UPDATE: Footage of the panel has appeared online, along with a few more details, including confirmation that you'll be playing as a human character. You'll find it below.

The Escapist has video from the event, which includes footage of the Mako in action (BioWare appear determined to make it less horrible to control than the old one, thankfully), some nice conceptual art, and speculation that the game will take place within Shepard's lifetime (although it won't star Shepard). If you saw EA's conference at E3, you'll know that this all part of their new approach to game reveals: ie to reveal things much earlier than before. The next Mass Effect is still years out, according to BioWare, and a lot of this stuff is still up in the air. It does seem like Mako customisation is currently included the game though. Here's the video:

Original story:

It's natural to expect the big game-related news to emerge out of E3 or Gamescom, but BioWare just revealed a load of new details about the next Mass Effect in a panel at Comic-Con, which they reiterate is totally not called Mass Effect 4. The mighty Nerd Appropriate were on hand to take sneaky images , and thanks to their sterling work we now know that the first game's infuriating/awesome spacecar the Mako will be making a return - they even showed footage of the thing in action, although sadly video hasn't leaked of that yet. More details after the break, which may or may not include the letters 'N7'.

Firstly, that image up there, courtesy of The Escapist's Andrea Rene (Thanks, Joystiq ). The Mako is back! Along with the words "Your Mako", suggesting an element of vehicle customisation. Similarly, the words "Your hero" were emblazoned above images of male and female player characters that appear to be clad in N7 armour, as seen here:

If you're thinking, "Wait, didn't Shepard wear N7 armour?" you're right, but BioWare reiterated that this isn't Shepard's story, despite the implications of you wearing getup reminiscent of that famous dudette/dude's iconic garb. GameFront's Phil Horshaw was also at the event, and quoted BioWare as saying "our hero has something to with N7", ruling out my pet theory of the player character being a gangly Hanar.

Other titbits, courtesy of Nerd Appropriate: familiar characters might reappear in Not-Mass-Effect-4, while the game's multiplayer component will likely focus on co-op , and have players assuming one of a variety of races . More details are likely to spill out over the next day or so - until then, we'll be reliving our best/worst Mako memories, and imagining how an ME1-style planet might look rendered in the Frostbite engine.