BioWare Breaks Down Mass Effect 3 Game Modes

[Actino]

A Massive Moan From a Massive Mass Effect Fanboy (Me):

Now I've drawn you in with an uber-cool tongue twister heading, I want to clear up any false speculation, and I want this ?ME3 internet complaining trend? to end. Here are virtually all the complaints and speculation I have heard and my response to them all:

- "EA have ruined Bioware" (easily the most popular complaint) Most people seemed to love Mass Effect 2, yet everyone seems to be echoing this complaint all over the internet. ME3 is not even out yet and people are blaming EA for problems that people don't even know exist. All evidence suggests is that Bioware is very confident and know exactly what the fans want. (Read the developers tweets).

- "Noooo! Multiplayer will take away from single player experience" - they've got a seperate team for multiplayer. - payed for by EA, no doubt. + You don't have to play it + it could be fun! (new features are a good thing). Since the announcement of this new additional feature, I think it's become a natural instinct to complain about ME3 and conform to bashing EA and Bioware for no good reason. ? I hope people can get over this before the game comes out: I can see the metacritic scores now: Average Critic Score: 98, Average User Score: 68. But who knows, maybe the game will have the pleasant surprise effect.

- "Where are the RPG features? I'm not getting this game if they dumb it down." They are doing much more customisation, character development, way more weapons/powers, huge consequences for previous choices. They have stated they are making it as RPG-esque as mass effect 1, but without shit menus. - Since when is over-complexity good?

- "All they're showing is action and gameplay" Of course they are! Conversations don't translate well into trailers and they don't want to ruin parts of the story. (They have to appeal to mainstream audiences as well). Action is also an important part of Mass Effect. Improved combat is a necessity for ME3 and from what I've seen, it looks very satisfying.

- ?DA2 was shit, ME3 better not do the same.? There are about 6 different Bioware teams now and Casey Hudson?s team, who made ME1 + ME2, didn?t make DA2. The Mass Effect team has never let down their fans and I doubt they will in march.

- "I can't get the good ending without multiplayer!? ME3 is gonna be shit." You can still get the good ending without playing multiplayer; it's just one way of getting it!!!!!

- "Online pass? Pre order bonuses? Fuck you EA!" This kind of marketing strategy is used all the time now in video games, but the amount of complaints, for ME3's use of these strategies, has been so over-excessive. Pre order bonuses are nothing new, yet the negativity was astounding, probably because it's become natural to hate on mass effect 3.

- "If it's not on steam, then I'm not getting it" - Your loss! But if you are really willing to sacrifice potentially the best game of this generation and an end to an epic story, then why are you commenting, because clearly your not a major fan of the series.

From things like twitter, Bioware is evidently very confident stating it's "the best game we've ever made", "far better than we originally thought", "so pleased with what we've done, the fans won't be disappointed." and I don't see any reason to doubt them.

I appreciate the need for scepticism, but to me all the issues people are worrying about are either, not actual issues (mere speculation), silly EA marketing things or minority complaints which most people don't agree with.

To me Mass Effect 3 is looking to be a near perfect if not perfect game, which perfectly blends the best from mass effect 1 + 2 and improving every aspect. This is coming from a long term fan that has literally read and watched everything they have released.

Agree or disagree, just understand all the facts I've clarified about the game.

 

[VladG]

Are you listening to yourself? Mass Effect a complex game? My friends and I were playing fucking C&C Tiberium Sun jerking off to how awesome we were when we were 11.

Fixed for what you actually meant to say.

For anyone who is defending Bioware on their decision to include "Action Mode" and attacking those who oppose it: Most of these people are probably concerned what this may mean for Bioware's future games. There have been many scary warning signs as of late and this is one of them.

Beeeeecause.... the possibility of more modes and options is bad?

Bioware CEO: We already dumbed the game down to appeal to a great as possible player base. But we are still unhappy. Isn't there a way to make the game playable for everyone, including children at the age of 1 and elderly people who never played a game in their who lives?

Bioware Dev: Well yes, we just strip the 'game element' out of the game and make it an interactive movie.

Bioware CEO: Excellent, now the game can appeal to everyone sell even more copies.

Well, fuck you Bioware. You have been blacklisted! I won't buy anymore of your games. First you pull a 'Dragon Age 2' and now this!? I don't care if Mass Effect 3 is the epic conclusion. No, as of today you guys do not exist for me anymore.

Holy Jesus someone is riding the hyperbole train.

But where's the mode for me? I can't be bothered with actually playing the game, I just want to watch the cinematics.

Bioware, please delay the game another 4 months and program this mode in.

If you want the cinematics, www.youtube.com. I'm sure they'll be there within a day.

Being serious now, I think this is really starting to take hand-holding too far. The problem isn't exactly having options since the "classic" game mode is still there, most people shouldn't be bothered, right?

Well, the problem is creating these modes takes time (and I think it's safe to assume the game really was delayed for these "modes") and money, resources that were presumably diverted from the actual "core" game since any project will have a finite amount of resources.

It's true, the extra sales might bring in a greater investment so that, realistically, nothing was actually detracted from the game, but who can say if that's really the case?

And before anyone says that a AAA game shouldn't suffer from budget problems, I'd like to point out Deus Ex Human Revolution, the ending on that game was so horribly cut short and rushed I expect they had to choose between a proper ending and keeping the fucking lights on.

Please, find me a link about the ending of Deus Ex being bad (which I don't disagree with) because they were having problems keeping the lights on. No, seriously, go ahead, I'll wait.

....


Oh, what's that? It's just verbal diarrhea that's coming out from you? Ok then.

Seriously though, it's a couple of gameplay options that have absolutely no bearing on how you choose to play the game. It hasn't impacted the release date which has been March for what seems like forever now, and you're quite free to pretend that they're not even there. If this is, for some reason, why you (and I'm using you in a general sense here) decide to not buy ME3, you're actually doing yourself more harm than anything else.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112768-Deus-Ex-Devs-Taunt-Us-With-Cut-Content

Wait, what's that? They DID cut content? Enjoy my verbal diarrhea then. And before you say "but that's not the ending they cut"... well, if you actually think that's a proper ending that was in no way subject to deadlines or drained funding... there's really no point in discussing anything with you. Unless it's about a coloring book.

Oh, as for the specific delay for ME3, not even going to bother with looking up a link, but they did say they were delaying it to make it appeal to a broader audience. Go figure.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

"I'm Commander Shepard and I approve this message!"

(Seriously though, I just hope that there are no achievements related to starting & finishing the game in a particular mode.)

CONSOLATION PRIZES!
Yeah, but Mass Effect without story options is pointless.

 

[RA92]

Are you listening to yourself? Mass Effect a complex game? My friends and I were playing fucking C&C Tiberium Sun jerking off to how awesome we were when we were 11.

Fixed for what you actually meant to say.

Yeah, and putting words into other people's mouth doesn't make you sound like a twat. At all.

 

[Frotality]

you know its going to be a great game when the devs cant decide who the fuck they are appealing to and actually try to directly separate three demographics into different gamemodes.

sigh... im still waiting for the world to start making RPGs again instead of trying to figure out who the hell its making them for.

you want to make an RPG, make one. you want to make an action/RPG, make one. you want to make an action game, fucking make one. nobody will hate you. but for the love of god... get your shit together and figure it out which one ME3 is supposed to be. this endless RPG fanservice/ CoD appeal marketing of yours is getting on my nerves.

 

[Cenzton]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112768-Deus-Ex-Devs-Taunt-Us-With-Cut-Content

Wait, what's that? They DID cut content? Enjoy my verbal diarrhea then. And before you say "but that's not the ending they cut"... well, if you actually think that's a proper ending that was in no way subject to deadlines or drained funding... there's really no point in discussing anything with you. Unless it's about a coloring book.

Oh, as for the specific delay for ME3, not even going to bother with looking up a link, but they did say they were delaying it to make it appeal to a broader audience. Go figure.

Nowhere in the article does it say that the parts cut had anything to do with the ending, nor was is because of any budget problems, which are the two things your referred to in your original statement. Hell, if you even bothered to read the article you linked at all, it specifically states:
"Before fans have a chance to purse their collective lips and burst into petulant wails, the duo clarifies that these cuts were necessary to make Deus Ex: Human Revolution the stunningly detailed game you're likely enjoying at this very moment."

Good try though.

What baffles me most of all is that people think that actual content has been changed for the different modes. It clearly hasn't. The setting merely direct you through that content in different manners.

 

[Cooperblack]

Way to many people spend way to much time dictating how other people should play games.

 

[Beryl77]

I don't want the game to choose important decisions for me, neither do I want the game to be too easy and boring, so RPG mode for me.

I don't get why people don't like it that it has those options. it's not like they miss out on anything, they're just options for people who like to play it differently.

 

[OManoghue]

I'll be choosing role playing, because I'll be damned if anyone's gonna make any kinda choices in this game other than me.

 

[shado_temple]

Honestly, the most exciting part about this for me is a game that I may finally be able to use to convince my COD/FIFA playing friends to step towards the RPG side of gaming. They may play it without the choices (i.e. their "Action Mode"), but what I'm hoping to do is get them invested in the story and setting; with that, they may be inspired to jump into the previous iterations, which would slowly introduce them to more and more of the "other" game genre. A good story can convince anyone to try something new, and if I can get them started by going with something they're more familiar with, I'm all for it. The mode's not for me, of course, but I get why it's there.That, and I find it a bit funny that people are that stressed out about "ruining" the story by actually making the decisions.

Also, I've heard the argument made several times remarking how folks loved the story but hated the "everything else" (aka the fighting scheme); the other third of this system (which I don't hear people talk about much, since the "COD Mode" is obviously the thing that's going to "ruin" the game) seems to be a direct response to people giving suggestions, which I appreciate.

I think this is a fine idea, so long as the RPG mode also has the option to increase difficulty via their old system; I like control over my story and enjoy challenging combat scenarios.

According to people on the ME facebook group, they've already made mentions towards the fact that the traditional difficulty levels will be in there, provided to the player after they've selected their mode.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

RPG mode for me, because I'm buying the game for a full experience not halved sections of an experience.

It seems pretty stupid to me, having to choose an option to play the game in its optimal condition, as opposed to half-ruined, but thats why I think this idea is stupid. But since its the optional kind, Ill just have to ignore it and concentrate on other things that arent optional like how much gameplay variance there is or how good the plot and dialogue is and how much of it there is.

I totally agree. Why buy a game and then not play it (considering what ME and ME2 are like) as it is intended to be played? No real point to not play the whole experience. It would be like me going to a new action/drama movie and then either staying for only the action scenes or only the deep dramatic narrative/plot scenes.

To put that in the terms of what choosing the experience in ME3 is equivalent to:

Action mode: Mass Duty: Future Warfare

Story mode: Combat so easy that the player doesn't realize it is there because there is no challenge: That is like having a friend play the RPG mode and while he plays the combat part, the other person sits back and and tells him what dialogue choices to pick, because the other person doesn't want to do any work to get to said dialogue, he/she just wants to sit back listen to and watch the pretty movie.

It's the equivalent of back in the day when I my brother would play Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, while I sat on the bed and directed him to things by reading from the strategy guide.

RPG: What the game experience is suppose to be. The player is actually playing a full game.

--------------------
If people don't like certain parts of games, then go find and play a game that meets only those certain requirements.

It is just stupid to try and make a game accessible to every style of player. This is why we have different genres of games with each genre game having multiple styles of games that can be played in that genre.

Different games for different people.

To the people, that want to play just the action mode, because they don't want to have to deal with choices on how the story goes: Go play FPS's where you get cut-scenes after certain parts of the action. If you like the series and story, but don't like making choices to move that story along, tough, play the game, the full game that was made.

To the story mode players: Go play some other game that has basically just interactive cut-scenes, if you don't like having to actually play and do things to get to these cut-scenes, too bad that is the game. If you played ME and ME2, and like the story, just man up and play the game, the full game that was made.

If I did develop games, I would never set out to please everybody that might pick up my game. That is just development suicide because trying to please everybody takes way too much time, time that could be used to perfect certain parts of the game, or make the game a longer and better experience for the people it is made for, or time needed to find bugs.

If you try to please everybody, there's no doubt that the game will suffer and have more problems somewhere, and lack the shine of a properly crafted game.

Are you listening to yourself? Mass Effect a complex game? My friends and I were playing fucking C&C Tiberium Sun when we were 11.

Yeah, moving around 3D space might be daunting for new-comers - which is why they've the first level always much easier than the others (fewer enemies, constant info drip on controls, linear levels, etc). And there's literally nothing complicated about Mass Effect that isn't explained away in the first few minutes i.e. moving, shooting and taking cover. The first game's modding system and item management has been removed as well.

What more hand holding would you need in such a linear game?

I'm not moaning about the modes themselves, I'm just baffled at today's gamers.

How is Mass Effect linear? For me, the definition of a linear game is one that doesn't let the players choose their own path.

In both ME and ME2, I got to choose which planets to go to and when which battles to take part in and how those battles turned out. I could choose whole lived, who died, who I romanced, and who I brought into battle 98% of the time.

The games will only be linear if they listen to the NPCs, because usually the NPCs will say this has to be done first and fast, but in actuality the player has all the time in the world with the vast majority of the game.

The only time players(at least ones that wanted to get everybody to live) didn't have a choice on what to do next, was at the end of ME2 with the Collector IFF mission. With that there was only one open mission spot before the player had to do Collector IFF mission, or practically everybody dies.

Unless there is a moral system aspect, most linear games have one ending.

There are many different endings in the Mass Effect series.

The series is definitely not one of linearity.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I'll still pick it up, but I'll wait til the price has come down a bit; pre-order prices are exuberantly and ridiculously high, in typical EA fashion.

I don't know what you are talking about.

The price is the same as all triple A titles as they have been for at least the past three years.

Every major game(console or PC; handheld is always cheaper of course) I have bought on release date, if I didn't buy the collector's edition, has always been $59.99 USD before tax. Mass Effect 3 is no different, it is $59.99 USD for the standard edition. Though, since I'm getting the collector's edition, I'll be paying $79.96 USD(the price on Amazon, for some weird reason they lowered it by 3 cents), free shipping.

Now I don't know where you live, so I don't know if there is some funky separate pricing system for games, where some triple A titles release for less then others.

Playing on PC doesn't really doesn't matter anymore(at least for triple A titles) since companies finally saw how stupid it was to charge more or less depending on whether you get it for PC or a console.

So, while EA has done stupid things in the past with different things, they really have no part in the pricing; it is an industry/market thing.

I don't even know why you mention pre-orders prices anyway. I for one have never paid more for a pre-order of a game, than somebody that walks into the store on launch day or a day in the next few months before the price does go down because of time, and buys the game straight off the shelf.

All pre-ordering is, is paying money down before the game is launched, no extra money is paid. In the case of Amazon.com, no money is put down period. You just pre-order and when the game launches, they take the game out of your account.

 

[infohippie]

It's still possible to die in story mode, it's just quicker and easier to blow through the combat and get back to the serious business of macking on Jack.

Jack's still in it? Damnit. Now I've gotta go make an ME2 save to import where she's dead.

This sounds like what Jennifer Hepler was talking about in an interview a while back. I didn't think it was a good idea then and I still don't. It means that the story is going to be played out pretty much entirely in conversations and cutscenes. There is likely to be little scope for story development as part of combat otherwise people who choose to play story mode would have a lot of their choices cut off. As a result, the game will fall short of what it could achieve in order to cater to those, like Hepler, who don't actually want to play a game but for some reason can't just pick up a fucking book instead.

I loved ME1, I loved ME2 almost as much, but I'm giving serious consideration to not bothering with ME3 and just watching a playthrough on Youtube.

 

[shado_temple]

It's still possible to die in story mode, it's just quicker and easier to blow through the combat and get back to the serious business of macking on Jack.

Jack's still in it? Damnit. Now I've gotta go make an ME2 save to import where she's dead.

This sounds like what Jennifer Hepler was talking about in an interview a while back. I didn't think it was a good idea then and I still don't. It means that the story is going to be played out pretty much entirely in conversations and cutscenes. There is likely to be little scope for story development as part of combat otherwise people who choose to play story mode would have a lot of their choices cut off. As a result, the game will fall short of what it could achieve in order to cater to those, like Hepler, who don't actually want to play a game but for some reason can't just pick up a fucking book instead.

I loved ME2, I loved ME2 almost as much, but I'm giving serious consideration to not bothering with ME3 and just watching a playthrough on Youtube.

I think you're reading into the "Story Mode" part incorrectly; The combat portions are simply made easier, not skipped. Based on the latest trailer, I might imagine that the combat does, in fact, play a part in the story, which is likely why they won't let the player completely skip them.

 

[KageUsagi]

This is a pretty cool idea for a lot of people, but just not for me. I personally loved ME1 but I couldn't really get into ME2. So this new mode kind of tells me that I'm not getting this game.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not trying to be one of those ignorant jerks. This game just isn't my thing.

I wish more people could be understanding though. I mean sheesh this isn't the end of the world.

 

[CaptOfSerenity]

I just hope Mass Effect 3 finds that happy middle ground between 1 and 2. An inventory that isn't stupid, is logical, and most of all, concise, and better combat, because ME2's can be improved upon a great deal. I also want my choices to matter, because if it turns out that they write around it, instead of according to my actions, I'm going to be disappointed.

 

[Gather]

We have a rule in our franchise that there is no canon

Wish Dragon Age 2 had that. Leliana IS ALIVE EVEN IF YOU KILLED HER. KK, I AM WRITER; I AM RIGHT. YOU PETTY CUSTOMERS ARE WRONG.