14 DAY TRIAL // The next Mass Effect game in the series developed by BioWare won't have any relationship to the events in the original "Commander Shepard" trilogy, but it might receive different comic book tie-ins in order to flesh out the story, according to writer Mac Walters.
The Mass Effect series concluded the adventures of Commander Shepard last year and, after a few month,s BioWare confirmed that it was working on an all-new installment in the series that will feature a different protagonist and new adventures.
Now, BioWare's Mac Walters talked with Complex about the relationship between the new game and the previous trilogy.
"Well, I can’t get into details, but the idea is that we have agreed to tell a story that doesn’t relate necessarily to any of the Shepard events at all, whatsoever. Beyond that, that’s what we’ve been deciding for a while."
"But throughout it all, one of the key things is that it has to be Mass Effect. It can’t just feel like a spin-off. It has to feel like a Mass Effect game at its heart, at its core. Just without the Shepard character or the Shepard specific companions."
Walters, who's in the process of writing the new Mass Effect: Foundation comic book series, revealed that the fourth installment might also get different comics to shed more light about its story.
"I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t want to use the comics as a companion. I mean, that’s where we have the best success, I think. When the comics themselves actually work with something directly in the game. Because we never just feel like, 'this is just more Mass Effect stuff.' We want it to fit in with the games. So I imagine that in the future, if everything keeps going well, we’ll be doing the same thing when the next Mass Effect comes out."
As of yet, however, BioWare's next big game is Dragon Age: Inquisition, which is out in 2014.