BioWare: The Cracks Are Starting To Show

Spurred by the outcry of disappointment with Dragon Age II and some concerning comments that EA has been making about Mass Effect 3, the guys at Hooked Gamers have penned a three-page piece called “BioWare: The Cracks Are Starting To Show”. We’ve seen some of these same concerns voiced around here over the past few years, too:

After all, thousands of fans expressed their disappointment in Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 suffering a similar fate would be devastating to BioWare’s standing in the community. I fear, however, that other reasons are behind the decision. Those reasons can be found in statements made by EA CEO John Riccitiello during EA’s latest ‘investors update’:

“[Bioware] is adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features, which we’ll see at E3, that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter meets RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 began to approach.”

Oh dear.

We’ve heard similar words before. Dragon Age 2 was promised to be more ‘˜streamlined’, a word that is now jokingly made synonymous to ‘˜dumbed down’ and feared today by fans the world over as it is being applied to their favorite franchises. Riccitiello avoided using the word streamlined but it makes you wonder if it isn’t time to update your favorite thesaurus by adding “adjusting” to the ‘˜dumbed down’ section.

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For now it is best to just forget about any multiplayer component and focus on whether Mass Effect 3 will even resemble an RPG on its release. If we are lucky, BioWare will retain some of their storytelling charm outside of all the gunfights. There wasn’t much RPG-ing left after Bioware was done with Dragon Age 2 but I was willing to give them one more chance to redeem themselves as a quality RPG developer.

Now, after hearing the direction they are taking with Mass Effect 3, I just cannot be bothered with them anymore. I hate to be so negative about a game so far off from release, but it is the attitude and development plans that resemble Dragon Age 2’s shift in focus that has caused my worry. If anything, Mass Effect 3 is going to be very combat-focused and will function a lot more like a ‘˜twitchy’ shooter for all of those Call of Duty fans out there.

The reality is that when your company has to show a return on a billion dollar investment as quickly as possible, shooters are more viable than traditional role-playing games.