Mass Effect 4 won't include Shepard at all, says BioWare

At some point between frantically disarming the 20th planet-devastating bomb and punching mono-gendered aliens in their vestigial fringe in Mass Effect, I realized the notion of more than one hero safeguarding the sprawling galaxy isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, it worked in Star Wars -- not only did Luke Skywalker's heroics mature only at the very end of Return of the Jedi (before that he mostly sat around complaining about power converters), they couldn't happen without the just-as-potent heroism of the people around him. To that end, BioWare Montreal Producer Fabrice Condominas told VG247 that Mass Effect 4 definitely won't include Shepard in any capacity.

"There is one thing we're absolutely sure of: There'll be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over," Conominas said. "This is really our starting point. The Mass Effect universe is vast and very rich. So, at this point in time, we don't even know what kind of time frame we're going to be in. All we're doing is gathering ideas from the teams and gathering feedback."

BioWare confirmed the development of the sci-fi fourth-quel shortly after co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk split from gaming for good mid-September. Like the eternal mystery of why Shepard's dance routine never improves, scant details surround the project.

"We don't want to make 'Shepard 2′ or Mass Effect 4 with like, 'Oh, there's no more Shepard, but you're a soldier in the universe'," Conominas added. "So, this will be a very different context for sure. Nothing has been decided on the rest.”