User:The Millionth One/Mass Effect

Main trilogy
A trilogy of games has been released, each continuing the previous game's story in chronological order. The Mass Effect series combines action role-playing game elements, with the main series games being in third-person perspective. The protagonist can use two AI-controlled squad members in battle, which usually consist of members he or she has recruited from various places and for various reasons, and taken onto the Normandy, Shepard's starship. The player could make perspective decisions depending upon the situation. At these times, the player has multiple sets of dialogue choices with which to respond to NPCs, separated by tone. Starting from Mass Effect 2, the player can interrupt cut-scenes calmly or aggressively. The games often have various mini-games in them as well, such as drinking, dancing and romancing characters.

The main trilogy focuses on Commander Shepard and his quest to defeat the Reapers... the first one was released on... the second was released, with refined mechanics... etc.

Spin-offs
Several spin-offs were made... Mass Effect Galaxy... released on...

Future games
A fourth major game has been rumoured at by tweets by Casey Hudson, as he asked "We're in early stages of designing a completely new Mass Effect game. What would you want to see in it?" BioWare plan on... it will use the Frostbite engine... paraphrases and no big quotes...

Development
BioWare began development... the series was earlier known as SFX during development... the writing was led by...

Expanded universe
From its outset, Mass Effect was intended to be a media-spanning franchise... it's spanned into comics, novels, etc...

Novels
Description description description; the first novel was released in blahblahblah, before the release of the first game...

Comics


Several comics have been made, all by Dark Horse... the first was Redemption... the story was written by... the art... this was followed...

Films
On May 24, 2010, EA announced that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. acquired the rights to a Mass Effect film, with the game's executive producer Casey Hudson, as well as Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck from BioWare, serving as executive producers. Initially, Legendary planned to produce the film with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, and Avi Arad, with a screenplay by Mark Protosevich. Protosevich and the producers have stated that the film will follow the plot of the original game. On October 24, 2012, Variety announced that Morgan Davis Foehl would be writing the screenplay.

On April 7, 2011, EA announced that anime distributor Funimation Entertainment and Japanese studio T.O Entertainment will produce an anime film adaptation based on the series. The film was released on December 28, 2012. It serves as the prequel to Mass Effect 2 and follows the early career of Alliance Marine James Vega as he leads an elite Special Forces squad into battle against The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his soldiers must protect the civilians from a ruthless invasion by the Collectors, determined to capture the population for unknown purposes.

Merchandise and other media
Two series of action figures were released by DC Direct and Big Fish Toys for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. Series one included action figures of Commander Shepard, Grunt, Tali, and Thane. Series two included Garrus, Legion, Miranda, and Mordin. Each highly detailed figure features game-accurate accessories and can be found in game and hobby shops and various online retailers. The figures tied to Mass Effect 3 include bonus downloadable content, which is exclusive and different for each character.

Risk: Mass Effect Galaxy at War Edition (2013) was announced by USAopoly to be released in Fall 2013.

Reception and cultural impact
The games have become icons... the setting was praised... the games would influence someone or other... All three major installments of the Mass Effect trilogy have been met with commercial success as well as critical acclaim. The series is highly regarded for its narrative, character development, voice acting, universe and emphasis on player choice affecting the experience...