There's a strong air of mystery swirling around the next Mass Effect, and that will likely continue to be the case for some time yet. The long-awaited continuation of the Mass Effect franchise has a lot of promise, as the original trilogy is regularly cited as one of the best science-fiction franchises of all time, and not just within the gaming medium. Indeed, Mass Effect's worldbuilding can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, and much of these lore strengths can be attributed to its vast array of diverse alien cultures.
One of the more intriguing alien races of the Mass Effect franchise is the Geth, a synthetic hivemind initially devised as a sort of automaton slave caste by the Quarians. Upon achieving self-awareness and devising intrinsic goals for themselves, the Geth went to war with the Quarians to achieve their freedom, and this conflict sparked a long-lasting animosity between the two civilizations. The Geth's reputation wasn't helped by the emergence of the Heretics, a splinter group that chose to side with Saren and the Reapers during the events of Mass Effect 1. But over the course of the series, Commander Shepard comes to learn that the Geth aren't explicitly good or bad, but simply an unprecedented form of artificial life, complicating their role in the story significantly.
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How the Geth Could Show Up In the Next Mass Effect
Option 1: Mass Effect 3's Destroy Ending
So much speculation about Mass Effect 4 surrounds whether or not Shepard will return. The only Mass Effect 3 ending that sees the iconic Normandy captain survive is what is usually referred to as the "Perfect Destroy" ending: all synthetic life in the galaxy is destroyed, including the Geth and the Reapers. The Mass Effect relays, which facilitate faster-than-light travel, are also rendered useless under these circumstances.
Naturally, the Geth are unlikely to return as major players following this ending, but that doesn't mean that they can't play a role at all. An early Mass Effect 4 teaser image depicts what appears to be a massive crater in the shape of a Geth head—an obvious allusion to the machine race's significance in the upcoming game. Looking a bit closer at this image reveals the body of a Geth, presumably "dead," near the center of the crater. If the Destroy ending is made canon, then perhaps Geth bodies could be researched for the creation of a new tool or artificial intelligence, allowing the game to continue the Geth legacy without literally bringing them back from the dead.
Option 2: Mass Effect 3's Control Ending
The Control ending is where Mass Effect 3's headier sci-fi elements come into play. It involves Shepard creating a copy of their mind to replace the Catalyst, ultimately becoming a god-like AI that has full control over the Reapers. This is tantamount to slavery—a parallel that the game itself draws—and the Geth might not take too kindly to it. After all, while they may not agree with the Reapers anymore, they still sympathize with them as a synthetic race. Thus, the Geth could appear in Mass Effect 4 as ideological opponents to this new regime. Depending on the player-character's own stance, this could make them either enemies or allies.
Option 3: Mass Effect 3's Synthesis Ending
Arguably Mass Effect 3's most bizarre ending, Synthesis results in a mass merging of all synthetic and organic life, birthing a new race of enhanced cybernetic beings. It's a quietly disturbing finale, as everyone in the galaxy is essentially forced to undergo an unfamiliar and unsettling metamorphosis. It's hard to say exactly how the Geth might respond to this, especially since it's unclear what impact this mass-transformation would have on their hive-mind mental structure, which they clearly hold dear. This option may allow BioWare more narrative freedom than the other two, but it's also rather messy, changing the status quo of the galaxy in the most fundamental ways.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 96%
- Released
- May 14, 2021
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Franchise
- Mass Effect
WHERE TO PLAY
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