Bioware co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka thinks that Mass Effect 2 is to be “the best thing yet from Bioware” after it hits retail in January, beating out other immortal Bioware games like Baldur’s Gate, Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic and so on.
Dr. Muzyka revealed this thought during a roundtable discussion with the media after talking a bit about what the sci-fi RPG follow-up is all about and how it differs and compares to the original Mass Effect. (via Gaming Nexus)
“This is the dark second act of the Mass Effect trilogy, and I’m really incredibly excited about this,” he said. “The quality is outstanding. I’m so proud of the team across the board.”
Muzyka revealed that feedback from the former game fueled development intensity, which we’ve just learned isn’t an energy drink. He explained that the things fans enjoyed from the original game are still present, but now exist in bigger, more intense forms.
“Listening to the feedback from the fans and the press and internally on the first team, we amped up the intensity of the shooter experience, amped up the depth and the richness of the RPG experience.
“You have all the things you love from Mass Effect -- great story, amazing dialogue, (and) Commander Shepard. But you also have incredible intensity, combat tactical choices, moment-to-moment intensity, how you deploy your troops, and the emergence of different abilities and how they all interact.
“It’s bigger and better in every way,” Muzyka said, “and I think it’s going to be the best thing yet from BioWare when it comes out. I can’t wait for you all to get your hands on it to see what we're so excited about. I love the game.”
Better than Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR or BG2? Sign me up. Now.
[via Edge]
Contest:
9:40 AM on 12.07.2009
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I've got, hiiiiiiiiiiiigh hopes.
I've got, high apple pie in the skyyyyyyyyyyyy hopes.
Also I am so excited for this game I can hardly contain myself. Dragon Age was a fantastic game, and I can only imagine this being even better.
Everything looked the same.
Man involved with making game says it is best'ist thing evar... gives no reasons.. apart from, y'know, what the first game had.. this has it too... to the best'ist degree.
Anyway, in the spirit of consuming whatever wafer news they spit at us to get all excited about I hope they fix the shooting, and have more fun with their Sci-fi universe. ME1's story was dull and stupidly serious, nerd fodder.
Also, bare arse.
Should be cocks, no wait...
However, it had the best sci-fi settings in a VG for years, the story, even though short, was pretty compelling; and mostly the characters were perfectly fleshed out. It also broke from standards by making looting automatic, which made combat more dynamic.
Things they should add : space fights, with a customizable Normandy. Skies of Arcadia had that perfect balance between both, but I'd make them real time. Better weapon upgrading system (being able to modify a lightsaber was great; imagine changing the grip for more control, mass effect driver for more speed...). Oh, and more random encounters (à la Baldur's Gate, in the city... it was great to see you were actually targetted).
Seriously, all I want is a sequel that can give me the same enjoyment that I had when playing KOTOR. God that game was pure amazing...
I cannot wait for ME2. I've played the first one at least 5 times already.
Saying that, I think BioWare is going to learn from it's mistakes and make ME2 one of the best games of all time.
ME was my favorite game of this generation. Add a little variety to the more generic environments and buildings, and make the planets that you visit more interesting, and I won't take this game out of my 360 until FFXIII comes out.
Playing Dragon Age on a console is not ideal, but I doubt it is broken. I don't really know because I never played it though.
On PC it is very tough but for all the right reasons. It is one hell of a PC game.
Anyway Mass Effect 2 is an entirely different team so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Wait, you're going to try to tell me I'm wrong about something you have no idea about? :)
I've played both versions. The PC version is tough, but manageable and fair. The console version is broken. I don't have a gaming PC, so I'm stuck with my 360 version. And I enjoyed it for about 35 out of 38 hours I've played it, but it was still disappointing because, while the broken combat was noticeable it was easy to overlook it, until it completely fell apart in the final battle. I think victory in battle should be a feeling of accomplishment, that's good difficult. Not "Thank God that's over".
I've still pre-ordered Mass Effect 2, because Mass Effect was so good. But I'll probably wait several days to pick it up while the reviews trickle in. I'm not terribly worried, but before I played Dragon Age I would have been waiting for the store to open for me to get my hands on the game. That games damaged my faith in Bioware.
Frankly, Bioware have yet to release a game with a combat system that wasn't at least a little bit broken in a bad way. And their storytelling clout seems to have been on a decline ever since they decided every game has to be about sex (more accurately, to have gratuitous sex scenes) to sell.
As much as I liked the first Mass Effect (and I really liked the first Mass Effect), I'm strongly considering giving this a pass. Maybe it's just residual Dragon Age letdown (warning: the one person on the internet who doesn't think Dragon Age is the best game ever), but...I'm considering it.
I didn't mean to say you were wrong, just disagreed with using the term "broken" I guess. I am sure while being a lesser version the console versions work for all intents and purposes.
And yeah, I know about things being more frustrating than challenging. Call of Duty on Veteran is that for me, even on PC with better mouse-aim. I don't think Dragon Age is that, but on that score I was saying I can't really know for the console version.
And yeah, I think you're good on ME2, it is more console focused (Dragon Age was a PC-only game for years) and a different team.
I personally loved part one
Use some powers (enemy dead)
Use some powers and shoot (enemy dead)
It just looks like a shooting game with some powers thrown in, IMO. Either way, it is basically impossible for it to be better than Baldur's Gate II.
BG2, Planescape...all great games. They haven't made 'em like that in too long.
Pros:
- Great Graphics
- Good dialogue system
- High Production Values
Cons:
- LINEAR!
- Boring guns - They all look exactly the same just different stats
- Boring armour - Like the guns they all look the same just different stats
- Boring combat
- Boring upgrades
- Boring enemies
- Boring, REPETETIVE planets to visit - Hardly anything of value to find
- Any car in GTA handles beter than the Mako
- Boring, predictable story which turns out to be a grind. I finished it only because I had invested hours into the game and I didnt want my time to go down the drain
Please can someone tell me what was so good about ME! it comes nowhere close to KOTOR and falls way short of better RPG games like Morrowind, Oblivion or Fallout
Mass Effect 2 team :"no worries boss, we're going to completely rape the wallets and minds of your loyal fan base. In 10 years we'll be feeding them gruel, and they'll be dropping Benjamins for it. Awwww ya!"
Muzyka: "Bonuses for all!"
Isn't it funny how once upon a time (10 years ago) they actually showed concern over the quality of the product coming from their studio, and now they release a sequel when the first game still has game breaking bugs in it, and that's just for starters. So much fail.