BioWare has been fairly cryptic about the upcoming Mass Effect 4, and players are still in the dark on many aspects of the next installment. With concrete and confirmed details few and far between, it's unsurprising that speculation has been rife since the game was announced. The developer's Mass Effect series has a special place in the hearts of many fans, and hopes are high that the latest entry will manage to emulate the magic of the earlier games. Although there might not be much to go on at the moment, gamers have been eager to fill in the gaps and guess what Mass Effect 4 might entail.
Since the initial announcement, fans have poured over every piece of information both big and small for clues about Mass Effect 4's setting, storyline, potential companions, and main character. Rumors have run the spectrum from Shepard's triumphant return to a centuries-long time jump between the end of the trilogy and the next game, but so far little has been established. After the most recent N7 Day at the end of last year, players have been speculating anew regarding what locations could be included and what technology might be involved.
Mass Effect 4's New Imagery
It looks like it will be a while until fans have a chance to play Mass Effect 4, as according to the blog released on N7 Day the next entry is still in pre-production. With both new development talent and series veterans working to create the latest installment, Mass Effect 4 will hopefully have a freshness and a familiarity that fans can enjoy. Included within the blog was a brief video of a mass effect relay being rebuilt, which fits in with the theories that after the devastation the Milky Way experienced at the end of Mass Effect 3 and the now canon 'Destroy' ending, the relay network was destroyed and the various races have had to work to re-establish it.
There was also the image of a red-toned cityscape which many have speculated could be either Illium, Thessia, or even Omega if it underwent a significant revamp. The crimson haze that suffused the air around the towering buildings led some fans to believe this was a new planet entirely, perhaps a space where the galaxy's inhabitants have regrouped and rebuilt after the Reaper invasion. With an advertisement showing an asari on the side of one of the buildings, it seems to indicate that this is most likely a metropolis in the Milky Way rather than Andromeda.
Clues And Details From N7 Day 2022
One interesting detail that was hidden in plain sight in the short video of the relay under construction was a box of text in the bottom left-hand corner. While at first it might have seemed innocuous, the classification of the orbiting object as a 'vacuum dock relay' could be a reference to a new technology that could potentially allow inhabitants of the Milky Way to travel the momentous distance to Andromeda, and therefore create a link between the two main settings of the franchise. However, despite some evidence of new technology, many of the types of ships shown in clips and images released for Mass Effect 4 so far seem firmly rooted in the design of the original trilogy, which could indicate that there hasn't been a significant time jump as some fans assumed.
The distorted message that accompanied some of the content released on N7 Day last year has also been the subject of much speculation. Fans were able to work out that it was in fact Liara in conversation with another character as well. Although it's not clear, there were a few players who thought they could hear the voice of Jennifer Hale, the talent behind FemShep, in the distorted audio. Some gamers might be hoping that Shepard defies death and returns in Mass Effect 4, but it seems they'll have to wonder a bit longer before their questions are answered.
Mass Effect 4 is in development.