A running animation shows how the character evolved

Jan 12, 2015 07:44 GMT  ·  By

The Mass Effect series might have completed its initial story arc, focused on the heroic Commander Shepard, but for fans of the universe, confirmation that the initial design of the character was for a woman might be more important than a reveal of the story of the next title in the franchise.

The information comes from the Twitter account of Jonathan Cooper, who was an animator with developer BioWare when the initial concept was being created, and it includes an early running animation for the character.

The developer says that the entire clip was based on motion capture that was initially used in Jade Empire, an even earlier game from the studio.

After the initial design, the company decided to allow players to choose the genre of the protagonist in Mass Effect, initiating a major theme of players’ choice that was reflected all through the series and was much appreciated by fans.

Data revealed by BioWare after the third title in the franchise was launched shows that most gamers went through the trilogy as a man, but the most dedicated fans and many reviewers believe that the voice performance of Jennifer Hale elevated the character and imbued her with more emotion and grit than her male counterpart.

Mass Effect has completed the saga of Commander Shepard, but the company and publisher Electronic Arts plan to create more titles linked to the universe.

A bright future for action RPG titles

The two companies have so far not offered any clear details about the fourth game in the series, but they have said that they plan to improve on the storytelling and to take advantage of the increase in computing power delivered by the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4, and new PCs.

Rumors have suggested that the new title might take place many years in the future and might be more focused on player choices and on the effect that their actions will have on the state of the universe.

An official reveal might take place at the coming E3 2015 event, but launch will probably be scheduled for some point in 2017.  

Mass Effect 3 Images (7 Images)

Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3
Another female versionThird-person combat
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