For fans of the Mass Effect franchise, the ability to create your own personal Commander Shepard lies right at the heart of its appeal. But no matter how different your Shepard looked from others or how different your choices were, there were two constants. If you played as a female version of Commander Shepard, Jennifer Hale gave life and voice to your character. If you played as a male Commander Shepard, Mark Meer was your man.
Meer’s previous voice work has included parts in franchises like Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights. But he is now best known for lending his talent to the iconic role. We decided to have a little chat with Mr. Meer and ask him what he thought about the controversy surrounding the Mass Effect 3 ending and more.
Q: As someone who personally invested so much time and talent into the Mass Effect franchise, what were your overall feelings regarding the original endings?
A: Overall, I didn’t have a problem with the original endings, but I suppose I was privy to some information that not all fans were. Stuff that seemed clear (from my perspective, anyway) caused some fans confusion. Not everyone liked the fact that some things were initially left open to interpretation and/or speculation. They wanted more closure.
Q: Did the backlash over the original ending catch you off guard?
A: I suppose it wasn’t surprising to learn that fans were heavily invested in the series, emotionally. People really connect with their individual Shepards, so the end of their journey is incredibly important to them.
Q: Do you think Bioware took the right steps by further expanding on the ending through the Extended Cut DLC or do you think this might set a dangerous precedent for the medium?
A: I think the precedent had already been set. In previous interviews, I’ve mentioned the Broken Steel DLC for Fallout 3. I personally didn’t object to the original Fallout 3 ending, but I certainly enjoyed that DLC! Bethesda, like Bioware, was responding to fans’ input and concerns.
Q: Bioware has always produced great single-player DLC for the franchise. I would consider some of the DLC for Mass Effect 2 to be some of the best DLC ever. What can you tell us about any upcoming single-player DLC for Mass Effect 3?
A: I don’t think my NDA with Bioware will allow me to share any juicy tidbits, but I will say I’ve greatly enjoyed the DLC I’ve recorded so far, and the upcoming stuff seems very interesting indeed…
Q: The lovely and talented Jennifer Hale is the voice for the female version of Commander Shepard. Are there any specific lines of dialogue you have heard from her performances that got you thinking, ‘Crap. Why didn’t I deliver it that way?’
A: Ha – It really was an honor to get to play the same character as Jennifer Hale – I was a fan of hers even before I landed the role – mostly from her work in DC and Marvel cartoons. So finding out that she was playing the female version of Shepard was a real thrill – she’s one of the best and busiest voice actors in the world!
Q: Did you all ever get to go over dialogue together or were your recording sessions separate altogether?
A: Given the logistics of recording actors with conflicting schedules in several different countries, dialogue tended to be recorded in separate sessions.
Q: What upcoming games/projects should we expect to hear/see you in?
A: I’m currently working with Beamdog on the Enhanced Editions of the Baldur’s Gate games. It’s kind of like coming home, since the Baldur’s Gate games were some of my first work in the industry. I also just found out that The Irrelevant Show, the national sketch comedy series I do for CBC Radio, has been renewed for another season. And I recently filmed a new sketch comedy TV series called Tiny Plastic Men, which will be airing on Superchannel here in Canada this fall. It’s from the same production company that did my last show, CAUTION: May Contain Nuts.
[Note: Here are some examples of his work]
I also recently worked with some students from Arizona’s University of Advancing Technology on Red Sand: A Mass Effect Fan Film. It’s a short film set several decades before the first Mass Effect game, during the discovery of the Prothean ruins on Mars. I play the role of Col. Jon Grissom (who will be familiar to readers of the ME novels). The whole purpose of the project is to showcase the skills of the students in UAT’s program – they’re a talented bunch, and were great fun to work with. I believe they’re planning to have it done by the end of August.
Q: What do you want to share with fans regarding the future of the Mass Effect franchise?
A: Again, NDA’s prevent me from getting too specific about the future. I just want to say thanks for playing – you are ALL Commander Shepard.
Q: Did you personally play through all the games?
I’ve done two complete playthroughs each of Mass Effect 1 and 2. I played about four straight hours of Mass Effect 3 at Bioware one afternoon right before the release, but I’ve been too busy to get back to it until very recently. I tend to like playing games like Mass Effect in 8 to 12-hour stretches, and those have been in short supply, lately.
Q: Paragon or renegade?
My first playthrough is always renegade. That way, when I do my paragon playthrough, I feel like I’m redeeming myself for beig such a jerk the first time around.
Q: Fem Shep or Male Shep?
Male Shep – Jennifer is fantastic, of course, but I’m too much of a geek to resist playing as myself.
Q: Class?
A: Renegade: Soldier. Paragon: Vanguard
Q: Love Interest?
A: Renegade: Ashley, then Miranda. Paragon: Liara, then Tali.
Q: Favorite squadmate?
A: I tend to favor the more exotic/alien squadmates. Wrex rarely left my side in Mass Effect 1. Legion, Mordin, and Grunt were favorites from Mass Effect 2.
Q: Least favorite squadmate?
A: No offense at all to Raphael Sbarge (whose work I thoroughly enjoy and who I hear is a great guy). but I killed Kaiden on both my Mass Effect 1 playthroughs. My Renegade was romancing Ashley, and my Paragon was far too much of a boy scout to sacrifice a lady… I still wouldn’t classify him as my “least favorite”, but I obviously didn’t have much interaction with him after that.
Q: Favorite game of the trilogy?
A: Mass Effect 2 was my favorite to play… until I started on Mass Effect 3.
SPOILERS UPCOMING IF YOU HAVEN”T BEATEN MASS EFFECT 3!!
Q: Destroy, synthesize or control?
A: Again, I haven’t finished Mass Effect 3 myself yet, but I have seen the various endings, before and after the Extended Cut DLC. Before the Extended Cut, I’d say Destroy was my favorite ending. After Extended Cut, I’m leaning more towards Control.
