Since the recently released Mass Effect 3 is the final game featuring long time protagonist Commander Shepard, any new games going forward in the franchise will likely be somewhat separate from the main trilogy. Without further ado, here's five suggestions for how the Mass Effect franchise could continue without Shephard...
1. Mass Effect: First Contact
Pretty self explanatory, and one that is often requested. Set around the events of the First Contact War, or Shanxi Incident. For those who don't know or don't remember, the First Contact War was humanities first meeting with the Turians, a race that is iconic in galactic politics. Rather than cooperating, the two engaged in a bloody war that bought resentment still around 30 years later, in ME1, 2 and 3.
2. Mass Effect: Redemption
A smaller title based on the comics. If Bioware got more creative, and built the game with newer tech and around a two-player co-op mechanic, this could really work. Also, story choices would be cool to include to offer something different to people who have read the comic. The story of the comic series revolved around Doctor Liara T'Soni and her acquaintance, a Drell named Feron, recovering Shepard's body for Cerberus after he or she was killed by the Collector's at the start of ME2. Sound familiar? It should, because this comic series was the backstory of the Mass Effect 2 DLC, Lair of the Shadow Broker. I won't spoil it for people who haven't read or played either, but this would provide cool perspective into those events for people who haven't read the comic.