Mass Effect 4 Andromeda: 8 Big Risks Bioware Must Take

2. Spare Us The Fan Service

This one might be more controversial with fans of the series than with the makers, but for the sake of all that's holy, make sure Shepard stays dead. In a world where comic books are basically the new Western and Dr Who is the new ... um ... Dr Who, it's become the norm to pay far too much service to fans of a franchise. Excellent narrative must always come first. Take a leaf out of George RR Martin's book and do what best serves the story, not what best makes the diehards squee. Mass Effect 4 will be joining at a point where everything has gone in a pretty bold direction. The ending of Mass Effect 3 was not popular, but it was certainly pretty final. Given all the backlash, it's must be extremely tempting for Bioware to give the fans a little something to keep them sweet, a gesture that whispers 'please love us' through the monitor ever so softly. Maybe a little bit of Garrus showing up, or a hint of the Normandy saving you at a perilous moment? Hmm? You like that? Do so, and you lose any gravitas the story has built up. That chapter of the series has ended. Those characters' stories have finished. Leave them as lore and let them go.