The recent success of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has drawn a lot of attention to BioWare's upcoming Mass Effect 4. While the game has been confirmed to be in development with a brief announcement teaser, there is very little about Mass Effect 4 that players know. The Mass Effect series is one of the most beloved in the games industry, so there are many excited fans that are eagerly waiting for news on its newest entry. The teaser seemed to indicate that it would in some way see the return of series protagonist Commander Shephard, and fans are anxious to see what form the game takes.
However, the success of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition also inspired many fans to return to Mass Effect: Andromeda, the most recent entry in the series. Mass Effect: Andromeda took the series to an entirely new galaxy with a new cast of characters. However, it received a mixed reception from critics and players due to the buggy state that it launched in as well as a story that many players didn't think matched up to the original trilogy. Another lacking aspect was the game's lackluster development of its entirely new universe.
Mass Effect: Andromeda's Lack of New Aliens
When players imagined having an entirely new galaxy to explore and interact with, their minds naturally assumed that there would be a bevy of new alien races and cultures to meet and explore as well. The Mass Effect series has always been beloved for its variety of detailed alien races that come from across the Milky Way, so it seemed that Mass Effect: Andromeda would include entirely new races for players to meet along their journey. However, this was not the case in the end. While new races were planned, budget and time constraints led to the developers cutting 10 new alien races from Mass Effect: Andromeda.
This led to the alien races in Mass Effect: Andromeda being largely the same as the ones in the base trilogy. A handful of new species were introduced, but the vast majority of time players spent in the game was spent with familiar races from the original trilogy. The lack of new aliens held Mass Effect: Andromeda back from feeling like a truly new chapter in the Mass Effect story. Rather than exploring an entirely new universe with unknown elements hidden around every corner, many players felt instead like it was just a rehash of the games that they had already experienced, just with a new take on Mass Effect's combat systems.
Why Mass Effect 4 Should Add New Aliens
With the release of Mass Effect 4 in the future, many fans have begun to hope that it will be able to succeed where Mass Effect: Andromeda did not. The next installment will undoubtedly be in a very difficult position whenever it does eventually launch. There is already a lot of hype surrounding Mass Effect 4, and fans of the series will be looking for the newest entry in the series to set the tone of the series' future after Mass Effect: Andromeda was not as successful as the original trilogy. With ME4 seemingly returning to the Milky Way, the game has a lot of questions it will have to answer following the trilogy's conclusion.
However, Mass Effect 4 will also have to make the Milky Way feel new again. Of course, after the end of the trilogy, the survivors and their cultures will undoubtedly be very different from before, but returning to familiar locations with familiar races and characters may very well not be enough to satisfy fans. It would be great for Mass Effect 4 to feature some returning characters, but introducing new races for players to learn about and watch interact with their favorite races is a great opportunity to breathe some fresh air both into Mass Effect 4 and the series as a whole.
What Mass Effect 4's New Aliens Could Look Like
Of course, one obvious avenue for Mass Effect 4 to find inspiration for new aliens is to look at previous ideas that were cut from the series. Mass Effect: Andromeda has 10 alien races that Mass Effect 4 could pull from, but Mass Effect 2 also has ideas that were cut leading up to its release that could be used. Using ideas such as a new breed of Salarians could ensure that the new aliens feel at home in the Mass Effect universe while also giving the developers and writers new concepts and avenues to explore throughout the game. However, this would likely not be enough on its own, as it would seem like a simple rehashing of what players already know, similar to how many felt about Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Because of this, Mass Effect 4 should also include entirely new alien races that are different from anything players have seen in the series before and make sure that players get them as important companions early on in the game. Mass Effect's most memorable characters are those that have overarching impacts on the story while also standing out from one another, and Mass Effect 4's new races should take advantage of both of those approaches. Having a new race companion with the impact of the Mass Effect trilogy's Mordin would help them feel more intertwined with the universe while having new races stand out as much as companions like Legion would ensure that players would remember them.
Whether or not BioWare does introduce new alien races in Mass Effect 4, the game has a very big hurdle to cross when it releases. Not only does it have to build off the end of the original trilogy's story, but Mass Effect 4 also has a lot of loose ends to tie up from Mass Effect: Andromeda as well otherwise the game will stick out from the series even more than it already does.
Mass Effect 4 is currently in development.