaving one teammate happy and one teammate pissed.

The gameplay, albeit clunky, is truly something spectacular. When you bring up the Powers wheel, you freeze time on the battlefield, allowing you to scan your enemies and surroundings, and choose the best course of action. Mass Effect was the first video game to introduce the dialogue wheel. Using this wheel, you can navigate a conversation almost like you would in real life. You can branch off into one topic and ask several questions on the matter, then revert back to the original question where you can choose another route to explore. Mass Effect is worth playing twice; when you play as the opposite sex, you’ll have new dialogue choices, depending on who you’re talking to. You can also romance crewmates of different genders as before.

Its important to distinguish between the Mass Effect Series and the Mass Effect trilogy. Mass Effect: Andromeda belongs in the former, not the latter. ME: Andromeda receives an honorable mention; it’s not as widely favored or acclaimed as the original trilogy. But if you compare any game to one of the best video game series of all times, it’s not likely to hold a candle to it. It features a new protagonist – Ryder, the Pathfinder – a new crew, and especially, a new galaxy! The antagonist of the game is an alien species called the Kett, who are immediately hostile. The general goal is to make the Andromeda galaxy habitable; sometime between when you leave the Milky Way for a 600 year trek to Andromeda and when you arrive, the Golden World you once poached is no longer golden.

ME: Andromeda still uses the classes system, as well as the dialogue wheel, but it eliminated the Paragon/Renegade morality system that so many fans loved. Between the too-open world aspect and the plethora of Collection side quests, the game left much to be desired.

We don’t know much about the newest Mass Effect game: its name and release date are unknown. The teaser poster hinted at the geth being the focus point. The geth is a race of artificial intelligent “robots” that became fully aware and only rebelled against their creators, the Quarians, when they attempted to shut them down. You can see a few people on the poster, and one of them appears to be a krogan; both the krogan and geth inhabit the Milky Way Galaxy, suggesting that the game takes place after the events of the original trilogy.

For new fans or old who want a new playthrough or are dying to do a full Renegade run, the Legendary Edition was recently released; featuring a remastering of the original trilogy, and all of the DLCs. Fall in love with old or new characters and make your way in the Milky Way as Commander Shepard. After the trilogy, try your hand in a new galaxy as Pathfinder Ryder.