The series makes heavy use of a large number of science fiction tropes. An untitled fifth game was announced on December 10, 2020.The game places emphasis on the Wide-Open Sandbox which BioWare had intended to implement during the original trilogy, abandoning the highly-linear maps and narrative focus that replaced it. (Because the game is essentially an interquel, BioWare were able to avoid Cutting Off the Branches of the trilogy's Multiple Endings.) The player assumes the role of Scott or Sara Ryder, Half-Identical Twins who take on a leadership position within the Initiative when their ship arrives in 2819 and things go From Bad to Worse.
City-sized starships full of Human Popsicles (not to mention ones for asari, salarians, turians and krogan) go on a 600-year journey.
Set around the same time as Mass Effect 2, the "Andromeda Initiative" was a colonization program to travel to the nearest galaxy, Andromeda. Mass Effect: Andromeda was released in March 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.In addition to wrapping up the Myth Arc of the trilogy, it continued to refine the gameplay standard set by the second game, increasing movement and combat actions as well as weapon customization to the point that BioWare felt confident including a Co-Op Multiplayer mode. Shepard has reunited with the Alliance and retrieved blueprints for a potential machine to defeat the Reapers they call "The Crucible." To retake Earth, and more importantly survive the Reaper invasion, Shepard must form a new team and unite the races of the galaxy to fight back and commit resources to the Crucible. It leads to the ultimate fear: the Reapers invade the Milky Way in the year 2186 and Earth is among the first to be overwhelmed. Mass Effect 3 was released on all three platforms in early March 2012, with a Wii U port being released at the console's launch in November 2012.
The gameplay shifted dramatically into something much more linear: it had more clearly stated levels built around cover-based shooting vehicle travel was dropped entirely (excluding a DLC mission) and weapon types was restricted by class. Shepard's association with Cerberus strains their relationship with both the Alliance and their previous allies, so they turn to the seedier side of the galaxy for a new team to face the Collectors. After a two-year Time Skip covered by the opening credits, it takes up in 2185 where the militant/terrorist human group called Cerberus has rescued Shepard and tasked them to investigate the Collectors, who have been abducting entire human colonies for reasons that are unclear but believed to be related to the coming Reaper invasion. In the prologue, Shepard and their crew are brutally attacked by the enigmatic alien species, the Collectors.
The PlayStation 3 version was released in late 2012 as part of the Mass Effect Trilogy, and as a standalone digital download for the Play Station Network. Mass Effect was released for the Xbox 360 in November 2007 and PC in May/June 2008.
There have been four main titles in the series: