Preview Mass Effect DLC Announced Plus Mass Effect 2 News

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Tags: BioWare; Mass Effect

Bioware is set to release a <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57261">second DLC</a> for Mass Effect. The theme? Something the game desperately needed. Not more choices, not some backstory for the Reapers, not more than one map per dungeon type, not the ability to sodomize anything, but Fight Club. No, really.
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<blockquote>"We had something in Mass Effect 1 which we didn't have the time and we didn't think we would do well enough, which is a fight club arena," said principal lead designer Preston Watamaniuk in the video.</blockquote>
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Which is why they are releasing it as DLC.
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<blockquote>"We wanted to be able to give people a much more combat-oriented, lighter-story kind of experience," said project director Casey Hudson. "You're going to go to kind of a casino, gaming, fight club space station." </blockquote>
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I guess it's lighter on story because of the first rule. Does collar grabbing count as talking though? There is also some information on Mass Effect 2, which goes from the good,
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<blockquote>"Any save game that you make from Mass Effect 1, you should be able to carry that same character into Mass Effect 2," noted Hudson.</blockquote>
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to the tired.
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<blockquote>Said Hudson of the anticipated sequel: "In the second game, you're actually going to go through a darker period where you're really looking for answers... there are a lot of twists and turns, and it's generally a much darker experience."</blockquote>
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Bringing back a mechanic not used often in modern games with some potential is great, but the overused as of late "dark and gritty" marketing nonsense is a bit of a buzzkill.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.shacknews.com/">Shack News</A>

 

[Gragt]

Lighter story, combat oriented? Isn't the whole game like that already?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

"Any save game that you make from Mass Effect 1, you should be able to carry that same character into Mass Effect 2," noted Hudson.

How many times have we heard that before vs how many times has it actually been implemented?

 

[RK47]

i seriously doubt you will be running around with full gear spectre ops rifles that vaporize shit within seconds of burst within 5 minutes of the game start.

 

[Arcanoix]

The use of "Dark and gritty" beyond the release of The Witcher infringes on a copyrighted trademark of CDProjekt.... lol BioWare, stealing catch-phrases since Oblivion....

 

[Arcanoix]

"Any save game that you make from Mass Effect 1, you should be able to carry that same character into Mass Effect 2," noted Hudson.

How many times have we heard that before vs how many times has it actually been implemented?

BioWare stole this idea from the Quest for Glory series, I believe. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

 

[Silellak]

"Any save game that you make from Mass Effect 1, you should be able to carry that same character into Mass Effect 2," noted Hudson.

How many times have we heard that before vs how many times has it actually been implemented?

BioWare stole this idea from the Quest for Glory series, I believe. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

The Ultima series is the first series I personally remember implementing this (between Ultimas 4, 5, and 6 only), but I imagine there were RPGs before them that did it, too

 

[Gragt]

Wizardry 1, 2 and 3, as well as 6,7 and 8.

Bioware did it previously with the Baldur's Gate serie.

Edit: why the hell did I write Wiz9 instead of Wiz8?

 

[Drunken Irishman]

There are of course differences between the way how Wizardry, Ultima and Quest for Glory handled the character transfer.

In Ultima and Wizardry the transferred characters pretty much existed in your head only. That is, they were just numbers and statistics... all their personality and history was your imagination.

However the way Quest for Glory did it, the way you played the previous game is actually referenced in the next game. So you'll really be like playing one continuous story. Of course it's because each set of characters had different memorable defining moments of awesome, so that made it easy - mage's story is different from the thief's and vice versa. But even with mixed classes the game manages to create an illusion of continuous narrative - I once played a thief that became a paladin (in Quest for Glory games you need to earn the rank of a Paladin, and only in QfG II can all classes earn paladinhood), so I could have all the feel of being God's lonely warrior and still do thief stuff in the next games, thus managing to convince me that it's still my thief beneath that holiness.

Also QfG is the only game series where Paladins aren't douchebags.

Anyway, what I said was this: the way how QfG handled character transfer managed to create an illusion of one continuous narrative, thus making the journey of your character truly a satisfying and intense story experience.

 

[Silellak]

There are of course differences between the way how Wizardry, Ultima and Quest for Glory handled the character transfer.

In Ultima and Wizardry the transferred characters pretty much existed in your head only. That is, they were just numbers and statistics... all their personality and history was your imagination.

However the way Quest for Glory did it, the way you played the previous game is actually referenced in the next game. So you'll really be like playing one continuous story. Of course it's because each set of characters had different memorable defining moments of awesome, so that made it easy - mage's story is different from the thief's and vice versa. But even with mixed classes the game manages to create an illusion of continuous narrative - I once played a thief that became a paladin (in Quest for Glory games you need to earn the rank of a Paladin, and only in QfG II can all classes earn paladinhood), so I could have all the feel of being God's lonely warrior and still do thief stuff in the next games, thus managing to convince me that it's still my thief beneath that holiness.

Also QfG is the only game series where Paladins aren't douchebags.

Anyway, what I said was this: the way how QfG handled character transfer managed to create an illusion of one continuous narrative, thus making the journey of your character truly a satisfying and intense story experience.

This. QfG was just badass all around, and their exceptional attention to detail in areas like this is simply unmatched by modern games. It's an awesome feature, and a nice treat for the game's loyal fanbase as well.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

A fucking arena? Yay! Just what we needed! A fenced in area where people can kill each other for money and equipment? How is that ANY different from the fucking shit we got in regular Mass Effect? They better make the audience fucking next-next-next-gen if they want me to bother with this shit.

Also: Yay for minigames!

Also2: Quest for Glory is awesome and Drunken Irishman is awesome. Agree with this if you want to be awesome.

 

[Trash]

I for one enjoyed mass effect and look forward to a sequel, though I hope they improve on the dull collection quests and the senseless planet exploration.

 

[Shannow]

Wizardry 1, 2 and 3, as well as 6,7 and 9.

Bioware did it previously with the Baldur's Gate serie.

This and RoA.

Dunno, Bard's Tale too?
I won't be playing ME2 as I didn't play ME but character importation is definately a +.

DU, how many promised that and didn't deliver? I'm not aware of any.

 

[Andhaira]

Realms of Arkania also rocked in that you could not only carry over charachters, but ALL equipment as well. Including all red herrings!

So in ROA 3 I brought over my startrail party which had a magic waterskin; this was super cool because roa 3 did not have any magic waterskins to speak of.

I never found a use for those bloody red and blue keys I found in start trail though, that I carried all the way till the end of shadows over riva!

 

[Volourn]

"A fucking arena? Yay! Just what we needed!"

Don't like it don't buy it. It's fuckin' that simple.

 

[Serious_Business]

Fuckin'

 

[Jaesun]

Fuckin'

 

[Lesifoere]

Is there really a point to arenas in single-player RPGs, when you don't after all compete against other players?

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

I hope the effects of the really few choices you made in ME would also be transferred to ME2, but I suspect it'll be the "well it's canon you saved the council and whateverqueen etc, so they're all here. But you can import your character's stats."

 

[WalterKinde]

price of the DLC had better be 99 cents and not a penny more.
Also didn't NWN expansions allow you to import your character with all the equipment as well?
Of course i don't presently have it installed and i don't remember if that required that you save your character profile and import that or if it was the actual save game.

Finally QFG series rocked too bad the person who was doing the QFG Lets Play never completed it past part 3.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

"A fucking arena? Yay! Just what we needed!"

Don't like it don't buy it. It's fuckin' that simple.

You constantly trash storm of zehir yet someone criticizes a bioware game and you say that. And you say you're not a fanboy. Ok.

 

[Silellak]

price of the DLC had better be 99 cents and not a penny more.
Also didn't NWN expansions allow you to import your character with all the equipment as well?
Of course i don't presently have it installed and i don't remember if that required that you save your character profile and import that or if it was the actual save game.

Finally QFG series rocked too bad the person who was doing the QFG Lets Play never completed it past part 3.

All of the official campaigns and player-made modules in both NWN1 and NWN2 allow you to load any exported character file, I believe. However, the PC is only the same character between SoU and HotU for NWN1 and the OC and MotB for NWN2. Still, you can theoretically play the same character in any NWN1 module or any NWN2 module (though not between the two, obviously), it would just make most of them that much easier.

 

[burrie]

Somewhat dissapointed with this one. I had hoped that a next DLC thing for ME might build on the story, or provide some backstory/foreshadowing of the next Mass Effect. Will likely skip on this one, which is a shame.

 

[Volourn]

"ou constantly trash storm of zehir yet someone criticizes a bioware game and you say that. And you say you're not a fanboy. Ok."

Exept, I never defended it. All i said was if you don't like it don't buy it.

Difference being is I actually expected SOZ to be good like MOTB was or at least decent like NWN2 OC was.

If you expect this mod to suck, don't fuckin' buy it. I ain't buying just like I have NEVER bought a BIO downlaodable mod. Yup, I'm such a BIo fanboy I buy eveyrthing they sell. Except, I don't.

R00fles!

 

[Mantiis]

Can someone please tell me what the first and second rules of fight club are? HUH?

SO WHY THE FUCK IS IT ON THE FRONT FUCKING PAGE?!