New Mass Effect Brings Back the Mako Vehicle

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Developer BioWare’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2014 mostly reiterated what it said when it gave us our first look at Mass Effect at E3 2014, but it did reveal that the game will see the return of the Mako vehicle from the first game in the series.

The all terrain vehicle looks a little different this time, and is apparently much faster than it used to be. BioWare said that the new Mass Effect will have an emphasis on exploration, and that the Mako will allow you to travel faster on alien planets. BioWare said that since you’ll spend a significant of time in the vehicle, it’s also considering allowing players to customize how it looks.

Repeating its statements at E3, BioWare said that the next Mass Effect will feature a human protagonist who is not Commander Shepard, the hero of the previous games. It did not say where or when the story will take place in the Mass Effect universe. We still don’t know if we’ll see returning characters, but BioWare did say that we’ll definitely see returning alien races.

The new Mass Effect does not yet have a release date, nor has publisher Electronic Arts indicated what systems it will be released for.

The Mako was a divisive feature in the first game. A lot of players thought that it was a chore driving it around huge, barren landscapes, and that it controlled poorly, mostly because of some silly, low gravity physics. I happen to like it a lot, and missed it in the sequels. It wasn’t a fully realized feature, and often pretty broken, but Mass Effect never felt as big as when you were free to land on a planet and drive around as you please. For a game that’s all about exploring a vast universe, the Mass Effect sequels felt a little confined without it.

What do you think about the Mako and its return to the next Mass Effect? Let us know in the comments below.