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Mass Effect is fast becoming one of the most anticipated games of this year. It's not surprising when you consider it's being developed by BioWare, the same studio which brought us Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. Not to mention the fact that it's looking superb, as we found out when we got the chance to go hands-on at a special preview event recently.
Here, BioWare president Greg Zeschuk talks more about Mass Effect's cinematic structure and combat system, explains why he believes it's a "true next-gen" title, and reveals his thoughts on the differences between PS3 and Xbox 360.
Eurogamer: Which genres does Mass Effect fit into?
Greg Zeschuk: Obviously, BioWare and RPG go together. We feel though Mass Effect is more than that; it's certainly not a traditional RPG in the sense that, for example, you're not sitting there crunching numbers.
We've tried to distill what BioWare makes down into something different. There are four main aspects to our games: story development, character progression, conflict and exploration. In Mass Effect, we feel, we hit all those notes quite well.
A lot of people have said when they start playing they just run round shooting, and it feels like a shooter. It does at first, but when you get into the game you start getting into situations were just shooting doesn't work. So you learn more about your powers and how you can manipulate the battlefield and command your squad.
It's hard to pin it down. We're having trouble saying 'It's an RPG' in good conscience. Our definition of RPG is very broad. At the very least it's quite action-oriented, but it's also quite story-driven.
Eurogamer: How would you describe the combat system? Which games did you take influences from?
Greg Zeschuk: The combat is broadly inspired. Clearly there's a cover system not dissimilar from Gears of War. It's lighter than Gears, you're not jumping and rolling from cover to cover, but cover is important.
The second thing is the squad. When you start the game your team-mates only have one power or two, but as you progress they acquire more and you need to work out strategies to defeat stronger enemies.
Eurogamer: What if you're not interested in the tactical bit? Can you just play the game like a shooter?
Greg Zeschuk: You could, but it would probably be very hard. If you were particularly adept and had just the right equipment... Maybe. The other thing is, your characters aren't dummies, and you can set them to do things to support you.
Eurogamer: How do you strike the balance between creating characters who are intelligent enough to provide effective support, but not so good at their jobs there's no point you being around?
Greg Zeschuk: Lots of practice. We've been doing these type of characters since back in the Baldur's Gate days... You know it when you get there. You play and you tweak and suddenly you're like, 'Hey, this character is doing what they're supposed to.'
Eurogamer: You're known for developing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. For Mass Effect, where you got the idea of doing a trilogy of games with an overarching storyline set in space? And when you've finished them, will you be doing a set of prequels which many misguided people think are rubbish?
Greg Zeschuk: Hopefully not the rubbish part [laughs]. When we started Mass Effect's development, we decided to do a big space epic, we went away and wrote the story, and we just felt it fitted better as instalments.
But a key thing for us is, we never want to make a game where the end of part one doesn't feel like the end. That's not to say we'll never have any kind of cliffhanger, but you've got to be satisfied with the ending.
As far as a prequel trilogy goes... We're just thinking about this next period right now. We're trying our best to make sure all of these games end up within this generation as well.
Are you excited about Mass Effect on Xbox 360?
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SeesThroughAll
01/10/07 @ 13:31
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Is he trying to force me into buying a 360?
If the PC version needs Vista, yes. |
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MrWonderstuff
01/10/07 @ 13:31
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Added to my ignore.
Righty...sounds super cool. Have read the prequel book and it helps set the story up a little more and introduces some characters which you meet in the game. Give it a go if you need a Mass Effect hit. |
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The graphics look kind of great. But not quite my style. Everything looks so plastic and.. clean. Too perfect. Like Oblivion almost, that depicted an entire world that looked like noone had ever lived there. I don't particularly like that style myself.
I prefer the graphics from the Gothic series.. Gritty, run-down, time-worn. Broken fences, old skeletons, dirt and gravel, craters, dung heaps, discarded items, crushed ceramics.. stuff like that is everywhere. |
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MrWonderstuff
01/10/07 @ 13:40
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Well who's to say those sort of environments are not in it? Given the epic scope of the game I'm sure there is something for everyone.
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kangarootoo
01/10/07 @ 13:57
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"Everything looks so plastic and.. clean. Too perfect."
I hear you, but I think in the scifi setting its appropriate in some ways. Maybe not the skin of the more human characters (which is a touch like smoothed clay), but in the environments it seems appropriate. Splitting hairs mind, its does look bloody gorgeous overall. /insert joke here about in space no one can hear you clean. |
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SeesThroughAll
01/10/07 @ 14:10
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Like many of us have suggested ages ago, we need a [sarcasm] tag...
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Yeah, but that kind of ruins it. I mean, we aren't Americans, so we shouldn't have to do the "...not" at the end of a sentence to highlight the fact that we're being sarcastic.
Ho hum. Might ignore in return, just to be vindictive. Which is a shame, because I normally like reading Dizzy's stuff... |
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SeesThroughAll
01/10/07 @ 14:38
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You spend all that time talking to Bioware and you don't even slip in a few questions about Dragon Age?
+1 Indeed. |
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He has said several times now - asked about a PC version - that all Bioware games appeared on the PC, and that that's where they're coming from - most recently in an interview on eurogamer.de a couple of weeks ago. That was as good as a confirmation. Weird that he's saying less now.
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most recently on 01/10/07 @ 15:50
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"Bastard!
Is he trying to force me into buying a 360?" Do it - you won't regret it. Or at least I haven't in the month since I bought mine :). I used to be a die hard PC gamer (well, I do have a PS2 lying around somewhere, but I rarely used it, mostly because I couldn't live with the severely outdated graphics at the time I bought it around a year and a half ago), but after spending 8-10 hours a day working on my PC, it's just so damn nice to be able to firmly plant my ass in a nice comfortable chair or couch, rather than spend yet another few hours at my desk. Not to mention I'm growing rather fond of using a gamepad, though I'm still wrestling a bit with accuracy in the few shooters I play. Oh, and of course the 360 has a rather neat lineup of games - I've already spent three times as much on games this month as the console itself cost me, admittedly somewhat a waste of money for a large part as I haven't really had time to properly play more than half of them :p. |
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Hmm KOTOR was a little better on PC but Jade Empire was a lot better on the XBox (and a lot earlier). I think a good rule of thumb is get it for the platform it was origianlly designed for Mass Effect: 360, Dragon Age (if it goes multi-platform... it hasn't got a poublisher yet): PC. In the mean time I'm cracking on with the NWN2 expansion.
Which reminds me why is it always BioWare the people behind KOTOR and Jade Empire with no mention of Baldur's Gate I and II or NWN? |
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Which reminds me why is it always BioWare the people behind KOTOR and Jade Empire with no mention of Baldur's Gate I and II or NWN?
Well, in this context, their next console game, it does make sense. In a Dragon Age article I'd expect BG and NWN to be the focus to a greater extent. And there is nothing wrong with the 360. I'll get one eventually. My budget would do well if I held out a while longer though. |
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Sorry but reading this:
Lots of practice. We've been doing these type of characters since back in the Baldur's Gate days... You know it when you get there. Well I sure do since BioWare have yet to get there, both JE and KotOR featured retarded AI and BG saving grace was the large amount of control over the party members that offset their Artificial Stupidity. |
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I personally never ingnore anyone, no matter how irritating, everyone is entitled to have their opinion heard whether juvenile or not.
I've been ignored myself for making a joke on here, it amuses me to be honest, as it seems that for the people who do it, they wield the ignore button like it's the only power that they have over anyone, and seem to delight in letting their "victim" know that they've been ignored, it makes them look a bit sad IMHO. I guess the old saying "small things amuse small minds" rings true. On topic, Mass Effect looks like it's going to be ACE!!! |
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@ Mattigan
The only people I have ever ignored were the guys who were posting spoilers in the Halo 3 review thread - now that I own the game and I no longer have any desire to read that thread, I've un-ignored them again. I do agree with you on the whole "Oooh, you annoy me so much that I've ignored you. I am so powerful I must tell you all about it...." thang - if you are going to ignore someone, just revel in the blissful silence instead of adding to the general cacophony! I guess I should really post something on-topic now.... I have always loved the look of Mass Effect - 80s-style Sci-Fi version of Jade Empire? What's not to love! I will say that the reams and reams of BioWare dialogue don't engender me with huge amounts of enthusiasm, but then again, I never watched Star Trek and the original BSG (as well as Buck Rogers) for the riveting discussions! It seems like popcorn Sci-Fi space opera that I can control, with fantastic graphics and what looks to be an amazingly consistent, persistent game-world. Kinda like an RPG equivalent to Privateer 2: The Darkening, I think. And that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! |
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SleepyMagpie
01/10/07 @ 19:26
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Pike asked if Zeschuk is trying to force PC gaming rig owners into buying a 360..
He wouldn't answer the question of course, but my guesstimate is, and I would believe that to be fairly accurate: A Mass Effect PC version will be launched sometime during summer of `08. Then only two quandaries arise: 1. Would you want to wait that long? 2. Given the cinematic splendor of Mass Effect, don't you think it would be nicest to play it on a large screen, sat on your comfy couch? I can attest to the claim that certain games grow given the full 40"+ HD flatscreen treatment. If you have the means and the inclination, go for it. Buying a 360 instead of a PS3 will give you more to buy good games (that actually exist), and home theatre gear, for. This coming from a PC nerd-builder since the late 80's.. |
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If Microsoft were serious about PC gaming as they claim to be with the Games For Windows branding and all that, they'd be more forthcoming with a PC port, instead of forcing PC people to go console. Personally I bought an Xbox 1 for Jade Empire, not my best decision, so I'm not making the same mistake of buying a console for 1 game again.
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Eurogamer: What about the argument that PlayStation 3 is technically the most powerful console? As you're trying to push these boundaries, do you wish you had that extra power to play with?
Most powerfull says who? Not any of the None Sony devs... Certainly not graphics processing anyway. Forgetting John Carmak, Team Ninja and all those other 3rd party devs are we?. Bad Ellie... for trying to sneak that in, use your eyes first and then actually listen to the devs who know what they are talking about. Even in Raw power terms the difference isnt that great, efficiency and real world performance is what you want... 360 has that and the power, devs have said it numerous times even gave 360 the nod for most powerfull but people continue to ignore it. He could have made whoever asked that look very silly indeed if he wanted, he probably gave them a funny look at that question and then felt sorry at their embarissment :). His answer was good one anyway, there isnt a big difference between the two, theres a big chance that the way it is now will continue though, with PS3 playing catchup and still showing signs of things that its quite as good at(two different machines with unique strengths and weaknesses in comparison to one another but pretty even overall... as Carmack put it - theres never been two so close in a generation).
Edited 9 times,
most recently on 02/10/07 @ 15:59
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mattigan said:
"I personally never ignore anyone, no matter how irritating, everyone is entitled to have their opinion heard whether juvenile or not." I'm not sure I agree. We're all entitled to think whatever dumb shit we want in the privacy of our own heads, but no one is entitled to an audience for those views. Anyway... Can't wait for Mass Effect. I recommend picking up the book by Drew Karpyshyn. It's pretty cheesy, but it gives you a good sense of the universe they're trying to create for the game and has definitely increased my enthusiasm for the game. The only question is whether or not to go for the "special edition" version. Do we know what's on that yet? |
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kangarootoo
02/10/07 @ 09:47
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"This game should be ten out of ten"
Oh God, I can imagine the state of the review thread if it isn't/is. |
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Anyone who bandies around bizarre absolutes like "games will NEVER need more space than on a DVD" deserves to be proved wrong and almost certainly will be.
I remember when Windows 95 came out and the idea of 4GB of memory in a computer seemed fantastical (admittedly it would have cost over £100,000 at 1995's prices). But even then we were fighting with arbitrary memory limits that had seemed equally fantastical when they had been invented 10-15 years previously. What's that quote? "Anyone who ignores the lessons of history is doomed to repeat them". |
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@bioreit
I understood the sarcasm. I think for someone to look at Mass Effect and say "piss poor graphics" they must be brain dead and hence unable to type. The only person I ever ignored was the idiot in the Halo3 comments who kept posting '/' over and over to get the thread up to 1000 posts. Anyway, this game looks ace, I've been looking forward to it months, or since I first saw a screenshot anyway. But then again I was looking forward to Splinter Cell, Forza 2 and Halo 3, all of which let me down severely. Please don't disappoint! |
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@Bad
"But even then we were fighting with arbitrary memory limits that had seemed equally fantastical when they had been invented 10-15 years previously." That limit wasn't invented arbitrarily, it's a physical limitation of a 32 bit operating system only able to address 4 gb. A 64 bit OS is capable of addressing something like 16 milllion terabytes of RAM. Which is why everyone will have to go to a 64 bit OS in the near future.
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most recently on 02/10/07 @ 13:23
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If this has the same option to ignore the story as in Deus Ex I'll be happy. I love my RPGs for the development of the character(s) in physical terms, I can't get on with the hokem plots that usually come with them.
Someone should license David Gemmell's (RIP) stuff for an RPG, as he created some great characters. |
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Daymare - You pervert stop looking ;) its only because its all looking damn fine on the 360 front... I dont own one actually but I do know my hardware, Id just rather they didnt try and run that game and pretend its more widely accepted than it really is, most of the top devs disagree with it(PS3 isnt the better console hardware... media centre hardware maybe, it has its extras like cell and blu-ray but then 360 has its advantages too xenos, memory architecture, Edram ect... no-one is suddenly going to turn around and forget what we've already been through... nothing has changed).
Im not sure about Mass Effect, I found Kotor a good game but as someone who doesnt play alot of RPGs I found some parts quite boring and a chore, although I still enjoyed finnishing it. I might give that a another play through, maybe I missed what made it so popular the first time, it just also seemed a bit like it didnt matter what you did with the battles(not much to learn just level up and strengthen the same attacks or buy better ones)... or maybe I just wasnt very good at stratagising.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 02/10/07 @ 16:28
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