Preview: Mass Effect
BioWare plans on taking gamers on an epic RPG adventure to a brand new sci-fi universe in a far off time.
By Eugene Huang
With such critically-lauded Xbox titles as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire on their list of triumphs, the independent company known as BioWare has certainly done its part in advancing the craft of RPG development. Yet, it is in this generation with the Xbox 360 that the developers will embark on their most ambitious project yet. Their Unreal Engine-powered game, known as Mass Effect, will be only part one of a trilogy that the developers hope will be stretched across the console's entire lifespan.
However, it is not as if each individual part of this three-part series will offer only the bare minimum of content for a standard RPG. On the contrary, earlier reports from project director Casey Hudson claim that the game will fit onto a standard DVD-9 disc, but only "just barely". This has led some observers to speculate that future games in the series may be published on multiple discs, but nobody will know for sure until long after the first game finishes up production and is finally out in stores.
But what is it about this game that requires so much space and time? Well, coincidentally, most of it has to do with the fact that the story spans across both space and time.
An alien concept
As the bulk of the story takes place in the far-off year of 2183, players will have to converse with a number of alien characters, each from a distinctive racial background. The developers have therefore taken the liberty of conceptualizing the backstories of this myriad of alien races in an effort to fully flesh out the politics of the inner game world. After all, aliens are usually much more interesting in sci-fi epics if there's a mythos that surrounds them.
So, in addition to interacting with a number of run-of-the-mill humans, players will also be able to fight and/or ally with members of the robotic Geth, the advanced Asari, the impervious Krogan, the technically adept Salarians, the calculating Turians, and the nomadic Quarians.
Politics between differing alien races will probably offer an interesting dynamic throughout the game.
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