Interview We've brought back a lot of what was missing in ME2

[VentilatorOfDoom]

CVG caught up with BioWare's Michael Gamble on the upcoming Mass Effect 3. They've brought back a lot, you know.

The first ME was very much an RPG that looked at its world down the barrel of a gun, and by now it feels like a shooter with the RPG elements receding - the morality and the levelling seems to be in the background. Has it been a battle of genres?

We just want to tell the best story within the context of an amazing shooter. I think in ME3 we've actually brought back a lot of the customisation elements that were missing in ME2: Weapons, armour, powers, each power now has nine possible ways of evolution. We brought back all that customisation. Like any transition between games, we want to polish everything. I wouldn't say one genre is winning out over another.

This game seems to be a lot more gymnastic than the previous games? Do you still spend a lot of time on things like aiming and traversal and cover?

Absolutley. That stuff is important. How the player interacts with the gameplay space is one of the most important things, as players spend most of their time doing that. We've added a lot of new melee stuff, and it's all part of making combat seem more dynamic. Enemy behaviour is also different as enemies will now try and flank and come up close. There's definitely been an emphasis on making combat spaces into open battlefields in this game. We're trying to get away from corridor shooters.

 

[Gentle Player]

There's definitely been an emphasis on making combat spaces into open battlefields in this game. We're trying to get away from corridor shooters.

Translation: the corridors will be wider.

 

[Morkar Left]

We just want to tell the best story within the context of an amazing shooter.

Everything you need to know.

 

[MetalCraze]

Because since 2007 there were people who genuinely believed that ME is not a shooter and this is a revelation?

 

[sea]

So long as the game is a cover-based shooter I don't think they will ever get away from the stiffness in combat. By nature, those types of games tend to put reliance not on player maneuvering and dodging, but rather on hitting the buttons at the right contextual points, in very specific predefined configurations. Even if you have an open battlefield you're still ultimately playing the same Gears of War-style game, with all the limitations in movement and tactics that come inherent in those controls and gameplay rules.

 

[Mozgoëbstvo]

Sea, this news post doesn't deserve such a long post of yours. Save it for the inevitable Mass Effect 3 gamasutra article that will be linked here in the news.

 

[Oriebam]

it looks like bioware asked them to ask those questions

 

[villain of the story]

it looks like bioware EA asked them to ask those questions

 

[waywardOne]

How the player interacts with the gameplay space is one of the most important things

CAN'T REACH THE TARGET!

(fuck you, bioware)

 

[racofer]

"Customization is what makes a game an RPG." - Bioware, 2012

 

[Metro]

It's an RPG because you play a role... derp.

 

[Stinger]

But have you brought in a good game yet, Bioware? That was certainly something missing in both Mass Effects.

 

[Morkar Left]

Because since 2007 there were people who genuinely believed that ME is not a shooter and this is a revelation?

Since when did biowhore start calling it "shooter" and even without an "rpg" tag attached to it?

 

[Black]

The first ME was very much an RPG

New Tribes are an rpg in that case too. Probably even a better one.

 

[commie]

You mean they put in the half of the game that was missing?

"Customization is what makes a game an RPG." - Bioware, 2012

So all those flight sims, mech games, RTS with vehicle modification etc. I played were RPG's too?


Anyway fuck it, it's not like I expected much. I'll still play it to finish the EPIC STORY in the hope that I finally get to romance Chakwas.

 

[Vault Dweller]

http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/377/mass-effect-3-interview---the-personal-rpg

IG: There has seemingly been a focus on accessibitly during those sections we’ve played – not least the option at the start of the game to have conversation sequences play as cutscenes or make combat extremely easy. Has accessibility been a big focus?

MG: The levels that you’ve seen have been from early on in the game, so the settings were still on ‘standard’ and designed to give you an idea of how to play the game. It’s important that we don’t assume that players have pre-existing knowledge of the gameplay and how the different systems work.

Focus on accessibility - you don't have to press anything, you can just sit and watch the game plays itself. It IS an amazing shooter, after all.

IG: Would you recommend someone playing this game without playing the previous two games?

MG: I definitely would. It is self-contained in the sense that, in the first scene, the Reapers attack and it’s quite clear from that point on what you have to do as Commander Shepard – you have to stop them.

He wrote "it’s quite clear from that point on what you have to do", thought about it, and added "you have to stop them", 'cause with Bio fans, you never know. Unfortunately, he still left many questions unanswered, so what he should have said was:

"I definitely would. It is self-contained in the sense that, in the first scene, the Reapers attack and it’s quite clear from that point on what you have to do as Commander Shepard – you have to stop them – by shooting at them – until every enemy on the screen is dead – at which point you have to look for more Reapers, until it becomes clear what you have to do – you have to stop them – again.

 

[curry]

"Customization is what makes a game an RPG." - Bioware, 2012

 

[Jasede]

Does anyone remember when sequels were rather inaccessible and much harder than the game that came before them because it catered to fans, rather than trying to sell as many copies as possible?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Mass Effect: Infiltrator

 

[Menckenstein]

Mass Effect: Infiltrator

Expected a branded sex toy before I clicked that.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Don't give them ideas.

 

[Black]

Mass Effect: Infiltrator

Expected a branded sex toy before I clicked that.

Eh, in that case I'd go with Penetrator.

 

[Menckenstein]

Don't give them ideas.

Prehensile Actuating Geth Pleasure Appendage with free Geth romance DLC token and USB pleasure sync feature.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

The only reason why I would entertain or even agree with the notion that ME 1 and 2 weren't RPGs is the level scaling. If it wasn't for the scaling the statistical character development would have mattered. With scaling its little more than extra shit to play with. This is especially true with ME 1 where you had to learn to shoot.

 

[circ]

You had to learn to shoot in ME1? That's news to me.