Amazon’sMass Effectshow will adapt the Bioware games into the franchise’s first live-action project, but the process won’t be easy.AMass EffectTV show will present many challengeswhen it comes to telling a story worthy of the source material, and while some are pretty good problems to have, others will surely be incredibly difficult - and costly - to overcome. Bioware’s epic space opera is sprawled across multiple installments, and although they work incredibly well as video games, there will invariably be countless changes and compromises that the show will need to make along the way.
The upcoming adaptation has the potential to become one of thebest shows on Prime Video, as theMass Effectgamesfeature everything from complex personal relationships to high-octane battle sequences.Mass Effectwon’t be the first of the ever-growing number ofTV shows based on video gamesto navigate the problems associated with these sorts of adaptations, but the list is a little more intense than some of the more recent projects.Amazon will hopefully find a way to sufficiently solve all the issuesit needs to.
7Amazon’s Mass Effect Show Will Struggle To Cast Commander Shepherd
The Mass Effect trilogy allowed Shepherd’s appearance to be extensively customized
Although there are other routes the show could take, one of the biggest possibilities is that Amazon’sMass Effectshow will follow the exploits of Commander Shepherd - the main protagonist of the original trilogy. While this is an exciting prospect, casting such a character borders on an impossible task. In the games,the player can extensively customize Shepherd, changing everything from hair, race, gender, sexuality, in-game abilities, and even backstory. As such, there is no set appearance for the character, so it opens the door to far more actors than is traditionally typical.
Even choosing Shepherd’s gender for theMass EffectTV show can’t really be solved by looking to the games for guidance.
Having said that,Commander Shepherd does have a default appearance, which appears in much of the promotional material for the games in which the character features. Because of this, certain portions of the fan base believe this version of Shepherd to be part of the main canon. However, that is a difficult stance to take, especially given that the female Shepherd also has a default setting. So, even choosing Shepherd’s gender for theMass EffectTV show can’t really be solved by looking to the games for guidance.
6Bioware’s Mass Effect Games Have A Very Flexible Storyline
Mass Effect is essentially a choose-your-own-adventure series
Although theMass Effectgames do tend to hit many of the same narrative milestones regardless of who’s playing them, there are also countless permutations of what can happen and when, and it’s all determined by the player’s choices and actions. Because of this,there is currently no canonicalMass Effectstorylinethat is consistent throughout every playthrough. EvenShepherd’s love interestsare chosen on a case-by-case basis, and there are enough options for this aspect of the story alone to allow several playthroughs with different romantic outcomes.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition: 10 Most Important Choices Players Make In The Game
The Mass Effect trilogy is full of choices that shape the plot and Shepard’s journey, but some are crucial in determining the fate of the galaxy.
A TV show generally doesn’t have the luxury of making things so flexible. Although some interactive live-action projects do exist, like 2018’sBlack Mirror: Bandersnatch, a multi-episode run made in this style would create an almost insurmountable challenge. So,theMass Effectshow will need to effectively canonize a set storyline, making decisions that are usually reserved for the player. This is just one of the unfortunate truths of video games being a separate medium from TV shows. It’s tough to see how Amazon would find a middle ground, but perhaps they will.
5The Mass Effect Adaptation’s Budget Will Presumably Be Incredibly High
The Bioware games are full of expensive-looking sci-fi imagery
Mass Effectis hard sci-fi, and it makes use of almost all the genre’s typical conventions. To do justice to the impressive aesthetic of the source material,Amazon won’t be able to avoid spending a lot of moneybringing Bioware’s universe into the realm of live-action. Holding back on the budget will almost definitely makeMass Effectlook cheap and under-produced, which would beg the question of why they took the project on in the first place.
Although alienMass Effectcharacters like Liara T’Soni could be easily portrayed by an actor in makeup, figures like Garrus Vakarian and Urdnot Wrex will require far more effort than just a little latex.
Unlike some space operas,Mass Effectfeatures surprisingly few human characters. Instead, a huge majority of the cast will require either extensive makeup or a lot of CGI to help them bring their characters to life. AlthoughalienMass Effectcharacterslike Liara T’Soni could be easily portrayed by an actor in makeup,figures like Garrus Vakarian and Urdnot Wrex will require far more effortthan just a little latex. Amazon was likely to be aware of this before greenlighting the show, so with any luck, this won’t be a concern.
4Mass Effect’s Original Trilogy Is Very Long
Amazon won’t be able to wrap up Mass Effect quickly
Again,details are still very scarce about Amazon’sMass Effectshowand its story. Having said that, it’s a pretty good bet that the hugely successful original trilogy will serve as the basis for the live-action adaptation. Although this is an exciting prospect, a full play-through of said games can last almost 100 hours. Some of this can be shaved off by cutting out transit time and other factors, but the story is still a slow-burner, and rushing it would negatively impact its efficacy.
Mass Effect’s loyalty missions can not only be some of the games' best moments, but they would also make brilliant episodes of the TV show.
Folded into this 100-hour play time are theMass Effectside missions. Althoughsome are minor and incredibly optional, others, if ignored, massively affect the plot. For example,Mass Effect’s loyalty missions can not only be some of the games' best moments, but they would also make brilliant episodes of the TV show. So, although some game adaptations can ignore these ancillary quests without consequences, it’s not possible withMass Effectif the show is going to honor the complex character dynamics and larger storyline.
Mass Effect 2’s side missions are vital to making sure everyone survives the iconic final level.
Therefore,Amazon will likely need several seasons to do justice to a show likeMass Effect. On the surface, this may seem like a great problem to have. Unfortunately, it also puts a great deal of pressure onMass Effectseason 1, which will have to perform incredibly well to justify the saga’s continuation. If it flops, then the adaptation would probably be left in a frustratingly open-ended position due to its cancelation.
3The Mass Effect Showrunner Has Very Little Experience (Especially In Sci-Fi)
Daniel Casey seems like an unusual choice for such a big project
Amazon has announced that theMass Effectshowrunner will be Daniel Casey. His most high-profile project so far is 2021’sFast & Furious 9, for which he wrote the script. Being trusted with theFast & Furiousfranchise shows he is capable of taking on huge projects, butMass Effectis an entirely different beast to the long-running racing saga. Plus, despite being active in 2003,Casey has racked up surprisingly few writing credits, and almost none of them have fallen within the sci-fi genre. Hopefully, Amazon sees something special in Casey and believes he can pull it off.
Daniel Casey’s sci-fi projects to date have been mixed.2012’sDroneweb series proves Casey can write a good sci-fi story, but the size of the project falls very short ofMass Effect’s pedigree. Having said that, the series itself is well-produced, and Casey’s co-written script is surprisingly layered for such a short narrative. On the other hand, 2018’sKin, starring James Franco, crashed and burned at the box office as well as with critics. With any luck,Drone’s success is what Casey will build on, rather thanKin’s failure.
Bioware is taking its time with Mass Effect 4
Because of the various choices a player can make in theMass Effectgames, they take longer to create than is typical of other games. Scripts are longer, and parts of the map that may never be visited need to be just as intricately constructed as the other areas. Generally speaking, TV shows don’t take as long to produce, as they’re typically linear in terms of their story structure, and anything cut from the final edit is only done out of necessity. Therefore, it’s very possible that the show could be made faster than the games can keep up with.
The studio is currently working onMass Effect 4, but progress has been very slow.
At present,there are only fourMass Effectgames. AfterMass Effect 1,2, and3, Bioware moved on to makeMass Effect: Andromeda. The studio is currently working onMass Effect 4, but progress has been very slow. If Amazon chooses to adapt the trilogy and exhausts the material beforeMass Effect 4is complete, then the show will become one of the ill-fatedlive-action projects that go beyond the source material. Shows likeGames of Thronesprove that this can quite often end in disaster.
1The Mass Effect Franchise Has Already Proven How Difficult It Is To Recapture The Magic Of The Original 3 Games
Amazon is arguably fighting an uphill battle by taking on a Mass Effect project
2016’sMass Effect: Andromedaserved as a standalone sequel to the original trilogy, which had concluded three years earlier. While it wasn’t a bad game by any means, it fell quite a bit short of the legendary status the rest of the franchise had rapidly ascended to.Andromeda’s attempt to return to theMass Effectuniverse serves as evidence of how perfect the franchise got it the first time around, and that trying to recreate the formula simply may not be possible.
Amazon’s Mass Effect Show Should Copy The Approach Of Its Most Successful Video Game Series Yet
Mass Effect will surely encounter several challenges during the adaptation process, but Amazon’s Fallout show can act as a strong blueprint.
This could be even more of a problem if Amazon chooses not to adapt theMass Effecttrilogy, but instead chooses a route more similar to theFalloutTV show.TheMass Effectshow could choose to follow an original storylinethat’s set within the world of the games, but without interacting with established characters like Shepherd, Liara, and Garrus. While this would avoid the issue of theMass Effecttrilogy’s malleable storyline,Andromeda’s lukewarm reception should be heeded when it comes to trying something new.
