Is Mass Effect 3 the first game to embrace a gay storyline in a grown-up way?

The new game featuring Commander Shepard, and released on 6 March, features a plotline where you can choose a gay relationship for the main character.

Shepard's romance includes a kiss at a bar in a club, a topless "next morning" scene of Shepard and his partner in bed and Shepard talking through a tough day ahead with his partner.

Casey Hudson, Mass Effect 3's Executive Producer tweeted over the weekend that the game will support "wider options for love interests" including same-sex for both male and female characters.

It's a choose your own love adventure, giving you the option to accept advances or not during gameplay.

The game's developers told Kotaku that it's not a political statement, but as part of a role playing game, it makes sense for gamers to choose their character's sexual orientation.

Ray Muzyka co-founder of Mass Effect studio BioWare, told Kotaku: "We let players take on a role and really immerse themselves on how they feel they want to be playing the game. Be true to that. Be true to your ideal of a game of choice."

Fellow BioWare founder Greg Zeschuk said: "If there's a political bent to it, it's very Libertarian. It's like... yeah, we make the choices available. You decide what you want to do. We're not pushing any particular direction with most of our stuff."