BioWare Mondays
Mass Effect - Infiltrator
Dragon Age: Redemption DVDs go on sale next week.
That’s right, Dragons and Dragonettes: you can grab Felicia Day’s Dragon Age tie-in web series on DVD beginning on Valentine’s Day.
Which is also the day that the Mass Effect 3 demo comes out, if memory serves.
I suppose we can conclude from this that BioWare would much rather we all work on our in-game romances than our real-life ones?
The BioBlog has an interview her. It’s a pretty straightforward discussion about what she does and how she got in to the industry, so if those are things that interest you, give it a read.
Okay, seriously, how much bloody DLC can they announce for Mass Effect 3?
I’m not really opposed to the idea of DLC for the most part, but I worry that in the case of Mass Effect 3, BioWare is going to saturate even the most ardent DLC proponents with so much additional content that the end result will be…ugly and kind of backlashy.
Mass Effect: Infiltrator might be an iOS tie-in done right…
It’s too early to tell, but based on what few screenshots have been released for it, it seems to be a better effort from BioWare than their previous foray into the iOS space. Which was also a Mass Effect tie-in. And which…wasn’t great.
Then again, maybe I spoke too soon?
Text messages from the characters of the game? Really, BioWare?
Confirming what we all already knew…
…Mass Effect producer Casey Hudson has stated (again?) that BioWare aren’t going to be finished with the series after its third installment.
This is what I mean about DLC!
From Dust? That’s what…the fiftieth piece of announced and/or rumoured DLC for Mass Effect 3?
Actually, that might not be a bad way to put it; the game has to some level been architected to let you play it as…well…yourself. Only with a spaceship, big guns, some badass friends…and an ample supply of potential sex partners.
And don’t forget: The Mass Effect 3 demo drops tomorrow!
The MEI image is awesome-looking. Very structurally detailed level/stage-wise. The articulation of the models suggests emotion and intention of action. The mecha/landmate models are imposing, even without overt expressions of aggression. I’m sure the sound effects of hydraulic and electromagnetic servos moving, unlubricated joints and feet/wheels touching the ground would be music enough if properly implemented. You’d notice the bot with the combustion engine instantly from its heat signature and blatting exhaust pipes (as if the stench of carbon monoxide and dioxide weren’t enough).
Small correction: “The BioBlog has an interview [with] her.”
Maybe they’re doing what’s been recommended by some, which is breaking up the game into several parts which you purchase separately. So a two- or three-stage DLC would be the norm for an “epic” game. It’s what they’ve been doing by having sequels, but making one game intended to be released in multiple parts will probably become the norm soon. The smaller DLC will get larger and the larger DLC will stay the same or get smaller. Timed releases would be regular, predictable, and always satisfy.
Felicia Day! You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. What does it mean? Cool gamer chick who’s down with games and voice acting? There IS a chick deficit around here… It would be cool if Laetitia Garriott spared some comments for the industry or a new project. Lady British should emerge.
The ample supply of potential sex partners is not a bad thing unless they beat you over the head with it with story segments and such. As long as you can just run around unencumbered and choose to pursue sex only when you want to, it’s not a violation of the regular play control mechs (hopefully). I like to think of it as an unadvertised game mechanic. You can do it, but it’s not promoted or detailed in the manual.
Hopefully it will deliver on consistency with regard to world interactions. Permanently changing things, even if just the graphics around you. Blowing a hole in the side of the ship and getting shot out should always be in the back of your mind.
The thing you need to realize about Bioware is that the two doctors (and their bosses at EA) honestly believe that Bioware is a 10 million copies selling company like Infinity Ward or Bethesda. And they invest in their games accordingly.
But the problem is that they’ve never gotten there – they’ve never even gotten close, in fact. I don’t think a Bioware game has ever even broken the 5 million sales barrier. All this DLC and merchandising? It’s an attempt to make up for that.
Wait a minute… A From Dust DLC? Like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dust ????
That’s a weirder crossover than the space module in Skyrim.
Free copy of Battlefield 3 with ME3 pre-orders.
Ok… just played the demo. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought something along these lines, but… Mass Effect 3 may end up being the best game I’ve ever played.
Which is strange to say, considering how small the demo was, but it impressed me in two ways:
1. The choice of playing it as an “Action” game, “RPG” game or “Story” game. For Action, dialogue and such plays as cutscenes and you don’t have to worry about making choices and such. RPG gives you the action, but also lets you develop and make choices. Story removes most of the action so that you can just play through the story. I will always choose RPG, but that is just one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in a game. Not that that would go towards making ME3 the best game of all time. It was just awesome to see.
2. Missions seem more… cinematic. Since ME1, fighting has always been broken up with some dialogue with random characters and such, but it always seemed to be completely cut off from the action (which basically means you have to run through a lot of boring action sequences). Playing the first mission in the demo showed that Bioware has learnt. A lot. While running around, things are exploding, stuff is going on in the distance, camera angles change to give you good views of whatever is happening to you at the time. I can’t think of any other game that has ever had me both concentrating on what is right in front of me, as well as admiring what is far away, as well as me being directly affected by stuff that could be miles away. With the story built in pretty much the entire way.
If the whole game is made in a similar way, ME3 will be amazing.
ThePal:
Play any current-gen AAA cinematic first person shooter, because that’s what you’ve just described. It’s really easy to be wowed when you’ve restricted yourself to a diet of (more-or-less) straight RPGs for your entire life. And I think that’s what Bioware is banking in terms of the reactions from its fanbase.
BTW, this isn’t necessarily a criticism of ME3 – it is what it is.
I haven’t just played RPGs. It is something many games try to do, and some do it decently. The first demo mission was just done really, really well.