BioWare suggests keeping Mass Effect 3 saves

By Robert Purchese Published 3 February, 2012

BUT WHY?

In what won't become the mystery of the century, BioWare has suggested hanging on to Mass Effect 3 save-games.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," associate producer Mike Gamble told GamerZines.

"Obviously I can't say anything," he said, "but it wouldn't be a bad idea..."

Mass Effect 3 won't be the end of Mass Effect - BioWare has flatly stated as much before. Mass Effect 3 will only be the end of Commander Shepard, whose story we've followed since Mass Effect 1.

So, is Gamble hinting at Mass Effect 4? Or is Gamble going on about downloadable content?

Where would Mass Effect 4 even be set - would BioWare consider a prequel? How would that work with a Mass Effect 3 save-game?

Mike Gamble told Eurogamer this week that the ending of Mass Effect 3 will "make some people angry".

"It's going to make some people extremely happy; it's going to make some people angry," he said. "But that's part of it, right? To invoke the emotion putting some of these stories to bed will naturally bring up."

Please don't do a Matrix.

Mass Effect 1, where the story began.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bobiroka #1 4 months ago

    This is obviously to do with DLC. They released tons of it for ME2. They could always make a tenuous link with a future ME game though like DA2 did... That will be on a different console though surely? Can I transfer my ME saves to the cloud?

  • Jay-ITFC #2 4 months ago

    Could they be making it any more obvious that Shepard will die? I feel like I know this yet haven't even played the damn game yet!

  • neilka #3 4 months ago

    He already died once but he got better.

  • Munners #4 4 months ago

    Do people still delete game saves?

  • guernican #5 4 months ago

    Mass Effect 4 will almost certainly be set in 17th century rural England. The hero, Jethro the Shepherd, will spearhead a small group of rustic resistance fighters dedicated to keeping their land free of the evil industrialist Reaping Machines.

    Jesus Christ, that joke wasn't worth the effort it took to type it.

  • Joco84 #6 4 months ago

    Just got ME:2 on PS3, think I'll make a start on it this weekend! :)

  • Whitster #7 4 months ago

    I suppose it makes sense as any future ME game will still need to refer back to the Universe as you left it in ME:3.

  • ObliviousTroll #8 4 months ago

    @Joco84

  • emil.albaek #9 4 months ago

    Or, as the Mass Effect story continues with other conflicts in other places, it would just be cool to have the whole backstory ending the way you ended it, right? Couldn't it be that simple?

  • GavinUK86 #10 4 months ago

    It's obviously for DLC. I would imagine the next in the series would be some sort of prequel involving the other council races instead of humans again. Maybe by keeping your save games you have created the future so NPC's might hint at what 'might' happen based off of your saves? Just putting it out there.

  • photoboy #11 4 months ago

    If Bioware kill off Shepard I'm never buying another Mass Effect game.

  • MattEdWithCheese #12 4 months ago

    Sounds like it'll be another Halo 2 ending...

  • DurzoBlint #13 4 months ago

    You'd think that, once they'd closed the initial trilogy out, they'd drop the save import stuff and admit it was a bad idea. But I guess trivialising player choice remains one of their main objectives.

  • GavinUK86 #14 4 months ago

    @MattEdWithCheese Highly unlikely considering this is the finale rather than the middle game.

  • GavinUK86 #15 4 months ago

    @DurzoBlint and how is the save game importing a bad idea? it's one of the cleverest ideas to come out this generation.

  • GamesConnoisseur #16 4 months ago

    Shepard will die for the second time at end of ME3 and then the ever sexy Asari's scientists take their turn at reengineering the dead Shepard's few remaining tissues into a new unisex Asari Shepard with blue skin, breasts and all.

    Then at a stroke putting to rest dilemma of choosing femshep or maleshep, as we know the Asari are both sexes in one!

    Whatever the reason, I m still dying to play the game comes March!

  • evild_edd #17 4 months ago

    @neilka "SHE already died once but she got better."

    Fixed! ;0)

  • makariel #18 4 months ago

    If you mess up in Mass Effect 3 and import the save, will Mass Effect 4 start in a universe devoid of all life?

  • Darklightside #19 4 months ago

    @GavinUK86 it's been around since the snes era shining force 3 on the saturn and suikoden are both examples of earlier RPG which used it.

  • DurzoBlint #20 4 months ago

    @GavinUK86 It is specifically bad when done by BioWare because they have a story they want to tell and your decisions are changed, ignored or trivialised in a way that ensures their story continues to work (eg Wrex becoming Wreav, Leliana and Anders coming back from the dead, all the Rachni stuff they've shown for ME3). It's also not a "this gen" feature - the awful .hack games, among many others, have done it too. BioWare either need to actually take player decisions into consideration when writing their stories (something they are clearly loathe to do), or stop pretending they matter and importing the saves.

  • kassmageant #21 4 months ago

    @bobiroka oh come on, you don't need to remind gamers anymore of savings their saves for dlc, it's obvious that there will be some DLC in that day and age.

    i'd say earth WILL be destroyed, shepard will become indoctrinated, become villain, and war with reapers will continue elsewhere

  • geeza2020 #22 4 months ago

    I'm done with Mass Effect after this game, so, no, I wont be keeping those save games Bioware. I'm already struggling to drum up the enthusiasm I had for ME2 this time around (thanks to the dire DA2), let alone another sequel after this.

  • kassmageant #23 4 months ago

    @Darklightside or golden sun on gba, or ultima on pc. nothing new.

  • ubergine #24 4 months ago

    If the people it's making angry are the players and the people it's making happy are the EA Executives who run Origin now, wait, I mean Bioware now, then we can guess that the ending is inconclusive and the reaper storyline will be dragged out for years with DLC the quality of Arrival and Witch Hunt.

    I'm still pissed they retconned the end of Dragon Age tI shoehorn in some DLC with that chick from Farscape.

  • shadowlp #25 4 months ago

    I recon they'll be releasing another game based in the mass effect universe set after 3, but you dont play as Shepard, I think they confirmed that they are done with Shepard after 3. It would be cool if the Mass effect universe was truely your own, your decisions made over several titles effected the universe for you permanently if you wanted it to.

  • icematt12 #26 4 months ago

    DLC or new game will make me happy, I just don't want to see something with a 4 in the title but Mass Effect (inset sub-title here).

  • CyberScourge #27 4 months ago

    I'd like to see a new Mass Effect title after 3, preferably with the ability to select from multiple races.

  • The-Bodybuilder #28 4 months ago

    You know what I think?
    I think, coupled with the last comment about the ending will make people angry, I think whatever ending you get will automatically save over your last previous save points, or the main save points that carry all your previous games character choices (if it's possible), thus making your decisions and outcomes "final" (unless you start from ME1/2 again). Kinda like how once you go through the final relay in ME2, you can't go back.

    It would be a nice way to truly make your decision carry weight. So some will be delighted, but some who made certain choices will be uber pissed.

  • Tuckie #29 4 months ago

    That comment about the ending reeks of pretention and smugness.

  • golem09 #30 4 months ago

    I remember that same phrase being used for the end of Lost. So in that regard it means the following:
    "Ok, we completely fucked up the ending, but since there are so many people buying it, SOME will love it anway"

  • TheDarkFurie #31 4 months ago

    Prediction - During ME3, Shep will travel the galaxy, revisiting old planets from the first two games to see minor changes and collecting squad members. Her main mission will be to gather parts of a super weapon to take out the Reapers. This weapon, which is a techno-organic genophage, will wipe out the Reapers completely but not before they wipe organic races from the universe. We close on a narration, probably Lance Henrikson, telling us that our sacrifice was so they could never return.

    All future games take place in a future/past evolution cycle of organic life, allowing Bioware to ignore all player choice and pesky canonical facts in the games. The save, when recognised on your drive, will load a single N7 helmet somewhere in the game, perhaps Legion as an optional boss.

  • SvennoJ #32 4 months ago

    Maybe they'll make an rpg after ME3.
    The ending might make some people happy, might piss some people off + keep game save = cliffhanger to be continued with new hero?

  • hiddenranbir #33 4 months ago

    Bet the 'emotion' invoked is more with game design and narrative choices rather than the journey through the content. :x


    Of course a ME4.

    Look at Dragon Age 2. It was basically a spin off from your REAL character in Origins.

  • ObliviousTroll #34 4 months ago

    Is anyone else planning on playing ME2 on the PS3 this weekend, that's fascinating info, just what I want from a comment section.

    Yeah, rate this down anon motherfudgers. Perhaps the comment section should just be an arbitrary list of what everyone is planning to play on what day. A gripping read.

  • doswillrule #35 4 months ago

    They near enough confirmed a Mass Effect MMO in a magazine article last year, I forget which one. Maybe the saves would give you a small bonus or some extra content?

  • TheGuvernor #36 4 months ago

    It's all about money - your money.

  • ilmaestro #37 4 months ago

    I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I do after I finish a game is delete all my save data quick sharp, so it's a good job they've given us this "sly wink".

  • Markusdragon #38 4 months ago

    The problem with the Mass Effect universe at this point is there there isn't a single Mass Effect Universe, instead there's YOUR Mass Effect universe and also somebody else's Mass Effect universe.
    And nobody wants to play in somebody else's Mass Effect universe; they want to play in THEIR mass effect universe, the one where Shepherd saved everybody, or the one where humans took over the council, or the one where a journalist got punched in the face. Not some crappy compromise 'canon' universe.

  • Gojiratron #39 4 months ago

    DLC.

    While the PC wouldn't be affected, do you think we'll see another ME game on this generation's consoles?

  • Lunatic4ever #40 4 months ago

    Does that mean Shepard dies? Like REALLY dies? If this was a spoiler I will seriously fuck up this guy

  • Lunatic4ever #41 4 months ago

    @ObliviousTroll

    that really made me laugh ! :D Dogma all the way!

  • Kaminari #42 4 months ago

    Can't wait for the inevitable prequel "Mass Effect: In the Beginning".

  • spudsbuckley #43 4 months ago

    They want you to keep the saves because they aren't finished milking this average, space opera "RPG" yet.

    Mass Effect 4 and more than that will happen. They'll just call it Mass Effect:Rekillification or some shit rather than carry on with the ascending numbers.
    Edited by spudsbuckley at 03/02/12 @ 19:42

  • Srift #44 4 months ago

    Probably to unlock some crap in Dragon Age 3..or the Shepard Tank in C&C Generals 2 which will save on your PC to unlock it on Origin which will unlock your very own Shepard sniper rifle in Battlefield 4...ugh this is where the Earth is heading..

    http://youtu.be/sZHCVyllnck

    well joke's on them... I am deleting all Mass Effect save files once I am done with their dumbed down RPG.
    Edited by Srift at 03/02/12 @ 19:59

  • asho #45 4 months ago

    He was the reaper all along!!

  • Jonny5Alive7 #46 4 months ago

    In the DLC for ME2 the characters always acted as if you hadn't already completed the game, hopefully this won't be the same for ME3 then.

  • xYOSSARIANx #47 4 months ago

    It isn't just about DLC though is it. There are going to be more games in the Mass Effect universe, the out come of ME3 will become our cannon history of the universe in games to come.

    ME Episode 4 - A New Beginning

    I look forward to running around some space port/planet and coming across something that only exists it's it form because of a choice I made in ME1.

  • riz23 #48 4 months ago

    You'll need your save so you can unlock Shepard as a playable golfer in Tiger Woods 14.

  • Bremenacht #49 4 months ago

    Yes, keep those saves because their influence will be ENORMOUS. ME1 was a game of substantial depth and careful story-telling, with some nice quirky gameplay. By loading it's save into ME2, ME2 became a shiny-but-dull Gears clone! I wish I'd not done it now.

    The moral of this story is: delete all your savegames.

    pew

  • jogyourmind #50 4 months ago

    F U Bioware.

  • SleepyMagpie #51 4 months ago

    Bioware need to take a pill.

  • ubergine #52 4 months ago

    Martin Sheen's voice-acting is not very good.

    Just putting it out there, since we'll be playing as Illusive Man for the second half of the game.

  • Stompy #53 4 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • AlteredIdol #54 4 months ago

    I thought Mass Effect 3 was supposed to have multiple endings depending on what choices you've made?? Or have I just dreamt that up?? Please for god sakes don't have people spend 100+ hours making decisions and playing a character only to basically give us the same ending regardless of choices

    I adore the Mass Effect series but I'm having serious doubts whether ME3 is going to live up to my relatively high expectations. The more I hear about it, the more it feels like we are being led down the path instead of choosing our own route.

  • mushroomyakuza #55 4 months ago

    They could go to dozens of place with this. Play as Garrus. Play as Thane. There are a hundred different side stories in the ME universe and they could explore lots of them through future games, especially if we're using the same squad mates Shephard has assembled over the years.

    Or a prequel with Anderson. Anything is possible.

    But I have a sinking feeling they'll use James Vega as he's supposed to be from the perspective of an ME newbie in this game. Just don't make him annoying. Please.

  • Harmonica #56 4 months ago

    Tortuously bloated and derivative sci-fi saga to continue, quelle shocker.

  • Gecks #57 4 months ago

    i want to replay the entire trilogy as a keeper, performing maintenance work in the citadel.

  • jasonbean7 #58 4 months ago

    Oh. Good
    Edited by jasonbean7 at 21/02/12 @ 03:12

  • escalinci #59 4 months ago

    For the sequel with conrad verner. For the cover of your autobiography for the next trilogy. To take to an event and download mew.

    Actually the dlc thing sounds boringly accurate.

  • seeafish #60 4 months ago

    "Mass Effect 3 will only be the end of Commander Shepard"
    ... :(
    I'm new to the ME universe (started ME2 earlier this week) and I kinda feel that spoiled something for me... I knew nothing about ME3 and was excited, but now I know Shepard basically dies or goes away forever.