If you’ve been following the little known title called Mass Effect from the guys over at Bioware, then you no doubt have heard various things about the game — namely that fitting it on a single DVD would be pretty much out of the question.
In a recent interview, the co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck, seem to think that the impossible might not be so out of reach after all.
For the longest time we were pretty sure we were going to have to fit the game content onto two DVDs, because there’s just so much content in the game. Right now it looks like we’re going to get it on one and it’s been difficult because there’s a lot of content. It’s a very ambitious title.
But the news doesn’t stop there. Catch more after the jump.
Bioware has 100 voice actors on hand alone, to lend their talent to the over 300 characters that will weave the story of Mass Effect.
It’s all about conveying the personalities of the characters. You have to have credible characters, the dialogue has to flow. We’ve got some famous actors for the voice acting as well. We haven’t announced who they are yet but you may be able to pick them out.
Speaking of dialogue, Mass Effect is poised to take the whole concept to the next level. We’ve all heard of role playing games, but can you say RPC?
The dialogue system is a proprietary system we’ve created, and the reason why the conversations are all part of that is because it’s so easy to make choices that constantly map. For example, there’s an angry option on the bottom right and there’s a nice option on the top right. The system allows players to have the dialogue conversation flow.
You can purposely interrupt the conversations as well, so it’s almost as if you’re kind of role-playing the conversation. I remember when I first played with the dialogue system I was like, ‘wow’. It really does feel like you’re in the scene dictating what your lines are. It really brings you in to the experience.
If you are somehow worried that an ambitious game such as Mass Effect will feel unbalanced in any way, the team wants you to know that they are doing everything in their power to stay one step ahead of you.
Like in all BioWare games we’re focusing on the story, the character and amazing digital actors. We’re focusing on making really accessible, fun action combat. We’ve got exploration, the galaxy map, uncharted worlds and your own rover to drive around in.
There’s also customization options; the way you change yourself, the way you customize your characters at the start of the game and who you bring with you on your travels.
All of those aspects of the game are being developed in parallel. Right from the start they were part of the original vision of the game, so they’re not separate elements, they’re a unified whole. So we’re not building separate parts of the building together, we’re sort of chaining them together. You really feel compelled to go from a story area to an exploration area, to combat.
It might just go down in history as one of the greatest understatements of all time to say that we have high hopes for Mass Effect. Bioware cemented their place in the hearts and minds of gamers with the original Knights of the Old Republic, not to mention the underappreciated Jade Empire.
They certainly know how to make great games. Now it looks like Mass Effect is the next great must have title just waiting to happen. Here’s to hoping that it meets our expectations and more.
[Via CVG]
