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FemShep -- Jennifer Hale -- swings by Up at Noon to talk about the franchise, and we make some Pokemon/Star Trek jokes.

Mass Effect’s genophage is one of the few fictions in gaming that is easiest to match to real science. We can already engineer viruses that manipulate genetics within biological systems. While such a bioweaponized feat is difficult to create within model animals (let alone sapient life) let's have some fun speculating how close theory can be to practice. In Mass Effect, the genophage was a Salarian-engineered virus capable of sterilizing the entire Krogan population. This reoccurring plot device was used to create friction between alien Krogans, Salarians and Turians as well as develop several of Mass Effect’s characters (particularly, Mordin Solus). It brought up the necessary moral dilemmas to challenge players outside of running and gunning. It reminded us that we can be accountable for our actions. So, how easy is it to grow a virus? Well we've got to pick from some of the most virulent strains out there as blueprints... Lab practices have effectively eliminated the pathogenicity of HIV, herpes, and hepatitis allowing them to manipulated as empty vehicles to carry genetic information of our choosing. In essence, a virus can be considered the sum of a protein “envelope,” capsid “core” and a viral genome. Their genome is often sufficient enough to carry the information to make the rest of the virus (capsid and envelope) and is the easiest to manipulate. When we decide to make a virus we often build each of these components separately with host cells and use assembly proteins to combine them to into functional viruses. Lentiviruses are current gold standards in engineered viruses. Three plasmids code all the components of a virus, which uses “producer cells” as hosts. So now that you have a viral vehicle to carry information, how would this virus carry out reproductive genocide? By its own definition the genophage was a virus designed to "eat up" endogenous Krogan DNA and introduce mutations that cause sterility. Surprisingly we've relied on several proteins and enzymes that "eat up" DNA to carry out any type of genetic manipulation. There are proteins in nature that are known to cut DNA (i.e.: Restriction enzymes or DNAses), unfortunately in these cases they cut short sequences (restriction enzymes) or non-specific (DNAses). It's important to have a long "target sequence" since a short sequence can show up a number of times across any genome (think about how often the word "the" shows up in a book vs "theological"). In this case, you need tools that can target long pieces of DNA like manmade zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN for short). ZFNs can both bind a sequence of DNA (7-8 letters long) and cut whatever that is bound. It is possible to have several ZFN attached to each other in series to specifically recognize longer sequences of DNA (i.e.: one ZFN for each th,eo, lo, gi, and cal). In practice, the information to build these ZFNs can be packaged into a viral genome and used to target unique pieces of DNA. Think Christmas lights alternating colors to make a recognizable pattern... This pattern aligns with a DNA sequence effectively slicing and dicing DNA sequences of your choice. (Left) Zinc Finger protein wrapped around DNA (Right) Restriction enzyme EcoRI cutting DNA. So now that you've got your virus and the right tool to "eat" Krogan DNA, how do you pick out a gene that can cause sterility? Assuming Salarians sequenced more than one species on Krogan homeworld, Tuchanka, the wizardry of bioinformatics could give you a decent understanding of their evolutionary origins. It's important to understand where you're coming from since the conservation of specific genes often indicates how important they are (hmmm, for let's say, reproduction). For example, pathways that dictate cell cycle and limb growth are largely conserved from humans to fruit flies. In humans you would consider folate metabolism since known mutations in these pathways result in stillbirths (i.e.: MTHFR mutations result in stillbirth in 1:1000 pregnancies). Other viable gene targets could affect sperm motility, uterine conditions, etc. Needless to say a great deal of fine tuning would get you exactly where you would need to go to make a working genophage. The science is out there but thankfully we use it to dissect a gene’s function for basic research and sometimes make night lights out of mice. Green fluorescent protein is commonly used as a reporter when playing with these viruses to validate the efficacy of your infection. In practice, you would have to overcome Krogan immunity and mediate the lethality of the virus itself. In fact it's been so difficult to engineer these viruses that currently only one has made it past trials, the oncolytic virus (designed to fight cancer). Ethically, the genophage served as an ugly reminder of human history in the early 20th century where several countries practiced forced sterilization, often as part of a eugenics program. While this piece by no means condones the creation of race-obliterating viruses or forced sterilization, it is worth noting that there are technologies that allow even the wildest fictions a little more plausibility. But hopefully not... Sebastian Alvarado is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and founder of Thwacke! For more science and video games follow him us Twitter and Facebook! Protein structures courtesy of the Protein Data Bank

Yes, yes, Mass Effect fans: we know that you’ve got your Normandy t-shirts, your small replicas and big models of Commander Shepard’s spacecraft. But what about a collectible ship from the aliens who helped build the Normandy? Got your attention, huh? Dark Horse Comics is putting out a Turian Cruiser replica this November, based on specs provided from BioWare. Here’s a excerpt from the press release: Each Turian Cruiser Replica package will contain an insert card, with a unique code, that will enhance the Mass Effect game experience for individual consumers. Look for this exciting new release in Diamond’s Previews catalog shortly, with a release date set for November 6, with a retail price tag of $34.99!

At least one BioWare staffer thinks Intel took and edited Mass Effect fan art for a logo on their website. This afternoon, BioWare writer Patrick Weekes retweeted an accusation by Twitter user @sa_roux. The accusation: that Intel stole fan art of Mass Effect's Tali for the logo on their latest game demo contest. "I always loved that piece," Weekes wrote. "Really uncool and unprofessional on Intel's part." You can see the image, originally drawn by an artist with the Internet handle Vespaz, above. Now check out the logo from Intel's contest: Definitely the same piece of art, right? Tweak a few details and flip Tali's face so it's facing right: bam, Intel's contest logo. Here's the big question: did Intel have permission both to use and modify the photo? Intel's Mitch Lum, who runs the contest, says the art was "properly licensed." @sa_roux @rurone @arch4ngel I'm the Intel person who runs the Level Up Contest - I have been assured this image was properly licensed. — Mitch Lum (@mitchlum) April 18, 2013 When asked for an explanation as to how Intel licensed this fan art, and whether they got permission from EA or BioWare, Lum said he wasn't sure: @sa_roux I'll admit that I am not a expert in IP licensing so I'll dig into the details from the creative team. — Mitch Lum (@mitchlum) April 18, 2013 At least one BioWare employee doesn't seem to think they got permission. We've reached out to both BioWare and Intel for comment, and will update should they get back to us.

Sadly, they just missed the bus for Mass Effect week, but this cosplay extravaganza was too good to not share, regardless of what day it is. Propped Up Creations emailed us yesterday with these shots of a Mass Effect fight that, while spoken of in the game, was never actually shown. It's the toughest fight Wrex had ever been in, when he went toe-to-toe with an Asari commando - Aleena - and they did so much damage they blew up a space station. There's some pics below, with the rest at the link. Aria vs Wrex: The Smackdown [Facebook]

No doubt about it: the Mass Effect games had some great music. Over the run of the trilogy, a collection of composers and songwriters came together to create an iconic, unmistakable sonic identity. (Sometimes, they even hid their music in the game itself.) But just as remarkable as the music in the games has been the music created about the games. Year after year, musically inclined fans gave musical tribute to Mass Effect. Sometimes the songs were funny, sometimes energizing. Sometimes they were beautiful and sad. As the final post of Mass Effect week, I thought it'd be fitting to round up some of the best musical tributes from over the years. They're below, in no particular order, with links to download the tunes in question. "Those Minerals" by Litoshq Download it here. "Palaven Burning" by Shiryu You can download it here. "Mass Effect Epic Rap" by Dan Bull Download it here. "To Hide To Seek" by Comaduster Shared by Achlysonyx. "Shepard of the Galaxy" By Mass Effect co-composer Jimmy Hinson Download it here. "Commander Shepard" by Miracle of Sound Download it here. "Crucible" by Miracle of Sound Download it here. "Surrender Shepard!" by DJ Harbinger Download it here. "Mordin's in the House" by Adam Warrock Download it here. "Old Machines" by Rig Download it here. (It's made out of Reaper sound effects!) "Like John" by Random Encounters Download it here. "Reignite" by Malukah Download it here. "A Reason to Breathe" - Mass Effect Fan Tribute That tribute video, by Dmli1023, seems like a fitting note to go out on. The list is by no means complete, so if you know of a great tune that I left off, feel free to post it in the comments. And that'll do it for Mass Effect week. It was the first time we've ever tried something like this, though it almost surely won't be the last. We had a lot of fun, and hope you did too. Thanks for reading along!

It wouldn't be Mass Effect Week if we didn't link one more time to "Mass Effect Massive Interface Fail," game designer Krystian Majewski's incredible three-part takedown of the first game's awful user interface. It's a funny, damning, and wonderfully thorough analysis. If you've never met Honk Shepard, now's the time.

Ever since the first game, Mass Effect has always been about shaping the story the way the player wants it. Through Shepard's actions, players could create millions upon millions of iterations of the same universe. We decided to take a look back at the series—specifically, on some of the decisions our Shepards had to make on the way to becoming the galaxy's most badass warrior. Caution: A huge amount of spoilers for all three games follow. Note: This article assumes that every squad member was present, loyal, and survived in Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 1 Shepard's Service History Before the story starts, two things must be determined. Shepard's background: Spacer: Shepard was raised on ships and space stations by his Alliance soldier parents.Colonist: Shepard grew up on Mindoir, a colony which eventually gets attacked by Batarian slavers.Earthborn: Shepard grew up an orphan on the streets on Earth. and psychological profile: War Hero: Shepard, at one point, risked their life to save fellow soldiers, and single-handedly dealt with a Batarian attack on Elysium.Sole Survivor: Shepard's unit fell to a thresher maw attack on Akuze, leaving Shepard to fight for survival against all odds on his own.Ruthless: A pragmatic, brutal Shepard once sent most of their unit to their death, then killed a group of surrendering Batarians on Torfan. These choices confer unique missions, bonuses to Paragon or Renegade points, and extra conversation options. Shepard's Morality Through the player's choices, Shepard can become a shining example of the best of humanity, a compassionate, heroic Paragon. Or, Shepard can be a brutal, calculating Renegade who stops at nothing to get the job done. Noveria: Administrator Anoleis Searching for Saren on Noveria, Shepard lands the Normandy in Port Hanshan. The place is in lockdown due to bad weather, on Administrator Anoleis' orders. Shepard need to grab a garage pass before they can follow Saren. There are several ways to do this: Opold, a Hanar merchant, asks Shepard to help him smuggle in an illegal weapon mod. Agreeing to do so and giving his package to Administrator Anoleis gets Shepard a garage pass.Lorik Qui'in, a local businessman, can be talked to. He tells Shepard that Anoleis is corrupt, and there's evidence of this on a computer at his offices. Shepard has to retrieve the evidence for Lorik in exchange for a garage pass.Gianna Parasini, Anoleis' administrative assistant, at one point reveals herself as an undercover investigator trying to prove Anoleis' corruption. In exchange for convincing Lorik to testify against Anoleis, Parasini hands Shepard a garage pass.Shepard can also either give Anoleis the evidence against him for a garage pass, or reveal Parasini's identity to him. In this case, they shoot each other and a pass can be looted off Anoleis' dead body. Noveria: The Rachni Queen On Peak 15, Binary Helix, a corporation controlled in part by Saren, has been cloning Rachni, a long-disappeared race of deadly insectoids. Saren plans to use the cloned Rachni as soldiers. Their queen can be found after dealing with Matriarch Benezia, Saren's assistant. The queen can either be destroyed outright, or let go. Feros: Zhu's Hope Shepard arrives on Feros, looking to investigate why Saren sent Geth to attack the planet. Exogeni Corporation, the people who founded Zhu's Hope, the Feros colony Shepard landed the Normandy at, have ordered their local representative, Ethan Jeong, to purge the colony to get rid of any evidence of their practices. He can be convinced that the colony is still worth something to Exogeni, at which point he'll back down; or, he can simply be shot.The Thorian, an ancient mind-controlling creature living under Zhu's Hope, has taken control of the colonists who need to be neutralized somehow. Shepard can choose to incapacitate them with melee attacks or special nerve gas grenades, or kill them outright.The Thorian has also been using a green-skinned Asari as a template for cloned soldiers. Shepard can decide that she's too dangerous to let live, or let her go. Bring Down the Sky: Balak A group of batarian terrorist hijacked an asteroid, and are trying to crash it into the human colony world of Terra Nova. Their leader, Balak, when confronted, offers Shepard a choice: either let him go, or fight him at the cost of the lives of his hostages, whose cell he has booby-trapped with explosives. Virmire: Wrex Shepard travels to Virmire in search of a Salarian recon team who has information on Saren. Here, it is revealed that Saren has found a cure to the Krogan's artificial genetic disease, the Genophage, and is using it to breed an army of Krogan. They agree that the cure needs to be destroyed, but Wrex, Shepard's Krogan squadmate, is furious at this. He can be convinced to follow Shepard into battle; otherwise, he has to be killed. Virmire: Ashley or Kaidan Shepard and the crew plant a bomb in Saren's facility to destroy it. Squadmates Kaidan and Ashley play important roles here: one of them leads the Salarian recon team, while the other arms the bomb. The Geth begin to overwhelm the two groups, and Shepard needs to decide whether to save Ashley or Kaidan. The one left behind dies in the bomb blast. Saving the Council In the battle for the Citadel at the end of the game, the fleet's flagship, the Destiny Ascension, with the Citadel Council on board, gets under a lot of fire from the Geth attackers. Shepard can order the fleet to assist the Destiny Ascension, saving both the ship and the council. Alternatively, the fleet can be ordered to focus on the Reaper leading the Geth, Sovereign, in which case the council is lost. The New Council Depending on whether the council survives the battle, there are two outcomes: The original council is lost, and a new one is formed. Whether this is a multi-species council or a human council depends on Shepard's renegade score. Shepard can then recommend either Ambassador Udina or Captain Anderson to be the chairman.The council is saved, and they offer humanity a seat. Shepard has to name either Udina or Anderson humanity's representative. Mass Effect 2 Veetor Shepard heads to the human colony of Freedom's Progress to find out what happened to its inhabitants, who suddenly disappeared. They are met with resistance from the colony's mech defense force. Veetor, a Quarian, who gave the mechs the command to attack because he feared for his life, is confronted at the end of the mission. He can be sent back to the Migrant Fleet to recover, or shipped off to Cerberus for interrogation. Loyalty: Mordin Mordin has to head to Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld, to rescue a former colleague of his, Maelon, with whom he has worked on the Genophage. There, he discovers that the mercenaries who took him didn't actually take him; he agreed to work with them on a cure, out of guilt for what he's unleashed with the Genophage. At this point, Mordin will try to shoot Maelon. Shepard can convince him not to.Then, Shepard can decide what to do with Maelon's data. Mordin can be told to save it, or destroy it. Loyalty: Jacob Jacob receives word of a distress call originating from the planet Aeia, where the ship his father, Ronald Taylor, served on crash-landed. While exploring the crash site, Shepard and Jacob discover that at one point, the ship's officers and crew were divided into two groups, with the officers hoarding all the food. The crew had to survive on the toxic plantlife, which eventually rendered them either amnesic or insane. Ronald, the only officer left, ruled over the survivors using the remaining mechs. Eventually, Shepard and Jacob confront him. Ronald can be taken into custody, and sent off to prison.He can also be left on the planet at the mercy of the remaining crew, potentially with a gun he can use to commit suicide before the crew can get to him. Loyalty: Miranda Miranda's father is planning to kidnap her sister, Oriana, and she asks for Shepard's help with getting rid of her kidnappers. They ultimately succeed, and Oriana can continue her life—albeit without knowing who helped her. Miranda can be convinced to give up the facade and reveal herself to her. Loyalty: Jack Jack travels to Pragia, where she was experimented on by Cerberus as a little girl. There, they find Aresh, a fellow survivor of the experiments who plans to restart the facility. Shepard can convince Jack to let Aresh go, or order her to kill him. Loyalty: Garrus Garrus finds out that Sidonis, the man who betrayed him and got his team killed on Omega, is on the Citadel. He asks Shepard to help lure him out and kill him. Before he actually pulls the trigger, Shepard can convince Garrus to let Sidonis go instead. Loyalty: Samara Samara asks for Shepard's help with tracking down her Ardat-Yakshi daughter, Morinth. Since Ardat-Yakshi are essentially vampires, and huge dangers to society, she needs to hunt her down and kill her. Eventually, Samara and Shepard confront Morinth. Shepard can decide to help Morinth, which results in Samara's death. In this case, Morinth gets to join the Normandy's crew, posing as Samara. Otherwise, Samara kills Morinth, making the mission a success. Loyalty: Tali Tali has been sending Geth components to his father for research purposes. Unfortunately, the Geth awaken and slaughter the research team, along with Tali's father. Tali gets charged with treason for smuggling Geth into the Quarian fleet. To clear her name, Shepard and Tali search the research ship, and find evidence that can prove Tali didn't do anything wrong, but would condemn her father. Shepard and Tali meet the Admiralty Board shortly after to discuss the charges. Tali doesn't want her father's reputation ruined, so she asks Shepard not to tell the Board about the evidence. If Shepard complies, Tali is exiled.Shepard can also agree to present the evidence, upon which Tali's father is posthumously exiled. This makes Tali very angry.Alternatively, Shepard give a speech, persuading the Board that a person like Tali would never be able to betray her own people. This way, Tali's name is cleared and her father's reputation is preserved. Loyalty: Legion Legion tells Shepard that the Geth heretics, a faction of Geth fought in Mass Effect 1, are trying to convert the other Geth to the Reaper cause by unleashing a virus into the collective from a space station. Eventually, the virus is stopped—at that point, Shepard needs to decide to either rewrite the heretics' behavior to strengthen and unify the Geth, or destroy the station, and the heretics with it. Loyalty: Zaeed Zaeed's mission takes him and Shepard to a refinery on Zorya, which has to be liberated from Blue Suns, a group of mercs Zaeed has co-founded. While there, they find Vido Santiago, long-time rival to Zaeed and the other co-founder of the Blue Suns. The two get in a gunfight, with Zaeed shooting a gas pipe and unleashing an explosion, injuring Vido. This starts a chain reaction which threatens to destroy the refinery and kill its workers. If Shepard chooses to chase Vido, the refinery workers all die, but Zaeed is able to kill Vido.If Shepard saves the refinery, Vido manages to barely escape, and Zaeed has to be convinced to stay loyal to Shepard. Loyalty: Kasumi Kasumi goto asks for Shepard's help with retrieving something from Donovan Hock, an arms dealer who's killed her partner, Keiji. The object in question is a greybox, which stores Keiji's memories. After finding and examining it, Shepard and Kasumi discover that there is a lot of sensitive information within which, if found, could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. However, Kasumi is reluctant to destroy the greybox due to her ties with Keiji. Shepard can convince her to either destroy or keep it. Overlord: David Archer Shepard and the Normandy's crew are sent to investigate a Cerberus station which has ceased all communications with the outside world. There, they find that David Archer, the autistic brother of one of the researchers, Gavin Archer, has been merged with a Virtual Intelligence program designed to control Geth. The VI program goes rogue and the Geth control group begins destroying the station. Shepard eventually finds David deep within the laboratory, hooked up to painful-looking machinery, with his brother watching over him. Shepard can choose to take David from Gavin to prevent any further abuse, and send him off to Grissom Academy, a school for gifted youth.Alternatively, David can be left in the hands of his brother. This allows the project to continue. Confrontation: Jack Vs. Miranda At one point, Jack will get into an argument with Miranda, who refuses to admit that what Cerberus did to Jack when she was a child was wrong. Shepard can take sides, telling either of them to back off, although this will cause the one in question to become disloyal. Shepard can also convince them both to put aside their differences for the mission. Confrontation: Legion Vs. Tali Like Jack and Miranda, Legion and Tali also have a fight. Tali finds Legion accessing her omni-tool and trying to send Quarian data to the Geth. Legion insists that he's doing this only to help keep his people safe. Again, Shepard can tell one to back off and leave the other alone, or make peace between the two—in this case, Legion agrees not to send any sensitive data to the Geth, and Tali decides to help him. Saving the Normandy's Crew While Shepard is away on a mission, the Normandy comes under attack from a Collector cruiser, and her crew, save for Joker, is taken. Shepard has to decide whether to go after them immediately, or delay and do a few more missions first. Doing more than one mission after the crew's abduction results in the death of either several, or all crew members (save for a sole survivor, Doctor Chakwas). Choosing the Team Throughout the Suicide Mission through the Omega Relay, Shepard needs to assign squad mates to various tasks, to be carried out within and around the Collector Base. Some are better fit for biotics, others for natural leaders. Depending on how good a fit the chosen squad members are for their particular tasks, they can either survive or be killed in action. If things go wrong enough, even Shepard can die, which leaves Joker the only survivor of the mission. Destroying the Collector Base At the end of the final mission, Shepard is contacted by the Illusive man, who says the technology on the Collector Base could be used against the Reapers. Shepard has to decide whether to keep the Base, merely setting off a radiation pulse to kill the Collectors, or destroy it. Mass Effect 3 Diana Allers On Shepard's first visit to the Citadel after the Reaper attack on Earth, they're approached by Alliance News Network correspondent Diana Allers. She wants to join the Normandy's crew to report from the front lines of the Reaper war. Should Shepard say yes, she will move onto the Normandy and will occasionally interview crew members (and Shepard). Otherwise, she joins another ship. Jack's Students Shepard investigates Grissom Academy after finding out that they're under Cerberus' attack. After evacuating the students, Shepard can decide where to send Jack, who works as an instructor there, and her class. They can be used as support for other troops, which is safe, or sent off to the front lines to fight, which is considerably more dangerous. The Rachni Queen A Krogan team has gone missing, and Shepard is tasked with finding it. They are found on the planet Utukku, under attack by Reaper-controlled Rachni. Grunt, the Krogan squad mate from the second game, is leading them. Shepard and the Krogan fight their way to the source of the Rachni, the Rachni Queen. Shepard has to choose between saving the Rachni Queen by sacrificing the Krogan team, or leaving the Queen to die and rescuing the Krogan team instead. Samara's Fate Shepard searches for a vanished Asari commando unit who went to answer a distress call from an Ardat-Yakshi monastery. There, Shepard finds Samara, who is searching for her two other Ardat-Yakshi daughters, Rila and Falere. Rila ultimately stays behind to detonate a bomb left behind by the commando unit to destroy the monastery, which is now filled with Reaper-indoctrinated Ardat-Yakshi. Shepard, Samara and Falere manage to escape—however, Samara's Justicar code disallows her from letting Ardat-Yakshi run free. Because she would have to kill her own innocent daughter, she resolves to commit suicide. Shepard can choose to intervene, which results in Samara going back to fight in the Reaper war, and Falere staying on the planet to rebuild the monastery.Shepard can also let Samara pull the trigger. Afterwards, Falere can be deemed a risk and killed, or left alone. The Volus Fleet Shepard is asked to investigate Din Korlack, the Citadel's Volus ambassador, for ties to Cerberus. He is found captured by a group of bounty hunters, Zaeed Massani among them. Shepard and Zaeed rescue Korlack, who tells them that Cerberus plans to attack a Turian colony. He refuses to reveal which one, however, afraid that Cerberus will find him. Instead, he offers the support of the Volus fleet against the Reapers. Shepard can either ask for the fleet, or insist on getting the colony's location. If Shepard is persuasive enough, both the location of the colony and the fleet's support can be gained. Omega: The Reactor Shepard and Aria T'Loak head to Omega to free it from Cerberus control. There, they join up with Nyreen Kandros, leader of a local rebel gang. While on their way to confront General Oleg Petrovsky, the local Cerberus leader, the trio gets trapped under a force field. Shepard manages to escape, and reaches Omega's reactor. Here, Shepard has to choose whether to immediately kill the power, freeing Nyreen and Aria instantly but putting thousands of civilians in danger by turning off life support, or slowly reroute the power, putting Aria and Nyreen under heavy fire. Ultimately, either choice leads to the two surviving. Omega: General Petrovsky There are several ways to deal with General Oleg Petrovsky. Shepard can convince Aria to let him live, which results in him getting taken away for interrogation. Shepard can also let Aria have the general, who gives him a slow, painful death. Alternatively, Shepard can shoot Petrovsky in the head. Krogan Vs. Salarian Before taking on the mission to supply the cure to the Genophage to the Krogan, Shepard is approached by the Salarian Dalatrass. She reveals that the Shroud, the facility used to disperse the cure, has been sabotaged by the Salarians to prevent a cure from being distributed. She offers her co-operation in the war effort in return for Shepard making sure the sabotage remains hidden. Shepard can tell Mordin about the Dalatrass' plan, though Mordin will realize there is something wrong with the Shroud by himself. He disperses the cure over the planet, sacrificing himself in the process, securing Krogan support for the Reaper war, but losing the Salarians.Mordin can be prevented from fixing the sabotage, either by shooting him. This results in the Dalatrass pledging the support of their First Fleet to the war effort. Wrex will eventually find out about the cure failing, and has to be killed. Geth Vs. Quarian Shepard's orders take him to the Perseus Veil, to help the Quarian Migrant Fleet fight against the Reaper-controlled Geth forces. Eventually, Shepard finds Legion on the Geth flagship, who is being used to transmit the Reaper signal to the Geth against his will. After purging the Reaper code from the Geth collective and destroying the Reaper base on Rannoch, the Quarian homeworld, Legion tells Shepard that he plans to apply his own version of the Reaper code to the Geth, in an effort to achieve true intelligence. Tali is very much against this. At this point, Shepard can side with the Geth. They receive their upgrades, and wipe out the Migrant Fleet. Tali, betrayed, commits suicide, while Legion uploads his own personality code into the collective, effectively sacrificing himself.If Shepard chooses to side with the Quarians, Legion becomes angered and attacks Shepard. The Quarian forces wipe out the remaining Geth ships.A third option is available: Shepard can negotiate a ceasefire. The Migrant Fleet stands down, and the Geth join the Quarians in repopulating Rannoch. Citadel: Brooks While on the Citadel on shore leave, Shepard is targeted by ex-Cerberus agent Maya Brooks, who tries to use a Cerberus-created clone of Shepard to gain control of the Normandy and use her and her crew to her own purposes. She fails, and is set to be taken away to prison. Naturally, she tries to escape. Shepard has two choices: talking her into going to prison peacefully, or killing her. Citadel: Party Theme Shepard's shore leave concludes with a huge party. After sending out the invitations, Glyph, Liara's personal assistant AI who's organizing the event, asks what type of party Shepard would like to throw. A Quiet party will be more conversation-based, while an Energetic party will be more wild. Control, Synthesis, Destruction, Refusal At the end of the third game, on the Citadel, Shepard meets the Catalyst, the AI in control of the Reapers. It says that Shepard is the first organic to ever be able to reach it, which means it has to rethink its solution to the chaos of organic life: wiping out organics and saving them in Reaper form, each time galactic civilization reaches its peak. However, he cannot make any changes without Shepard's help. There are four ways to continue: Shepard's consciousness is uploaded into the Reapers, putting them under Shepard's control. The Reapers help the galaxy rebuild and serve as guardians.Shepard merges with the Crucible, creating a new type of DNA which replaces all life in the galaxy with a unique organic/synthetic hybrid. This way, there is no need for the Reapers to wipe out all life anymore, since the chaos of organic life is eliminated. The Reapers help the galaxy rebuild and share their knowledge with the races.Shepard destroys vital equipment on the Citadel, which sends a pulse through the mass relays, reaching everywhere in the galaxy. The pulse damages the mass relays and wipes out all synthetic life, Reapers included. There's a chance of seeing Shepard wake up in a pile of rubble on Earth afterwards if this choice is taken.Shepard can also refuse to make a choice. In this case, the Reapers continue their work, and wipe out all organic life in the galaxy. Over to you, folks. Do you still remember how your actions shaped the Mass Effect universe? What are your most treasured memories? We'd love to hear from you in the comments. Images courtesy of: padawanmage71, MarshalMeLee, k7g4p11, padawanmage71, Coombsi, GamerClipz, FlyinB, MarshalMeLee, FlyinB, MarshalMeLee, MarshalMeLee, KaineShepard, DanQ8000, VanishDoomTrain, FlyinB, meonlyred, GameScenes, arcadia1701e, Xariann Cat, RetrooHD, SpazBunnyStudios, FlyinB, operativelawson, S Lee, halofan288, Shane Phillips, analogmarz, Jan Doedel, ShockblastMedia, FluffyNinjaLlama, baseball4evPC, SimKitt, cripplehawk, xVideoGamesSourcex, CaptainShepardN7, DonsGamingEnterprise, DrPillzRedux, ruritania, Revan657, Deadshep With the release of the final piece of DLC, the Mass Effect trilogy has finally concluded. And so we've decided to spend a week taking a look back: It's Mass Effect Week at Kotaku. All week long, we'll be revisiting the last five and a half years of galaxy-saving heroism, cross-species romance, and awkward dancing with new articles and some classics from years past. You can follow along here.

During their panel some surprising statistics were revealed about what decisions were made during Mass Effect's campaign. Did you kill Tali?

Not only did BioWare talk about the status of the Mass Effect movie, but they also touched on their new game that'll be coming out of the Edmonton studio.

Not only did BioWare talk about the status of the Mass Effect movie, but they also touched on their new game that'll be coming out of the Edmonton studio.

#masseffect A panel celebrating the recently-concluded Mass Effect trilogy produced scant details and vague teases about the future of the series and its creators at PAX East in Boston today. More »

#masseffect This is the last time that you'll ever lose someone More »

#johnriccitiello If you gave me five, seven or even 10 guesses about who outgoing EA CEO's favorite character on HBO's acclaimed show The Wire was, I'd have gotten it wrong. More »

#masseffect Weaselhammer of Vector Sigma Creations is the very talented person behind this magnificent-looking replica of the M-12 Locust submachine gun from Mass Effect 2 and 3. The overall creation process took about three months, during which Weaselhammer crafted the model piece by piece, attaching synthetic polymer components to a wooden frame, and then giving it all a nice coat of paint. More »

#masseffect Without medi-gels—the life-saving healing salves in Mass Effect—our Commander Shepards would be toast. Out in the real world, though, we can't just apply medi-gel to our injuries: it doesn't exist. Or well, it didn't, not like this. Not until recently. More »

#masseffect Remember the Mako in the first Mass Effect? It could brave insane terrain, sure, but that also meant it was far from a smooth ride. This remote controlled Mako by Laura Ducros, though? Smooth as butter. More »

#halo Props builder and Kotaku reader Andrew Cook just put the finishing touches on his new gaming room. Those touches were mostly "hanging up his terrific and enormous replica video game weapons on the wall". More »

#masseffect Mass Effect is getting its first ongoing comics series in the form of Mass Effect: Foundation from Dark Horse Comics, penned by Mac Walters, writer on Mass Effect 2 and the story lead on Mass Effect 3. Some might argue that being in charge of Mass Effect 3's story should not be a point of pride, but still. Walters has also written four comics miniseries in the Mass Effect universe. More »

#archer Sterling Archer, the star behind the animated spy sitcom airing on the FX network (also called Archer!), is hands down one of the biggest jerks on TV. We're talking like, someone so awful that he makes Walter White from Breaking Bad look like a nice, upstanding guy. More »

#masseffect Yep, I'm as surprised as you. This showed up on the official Mass Effect Facebook page yesterday, and obviously coincides with Toy Fair in New York this week. But Hasbro has said nothing about the "Galaxy at War" edition of Risk. BioWare says the game is on shelves in the fall. More »

#masseffect There's currently a competition running over on CGHub, a big community of artists who (mostly) work in the entertainment industry. It's to design a new Mass Effect character. Some of the entries are impressive, some especially so, but there are others which will absolutely blow your socks off. More »

See – because it rhymes with “war”, and that’s a reference to a thing a man said in a TV show 37 years ago. The ever-watchful eye-turrets of Eurogamer spotted that BioWare community manager Chris Priestly took to the studio’s forums to declare calling Mass Effect 4 “Mass Effect 4″ is “doing it a disservice”. It’s a game that “does not have to come after. Or before. Or off to the side.” Meanwhile, BioWare Montreal’s head Yanick Roy has explained that Mass Effect 4 could take place after Mass Effect 3.

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#masseffect Mass Effect 3 is well behind us and fans already know that that an upcoming game set in Bioware's far-future universe is in development at BioWare Montreal's studio. That game doesn't have a name yet. But, the dev studio's represenntatives really don't you to refer to it as Mass Effect 4. More »

#rip Veteran British actor Robin Sachs, perhaps best-known to the masses for his role as Ethan Rayne in the Buffy TV series, has passed away suddenly at the age of 61. More »

#masseffect Today, both Casey Hudson and Michael Gamble—producers on the Mass Effect Team—tweeted pictures. Mass Effect pictures, of course—presumably, of DLC. But beyond that? Your guess is as good as mine as to what these pictures depict. More »

#masseffect There's no shortage of quality Commander Shepard cosplay in the world, but this outfit by MissCordie has instantly become one of the best we've seen. More »

A variant of Commander Shepard's N7 armor will be available in Dead Space 3 for those with a Mass Effect 3 save file. To obtain the armor for Dead Space 3 heroes Isaac Clarke and John Carver, players will need to purchase the full game of Dead Space 3 and make sure they have a Mass Effect 3 save file on that same platform. The bonus suit is available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

The Dead Space 3 demo should be generally available on Xbox 360 and PS3 tomorrow, January 22. Dead Space 3 will launch and cut up necromorphs on February 5 and 8 in North America and Europe, respectively.

A similar armor trade promotion was done last year between Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3.

#essay A controller gets put down. A disc gets shelved next to dozens of others just like it. But, sometimes, the game lingers. It creeps into your sleep and live on in the backs of your eyelids, demanding ever more from you. More »

#masseffect Continuing their series of Project Cosplay videos, Firefall developers Red 5 present this short film documenting the process by which "professional" cosplayer Crystal Graziano (note: sponsored by Red 5) transformed herself from regular human into Commander Shepard. More »