When you play Mass Effect, you're in control of Commander Shepard's destiny. But the galaxy is full of stories that don't involve Shepard, and fans will soon have a chance to watch one of them unfold, since BioWare and EA have inked a deal to create an anime feature film set in the Mass Effect universe.

According to EA's press release, the Mass Effect anime will be handled by Funimation, and deal with "an epic science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious, uncharted planets."

While the specific storyline hasn't been revealed, the release quotes Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson as saying: "Over the last few years, we have revealed different pieces of the Mass Effect world through different media. Extending the story through an anime medium is another amazing opportunity for us.” This seems to indicate that the movie will explore some new territory (rather than retelling the events of previous Mass Effect games). Production on the movie has already begun, and it is currently scheduled to release in summer 2012.

Also, if you're a Mass Effect fan and you haven't checked out our the image for our latest magazine cover, you should probably do something about that.