Commander Shepard’s story is done.  BioWare Montreal producer Fabrice Condominas has said that whatever the next Mass Effect game is, it will not feature Shepard.  He also said that the next game will not have you playing as “Shepard 2″ or as some random soldier similar to Shepard.  BioWare has constantly reiterated the vastness that is the Mass Effect universe, and they are hoping to take an entirely different direction in the next installment of the series.

I believe this is a really smart move in BioWare’s part, and it’s refreshing to hear that some new approaches are going to be taken.  To be honest, having Commander Shepard gone from the universe isn’t that big of a deal to begin with.  He was merely a vessel for the player to make his or her choices with, and as a result every person had a different kind of Shepard.  Still, he was the protagonist for one of the most popular gaming franchises of all time, so it’s probably going to be a little weird to see a completely brand new character be the face of Mass Effect.