Mass Effect 3

THE BUZZ: BioWare promised to showcase the female version of Commander Shepard in some of the promotional elements for Mass Effect 3, and her first official trailer has now hit the internet.

EGM’s TAKE: Ever since the beginning, the Mass Effect series has offered up the chance for players to decide the gender of the Commander Shepard that would be saving the universe in their copies of the game.

And yet, for those unfamiliar with the games, everything about the marketing and promotion of the Mass Effect releases could make one believe that it was nothing but the story of a big, nearly-bald bro-tastic space marine.

The reality of the situation, of course, is that games marketed with male main characters tend to do better than games featuring female ones—because the gaming population for genres such as this has often been skewed more male, and many male players seem to not be able to bring themselves to “play as a chick.”

For fans of the female version of Commander Shepard—or “FemShep” as she is loving referred to as—we’ve always hoped that, at least in some way, BioWare should show off the game with both versions of Shepard, so that people would know the games weren’t just about saving the world only as a big, burly dude.

The developer decided to take a number of fan-requested chances with Mass Effect 3, and here is one of the results of those changes: The first-ever official Mass Effect trailer featuring the now-canonical female Shepard.

Sure, it’s just a trailer—but it’s also a nice step in bringing more equality into gaming.