Tag: Mass Effect

Destiny 2 is teaming with Mass Effect and Bioware in a really cool collaboration

New Cosmetics are coming to Destiny 2

Destiny 2 developer Bungie has announced that a new collaboration is coming to the game, this time in the form of Bioware’s excellent sci-fi epic, Mass Effect. This follows collaborations with other video game franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Last of Us and The Witcher.

Players will be excited to hear that this round of cosmetics will be free of charge, a departure from the previous round of collaborations, which required silver — Destiny’s in-game currency — to purchase the items. Titans can suit up as Commander Sheppard and his N7 armor. At the same time, Hunters and Warlocks will be outfitted with the armor of two of Sheppard’s most recognizable squadmates, Garrus Vakarian and Liara T’Soni, respectively.

Also included in the Alliance Requisition Bundle are the Enhanced Defense Ghost Shell, the Alliance Drop Ship Sparrow, and the Alliance Scout Frigate Ship, a nod to the iconic Normandy (Joker not included). Players will also be able to purchase a finisher and emote for silver. These items will be available starting Feb. 13.

Mass Effect lead writer on why ME Legendary Edition inspired him to leave BioWare

Former BioWare employee and lead Mass Effect writer Mac Walters explained why he left the company after nearly two decades

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Former BioWare employee and lead Mass Effect writer Mac Walters explained why he left the company after nearly two decades. Walters left the company of his own volition earlier in 2023, though BioWare laid off other long-time writers, including some who worked on the hit space game trilogy with Walters and on Dragon Age as well.

Walters told the MinnMax show that he decided it was time for a change after working on Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the remastered package that brought all three Mass Effect games together for modern consoles (thanks, Eurogamer). Walters said that, unlike BioWare’s other projects, Legendary Edition was comparatively unplanned and only had a “small, scrappy” team working on it, something that reminded him of days gone by.

“That process reminded me a lot of early BioWare, we were a small scrappy team and people wearing lots of different hats,” Walters said. “The way to make that successful was really for me to be little bit rogue, a little bit sort of entrepreneurial in how we were going to build this out with the people we had and people we could get without disrupting other teams in the meantime.

“This is the future – this is how AAA gaming needs to go when you look at how complex and challenging it is,” he said. “And so a lot of that was reminding me of… y’know, call it the good old days, or whatever.”

Walters said he wanted to work on new projects and fresh IP, but that there wasn’t any room at EA for his plans. When it became clear that the opportunities he envisioned just weren’t possible at BioWare anymore, he said he realized it was time to move on.

Walters founded a new studio with NetEase after he left, Worlds Untold, and is currently working on an unannounced sci-fi project. BioWare, meanwhile, is still teasing Mass Effect 5 and Dragon Age 4, both of which aren’t anywhere near launching after several years of development.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

The best Xbox Black Friday deals on the Xbox Store

We’ve rounded up the best Xbox Black Friday deals on the Xbox Store, including Cyberpunk 2077, Monster Hunter Rise, Sekiro, and more

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Xbox Black Friday deals on the Xbox Store are live, with discounts on big names across the spectrum. Whether you’re after a Fromsoft classic, a recent AAA blockbuster, or an older hit you never got around to before, you’ll find plenty to entertain your wallet while these deals last. Most of the games available playable on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, though we’ve noted when there may be a conflict.

The Xbox Black Friday deals are up now through Nov. 30, 2023.

BioWare teases Mass Effect 5 reveal in cryptic Epsilon trailer

It’s N7 day, which means BioWare briefly acknowledged that they’re making a new Mass Effect game, this time with a short, enigmatic trailer

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It’s N7 day, which means BioWare briefly acknowledged that they’re making a new Mass Effect game, this time with a short, enigmatic trailer for the space game. It’s also the day a group of unionized contract workers formerly of the Dragon Age Dreadwolf team, still fighting for the severance pay BioWare has yet to provide after laying them off, demonstrated outside the company’s offices in Edmonton, Alberta.

It looks like nobody is getting what they want today, though. The Alberta Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the striking workers, declining EA’s appeal to block them from striking outside BioWare HQ. EA has apparently yet to reach an agreement with the strikers. And the Mass Effect reveal was just a masked character in a big coat.

The coat is very swanky, to be fair.

Some keen fans still managed to piece together some theories from the scant 30 seconds of footage BioWare released. One suggested this mysterious character might be the child of Shepard and Liara, though there’s not really any solid evidence for that. Others think that the futuristic style of helmet points to a post-Mass Effect Andromeda story, since that game takes place hundreds of years after the main trilogy, with its clunkier, militaristic fashion.

It’s been two years since BioWare first announced Mass Effect 5, two years of scant teasers, major shakeups at the studio, and little information from BioWare about the state of the game. We know Liara is there, along with a fragment of Shepard’s armor, though probably not Shepard themselves. The Geth are still a thing, and that’s about it.

With Dragon Age Dreadwolf seemingly closer to the end of production than Mass Effect 5, it may be 2024’s N7 day before we learn anything else about the series.

Michael Scott meets Mass Effect in hilarious video

The Office’s boss takes on some reapers in a ridiculous parody.

The Mass Effect universe is overflowing with intergalactic danger, and no leader has the skills to take on spacefaring threats quite like The Office‘s Michael Scott. That latter sentiment is entirely incorrect, of course – but someone proved he’s up to the job in a wild crossover.

On Monday, YouTuber eli_handle_b․wav shared a new video where Michael Scott takes command of the SSV Normandy from the original Mass Effect trilogy. Have you ever wondered how the self-proclaimed “world’s best boss” would handle Mass Effect 2‘s explosive opening? Or how about that part in Mass Effect 3‘s Citadel DLC when the crew parties the night away? Scott’s got moves.

Check out the video for yourself below. Make sure you’re not drinking anything unless you want to spit it out via guttural belly laugh.

In fairness to Michael, I think the overwhelming majority of us would have that reaction to Miranda Lawson giving us a shoulder tap.

By now, eli_handle_b․wav has done a few of these hilarious crossover edits. Specifically with Home Alone x Resident Evil Village, Leslie Nielsen x Detroit: Become Human, and Indiana Jones in Elden Ring. The end result is always something that’s as knee-slap worthy as it is beautiful.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Mass Effect writer leaves Bioware ahead of Dragon Age Dreadwolf’s release

After two decades, Mac Walters is leaving the studio.

Mac Walters, a key creative mind behind several Bioware games, has left the company.

Perhaps best known for being the lead writer on Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, Walters announced on LinkedIn his departure from Bioware after having worked there for nearly two decades.

“As some of you already know, at the end of last year, I decided to leave BioWare,” Walters explains on LinkedIn. “These past 19 years have been a life-changing experience to say the least, and it made the choice to go very difficult. I’ve worked with so many wonderful people and had the privilege to be a part of the most amazing teams and projects. It’s hard to fathom it all, and I know I’ll be reflecting on it for years to come.”

Walters was also the production director of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf until recently, obviously leaving well before the game’s launch. However, it’s well into the alpha stage of development by now, meaning Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is playable from beginning to end. Walters’ announcement suggests he probably has no involvement with Mass Effect 5, either.

There’s still not much known about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, though a recent storyline teaser gave us some idea of where the story is heading following the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Bioware teases Mass Effect 5 with mysterious audio

In honor of N7 Day, the studio behind Mass Effect gave everyone a taste of what’s to come.

It’ll be quite a long time before there’s another Mass Effect, but developer Bioware gave fans a taste of what’s coming on Monday.

As part of the annual N7 Day celebrations, Bioware released a brand-new piece of Mass Effect teaser — more specifically, artwork from the next mainline installment. It shows some kind of massive space station above a brownish planet. Garbled audio accompanies the image too, which contains a secret message.

“The Council will be furious. Although, they should know by now not to underestimate human defiance,” it says. The voiceover is clearly from Liara T’Soni, one of Mass Effect’s most iconic characters that we already knew would be in this upcoming title.

Take a listen for yourself below.

It’s not much, but that’s to be somewhat expected. Bioware is still busy making Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, after all. Last year’s N7 Day teaser was less in-depth, even. 

Project director Mike Gamble also took the time to thank Mass Effect fans for their passion. 

“In the nearly 15 years since the release of the first Mass Effect, the biggest reason we still love working on it is the warmth, dedication, and passion of this community,” Gamble said via the Bioware Blog. “There are some of you who have been with us through everything. We’ve grown together, sacrificed Ashley together (Editor’s Note: Or Kaidan, Mike! We all make different choices.), faced difficulties together… and laughed until our Faces Were Tired… together!”

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Former Mass Effect writer was ‘blindsided’ by demands for Garrus romance option

Drew Karpyshyn reveals that Bioware didn’t think people would love calibrating.

Romance is part of what makes Mass Effect an all-time great RPG. I mean, where else can you swipe right on brutish humanoid frogs and several-century-old warrior matriarchs? Despite the (apparent) appeal of dating aliens, Bioware didn’t know everyone would want to enter a relationship with Garrus specifically.

During an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit, former lead writer Drew Karpyshyn revealed that while Mass Effect 2 was in development, Bioware had plans to bring back several companions from the first game, but with romance routes this go-around (Thanks, PC Gamer). Garrus wasn’t an option initially — but that changed once fans came to love him.

“We always knew they’d come back as companions,” Karpyshyn said. “I was a bit surprised fans wanted the romance options. Tali, I could sort of see. You never saw her face, so it was easy to imagine something vaguely human (but she had those weird feet). Garrus blindsided me – but once we saw what fans wanted, we decided to deliver.”

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Karpyshyn also claims that inter-species breeding isn’t possible in Mass Effect for the most part, at least from his perspective.

“I don’t know what the ‘official’ position on this is, but my belief is that it wouldn’t be possible,” Karpyshyn explains on Reddit. “The various species in Mass Effect are too biologically different to breed with each other. Except [for] Asari, of course… it’s part of what made them unique. But that’s just my personal take; I don’t work on the series anymore, so if BioWare wants to have [Turian-Quarian] babies, that’s their choice.”

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is currently free for all Amazon Prime subscribers. Well worth checking out if all this alien-smooching business sounds appealing.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Mass Effect Trilogy free with Amazon Prime this July

Amazon’s lineup for Prime day includes more than 50 free games including Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Amazon has recently announced its lineup for Prime day which will provide members with over 50 free games including Mass Effect Legendary Edition and a large number of Star Wars titles.

Amazon is celebrating the anniversary of its subscription service Amazon Prime by giving its customers more than 50 free games. Amazon Prime members can link their Amazon accounts to their Prime Gaming page in order to download a huge number of games for free this July.

From today until July 13. more than 25 games are free to download for members via Prime Gaming. This includes indie games such as Death Squared, HUE, and The Darkside Detective, and old arcade classics such as Fatal Fury Special, Metal Slug 2, Samurai Shodown II, and The King of Fighters 2002. 

The main event is Prime day itself. Starting from July 12. to July 13. There will be over 30 games free to download from popular franchises. Mass Effect Legendary Edition takes center stage here allowing customers to play the original trilogy of games from the series.

Fans of racing games have well-rated games like Grid Legends, and Need For Speed Heat to choose from, but it’s Star Wars fans who will get the most from this deal. There are three games from the franchise available to keep; Star Wars Jedi Knight – Jedi Academy, Star Wars Jedi Knight II – Jedi Outcast, and Star Wars Republic Commando.

If you are not a member of Amazon Prime you can still pick up the deal if you’re interested as these games will remain free to download for anyone who subscribes before July 12. Not quite as exciting as free games, but members will also be able to pick up skins and loot boxes for a number of popular online games with their Prime Gaming membership.

If you are more of a console gamer than a PC gamer, then check out all of the biggest announcements from this month’s Nintendo Direct including ports of incredible JRPGs such as Nier:Automata and the Persona franchise. 

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.

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Shepard probably isn’t in the next Mass Effect after all

Don’t read too much into that recent Bioware store listing.

Well, anyone hoping for Commander Shepard’s grand return in the next Mass Effect should probably take a deep breath. 

On Tuesday, the Bioware store began selling the N7 day lithograph — slick artwork shown off last November. Fans went bananas, though not because of the item itself but rather its product description. There were several mentions of Shepard, insinuating that the former series protagonist survived the events of Mass Effect 3. However, Bioware project director Michael Gamble set the record straight later.

“The original thing was written by the people who run the store and aren’t familiar with the game,” Gamble said on Twitter.

There you have it. Shepard is probably dead in the next Mass Effect, or at the very least, we shouldn’t take random product listing as gospel. In fairness, Gamble didn’t outright deny that Shepard was in the game, only that the folks running Bioware’s store made a mistake.

Given that Dragon Age 4 is nowhere to be seen, it’ll likely be years before we ever see anything substantial about the next Mass Effect. Hopefully, the game will have an actual title soon, so I don’t have to keep calling it “the next Mass Effect” since that is getting tiresome. Sure, “Mass Effect 4” is an option, but I won’t dismiss the five or six people who enjoyed Mass Effect Andromeda like that.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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