BioWare Breaks Down Mass Effect 3 Game Modes

[Phlakes]

The FUCK?

They put options in the game? Like other people have a different preference than me? The fucking nerve...

...Anyway, the only relatively reasonable argument I've heard against this is that it'll distract them from doing other things.

That is ridiculous.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You don't decide what is canon Hudson?

Everyone who offed Leliana in the first Dragon Age would like to have a word with you.

Now now, you can't blame Hudson for David Gaider's master vision.

 

[Jadak]

You don't decide what is canon Hudson?

Everyone who offed Leliana in the first Dragon Age would like to have a word with you.

A few other people have pointed out that Hudson had nothing to do with Dragon Age, but they're getting ahead of themselves.

Even if he were in charge of both, the quote reads "franchise", as in not plural and referring only to Mass Effect.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Oh you have just got to be fucking kidding me. How fucking stupid does the industry think gamer's are? Mass Effect 3 is a 17+ rated game. You're not dealing with fucking eight year old's here.

Also, the whole "gamer's have avoided the game because they're not good at third person shooters" argument. Bull-fucking-shit. The Mass Effect series specifically blends elements of both third person shooters and role playing games. If Bioware wanted a game that caters to every single idiot on the planet then maybe they should have made Mass Effect a facebook flash game or something. I mean what the fuck is next? Shooters that play themselves? RPG's that make all the choices for you? Oh, wait...

This industry trend to make games available to virtually every person on the planet is full of shit. How the hell can you make a good RPG game if you spend half the development time trying to cater to racing games fans? The end product will be neither a good racing game nor will it be a good RPG.

 

[Ragnarok185]

Story mode is first for me.

The FUCK?

They put options in the game? Like other people have a different preference than me? The fucking nerve...

...Anyway, the only relatively reasonable argument I've heard against this is that it'll distract them from doing other things.

That is ridiculous.

quoted for truth

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Needz moar RPGz!!!1!

Seriously, what is this? I thought Bioware wanted an rpg, not an action game for the casual-gamer crowd.

I'm don't like where this is going, but I suppose we'll just have to wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

"We realized that it's not ideal that when someone starts the game, they don't know that much about it and we dump a huge options screen on them. Automatic squad powers and this and that - you're asking them to make too many decisions about stuff they haven't even played yet," Hudson explained.

---

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. "You get through it faster. You can mow through enemies," he added. "Generally, if you're trying, you're not going to die."

As for part A, I don't remember Bioware dumbing down the original Mass Effect. I also recall people liking it that way (except for the vehicle sections and some complaints about the inventory screens). I realize that they mean new players however and since it isn't a 100% change to pander to new people I guess I can't fault them on adding different modes while keeping with the original mode.

As for part B, it sounds like a setting easier than easy mode. Honestly though, I would probably use it after a run-through on RPG or, standard mode. I'm a bit curious as to why they didn't touch on Role Playing mode to be honest...could it be that Mass Effect 3's RP mode will be more similar in play style to the original Mass Effect? Could it be they had this planned out from the start? It could be that Mass Effect was meant to show off the RP mode whereas ME2 was there to show off the Action mode. Well, there's my wild speculating done.

As someone else said though, I'm going to be miffed if there are achievements exclusive to one play-mode over another (not counting difficulty settings)

 

[Alex Orozco]

I may not be a fan of hardcore RPGs but Mass Effect is my exception. I have never played a Mass Effect game that overwhelmed me in terms of choices or action. Even on insanity it was a fun and easy to pick up and play experience. That said if Bioware wants to dumb down the action or story for the newbies why not? So long as they remember that the Hardcore Vets came for a satisfying conclusion. And as long as RPG mode = the traditional ME experience then I say action and story mode are completely irrelevant to me because RPG mode is where I'm gonna Be!!!

 

[Still Life]

Allow me to make a more mass effect example

You don't decide what is canon Hudson?

Everyone who made Anderson join the council would like to have a word with you.

Not really, because you can make the choice at the beginning of ME2.

 

[LHZA]

You don't decide what is canon Hudson?

Everyone who offed Leliana in the first Dragon Age would like to have a word with you.

He had nothing to do with Dragon Age. He's the game director specifically for Mass Effect.

 

[Sucal]

Allow me to make a more mass effect example

You don't decide what is canon Hudson?

Everyone who made Anderson join the council would like to have a word with you.

Not really, because you can make the choice at the beginning of ME2.

Yes really. http://www.newsarama.com/games/10-must-know-facts-mass-effect-novels-comics-mass-effect-3-110707-1.html

Canon by word of Drew Karpyshyn, who does most of the writing.

 

[ShaneGunWolf]

Sounds like RPG Mode is the way to go for me. I want to do everything in the game, not let the game do some things for me.

 

[BreakfastMan]

The FUCK?

They put options in the game? Like other people have a different preference than me? The fucking nerve...

There is only one proper response to those scum people:

OT: Sounds good to me. I probably won't play anything but RPG mode, but it is nice to know that the options is there for the people who want it.

 

[The Dutchess]

RPG mode for me. I love the story AND the combat. I just hope, as others have said, that we can adjust the combat difficulty. I like playing through on something like Veteran the first time and then jacking it up to Hardcore or Insanity on the second playthrough. It's one of the few games I can actually master on high difficulties and gives me a lot of satisfaction in doing so. Don't make me play RPG mode on normal! It'll be too freaking easy!

 

[Xaositect]

I dont like this at all, but the only saving grace is that they at least added the option to have (shooter) combat become obsolete too, so they werent biased at least. I think if they hadnt, I probably wouldnt have even bothered getting the game because of what they would have said about their priorities.

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.

 

[RA92]

Kids these days need even more hand holding?

What? Do you mean like little children or just teenagers new to video-games? Because when it comes to new players, a little hand-holding is necessary.

I mean really, we take it for granted our years (and in a lot of cases, decades) of experience with video-games and its evolution for granted. When we started playing games it was pretty straight-forward and simple, not much to learn besides the functions of like, 3 buttons or something. But that is not the case with new players, seeing as even "simple" games (nowadays) have more buttons than are in a car, which proves a bit too daunting for new players to get accustomed to. Things such as moving around in a 3-D space in a video-game isn't instinctual and require a bit of practice, we might find it easy seeing as we grew into it and have had years to get accustomed to it.

Its ridiculous to assume that ANYONE new to (or inexperienced with) video-games can just pick up a complex (sure, it may be simple to people who have been playing video-games for years) game such as Mass Effect and immediately learn everything they need. Its akin to trying to teach someone all the mechanics of a small plane in less than half an hour.

I applaud efforts like these that make it more accessible to new gamers without sacrificing content or complexity. This will allow new players to ease their way into the game, so maybe they start out in story or action mode, then go on to the RPG mode when they've learned the ins and outs. Its literally a win-win situation, and anyone who moans about this needs to take their head out of their ass.

...

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.

 

[Fappy]

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.

 

[VladG]

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.


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.