Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition PC

Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition Product Details

Released on TBD

• Mass Effect 3 story will be easier for new players to understand

  If you've been eyeing up Mass Effect 3 but worrying that you've not played the first two games, don't worry. Bioware is making sure that you won't need intimate knowledge of the plot so far in order to enjoy this third - and final - chapter in the story of Commander Shepard.

  "In all honesty, we didn't do a really good job of new player orientation [in Mass Effect 2]," producer Nick Clifford admitted to IGN. "If you didn't play the first game then two was pretty jarring for the first half hour. If I'm a new player and some guy walks up to me and is like, 'Oh Shepard! Remember that one time?' I would be like, 'No, I don't remember that one time.'"

  If you don't import an existing save file into Mass Effect 3, the game will automatically replace any dialogue scenes that rely on prior experience with the storyline to minimise confusion. The game will also feature �tory so far" recaps to bring new players up to speed, and explain just why giant space squids are attacking the Earth.

  Not that there's any excuse for not having played through two of the best games of the current hardware generation. Mass Effect is available for Xbox 360 and PC, while Mass Effect 2 is on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. You've got about a month and a half until Mass Effect 3 comes out on March 9th. So go on. Get on with it.

• Mass Effect 3 'will be welcoming to newcomers'

  BioWare has stated that Mass Effect 3 will be just as welcoming an experience to Mass Effect newcomers as it will be for long-term fans.

  Nick Clifford, head of product marketing for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC title, told IGN that he believes the opening of Mass Effect 2 may have been a little "bewildering" for those who hadn't played the original, an issue BioWare is striving to fix.

  "We wanted to make sure that there aren't those moments that the player is like, 'Who is this? What's going on? What are they talking about?'," he explained.

  As such, the upcoming trilogy finale will provide plenty of junctures through which newbies can be brought up to speed on the story so far, similarly to how the PlayStation 3 edition of Mass Effect 2 featured an interactive comic retelling the first Mass Effect story.

  However, those who have been playing the series since the start will also be rewarded, as save games from the first two titles will still carry across, allowing committed fans to see their own personalised stories to conclusion.

  Mass Effect 3 is released in March 2012 and is now available to pre-order both in standard and collector's edition packages.

  Published: 24/01/2012

• Mass Effect Trilogy boxset brings original game to PS3 at last

  Completists and people who love to make the best use of their shelf space will be pleased to learn that a Mass Effect Trilogy boxset is due for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in November.

  As the name cleverly suggests, it'll contain all three games from Bioware's blockbusting sci-fi RPG saga. This is particularly noteworthy for PlayStation 3 owners, as only the last two games in the series have been released for that console. The first game, which debuted back in 2007, was published by Microsoft and was exclusive to Xbox 360. A PC version eventually followed, and PlayStation 3 owners got to join in from Mass Effect 2 onwards, once EA took over the publishing rights.

  The exact contents of the trilogy set have yet to be announced, so it's unclear whether the set will also include all the bonus missions and material previously available as downloadable content.

  What we do know is that FemShep, the female version of series hero Commander Shepard, won't be on the front cover. The first two games showcased only the default male version of the character on their cover art, and for the third instalment Bioware offered a reversible sleeve so players could choose. When fans reacted with disappointment that FemShep would be left out again, Bioware tweeted: "Well, we've got a little something special planned for FemShep coming, so keep that chin up. Not with the cover art. We're doing something separate."

  Mass Effect Trilogy is due for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in November.

  Published: 27/09/2012

• Rolling The Dice: The History of Bioware

  
  

  

  Role-playing fans are used to risking everything on the roll of the dice, but those gambles are usually reserved for the fictional fantasy tales unfolding on kitchen tables and in college dorm rooms. In 1995, doctors Greg Zeschuk, Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip rolled the dice in real life when they turned their back on lucrative medical careers and decided to devote their time to making computer games instead. They called their company Bioware, and you only have to look at the games bearing that name today to see if their gambit paid off.

  

  This Christmas week sees Bioware release its first online multiplayer RPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, while next year brings the third (and final?) instalment in their epic sci-fi saga, Mass Effect 3.

  So how did the Canadian code factory reach the top of the RPG tree? Surprisingly, the first game from the newly formed studio wasn't a role-playing game at all, but a 3D action title about combat mechs. Shattered Steel was the title, and by taking advantage of the power of new PC video graphics cards it offered destruction and 3D scope that was beyond the capability of older hardware. Titles like Quake and Half Life were yet to redefine PC gaming, so Shattered Steel's technology earned the fledgling developer a lot of attention.

  That attention wasn't enough to stop Dr Yip from returning to life in a white coat, but Zeschuk and Muzyka weren't about to let go of their dream. They wanted to make games inspired by the lengthy Dungeons & Dragons sessions that had seen them through medical school. And they already had the game in mind - Battleground: Infinity.

  

  Don't be surprised if you've never heard of it. By the time the game arrived on shelves it had been taken on by Interplay. The publisher held the video game rights to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons brand, and so almost overnight Bioware went from developing games inspired by the role-playing classic to making an official Dungeons & Dragons game.

  Baldur's Gate was the result, and it was an immediate smash. The RPG genre was in rude health in 1998, with The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Diablo all well established, but Bioware's relative inexperience was balanced with a deep understanding of what made role-playing fun.

  Dungeons & Dragons remained the company's bread and butter for many years after, with expansion packs for Baldur's Gate leading into the sequel, Shadows of Amn, following in 2000. Neverwinter Nights continued the studio's D&D heritage in 2002, reviving the classic AOL online role-player for a more savvy internet audience.

  While these titles were critically acclaimed and embraced by RPG fans worldwide, they were still very much niche games. Few outside of role-playing fandom were aware of the Bioware name. That changed in 2003, when the company launched its first console game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. At a time when Star Wars fans were torn by misgivings over the prequel movies, and punchdrunk from a slew of half-baked spin-off games, it was Bioware's narrative nous that saved the Jedi. Epic in scale, and with the freedom to explore the galaxy far, far away, it fulfilled the dreams of many Star Wars fans and earned Bioware a promotion to the ranks of legendary game developers.

  

  Buoyed by this success, the company turned its attention to something new, the first original Bioware title since Shattered Steel, in fact. Jade Empire was the game, and it took the RPG framework and applied it to a tale of rival martial arts masters in feudal China. Kung fu combat added a surprising wrinkle to the familiar cloth, but critics noted that the story was a virtual retread of Knights of the Old Republic, with open-palm strikes replacing lightsabers.

  Only a few years later, and with a new console generation to play with, Bioware silenced any doubters with the 2007 smash hit Mass Effect. A slick, thrilling space saga with the pace of an action game and the depth of an RPG, it heralded a new era for the developer. Super-publisher EA swooped in to buy the company, and so began a period of blockbuster genre-hopping that is still in full swing.

  

  Blood-soaked fantasy epic Dragon Age found the company recasting the swords and monster tropes of the D&D years in its own style. Mass Effect 2 reached new heights of cinematic sizzle, showcasing an elastic storyline that allowed any of the characters to pop their clogs during the climactic suicide mission. And Bioware even found time to dabble in less obvious areas, creating a Mass Effect spin-off game for mobile phones and developing Sonic Chronicles for the DS, the first RPG to star Sega's blue spiky mascot.

  Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka are still at the head of the company they found over fifteen years ago, and their passion for role-playing is still tempered by a desire to innovate and stretch the boundaries of what can be done with the genre. With its ties to the developer's first breakout smash hit, and its desire to shake up the world of MMORPG gameplay, Star Wars: The Old Republic is perhaps the quintessential Bioware experience. Enormous in scale, complex in intent yet an absolute joy to play.
  
  Let the dice roll.
  

  Published: 22/12/2011

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