Why release a new one mass effect Trailer when you can just let fans twirl through the conspiracy hole with a short tease instead of this? BioWare today released its latest salvo of clues for the upcoming sci-fi RPG, including an environment video of a new mass relay, giant space stations launching and ships being built across the galaxy. There are nods to the original trilogy’s ship, the Normandy, the villainous group Cerberus, and more. Buckle up.
On the last N7 day we only got one picture. This time we have a full 25 second clip of a mass effects relay being built in space, complete with ambient sounds and mysterious repeating noises. “There are so many things you can find in it.” tweeted Project leader, Mike Gamble. “Good luck, investigator!”
fans have theirs first taste of the next mass effect from a teaser trailer shown at The Game Awards 2020. In it, Liara from the original trilogy draws a snowy planet with the Reapers in ruins in the background, and comes across a piece of armor that appears to have belonged to the series’ protagonist, Commander Shepard.
It also included a shot of both the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy, which Gamble says was an intentional reference, implying the new game could be a sequel to either Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda. That and subsequent teasing has spurred fan theories about all things time travel (Andromeda takes place hundreds of years later) until Shepard is still alive.
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So what have fans found so far in the latest video? Well, for starters, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this mass relay. It was originally revealed in a 2020 BioWare artbook This included other concept art teasing plans for the next Mass Effect. “MR7” implies that this is the seventh mass relay under construction, and the color of the paint indicates the human-racist group Cerberus as the builders.
A ship is floating in the lower right corner of the screen. Is it the Normandy from the original series or possibly the Tempest from Andromeda? Or maybe it’s that “mudskipper” Ship featured in last year’s tease examining the remains of a geth. You can also see a blur moving across the screen at around the six-second mark. Some fans speculate that DAS is the Normandy as she was the only ship known to have cloaking technology.
Then there are the numbers at the bottom of the screen: 11_07_90_000_1000-2013313. One interpretation is that this footage dates back to 2190, which would mean it ended up being just four years after the Reapers were destroyed the original trilogy. 314, on the other hand, may be a reference to Relay 314, the discovery of which sparked the First Contact Wars before the events of mass effect 1, and led to the creation of Cerberus. The file’s title also indicates that the footage was intercepted, suggesting it may be being monitored by Systems Alliance, the original trilogy’s galactic governing body.
A fan tried it Clean up the audio in the clip and came to a recording of Liara saying, “Exactly, the Council will be furious. Though they should know by now not to underestimate it..” The conversation continues, seemingly interspersed with geth sounds, but the rest is difficult to make out. Still, it seems to indicate that the Council, the governing body of the System Alliance, is still intact and the aftermath of the Reaper invasion didn’t send the galaxy into some kind of new dark age.
One big question since the next mass effect It has been revealed how both the original trilogy and Andromeda could be linked, given the roughly 600-year gap between them. That’s how long it took colonists to reach the new galaxy and start exploring without a mass relay to help them travel. It is possible that the new game will simply be picked up at this new, much later date. Although Liara appears in the first trailer, Asari can live to be over 1,000 years old. Time travel is another possible answer, as the entire series is based on faster-than-light travel through the manipulation of mass and energy.
Another big question is whether Shepard is actually still alive. There is now overwhelming evidence that the canonical ending of Mass Effect 3 is the one in which the player destroys synthetic life and the mass relays. One last scene shows someone reluctant to have Sheperd’s name on a monument, and later cuts to the Normandy’s captain gasping for air. Between Liara seemingly discovering Shepherd’s ancient armor on Earth and the new game possibly taking place shortly after the end of the trilogy, if the date 2190 is to be believed, the most popular space renegade might not be so dead after all. Earlier this year literally a piece of merch at the BioWare store said as much, but Gamble quickly clarified that it was a mistake. Hmmm.
Anyhow, fans will likely have to wait a long time to see where all the clues lead and what theories actually pan out. BioWare came closest to confirming this during development mass effect progressing, there is still a lot in pre-production. We don’t even have a release date for yet Dragon Age: Dread Wolf Noch, which the studio has been working on since 2018 anthem. In the meantime, fans will have to content themselves with exploring the depths of the mass effect wiki.
Update 11/7/22 5:03 PM ET: Gamble confirmed the second half of Liara’s message on Twitter, which read, “Though you should know by now not to underestimate human defiance!”
Update 11/7/22 5:42pm ET: BioWare now has the ffully decoded audio from today’s tease:
