The news that Electronic Arts’ new owners will be shutting down beloved developer Bioware was met with shock and bewilderment by an audience who had grown up playing the games they produced. Their work stood out in several beloved releases, but none more so than Mass Effect, and the news that the next game in that series is seemingly gone for good feels like a genuine tragedy (particularly after seeing that leaked trailer).
The only potential silver lining is someone with very big pockets coming along and buying the rights to produce another game in the series, but given just how stretched things are across the board right now, don’t count on that happening any time soon. As a huge fan of the series myself, I’m the first to point out that there will be nothing out there which quite evokes the same level of feeling in storytelling and gameplay.
That said, it’s no use standing around forever and hoping for someone to make things better for us, and there are other games out there that are worthy of our time and that bring similar elements to the proverbial party. One of those is available right now and it’s well worth your consideration if you’re looking for something new to play this weekend.
Over on Steam, you should be able to find the store page for STAR TALE: Odyssey One, an indie release that sees players awaken alone aboard an infested colony ship. It’s your job to repair crucial systems, take on aliens, manage oxygen, and interact with the AI, all while stranded in the vast emptiness of space.
Now this is a game made by a small team, so don’t expect those AAA production values, but if you’re looking for a game that lets you take on the dangers of the universe, this could be a great pick. In sharing a little about the game, the developer posted the following description:
“Star Tale: Odyssey One is a narrative sci-fi FPS set aboard an interstellar ship on its way to the planet Sagan II, humanity’s last hope. After the ecological collapse of Earth, humanity built the Odyssey One, a massive starship designed to transport thousands of colonists to Sagan II in the Alpha Centauri system.
“During the journey, a powerful radiation storm damaged the ship and released experimental biological samples stored in its laboratories. Decades later, you awaken alone aboard a vessel now overrun by xenobionts and malfunctioning systems. Your mission is to survive, restore the ship’s critical systems, and ensure that humanity reaches its new home.”
It’s a cool enough premise, but it becomes even more tantalizing when you find out that the full game is also entirely free, meaning there’s no risk to giving it a go for yourself.
Apart from that, why not revisit the old Mass Effect games one more time, if only to memorialize how important they were for gaming over the last two decades. Let’s just hope we don’t lose any more iconic series in this frightening, business-centric time we’re currently living through in the industry.