“We have the fastest elevators in the industry,” Mass Effect 2 executive producer Casey Hudson joked at a Comic-Con panel in July 2009.
What if by fastest, he meant waiting in none at all?
Elevator rides were a Mass Effect staple. On a design level, the elevators were a means of avoiding loading screens. But lacking in significant narrative or visual value, these excursions became too dull too fast for most.
The stares into oblivion. The shifting. The disconnected conversation. The radio repeating something mentioned in another ride hours prior to the current one.
Plans are in place to keep elevators in Mass Effect 2, despite grumbles. And while elevators are still a part of the game, waiting in them won’t be.
“The elevators were made in ME1 so we didn’t have to show boring loading screens,” wrote associate programmer Thomas_R_Roy in recent ME2 official message board post. “However there were a lot of complaints, so we’ve gone back to loading screens and movies. We still have elevators in ME2, but you don’t wait inside them. We’ll cut to a loading screen instead.”
There will be something to the loading screens, according to _Roy.
“We’ve tried to make the loading screen more interesting this time by adding interesting visuals and information.”
What those little entertainment nuggets during loading screens might be, we haven’t the slightest idea. But it’s hard to argue that it won’t be more entertaining than watching Commander Shepard shuffle his feet.
[via The Save Points]
