BioWare Says Shepard "Better Not Be" Dead

Despite the shocking revelation of the first Mass Effect 2 trailer, it now appears all but certain that Commander Shepard is actually alive and well.

BioWare's debut promotional trailer for Mass Effect 2 featured a powerful twist: Commander Shepard, the hero of the original game, has apparently been killed by the Geth. Many fans believed, or at least hoped, it was a bluff but BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka did little to calm anxieties when he claimed in March, "Everything we've said in the teaser is absolutely true."

The suggestion that the central character of a hit RPG franchise could meet an untimely demise midway through a planned trilogy would be easy to dismiss if it came from another developer, but BioWare has well-established reputation for killing off prominent cast members for dramatic effect. Could the company be willing to go one step further and actually do in the hero himself?

Apparently not. In a blog post on IGN, Mass Effect 2 Executive Producer Casey Hudson made it clear that BioWare isn't finished with the Commander just yet. "I've heard some rumors that Commander Shepard is dead. Better not be," he wrote. "We had a lot of big plans made, so if someone's gone and killed Shepard then things are going to take an unexpected turn..."

Hudson didn't say anything about what those big plans might be but BioWare is expected to do a lot of talking about the game at the upcoming E3, taking place June 2-4.

via: Joystiq