Jennifer Hale reflects on Mass Effect 2’s Shepard 15 years later

Jennifer Hale knows firsthand how impactful playing video games can be. Over a video call with Polygon, the voice of Commander Shepard recounted a story of one Mass Effect player who first encountered BioWare’s series during physical therapy. “One woman had had a stroke. She was in her early 30s and her physiotherapist said, ‘Pick up a game controller, find a game and use it to learn how to get your fine motor skills back.’ And that’s how she got into Mass Effect.”