Mass effect

Mass Effect is a science fiction action role-playing third-person shooter video game series developed by the Canadian company BioWare and released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows, with the third installment also released on the Wii U. The fourth game was released on Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2017. The original trilogy largely revolves around a soldier named Commander Shepard, whose mission is to save the galaxy from a race of powerful mechanical beings known as the Reapers and their agents, including the first game's antagonist Saren Arterius. The first game, released in 2007, sees Shepard investigating Saren, whom Shepard slowly comes to understand is operating under the guidance of Sovereign, a Reaper left behind in the Milky Way 50,000 years before, when the Reapers exterminated all sentient organic life determined to have met or exceeded a threshold of technological advancement in the galaxy as part of a recurrent cycle of genocide for an unknown purpose. Sovereign's purpose is to trigger the imminent return of the Reaper fleet hibernating in extra-galactic dark space, restarting the process of extermination. The second game takes place two years later, and sees Shepard battling the Collectors, an alien race abducting entire human colonies in a scheme to aid the Reapers' return to the Milky Way. The final game of Shepard's trilogy centres on the war being waged against the Reapers. The fourth installment takes place in the Andromeda Galaxy and features a new cast of characters. All of the first three major installments of the Mass Effect series have been met with commercial success as well as universal acclaim. The series is highly regarded for its narrative, character development, voice acting, the universe, and emphasis on player choice affecting the experience. The Mass Effect original trilogy takes place in a fictional version of the Milky Way towards the end of the 22nd century. The Milky Way is inhabited by a variety of unique characters from many different sapient species, most of whom base their technological achievements on that of an ancient civilization called the Protheans. The advanced technology left by the Protheans includes quantities of a substance called 'Element Zero,' which alters the mass of anything near it when subjected to an electrical current. By using this 'mass effect,' the galaxy's many races are able to develop technologies such as faster-than-light travel, force fields and artificial gravity. Roughly 3000 years before the start of the series, a galactic community was formed from the remnants of the Prothean civilization. The community is headed by the Citadel Council, a bureaucratic association led by three unique species: the Asari, a race of monogendered beings closely resembling blue-skinned human women; the Salarians, an amphibious species with considerable technological prowess; and the Turians, a heavily militaristic race of raptor-like humanoids. Over the centuries, the Council has encountered many other species that have become close political associates while others remain independent. In 2148, explorers on Mars discover ruins of a Prothean outpost. Additionally, Charon is discovered to be an artifact called a 'mass relay,' which enables near-instantaneous travel to Arcturus; it is one of many mass relays littered about the galaxy. Their use allows humanity to come in contact with the Citadel Council and its associate species. As of the year 2183 (the time in which the first game is set), humankind is the newest species to join the galactic community and is still working to make a name for itself. The Citadel Council partitioned the Milky Way into five different sectors: the Terminus Systems, the Attican Traverse, Inner and Outer Council Space, and Alliance Space. Earth is a significant setting, particularly in the third installment. A space station known as the 'Citadel,' which was discovered by the current inhabitants of the Milky Way, serves as the capitol for the galaxy; most species have an embassy there, and the Council meets there to deliberate matters of galactic import. The fourth game takes place in the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy, 634 years after the events of its predecessor. When the Milky Way races arrive there, Heleus is embroiled in a brutal conflict between two native races: the Kett, a barbaric race obsessed with assimilating the traits of other sentient species through a process known as 'exaltation', and the Angara, a humanoid species whose civilization has recently been targeted and nearly decimated by the Kett. The Heleus Cluster is also the location of a series of ruins predating an advanced, spacefaring race known as the Jardaan.