14 DAY TRIAL // Drew Karpyshyn, one of the main writers for BioWare's Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, has shared his thoughts on the upcoming Mass Effect movie and mentioned that fans shouldn't be surprised to see that some characters scrapped while storylines were shortened or cut altogether.
The Mass Effect trilogy ended last year when the third installment in the series was released and closed the series of titles that focused on Commander Shepard.
While a Mass Effect movie has been planned for some time now, things are still progressing slowly, so former franchise writer Drew Karpyshyn, who helped created the first two games and wrote the first three books for the series, has talked with Kotaku about the movie.
First up, Karpyshyn noted that fans shouldn't get angry because certain characters were dropped while storylines were shortened, as the movie can only do so much in one hour and a half of footage, as opposed to the games that sprawled over tens of hours.
"I think taking a video game and putting it into another form—book, movie, or whatever—is very complicated, especially a BioWare game. We have 30 hours of content!," Karpyshyn said.
"Obviously, you’re going to have to define Shepard which is going to annoy a lot of the fans. But I think one of the things that also has to happen is you have to compress things down."
The writer highlights, however, that the movie should capture the essence of the video game series, which is to find a place for humanity a place in the galaxy.
"As far as what I think they really need to leave in, for me, [Mass Effect is] really about this idea that humanity is the newcomer and trying to prove themselves to the other races or trying to find their place," Karpyshyn said.
"Shepard is trying to find his way through as the first human Spectre. It’s an honor but also a burden. Everyone is watching him and there’s people who want to see him fail. it’s important to see that element in there as well and really get a sense that everybody is watching what humans do and the humans are trying to figure out their place in the universe. For me, I hope that’s one of the things I really hope they’re able to capture in the film if and when it ever gets made."
As of yet, however, Mass Effect franchise producer Casey Hudson revealed that things were progressing in regards to the movie, but no details can be shared just yet.