So you’ve finally decided to give the Mass Effect universe a chance with the, uh, final chapter in a trilogy. Okay, firstly, welcome! Secondly, where the hell’ve you been?
Bioware is making strides to accommodate you, late bloomer. Feeling self-conscious for not bringing newcomers into ME2’s narrative flow smoothly, the action-RPG powerhouse is making strides with the third game to usher you into the shoes of Commander Shepard.
“If I’m a new player and some guy walks up to me and is like ‘Ohhhh Shepard! Remember that one time?’ I would be like 'No. I don’t remember that one time.' So we wanted to make sure that there aren’t those moments that the player is like, 'Who is this? What’s going on? What are they talking about?’”
- Nick Clifford, Mass Effect 3’s Marketing Manager
In order to stave off players feeling like a guest at someone else’s high school reunion, character interactions vary depending on whether you loaded a Shepard from the previous game or if you started a new hero from scratch. If you are in fact virginal to Bioware’s world of geth, reapers, planetary shoot-outs, and hours of mineral mining (don’t ask), there will also be a “story so far” narrative branch.
Save the universe as your Shepard March 6th.