While the Mass Effect series has always tried to have a good mix of RPG and shooter gameplay, the first two games had one extreme of one or the other. The first Mass Effect , for instance, had a big focus on RPG elements, whereas Mass Effect 2 focused on the shooting.
In the case Mass Effect 3 , however, BioWare says it’s aiming to not put too much focus over one gameplay element over the other. They hope to accomplish this by bringing back a few of the RPG-like elements that were missing in Mass Effect 2 .
“We just want to tell the best story within the context of an amazing shooter,” producer Michael Gamble told CVG. “I think in ME3 we’ve actually brought back a lot of the customization elements that were missing in ME2: Weapons, armor, powers, each power now has nine possible ways of evolution.
“We brought back all that customization. Like any transition between games, we want to polish everything. I wouldn’t say one genre is winning out over another.”
You’ll be able to judge whether or not BioWare was successful at striking a balance between RPG and shooter when Mass Effect 3 launches March 6 on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Source: CVG
