Mass Effect is going mobile! The news was broken indirectly via an online survey so Mass Effect publisher, Electronic Arts, has yet to give it the proper unveil. What we do know is that it’ll offer top-down shooter combat and ton of new story delivered via an animated graphic novel.
Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story tells the tale of Jacob Taylor, one of Mass Effect’s great unsung… wait, who? Jacob is actually a brand new character, a “biotic-powered super-soldier” who uncovers a plot to terrorise the galaxy’s greatest beacon of hope. Guessing that’s the Citadel then. His adventures, taking place before the events of the game, will help flesh out the back story behind some of the game’s more recognisable characters, hopefully via the medium of sprawling dialogue trees.
The gameplay is set to be “top-down arcade-style combat”, using the iPhone and iPod Touch’s touchscreen interface of course. We’re going to assume there is some sort of RPG element involved, otherwise it just wouldn’t be Mass Effect.
The art style has us intrigued too – EA did a masterful job of converting its space horror, Dead Space, into animated comic book form. It was used to reveal some of the events that happened prior to the game and looked utterly superb. Hopefully Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story can expand on that idea in a handheld format.
Mass Effect: Jacob’s Story is going to cost $2.99, assuming EA likes what its survey responders have to say. That’ll net you a couple of hours of play. No word on when it might become available though.
Out TBA | £2.00 | Mass Effect (via Kotaku)
