Official Xbox Magazine - December 2005
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CONTROVERSY! from legendary ^biggest games! OXM STORMS TOKYO GAME SHOW! THE FINAL COUNTDOWN Revealed! Cool hardware tricks дои didn’t know were possible! QUAKE4 on XBOX 360! Is it all that and a bag of gibs? Official Xbox XBOX 360 WORLD EXCLUSIVEHIOWARE’S XBOX £360 DEBUT ЭСС II ncnc rinjI A stunning new action RPG from the makers of KOTOR!
When It's ready PSP while stuck at an айрол It's all pan and parcel of heading up a company who*- name is synonymous with the RPG genre - and specifica*y with spmnmg one hell of a good interactive yam Just take a look at BroWare s history -Boklot 'i Cote. Nevervrmter Nighti, and Star Won Knighn Ы the Old ПериЫк. Good yams are what BioWare does best - and with the hulking luggenuut that is Xbox 360 soon setting foot into gamers' Irving rooms, the developer is aaning to interweave good storytelling, a love of games, and amazing technology to bring to life its latest: a sci fi rolcptavioo oous carted Mass Effect. *1 thnfc the idea for Mass Effect came up over kaxh.' says Casey Hudson, the game’s protect rfaectcr and producer ‘We knew the type of sci-fi experience we wanted to create, it came from an idea dial Greg fZescht*] had 50 about uncharted worlds.’ From that ‘J/p point on. it was pure collaboration. ^ О We want Mass Effect to be the I ultimate so ft fantasy fulfillment ' A few years ago, I got a cal X ' from a developer out of the blue. He had a question about a game that he was stuck m and needed to commiserate with someone else who was playing it The game was Capcom s PSZ RPG Breath of Fire V: Drogon Quarter The guy on the other end of the bne was Greg Zeschuk. со founder and lomt CEO of Edmonton based BioWare. I don t remember most of the conversation, but I do remember thasfcing to myseff. 'Man. this guy really loves games and he really loves RPGs how cool.' Not surprisingly, games are beyond a way of life at BroWare. Without skipping a beat in the conversation you can f*id yourself talking about everything from the team s latest protect to thee last epic. Jade Empire, to how Zeschuk s BioWare partner «i crime and tomt-CEO, Ray Muzyka, spent five hours straight playing the puzzle name Lumtnes on hrs___________ f J|* V] AiJK И In i J v л
COVER STORY 1МЯ*И0 plump little guy could hurt a fly or anything SPACE CADETS CASEY HUDSON Food: Salmon sashimi CD: Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Vd 2 Game: StarfHght for its time, it was an incredibly deep space adventure. BioWare game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (but maybe I'm a bit biased since I worked on it...). orders and root out a corrupted military general wreaking havoc in the solar system. Easy, right? You're the good guy and this crazy general is the bad guy. At first, it's cut and dry. But "epic" would be a better word to accurately describe the storyline in Mass Effect - things get complicated, and at some point, you'll come to realize that your first simple is just a beginning. Soon, it becomes apparent that the fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance, and the outcome is in your hands. No pressure or anything. FREEDOM OF CHOICE "Structurally, there will be a handful of 'main' endings fin Mass Effect/,"says Hudson, "But within each class of endings He more." BioWare definitely hit a gaming nerve when it decided to let you, the player, decide your own path in Knights of the Old Republic. Sure, the light/dark path might've been done to a certain degree in earlier games, but KOTOR fleshed it out in a way that made your actions as important as your conversational choices. Since then, it seems that nearly every game in KOTOR's wake has incorporated some form of the good/bad binary path. Fellow RPGs like Fable and even the upcoming Shadow the Hedgehog {Shadow the freakin' Hedgehog, people!) give you moral choices to determine your gaming path. So for Mass Effect, BioWare plans to push past the simple binary endings of KOTOR (and to a lesser degree, Jade Empire). Expect shades of gray. As the main character, you'll contend with several different agendas. Your choices are important, so will you further the cause of the human race, helping them eke out better status? Or are you the type to fight for everyone involved in the conflict, regardless of species, race, or THE LAST FRONTIER "The real success in a game is creating multiple moments of real emotional impact," asserts Muzyka. "We don't want players to ever stop playing the game once they've started." If Mass Effect is correct, in 200 years the human race will have done more than take baby steps into space. We'll have established ourselves in the galactic community. But space is indeed a very crowded place, and even if humanity has made strides toward joining the universal collective with numerous other alien races, we'd still just be a fledgling species among thousands of others. And this is where you'll take your first giant leap into Mass Effect's future perfect vision. As a human soldier (called a Specter) in an elite tactical force, your mission is simple: Follow Щ- и 5D Official magazine www/. nxmcjnline. com December 2005 ■ THERE IS NO END: BioWare plans ongoing support online for Effect after it ships to "keep the story going," according to Hudsor story-related downloadable content to link each entry in the trilog*
The entire team at BioWare is incredibly quick to point out that Xbox 360 enables Mass Effect to utilize something they refer to as "digital actors/ No longer constrained by technical limitations, you can expea realism to rocket up a few levels and kick tired old gaming cliches to the curb. Weary of entering a teeming town only to see it populated with mannequin-style NPCs? Fear not. Mass Effect takes that convention and turns it on its head by employing realistic characters exhibiting realistic animations and movements - just about everything, really. NPCs will yawn, lounge, cross their legs, the whole shebang. Main characters will express the whole range of emotions through facial expressions, body language, and a massive amount of professionally performed dialogue. 56 OFF ids! fTlaqazine \л/\л/и/. сзхтопИпа. com December 2005 ■ MANKIND'S STRUGGLE: The driving theme in Mass Effect is struggle between organic and artificial life," claims Hudson. Sri*fi fan; this well from films like Ghost in the Shell or 2001: Space Odyssey. any sort of relationship. But if you decide to stick with the same two squadmates, things will develop. Romantically? Maybe. Antagonistically? Perhaps. It's all up in the air, giving Mass Effect a multi-layered feel. And when Muzyka says, "We want you to believe that these are real people," we actually kinda believe him. WARP SPEED We won't go into nitty-gritty details about the visuals because we don't really have to. You can see for yourself where Mass Effect's graphics are headed on Xbox 360 - into a truly gorgeous space all its own. Those screens you're looking at? Piaure them in motion, and you have a good idea of what we saw during our visit to BioWare's studio in Edmonton. Fluid, shiny, textured, all the tech mumbo jumbo - it's all there. But with an indeterminate release date loosely targeted at late 2006 or early 2007 (as Muzyka says, "It'll be done when it's done. We want this to be amazing, and we don't want to rush it."), we have little doubt that BioWare's amazing pitch at sci-Fi fantasy fulfillment will evolve into a charaaer-driven, visually arresting force to be reckoned with when it touches down on Xbox 360. after you've customized your character at the start screen. BioWare's cooking up a rather interesting way to deal with this dilemma. Instead of choosing your character's attack class right out of the gate, you'll begin by playing through a prologue that will give you a good handle on how the game will play and what beginning obstacles you might be facing. Only after this point will you be able to make an educated decision on the class you'd like to commit to for the rest of the game. Think of it as a smart approach to an in-game tutorial. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS "Game direction on previous-generation systems is so different, but now you can think like a movie director, " Hudson enthuses. Zeschuk puts it more colorfully: "With all the technical power of next-gen, we don't have to hit players over the head with a sledgehammer to portray certain things anymore." Innovations in technology are one thing, but using that power to tell a compelling story through action and characters is another. To illustrate this point, you won't just generate responses from other characters that are merely spoken or conveyed through stilted text - you'll also decipher their body language and facial expressions. Just think: Instead of eliciting a "yes," "no," or "I dunno" from an NPC, you'll read it on their face without hearing so much as a whisper. A well-animated shrug, the fleeting shadow of doubt crossing over a character's face, or a slightly raised eyebrow will be enough to give you pause in this game. You'll also be able to progress relations between your own squadmates. Having only two other charaaers in your party provides several incredibly cool opportunities. For instance, say you have two squadmates from polar-opposite backgrounds or species - their banter and their relationship during missions will dynamically change over time the more they work together with you. Therefore, if you keep swapping out party members throughout Mass Effect, they might not get to the point where they'll cement SIDE THE DIGITAL CT0R3S STUDIO
GREG ZESCHUK Food: Sushi CD: Catch Twenty-Two's Keasbey Nights, Rise Against's Siren Song of the Counter Culture, and of course, William Shatner's Has Been Game: Wasteland Wizardry I, Chrono Cross, Resident Evil A, Wood of Warcraft BioWare game if i had to pick two: Baldur's Gate II: Shadow ofAmn and MDK2 creed? Or will you do what's best for yourself and your rank in the global order? Every decision counts - and not just for a simple game ending. After all, this is just the first step in what BioWare is creating as a trilogy of games. You read that right. According to Hudson, "The story was too big and its arc too massive, so we decided to tell it across three games instead of cramming it all into one. It's an exciting idea to play as a character you can take all the way through an entire [three-game] story arc/' But that's the end goal for Mass Effect. The richness and depth of the game lies on the road through the whole trilogy. On the way, you'll be charged with commanding your own starship, navigating a massive civilization contained in a humongous space metropolis called the Oculon, discovering unknown, uncharted areas of the galaxy, and directing an eager crew that can reach up to ten strong throughout the game. CITY LIVING "AH of the features in the game point to immersion," explains Zeschuk. "We want this to be a living, breathing world that's exciting; one where we can really push the boundaries" Your hub in Mass Effect is your spaceship, but you'll have to land somewhere, and that somewhere is the gigantic floating urban sprawl called the Oculon. BioWare's keen on laying out just how massive the Oculon is - imagine five giant plates, each larger than real-world Manhattan, conjoined by a lush, vibrant ring world at one end where the elite frolic and meet. SPACE CAPETS Then imagine those five thriving 'plates" (BioWare refer to them as "fingers") having multiple layers to each - the surface world, the middle level, and the sub-area beneath all of it. All packed with life, characters, and most importantly, quests. The team is quick to point out that the ring world, the Presidium, where politicians and intellectuals hang out, is actually Oculon's most fascinating area. A rotating, illusory blue sky (complete with drifting clouds) lies atop a sophisticated network of hobnobbing elite, green gardens, and waterways. This is where most of your starting quests will be assigned as your status as a member of the Specter force gives you access to places that commoners can't go. But while the Oculon and the Presidium present the universe at its most civilized - the universe is exactly that, a huge, hulking expanse of unknown...stuff. And this hints at Mass Effect's most tempting feature - its uncharted worlds. THE WORLD AWAITS "We really want to place an emphasis on nonlinearity, " muses Muzyka. "We want to create really great water-cooler conversation where you can compare game notes with your friends." Somewhere deep down inside each gamer, you'll most likely find a "map filler." Some people may call them "completionists," but in the end, ► strikes pretty hard. Seeing it in motion is a thing of beauty. 52 *Official XGGX ITIaqazine w\a/u/.oxmcjnline.осот ‘ December EDO5 ■ RETRO-CHIC: Drawing on design inspirations as diverse as AJiei Runner, and (yes) Star Trek U: Wrath of Khan, BioWare is going for a image of space and the future/ says Hudson. Can you dig it?
COVER STORY DIRTY BOY Though you might not be finding yourself hurtling through space anytime soon in real life, realism is one of the biggest characters in Mass Effect. Details like the eventual wear and tear on your armor over time play a big role in how you customize your appearance in the game. When your suit gets dirty, you can choose to dean it or let the grit cake on. But more importantly, wear and tear on your actual visage from battle (cuts, bruises, lacerations) is even more of a factor - it will figure directly into gameplay and possibly even determine your route through the game's moral space. it's about covering every square inch of a game and getting the most out of it This is particularly crucial in RPGs - every little bit may reveal a new kernel of story or inch you closer to finding that elusive last item or weapon to beat a boss. The concept of uncharted worlds in Mass Effect embraces this exploratory urge in gamers by giving us a wide-open universe to spelunk. Cruising in your starship, you'll often stumble across planets, stars, or other areas not marked on your map - hence the whole "uncharted" thing. Some locations are integral to the single-player story, according to Hudson. Others won't be, and these are the ones that you'll have to find through unabashed exploration (think Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast) or by overhearing their location when chatting it up with locals and other NPCs. The uncharted areas can yield surprises for intrepid explorers, and in some cases, the world you stumble on can be large enough for you to land your ship on - and that means good times in an alien landscape where the natives may be friendly...or not. But this aspect of Mass Effect drives home the game's push to be a blank canvas, representing how it might feel to be a new species in a completely foreign universe. And some of the enemies or allies you come across build out your experience from there. RAY MUZYKA Food: Sushi - or maybe Indian. CD: Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Joshua Tree Game: System Shock i Ultima Underworld /, Deus Ex, Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Wasteland, Betrayal at Krondor BioWare game: Baldur's Gate I or Shattered Steel a friend, and where there's a foe, there's a fight. Fans of KOTOR may have some deja vu over some of the similarities in combat between that game's D&D-ruled fights and Mass Effect's tactical battles, but there's much more here than meets the eye. Know this: You'll travel in a squad of three members (you included) throughout the game. Each character will have a choice of specialty-class skills: Biotics, Tech, or Soldier. Biotics work a lot like magic would in, say, a Final Fantasy game -but with a sci-fi twist. Casting spells can result in offensive attacks like putting up a force field that pushes enemies away from you. Hudson likens it to being able to control "the fifth physical force"- wielding unseen powers to your advantage. The Tech skill class is much more grounded in tangible, tactile effects - get your levels up enough, and you'll be able to sway the tide of battle by sabotaging enemy weaponry. And the Soldier attack class remains Mass Effect's most traditional - you'll build up your attacks with firearms and other projectile weaponry in order to tank your way through battle. Each skill set is balanced by the other, but you'll have to think tactically in order to survive. And for those of you out there who wince at the idea of picking an unsuitable class right 5 A Official magazine \л/\л/\л/. oxmonline.com December 2005 ■ DEJA VIEW: “Working with 360 is really exciting," says Zeschuk. ’ it's a bit ironic because we were saying the same type of stuff [about r tech breaking new ground in storytelling) five years ago with Xbox."
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