Bioware has revealed that Mass Effect 3 will be shaped by over 1,000 story variations from the first two games in the series.
Like its predecessor, Mass Effect 3 will offer continuation of the decisions players made in previous iterations of the franchise.
But according to ME2 project lead Casey Hudson, things have gotten a little complicated for the studio.
"We plan out the larger plot points of the story from one game to the next, but it would be impossible to plan it all in advance," he told PC Zone issue 224 (in all good stores now, folks).
"More importantly, we'd never be able to plan as many creative opportunities if we'd do it all up front. Instead, we record what a player has done in a play-through, and then we have all of those choices available that writers can refer to as they build storylines...
"Numerically, it's over 1,000 variables that we'll have access to for shaping the Mass Effect 3 experience for people who've played the previous games."
Hudson said that Bioware wouldn't be reinventing its action-RPG approach with the third game - which the studio has already started work on.
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"If you define an RPG as a game where you equip your hero by sifting through an inventory of hundreds of miscellaneous items and spend hours fiddling with numerical statistics, then Mass Effect 2 isn't one," he added.
"In Mass Effect 2 we focused on what we love about RPGs: An awesome sense of exploration, intense combat, a deep and non-linear story that's affected by your actions, and rich customisation of your armour, weapons and appearance...
"We had an overwhelmingly positive response to this approach, and while we'll make further adjustments to it for Mass Effect 3, we're really happy with how it's been received so far."
Comments
31 comments so far...
Black Mantis on 4 Aug '10 said:
I booted up ME1 again last night as I have a 3rd character I wish to import into ME2 and I definitely don't want that inventory system back!
Hopefully ME3 will arrive next year.
Moribundman on 4 Aug '10 said:
Agree with you 100%!
Still need to have a bash at Insanity level on both games but having a great deal of trouble reacclimatising to ME1...
As others have said in the Firepower DLC thread, ME1's story arc had more thrust than ME2's... Less reliant on mandatory (if you want everyone to survive) sidequests. I still prefer ME2 in pure gameplay and atmosphere terms, but I hope ME3 combines the story focus and strong antagonist of ME1 with the mechanics and slickness of ME2.
It would also be nice to see your former companions play a substantial role in the third game. Wrex and Liara (esp once the Shadow Broker DLC is out) provide fun sideline chats, but your former Alliance crewman hardly got a look in, Wrex was basically a cameo in place of another character who served essentially the same in-game purpose and Liara was decidedly hands off.
Potentially every squad character from ME2 could be dead for ME3, but it would be a REAL shame to see the likes of Tali and Garrus sidelined in the same way as the ME1 team. You could have avoided recruiting most of them altogether (if you wanted the game to end... badly...)
I really hope saving squadmates lives in ME1 and 2 will pay off significantly in ME3 - full questlines that n00bs don't get a sniff of... Significant plot impact from people who can lead or unite their respective races or organisations... If they can make DLC characters and missions "non-essential" then surely they can create "hidden" quest strings for old favourites in ME3.
PLEEEEEASE give us some dedicated fan service Bioware, and not just a string of in-game emails and blink and you'll miss it cameos...
monty_79 on 4 Aug '10 said:
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRG! Bloody hell! Why do they have to keep it like Mass Effect 2?! there is no rich customisation of weapons and armour in the 2nd, it was all dumbed down for the masses and is far inferior to the first. Can they not reach some kind of compromise as the combat was incredibly dull in the 2nd, especially if you played as a soldier.
FFS Bioware, why did you have to sell Mass Effect out to accomodate the dumb proles?
I will purchase this 2nd hand in protest as I still want to find out how the story ends. Properly p**sed off that it is going to continute in the 'hey thicky, I'm going to hold your hand and really limit the variation you had from the first because you are a thick idiot who is incapable of exploring things for yourself' vein of the 2nd.
As you can guess, I am not happy about their decision.
Black Mantis on 4 Aug '10 said:
That's why you don't play as Soldier class and stick to the higher difficulties. Having a character with Tech/Biotic powers definitely increases the fun to be had with combat.
I'm with Moribundman, in that ME3 needs a stronger protaganist. The Harbinger wasn't a patch on Saren and the Human Reaper never filled me with dread the way Sovereign did.
I expect The Illusive Man and the army of Reapers to make up for that though. Can't wait!
Moribundman on 4 Aug '10 said:
There was Monty, but it was a bit cack handed. The wikia site goes through all the specs for the different guns in ME2, and shows why earlier guns work better than later ones in certain situations, but there's no visibility of any of that in-game.
As for the ammo types, those are dealt with through the power wheel (neatly I thought - was sick of swapping all of everyone's ammo individually per gun between a Geth battle and an organic one), and the increased accuracy/power etc is dealt with via the upgrades in your lab.
Exactly the same stuff is there, they've just taken out the micromanagement. I do concede that there's a problem in that you don't feel like you're doing or selecting anything significant.
If you could allocate the right gun to the right squad member for the right job, or you had to research upgrades for each character individually, rather than a collective buff, then it would feel more weighty.
As opposed to the clumsy, awkward fight mechanic of the first? Its always been intended as a 3rd person shooter RPG, not a turn based point allocating RPG... Still, different strokes...
I agree on this. There should be greater variety between the experience for die hard fans who've kept absolutely everyone alive outside Virmire, and n00bs who've just bought the third game because it (surely) will have been hyped to death...
MrPirtniw on 4 Aug '10 said:
The 2 Mass Effect's are probably the greatest games I've played this gen. Great characters, story, combat and atmosphere- oh, and a unique style which is even cooler.
Yeah so there isn't quite as much tinkering in the menu's- I can live without that. I don't think it'd be wise for Shepard -mid mission- to decide to get dressed out in public anyway.
However- the only things I didn't like about ME2 (Literally the only things)- was A) like others have said, there wasn't an enemy quite like Saren who, let's face it- was frikkin' cool. And B) I wasn't a fan of the levelling up after each mission with the whole stats screen thing. Broke the immersion somewhat.
After Halo Reach, ME3 will be my most wanted game. Better stop getting so excited or I'll do myself a mischief.
The_KFD_Case on 4 Aug '10 said:
While I too do not want the inventory system of ME1 back, I would like a more nuanced and deeper inventory system in ME3, then the one used in ME2. That goes for the skill tree as well. All that said, I've tremendously enjoy both ME1 and ME2; I consider them each amongst some of the best gaming moments I've experienced to date.
crazedfishuk on 4 Aug '10 said:
I have to admit I did'nt really like ME1's inventory and upgrades. But I think I also fall into the lonely catergory of people who enjoyed razzing around in the Mako, finding all the metals and medallions etc. I've actually just finished ME1 again but made sure I collected everything-metals, gases, artifacts-everything. I was going to start straight away on ME2 but....it took me ages to do all that first and I can't really stand to look at Shepard for a while now!
lashed on 4 Aug '10 said:
I have just finished ME2, and while i think its an improvement, i missed the lifts, and the craftly hidden loading screens. just thought Mass Effect 1 had a better flow to the game.
Where i can say Mass Effect 2 was better was through the story telling in the personal missions for your crew. You got to know the crew better and the game was none the worse for it.
Am i dissapointed with either game? no, and im looking forward to number 3!
Moribundman on 4 Aug '10 said:
Right on all counts KFD. In ME2 it was basically Probe, probe, probe, mine, mine, mine... Buy absolutely everything from all shops in the game... And click on every upgrade until everything greyed out.
There was no strategy involved. Basically:
Swapping your whole squads bullets and upgrades individually before every mission = BAD.
Stockpiling resources and buying/researching absolutely everything on the list without any real appreciable difference = BAD.
Mako Levels with mostly bleak, empty planets = BAD.
Total removal of ALL vehicle exploration = BAD.
* A great selection of guns and armour please (as with ME2+DLC), but Red Dead type stats to go with them (damage/accuracy/synth or organic bonuses).
* Strategy please, but not micromicro management...
* Exploration please, but not around identikit empty planets.
ste hicky on 4 Aug '10 said:
me2 is a bit average. the more time goes by the less i like it. i keep finding all sorts of flaws and design decisions that annoy me.
there doesn't seem to be any real scope,just a load of narrow corridor style levels to run and gun through. it's too much of a shooter for my liking and the choices come down to 2 ways to do the same thing.
not much of a choice at all really,a nice illusion though.
if they can marry the first games depth,dark plot,cool cast,overpowered biotics (see me1's singularity when it's maxed out) and item tinkering (armour,weapons,etc..) with the slick gameplay of the new one it'd be cool.
too many babies got tossed out with the bathwater for me and the game felt dumbed down for the shooter crowd.
a bit more depth next time please bioware. oh and a better plot too,the last one was sh!t.
kilatomato on 4 Aug '10 said:
No Casey, in ME2 you focused on what you would love to make you lots of money: a shooter.
I dont mind if the game is designed to be an "action RPG", since thats a pretty apt description of ME1, which I loved. By all means try and refine some of the things in ME2, but could you please for the love of god in ME3 design it so that 90% of the game isnt made up of linear, one off shooting galleries?
I mean, if you actually allow for some lengthy periods of time in the game where its not just about cover based shooting, maybe people wouldnt be so quick to say ME2 is just a pretentious third person shooter.
You can spout all the marketing crap you like about the game "still being an RPG because its got what we love about RPGs", but if youre spending 90% of the game shooting from behind cover with a third person camera angle, its a cover based TPS, and anyone who denies it is an idiot.
spam23 on 4 Aug '10 said:
I prefer the first game over the second, it felt bigger and I liked choosing guns and upgrades rather than just upgrading a handful of guns. I just didn't care for the inventory system there. I loved the many different suits that you didn't get in the second game. I loved the Mako levels, though more detail could have been added to the barren wastelands.
The first game just felt bigger, more fun to explore. I spent well over 80 hours on the first game. I spent about 8 on the second.
If they could meld the first and second games together it'd be the ME3 of my wet dreams.
anytime on 4 Aug '10 said:
Bioware have got one hell of a job in there hands for all different story outcomes that people have made, i dont envy the job they have got.
I saved the collector station so i wonder how that will work in me3. Same goes for the people who didn't save it, And the thousands of other variables i just cant wait.
Black Mantis on 4 Aug '10 said:
The guns in the first game were s**t. Once you got the Spectre weaponary, you never needed any other brand of gun and their only use was selling them to buy more Spectre guns.
Same goes for the upgrades, only 2/3 types worth bothering with.
I agree partially, on your point about the suits. Shepard is well catered for in ME2, but the rest of the crew definitely need more options (free please Bioware!).
I miss the Mako segments as well, but Bioware did say it was a choice between them or the N7 type missions in ME2. Seeing as a lot of people slated the barren, copycat planets in ME1, you can see why they were dropped.
delta19 on 4 Aug '10 said:
and as long as none of those plot points involve the mako from mass effect 1 i will be very happy
Moribundman on 4 Aug '10 said:
I really don't GET 90% of why people champion ME1 over ME2...
I'm very confident indeed that if Bioware had kept all of the things from ME1 that the ME2 naysayers lament, and made none of the additions that they dislike, we'd be looking at much more mixed reviews than the universal acclaim that met the second game.
If you look at ME1 there were a hell of a lot of 7 or 8 out of 10 reviews, and a "more of the same" sequel would only have dragged this down... Christ, have you counted the number of 10/10 reviews ME2 got? I think you're in the minority if you're railing against ME2 boys...
Black Mantis on 4 Aug '10 said:
I liked them due to the ambience, feeling of fright when a Thresher Maw jumped out and when you landed on one with a massive planet/sun in the sky. If they had made it so you don't have to drive over all those ridiculously steep mountains and made an effort with the enemy bases, it'd have been much fine IMO.
monty_79 on 4 Aug '10 said:
More than anything, the real feeling of exploration is missing from the first, and the 2nd feels a lot more linea with regards to the actual areas and the lack of variety in weapons and armour.
So, the ideal Mass Effect 3:
Graphics: Mass Effect 2
Variety and customisation of weapons + armour: ME1
Mako to return BUT the levels must be more varied and the tank itself
Normandy: Must be the Normandy from ME2. No one is going to argue with this.
Plot and characters: ME1, with some of the crew from ME2, namely Miranda, The Doctor, Thane and hopefully Shepherds receptionist, as she was pure filth.
Combat: Hmm, contentious one. I would say the physics of ME2, but the level varity of ME1.
Resource gathering: Should be from the first I think.. Planet scanning was ddull in the 2nd.
Also, when you kill an enemy it should drop something a la ME1, and not just ammo in the 2nd.
Anyone else care to add to my dream ME3?
ste hicky on 4 Aug '10 said:
then the minority it is. i can live with that and could (and indeed have) go in to some depth elsewhere as to why i think the 2nd game is inferior.
as your sig quotes: it's just an opinion,not gospel.
weak story,narrow corridors,no item management,no exploration,dumbed down skill trees,less places to visit,level caps,etc..does not an rpg make. again,imo.
other people may not agree,that's fine.
now this may be a bit contentious but i believe kotor smokes both me's,hands down. when they can deliver a twist like the revan one again i may change my mind but until then bioware are going backwards as story tellers.
i'd like for the overpowered biotics to return from me1. singularity used to lift cover,surrounding scenery and enemies within a certain radius. it got so much at times the frame rate would wobble but it was a sweet skill.
the new one is nowhere near as grand or fun(or effective).
i'd also like to have a shoot out that i didn't see coming as soon as i arrived in an area and scanned it for shephard-high cover points.
also,hopefully there'll be no mention of the phoned in,cliched,humanoid reaper in me3.
worst f*cking end boss of all time.
crazedfishuk on 4 Aug '10 said:
No thermal clips! Hated that-like technology took a backwards step! At least you could mod your weapon with an overheating suppression unit on ME1 but thermal clips!? Hopefully I won't be modding my new wooden stick with a Prothean sharpened flint in ME3...
dreamcaster on 4 Aug '10 said:
at this point I was going to go into the whole 'RPGs are about playing a role, playing the character the way you want, not endless stats and item management blah blah' line, the I read on...
Totally agree, Jade Empire had a similar twist, but since then nothing bioware made came close...
Could work, but maybe with the kind of cooldown in ME2 which locked all powers afterward, otherwise you get power spamming like ME1
What were they thinking?!
Ror1984 on 4 Aug '10 said:
I loved that though - using Lift, then doubling up high-level Throw and sending a guy out into orbit was one of my favourite things to do in ME1
mafiahobo on 4 Aug '10 said:
I wish bioware would look at all these comments! everyone say its a great game but everyone has the right grips they hate. mine for one is a protagonist, more sense of mystery like mass effect did with the reapers and the people going crazy ect. and another thing i literally hate is easily the dumbed down inventory, otherwise every change they made for me was a great change and some were ok like the probing was just ok better than the terrible useless planets
rogueybear on 4 Aug '10 said:
two examples of this is choosing whether or not to punch a female reporter
runadumb on 5 Aug '10 said:
Okay I loved Mass Effect 2 and probably liked it a wee bit more than the first but man did it disappoint in places. Loosing the inventory. Okay I can deal with that but the armour and weapons upgrades just felt lame.
It was far to much of a shooter as well, near fell asleep during some of those battles as yet another wave of enemies ran out to greet me. I played as a soldier though, through both games, maybe that was a mistake.
The planet scanning was like pulling teeth.
Missed the meako (spelling?) although that also got old fast but had potential if improved.
Didn't care for the new fuel/controlling the ship in the map screen but that's niggling as it was just "different" to the first.
In saying that I loved the characters, even the ones I disliked, they were solid. Was proper annoyed when I p**sed of Miranda by siding with Jack (who was in the right) and could never get her back on my side. I even had her as my Team B lead all through the last mission because she was bad-ass. In saying that jack was by my side the whole time because when powered up she's lethal.
Loved each characters side missions and how side characters from optional missions in the first turned up.
This is going on to long. Lastly will say, you can save everyone? I got the geth killed, picked him because I couldn't have cared less if he had died. I also saved the base which is my biggest interest in the 3rd game. Kinda seems like a huge deal no? Does anyone trust the elusive man with it?
I need to play through it again as a biotic, punch reporters in the face and nail amanda...that bloody planet scanning though, ah man!
runadumb on 5 Aug '10 said:
Oh forgot to add I loved the jack Bauer quick time option moments. Enemy is chatting away and you break his neck then blow s**t up. Those were great
ledickolas on 5 Aug '10 said:
Over a thousand story variants yet each planet will stay as linear corridors. Meh.
Moribundman on 5 Aug '10 said:
Armour customisation is a zillion times better in ME2. The problem is, unless you got the play.com UK exclusive pre-ordered collectors edition, acquired the 3 Dr Pepper promo visors/helmets and downloaded ALL DLC packs (free and paid) then you don't really have much choice in that department.
N7 armour customisation (or a quick fix alternate suit) is much more sensible than various different colours of identical armour with progressively good stats as in ME1.
Being able to tailor five different armour parts to shields/damage resistance/recharge time/ammo p**ses customisation all over ME1's system from a great, great height.
As I say though, Bioware were insane to essentially just include four mix n match sets that are available from the start and an additional helmet to buy ingame...
MrPirtniw on 11 Aug '10 said:
@Runadumb: you killed 'the Geth'? Blasphemy! Legion is fookin cool! You're off to silicon hell, my friend!
Lowery08 on 27 Oct '10 said:
If you want good variation in armor and weapons customization you have explore all the shops and buy them. If you want more stuff to do in the game you have to explore the galaxy many planets have side quests. In my game I explored every single planet and found extra quests to do. I love this game.