Mass Effect: Universe-detaljer avslöjade - När det spelades ut, spelupplägg, stridssystem och mer

Details about Mass Effect: Universe—the canceled fifth installment, which Electronic Arts is no longer developing following its announced closure of BioWare this week—continue to surface. The leaked details pertain to when the project’s events were supposed to take place, as well as numerous specifics about its gameplay.

In-depth details about Mass Effect 5 were shared by an insider named Dantics, who was a member of the so-called Mass Effect Council—a group of people who evaluated BioWare’s work behind closed doors. On his X page, he wrote that “BioWare was making Mass Effect for us, for the fans,” and below you can check out the key points from his report:

• The events of Mass Effect: Universe took place approximately 600 years after the Reaper War (the events of the original trilogy). The protagonist was a customizable N7 agent described as “a cross between James Bond and John Wick.”
• Shepard’s legacy would have been preserved regardless of the ending of Mass Effect 3, and the plot would have centered on a “galactic Cold War” involving three main factions: the Geth, the Council races, and a separate alliance consisting of Humanity, the Krogan, the Batarians, and others.
• Liara T’Soni, Shepard’s comrade-in-arms, was set to return as the Asari Matriarch. It would also have been possible to pursue a romance with her. Furthermore, all romantic relationships would have been uncensored.
• Other gameplay features: Geth-built megastructures, connections between the Milky Way and Andromeda, experimental technology implanted in you as a unique point of differentiation, hacking and manipulating the environment, seeing through walls, identifying systems, remotely triggering hazards, handcrafted missions similar to the original trilogy, and the freedom to approach them however you like, much like in Hitman, brutal melee finishing moves, and teammates who can clash with each other.

Another well-known insider, shinobi602, also shared additional details about Mass Effect: Universe. On the ResetEra forum, he wrote that the game's development was going quite well, noting that “the story was good to go, squadmates were ready, hubs had been created, along with NPCs and many new features added to combat and quest design,” adding that the game didn’t face the same issues that Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Mass Effect: Andromeda had encountered in the past. EA was also satisfied with everything, but everything changed when new owners from Saudi Arabia took over this summer and decided to put an end to such games, focusing instead on sports simulators and shooters.

Following these remarks—and, presumably, the unveiling of new details about Mass Effect: Universe—more and more fans will be even more disappointed by BioWare’s shutdown and the game’s cancellation. As a result, there are many on social media calling for Xbox to acquire the studio—but, according to insider Tom Henderson, this might not be the most profitable deal for Microsoft.

It’s also worth noting, shortly after the news of BioWare’s closure, the debut trailer for Mass Effect 5 leaked, confirming its subtitle: Universe. For his part, Tony de Waal, a studio veteran who worked on the game, stated the developers were inspired by the work of Larian Studios and CD Projekt RED and intended to develop a title with “choices that no other game has been able to match.”