BioWare's best work is "still ahead of us", says co-boss Ray Muzyka.
Speaking to CVG in London this week, Muzyka said the developer's up for the challenge of topping stellar sequel Mass Effect 2, which has received universal acclaim from the press.
"The way we approach it is that each game has to be better than the last one," Muzyka told CVG. "That's always been true for the last 20 years we've been doing this, that's just what we do. It's kind of in our culture now.
"I think the team finds it reassuring that you've done something good, you've got great sales, great critical success, but they're driven by making the next thing even better. That's what drives me."
Muzyka said he hasn't thought about how hard it's going to be to top the latest game, but he certainly sounds up for the challenge.
"If it wasn't difficult it wouldn't be worth while," he said. "Our best work is still ahead of us. That's why I'm doing it, because I think our best work is still ahead of us and that's why our teams are doing it I think."
Earlier this week we published our Mass Effect 2 review, awarding the sequel a plum 9.3. It's pretty good.
The game is OK but not stellar. It has been dumbed down since the first one for the kiddie consoles. Sure there are tons of movie cut scenes but that does not make a great game. You have the feeling openness but it is heavily scripted. The ammo is dumbed down to two types, small guns and big guns. One ammo fits all. This game reminds me how Edios took a great game, Dues Ex and ruined the second one by dumbing it down horribly for the consoles just like this one. As a PC gamer this is no A+ game. I give it a B- and the media hype is just that, over the top hype. Save your money and wait for the price to come down first.
The game is OK but not stellar. It has been dumbed down since the first one for the kiddie consoles. Sure there are tons of movie cut scenes but that does not make a great game. You have the feeling openness but it is heavily scripted. The ammo is dumbed down to two types, small guns and big guns. One ammo fits all.
The first game was initially exclusive to Xbox.
Small guns and big guns? There is Sniper, Pistol, Shotgun, SMG, Assault Rifle, and Heavy Weapons. The first game had only 4 types of weapons.
The first game had Unlimited ammo for every weapon, how is that better? They could have used different ammo type for each class of weapon, but It's still better than the first one.
As a Veteran PC gamer I give it A+. The controls is the only thing I don't like, they could have kept it more similar to the first game.
Yeah because PC gamers know everything..............
How can you possibly call a 360 a kiddie console?
How can you possibly say the sequel is dumbed down when it is far bigger and every bit as deep as the first one.
Dues-ex yeah maybe your right but that was a different generation of console it was dumbed down for, its not like the 360 is a poor machine and can't handle mass effects game engine or something.
Anyway im gonna go play left4dead2 on my "kiddie" console lmao.
for me dragon age was better, but Mass Effect 2 is one of the best games I've played in a very long while. Still don't see why they have added ammo though... seems kinda pointless to me.
I kinda preferred the customisation that you had on ME1. I'm 8 hours into ME2 and it sure is enjoyable but I feel it's just s bit stupid to take OUT features that were in the first one. Customisable weapons were cool, but ME2 seems to lack the same degree of freedom.
I also want to put helmets on my team members but can't
LOL, kiddie consoles? What a retard. The average age of a gamer is 35 and the average gamer doesn't play on the PC like an inbred troll because PC gaming has been dead for years.
The only people who play on the PC are socially - awkward shut - ins who have no friends and who can't afford a real console to play real games.
It's no wonder most devs can't afford to make PC exclusives anymore.......PC gaming is for kids who aren't old enough to play most of their games anyway, LMAO!
The only people who play on the PC are socially - awkward shut - ins who have no friends and who can't afford a real console to play real games.
It's no wonder most devs can't afford to make PC exclusives anymore.......PC gaming is for kids who aren't old enough to play most of their games anyway, LMAO!
This has to be the most moronic post I've seen in a long time. I'm not a PC gamer anymore, but that's just hideously stupid.
Also, you do realise that a decent graphics card can cost more than the PS3, right?
The PC market has become a very select bunch of people. I think it comes down to cost and slowly the GPU developers have priced most people out of the PC market. Combine falling sales on GPU cards with 90% piracy on a large percentage of games and you can see why support is falling.
Console gaming is cheaper for the majority, there is no awkward setups and issues with patches that require knowledge to install and online gaming is just easier and you realise why consoles have overtaken the PC in the marketplace.
Mass Effect 2 has consumed me this weekend. I started playing Friday night and have now racked up about 23 hours of play. I love it and the 'dumbed down' upgrades etc work much better. Inventory management was a joke in the first game, you never knew what you had, you had to change selections for different team members and you forgot half of what was installed. Nightmare. The new system works perfectly and leaves you playing the game rather than spending 20 mins trying to work out what you could sell from your 300 item long inventory of bullet types, guns and armour.
Anyway Mass Effect 2 currently one of my favourite games of all time.
Well i'm really enjoying it. The Gun customisation is still there you just have to work harder for it by mining. Which i find strangly addictive.
Love what they've done with the armour too, being able to swap out parts and customise it is miles ahead of the first.
Its just alot more streamlined. The inventory and changing parts on your characters took forever in the first one. If i wanted to spend hours looking at stat lists i'd go and play D&D.
I can understand the decision with ammo. Especially if you consider how powerful some of the later weapons on. It makes the battles a little more desperate and almost forces you to be more tactical. In the original most things could be defeated if you found a good bit of cover and shot at everything with a rifle till they were dead.
my and my firends are all in our late 20's early 30's and we all play console's as we get sick of upgrading our PC that never take anything close to full advantage of the hardware
personally I think whereas the PC verison of DA is better, the 360 verison of Mass effect 2 is better the shooting sections work fantastic with a pad. love those triggers and feedback, clicking a mouse button is so disengaging
and I actually pirated (well my bro) the PC verison
and on full settings (everyting maxed) it probably looks about 10-15% better and my xbox arcade cost me £105 (£170 with HD), his PC cost him £1200
plus I hate fiddling with settings and I play it on 46 inch TV downstairs,
The need to constantly update my rig was the reason i stopped gaming on the PC. It just doesn't seem worth it anymore to be honest. Ten years ago i would of said that PC gaming was light years ahead of consoles but now, its almost neck and neck. the only thing that PC gaming has on Consoles is modding and with the likes of Modnation racers and LBP as well as valves plans for Left 4 dead on the 360 it looks like the final reason to bother with the PC is fast becoming redundant.
and on full settings (everyting maxed) it probably looks about 10-15% better and my xbox arcade cost me £105 (£170 with HD), his PC cost him £1200
The need to constantly update my rig was the reason i stopped gaming on the PC. It just doesn't seem worth it anymore to be honest.
It's a myth that you constantly have to upgrade your machine to run games, any PC made after 2006 can run every game in at least console level(as long as it is not a laptop).
My now two year old PC run it MAXED OUT with 1680*1050 without any problem. No upgrades related to performance and quality in that period, only upgrade done is new hard disks and a new sound card. Though it seriously helps to buy quality Hardware once you buy a PC.
as far as i'm concerned. in order to keep in the game you need to upgrade every couple of years. The only way to avoid this is to start by spending in excess of a grand on your rig to begin with.
so initial set up of say £700 then £200 every 2-3 years for a PC
or £200-£300 every five or so years , looking at this gen mayber even longer than that.
plus no hasstle with the likes of drivers, patching, windows and installing(Unless you own a PS3) even so its easier.
You've got to understand that compared to the good ol days of PC gaming it does seem like more trouble than its worth.
as far as i'm concerned. in order to keep in the game you need to upgrade every couple of years. The only way to avoid this is to start by spending in excess of a grand on your rig to begin with.
so initial set up of say £700 then £200 every 2-3 years for a PC
or £200-£300 every five or so years , looking at this gen mayber even longer than that.
plus no hasstle with the likes of drivers, patching, windows and installing(Unless you own a PS3) even so its easier.
You've got to understand that compared to the good ol days of PC gaming it does seem like more trouble than its worth.
You also have to consider that you most likely need a PC anyway for other uses, and there is a lot more you can use a PC for than a console.
In this house there is 3 active PC's and a Xbox that only is collecting dust.
Kiddie console indeed, I own a 360, PS3 and a gaming PC and the only game I have played on my PC in the last 12 months was Dragon Age. I'm 28 and have been gaming all my life and I can say without a shadow of a doubt Mass Effect 2 is the best game I've ever played. I also work in an IT department crammed full of gamers, out of over 200 people (big IT department) there is only 1 PC gamer and he has gieven up trying to upgrade and bought a PS3.
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