I called it. I bloody called it. On Friday I asked: “What if BioWare announced Mass Effect 5 this weekend?” So you’ll imagine my surprise and delight when the devs revealed they’re currently working on a new Mass Effect game. They didn’t provide many details, it’s all very early days. However, there is an image. A teaser image with some alien silhouettes that suggests to me Mass Effect 5 will be set after the events of Andromeda.
Much like the Dragon Age 4 images from EA Play Live, in typical BioWare fashion, this new ME pic doesn’t give us much. But I think we can make out one very important detail: the species of these figures.
On the far right there, we can see a salarian. That one’s easy, they have very distinct heads with curved in little horns on them. The being next to them could well be human, but on closer inspection looks very much like a drell. “But there weren’t any drell in Andromeda!” I hear you cry, and you would be correct. When I first spotted it, I also thought this meant BioWare were taking us back to the Milky Way.
But the figure to the left of that potential drell is the important one to note. Too chunky for a human or asari, yet not chunky enough for a krogan, or tall enough for a turian. Nope, that silhouette looks like an angara, the aliens native to the Andromeda system.
If this is the case, it’s a very exciting prospect for what’s to come. Those who’ve played Andromeda will remember that there are no drell in it. On their journey from the Milky Way, they were aboard the quarian Ark, which never actually turns up in-game. You have to read a spin-off book to find out what happened (though the book is interesting!).
Setting a new game in Andromeda is also a chance for BioWare to try again. I’ve said it before, but I’m one of the people who thinks the game really wasn’t that bad. It has great characters, and good world (galaxy?) building that has so much more lore to explore.
If Mass Effect: Andromeda 2 is really on the horizon, my only hope is that the open world stuff is chopped back. More focussed, linear level design would do the series a world of good. Oh, and let us play as aliens!
As for that final character on the far left… I have no idea. They look like they have hooks for hands, which terrifies me.
Take this all with a pinch of salt, it’s all speculation after all. But speculation is fun! And I invite you to join me. What do you think the next Mass Effect holds in store for us, reader?
If a new Andromeda isn’t your jam, don’t forget BioWare also officially revealed the ME trilogy remaster this weekend. (Though modders already have you covered if you want some upgrades right now.)
