mass-effect
December 14th, 2009 at 06:30pm
Under Xbox 360
After Mass Effect 2 lead gameplay designer Christina Norman walked us through the Engineer class and it’s sanguinary droid last week, we were wondering how BioWare could possibly appeal to our inner tactician any more. It appears that the developer sought to do just that with this week’s introduction to the Sentinel.
Skilled in both biotic skills (thats space magic, folks) and tech abilities, Norman says the Sentinel is “the only class that can blast through any enemy’s defenses … with or without your squad backing you up.” With only a handful of weeks left before the game’s January 26 release date, it won’t be long before we get to find out exactly how adept the Sentinel is for ourselves.
Mass Effect 2 dev profiles Sentinel class, the ‘Jack of All Trades’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, christina-norman, classes, ea, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, sentinel, trailer, walkthrough
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Mass Effect 2 dev profiles Sentinel class, the ‘Jack of All Trades’
December 11th, 2009 at 11:30pm
Under Xbox 360
Okay, you’ve probably heard by now that Mass Effect 2 has a lot of big-name voice talent. But have you SEEN them? This video trailer for BioWare’s upcoming space opera features the all-star cast talking about their roles, and what it is about sci-fi (and not SyFy) that gets them so excited.
Tricia Helfer, Martin Sheen talk up their voice roles in Mass Effect 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: adam-baldwin, carrie-anne-moss, keith-david, martin-sheen, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, michael-hogan, seth-green, tricia-helfer, voice-acting
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Tricia Helfer, Martin Sheen talk up their voice roles in Mass Effect 2
December 10th, 2009 at 02:30pm
Under Xbox 360
Mass Effect 2 is bound to have some recognizable actors, what with 90 actors voicing 546 characters with 31,000 lines of dialogue. EA revealed today that the cast includes … oh, by Grabthar’s hammer, here’s the list:
- Martin Sheen (Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez’s dad) — Illusive Man commanding Cerberus
- Shohreh Adhdashloo (sexy voice lady from FlashForward) — Admiral Shala’Raan vas Tonbay
- Seth Green (hand in your geek card if you don’t know) — Joker
- Yvonne Strahovski (wiener lady, lust of Chuck) — Miranda Lawson
- Adam Baldwin (a man named Jayne… or the man they call Jayne) — Kal ‘Reegar
David Keith Keith David (Halo’s Arbiter) — Admiral David Anderson- Michael Dorn (Star Trek TNG’s Worf) — Gatatog Uvenk
- Tricia Helfer (2020 Oscar winner after people stop treating her like meat) — EDI, voice of the “new Normandy”
- Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh) — Captain Bailey
- Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix, singular, no sequels exist — especially not Revolutions) — Aria T’Loak
We also can’t forget Jennifer Hale, who is reprising her role as the real Commander Shepard, nor Mark Meer, the male Shepard and known expert at cutting the council off at weird times.
Mass Effect 2 cast bolstered by Battlestar, Star Trek actors originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: adam-baldwin, bioware, carrie-anne-moss, martin-sheen, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, michael-dorn, michael-hogan, rpg, sci-fi, seth-green, shooter, tricia-helfer, voice-acting
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Mass Effect 2 cast bolstered by Battlestar, Star Trek actors
December 7th, 2009 at 02:20pm
Under PC+ Xbox 360
BioWare has just released a new trailer for Mass Effect 2, featuring the exploits of strategic tactician “Commander Shepard the Engineer” and his murderous robot. Much like the first game, engineer class players will rely more heavily on strategery and tech management than direct confrontation.
Lead gameplay designer Christina Norman guides us through some combat-heavy gameplay, which depicts the aforementioned android aggressor along with some cool abilities, like freezing enemies on the spot and hacking mechanized enemies. Oh, Mass Effect 2, you had us at killer ‘bot.
New Mass Effect 2 trailer showcases the Engineer class and its killer robot originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, ea, engineer, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg, screenshots, trailer, video
By Mister-X
Continue Reading New Mass Effect 2 trailer showcases the Engineer class and its killer robot
December 6th, 2009 at 10:00pm
Under PC+ Xbox 360
Expanding upon statements from BioWare’s Casey Hudson earlier this year, associate programmer Thomas Roy took to the developer’s forums (requires login) recently to explain how Mass Effect 2 would be handling the promised lack of elevators (used in place of loading screens). As it turns out, rather than executing on BioWares’s promise of “a completely new system” that’s “part of the game experience,” the studio will be implementing “loading screens and movies.”
Though the game will still ask players to walk into an elevator, it will apparently cue up a loading screen that offers “interesting visuals and information.” We’d like to point out that before Mr. Roy explains any of this, he says that the first game used elevators “so we [BioWare] didn’t have to show boring loading screens” and they only made it into the second due to “a lot of complaints.”
We’re so broken up here — on one hand, the developer is caving to the demands of the fans and critics. Score! On the other hand, Mr. Roy is telling us that loading screens are totally boring. If we demanded it, does that mean we’re boring? Great, now we’ve got a total complex.
[Via Kotaku]
Mass Effect 2 ditching elevators for … load screens originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, casey-hudson, ea, elevator, forums, load-screens, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, thomas-roy
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Mass Effect 2 ditching elevators for … load screens
December 4th, 2009 at 01:10am
Under Xbox 360
How awesome is Mass Effect 2? Well, if BioWare Community Coordinator Chris Priestly is to be believed, it is about twice as awesome. “You cannot fit this much awesome on one disc,” Priestly stated on the BioWare forums, after revealing the game content will span two discs.
The necessity of two discs may mean a staggering amount of content for the RPG sequel — the original was certainly no slouch in content. While some may lament the necessity of having to get up at least once during Mass Effect 2, Priestly promises that the disc swap happens at a dramatically appropriate point in the story. “Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once. You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done.”
We’re going to fathom a guess as to when the swap will occur: immediately after the “suicide mission” revealed in the game’s initial teaser.
[Thanks, Darth B.; Via Kotaku]
Mass Effect 2 to span two discs originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, discs, dvd, mass-effect, mass-effect-2
By Mister-X
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December 2nd, 2009 at 05:00pm
Under Xbox 360
For such a dark adventure, BioWare’s first Mass Effect provided a surprisingly optimistic viewpoint on universal unity. Sure, an occasional crinkled forehead or an extra filongidler might visually separate the denizens of the galaxy, but it’s nice to know that in all the unrestrained hugeness of space, we all still come from completely identical, prefabricated installations. Well, we did until Mass Effect 2 decided to terraform its sidequest planets with some variety.
“Now when you find mission[s] out there in the uncharted worlds, there are always missions where something special happens, and you get really good handcrafted gameplay and art that you can’t see elsewhere in the game,” project director Casey Hudson told VideoGamer.com. “I think people will find them to be really rewarding, really rich, because there’s something different around every corner.”
Even the process of discovering planets has been made more interesting, Hudson explained, with space-faring explorers sending out probes and expending fuel to make new discoveries. It’s nice to know the shooter RPG still allows you to go boldly — and not just go badass.
Mass Effect 2 sidequests to benefit from ‘handcrafted gameplay’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, casey-hudson, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg, shooter, sidequests
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Mass Effect 2 sidequests to benefit from ‘handcrafted gameplay’
December 1st, 2009 at 01:00pm
Under Xbox 360
With Dragon Age: Origins out the door and making friends, BioWare has switched the Mass Effect 2 hype machine into full gear, inviting us to play the game and provide a peek at some of the new squad mates who’ll be joining Commander Shepard on his/her most dangerous mission yet. The latest cast member to make a debut, Samara, should have absolutely no problem taking care of herself — as well as anything (or anyone) that gets in her way.
Samara is an elite Asari warrior who controls some incredibly potent biotic powers. Forget simply tossing enemies around — she manipulates dark energy in order to levitate herself, as evidenced in the above video. The footage also confirms that there are still five potential party members yet to be introduced before the game ships for PC and Xbox 360 on January 26 (not March 23 as originally noted by Randy, who’s clearly met his recommended daily allowance of paste.)
BioWare reveals Samara, Mass Effect 2’s biotic bombshell originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, ea, electronic-arts, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg, samara, shooter, video
By Mister-X
Continue Reading BioWare reveals Samara, Mass Effect 2’s biotic bombshell
November 26th, 2009 at 04:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Here’s a Thanksgiving treat from the vault – we’ve dug out the following interview with BioWare co-founder (and Group Creative Officer of EA’s newly formed RPG/MMO Group) Greg Zeschuk from earlier this year at PAX. But don’t let the date fool you! Our discussion of multiplatform console development, DLC strategies on future BioWare titles like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, and Greg’s recommendation that everyone buy two copies of the game (one on console and one on PC) defies time. Read on!
Joystiq: Dragon Age is the first PS3 game that BioWare’s developed. Can you talk about that process?
Greg Zeschuk: We did partner with Edge of Reality, so we partnered with folks who have had the experience, and that was a good process where we actually had some folks that knew how to do it but also, in general, just worked together with them. A lot of it ended up being like we needed a lot of work to get done and a lot of stuff very fast and everyone was very busy on Dragon Age itself. Collectively, on the console, I would say it was very interesting and challenging to take the richness of the PC game of Dragon Age, with all these different powers and everything else, and actually try to transpose it to the consoles. And the interesting thing about that, or where it worked out really well, is that we literally set ourselves a goal: We didn’t want console players to fell like we ripped them off by taking anything away, by minimizing or simplifying. We want them to feel they have all the power at their fingertips, but it’s very accessible. It’s got the multiple rings that sort of have subsets to them, and you can actually pretty much access any power just a couple little joystick twiddles and button presses. And so with that experience, I think we succeeded there.
Another place where we succeeded on both the PS3 and 360 versions: it feels very different from the PC. Where the PC has got the traditional Baldur’s Gate top-down [perspective], the PS3 and 360 are over-the-shoulder and they do have that kind of, very KOTOR feel and that’s probably what I play, and that’s what I feel most familiar with is KOTOR — and it actually feels more action-y than the PC does, so I think people will find a very different experience. I recommend both platforms actually, PC and console versions.
Continue reading Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, dlc, dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, ea, electronic-arts, Greg-Zeschuk, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, rpg
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Interview: BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk on Dragon Age, DLC, and more
November 6th, 2009 at 05:15am
Under Xbox 360
We get the feeling someone at BioWare has proclaimed this “Epic Week,” what with the release of its fantasy RPG stunner Dragon Age: Origins and now an epic new video from its next big game, Mass Effect 2. This isn’t a trailer or developer diary — you’re in for nine minutes of unedited, uninterrupted gameplay footage from the most recent build of ME2. In fact, it’s the same mission — set inside Omega’s “Inferno” nightclub — that we ourselves got to play earlier this week. (And yes, we can confirm it looks that good.)
You’ll get a sense of the sequel’s leap in environmental detail, character modeling and dialog scene camerawork in this clip, along with loads of intense combat. There’s even an appearance by returning character (and total badass) Garrus from the first Mass Effect, plus a joke that manages to poke fun at rumors of Commander Shepard’s death and the fact players can make him/her look like anyone they choose. Again — nine minutes.
Nine straight minutes of Mass Effect 2 gameplay originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: bioware, ea, electronic-arts, mass-effect, mass-effect-2, video
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Nine straight minutes of Mass Effect 2 gameplay
