Mass Effect 3 ending may hurt - but keep your saves

Not every Commander Shepard fan is going to be happy at the end of Mass Effect 3, but don't put your hard drive out the airlock just yet.

Although the franchise is alost certain to continue, Mass Effect 3 is expected to end the current story arc, completing the adventures of Shepard, a prospect some gamers are a little concerned about - especially given BioWare's liking for terribad endings.

"We want the outcomes to be satisfying to the player. That doesn't necessarily mean they're all going to be happy or positive," associate producer Mike Gamble told Gamerzines.

"It's going to make some people extremely happy. It's going to make some people angry," he later told Eurogamer.

"But that's part of it, right? To invoke the emotion putting some of these stories to bed will naturally bring up. I honestly think the player base is going to be really happy with the way we've done it. You had a part in it. Every decision you've made will impact how things go. The player's also the architect of what happens.

"You'll get answers to everything. That was one of the key things. Regardless of how we did everything, we had to say, yes, we're going to provide some answers to these people."

Regardless of what happens to your Commander Shepard, future games will have different protagonists - but Gamble hinted it might be worthwhile holding onto your save anyway.

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

Some player scan't envision a Mass Effect game without Shepard, but Gamble told OXM there are plenty of avenues to explore.

"Without going down any specific path, you can think of many, many different areas throughout the IP, throughout the history, where there are large wars to be won, large battles to be had, and a lot of development to be done around where these races came from, how they came about. We have so much to draw from," he said.

Mass Effect 3 is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March, with a demo this month.

Thanks, Shack, Evil Avatar.