Commander Shepard is leaving us after Mass Effect 3

by Jordan Mallory on Aug 29th 2011 8:30PM

Unlike that other big space trilogy whose hero doggedly refuses to call it quits, Mass Effect's magnanimous (and/or tyrannical) Commander Shepard will be cashing in her Systems Alliance penchant and taking an early retirement after Mass Effect 3, according to BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka.

"After this, Commander Shepard's story is complete," Mazuka told PC Gamer, adding that they were "correct" in suggesting that Shepard absolutely will not be present in any future games set in the Mass Effect universe. No clue as to how Shepard will be exiting the series, naturally, but we figure our Mass Effect 3 play-through will end the same way our Mass Effect 2 one did: completely forgotten and overwritten by hours and hours of endless ore prospecting.

Source: PC Gamer

Tags: BioWare, Commander-Shepard, Mass-Effect, mass-effect-3, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, xbox

Reader Comments (94)

I say that he/she will return again with a new trilogy.

@chrono
The Joystiq article only refers to Sheppard as a "she".
I call sexism. Where's my lawyer?

@fyertergft Are you a real lawyer never new they sold stuff as well hard times for lawyers I guess.

Good. No offense to Shepard, but one person should not be the hero of every goddamned thing in the universe.

@EtherealMoon Tell that to Master Chief.

@EtherealMoon

I am commander shepard, and Im sick and tired of saving the galaxy.

@dioxholster

"Screw you, guys! I'm going home!" - C. Shepherd

@EtherealMoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE

This is still cool right? ^

if they kill off Shepard with "sacrifice" move there will be RAGE i personally hope for very happy ending.

@DokiDokiBawanga

While I too like happy endings I can appreciate the occasional downer ending. The "wow I can not believe they actually did that" endings are some of the endings that leave the largest impressions.

There is too much generic, Hero saves the day, Hero gets the (girl/guy/alien/whatever) and everyone lives happily ever after.

Then again there is also too much generic hero sacrifices themselves for the good of (insert needy entity here).

I just hope whatever they do they are creative and it comes as a twist ..... like the first M. Night Shyamalan movie you see ...... then every other subsequent movie you have the ending pegged withing the first 4min of the beginning.

@Scuffles

Holy crap I should have made Mass Effect 2's ending like Star Wars Empire Strikes Back and end it on a downer. Instead I made everyone survive. I'll just go back and make a second game to import into ME3.

@DokiDokiBawanga

Yeah, but it's like in Dragon Ball Z when Goku sacrifices himself and you're not really sad because you know he's already died before. Same deal, you know that with enough money, Shepard can just be brought back again.

@DokiDokiBawanga
It's a game that features multiple endings, Either Shep will die and become a martyr, or will survive and become a worshipped hero that finally makes it to retirement... likely to appear later in another game as a NPC that interacts with your new hero at some point assuming you kept your game save. Seems pretty simple to me and frankly I wouldnt mind it. If you read the ME novels the perspective of the stories switch between a bunch of characters and Shep is only mentioned in passing as someone who did stuff that generally match the game storyline.

@DokiDokiBawanga

They'll almost surely make it such Shepard lives/dies based on how each person plays their game.

One person may have a dead Shepard and another a living one.

@Scuffles

The problem with this is that story in games are largely themeless adventures with no point. Some people call it the "moral of the story" or just the message it gives to the person who experienced it. Games like mass effect especially (choose your own adventure) have this issue. It ends up just being a game about your decisions which is not really a theme. It is hard afterall to create a compelling story when the person experiencing it is constantly changing things to their liking. I'll end with that though, because I could write a book on the challenges of interactive storytelling.

@DokiDokiBawanga These days EVERYTHING is a bad ending.
I still don't get how people find this unique.

@DokiDokiBawanga

I hope its decided by the 12 billion little decisions we had to make thus far.

@Scuffles Commander Sheppard savior of the galaxy, dies of a large tumor shortly after the defeat of the Reapers. Initial reports indicate likely cause as a sideeffect of the Lazarus Project.

I'm thinking an awesome ending where Commander Shepard will go out with a bang!

@NBear927 I pretty sure Commander Shepard well be banging someone at the end.

:'(

Finally they can focus on the true star of Mass Effect; Nihlus.

@DarkKingSilvers
I have no idea why but I found this extremely hilarious. Thank you sir.

@DarkKingSilvers And what about Jenkins? Redshirts need some love too...

@DarkKingSilvers

We all know it's going to be the Conrad Verner trilogy next

@Styli

It's called the 'Please Punch Me In The Face Saga'

@OnToGloryReturns
"It's called the 'Please Punch Me In The Face Saga'"

I feel that great title should belong to the Khalisah al-Jilani spin off game.
"Punching a reporter has never felt so real, thanks to the Kinect!"

@DarkKingSilvers

If any Turian gets to be the hero, its lorik Qu'un. He has a smexy voice.

@DarkKingSilvers What? Nobody thinks it's going to be about Niftu Cal? He is a great wind that shall sweep everything before him like a...a great wind!

Good riddance.

@Baagawk

I'm sure your family will say the same thing about you one day

@OnToGloryReturns

We know we will.

@Baagawk

Amen!

@OnToGloryReturns

Did him saying that about a fictional character really call for that?

@Mechazawa Prime

Yes, yes it did.

@Mechazawa Prime

yup

I still don't think of Shepard as a character. I've played through Mass Effect 2 three times and he/she has been completely different every time. Changing Sheperd would realty only require a renaming and new voice actors. Oh and a reason as to why you are there.

Keep it new. Nice, Bioware.

If they do start another Mass Effect saga soon I hope it doesn't take place right after the end of the first (like Halo). There shouldn't be so many universe ending catastrophes so close together.

@Lerkero We don't know when Halo 3 ended though. For all we know, the ship was approaching that planet hundreds, if not thousands of years after they showed the events happening within. Halo 4 isn't happening right after the main story of Halo 3, it's happening right after the legendary ending.

But otherwise, I agree.

@Lerkero

I'm fairly certain that the events of Mass Effect 2 will lead to another cataclysmic event. Every single planet has been strip mined to the husk. Commander Shepard will be replaced by Captain Planet saving the Galaxy from the Normandy's minig team.

@Regularpants Lol, with the power of the HEART!!

Well didnt he technically do that at the start of Mass Effect 2?, sooo they must be gonna freeze him Han Solo style....

@kyte420 cause you know he refuses to stay dead

@kyte420

Didn't you guys read the article? Commander Shepard is a she, not a he.

****in spoiler alert! >:(

@ThePSNGuy it doesn't say he dies or not. Just that he won't be in future mass effect titles. Let's all overreact now.

Come on, Garrus game.

@Timerider
He's too busy with calibrations

are you implying that luke skywalker should have been nixed?

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Mass Effect 3

Commander Shepard is leaving us after Mass Effect 3

Reader Comments (94)

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:34PM chrono said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:03PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 8:23AM byaboy said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:34PM EtherealMoon said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:16PM Castiel said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:16AM dioxholster said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 3:43AM Design by Adrian said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 7:15AM ComedyInK said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:34PM DokiDokiBawanga said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:00PM Scuffles said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:08PM TaintedKane said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:34PM Raiki said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:16AM PN04 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 12:25AM Vcize said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 3:44AM Mechazawa Prime said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 4:15AM Juri said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 10:43AM IronClawt said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 5:45PM houser said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:35PM NBear927 said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:44PM chrono said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:35PM Jay Z said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:36PM DarkKingSilvers said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:02PM ProfessorBonkle said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:08PM Efithor said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:45PM Styli said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:20PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:36PM ProfessorBonkle said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 2:25AM Nashk said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 5:03AM LoopyChew said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:37PM Baagawk said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:54PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:20PM VanillaNowah said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 10:11PM Pr1mus said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 3:48AM Mechazawa Prime said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 8:18AM Qehb said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 3:09PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:39PM 880Cloud088 said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:42PM jsowers said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:43PM Lerkero said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:18PM Epoque said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:57PM Regularpants said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 1:33PM lionmaruu said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:46PM kyte420 said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:47PM kyte420 said

Posted: Aug 30th 2011 2:18AM Courtney said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:47PM ThePSNGuy said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:09PM ApexOneder said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:48PM Timerider said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 9:29PM Special Agent Bob said

Posted: Aug 29th 2011 8:51PM gevenstaines said

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